fought together for as Nafica sayde the pleasures that Rome had to see many victories were not so great as the displeasure was which she tooke to see her selfe once ouercome The good Vlpius Traianus gaue battell to king Cebalus wherein Cebalus was not onely ouercome but also taken and afterwardes brought before the Emperor Traianus which sayde vnto him these words Speake Cebalus Why diddest thou rebell against the Romaines since thou knowest that the Romanes are inuincible King Cebalus answered him If the Romans could not bee ouercome how then did I ouercome the Emperour Domitian Traian the Emperour sayde vnto him againe Thou art greatly deceyued King Cebalus to thinke that when thou ouercamest the Emperor thou hadst ouercome the Romanes For when that Romulus founded Rome the Gods ordained that though their Emperour dyed in any battell yet notwithstanding it is not to bee thought that the Empire is ouercome The Historiographers made a great matter of the words that this Vlpius Traianus spake for therin he shewed that the Rom Empire was invincible After that this King Cebalus was dead and that for his deserts hee was depriued as the Emperour Traian was a mercifull Prince so hee prouided that a little child that Cebalus had should bee brought vp in his Palace with intention that if the Child became good they would giue him the Realme which his Father through treason had lost For in Rome there was an auncient Law that all which the Father lost by reason the sonne should recouer by his faithfull acts It chaunced that the good Traian taking his pleasure in the garden of Vulcan saw the sonne of King Cebalus and many other young children of Rome stealing fruit foorth of an Orchard and it is no wonder for the Locustes did not so much harme to the corne as the children do to the fruites when they enter into the Orchards When the Emperour afterwardes demaunded him from whence hee came hee answered from his study hearing Rethorike but indeed hee came from stealing of fruit The Emperour Traian was so angry and displeased that the child was a lyer that he commanded he should vtterly be depriued and made voide of all hope to recouer the Realme of his Father The Emperour Traian was greatly importuned as wel of strange Ambassadours as of his owne countrimen that he would change that cruell sentence For Princes in a fury doe commaund that which when they are patient they doe vndo The Emperour Traian answered them if the Father of this child which was King Cebalus had been a true Prince he had not lost his life neyther his Realme nor had not put mee and the Empire so many times in daunger but since the Father was a lyer and the sonne is not true it were too vniust a thing to render him the Realme For to me it should be great reproach and to our mother Rome as much dishonour that shee being the mother of truth should giue Realmes to children beeing lyers This was it that Vlpius Traian spake vnto the sonne of King Cebalus Marcus Aurelius the 17. Emperour of Rome had two sonnes as before we haue rehearsed the eldest of the which was called Comodus and his father procured greatly to dishen herite him of the Empire for hee would that the second sonne named Verissimus should haue enherited it and hee did not onely determine it but also spake it oft times openly For that thing is with great difficulty dissembled that excessiuely is beloued By chance an olde Senator and friend of Marcus Aurelius the Emperour one day both going out of the Senate house sayde vnto him I maruell at thee most Excellent Prince Why thou doest dishenherite thy sonne which is eldest to make thine Heyre the youngest knowing that they are both thy sonnes and that the gods haue giuen thee no other but them For the good Fathers are bound to chasten their children but they haue not licence to dishenherite them The Emperour Marcus Aurelius answered him If thou wert a Greeke Philosopher as thou ort a Romane Citizen and if thou knowest tke fathers loue towards the child thou wouldest not take pitty on my sonne which vndoeth the Empire but thou shouldest haue compassion on me his Father which doth dishenherite him For the child scarcely knoweth what hee looseth but I that am his Father doe bewayle the dammage which I doe vnto him For in the end there is not in the world so cruell a Father but if his sonne should bee hurt with the pomell of the sword in the hand the Father would feele incontinently the dent of his blade at his heart In this case I sweare vnto thee by the immortall Gods that I do that which I would not doe and I take that from him which I would not take For Anthonius my Lord and Father in law gaue mee the Empire for no other cause but because hee neuer found in mee any lye and for this occasion I doe depriue my sonne from it for that I neuer found in him any truth For it is not meete that the Empire beeing giuen vnto me for that I was true should bee left in heritage to him that is a lyer For in the ende it is better that the sonne doe loose the heritage then the father should loose his renowne By these two examples those which are the tutors and masters of Princes and great Lordes may see how to bee diligent to keepe them from lyes whilest they are yong and it ought to be in such sort that neyther in pastime neyther in earnest answering they should bee suffered to tell a lye For those that for their pleasures were accustomed to lye in their youth will not fayle for their profite to lye in their age Secondarily the Tutours and Masters ought to keepe their Disciples that they bee no gamesters that they doe not accustome themselues in their youth to bee vnthrifts for it is a great token of the decay of the Empire when the Prince in his youth is affectionated to play Experience sheweth vs that to play is a vice as Seneca saieth which hath the property of a raging dogge with whom if a man bee once bitten vnlesse hee hath present remedie forthwith he runneth mad and the disease also continueth with him vncurable vntill the houre of his death Players not without a cause are compared to madde dogges for al those that vse it hurt their conscience loose their honour and consume their substance It chaunceth oft that in that wherein Masters should bee most circumspect they for the most part are most negligent that is to say that vnder the colour of some honest recreation they agree to their Schollers to vse some pastime which if therein bee contained no commendable exercise the children ought not to vse it nor yet the tutors to suffer it for vice is of such a propertie that if a childe in his youth dare play a point it is to bee feared when he commeth to yeares hee
doth not enrich or empouerish his Common-wealth yet wee cannot deny but that it doth much for the reputation of his person For the vanity and curiosity of garments dooth shew great lightnes of mind According to the variety of ages so ought the diuersity of apparrell to bee which seemeth to be very cleare in that the young maides are attired in one sort the married women of an other sort the widdowes of an other And likewise I would say that the apparrell of children ought to be of one sort those of young men of an other and those of olde men of an other which ought to be more honester then all For men of hoary heades ought not to be adorned with precious garments but with vertuous workes To goe cleanely to bee well apparrelled and to bee well accompanied wee doe not forbidde the olde especially those which are noble and valiant men but to goe fine to go with great traines and to go very curious wee doe not allow Let the old men pardon mee for it is not the office but of yong fooles for the one sheweth honesty and the other lightnesse It is a confusion to tell it but it is greater shame to do it that is to say that many olde men of our time take no smal felicity to put caules on their heads euery man to weare iewels on their necks to lay their caps with agglets of gold to seeke out diuers inuētions of mettall to loade their fingers with rich rings to go perfumed with odoriferous sauors to weare new fashioned apparrell and finally I say that thogh their face be ful of wrinckles they cannot suffer one wrinckle to be in their gowne All the ancient histories accuse Quint. Hortensius the Romane for that euery time when he made himselfe ready hee had a glasse before him and as much space and time had hee to streighten the pleytes of his gowne as a Woman hadde to trimme the haires of her head This Quintus Hortensius being Consull going by chance one day through Rome in a narrow streete met with the other Consull where thorough the streightnes of the passage the pleights of his Gowne were vndone vppon which occasion hee complained vnto the Senate of the other Consull that he had deserued to loose his life The Author of all this is Macrobius in the third book of the Saturnales I can not tell if I be deceyued but we may say that all the curiositie that olde men haue to goe fine well apparrelled and cleane is for no other thing but to shake off Age and to pretende right to youth What a griefe is it to see diuers auncient men the which as ripe Figges do fall and on the other side it is a wonder to see how in theyr age they make themselues young In this case I say would to God wee might see them hate vices and not to complaine of their yeares which they haue I pray and exhort all Princes and great Lordes whome our soueraigne Lord hath permitted to come to age that they doe not despise to bee aged For speaking the truth the man which hath enuie to seeme olde doth delight to liue in the lightnes of youth Also men of honor ought to be very circumspect for so much as after they are become aged they bee not suspected of their friends but that both vnto their friends and foes they be counted faithfull For a Lye in a young mans mouth is esteemed but a lye but in the mouth of an auncient or aged old man it is counted as a haynous blasphemie Noble Princes and great Lordes after they are become aged of one sort they ought to vse themselues to giue and of the other to speake For good Princes ought to sell theyr wordes by weight and giue rewardes without measure The Auncient do oftentimes complaine saying That the young will not bee conuersant with them and truely if there be any faulte therein it is of themselues And the reason is that if sometimes they doe assemble together to passe away the time if the old man set a talking he neuer maketh an ende So that a discrete man had rather goe a dozen miles on foot then to heare an olde man talke three houres If with such efficacie we perswade olde men that they be honest in theyr apparrell for a truth we will not giue them licence to bee dissolute in theyr words since there is a great difference to note some man in his Apparrell or to accuse him to bee malitious or a babler For to weare rich and costly Apparell iniurieth fewe but iniurious words hurt manie Macrobius in his first booke of the dreames of Scipio declareth of a Phylosopher named Crito who liued an hundred and fiue yeares and till fiftie yeares hee was farre out of course But after hee came to be aged he was so well measured in his eating and drinking and so warie in his speeche that they neuer saw him do any thing worthy reprehension nor heard him speake word but was worthie of noting On this condition wee would giue licence to manie that till fiftie yeares they should bee young So that from thenceforth they would be clothed as old men speake as old men and they should esteeme themselues to be olde But I am sorrie that all the Spring time doth passe in flower and afterwardes they fall into the graue as rotten before they finde any time to pull them out The olde doe complaine that the young doe not take their aduise and their excuse herein is that in their words they are too long For if a man doe demaund an olde man his opinion in a case immediately hee will beginne to say that in the life of such and such Kings and Lords of good memory this was done this was prouided so that when a young man asketh them counsel how hee shall be haue himselfe with the liuing the olde man beginneth to declare vnto him the life of those which be dead The reason why the olde men desire to speake so long is that since for their age they cannot see nor go nor eate nor sleepe they would that all the time their members were occupied to doe their duties all that time their tongue should bee occupied to declare of their times past All this being spoken what more is to say I know not but that wee should content our selues that the olde men should haue their flesh as much punished as they haue their tong with talke martyred Though it bee very vile for a young man to speake and slaunder to a young man not to say the truth yet this vice is much more to be abhorred in old Princes and other noble and worshipfull men which ought not onely to thinke it their duty to speake truth but also to punish the enemies thereof For otherwise the noble and valiant Knights should not lose a litle of their authority if a man saw on their heads but white haires and in their mouthes found
paine answere thy demand For the doings of youth in a yong man were neuer so vpright honest but it were more honest to amend them then to declare them Annius Verus my father shewing vnto me his fatherly loue not accomplishing yet fully 13. years drew me frō the vices of Rome and sent mee to Rhodes to learn science howbeit better accompanied with books then loden with money where I vsed such diligence and fortune so fauored me that at the age of 26. years I read openly natural and moral Philosophy and also Rhetoricke and there was nothing gaue mee such occasion to study and reade books as the want of money For pouerty causeth good mens children to be vertuous so that they attaine to that by vertue which others com vnto by riches Truely friend Pulio I found great want of the pleasures of Rome especially at my first comming into the Isle but after I had read Philosophy x. yeares at Rhodes I tooke my selfe as one born in the countrey And I think my conuersation among them caused it seeme no lesse For it is a rule that neuer faileth That vertue maketh a stranger grow naturall in a strange country and vice maketh the naturall a stranger in his owne countrey Thou knowest well how my Father Annius Verus was 15. years a Captain in the Frontiers against the barbarous by the commandement of Adrian my Lord and Master and Antoninus Pius my Father in Law both of them Princes of famous memory which recommended mee there to their olde friends who with fatherly counsell exhorted me to forgette the vices of Rome and to accustome my selfe to the vertues of Rhodes And truely it was but needfull for mee For the naturall loue of the country oft times bringeth damage to him that is borne therein leading his desire still to returne home Thou shalt vnderstand that the Rhodians are men of much courtesie and requiting benenolences which chanceth in few Isles because that naturally they are persons deceitfull subtill vnthankefull and full of suspition I speake this because my Fathers friends alwaies succored me with counsel mony which 2 things were so necessary that I could not tell which of them I had most need of For the stranger maketh his profite with money to withstand disdainefull pouerty profiteth himself with counsel to forget the sweet loue of his country I desired then to reade Philosophie in Rhodes so long as my Father continued there Captaine But that could not bee for Adrian my Lord sent for me to return to Rome which pleased me not a litle albeit as I haue said they vsed me as if I had beene borne in that Iland for in the end Although the eyes bee fedde with delight to see strange things yet therefore the heart is not satisfied And this is all that touched the Rhodians I will now tell thee also how before my going thither I was borne and brought vp in mount Celio in Rome with my father from mine infancie In the common wealth of Rome there was a law vsed and by custome well obserued that no Citizen which enioyed any liberty of Rome after their sonnes had accomplished tenne yeares should bee so bold or hardy to suffer them to walke the streetes like vacabonds For it was a custome in Rome that the children of the Senators should sucke till two yeares of age till foure they should liue at their own willes till sixe they should reade till eight they should write til ten they should study Grammer and ten years accomplished they should then take some craft or occupation or giue themselues to study or goe to the warres so that throughout Rome no man was idle In one of the lawes of the twelue Tables were written these words Wee ordaine and commaund that euery Citizen that dwelleth within the circuite of Rome or Liberties of the same from ten yeares vpwards to keepe his son well ordered And if perchance the child being idle or that no man teaching him any craft or science should thereby peraduenture fall to vice or commit some wicked offence that then the Father no lesse then the Sonne should bee punished For there is nothing so much breedeth vice amongst the people as when the Fathers are too negligent and the children bee too bold And furthermore another Law sayde Wee ordaine and commaund that after tenne yeares bee past for the first offence that the child shall commit in Rome that the Father shall bee bound to send him forth some where else or to bee bound surety for the good demeanour of his Sonne For it is not reason that the fond loue of the Father to the Sonne should bee an occasion why the multitude should bee slaunred Because all the wealth of the Empire consisteth in keeping and maintaining quiet men and in banishing and expelling seditious persons I will tell thee one thing my Pulio and I am sure thou wilt maruell at it and it is this When Rome triumphed and by good wisdome gouerned all the world the inhabitants in the same surmounted the number of two hundred thousand persons which was a maruellous matter Amongst whom as a man may iudge there was a hundred thousand children But they which had the charge of them kept them in such awe and doctrine that they banished from Rome one of the sonnes of Cato Vticensis for breaking an earthen pot in a Maydens hands which went to fetch water In like manner they banished the sonne of good Cinna only for entring into a garden to gather fruit And none of these two were as yet fifteene yeeres old For at that time they chastised them more for the offences done in iest then they do now for those which are don in good earnest Our Cicero sayth in his booke De Legibus That the Romanes neuer tooke in any thing more pains then to restrain the children as well olde as the young from idlenes And so long endured the feare of their Law and honour of their common wealth as they suffered not their children like vagabonds idlely to wander the streetes For that country may aboue all other bee counted happy where each one enioyeth his owne labour and no man liueth by the sweate of another I let thee know my Pulio that when I was a child although I am not yet very old none durst bee so hardy to goe commonly through Rome without a token about him of the craft and occupation hee exercised and wherby hee liued And if any man had beene taken contrary the children did not onely crie out of him in the streets as of a foole but also the Censour afterwards condemned him to trauell with the captiues in common workes For in Rome they esteemed it not lesse shame to the child which was idle then they did in Greece to the Philosopher which was ignorant And to the end thou mayest see this I write vnto thee to be no new thing thou oughtest to know that the Emperour caused
end count they well or euill all passeth amongst men because they are men but what shall the vnhappy Princes doe which shall render no account but to God onely who will not bee deceiued with words corrupted with gifts feared with threatnings nor answered with excuses Princes haue their Realms full of cruell Iudges to punish the frailetic of man they haue their courts full of Aduocates to plead against them that haue offended they haue their Pallaces 〈…〉 and Promoters that note the offences of other men They haue through all theyr Prouince Auditours that ouersee the accounts of their routs and besides all this they haue no remembrance of the day so strict wherein they must render an account of their wicked life Me thinkes since all that which Princes receyue commeth from the hands of God that the greatest part of the time which they spend should bee in the seruice of God and al their trade in God and they ought to render no account of their life but vnto God then sith they are Gods in authority which they haue ouer temporall things they ought to shew themselues to resemble God more then others by vertues For that Prince is more to be magnified which reformeth two vices among his people then hee which conquereth ten Realmes of his enemies But we wil desire them from henceforth They presume not any more to bee Gods on the earth but that they endeuour themselues to bee good Christians in the Commonwealth For all the wealth of a Prince is That hee bee stout with strangers and louing to his owne Subiects Fiftly Princes ought to bee better Christians then others For the prosperity or aduersity that chanceth vnto them commeth directly from the hands of God onely and none other I haue seene sundry times princes which haue put their whole trust and confidence in other Princes to be on a sodaine discomfited and for the contrary those which haue litle hope in men and great confidence in God haue alwayes prospered When man is in his chiefest brauery and trusteth most to mens wisedome then the secret iudgement of God soonest discomforteth him I meane that the consederates and friends of Princes might helpe and succour them but God will not suffer them to be holpen nor succoured to the ende they should see their remedy proceedeth not by mans diligence but by diuine prouidence A Prince that hath a Realme doth not suffer any thing to bee done therein without his aduice therefore since God is of no lesse power in Heauen then Princes are on the earth it is reason that nothing bee done without his consent since he taketh account of all mens deedes and as hee is the end of all things so in him and by him all things haue their beginning O Princes If you knew how small a thing it is to bee hated of men and how great a comfort to be beloued of GOD I sweare that you would not speake one word althogh it were in iest vnto men neyther would you cease night nor day to commend your selues vnto God for God is more mercifull to succour vs then wee are diligent for to call vpon him For in conclusion the fauour which men can giue you other men can take from you but the fauour that God will giue you no man can resist it All those that possesse much should vse the company of them which can doe much and if it bee so I let you Princes know that all men cannot thinke so much together as God is able to doe alone For the crye of a Lyon is more fearefull then the howling of a Wolfe I confesse that Princes and great Lords may sometimes gaine and winne of them selues but I aske them whose fauour they haue neede of to preserue and keepe them we see oftentimes that in a short space many come to great authority the which neyther mans wisedome sufficeth to gouerne nor yet mans force to keepe For the authority which the Romanes in sixe hundred yeares gained fighting against the Gothes in the space of three yeares they lost Wee see daily by experience that a man for the gouernment of his owne house onely needeth the counsell of his friends and neighbours and doe Princes and great Lords thinke by their own heades onely to rule and gouerne many realmes and dominions CHAP. XXI What the Philosopher Bias was of his constancy when hee lost all his goods and of the ten lawes hee gaue worthy to bee had in memory AMong all nations sorts of men which auaunt themselues to haue had with them sage men the Grecians were the chiefest which had and thought it necessary to haue not onely wise men to reade in theyr schooles but also they chose them to bee Princes in their dominions For as Plato sayeth Those which gouerned in those dates were Philosophers or else they sayde and did like Philosohers And Laertius writeth in his second booke De antiquitatibus Graecorum That the Grecians auaunted themselues much in this that they had of all Estates persons most notable that is to say Seuen women very sage seuen Queenes very honest seuen Kings very vertuous seuen Captaines very hardy seuen Cities very notable seuen buildings very sumptuous and seuen Philosophers very well Learned which Philosophers were these that follow The first was Tales Milesius that inuented the Carde to sayle by The second was Solon that gaue the first lawes to the Athenians The third was Chilo who was in the Orient for Ambassadour of the Athenians The fourth was Pittacus Quintilenus who was not onely a Philosopher but also Captaine of the Mitilenes The fifth was Cleobolus that discended from the ancient lynage of Hercules The sixt was Periander that long time gouerned the realme of Corinth The seuenth was Bias Prieneus that was Prince of the Prieneans Therefore as touching Bias you must vnderstand that when Romulus raigned at Rome and Ezechias in Iudea there was great warres in Grecia betweene the Metinences and the Prieneans and of these Prieneans Bias the Philosopher was Prince and Captaine who because hee was sage read in the Vniuersity and for that hee was hardy was Chiefetain in the warre and because hee was wise he was made a Prince and gouerned the Common-wealth And of this no man ought to maruell for in those daies the Philosopher that had knowledge but in one thing was little esteemed in the Common-wealth After many contentions had betweene the Metinenses and Prienenses a cruel battell was fought whereof the Philosopher Bias was Captaine and had the victory and it was the first battell that euer any Philosopher gaue in Greece For the which victory Greece was proud to see their Philosophers so aduenturous in wars and hardy of their hands as they were profound in their doctrine and eloquent in their tongues And by chance one brought him a number of women and maides to sell or if hee listed to vse them otherwise at his pleasure but this good Philosopher did not
ought to be friend to one and enemie to none Besides all this wee haue amongst vs great friendshippes good peace great loue much rest and aboue all wee holde our selues contented for it is better to enioy the quietnesse of the graue then to liue a discontented life Our Lawes are few but in our opinions they are good and are in seuen words onely included as here followeth Wee ordaine that our children make no more Lawes then wee their Fathers doe leaue vnto them for new Lawes maketh them to forget good and ancient customes We ordaine that our Successors shall haue no moe Gods then two of the which the one God shall bee for the life and the other for the death for one God well serued is more worth then many not regarded Wee ordaine that all bee apparrelled with one cloath and hosed of one sort and that the one haue no more apparrell then the other for the diuersity of garments engendreth folly among the people Wee ordaine that when any woman which is maried hath had three children that then shee bee separated from her husband for the aboundance of children causeth men to haue couetous hearts And if any woman hath brought forth any mo children then they should bee sacrificed vnto the Gods before her eyes We ordaine that all men and women speake the truth in all things and if any bee taken in a lye committing no other fault that immediately hee bee put to death for the same For one lyer is able to vndoe a whole multitude We ordaine that no woman liue aboue forty yeares and that the man liue vntil fifty and if they dye not before that time that then they be sacrificed to the Gods for it is a great occasion for men to bee vicious to thinke that they shall liue many yeares CHAP XXXV That Princes ought to consider for what cause they were made Princes and what Thales the Philosopher was of the 12. questions asked him and of his answere he made vnto them IT is a common and olde saying which many times by Aristotle the noble and vertuous Prince hath beene repeated That in the end all thinges are done to some purpose for there is no worke neyther good nor euil◠but he that doth it meaneth to some end If thou demaundest the Gardener to what end he watereth so oft his plants hee will answere thee it is to get some money for his hearbes If thou demaundest why the riuer runneth so swift a man will answere thee that it his to the end it should returne from whence it came If thou demaundest why the trees budde in the spring time they will answere to the end they may beare fruite in haruest If wee see a traueller passe the mountaines in the snow the riuers with perill the woods in feare to walke in extreame heate in Sommer to wander in the night time in the colde winter and if by chance a man doth aske one of them saying Friend whether goest thou wherefore takest thou such paines And hee aunswereth Truly sir I know no more then you to what end neyther can I tell why I take such paines I aske thee now what a wise man would answere to this innocent Traueller Truly hearing no more hee would iudge him to bee a foole for he is much infortunate that for all his trauell looketh for no reward Therefore to our matter a Prince which is begotten as an other man borne as an other man liueth as an other man dyeth as an other man And besides all this commaundeth all men if of such a one wee should demaund why God gaue him signiory and that he should answere hee knoweth not but that he was borne vnto it In such case let euery man iudge how vnworthy such a King is to haue such authority For it is vnpossible for a man to minister iustice vnlesse hee knew before what iustice meaneth Let Princes and noble men heare this word imprint it in their memory which is that when the liuing God determined to make Kings and Lords in this world hee did not ordaine them to eate more then others to drinke more then others to sleepe more then others to speake more thē others nor to reioyce more then others but hee created them vpon condition that sith he had made thē to commaund more then others they should be more iust in their liues thē others It is a thing most vniust and in the Common wealth very slaunderous to see with what authority a puissant man commandeth those that bee vertuous and with how much shame himselfe is bound to all vices I know not what Lord he is that dare punish his subiect for one onely offence committed seeing himselfe to deserue for euery deede to bee chastised For it is a monstrous thing that a blinde man should take vpon him to leade him that seeth They demaunded great Cato the Censor what a King ought to doe that he should be beloued feared and not despised he answered The good Prince should be compared to him that selleth Tryacle who if the poyson hurteth him not hee selleth bis Triacle well I mean therby that the punishment is takē in good part of the people which is not ministred by the vitious man For hee that maketh the Tryacle shall neuer bee credited vnlesse the proofe of his Triacle bee openly knowne and tryed I meane that the good life is none other then a fine Triacle to cure the Common-wealth And to whome is he more like which with his tongue blazeth vertues and imployeth his deedes to all vices then vnto the man who in the one hand holdeth poyson to take away life and in the other Triacle to resist death To the end that a Lord bee wholy obeyed it is necessary that all that he commaundeth bee obserued first in his owne person for no Lord can nor may withdraw himselfe from vertuous works This was the answere that Cato the Censor gaue which in mine opinion was spoken more like a Christian then any Romane When the true God came into the World he employed 30. yeares onely in workes and spent but two yeares and a halfe in teaching For mans heart is perswaded more with the worke hee seeketh then with the word which hee heareth Those therfore which are Lords let them learne and know of him which is the true Lord and also let Princes learne why they are Princes for he is not a Pylot which neuer sayled on the seas In mine opinion if a Prince will know why he is a Prince I would say to gouern well his people to command well and to maintaine all in iustice and this should not bee with words to make them afrayde neyther by works which should offend them but by sweet words which should encourage them and by the good workes that should edifie them for the noble and gentle heart cannot resist him that with a louing countenance commaundeth Those which will rule and make tame fierce and wilde beasts do
wee shall not know the manner of their beauty and that which seemed to be perpetuall in short space we see it end and lose the renowme in such sort that there is neuer memory of them hereafter Let vs all leaue the ancient buildings come to the buildings now a dayes and none shall see that there is no man that maketh a house bee it neuer so strong nor faire but liuing a little while he shall see the beautie thereof decay For there are a great number of ancient men which haue seene both the tops of famous and strong buildings made and the foundation and ground thereof decayed And that this is true it appeareth manifestly for that if the toppe decay or the wals fall or else if the timber bee weake or the ioynts open or the windowes waxe rotten or the gates doe breake the buildings forthwith decay What shall we say of goodly halls galleries well appointed the which within short space by coles or candles of children or by torches of pages or smoke of chimneys by cobwebs of spiders become as drie and foule as before they were fresh and faire Then if that bee true which I haue sayd of these things I would now gladly know what hope man can haue of the countenance of his beautie since wee see the like destruction of corporall beauty as of stones wood bricke and clay O vnprofitable Princes O children too foolish hardy do you not remember that all your health is subiect to sicknes as in the pain of the stomack in the heate of the liuer the inflammation of the feete in the distemperance of humors in the motions of the aire in the coniunctions of the Moon in the Eclipse of the Sunne I say doe you not know that you are subiect to the tedious Summer and vntollerable Winter Of a truth I cannot tell how you can be among so many imperfections and corruptions so full of vaine glory by your beauty seeing knowing that a litle feuer doth not onely deface and man the beauty but also maketh and coloureth the face all yealow bee it neuer so well fauoured I haue maruelled at one thing that is to say that all men are desirous to haue al things about their body clean their gownes brushed their coates neate their table handsome and the bed fine and onely they suffer their soules to be foule spotted and filthy I durst say and in the faith of a Christian affirme that it is a great lacke of wisedome and a superfluity of folly for a man to his haue house clean to suffer his soule to be corrupted I wold know what preheminence they haue which are fair aboue others to whom nature hath denyed beautie Peraduenture the beautifull man hath two soules and the deformed creature but one peraduenture the most fairest are the most healthfull and the most deformed are the most sickliest peraduènture the most fairest are the wisest and the most deformed the most innocent peraduenture the fairest are most stout and the deformed most cowards peraduenture the faire are most fortunate and the foole most vnluckiest peraduenture the faire only are accepted from vice and the foule depriued from vertue peraduenture those which are faire of right haue perpetuall life and those which are foule are bound to replenish the graue I say no certainely Then if this be true why doe the great mocke the little the faire the foule the right the crooked and the white the blacke since they know that the vaine glory which they haue and their beauty also shall haue an end to day or tomorrow A man that is faire and well proportioned is therefore nothing the more vertuous and he that is deformed and euil shapen is nothing therfore the more vicious so that vertue dependeth not at all of the shape of body neither yet vice proceedeth of the deformity of the face For dayly wee see the deformity of the body to be beautified with the vertues of the minde and the vertues of the minde to be defaced with the vice of the body in his works For truely he that in the vsage of his life hath any botch or imperfection is worse then he that hath foure botches in the shoulders Also I say that though a man be great yet it is not true that therefore he is strong so that it is not a generall rule that the big body hath alwayes a valiāt couragious heart nor the man which is of little person should be of a vile and false heart For we see by experience the greatest men the most cowards and the least of personage the most stout and hardy of heart The holy Scipture speaketh of king Dauid that he was red in his countenance and not big of body but of a meane stature yet notwithstanding as he and the mighty Giant Goliah were in campe Dauid killed Goliah with a sling and with his owne sword cut of his head We ought not maruaile that a litle sheapheard should slay so valiant and mighty a Giant For ofttimes of a litle spark cōmeth a great light cōtrariwise by a great torcha man can searcely see to do any thing This king Dauid did more that hee being little of body and tender of yeares killed the Lyons and recoured the lambes out of the wolues throtes besides this in one day in a battle with his owne hands he slue to the number of 800. men Though wee cannot finde the like in our time we may wel imagine that of the 800. which he slew there were at least 300. of them as noble of linage as he as rich in goods as faire in countenance as high of stature but none of these had so much force and courage since he escaped aliue and they remained in the field dead Though Iulius Caesar was big enough of body yet notwithstanding he was euill proportioned For he had his head all bald his nose very sharpe one hand more shorter then the other And albeit he was yong he had his face riuelled his colour somewhat yellow and aboue all he went somewhat crooked and his girdle was half vndone For men of good wits do not imploy themselues to the setting out of their bodies Iulius Caesar was so vnhandsome in his body that after the battle of Pharsalique a neighbour of Rome said vnto the great Orator Tullius Tell me Tullius why hast thou followd the partialities of Pompeius since thou art so wise knowest thou not that Iulius Caesar ought to be Lord Monarch of al the world Tullius answered I tell thee true my friend that I seeing Iulius Caesar in his youth so euill and vnseemely girded iudged neuer to haue seene that that is seene of him and did neuer greatly regard him But the old Sylla knew him better For he seeing Iulius Caesar so vncomly and so slouenly apparrelled in his youth oftentimes saide vnto the Senate beware of this yong man so euill marked For if you do not watch well his proceeding
liue very circumspectly when they know they are conceyued with childe I should bee excused to speake of this matter since it is not my profession and that as yet I was neuer marryed but by that I haue read of some and by that I haue heard of others I will and dare be so bolde to say one word For the Sage oft times giueth better account of that he hath read then the simple doth of that hee hath proued This thing seemeth to bee true betweene the Physitian and the Patient For where the patient suffereth the euill hee oft times demaundeth the physitian what his sicknes is and where it holdeth him and what it is called and what remedie there is for his disease So the Physitian knoweth more by his science then the patient doth by his experience A man ought not to denie that the women and in especially great Ladies know not by experiēce how they are altered when they are quicke and the great paines they suffer when they are deliuered wee could not denie but that there is great danger in the one and great perill in the other but they shall neuer know frō whence all commeth and frō whence all proceedeth and what remedie is necessarie For there are manie which complaine of robberyes but yet they knowe not what the thieues are that haue robbed them First according to my iudgement opinion that which the woman quicke with childe ought to doe is that they go softly and quietly and that they eschue running eyther in comming or going for though she little esteem the health of her person yet shee ought greatly to regarde the life of the creature The more precious the liquor is and the more weaker the vessell is which containeth it so much the more they ought to feare the danger lest the liquor shead and the vessell breake I meane that the complexion of Women beeing with Childe is very delicate and that the soule of the creature is more pretious and therefore it ought with great diligence to be preserued For all the treasure of the Indies is not equall in value to that which the woman beareth in her bowells When a man planteth a vineyard forthwith he maketh a ditche or some Fence for it to the ende that Beastes should not crop it whiles it is young nor that Trauellers should gather the Grapes when they are ripe And if the Labourer doeth this thing for to get a little wine onely the which for the soule and bodie is not always profitable How much more circūspection ought the woman to haue to preserue her childe since she shall render an accosit to the Creator of her creature vnto the Church of a christian and vnto her Husband of a childe In mine opinion where the account at the houre of death is so streight it is requisite for her that in the time of her life she be very circumspect For GOD knoweth euery thing so well in our life that there is none that can beguile him in rendring his account at his death There is no wight can suffer nor hart dissemble to see a man haue his desire that is to say to haue his Wife great with chllde and ready to bring forth good fruite and afterwards to see the wofull Mother by or throgh some sudden accident perish the innocent babe not to be borne When the VVoman is healthfull and big with childe she is worthie of great reproach if eyther by running leaping or dauncing any mischaunce hap vnto her And truly the Husband hath great cause to lament this case For without doubt the Gardener feeleth great griefe in his heart when in the Prime-time the tree is loden with blossomes and yet by reason of some sharpe and bitter Frost it neuer beareth fruite It is not onely euill that women should runne and leape when they are bigge and great with childe but it is also dishonest specially for great Ladyes For alwayes women that are common dauncers are esteemed as light houswiues The Wiues in generall Princesses and great Ladyes in particular ought to goe temperately and to be modest in theyr mouings For the modest gate argueth discreetnesse in the person All women naturally desire to be honoured and reuerenced and touching that I let them know that there is nothing which in a commonwealth is more honour for a woman then to be wise and warie in speaking moderate and quiet in going For it is vnpossible but that the woman which is light in her going and malicious in her talking should bee despised and abhorred In the yeare of the Foundation of Rome 466. the Romaines sent Curius Dentatus to make warre against King Pyrrus who kept the citie of Tharent and did much harme to the people in Rome For the Romaines had a great courage to conquer strange Realmes and therefore they could haue no patience to suffer any stranger to inuade theirs This Curius Dentatus was he which in the end ouercame King Pyrrus and was the first that brought the Elephants to Rome in his triumphe wherfore the fiercenesse of those Beasts astonished the Romane people much for they weighed little the sight of the Kings loden with yrons but to see the Elephants as they did they wondred much Curius Dentatus had one onely Sister the which he entierly loued They were seuen children two of the which died in the warres and other three by pestilence So that there were none left him but that sister wherefore hee loued her with all his heart For the death of vnthrifty children is but as a watch for children vnprouided of fauors This sister of Curius Dentatus was marryed to a Roman Consull and was conceyued and gone 7. moneths with childe and the day that her brother Triumphed for ioy of her Brothers honour she leaped and daunced so much that in the same place shee was deliuered and so vnluckely that the Mother tooke her death and the Childe neuer liued wherevpon the feast of the Triumph ceased and the Father of the infant with sorrowe lost his speech For the heart which suddenly feeleth griefe incontinently loseth vnderstanding Tibullus the Grecian in the 3. booke De casibus Triumphi declareth the hystorie in good stile how and in what sorte it chaunced Nine yeares after that the Kings of Rome were banished for the rape that Tarquine did to the chaste Lucretia the Romaines created a dignitie which they called Dictatura and the Dictator that had this office was aboue all other Lord and chiefe For the Romaines perceyued that the Commonwealth could not be gouerned but by one head alone And because the Dictatour had so great authoritie as the Emperour hath at this present and to the end they shold not become Tyrants they prouided that the office of the Dictatorship should last no longer then vi moneths in the yeare the which past and expired they chose another Truely it was a good order that that office dured but 6. moneths For oft times Princes thinking
all the time wee haue beene together thy will and mine hath alway beene one If thou wilt not giue me thy key for that I am thy welbeloued Faustine if thou wilt not let mee haue it since I am thy deare beloued wife if thou wilt not giue it me for that I am great with childe I beseech thee giue it mee in vertue of the ancient law for thou knowest it is an inuiolate lawe among the Romanes that a man cannot deny his wife with child her desires I haue seene sundry times with mine eyes many women sue their husbands at the lawe in this behalfe and thou my Lord commandest that a man should not break the priuiledges of women Then if this thing bee true as it is true indeede why wilt thou that the lawes of strange children should bee kept and that they should be broken to thine owne children Speaking according to the reuerence that I owe vnto thee though thou wouldest I will not though thou doest it I will not agree therunto though thou dost command it in this case I will not obey thee for if the husband doe not accept the iust request of his wife the wife is not bound to obey the vniust commaundement of her husband You husbands desire that your wiues should serue you you desire that your wiues should obey you in all and ye will condiscend to nothing that they desire You men say that wee women haue no certaintie in our loue but indeede you haue no loue at all For by this it appeareth that your loue is fayned in that it no longer continueth then your desires are satisfied You say furthermore that the women are suspitious and that is true in you all men may see and not in vs for none other cause there are are so many euill marryed in Rome but because their husbands haue of them such euill opinions There is a great difference betweene the suspition of the woman and the jealousie of the man for a man will vnderstand the suspition of the woman it is no other thing but to shew to her husband that she loueth him with all her heart for the innocent women know no others desire no others but their husbands onely and they would that their husbands should know none others nor search for any others nor loue any others nor will any others but them onely for the heart that is bent to loue one only would not that into that house should euter any other But you men know so many means and vse so many subtilties that you praise your selues for to offend them you vaunt your selues to deceiue them and that it is true a man can in nothing so much shew his noblenes as to sustaine and fauour a Curtizan The husbands please their wiues speaking vnto thē some merry words and immediately their backes being turned to another they giue both their bodies and their goods I sweare vnto thee my Lord that if women had the libertie and authoritie ouer men as men haue ouer women they should finde more malice deceitfulnesse and craft by them committed in one day then they should find in the women all the dayes of their life You men say that women are euill speakers it is true indeede that your tongues are none other but the stings of Serpents for yee doe condemne the good men and defame the Romane women And thinke not if you speake euill of other women to excuse your owne for the man that by his tongue dishonoureth strange women doth not so much euill as he doth by defaming his owne wife by suspition for the husband that suspecteth his wife giueth all men licence to account her for naught Sith wee women goe little out of the house wee trauaile not farre and sith wee see few things though wee would wee cannot bee euill tongued But you men heare much you see much you know much you wander abroad much and continually you murmure All the euill that wee silly women can doe is to listen to our friendes when they are vexed to chide our seruants when they are negligent to enuy our neighbours if they be fayre and to curse those that doe vs iniurie finally though wee speake euill wee cannot murmure but at those that dwell in the same Streete where wee dwell But you men defame your wiues by suspition you dishonour your neighbours in your words you speake against strangers with crueltie you neyther keepe faith nor promise to your wiues you shew your selues extreme against your enemies you murmure both at those that bee present and also at them that be absent finally on the one part you are so double and on the other part you are so vnthankefull that to those whom you desire you make fayre promises and those whose bodies you haue enioyed you little esteeme I confesse that the woman is not so good as shee ought to bee and that it is necessary that she should be kept in the house and so shee shall leade a good life and being of good life she shall haue good renowme and hauing good renowme shee shall bee well willed but if chaunce any of those doe want in her yet for all that shee ought not to bee reiected of her husband For the frailenesse that men finde in women is but little but the euils that women taste in men is very great I haue talked longer then I thought and haue saide more boldly then I ought but pardon me my Lord for my intention was not to vex thee but to perswade thee for in the end he is a foole that taketh that for iniury which passeth betweene the man and the wife in secret I stick alwaies to my first point if it neede once againe I require thee that thou wilt giue me the Key of thy studie and if thou doe otherwise as thou mayest thou shalt doe such a thing as thou oughtest not to doe I am not angry so much for that thou doest as for the occasion thou giuest me Therefore to auoyde the perill of my deliuerie and to take from me all suspition I pray thee my Lord deliuer me the key of thy studie for otherwise I cannot be perswaded in my hart but that you haue a woman locked in your studie For men that in their youth haue beene vnconstant though the apparell that they haue be not worne yet notwithstanding they desire to haue new Therefore once againe to preserue mee from perill in my deliuery and to lighten my heart of this thought it shall be well done that you let mee enter into your studie CHAP. XV. ¶ The Aunswere of the Emperour to Faustine concerning her demand of the key of the Studie THe Emperor hearing the wordes of Faustine and seeing that shee spake them so earnestly that shee bathed her woefull words with bitter teares determined also to answere her as earnestly and saide vnto her these wordes Wife Faustine thou hast tolde mee all that thou wouldest and I haue hearde all thy
though man doth what hee can as a maid and that he do all that he ought to do as a husband though he taketh painesfor her sake aboue his force and though with the sweat of his browes he relieueth her neede though euery houre he putteth himselfe in daunger yet in the ende shee will giue him no thanks but wil say that he loueth another and how hee doeth that but to please and satisfie her It is a long time since I desired to tell thee this Faustine but I haue deferred it vntill this present houre hoping thou wouldest not giue occasion to tell it thee For amongst wise men those wordes ought chiefly to bee esteemed which fitly to the purpose are declared I remember that it is six yeares past since Antonius Pius thy Father chose me to bee his Sonne in law and that thou chosest mee for thy Husband and I thee for my wife all the which things were done my wofull aduentures permitting it and Adrian my Lord commaunding it The good Anthonius Pius gaue his onely daughter in marriage vnto me and gaue mee likewise his Noble Empire with great treasures Hee gaue mee also the gardens of Vulcanali to passe the time therein But I thinke on both sides we were deceiued He in chosing mee for his Sonne in law and I in taking thee for my wife Oh Fanstine thy Father and my Father in law was called Anthontus Pius because to all hee was mercifull saue only to mee vnto whom he was most cruell For with a little flesh he gaue me many bones And I confesse the truth vnto thee that now I haue no more teeth to bite nor heate in my stomacke to digest and the worst of all is that many times I haue thought to rage on my selfe I will tell thee one word though it doeth displease thee which is that for thy beautie thou art desired of manie and for thy euill conditions thou art despised of all For the faire women are like vnto the golden pilles the which in sight are very pleasant and in eating very noysome Thou knowest well Faustine and I also that wee saw on a day Drusio and Braxille his Wife which were our neighbours and as they were brawling together I spake vnto Drusio such wordes What meaneth this my Lorde Drusio that being now the Feast of Berecinthia and being as we are adioyuing to her house and present before so honorable an assemblie furthermore thy wife being so faire as she is How is it possible there should bee any strife betweene you Men which are marryed to deformed persons to the ende that they might kil them quickly should always fall out with their Wiues but those that are married to faire women they ought alwayes to liue together in ioy and pleasure to the end they may liue long For when a faire woman dyeth although shee haue liued an hundred yeares yet shee dyeth too soone and on the contrarie though a deformed woman liueth but a small time yet notwithstanding shee dyeth too late Drusio as a man being vexed lifting vp his eyes vnto the heauens fetching a grieuous sigh from the bottome of his hart said these words as followeth The Mother Berecinthia pardon me and her holy house also and all the companie besides forgiue mee for by the immortall gods I sweare vnto thee that I had rather haue beene Marryed with a Moore of Chalde that is so fowle then being marryed as I am with a Romaine beeing very faire For shee is not so faire and white as my life is wofull and blacke Thou knowest well Faustine that when Drusio spake these wordes I did wipe the teares from his eyes and I gaue him a word in his eare that hee should proceede no further in this matter For such women ought to be chastened in secret and afterwards to be honoured openly Oh thou art most vnfortunate Faustine and the Gods haue euill deuided with thee giuing thee beautie and riches to vndoe thy selfe and denying thee the best which is wisedome and good conditions to keepe thy honor O what euil lucke cōmeth vnto a man when God sendeth him a faire daughter vnlesse furthermore the Gods doe permit that shee be sage and honest for the womā which is yong foolish and faire destroyeth the Common-wealth defameth all her parentage I say vnto thee againe Faustine that the gods were very cruel against thee since they swallowe thee vppe by the goulfes where all the euill perisheth and tooke from thee all the sayles and owers whereby the good doe escape I remained xxxviij yeares vnmarried and these vj. yeares only which I haue bin married mee thinketh I haue passed vj. hundreth yeares of my life for nothing can bee called a torment but the euil that man doth suffer that is euill married I will assure thee of one thing Faustine that if I had knowne before that which now I knowe and that I had felt that which now I feele though the Gods had cōmanded me and the Emperour Adrian my Lorde desired mee I had not chaunged my pouerty for thy riches neither my rest for thy Empire But since it is fallen to thine and mine euill fortunes I am contented to speake little and to suffer much I haue so much dissembled with thee Faustine that I can no more but I confesse vnto thee that no Husband doth suffer his wife so much but that hee is bound to suffer her more considering that hee is a man and that she is a woman For the man which willingly goeth into the bryers he must thinke before to endure the prickes The Woman is too bolde that doeth contend with her Husband but that Husband is more foole which openly quarrelleth with his wife For if shee be good hee ought to fauour her to the end that she may be better if she be vnhappie he ought to suffer her to the end she be not worse Truly when the woman thinketh that her husband taketh her for eulll it is a great occasion to make her to be worse For women are so ambitious that those who cōmonly are euil wil make vs belieue that they are better then the others Belieue me Faustine that if the feare of the gods the infamy of the person the speech of men do not restraine the woman all the chastisements of the worlde will not make her refraine from vice for all things suffereth chastisement and correction the woman only except the which must be wonne by intreatie The heart of the man is very noble and that of the woman very delicate because for a little good hee will giue a great rewarde and for a great offence hee will giue no punishment Before the wise man marieth it behoueth him to beware what he doth and when hee shall determine to take the companie of a Woman he ought to be like vnto him that entreth into the warre that determineth with himselfe to suffer all that may happen bee it good or euill I doe not
eye to thy childe whom of thy own bloud thou hast begotten And if thou doest it not because he is thy childe thou oughtest to doe it because hee is thy neerest For it is vnpossible that the child which with many vices is assaulted and not succoured but in the ende hee should be infamed and to the dishonour of the father most wickedly ouercome It is vnpossible to keepe Flesh well sauoured vnlesse it bee first salted It is vnpossible that the Fish should liue without water It is vnpossible but that the Rose should wither which is of the thorne ouergrowne So like it is vnpossible that the Fathers should haue any comfort of their children in their age vnlesse they haue instructed them in vertue in their youth And to speake further in this matter I say that in the Christian catholike Religion where in deede there is good doctrine there alwaies is supposed to bee a good conscience Amongst the Writers it is a thing well knowne how Eschines the Phylosopher was banished from Athens and with all his familie came to dwell at Rhodes The occasion was because that hee and the Phylosopher Demosthenes were in great contention in the common-wealth Wherefore the Atheniās determined to banish the one and to keepe the other with them And truely they did well for of the contentions and debates of Sages Warres moste commonly arise amongst the people This Phylosopher Eschines being at Rhodes banished amōgst others made a solemne Oration wherin he greatly reproued the Rhodians that they were so negligent in bringing vp their children saying vnto them these words I let you vnderstand lords of Rhodes that your Predecessours aduaunced themselues to descend and take theyr beginning of the Lides the which aboue all other Nations were curious and diligent to bring vp theyr Children and hereof came came a Law that was among them which saide Wee ordeine and commaund that if a Father haue many Children that the most vertuous should inherite the goods and riches and if there were but one vertuous that he alone shold inherit the whole And if perchance the Children were vicious that then all should be depriued from the heritage For the goods gottē with trauell of vertuous Fathers ought not by reason to be inherited by vicious childrē These were the wordes that the Philosopher spake to the Senate of the Rhodes and because he sayde in that oratiō many other things which touch not our matter I will in this place omit them For among excellēt Writers that writing loseth much authority when the Author from his purpose digresseth into an other matter To say the truth I doe not maruell that the children of Princes and great Lords be adulterers and belly-gods for that on the one part youth is the mother of idlenesse and on the other little experience is the cause of great offences And furthermore the fathers being once dead the children enherite their goods as quietly being loden with vices as if in deed they were with all vertues endued If the young children did know for a certaine that the lawes of the Lydes should be obserued that is to say that they should not inherite vnlesse they be vertuous it is vnpossible but that they would leade a vertuous life and not in this wise to run at large in the worlde For they doe abstaine more from doing euill fearing to lose that which they doe possesse then for anie loue to doe that which they ought I do not denie but according as the natures of the Fathers is diuers so the inclination of the children is variable For so much as some following theyr good inclinations are good and others not resisting euill sensualities are euill But yet in this matter I say that it lyeth much in the Father that doeth bring them vp when as yet they are young so that the euill which nature gaue by good bringing vp is refrayned For oft times the good custome doth ouercome all euill inclination Princes and great Lordes that will be diligent in the instruction of theyr children ought to enforme their maisters and tutors that shall teach them to what vices and vertues their Children are moste inclined And this ought to bee to encourage them in that that is good and contrarie to reproue them in all that is euill For men are vndone for none other cause when they be olde but for that they had so much pleasure when they were young Sextus Cheronensis in the second booke of the auncients saith that on a day a cittizen of Athenes was buying things in the market and for the qualitie of his person the greatest parte of them were superfluous and nothing necessarie And in this case the poore are no lesse culpable then the rich and the riche then the poore For that is so little that to sustaine manslife is necessarie that he which hath least hath therevnto superfluous Therefore at this time when Athens and her common-wealth was the Lanterne of all Greece there was in Athens a Law long vsed and of a great time accustomed that nothing should be bought before a Philosopher had set the price And truly the law was good and would to God the same law were at this present obserued For there is nothing that destroieth a commonwealth more then to permit some to sell as tyrantes and others to buye as fooles When the Theban was buying these things a philosopher was present who saide vnto him these words Tell me I pray thee thou man of Thebes Wherefore doest thou consume and wast thy money in that which is not necessarie for thy house nor profitable for thy person The Thebane answered him I let thee knowe that I doe buye all these things for a sonne I haue of the age of xx yeares the which neuer did any thing that seemed vnto mee euil nor I neuer denyed him any thing that hee demaunded This Philososopher answered Oh how happy wert thou if as thou art a Father thou wert a sonne and that which the Father saieth vnto the sonne the sonne would say vnto the father but I am offended greatly with that thou hast told me For vntill the childe be xxv yeares old he ought not to gainesay his father and the good father ought not to condiscend vnto the appetites of the sonne Now I may call thee cursed father since thou arte become subject to the will of thy sonne and that thy sonne is not obedient to the will of his Father so that thou alterest the order of nature For so much as the father is become sonne of his sonne and the sonne is become father of his father But in the ende I sweare vnto thee by the immortall Gods that when thou shalt become old and aged thou shalt lament and weepe by thy selfe at that which with thy Sonne thou diddest laugh when he was young Though the words of this Phylosopher were fewe yet a wise man will iudge the sentences to be manie I conclude therfore that Princes and
perillous skirmish And that which a man ought most to maruell at is that I neuer perceyued any feare or cowardlinesse to bee in those barbarous people whereby they were constrained to demaund peace of the people of Rome These Lygures pursued with such fiercenesse the wars that often times they tooke away from vs all hope to winne the victory for betweene Armies the great might of the one doth put alwayes the others in feare And I wil tell you Fathers conscript their bringing vp to the ende the Romaine youth should take heereby example When they are young they are put to bee Sheapheardes because they should accustome their flesh in those mountaines to endure trauell by the which custome they are so much masters of themselues the countrey being alwayes full of snow and Ise in the winter and also noysom through the extreame heate in the Summer that I sweare by the God Apollo in all this time of fiue yeares of those wee haue not seene one prease to the Fire in the winter nor couet the shadow in the Summer Doe not yee thinke worthie Senators that I was willing to declare vnto you these things in the Senate for any desire I haue that you should esteeme any thing the more my Triumph but I doe tell it you to this ende that you may haue an eye and take heede to your men of warre to the ende they may alwayes be occupied and that you suffer them not to be idle For it is more perillous for the Romaine Armyes to bee ouercome with vices thē to be discomfited with their enemies And to talke of these matters more at large me thinketh they should prouide and commaund that Rich men should not be so hardie to bring vppe their children too delicately for in the ende it is vnpossible that the delicate person should win with his hands the honour of many victories That which moued me to say somuch as I haue sayd worthie Senatours is to the ende you may knowe that the Lygures were not ouercome by the power of Rome but because Fortune was against them And since in nothing Fortune sheweth her selfe so variable as in the things of the warre mee thinketh that though the Ligures are nowe vanquished and ouercome yet notwithstanding you ought to entertain them in loue and to take them for your confoederates For it is not good counsell to hazzard that into the handes of Fortune which a man may compasse by friendship The Authour of this which is spoken is called Iunius Pratus in the Booke of the concord of Realmes and hee saieth in that place that this captaine Gneus Fabritius was counted no lesse sage for that he spake then esteemed valiant for that hee did In the olde time those of the Isles Balleares which now are called Maiorque and Minorque though they were not counted wise yet at the least in bringing vp their Children they shewed rhemselues not negligent Because they were broght vp in hardnes in their youth and could endure all painefull exercises of the warres Those of Carthage gaue fiue prisoners of Rome for one slaue of Maiorque Dyodorus Siculus saith in those Iles the mother did not giue the children bread with their own hands but they did put it on a high poale so that they might see the Bread with theyr eyes but they could not reach it with their hāds Wherfore when they would eat they should first with hurling of stones or slinges win it or else fast Though the worke were of children yet the inuention came of a high wit And hereof it came that the Baleares were esteemed for valiant mē as well in wrastling as in slinges for to hurle for they did hurle with a sling to hit a white as the Lygures shoot now in a Crosse-bow to hit the pricke Those of Great Brittaine which now we cal England amongst all the barbarous were men most barbarous but you ought to know that within the space of few yeares the Romanes were vanquished of them many times for time in all things bringeth such change and alteration that those which once wee knew great Lords within a while after wee haue seene themslaues Herodian in his history of Seuerus Emperour of Rome sayeth That an Ambassadour of Brittaine being one day in Rome as by chance they gaue him a froward answer in the Senate spake stoutely before them all and saide these words I am sorry you will not accept peace nor graunt Truce the which thing shall bee for the greater iustification of your warre For afterwardes none can take but that which fortune shall giue For in the end the delicate flesh of Rome shall feele if the bloudy swords of Brittaine will cut The English history sayeth and it is true that though the country be very cold that the water freezeth oft yet the women had a custome to carry theyr children where the water was frozen and breaking the Ice with a stone with the same Ise they vsed to rubbe the body of the Infant to the end to harden their flesh and to make them more apter to endure trauels And without doubt they had reason for I wish no greater pennance to delicate men then in the Winter to see them without fire and in the Summer to want fresh shadow Sith this was the custome of the Brittaines it is but reason we credite Iulius Caesar in that hee sayeth in his Comentaries that is to say that he passed many daungers before hee could ouercome them for they with as little feare did hide themselues diued vnder the colde water as verily a man would haue rested himselfe in a pleasant shadow As Lucanus and Appianus Alexandrinus say amongst other Nations which came to succour the greate Pompey in Pharsalia were the Messagetes the which as they say in their youth did suck no other but the milke of Camels and eate bread of akorns These barbarous people did these things to the end to harden their bodies to bee able to endure trauell to haue their legges lighter for to runne In this case wee cannot cal them barbarous but wee ought to call them men of good vnderstanding for it is vnpossible for the man that eateth much to runne fast Viriatus a Spaniard was King of the Lusitaines and a great enemy of the Romaines who was so aduenturous in the war and so valiant in his person that the Romaines by the experience of his deedes found him inuincible for in the space of 13. yeares they coulde neuer haue any victory of him the which when they saw they determined to poyson him did so indeed At whose death they more reioyced then if they had wonne the Sgniorie of all Lusitania For if Viriatus had not dyed they had neuer brought the Lusitanians vnder their subiection Iunius Rusticus in his Epitomie sayeth that this Viriatus in his youth was a Heard-man kept cattell by the riuer of Guadiana and after that he waxed older vsed to robbe and assault men by
the house watcheth they let him eate nothing but the broth of chickens they keepe him diligently that hee fall not down the stayres the child asketh nothing but it is giuen him immediately Finally they spend their time in seruing them they wast their riches in giuing thē their delights they occupy their eyes but to behold them and they employ not their hearts but to loue them But I sweare that those Fathers which on this wise doe spend their riches to pamper them shall one day water their eyes to bewaile thē what it is to see the waste that a vaine man maketh in bringing vp his childe specially if hee be a man somewhat aged and that at his desire hath a Childe borne He spendeth so much goods in bringing him vp wantonly whiles he is young that oft times he wanteth to marrie him when hee commeth to Age. And that which worst of all is that that which hee spendeth and employeth he thinketh it well bestowed and thinketh that too much that hee giueth for Gods sake Though the Fathers are very large in spending the mothers very curious and the Nurses full of pleasaunt and the seruaunts very diligent and attentiue yet it followeth not that the children shold be more hole then others For the more they are attended the more they be diseased the more they eate the more they are weake the more they reioyce the worse they prosper the more they waste and spend so much lesse they profit And all this is not without the secrete permission of God For God will not that the clowtes of children be of greater value then the garments of the poore GOD without a great mistery tooke not in hand the custody of the poote and doeth not suffer that the children of the rich men should prosper For the good bringeth vp his childrē with out the preiudice of the Rich and to the profite of the Common-wealth but the Rich bringeth vp his children with the sweate of the poore and to the dammage of the commonwealth Therefore if this thing be true as it is it is but reason that the Wolfe which deuoureth vs do die and the sheepe which clotheth vs doe liue The Fathers oft times for tendernes will not teach nor bring vp theyr children in doctrine saying That as yet hee is too young and that there remaineth time enough for to bee learned and that they haue leisure inough to be taught And further for the more excuse of their errour they affirme that when the child in his youth is chastned hee runneth in daunger of his health But the euill respect which the Fathers haue to theyr Children God suffereth afterwardes that they come to be so slaunderous to the commonwealth so infamous to theyr Parents so disobedient to theyr fathers so euil in their conditions so vnaduised and light in theyr behauiour so vnmeete for knowledge so vncorrigible for discipline so inclined to lyes so enuying the truth that their Fathers would not onely haue punished them with sharpe correction but also they would reioyce to haue them buryed with bitter teares An other thing there is in this matter worthie to bee noted and much more worthyer to bee commended that is that the Fathers and Mothers vnder the colour that their Children should bee somewhat gratious they learne them to speake to bable and to bee great mockers and scoffers the which thing afterwardes redoundeth to the great infamie and dishonour of the Father to the great perill of the Sonne and to the greatest griefe and displeasure of the Mother For the Childe that is brought vp wantonly without doctrine in his youth of necessity must be a foole when he is old If this which I haue said be euill this which I will say is worse that the Fathers and Mothers the Gouernours or Nourses doe teach them to speake dishonest things the which are not lawfull and therfore ought not to be suffered to bee spoken in that tender Age nor the grauitie of the Auncients ought not to listen vnto them For there are no men vnlesse they be shamelesse that will permit their children to be great bablers Those which haue the charge to gouerne good mens Children ought to bee very circumspect that they keepe them in awe feare and subjection and that they ought not to bee contented although the Fathers say they are pleased For the disordinate loue that the Fathers haue to them is the cause that they can not see whether they be mockers or euill brought vp And if it chaunceth as oft times it doth that the Father should come to the Maister to cause him to withdraw correction In this case if the Maister be a wise man hee ought no lesse to reproue and admonish the Father then to correct the sonne And if this did not auayle I counsell him to forsake and leaue his charge For the man of an honest nature after he hath taken any charge in hand will either bring it to passe or else hee will dye in the same I will not denie but that it is reason Noble mens Sonnes bee more gently brought vp handled and honoured then the Sonnes of the Plebeians For more delicately is the palme tree which bringeth forth Dates cherished then the Oake which bringeth forth Akornes wherewith the hogges are fedde Let Princes and great Lordes beware that the pleasures which they gaue their children their Youth bee not so excessiue nor of so long continuance that when they would withdraw them the world had not already festered them For the Children brought vp with too much delicatenes are disobedient to their Fathers and Mothers or else they are sicke in their Bodyes or worse then that they are vicious in their behauiours so that their Fathers should be better to burie them quicke then to bring them vp vicious CHAP. XXXIIII How that Princes and great Lordes ought to be carefull in seeking wise men to bring vp theyr Children Of x. conditions that good Scholemaisters ought to haue WHen He that is without ende gaue beginning to the worlde in this sort he beganne The Sunday hee created Heauen and Earth the Monday he created the Element the Tuesday hee created the Planettes the Wednesday hee created the Sunne and the Moone the Thursday he created the Byrdes in the Ayre and the Fishes in the Sea the Friday hee created Adam and Eue his wife and truely in that hee created and how hee created he shewed himselfe as GOD For as soone as the house was made hee furnished and peopled it with that that was necessarie as he could well doe Omitting therefore the Creator and talking of creatures we see by experience that a Housholder in planting a vine-yarde immediately maketh a hedge to the ende that the beasts doe not spoyle it and eat it vp And when it is well grown he hireth some poore labourer to watche that trauellers do not gather nor eate the grapes therof The rich man that traffiqueth by Sea after hee hath
made a great ship and bestowed vj. or vij thousand ducates if hee be wise hee will first prouide a man that may gouerne her before hee will seeke Marchandise for to fraight her For in perillous Tempests the greatnes of the shippe little auaileth if the Pylote be not expert The Housholder that hath manie Cowes and sheepe and likewise hath faire fieldes and pleasant pastures for his cattell doth not only seeke Heardmen to keepe the cattell but also dogs to feare the wolues and cabbaines to lodge the Heardsmen For the cabbaine of the Shepheards and the baying of the dogge is but as a salueguard of the sheepe from the rauening of the wolfe The mightie and valiaunt Princes which in the Frontieres of their enemies keepe strong fortresses seeke alwayes stout and hardy captains to defend their walls for otherwise it were better the Fort should be battered to the ground then it should come into the power of the enemyes By the comparisons aboue-named there is no discreat man but doth vnderstand to what end my penne doth write them that is to know to keepe and proue how that men which loue their Children well adding this vnto it haue great neede of good maisters and gouernours to teach and bring them vp For whilest the Palme tree is but little a frost doth easily destroy it I meane whiles the childe is young if he haue no tutour he is easily deceiued with the world If the Lorde be wise and of vnderstanding there is no Fortresse so esteemed neither ship so faire nor Heard so profitable nor Vine so fruitfull but that hee better esteemeth to haue a good sonne then all these things together or anie other thing in this world For the Father ought to loue his children as his owne proper and all residue as gifts of fortune If it be so as it is indeede since that for to keepe and watch the Heard they seeke a good Shephearde If for the Vyne they seeke a good Labourer If for to gouerne the shippe they seeke a good Pylot and for to defend a Forte they seeke a good captaine why then will not the wise Fathers seeke for good maisters to teache and to bring vp theyr Children Oh Princes and great Lords I haue tolde you and againe doe say That if you trauell one yeare to leaue your children goods you ought to sweate 50. yeares to leaue them well brought vp For it auaileth little to carry much corne to the Mill if the mill be out of frame I meane that in vaine Riches and treasures are gathered when the childe that shall inherite them hath no witte to vse them It is no small matter to knowe how to choose good gouernours For the Prince is sage that findeth such a one and much more happie is hee that of him shall be taught For in my opion it is no small charge for one man to bring vp a Prince that shall gouerne manie As Seneca saith The wise man ought to conferre all things with his Friende But first hee ought to know who is he that is his Friend I meane that the wise Father ought for his Children to seeke one good maister and to him he should recommend them all but first he ought to know what hee is For that man is very simple which wil buy a Horse before he see and proue him whether he be whole or lame Hee ought to haue many good conditions and qualityes that should bring vp the children of Princes and great Lords for by one way they nourish the tender trees in the Orchard and after another sort they plant the wilde trees in the mountaines Therefore the case shal be this that weewill declare here what conditions and behauiours the Maisters and gouernors of Noblemens sonnes ought to haue which may bring them to honour and theyr disciples to bee well taught and brought vp For the glorie of the disciple alwayes redoundeth to the honour and praise of his maister The first condition is that he which ought to bee a Tutor to Noble mens children should bee no lesse then 40. yeares of age no more then 60. because the maister that is yong is ashamed to commaund and if he be aged he is not able to correct The second it is necessary that Tutors be very honest and that not onely in purenes of conscience but also in the outward appearance and cleanenes of life For it is vnpossible the childe bee honest if the Master be dissolute The third it is necessarie that Tutors and gouernours of Princes and great Lords be true men not onely in their wordes but also in then Couenauntes For to say the trueth that mouth which is alwayes full of lyes ought not by reason to be a teacher of the truth The fourth condition it is necessarie that the gouernors of Princes and great Lorde of their owne nature be liberall For oft times the great couetousnes of Masters maketh the hearts of Princes to be greedy and couetous The fifth it is necessarie that the masters and gouernours of Princes and great Lordes be moderate in wordes and very resolute in sentences so that they ought to teach the Children to speake little and to harken much For it is the chiefest vertue in a Prince to heare with patience and to speake with wisedome The sixt condition is it is necessarie that the maisters tutors of Princes c. be wise men and temperate so that the grauitie of the Maister may restrain the lightnes of the Schollers For there is no greater plagues in Realms then for Princes to be young and their teachers to be light The seuenth it is necessary that the masters and tutors of Princes great Lords be well learned in diuinitie and humanity in such sort that that which they teach the Princes by word they may shew it by writing to the ende that other Princes may execute and put the same in vre For mens harts are sooner moued by the examples of those which are past then by the words of them that are present The eight condition it is necessary that the Maisters and tutors of Princes bee not giuen to the vice of the flesh For as they are young and naturally giuē to the flesh so they haue no strength to abide chaste neither wisedome to beware of the snares Therefore it is necessarie that their maisters be pure and honest for the disciples shall neuer be chaste if the maister be vicious The ninth it is necessarie that the maisters and tutours of Princes and great Lordes haue good conditions because the children of Noble-men beeing daintily brought vp alwayes learne euil conditions the which their Maisters ought to reforme more by good conuersation then by sharpe correction For oft times it chaunceth that whereas the Master is cruell the scholler is not mercifull The tenth it is necessarie that the maisters and tutours of Princes and great Lords haue not onely seene and read many things but also that they haue proued changeable
any misfortune where ripe counsell is euer present It shall seeme vnto those that shall profoundly consider this matter that it is a superfluous thing to treate of these thinges for eyther princes chuse the good or els they chuse the euill If they chuse not good masters they labour in vain to giue them good counsell for the foolish master is lesse capable of couÌ„sell then the dissolute scholler is of wholesome admonition If perchance princes doe make elections of good Masters then those Masters both for themselues and also for others ought to minister good counsels For to giue counsell to the wise man it is eyther a superfluous deed or else it coÌ„meth of a presumptuous man Though it be true that hee which dare giue counsell to the Sage man is presumptuous I say in like manner that the Diamond beeing set in gold loseth not his vertue but rather increaseth in price and value I meane that the wiser a man is so much the more hee ought to desire to know the opinion of another certainely he that doth so cannot erre For to none his owne counsell aboundeth so much but that hee needeth the counsel and opinion of another Though Princes and great Lords do see with their eyes that they haue choseÌ„ good masters tutors to teach their children yet they ought not therefore to be so negligent of themselues but that sometimes they may giue the masters counsell for it may be that the masters be both noble stout that they be ancient sage and moderate but it may be also that in teaching childreÌ„ they are not expert For to masters and tutors of princes it is not so much necessary that sciences do abound as it is shame that experience should want When a rich man letteth out his farme or manor to a farmor he doth not onely consider with himselfe before what rent hee shall pay him but also he couenanteth with him that he shal keepe his grounds well fenced and ditched and his houses well repayred And not contented to receyue the third part of the fruit of his vine but also he goeth twice or thrice in a year to visite it And in seeing it hee hath reason for in the end the one occupieth the goods as a Tenant and the other doth view the ground as chiefe Lord. Then if the father of the family with so great diligence doth recommend the trees and the ground to the Labourer how much more ought the Father to recommend his children to the Masters for the father giuing counsell to the Master is no other but to deliuer his child to the Treasurer of Science Princes and great Lords cannot excuse themselues of an offence if after that they haue chosen a knight or Gentleman for to be Master or els a learned and wise man to be tutour they are so negligent as if they neuer had had children or did remember that their children ought to be theyr Heires certainely this thing should not bee so lightly passed ouer But as a wise man which is carefull of the honour and profite of his child hee ought to bee occupied as well in taking heed to the master as the master ought to be occupied in taking heede to the child For the good fathers ought to know whether the master that he hath chosen can commaund and whether his child will obey One of the noblest Princes among the Ancients was Seuleucus King of the Assyrians and husband of Estrabonica the daughter of Demetrius King of Macedony a Lady for her beauty in all Greece the most renowned of her fame though indeed she was not very fortunate This is an old disease that hapneth alwayes to beutiful women that there be many that desire them and more that slaunder them This King Seuleucus was first married with another woman of whome hee had a sonne called Antigonus ' the which was in loue with the second wife of his Father that is to say with the Queene Estrabonica and was almost dead for loue The which the father vnderstanding married his son with her so that she that was his stepmother was his wife and shee that was a faire wife was a faire daughter and hee which was his Sonne was made his sonne in law and hee which was Father was stepfather The Authour hereof is Plutarch in his liues as Sextus Cheronensis sayeth in the thirde booke of the sayings of the Greekes The king Seuleucus laboured diligently to bring vp his sonne Antigonus wel wherfore he sought him two notable masters the one a Greeke the other a Latine The K Seuleucus herewith not contented prouided secretly by the means of a seruant of his named Parthemius that he should haue no other office in the Pallace but that what the masters taught or did to his sonne Antigonus in the day hee should secretly come and tell him in the night But by the diligence of Parthemius it came to the knowledge of the Tutors that they had ouer-seers for in the ende there is nothing accustomablie but at the last will bee reuealed Since the two Phylosophers knew the secret one day they saide vnto the King Seuleucus these wordes Most mighty Prince Seuleucus since thou hast of trust committed thy Sonne Antigonus into our handes why doest thou appointe thy Seruaunt Parthemius as accuser of our liues If thou accountest vs euill and him good thou shalt shewe vs great fauour if thou wilt discharge vs and committe to him the â—uâ—tion of thy Sonne For wee let thee to knowe that to men of honour it is vntollerable euill to shame them and no dishonour to licence them Thou hast appointed Parthemius to goe and dog vs to see what we do or say openly and afterwards to make relation vnto thee secretly And the worst is that by relation of the simple wee should be condemned beeing Sages For triacle is not so contrary to poyson as ignoraunce is to wisedome And truely most Noble Prince it is a great matter that daily inquisition is made of man for there is no Beard so bare shauen but it wil growe againe I meane that there is no man of so honest a life but if a man make inquisition he may finde wherewithall to detect The K Seuleucus answered them thus Consider my Friendes that I knowe right well that neyther the authoritie of the person nor the good credite of renowme would bee stayned for any other Friende in this world and if the rude men doe it not much lesse ought the Sages to doe it For there is nothing that men trauell for so much in this life as to leaue of them a good renowme after theyr death Since you are Sages and Maisters of my Sonne and likewise counsellers of my house it is not meete that you should with any bee offended For by all good reason hee alone ought to bee esteemed in the Pallaces of Princes that will giue vnto Princes good counsell That which I haue saide to Parthemius was not for the doubt
haue more then others that therfore you should bee more honoured then all the which truly is not so For if presently you will not open your eyes and confesse your owne errors you shall see that wheras you auant your selues to be Lords of strange Countries you shall find yourselus made slaues with your own proper goods Gather as much as you will let them doe all you doe commaund them yet as I thinke it little auaileth to haue Plebeians houses with goods and contrariwise the hearts to bee possessed with couetousnesse for the riches which are gotten with couetousnesse and are kept with Auarice do take away the good name from the possessor and do nothing auaile to maintaine his life It cannot bee suffered many dayes and much lesse hidde many yeares that one man should be counted both for rich among the rich for honoured among the honorable for it is vnpossible that hee which is a great louer of temporall goods should be a friend of his good name O if the couetous men were of their owne honour as greedy as they are of the goods of another desirous I sweare vnto you by the immortall Gods that the little worme or moth of couetousnes would not gnaw the rest of their life nor the canker of infamie should destroy their good name after their death Hearken yee Romanes hearken what I wil say and I beseech the gods that you may vnderstand it for other wise I should loose my labour and yee others should take no fruit of my wordes I see that all the World hateth pride and yet there is none that will follow humanity Euery man condemneth adultery and yet I see no man that liueth chaste Euerie man curseth excesse I see no man liue temperately Euery man prayseth patience and I see no man that will suffer Euery man blameth sloth and I see no man but those that are idle Euery man blameth auarice and yet euery man robbeth One thing I say and not without teares in this Senate openly I do declare it which is that with the tongue euery man prayseth vertue and yet they themselues with al their lims are seruants vnto vices Doe not thinke that I say this onely for the Romanes which bee in Illyria but for the Senators which I see here in the Senate All you Romanes in your deuises about your Armes haue this for your word Romanorum est debellare superbos et parcere subiectos Truely you should better haue sayde Romanorum est spoliare innocentes et reddere subiectos For you Romanes are but destroyers of the people that bee peaceable and robbers of the swette and labours of strangers CHAP. IIII. The villaine argueth against the Romaines which without cause or reason conquered their Countrey and proued manifestly that they thorow offending of their Gods were vanquished of the Romanes I Aske ye Romanes what occasion yee haue that are brought vp nigh to the riuer of Tiber against vs that liue in peace nigh to the riuer of Danuby Peraduenture you haue seene vs friends to your foes or else wee haue shewed our selues your enemies peraduenture you haue heard say that forsaking our owne land wee should goe conquere forraine realmes peraduenture you haue beene aduertised that wee rebelling against our own Lords shold become obedient to the cruell Barbarians peraduenture yee haue sent vs some Ambassadour to desire vs to be your friends or else there came some from vs to Rome to defie you as our enemies peraduenture some King dyed in our realme which by his Testament made you heyres vnto our Realme whereby you clayme your Title and seeke to make vs your subiects peraduenture by some ancient law or custome yee haue found that the noble and worthy Germany of necessity is subiect to the proude people of Rome peraduenture wee haue destroyed your Armies wee haue wasted your fields sacked your Cities spoyled your subiects or fauoured your enemies so that to reuenge these iniuries yee should destroy our land If wee had bin your neighbours or you ours it had been no maruell though one should haue destroyed the other For it chaunceth oftentimes that through controuersie of a little peece of ground tedious warres betweene people arise Of a truth none of these thinges which I haue named hath chaunced betweene ye Romains and vs Germains For in Germany wee felte your tyranny as soone as wee heard of your renowne If yee bee grieued with that I haue sayde I pray you bee not offended with that I will say which is that the name of Romanes and the cruelty of tyrants arriued together in one day vpon our people And what more to say I know not Romanes of the litle care the Gods doe take and of the great audacitie that men haue For I see that hee which possesseth much doth oppresse him which hath but little and he that hath but little wayeth not him that hath much So disordered couetousnesse striueth with secret malice and secret malice giueth place to open theft open robbery no man resisteth and thereof commeth that the couetousnesse of a malitious man is accomplished to the preiudice of a whole state Hearken yee Romanes hearken by the Immortall Gods I doe coniure you giue care to that I will say which is consider well what you haue done for the good wordes bee in vaine or else men must haue an end the world in time must needes fall or else the world shall be no world Fortune must needs make sure the pinne of the wheele or else that shall bee seene which neuer was seene which is that which in eight yeares ye haue wonne yee shall within eight dayes lose For nothing can bee more iust since yee by force haue made your selues tyrants then the Gods by iustice should make you slaues And doe not thinke you Romanes though you haue subdued Germany and bee Lords thereof that it was by any warlike industry for ye are no more warlike no more couragious nor more hardy ne yet more valiant then wee Germaines but since through our offences wee haue prouoked the Gods to wrath they for the punishment of our disordinate vices ordained that ye should be a cruel plague and scourge to our persons Do not take your selues to be strong neither repute vs to bee so weake that if the Gods at that time had fauoured the one part as much as the other it might perchance haue happened yee should not haue enioyed the spoyle For to say the truth yee wanne not the victory through the force of weapons that you brought from Rome but through the infinite vices which yee found in Germany Therefore since wee were not ouercome for being cowards neyther for being weake nor yet for beeing fearefull but onely for being wicked and not hauing the Gods fauourable vnto vs what hope yee Romanes to become of you beeing as you are vicious and hauing the Gods angrie with you Doe nor thinke Romanes to be the more victorious for that ye assemble
but he that spendeth it in Apparel not requisite to seeke delitious Wines and to eate delicate meates To such a one I would say that the pouertie which he suffereth is not sufficient for his deserts For of all troubles there is none so great as to see a man suffer the euil whereof hee himselfe hath bin the occasion Also according to the counsell of Seneca the Auncients ought to be wel aduertised in that they should not only be temperate in eating but likewise they should be sober in drinking and this both for the preseruation of theyr health as also for the reputation of their honestie For if the olde physitians doe not deceyue vs humaine bodyes doe drye and corrupt because they drinke superfluously and eate more then Nature requireth If I should say vnto the olde men that they should drinke no wine they might tell mee that it is not the counsell of a Christian But presuppose they ought to drinke and that for no opinion they should leaue it yet I admonish exhorte and desire them that they drinke little and that they drinke very temperate For the disordinate and immeasurate drinking causeth the young men to be drunke and the olde men both drunke and foolish Oh howe much authoritie lost they and what grauitie doe honorable and ancient men lose which in drinking are not sober Which seemeth to be true forasmuch as the man being loden with wine although he were the wisest in the world he should bee a very foole that would take counsel of such one in his affaires Plutarche in a booke which he made of the Fortunes of the Romaines saied that in the Senate of Rome there was an Auncient man who made great exclametions that a certaine young man hadde in such heinous sort dishonoured him that for the iniuryes hee had spoken he deserued death And when the yong man was called for to answere to that he had said vnto him he answered Fathers conscript though I seeme young vnto you yet I am not so young but that I knew the Father of this olde man who was a vertuous and noble Romane and somewhat a kinne to mee And I seeing that his Father had gotten much goods fighting in the warres and also seeing this oldeman spending them in eating and drinking I sayde vnto him one day I am very sorry my Lord and vncle for that I heare of thy honour in the market place and am the more sorry for that I see done in thy house wherein we saw fifty men armed before in our houre and now wee see a hundred knaues made drunke And worse then that as thy Father shewed to all those that entered into his house the Ensignes hee had wonne in the Warres so now to those that enter into thy house thou shewest them diuers sorts of Wines My vncle complayned of mee but in this case I make the Plaintife iudge against mee the defendant And I would by the immortall Gods hee deserued no more paine for his workes then I deserue by my words For if hee had been wise he would haue accepted the correction which secretely I gaue him and had not come openly to declare his faults in the Senate The complaint of the old man being heard by the Senate and the excuse in like manner of the yong-man they gaue iudgement that they should take all the goods from the olde man and prouide him of a Tutour which should gouerne him and his house And they commaunded the Tutour That from hence forward hee should not giue him one cuppe of Wine since hee was noted of drunkennesse Of truth the sentence which the Senate gaue was very iust For the olde man which giueth himselfe to wine hath as much neede to haue a Gouernour as an Infant or a foole Laertius made a booke of the Feasts of Philosophers and declareth sundry auncient banquets among the which hee putteth one where were assembled many great Philosophers And admit that the meates were meane and simple yet the bidden guests were sage And the cause why they did assemble was not to eate but to dispute of some graue doctrines whereof the Philosophers did somewhat doubt For in those dayes the greater the Stoyckes and the Peripatetikes were in number so much the more were the Philosophers diuided amongst themselues When they were so assembled truly they did not eate nor drinke out of measure but some pleasant matter was moued betweene the masters and the schollers betweene the young and the olde that is to say which of them could declare any secret of Philosophy or any profounde sentence O happy were such feasts and no lesse happy were they that thether were bidden But I am sorry that those which now bidde and those that are bidden for a truth are not as those Ancients were For there are no feastes now a dayes of Philosophers but of gluttons not to dispute but for to murmure not to open doubtfull things but to talke of the vices of others not to confirme auncient amities but to beginne new dissentions not to learne any doctrines but to approue some nouelty And that which worst of all is the old striue at the table with the yong not on him which hath spoken the most grauest sentence but of him which hath drunke most wine and hath rinsed most cups Paulus Diaconus in the history of the Lumbards declareth that foure olde Lumbards made a banquet in the which the one dranke to the others yeares and it was in this manner They made defyance to drinke two to two and after each man had declared how many yeares olde hee was the one dranke as many times as the other was yeeres olde and likewise his companion pledged him And one of these foure companions had at the least 58. yeares the second 63 the third 87. the fourth 92. so that a man knoweth not what they did eate in this banquet eyther little or much but wee know that hee that dranke least dranke 58. cups of wine Of this so euill custome came the Gothes to make this Law which of many is read and of a few vnderstood where it sayeth We ordaine and commaund on paine of death that no olde man drinke to the others yeares being at the table That was made because they were so much giuen to Wine that they dranke more oft then they did eate morsels The Princes and great lords which now are old ought to be very sober in drinking since they ought greatly to be regarded honoured of the yong For speaking the truth and with liberty when the olde man shall be ouercome with wine hee hath more necessity that the young man leade him by the arme to his house then that hee should take off his cappe vnto him with reuerence Also Princes and great Lordes ought to bee very circumspect that when they become aged they bee not noted for young in the apparrel which they weare For although hat for wearing a fine and riche garment the Prince
banishment I did helpe him with money and moreouer he was banished another time for the lightnes hee did commit in the night in the Citie and I maruell not hereof For we see by experience that Olde men which are fleshed in vices are more obstinate to correct then the young Oh what euill fortune haue the old men which haue suffered themselues to waxe olde in vice For more dangerous is the fire in an old house then in a newe and a great cut of a sword is not so perillous as a rotten Fistula Though olde men were not honest and vertuous for the seruice of the Gods and the commonwealth for the saying of the people nor for the example of the young yet he ought to bee honest if it were but for the reuerence of their yeares If the poore old man haue no teeth how shall he eate If he haue no heate in his stomacke how can he disgest If hee haue no taste how can he drinke if he be not strong how can hee be an adulterer if he haue no feet how can he goe if he haue the palsey how can he speake if he haue the gowte in his hands how can he play Finally such like worldly vicious men haue employed their forces being young desirous to proue al these vices and when they are old it grieueth thē extreamly that they cānot acomplish their desire Amongst all these faultes in olde men in myne opinion this is the chiefest that since they haue proued all things that they should still remaine in theyr obstinate follie There is no parte but they haue trauelled no villanie but they haue essayed no Fortune but they haue proued no good but they haue persecuted no euill but hath chanced vnto them nor there is any wickednes but they haue attēpted These vnhappie men which in this sort haue spent all their youth haue in the ende theyr combes cut with infirmities and diseases yet they are not so much grieued with the vices which in them doe abound to hinder them from vertues as they are tormented for want of corporall courage to further them in their lustes Oh if wee were Gods or that they would giue vs licence to knowe the thoughtes of the olde as wee see with our eyes the deedes of the young I sweare to the God Mars and also to the Mother Berecynthia that without comparison wee would punish more the wicked desires which the aged haue to be wicked then the light deedes of the young Tell mee Claude and Claudine doe you thinke though you behaue your selues as young you shall not seme to be olde Knowe you not that our nature is the corruption of our bodie and that our bodie hindereth our vnderstandings and that the vnderstandings are kept of our soule and that our soule is the mother of desires and that our desires are the scourge of our youth and that our youth is the ensigne of our age and age the spye of death and that death in the end is the house where life taketh his harbor from whēce youth flyeth a foot frō whence age cānot escape a horseback I would reioyce that you Claude and Claudine would but tell mee what you finde in this life that so much therwith you should be contented since no we you haue passed foure-score yeares of life during the which time either you haue bin wicked in the worlde or else you haue bin good If you haue bin good you ought to thinke it long vntill you bee with the good Gods if you haue bin euill it is iust you dye to the ende you be no worse For speaking the truth those which in threescore and ten yeares haue bin wicked in workes leaue small hope of their amendment of life Adrian my Lord beeing at Nola in Campania one brought vnto him a nephew of his from the studie whereas the yong childe had not profited a little for hee became a great Grecian and Latinist and moreouer hee was faire gratious and honest And this Emperour Adrian loued his Nephew so much that he saide vnto him these wordes My Nephewe I knowe not whether I ought to say vnto thee that thou art good or euill For if thou be euill life shall be euill employed on thee and if thou be good thou oughtest to dye immediately and because I am worse then all I liue longer then all These words which Adrian my Lord said doe plainly declare and expresse that in short space the pale and cruell death doth assault the good and lengtheneth life a great while to the euill The opinion of a phylosopher was that the gods are so profound in their secrets high in their mysteries and so iust in their works that to men which least profite the commonwealth they lengthen life longest and though he had not saide it we others see it by experience For the man which is good and that beareth great zeale friendship to the Commonwealth eyther the Gods take him from vs or the Enemyes doe slay him or the daungers doe cast him away or the trauells doe finish him When the great Pompeyus and Iulius Caesar became enemyes and from that enmitie came to cruell warres the Gronicles of the time declare that the kings and people of the occidental part became in he fauour of Iulius Caesar and the mightiest and most puissant of al the oriental parts came in the ayde of great Pompeius because these two Princes were loued of a few and serued and feared of all Amongst the diuersity and sundry nations of people which came out of the Orientall part into the hoast of the great Pompeius one nation came maruellous and cruell barbarous which sayde they dwelled on the other side of the mountaine Riphees which goe vnto India And these Barbarians had a Custome not to liue no longer then fifty yeares and therefore when they came to that age they made a greater fire and were burned therin aliue and of their owne wils they sacrificed themselues to the Gods Let no man be astonied at that we haue spoken but rather let them maruell of that wee will speake that is to say that the same day any man had accōplished fifty yeares immediately hee cast himselfe quicke into the fire and his friends made a great feast And the feast was that they did eate the flesh of the dead halfe burned and dranke in wine and water the ashes of his bones so that the stomacke of the childrē being aliue was the graue of the Fathers being dead All this that I haue spoken with my tongue Pompeius hath seene with his eyes for that some being in the camp did accomplish fifty yeares and because the case was strange hee declared it oft in the Senate Let euery man iudge in this case what he will and condemne the barbarians at his pleasure yet I will not cease to say what I thinke O golden world which had such men O blessed people of whom in the World to ome shall be
sonne in lawes in maintaining processes in discharging debts in fighing for that is past in bewayling that that is present in dissembling iniuries in hearing woful newes and in other infinite trauels I So that it were much better to haue their eyes shut in the graue thē their hearts and bodies aliue to suffer so much in this miserable life He whom the gods take from this miserable life at the end of fiftie yeeres is quitted from all these miseries of life For after that time hee is not weake but crooked hee goeth not but rowlleth he stumbleth nor but falleth O my Lord Marke knowest thou not that by the same way whereby goeth death death cometh Knowest not thou in like manner that it is 62. yeers that life hath fled from death that there is another time asmuch that death goeth seeking thy life and death going from Illiria where he left a great plague thou departing frō thy pallace ye two haue now met in Hungarie Knowest not thou that where thou leapedst out of thy mothers intrailes to gouerne the land immediately death leaped out of his grauè to seeke thy life Thou hast alwayes presumed not onely to bee honored but also to be honorable if it bee so since thou honouredst the Embassadors of Princes which did send them the more for their profite then for thy seruice why dost thou not honor thy messenger whom the gods send more for thy profite then for their seruices Doest thou not remember well when Vulcan my sonne in law poysoned me more for the couetousnesse of my gods then any desire that hee had of my life thou Lord that diddest come to comfort mee in my chamber and toldst me that the gods were cruell to slay the yong and were pitiful to take the old from this world And thou saidst further these wordes Comfort thee Panutius for if thou wert borne to the now thou drest to liue Since therefore noble Prince that I tell thee that which thou toldst me and counsell thee the same which thou counsellest me I render to thee that which thou hast giuen me Finally of these vines I haue gathered these cluster of grapes CHAP. LII The answer of the Emperour Marcus to Panutius his Secretarie wherein he declareth that he tooke no thought to forsake the world but all his sorow was to leaue behind him an vnhappie child to inherit the Empire PAnutius blessed be the milke which thou hast sucked in Dacia the bread which thou hast eaten in Rome the larning which thou hast learned in Greece and the bringing vppe which thou hast had in my pallace For thou hast serued as a good seruant in life and giuest mee good counsell as a trustie friende at death I command Commodus my son to recompence thy seruice and I beseech the immortall gods that they acquite thy good counsels And not without good cause I charge my son with the one and requrie the gods of the other For the payment of many seruices one man alone may doe but to pay one good counsell it is requisite to haue all the gods The greatest good that a friend can doe to his friend is in great and waightie affaires to giue him good and wholesome counsell And not without cause I say wholesome For commonly it chaunceth that those which thinke with their counsell to remedy vs doe put vs oftentimes in greatest perils All the trauells of life are hard but that of death is the most hard and terrible Al are great but this is the greatest All are perillous but this is most perrillons All in death haue ende except the trauell of death whereof wee know no end that which I say now no men perfectly can know but he which seeth himselfe as I see my selfe now at the point of death Certainly Panutius thou hast spoken vnto mee as a wise man but for that thou knowst not my griefe thou couldst not cure my disease for my sore is not there where thou hast layde the plaister The fistula is not there where thou hast cutte the flesh The opilation is not there where thou hast layd the oyntments There were not the right veines where thou didst let me bloud Thou hast not yet touched the wound which is the cause of all my griefe I meane that thou oughtest to haue entred further with mee to haue knowne my griefe better The sighes which the heart fetcheth I say those which come from the heart let not euerie man think which heareth them that he can immedialy vnderstand them For as men cannot remedie the anguishes of the spirit so the gods likewise would not that they should know the secrets of the heart Without feare or shame many dare say that they know the thought of others wherein they shew themselues to bee more fooles then wise For since there are many things in me wherein I my selfe doubt how can a stranger haue any certaine knowledge therein Thou accusest me Panutius that I feare death greatly the which I deny but to feare it as man I doe confesse For to deny that I feare not death should bee to denie that I am not of flesh We see by experience that the Elephants do feare the Lyon the Beare the Elephant the wolfe the Beare the Lambe the Wolfe the Rat the Cat the Cat the Dog the Dog the man Finally the one and the other do feare for no other thing but for feare that one killeth not the other Then since bruite beasts refuse death the which though they die feare not to fight with the suries nor hope not to rest with the gods so much the more ought we to feare death which die in doubt whether the furies will teare vs in peeces with their torments or the gods will receiue vs in to their houses with ioy Thinkest thou Panutius that I doe not see well my vine is gathered and that it is not hid vnto me that my palace falleth in decay I know well that I haue not but the kernell of the Raison the skin and that I haue not but one sigh of all my life vntill this time There was great difference betweene me and thee now there is no great difference betwixt me and my selfe For about the ensign thou dost place the army In the riuers thou castest thy nets within the parkes thou huntest the buls in the shadow thou takest cold By this I meane that thou talkest so much of death because that thou art sure of thy life O miserable man that I am for in short space of all that is life I haue possessed with mee I shall carrie nothing but onely my winding sheete Alasse how shall I enter into the field not where of fierce beasts I shall bee assaulted but of the hungrie wormes deuoured Alasse I see my selfe in that distresse from whence my fraile flesh cannot escape And if any hope remaine it is in thee O death When I am sicke I would not that hee that is whole should comfort me When
will play his coate Waying the matter more deeply and aggrauating this vice I say further and affirme that when the children of Princes and great Lords play a man ought not to make account of that which they may winne or loose for that of all miseries were most miserie if therefore my penne should forbidde them play For play ought not to be forbidden to young children for the money that they lose but for the vices which they winne thereby and for the corrupt manners which therein they doe learne Octauian who was the second Emperour of Rome and one of the fortunatest Emperours that euer was among all his vertues was noted of one thing onely which is that from his youth he was much giuen to play at tennis Of the which vice hee was not onely admonished secretly but also was forbidden it openly For as Cicero sayeth in his booke of Lawes when the Emperour was noted of any open vice they might boldly reproue him in the open Senate When Octauian was for this vice reproued by the Senate they sayde hee spake these wordes You haue reason O Fathers conscript in taking from me my pastime for it is necessary that the vertues of Princes should be so many that al men might prayse them and their vices so fewe that no man might reproue them These wordes were notable worthy of such a rare and excellent Prince For in the end considering their delicate and wanton bringing vp together with the liberty that they haue Wee ought to thanke and commend them for the good workes which they doe and most of all to reioyce for the vices which they want To our matter therefore amongst the other wicked vices that children gette in their youth when they are players This is one that they learne to bee theeues and lyers For the money that they playe to demaund it their Fathers they are afrayde and ashamed and of theyr owne proper goods as yet they haue none in their hands Wherefore a man may easily conclude tha◠if children play of necessitie they must steale The sixe and thirtieth Emperor of Rome was Claudius Luganus a man very temperate in eating moderate in apparrell vpright in iustice and very fortunate in chiualry for he did not onely repulse the Gothes from Illyria but also vanquished in a batrell the Germaines wherin were slaine aboue a hundred thousand This battell was neere vnto the Lake Verucus in a place called Luganus and for a memory of that great battell and victory they called him Claudius Luganus For it was a custome among the Romaines that according to the good or euill workes that Princes did so they were iudged and know by such surnames whether it were good or euill This Emperour had but one onely sonne which was a prince of comely personage and liuely of vnderstanding but aboue all things giuen to play so that these good gifts which nature gaue him to work in vertue he misused alwayes in play And amongst young men he desired rather to haunt vice then among the Philosophers to learne vertue And hereat a man ought not to maruell for all men of great courage vnlesse they be compelled to do vertuous acts doe exercise of themselues many detestable vices It chaunced when this young prince had no more to play nor gage he robbed out of his Fathers chamber a rich Iewell of golde whereof also his Master was priuie And when the knowledge thereof came to the Emperours eates hee immediately dishenherited his sonne of the Empire and caused the head of the Master to bee cut off his body and all those likewise that played with him to be banished the Countrey This act made euery man afrayde for correction executed after a good sorte hath this property that it encourageth the good to be good and feareth the wicked from their wickednesse Merula in the tenth booke of Caesars whereas at large hee mentioneth this matter sayeth that the Romaines esteemed more the banishment of those players from Rome then to haue drouen out the Gothes from Illyria and to say the trueth they had reason For a prince deserueth a greater growne of glory to banish the vitious from his palace then hee doeth for chasing the enemies out of his dominion CHAP. XL. ¶ Of two other vices perillous in Youth which the Maisters ought to keepe them from and that is to bee shamelesse in countenance and addicted to wickednesse and the lusts of the Flesh THirdlie Tutours ought to trauel that that the Children which they haue in charge be not light worldly nor that they do consent that they be bolde or shamelesse And I say that they doe not suffer them to be light or vnconstant For of young men vnconstant and light commeth oftentimes an olde man fonde and vnthriftie I say that they doe not suffer them to be too rashe For of too hardie young men commeth rebellious and seditious persons I say that they doe not consent they bee shameles For of the vnshamefastnes commeth slaunderous persons Princes and great Lords ought to haue much care and circumspection that their Children bee brought vp in shamefastnes with honestie For the crowne doth not giue so much glorie to a King nor the head doth more set forth the man nor the precious jewell more adorne the breast nor yet the regal Scepter more become the hand then shamefastnes with honesty beautifieth a young man For a man of what estate soeuer hee be the honesty which hee sheweth outwardly doeth most commonly hyde many secret vices wherewith he is indued inwardly In the time of the reigne of the Emperour Helyus Pertinax the nineteenth Emperour of Rome two Consulls gouerned the Common-wealth the one was named Verut and the other Mamillus One day they came vnto the Emperour and were humble suiters to his Highnesse beseeching him that it would please him to accept and receyue their two children into his seruice the eldest of the which passed not as yet twelue yeares of age the which request after the Emperour had graunted the Fathers were not negligent to bring them vnto him and beeing come before his presence eache of them made an oration the one in Latine and the other in Greeke Wherewith the Emperour was greatly pleased and all the residue amazed For at that time none serued the Romaine Princes but hee that was very apte to Chiualrie or very toward in Sciences As these two Children in the presence of the Emperour made their orations the one of them behelde the Emperour in such sorte that his eyes neuer went off him neither once mouing his head to looke downe to the earth and the other contrarie behelde the earth alwayes and neuer lift vp his head during his oration Wherewith the Emperour beeing a graue man was so highly pleased with the demeanours of this Childe that hee did not onely admit him for to serue him at his Table but also hee suffered him to enter into his Chamber and this was a preferment of