Quintus Flaminius was soone angry but he hild it not long and he gaue but light punishment to him with whom he was angry Anon after that Adrian was created emperor he met with a deadly enemy of his to whom he said Thou art escaped Meaning that he would neuer go about to be aueÌ„ged of him now that it lay in his hand to do it King Lois the twelfth did the like as hath bin said in another place when he would not be reuenged for the wrongs that had ben done vnto him afore he was king Pittacus had but one only son who was slain through misfortune by a sawyer the sawyer was taken and brought to Pittacus to be punished But he let him go saying it was better to pardon than to punish Plutarch reporteth in the life of Pericles that there was a shameles railer that railed vpon him all a whole day togither to whom Pericles answered not a word but intended to the dispatching of matters of importance vntill it was night whom the railer followed home to his lodging still railing vpon him And when Pericles was come thither he commaunded one of his seruants to take a torch and to light the man home back to his owne lodging Ye see here a wonderfull temperance in a prince that had absolute power in the citie of Athens who notwithstanding that he had such power yet yeelded not a whit to hatred spite or anger Insomuch that he made his boast that there was neuer any Athenian that wore a black garment by his means Pompey also was greatly commended for pardoning the Mamertines that had taken part with Marius howbeit that his so doing was for his hostes sake Cicero sayth that Caesar in setting vp againe the Images of Pompey did the better fasten and settle his owne as who would say that by this clemency of his he woone the fauour of the citizens wherby he himselfe should be guarded Albeit that Augustus tooke the Alexandrians his enemies by force yet did he pardon them in honour of Alexander the founder of their citie In respect whereof the Alexandrians found themselues more beholden to him than to Alexander himselfe commended him in all cases saying that Alexander was the founder but Augustus was the preseruer of their citie But the softnesse patience and meeldnesse of Dauid is not to be compared withall by those that I haue alledged For he did put vp infinit iniuries at the hands of Semei without giuing him any answer commanding his men to let him alone and telling them that God had raised him vp to humble him and after his victorie he pardoned him that misdeed notwithstaÌ„ding that he followed him casting stones at him Which serueth to shew that the precept of the gospell concerning the forgiuing of enemies was practised by princes of good nature as Dauid himselfe witnesseth in his seuenth Psalm where he saith If I haue requited euill for euill I am contented that he shall pursue me in warre and that he shall take me and fling me against the ground and so forth Saint Iohn Chrisostome in his treatise of meeldnesse sayth That meeldnesse becommeth all men but specially kings and such as are set in authoritie And the more power that the maiesty of a king hath to do al things the more ought he to bridle himselfe to take Gods law for his guide if he will haue glorie and honor of his doings Our Lord in S. Mathew wil haue vs to learne of him because he is meeke and lowly that we may find rest to our soules Dauid commendeth his owne meekenesse vnto God saying thus Remember Dauid and his meekenesse The which he shewed well towards Saul when he let him goe at such time as he was in his power S. Iohn Chrisostome in his xxix Homely against Irefulnes saith That the meeke man is pleasant to himselfe and profitable to others and that choleriknesse displeaseth a mans selfe and doth harme vnto others of the which I must now speake in order And it is to be vnderstood that there are two sorts of cholericke persons the one will out of hand haue reuenge and those are the lesse dangerous so a man shâ—n the first brunt of them For by and by they coole of themselues and suffer not the sunne to go downe vpon their wrath For commonly they burst forth into words and vtter their choler in whâ—t speeches by means wherof the rigour of their doings is assuaged as the lord of Chaumont told wisely to the Vincentines which were afraid of the emperors anger The other sort dissemble the wrong that is done them that they may haue time and place to consider of it and those are very dangerous as Homer sayth of Agamemnon Although he dissemble his anger for a time sayth he yet ceasseth he not to hold it fast in his heart vntill hee haue reuenged himselfe indeed And as Peter of Gauntwood said Some men do forgiue with their mouth but hatred and malice abide stil in their heart Neuerthelesse it seemeth to the common people as Plutarch sayth in his treatise of the Bridling of wrath that because it is stormie therefore it is workfull so that an angry mans menaces are hardines his headines stoutnes his crueltie disposition to do great things his vnappeasable hardnesse firme stedinesse and his furiousnes a hating of vice after the maner of Helias who was angry at the peoples sinnes through a certaine zeale that he had to Godward and of Cato who was alwaies of the same mind towards such as were giuen to vice And to that purpose serueth this which is said in philosophie that the cholerick folk are aptest to learn sciences And the Prouerb saith That he which hath no choler hath no wit Many esteem it to be as it were the sinewes of the soule Plato in his Lawes saith That a good man must be both meeld and also courageous that is to say not vtterly void of kindly choler For we can hardly without it eschue the wrongs and harmes that are hard to be cured otherwise than by fight by victorie and by defending a mans selfe and by not suffering a mans selfe to be wronged the which thing cannot be done without anger and stomaching And in his Theeterus he saith It is hard to find a man both soft and wittie togither And they that haue sharpe and readie wits and apt to be taught are commonly choliricke and hastie as being caried with waues like ships without ankers Aristoile saith that cholericknesse is a true signe of a readie wit and of a forward braue and gallant nature that is not sleepie and drowzie and that anger must be vsed not as a captaine but as a souldier Saint Iohn Chrysostome vpon the fourth Psalme of Dauid saith That anger is good and profitable against them that do wrong or be negligent and that it is a fit instrument to waken vs out of our sleepinesse to make vs the more fierce in
affirme to consist in the sensitiue appetit And out of this vertue proceed Hardinesse and Temperance two cardinall principal vertues moreouer Magnanimitie Liberalitie Magnificence Soothfastnes Mildnes Meeknes Affabilitie Philo the Iew doth likewise diuide Vertue into three parts according to the three parts of our soule namely Reasonable Irefull and Lustfull The first Vertue is that which sheweth it selfe in the chiefe part of the soule that is to say in the reasonable part which Vertue we call wisdome The second is the force or strength that lodgeth in the second part of the soule namely in the Irefull The third is Temperance or Staiednesse which is imployed about the Lustfull power And when these three are of one accord then doth Iustice or Rightfulnesse shew it selfe For when the Irefull and the Lustfull obay the commaundement of the Reasonable then doth Rightfulnesse vtter the fruit of that accord harmonie Aristotle saith that Vertue is a meane as a white in the middest of a butte wherat all men ought to leuel and whoso euer swarueth neuer so little from it one way or other misseth his mark And as it is far more hard to hit the white than to goe round about it so is it more hard to be vertuous than to be vitious Vice is infinit and therfore hath not any meane Contrariwise Vertue hath hir bounds which cannot be passed but into vice Let vs for example take Hardines which is a meane betweene Fearfulnesse Ouer-boldnesse of which two this latter is the excesse of boldnesse in offering a mans selfe to danger and the other is the default or want of boldnesse in the same case when Boldnesse is requisit or expedient And therfore he that through ouer-great Boldnesse thrusteth himselfe into dangers vnaduisedly and rusheth into them like a wild Boare cannot be deemed hardie or valiant but rather rash and he that through Fearfulnesse dareth not shew his head before his enemie is accounted a Coward The measurable meane in giuing taking is called Liberalitie the excesse wherof in taking is Couetousnesse and the excesse in giuing is Prodigalitie the meane between them cannot be in the vice For too much or too little cannot make vice to be Vertue As for example a theefe or a murtherer faile not to sin for stealing or murthering too much or too little Whosoeuer is a theefe a murderer or an adulterer in what sort soeuer it be he doth alwaies sin and because a man may sin many waies it is easier to sin than to doe well Let vs ad that which Philo sayth in his Allegories that the thing which is good is rare and the things which are euill be riâ—e in so much that for one wise man you shall find an infinit multitude of fooles Furthermore to attain vnto Vertue there needeth but reason but to the compassing of vice men applie mind sence and body and we see that the way of vice is the larger and easier And in that respect doth Hesiodus say that the first enterance into the way whereby men ascend vnto vertue is rough combersom and steepe but very smooth and easie when a man hath ouerpast the little crabbednesse that was at the first entrie of the way But the hardnesse thereof must not discourage a man for it is a generall rule that as the Greeke Prouerbe sayth The attainment of all goodly things is painfull because as Epicharmus sayth God felleth his benefits vnto vs for pains and trauell according to the first curse that God gaue vnto man namely that he should eat his bread in the sweat of his browes And as Synesius saith It is peculiar to the Godhead to compasse any great matter without pains-taking But among men not only the vertues but also euery other excellent thing is gotten with the sweat of the body Truth it is that in all great things nature hath purposed a certaine difficultie so as the partie that will liue happily must needs take pains For as Sophocles sayth a man cannot haue the thing that is great and excellent without paine for without that the noble captains had neuer obtained the fame which is dispersed of them through the whole world To attaine vnto that Hannibal forwent an eye lay oft vpon the hard ground watched infinit times when others slept and endured hunger and thirst with great cheerefulnesse Pyrrhus Alexander Iulius Caesar Epaminondas Themistocles Alcibiades and all the noble captains that euer were haue done the like A Poet maketh not a good verse nor an Orator a good oration without paine And seeing it is so that God hath made all goodly things rare we should not spare our pains to acquire the thing which of all others is most beautifull Surely a prince ought most specially to doe it assuring himselfe that it is the thing wherein he most resembleth God For as touching a princes strength and power it is nothing in comparison of the power of fire or of the sea or of a streame against the which nothing is able to stand And although he haue all our liues in his hand yet doe we not esteeme him so much for that as for his righteousnes and goodnes after the maner of the men of old time which called God first most Gratious and secondly most High and most mightie For Gods gratious goodnesse is the cause that men loue him honor him and worship him and his power is the cause that men feare him and so they made vertue to goe alwaies before might and power And this word Good was in so great estimatioÌ„ with our Lord Iesus Christ that he would not haue so glorious a title vsurped of men affirming that there was none good but the one only God Plutarch saith in the life of Aristides that God surmounteth all other things chiefly in three points that is to wit immortalitie mightinesse and goodnesse of which three goodnesse or vertue is the most honorable and most peculiar to the Godhead For incorruption and immortalitie at least wise according to the opinion of the auntient Philosophers is as well in the elements and in the wast Chaos as in God and as for might or power there is very much and great in the winds in thunder and lightnings in streams and in water-flouds But as for iustice vprightnesse and equitie nothing can be partaker of them but that which is diuine by means of reason and vnderstanding And therefore that men deeme the Gods to be happie it is in respect of their goodnesse that they feare them it is because of their almightinesse and that they loue worship and reuerence them it is for their iustice sake And if we will beleeue Aristotle in the first booke of his Morals we shall say that what king soeuer will become worthie of immortalitie must inure himselfe as much as is possible vnto vertue because it is his charge to make his subiects honest and obedient vnto lawes For like as to him that will
Sâ—lomon in his Prouerbs Blessed is the man that alwaies standeth in feare but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischiefe S. Paul willeth vs to go through with our saluation with feare and terror and he would not haue vs to be too skilful And in the xj of Esai it is written that the spirit of the feare of God shall rest vpon the blossome of the roote of Iesse And in the lxvj chapter Whom shall I regard saith the Lord but him that is meeld and gentle and standeth in feare of my words And in the xxvj At the feare of thee we haue conceiued and brought forth the spirit of saluation And in the xxxiij Psalme Ye righteous feare ye the Lord. And in the xviij Psalme The feare of the Lord endureth for euer And as S. Ierome saith Feare is the keeper of al vertues and the true way is to feare the power of God Homer in his Iliads bringeth in Helen vsing these termes to king Priam Surely deare Lord and father in law I doe both feare you and honor you because we ordinarily reuerence those whom we feare And therefore neere to the common hall of the Ephores in Sparta there was a chappell dedicated to Feare for feare doth alwaies accompany shame Also it is a very commendable thing to be affraid of vnhonesty and yet not to be afraid to be counted vnhonest As for example when one vpon a time vpbraided Xenophanes the son of Lagus that he was fearefull and durst not play at dice I confesse quoth he that I am not only fearefull but also exceeding fearefull but that is but in things vnhonest For honourable is that feare that restraineth a man from doing euill As touching meekenesse or meeldnesse it beseemeth a prince very well For it maketh him gentle courteous and affable And it is one of the three vertues which Dauid would haue in a king For in the xliiij Psalme Ride on saith he and raigne because of thy meekenesse iustice and truth And this vertue is contrarie to choleriknesse hastinesse or fumishnesse which ought to be far off from a prince as the which doth too much blind him and bereaue him of reason and iudgement But to be angrie with leaudnesse and leaud persons is very well done prouided that it be not in such sort as it extend to sinne according to this saying of the Psalmist Be angrie but sinne not in your hearts And for as much as I will treat hereof more largely when I come to speake of anger or wrath and of meeldnesse or meekâ—nesse I will content my selfe for the present to haue shewed the passions of the mind as it were at a glance which though they seeme at the first blush to encounter against vertue be such neuerthelesse as a well-disposed mind may greatly helpe it selfe by them and make them to serue to very good end and so alter the shape of them as that the thing which seemed euill shall fall out to be good and commendable CHAP. XI Whether Vertue and Honestie be to be seperated from profit in matters of gouernment or state BVt I feare least by standing too long vpon matter of Manners I forslow the matters of State and that in going about to make a prince vertuous I make him a prince misaduised For oftentimes the managing of publike affairs is such that he must rather haue regard of the present case how to wind himselfe out of the briers and to get out of some shrewd pinch than to stand musing vpoÌ„ vertue because that they which do so busie their heads doe often times suffer their state to be lost If Brutus that conspired against Caesar had not bene too spice-conscienst saying it was not lawfull to kill any other than a tyrant but had beleeued the counsell of Cassius he had not left Antonie the tyrants friend behind by whose death the common-weale had bene discharged of al danger In so much that one little sparke of conscience procured vnto Brutus the losse both of his owne life and of the libertie of his countrie The first Brutus did not so for it liked him better to vse crueltie in putting his own childreÌ„ to death than to leaue any little match of conspiracie against the state and this barbarous crueltie and vnkindnesse of his saued the common-weale When Cabades king of Persia was cast in prison by his subiects that had rebelled against him and chosen one Blases in his steede this Blases entered into counsell what was to be done with Cabades The most part were of opinion that he should not be put to death but that he should be kept in prison Othersome gaue counsell that he should be dispatched among whom Gusanascades one of the greatest lords deliuering his opinion shewed them a little pen-knife wherewith he was wont to pare his nailes and said vnto them Ye see this little cuttle this same may now without any paine and without any danger doe that which twentie thousand men cannot doe hereafter And euen so it came to passe in deed For Cabades getting out of prison recouered his kingdome and putting out Blases eies with scalding oyle laid him in prison and put Gusanascades to death Theodatus king of the Gothes was loath to kill Amalasont being an honourable and vertuous princesse and wife of Theoderik and mother of Athalarik but in the end he dispatched hir at the persuasion of such as told him that his life could not else bee in safetie Theophrast reporteth of Aristides that in priuate cases betweene man and man he was a perfect vpright and iust-dealing man but in matters of gouernment concerning the common-weale he did many things according to the necessitie of the time The Athenians in the conference which they had with the Melians said that the Lacedemonians vsed much vertue among themselues and in the things that concerned their lawes and customes at home but in their behauior towards strangers they were a people that esteemed that to be most honest and reasonable which was most for their profit Euphemeus an Athenian said to the Camerins that the man which raigneth by tyrannie and a citie that hath an empire deeme nothing vnhonest that may be for their profit nor account a-any thing theirs which is not safe guarded and in all cases they esteeme others to be their friends or foes according to the occasion of time and dealings Plutarch speaking of Marius saith he made reckoning of iustice when it was for his owne behoofe and tooke profit both for iustice and honor not considering that truth is more strong and mightie than falshood but measuring the valew of them both by the profit that might rise thereof and saying that when a lions skin will not sted a mans turne he must take vnto it the skin of a fox This hath bin the cause that the best aduised which haue written of gouernment and they also which haue practised it haue not stood so much vpon vertue as vpon the occurrence of
thing vncumbered vnwithered vnpainted vndisguised vnmovable vnueiled apparant comprehensible of it selfe vnchangeably good and spiritual Wherin the antient Philosophers agree with vs saying that we haue but a shadow of the Truth that the pure Truth is in heauen Truth saith Menander is an inhabitant of heauen and dwelleth with the gods And the Persians worshipped a great God which in body resembled the light and in soule the Truth as who would say that God was light and Truth Therefore of all the things that are on earth none as saith Mercurie in the xv of his Pimander can be called truth but only an imitation of the truth And whē the wit receiueth influence from aboue then doth it imitate the truth for without inworking from aboue it abideth in vntruth like as the shape of a man in a painted table representeth a very bodie but is not a body indeed as the eye imagineth it to be in so much that although it seeme verily to haue eyes and eares yet it neither seeth nor heareth at all euen so the things that men behold with their eies are but leasings Men beare themselues on hand that they see the truth but in very deed they be but lies For truth cannot be vpon earth but yet it may be that some men to whom God hath giuen power to see diuine things do vnderstand the truth howbeit that is not the truth of speaking and vnderstanding things as they be indeed For the very truth is the souereigne Good and true things are the effects thereof which are the off-springs or imps of truth In so much that the truth which remaineth with vs in this world is but a countershape and shadow of the very truth the which we follow when wee forbeare frawd lying and deceit and proceed in good faithfull dealing truth and loialtie according to this saying of the Psalmist The works of Gods hands are truth and vprightnes that is to say Faithfulnesse his commandements are made in truth that is to say in substantiall Faithfulnesse which kepeth truth euermore that is to say which alwaies keepeth promise The beginning of his word is Truth that is to say his word is a grounded stablenesse And in another place All thy commaundements sayth he be Truth For as sayth Pindar to be true of heart is the ground and foundation of all vertue And therefore Dauid praieth God not to take the word of Truth out of his mouth And in the fourteenth Psalme he sayth thus Lord who shall dwell on thy holy hill he that dealeth iustly with his neighbour and speaketh the truth from his heart and beareth true witnesse Wherein we haue to consider that hee matcheth Righteousnesse and Truth together as who would say he esteemeth a soothfast man to be a righteous man and a righteous man to bee a soothfast man and hardly indeed can they be seuered according to this saying of Dauid in the 119 Psalme Thou hast commaunded vprightnesse and truth aboue all things Thou shalt haue folke at thy commaundement because of thy meekenesse vprightnesse and truth The kings throne that iudgeth folke with truth shall be stablished for euer And Salomon in his Prouerbs sayth That he which speaketh the truth vttereth righteousnesse And in another place he saith That meeldnesse and truth vphold and maintaine a king When Iethro councelled Moses to disburden himselfe of the paine of iudging perticular cases he aduised him to chuse such men as were wise true of their word and fearing God as who would say that the maintenance of iustice depended vpon truth After which maner Marcus Aurelius said That in an honest woman truth chastitie ought to be matched togither and it was neuer seene but the woman that was true of word was also chast and that the liar was sildome chast And as Varia Mesa was wont to say It is no lesse shame for women that are come of good houses to be liars than to be vnchast Socrates would that a prince should aboue all things be true of his word to the end that his bare word might be more esteemed than another mans oths And Cicero in one of his orations saith That he which shrinketh from the truth will passe as little to forsweare himselfe as to make a lie And in another place he saith that truth is of so great might that it cannot be vanquished by any subtiltie or wilinesse whatsoeuer and that it is a sufficient defence to it selfe though it haue no man of law to plead for it Euripides saith That the word of truth is plaine and needeth no interpreter And Salomon saith that the lip of truth is euer steadie but the toung of falshood is euer variable In all thy works let the word of truth goe before thee saith the son of Sirach in his third chapter Pithagoras said That when we exercise truth we follow the foot-steps of God Plato in his fift booke of Laws saith That truth is the guid to all goodnesse be it towards God or towards man that whosoeuer wil be happie must be partaker therof and that by that means he shall be worthie to be beleeued and contrariwise that he shal be vnworthie of credit which loueth to lie He that bare the office of lord chiefe iustice in Aegypt did weare an image of truth hanging at his brest which image of truth was had in singular estimation of the Druides also The men of old time painted their God Pan with two faces meaning thereby that he had skill both of good and euill of truth and falshood taking the face on the forpart to represent truth the which they painted faire beautiful and amiable and the face on the back-part to betokenfalshood the which they portraied soule ilfauored and ouglie like vnto a Goat or some other brute beast of purpose to shew the difference that is betweene truth and vntruth CHAP. XIIII Of Religion and Superstition IN handling the fore-said question so well discussed by Cicero in his books of Duties and well debated among such as haue to deale with matters of state I haue told you heretofore that Machiauell held this erronious opinion That a prince was of necessitie to deale contrarie to faithfulnesse and Religion for the mainteinance of his estate Of Faithfulnesse I haue spoken sufficiēt alreadie now remaineth to enquire of Religion because in some respects it is an appendant of our discourse or to say truly all that euer we haue treated of hitherto and all that euer we shall treat of hereafter depēdeth vpon that For it is the ring-leader of al vertues as the but wherat al they do shoot without the which neither prince nor any other person whatsoeuer can be wise vertuous or happy or do any thing that shal be ought-worth but religion is of it selfe behofful profitable to al thing as saith S. Paul in his epistle to Timothie For it is vnpossible that any of the things which are in nature should continue
so keeping and maintaining euery mans profit in peculiar as may best stand with the conseruation of the whole Men in old time said that Righteousnesse was a goddesse sitting at Iupiters seat Hesiodus saith she was borne of Iupiter and Homer saith she was borne of all the gods To be short all the Heathen said it was a Heauenly vertue wherein they agree with this vvhich S. Peter saith in his second epistle We looke for the new Earth and new Heauens wherein righteousnesse dwelleth And as Plato saith in his Common-weale Righteousnesse is the greatest good thing that euer God bestowed vpon vs as whereof hee himselfe is the very author and first ground wherein he speaketh diuinely and agreeable to the commaundment of our Lord Iesus who willeth vs to seeke the kingdome of God his righteousnes because if we so do we shall not want any thing And Dauid counselleth vs to offer vnto him the sacrifice of Righteousnesse S. Paul in the epistle to the Romans opposeth vnrighteousnesse against righteousnesse so as the contrarie to righteousnesse is euill For as sayth saint Ierome vvriting to the daughter of Morris Righteousnesse is nothing else but the eschewing of sinne and the eschewing of sinne is the keeping of the commaundements of Gods law And therefore Ecclesiasticus saith thus Turne away from thine vnrighteous deeds and turne againe vnto the Lord. And in the Prouerbs Righteousnesse saith Salomon exalteth a whole nation but sinne is a reproch vnto people And in the fourteenth Psalme it is sayd Thou hatest Vnrighteousnesse Now then Righteousnesse is the vertue of the soule and Vnrighteousnesse is the vice therof the procurer of death And as Philo saith Vnrighteousnesse is the linage and off-spring of vice And this vice bringeth with it paine and trauell according to this saying of Dauid in the seuenth Psalme Behold he trauelleth with vnrighteousnesse and wickednesse Plato in his Common-wealth saith that to order or dispose to commaund to counsell or aduise such other things are properties peculiar to the soule so as an euill soule miscommaundeth misordereth and miscouncelleth and contrariwise a good soule doth all things well which it doth And like as a man is esteemed to be in health when his body is altogether disposed according to the order of nature and contrariwise to be out of health when the parts of his body be infected and all goes contrarie to the order of nature euen so to doe righteously is nothing else but to keepe the parts of the soule in such order as they may both commaund and obey according to the true rule of Nature The same author saith in his Protagoras That righteousnesse and holinesse are both one or at least wise they be vertues very like one another In so much that such as righteousnesse is such also is holinesse and such as holinesse is such also is righteousnesse And in his Theetetus he sayth That he which is the holiest amongst vs is likest vnto God accordingly as our Lord teacheth vs in his Euangelist Matthew saieng Follow ye the example of your heauenly father The dutie of Righteousnesse is to liue honestly without hurting any man and as sayth Iustinian to yeeld to euery man that which belongeth vnto him Cicero in his Duties setteth down two sorts therof the fiâ—st is that a maÌ„ should hurt no man vnprouoked by iniurie and wrong first done vnto him the which thing notwithstanding is forbidden by God as in respect of reuenge hath also ben put in practise by diuers heathen men The second is that we vse coÌ„mon things as coÌ„mon and priuat things as priuat But according to christianitie Righteousnes consisteth in two precepts wherof the first is to loue God and the second is to loue our neighbor and on that dependeth al that is written in the law the Prophets In the first consisteth the diuine and coÌ„templatiue righteousnes and in the latter consisteth the distributiue righteousnesse For it is not inough for a man to honour God to feare him and to abstaine from euill except he also doe good and be helpefull to his neighbour and by the word Neighbor I meane all men specialy those that are good For as saith Pithagoras we ought to esteeme more of a righteous stranger than of a kinsman or countriman that is vnhonest Which thing our Lord hath told vs more expresly in saieng He that doth the will of God is my kinsman my brother and my mother And also in another place by the parable of the Samaritan that had shewed himselfe to be the wounded Iewes neighbor in very deed by setting him vpon his horse and by hauing a speciall care of him wherein he and not the priests and Pharisies that made none account of the wounded man had done the dutie of Righteousnesse Wherby it appeareth the righteous man takes pains rather for other men than for himselfe and had leuer to forgo some part of his owne goods than to diminish another mans Now therefore when men instruct the ignorant releeue the poore yeeld to their neighbors that which belongs vnto theÌ„ by helping them with thing at their need when the great personages oppres not their inferiors nor the king his subiects then may it be said that righteousnes raigneth in that couÌ„trie And if euery man would liue after manner there should need neither law nor magistrat For as saith Menander Their owne manners should be as lawes But for as much as few men doe giue themselues to righteousnesse there must of necessitie be laws and magistrats to enforce such vnto righteousnesse as will not be righteous for loue and to that end are kings and rulers ordained of God For as saint Paule sayth the king is Gods lieutenant on earth the maintainer of righteousnes and as it were his chancelor so as they which require iustice at his hand resort not vnto him as to a man but as to the very righteousnes it self wherof he is the dealer forth through the wil of God according to this saieng of SalomoÌ„ in the booke of Wisdome By me kings reigne and counsellors determine right By me princes rule and all lords iudge their lands Not without cause therefore did Homer call kings the disciples of Iupiter as who would say they learned of God to do iustice Dauid vseth termes yet of more force and calleth them Gods which doe iustice honoring them with the name of their charge which is of God And Philo calleth them Gods lieutenants and vicegerents in cases concerning iustice And in the 6 chapter of the booke of Wisdome Vnto you kings do I speake saith Salomon harken vnto me ye gouernors of people and you that glorie in the multitude of natioÌ„s For your authoritie is giuen you of the Lord and your power coÌ„meth from the highest who wil examin your works and diligently search your thoughts because you being ministers of his kingdome haue not iudged vprightly nor kept the law of righteousnes Therefore will he
and readie to giue battell he maruelled that they gaue themselues to feasting to haunting of the theatres and to make pastimes in the fields and gardens This doing of his proceeded of nothing else but of an inordinat and vnreasonable enuie that fretted his braine the which he shewed sufficiently towards the noblemen in bereauing theÌ„ of their cote-armors and of the antient cognisances of their houses And if hee spied any faire boies that had faire haire he caused the hinder parts of their heads to be shauen And he was so spitefull that he enuied euen Homer the greatest Poet that euer was insomuch that being determined vpon a time to abolish the remembrance of him he said he might well haue as much power as Plato to weed him out of his common-wealth Alexanders enuie was the chiefe cause of the death of Clitus For hee so enuied the high exploits of Philip his father that he fell into a rage when any man compared him with him Lisander accompanying Agesilaus in the voaige into Asia was so honored of the men of Asia because he had had the gouernment of them aforetimes that in comparison of him they made no reckoning of the king by reason wherof Agesilaus bare him such enuie that in all that voiage he committed not any honourable charge vnto him but emploied him about such things as a man would not haue emploied the meanest of Sparta and it was thought that that would haue cost the citie of Lacedemon deerly For had not death preuented Lisander he would haue ouerthrowne the king Enuie made Socrates to be put to death and Aristides Themistocles and others to be banished Also it was the death of Coriolane because the chiefe princes of the Volses enuied his vertue and his greatnesse And by his death the Volses were vanquished of the Romanes Through enuie Dion was slaine by Calippus and Sertorius by Perpenna and by their death were they themselues vanquished and disappointed of the fruit of their former enterprises The enuie that was rooted betweene Themistocles and Aristides hindered the Athenians from doing many goodly enterprises insomuch that Themistocles said that it was vnpossible for the affairs of the common-weale of Athens to prosper vntill they were both of them cast into the barather which was a deepe dungeon whereinto men were throwne headlong that were condemned to death And no doubt but the affairs of Greece had gone to wrack if Aristides had continued his enuie against Themistocles But when he saw the danger whereinto all Greece was like to fall if hee and Themistocles did not agree he bespake him after this manner Themistocles if we be both wise it is high time for vs to leaue the vaine spight and iealosie which we haue hitherto borne one against another and to take vp a strife that may be to the honor and welfare of vs both that is to wit which of vs shall doe his dutie best for the safegard of Greece you in commaunding and doing the office of a good captaine and I in counselling you and in executing your commandements Hereunto Themistocles answered I am displeased Aristides in this that you haue shewed your selfe a better man than I but sith the case standeth so that the honor of breaking the yce is due to you for prouoking me to so honourable and commendable a contention I wil strain my selfe henceforth to out go you by good continuance The enuie that was borne to Peter Saderin Gonfaâ—â—nnier of Florence for the great credit and authoritie that he had in that citie caused the returne of the Medices and the vtter ruine of the common-weale Now we must consider what remedies there be to defend a man from this maladie that a man may not be enuious nor enuied As touching the first the curing therof is by the contrarie that is to say by being meeld gentle and charitable for he that loueth men cannot enuie them And that is the cause why we be commanded to loue our neighbor as our selues to the end we be not enuious against him but rather glad when he hath good successe in his affairs And as S. Paule saith in the 12 to the Romans Reioice with them that reioice and weepe with them that weepe and beare well in mind that enuie doth more harme to the enuious man himselfe than to the partie whom he enuieth remembring how Salomon in the seuenteene of the Prouerbs saith That he which reioiceth at another mans fall shal not be vnpunished And in the four and twentith of the Prouerbs he saith Reioice not wheÌ„thine enemy hath a fall neither be thou glad that he stumbleth least perchance the Lord doe see it and be displeased therat and turne away his wrath from him If this be spoken of enemies what ought we to do concerning freinds I will not alledge the infinit precepts and examples touched by Diuines I will take but the only example of the Heathen Aristides of whom I haue spoken When his enemie Themistocles was banished he neither spake ne did any thing to his preiudice or disaduaÌ„tage neither reioiced he any more to see his enemie in aduersitie than if he had neuer enuied his prosperitie Enuie is eschewed or diminished by modestie as when a man that is praised chalengeth not such honour to himselfe but referreth it ouer to those that praise him Wherof we haue example in Pirrhus who after many victories when his men of war called him Eagle I am qd he an eagle by your means being caried vp by your knighthood and chiualrie as the eagle is caried vp by his fethers and so he cast back the honor and title to his men of war So also did Philip abase the praise that was giuen vnto him for his beautie his eloquence and his good skil in hunting saying that the one belonged to women the other to sophists and the third to sponges Othersome doe attribute this answer to his enemie Demosthenes Contrariwise Alexander for enforcing men to worship him and to esteeme him as a god began to be hated in his campe Augustus disallowing al such doings of Alexander did the cleane contrarie For when he was entred into Rome in triumph as lord of the whole world in peaceable possession and one in a certaine comedie said O good lord and euery man turned that word vnto Augustus flattering him and clapping their hands for ioy he gaue a token presently that he liked not of it and the next morning made prohibitions that men should not vse the terme of lord vnto him neither permitted he any man no not euen his owne children to call him by that name either in iest or in good earnest There is another way to auoid enuie which was practised by Dennis the tirant which is that he aduanced a man that was wicked and hated of the people and when he was asked why he did so because quoth he I will haue a man in my realme that may be more hated than my selfe Caesar Borgia to auoid
in all other things it is most pestilent and deadlie in the ambition of those that put themselues in the managing of publike affaires We see how Alexanders ambitioÌ„ wrought the ruine of all Asia for one Alexander that made profit of his ambition howbeit with the losse of his reputation among all good men infinit numbers were brought to ruine as Pompey Caesar Crassus Mariw and others innumerable Pâ—â—rhus might haue bin a great prince if he had not bin too ambitious and it had bin better for him to haue credited the counsell of inâ—as who being desirous to haue diuerted him from his voiage into Italic asked him to what purpose that so far voiage shuld serue him for the getting of one citie Whervnto he answered That froÌ„ Tarent he would go to Rome And when you haue taken Rome quoth Ciâ—â—as what will you doe then We will goe to Sicilie answered Pirrhus And when we haue done with Sicilie whether shall wee then Wee will to Carthage said Pirrhus And when Carthage is become yours what will you doe then I will make my selfe quoth he lord of all Greece And when we haue done al this what shal we do afterward TheÌ„ wil we rest our selues qd Pirrhus make good cheer And what letteth quoth Cineas that we should not fal presently to this making of good cheere sith we haue inough wherwith to do it Princes therfore must not only beware of ambition but also withdraw themselues from all ambitious persons For they be neuer satisfied And as Plutarch saith in the life of Silla Pride and ambition are two vices that neuer wex old and are very daungerous to a state like as it is daungerous to saile in a ship where the pilots be at strife who shall gouerne it Ambitions is neuer without quarrelling for euerie man fals to heauing at other and seeks to take his fellowes place As for example Pompey to take Lucullussis Marius to take Metellussis and Silla to heaue out Marius vntill in the end they brought the state to ruine As for Enuie no doubt but it proceedeth of pride as Alexander shewed very well who would needs be the perfectest of all men and was sorâ—e that his father did so many goodly exploits esteeming it as a bereauing him of occasion to purchase himselfe reputation Hee would not that Aristoâ—le should publish the books that he had taught him to the end that he himselfe might passe all others in skill and in feats of war Now as pride is the first and greatest sinne so also commonly it seeketh not any other than the most excellent things be it in vertue in prosperitie in riches or in dignitie And therfore Salust said That pride is the ordinary vice of nobilitie and Claudian That it cometh ordinarily in prosperitie For aduersitie pouertie and sickenesse do light he cut off the occasions of arrogancie and there is nothing worse than a poore maÌ„ that is proud as Salomon saith in his Prouerbs Darius the father of Xerxes said That aduersities and troubles make a man the wiser Antigonus seeing himselfe sicklie commended his sickenesse saying that it had done him great good by teaching him not to aduance himselfe aboue measure considering his infirmitie It is no small benefit when a small disease driueth away a great And therfore Dauid boasteth in the 119 Psalme That God had done him a great good â—â—ne in bringing him low And a little after Afore I was afflicted saith he I went astray but now I keepe thy word now lord I acknowledge that thy iudgements are iust that thou hast humbled me of very loue that is to say thou hast afflicted me to a good end And in the 131 Psalm Lord I 〈◊〉 not high-minded I haue no lostie looks I haue not delt in thingâ— that are greater and more wonderfull than becoÌ„meth me Secondly the vertuous and wise are more assailed with pride than are the vicious and the painfull more than the idle And therfore S. Pâ—ule said That God had giuen him an angel of Satans to bullet him least he shuld be puffed vp with his reuelations For the mischiefe of pride comes of ouerfulnesse And as S. Iohn Chrisostome saith in his homilie of Humilitie Like as too much eating ingendreth an inflammation of humors in our bodies which inflammation breedeth the ague and of the ague often commeth death euen so is it with pride which commeth not but of too much ease too much welfare The same author in the same place saith That other vices steale vpon vs when we be idle and negligent but this vice presseth assaulteth vs wheÌ„ we be doing good And like as they that intend to goe vpon a cord doe by and by fall and breake their neckes it their sight goe astray neuer so little so they that walke in this life doe cast themselues downe headlong out of hand if they take not great heed to themselues For the way of this cord is without all comparison far more narrow streight out than the other for so much as it mounteth vp vnto heauen and therfore it is the more danger to slip or to misse footing because the feare is woonderfull to them that are mounted so high whereof there is but onely one remedie which is neuer to looke downeward for feare of dazeling Hee maketh yet one other goodlie similitude saying That like as Sea-rouers passe not to assaile merchants when they set out of the hauen to fetch merchandise but when they come loaden home so when the mischieuous enemie seeth our ship full of precious sâ—ones of all sorts of godlinesse then doth he bend all his force to light vs of our treasure to sinke vs in the hauens mouth and to leaue vs starke naked vpon the strond And as saith S. Ambrose in his epistle which he writeth to the virgin Demetrias Satan watcheth to cast in a collup of pride in place of our deuotion And hee findeth not a better occasion to tempt vs than by our vertues which are the cause why we be of good right commended After that maner befell it to Osias king of Iuda a good man for in the end his heart was puffed vp and he would needs offer sacrifice to God whervpon ensued that he was by and by punished with a leprosie Through pride ouerweening Dathan Coree and Abiron moued sedition against Moses and would needs be equall with him but the earth swallowed them vp quicke Herod taking pleasure in the flatterie of the people which said That his words were the voice of God and not of man was eaten vp of lice so odious is that vice vnto God Thereof it commeth that it is said not that God forsaketh the proud but that he resisteth them to shew that he will fight against them with his power so greatly doth he abhorre that vice according to this saying of the Psalmist Thou didst cast them downe when they aduanced themselues Virgill seemeth to approch hereunto when he saith
altogether vnsetled in his countenance and in all his gestures and mouings The presumptuous opinion that Pompey had of himselfe surmoâ—â—ted the reach of his reason by means wherof forgetting the heed that hee was wont to take in standing vpon his 〈◊〉 whereby he had alwaies assuâ—ed his prosperitie afoâ—â— hee changed it into rash and bold brauerie Gaulter Brenne hauing conquered the greatest part of the kingdome of Naples and holding Diepold an Almane besieged within Sarne happened to be taken in a salie that Diepold made out vpon a desperate aduenture and being prisoner was vsed courteously by Diepold Who hauing caused him to thinke vpon the curing of his wounds would haue sent him home againe and haue put the kingdome into his hands But Gaulter hauing too lordly a heart answered that there was not so great a benefit nor so great an honour that he would receiue at the hands of so base a person as he was with which words Diepold being prouoked to wrath threatned him that he should repent it Whervpon Gaulter fell into such a furie that he opened his wounds drew his bowels out of his bellie and within foure daies after died for very moode Had hee beene lowlie-minded his imprisonment had profited him and he had gotten a faithfull seruitor of Diepold who would haue made the kingdome of Naples sure vnto him wheras now through his passing pride he lost both kingdome and life Alfons of Arragon dealt not so for when he was prisoner he did so much by his gentlenesse and humilitie that he made his enemies to loue him and practised with them in such sort that they helped him to win the realme of Naples Taxilles gained more at Alexanders hand by his humilitie than hee could haue conquered in all his life with all his forces and men of arms And yet notwithstanding his humbling of himselfe vnto Alexander was after a braue and princelie maner somoning him to the combat with such words as these If you be a lesser lord than I suffer me to doe you good If you be a greater lord that I doe by me as I do by you Well then qd Alexander we must come to the encounter and see who shal win his companion to do him good and therwithal imbracing him in his arms with all gentlenesse and courtesie in steed of taking his kingdome from him as he had done from others he increased his dominion Herod by humbling himselfe before Augustus saued and increased his kingdome Plutarch saith That Pirrhus could verie well skill to humble himselfe towards great men and that his so doing helped him verie much to the conquest of his kingdome Lois the eleuenth king of France led the countie of Charrolois with so sweete and lowly words that he got the thing by humilitie which he could neuer haue obtained otherwise and by that means wound himselfe from all his enemies and setled his state in rest and tranquilitie which had bin in great hazard if he had vsed brauery towards him The lowlines of Aristides did maruellous great seruice to the obtainment of the victorie which the Greeks had of the Persians at such time as he agreed to the opinion of Miltiades and willingly yeelded him the soueraigne authority of commanding the armie For there were many captaines which had euery man his day to command the whole armie as generals but when it came to Aristides turne he yeelded his preheminence into the hands of Miltiades thereby teaching his other companions that to submit a mans selfe to the wisest and to obay them is not only not reprochfull but also wholesome and honorable after whose example all the rest submitted themselues to Miltiades likewise I told you in the chapter going afore how he submitted himselfe to Themistocles his enemie for the profit of Greece And I wil say yet further of him that beeing sent with Cimon to make war against the Persians both of them bahaued themselues gently and graciously toward the Greeks that were their allies on the other side Pausanias and the rest of the captains of Lacedemon which had the soueraine charge of the whole armie were rough and rigorus to the confederate people In doing wherof he bereft the Lacedemonians by little and little of the principalitie of Greece not by force of arms but by good discretion and wise demeanor For as the goodnes of Aristides and the gentlenes and meekenes of Cimon made the gouernment of the Athenians well liked of the other nations of Greece so the couetousnes arrogancie and pride of Pausanias made it to be the more desired S. Iohn Chrisostom saith in his nine and thirtith homilie That honor is not to be had but by flying from it For iâ— we seeke after it it fleeth from vs and when we flee from it it followeth vs. And as Salomâ—n saith in the xviij of the Prouerbs The heart is puffed vp against a fall and lowlines goeth afore glory Not without great reason therfore is pride esteemed the greatest of all vices and humilitie set formost among all the vertues And as S. Austin saith in his thirteenth booke of the citie of God For as much as the gloriâ—ieng and exalting of a mans selfe refuseth to be subiect vnto God it falleth away from him aboue whom there is not any thing higher but humilitie maketh a man subiect to his superior Now there is nothing higher than God and therfore humilitie exalteth men because it maketh them subiect vnto God And as S. Chrisostom saith It is the mother the root and the good of all goods The CenturioÌ„ was esteemed worthy to receiue the Lord because he protested himselfe to be vnworthie And S. Paâ—l who counted not himselfe worthy the name of an Apostle was the cheefe of all the Apostles S. Iohn who thought not himselfe worthy to vntie the Lords shoes laid his hand vpon his head to baptise him And S. Peter who praied the Lord to depart far from him vretched sinner was a foundation of the church For there is not a more acceptable thing vnto God than to muster a mans selfe among the greatest sinners Hereby we see the profit that is gotten of the small esteeming of a mans selfe For the lesse a man esteemeth himselfe the more is he esteemed first of God and secondly of men Also we see that ordinarily the lowly prince is loued of euery man and the proud is hated of all And therfore let such as haue the gouernment of yoong princes teach them cheefly among other things to be lowly and courteous towards all men as knowing by experience that nothing winneth mens hearts so much as humilitie which killeth vainglorie Insolencie Impatiencie Enuie Ambition and all manner of vices CHAP. VII Of Fortitude Valiancie Prowesse or Hardinesse and of Fearfulnesse or Cowardlinesse LEt vs come to the third cardinall vertue which the learned call Fortitude Prowes or Valiantnesse the which the Poet Hâ—mer said to be the only morall vertue that hath as it were salies
he will not haue vs to vse abundance of words as Ecclesiasticus saith in the fifth chapter that it is the property of fooles to vse manie words vnto God and that the multitude of words without reason betoken a foolish praier And our Lord will not haue vs to pray after the maner of the Heathen who thinke they shall be heard for the multitude of their words For as S. Paul saith in the second to the Corinthians The kingdome of God consisteth not in words As touching the maner of speaking Cicero shews it vs briefly in his Duties saying That in talking a man must not be too stiffe of opinion but must suffer euery man to speake in his turne and consider whereof he speaketh so as if it be a matter of earnest it be done with grauitie or if it be a matter of mirth it be done cheerfully and in any wise a man must not speake without the bounds of reason For as saith Euripides In the end euery vnbridled toung shall find it selfe vnfortunate and the great talker hath this inconuenience that he is not euer beleeued and yet our speaking is to the end that we would haue our sayings beleeued Plutarch speaking of a babler in his treatise of too much speaking saith That as corne shut vp in a moist vessell increaseth in measure but impaireth in goodnes euen so doth a babler For he increaceth much his words by putting them forth but his so doing bereaueth them of all power to persuade And as it is held for a truth that the seed of such as companie with women too much is not of strength to beget children so the words of great talkers is barreine and fruitlesse And like as in our bodies the parts that are infected and diseased do alwaies draw to them the corrupt humors of the parts next vnto them so the tongue of a great babler being as it were in the whot fit of a burning feuer doth alwaies gather togither and draw vnto it some secret lurking euill He that will see the mischiefes that haue happened to many men by too much speaking and the meane to remedie the same let him reade the treatise of Plutarch concerning too much speaking where he treateth of it so largely that nothing can be added vnto it and also Erasmus booke of the Tongue Neuerthelesse I may say in generall that to keepe a mans selfe from the vice of the tongue he must eschue curiositie lying flatterie mockerie slaundering and tale bearing I call curiositie or inquisitiuenes a discouering of things that are to be kept secret For commonly it commeth to passe that he which is desirous to know too much is a great babler And that is the cause why a certaine great Poet counselleth vs to shun inquisitiue folke because he is a great babler and the property of a great babler is io bewray secrets to sow discord to make quarrels to offend freinds and to make enemies The fashion of inquisitiue folks is to learne mens pedegrees the vices of their races the doings of their houses the faults that befall in mens families what the neighbour oweth and how he gouerneth his wife also to silch letters to stand listening by mens wals to herken what they say to marke diligently what seruants and chambermaids do or say if he see a woman passe through the streets to enquire whēce she coms if he see men talke in secret to learne wherof they speake To be short as Plutarch saith in his booke of Inquisitiuenes they be like to pullerie which as long as they haue a graine to eat do neuer leaue scraping in the dunghill to haue one little graine of corne more so the inquisitiue folke in stead of setting their minds vpon histories and good doings and other needfull things the which are not forbidden to be enquired of do fall to gathering and hoording vp the euill of some house In this case the Athenians shewed themselues to be good men to Philip and little inquisitiue of houshold secrets For hauing intercepted his courriers they opened all his letters and read them sauing those that were written vnto him by his wife Olimpias the which they sent vnto him closed and vnbroken vp as they were Lisimachus demanded of Philippides what he would haue of him ask what you wil sir qd he so it be no secret because that commonly men conceale not any thing but that which is euil and that is the thing that the vnderminer is inquisitiue of And like as the spondgie places of leather do draw into them the worst of the leather so the inquisitiue eares do draw all the matters that are to be had Therefore the law of the Locrians was good which amerced the partie at a good fine that enquired after newes And like as cookes to stirre coles well in their kitchins desire but good store of flesh meates and fisshermen good store of fish so the inquisitiue sort desire abundance of mischieues great numbers of dealings store of nouelties and great chaunges that they may haue wherewith to hunt and kill The remedy of inquisitiuenes is neither to here nor to see the things that belong not vnto vs. For the eie is one of the hands of curiositie is matched with blabbing that is to wit with babling out againe as sayth Plutarch in his treatise of the Fruit of foes As for the Lier he hath no need of eies for he forgeth what he listeth of whome Horace speaking sayth That he that can forget that which he neuer saw and hath no skill to conceale things committed to him in secret is a naughtie fellow and to be taken heed of Lying is a vice detested of God and man as I will declare anon after I haue treated of the seueral sorts of lying For this vice should seeme to be common to all men considering how Dauid saith that all men are liers And so it might seeme that this vice were in some sort excusable vntill we consider that the word Lie is taken in diuers significations Mercurie in his chap. of vnderstanding saith that lying is the foundation and substance of all vice and therefore sinne is termed nothing and leasing or lying because it consisteth of not-being or of bereauing and all not being or bereauing is out of the truth which truth is God and whatsoeuet is out of the truth is leasing And therfore saint Austen in his fourteenth booke of the Citie of God saith That the man which liueth after himselfe that is to say after his owne imagination and not according to Gods ordinance which is the truth doth surely liue in leasing because he liueth according to himselfe and not in such sort as he was created to liue And although a man liue well yet do we say that he is subiect to leasing by way of priuation of the truth which priuation he is runne into by the sinne of Adam For there is not one that doth good no
not one And therefore Saint Paule to the Romans saith thus If Gods truth abound through my lying Also there is another sort of leasing that draweth nigh vnto this whereof Dauid speaketh where he saith The sonnes of men are nothing but vanitie insomuch that if they be put into the ballance they shall be found lighter than vanitie it selfe Also the Preacher saith That all that is in this world is vanitie of vanities or nothing of nothings that is to say there is not any thing in this world that can giue a man true and sure contentment neither is there any thing setled and certaine as saith Mercurie speaking of the will of God And therefore we say that in man there is nothing but leasing For they be not so certaine as other things no not euen as the heauenly bodies and elements which be not chaunged For fire continueth alwayes fire earth earth and so of the rest But man consisteth of the four elements which are diuerse and altereth from age to age so much that fathers know not their owne children when they haue beene long absent and vnseene of them Now the thing that chaungeth after such sort and is subiect to growing breeding diminishing and dissolution and consequently to shifting and alteration cannot be true And as Mercurie saith in his fifth chapter of Generation The shape of mortall things is changed from day to day by reason that in time it returneth from growing to decaying like a leasing for that which is not permanent and certaine cannot be true and therefore it must needs be a leasing Another kind of leasing whereof I intend to speake heere is when we disguise the truth by falshood and deceit or when for our owne pleasures sake we say otherwise than it is a vice proper to Satan whome our Lord in S. Iohn calleth a lier and the father of lying and cleane contrarie to God as full opposit to his diuine nature which consisteth in truth And for that cause it is said in Wisdome the mouth that lieth sleyeth the soule And Dauid in the threescore and third Psalme saith That the mouthes of such as speake lies shall be stopped And in the xxiiij Psalme it is said That that man shall goe vp into the Lords hll which giueth not ouer his hart vnto leasing ne sweareth to beguile For the words of the Lord are pure words as gold fined in the furnace from the earth and seuen times tried And the man that wil liue long and see good dayes must keepe his tongue from euill and his lips from speaking guile For the mouth of the good liuer teacheth nothing but wisdome and his tongue vttereth nothing but that which is righteous and fruitfull as sayth Salomon Saint Iohn in the xiiij of the Apocalips setteth downe among those that follow the lambe them that haue not defiled themselues with women and them in whose mouthes no guile or lying hath ben found And in the last chapter he excludeth out of the number of the blessed all liers and them that loue lying Plato in his fiâ—t booke of Lawes saith That he which chuseth to lie is worthie to haue no credit giuen vnto him And that he which lieth against his will is a foole and of those two names we should desire none of them both For distitute of all freinds is that man and vnworthy to be beleeued and credited And in time when he is knowne to be such a one he is so forsaken of all men in his hatefull old age that he is faine to leade a solitarie life euer after And in his Timaeus he saith thus If yee be liers ye shall be despised how great so euer yee be For the manners of liers sayth Salomon are without honor and their confusion accompanieth them continually And in the same place Lying is a shamefull reproch to a man and will continually be in the mouth of them that be without nurture And to shew the enormitie of the vice That a theefe is better than he that accustometh himselfe to lie but both of them shall haue destruction to their heritage Anacharsâ—s said That when liers are suffered in the houses of princes it is a signe that both the king and the realme be going to decay Ecclesiasticus abhorreth three sorts of men A poore man that is prowd a rich man that is a lier and an old man that is a foole And Salomâ—n in his Prouerbs saith That as words of authoritie become not a foole so lying lips become not a prince And in the xxix he sayth againe The prince that herkeneth to lying words hath all his seruants wicked And in the vij of Ecclesiasticus he sayth He will not lie any maner of leasing for the custome thereof is not good And in another place he sayth That the Lord abhorreth lying lips and that he which giueth eare to lies is like one that catcheth a shadow and pursueth the wind And Dauid in the hundred and nineteenth Psalme prayeth God to take from him the vntrue way the which he protesteth himselfe to hate aboue all things and vtterly to abhorre it And in the Psalme next following Deliuer me saith he from false lips and from a guilefull tongue And in the eight and fiftith They that speake lies saith he are as venemous as serpents And in the fift Thou wilt destroy them that speake leasings And in the thirtith of the Prouerbes Put farre from me all vanitie and lying words Menander sayth That all good and wise men hate lies Aristotle and Demetrius said That the gaine which hers gained by their lying is that men beleeue them not when they say truth And as Ecclesiasticus sayth What thing can be made cleane by him that is vncleane or what truth can be spoken by a lier Archidamus intending to withdraw the Lacedemonians from beleeuing a certain ambassador of Chio stoode vp and said How can this fellow say any truth which beareth his lying not only in his soule but also in his head because the ambassador had caused his gray heares to bee died blacke Alcibiades to hinder the peace that the Lacedemonians granted to the Athenians did craftily counsell their ambassadors to be more streight-laced to the senat than they had ben before the people and to hold another course of speech than they had done The which thing they did beleeuing that Alcibiades had giuen them that counsel for their benefit But he taking occasion therby to set all things in a broile said in open senat that no credit was to be giuen vnto men that were proued to be liers which in one self-same matter said one while one thing and another while another For he that is mutable in his words saith Salomon deludeth princes The Persians esteemed lying to be the greatest sin in the world and therfore they hated debters and numbred them amoÌ„g offenders because it is hard for a debter to forbeare lying seeing he assaieth to deceiue and to deceiue a