differeth in end and purpose to sorte together those things which are next in Nature and those things which are next in vse For if a secretary of Estate should sort his papers it is like in his study or generall Cabinet he would sort together things of a Nature as Treaties Instructions c. But in his Boxes or particular Cabinet hee would sort togither those that he were like to vse together though of seuerall Natures So in this generall Cabynet of knowledge it was necessary for me to follow the diuisions of the Nature of things whereas if my selfe had beene to handle any particular knowledge I would haue respected the Diuisions fittest for vse The other because the bringing in of the Deficiences did by Consequence alter the Partitions of the rest For let the knowledge extant for demonstration sake be 15. Let the knowledge with the Deficiences be 20. the parts of 15. are not the parts of 20 for the parts of 15 are 3. and 5. the parts of 20. are 2. 4. 5. and 10. So as these things are without Contradiction and could not otherwise be WE proceed now to that knowledge which cō sidereth of the APPETITE and WILL OF Man whereof Salomon sayth Anteomnia fili custodi cor tuum nam inde procedunt actiones vilae In the handling of this science those which haue written seeme to me to haue done as if a man that professed to teach to write did only exhibit faire copies of Alphabets letters ioyned without geuing any precepts or directiōs for the cariage of the hād framing of the letters So haue they made good fair Exemplars coppies carieng the draughts and pour traiturs of Good Vertue Duety Felicity propoūding thē well described as the true obiects and scopes of mās wil and desires But how to attain these excellēt marks and how to frame and subdue the will of man to become true and conformable to these pursuites they passe it ouer altogether or slightly and vnprofitably For it is not the disputing That morall vertues are in the Minde of man by habite not by nature or the distinguishing That generous spirites are wonne by doctrines and perswasions and the vulgar sort by reward punishment and the like scattered glances and touches that can excuse the absence of this parte The reason of this omission I suppose to be that hidden Rocke wherevppon both this and many other barques of knowledge haue beene cast away which is that men haue dispised to be conuersant in ordinary and common matters the iudicious direction whereof neuerthelesse is the wisest doctrine for life consisteth not in nouelties nor subtilities but contrariwise they haue compounded Sciences chiefly of a certaine resplendent or lustrous masse of matter chosen to giue glory either to the subtillity of disputacions or to the eloquence of discourses But Seneca giueth an excellent check to eloquence Nocet illis eloquentia quibus non rerum cupiditatem facit sed sui doctrines should be such as should make men in loue with the Lesson and not with the Teacher being directed to the Auditors benefite and not to the Authors commendation And therefore those are of the right kinde which may be concluded as Demosthenes concludes his counsell Quae si feceritis non Oratorem duntaxat inpraesentia laudabitis sed vosmetipsos etiā nō ita multo post statu rerum vestrarum meliore Neyther needed men of so excellent parts to haue despaired of a Fortune which the Poet Virgill promised himselfe and indeed obtained who got as much glory of eloquence wit and learning in the expressing of the obseruacions of husbandry as of the heroicall acts of Aeneas Nec sunt animi dubius verbis ea vincere magnum Quam sit augustis his addere rebus honorem And surely if the purpose be in good earnest not to write at leasure that which mē may read at leasure but really to instruct and suborne Action and actiue life these Georgickes of the mind concerning the husbādry tillage therof are no lesse worthy thē the heroical descriptiōs of vertue duty felicity wherfore the maine primitiue diuision of Morall knowledge seemeth to be into the EXEMPLAR or PLATFORME of GOOD and the REGIMENT or CVLTVRE OF THE MIND The one describing the nature of Good the other prescribing rules how to subdue apply and accomodate the will of man therevnto The Doctrine touching the PLATFORME or NaTVRE of GOOD considereth it either SIMPLE or COMPARED either the kindes of Good or the degrees of Good In the later whereof those infinite disputations which were touching the supreme degree thereof which they terme Felicity Beatitude or the highest Good the doctrines concerning which were as the heathen Diuinity are by the christian faith discharged And as Aristotle saith That yong men may bee happy but not otherwise but by Hope So we must all acknowledge our Minority and embrace the felicity which is by hope of the future world Freed therefore and deliuered from this doctrine of the Philosophers heauen whereby they fayned an higher eleuation of Mans Nature then was For we see in what an height of stile Seneca writeth Vere Magnum habere fragilitatem hominis securitatem Dei We may with more sobriety and truerh receiue the rest of their Enquiries and labors Wherein for the Nature of Good Positiue or simple they haue set it downe excellently in describing the fourmes of Vertue and Duty with their situations and postures in distributing them into their kinds parts Prouinces Actions and Administrations and the like Nay furder they haue commended them to Mans Nature and spirite with greate quicknesse of Argumente and beauty of persuasions yea and fortified and entrenched them as much as discourse can doe against corrupt and popular opinions Againe for the degrees and Comparatiue Nature of Good they haue also excellentlye handled it in their triplicity of Good in the comparisons betweene a Contemplatiue and an actiue life in the distinction between vertue with reluctation and vertue secured in their encounters between honesty and profit in theyr ballancing of vertue with vertue and the like so as this parte deserueth to bee reported for excellentlye laboured Notwithstanding if before they had commen to the popular and receiued Nocions of vertue and vice pleasure and payne and the rest they had stayed a little longer vpon the Enquirye concerning the Rootes of Good and euill and the Strings of those Rootes they had giuen in my opinion a great light to that which followed and speciallye if they had consulted with Nature they had made their doctrins lesse prolixe and more profound which beeing by them in part omitted and in part handled with much Confusion we will endeauour to resume and open in a more cleare Manner There is fourmed in euery thing a double Nature of Good the one as euery thing is a Totall or substantiue in it selfe the other as it is a parte or Member of a greater Bodye whereof the the
Indignities perturbations whereas the resolution of men truly Moral ought to be such as the same Consaluo sayd the honor of a souldior should be F tela Crassiore and not so fine as that euery thing should catch in it and endanger it To resume priuate or particular good it falleth into the diuisioÌ„ of Good Actiue Passiue For this differeÌ„ce of Good not vnlike to that which amongst the RomaÌ„s was expressed in the familiar or houshold terms of Promus and Condus is formed also in all things is best disclosed in the two seuerall Appetites in crea tures the one to preserue or continue themselues the other to dilate or Multiply themselues whereof the later seemeth to be the worthyer For in Nature the heauens which are the more worthy are the A gent and the earth which is the lesse woorthye is the Patient In the pleasures of liuing creatures that of generation is greater then that of foode In diuine Doctrine Beatius est dare quam accipere And in life there is no mans spirit so soft but estemeth the effecting of somwhat that he hath fixed in his desire more then sensuality which priority of the Actiue Good is much vpheld by the Consideration of our estate to be mortall exposed to fortune for if wee mought haue a perpetuity and Certainty in our pleasures the State of them would advance their price But when we see it is but Magni aestimamus Mori tardius and Ne glorieris de crastino Nescis Partum diei it maketh vs to desire to haue somwhat secured and exempted from Time which are onelye our deedes and works as it is sayd Operaeorum sequuntur eos The preheminence likewise of this actiue good is vpheld by the affection which is naturall in man towardes variety and proceeding which in the pleasures of the sence which is the principal part of Passiue good can haue no great latitude Cogita quamdiu eadem feceris Ci bus Somnus Ludus per hâ—…nc CirculuÌ„ curritur mori velle noÌ„ tantuÌ„ fertis aut miser aut prudens sed etiaÌ„ fastidiosus potest But in enterprises pursutes purposes of life ther is much variety wherof men are seÌ„sible with pleasure in theyr inceptions progressions recoyls reinteg ations approches and atteynings to their ends So as it was wel said Vita siue proposito languida vaga est Neither hath this Actiue good anâ—… Identity with the good of Society though in some case it hath an incidence into it For although it do many times bring forth Acts of BeneficeÌ„ce yet it is with a respect priuate to a maÌ„s own power glory amplificatioÌ„ coÌ„tinuaÌ„ce 〈◊〉 appeareth plainly when it findeth a contrary Sùbiect For that GygaÌ„tine state of mind which possesseth the trowblers or the world such as was Lucius Sylla and infinit other in smaller model who would haue all meÌ„ happy or vnhappy as they were their friends or Enimies and would giue fourm to the world according to their owne humors which is the true Theomachy pretendeth and aspireth to Actiue good though it recedeth furthest from good of Society which wee haue determined to be the greater To resume Passiue Good it receiueth a subdiuision of Conseruatiue and Perfectiue For let vs take a brief Review of that which we haue said we haue spoken first of the Good of Society the intention whereof embraceth the Fourm of Humaine Nature whereof we are members Portions and not our owne proper and Indiuidual fourme we have spoken of Actiue good and supposed it as a part of Priuate and particu lar good And rightly For there is impressed vppon all things a triple desire or appetite proceeding from loue to themselues one of preseruing and contynuing theyr form another of Aduancing and Perfitting their fourm and a third of Multiplying and extending their iourme vpon other things whereof the multiplying er signature of it vpon other things is that which we handled by the name of Actiue good So as there remayneth the conseruing of it and parfiting or raising of it which later is the highest degree of Passiue good For to preserue in state is the lesse to preserue with aduancement is the greater So in man Ignâ—…us est ollis vigor coelestis â—…rigo His approach or AssumptioÌ„ to diuine or Angelâ—…icall Nature is the perfection of his forme The error or false ImitatioÌ„ of which good is that whichis the teÌ„pest of humane life whileman vpoÌ„ the instinct of an aduaÌ„cement Formal and Essential is carried to seek an aduancement Locall For as those which are sick finde no remedy doe tumble vp and downe and chaunge place as if by a Remoue Locall they could obtayne a Remooue Internall So is it with men in ambition when fayling of the meane to exalt their Nature they are in a perpetuall estuation to exalte theyr Place So then passiue Good is as was sayde eyther Conseruatiue or Perfectiue To resume the good of conseruation or Comforte which consisteth in the sruicion of that which is agreeable to our Natures it seemeth to be the most pure and Naturall of pleasures but yet the sostest and the lowest And this also receiueth aÌ„ differeÌ„ce which hath neither beene well iudged of nor well inquired For the good of fruition or contentment is placed eyther in the Sincerenesse of the sruition or in the quicknesse vigor of it the one superinduced by the Aequality the o ther by Vicissitude the one hauing lesse mixture of Euil the other more impressioÌ„ of Good Whether of these is the greter good is a questioÌ„ coÌ„trouerted but whether maus nature may not be capable of both is a question not inquired The former question heing debated between Socrates and a Sophist Socrates placing felicity in an equall and constanâ—… peace of mind and the Sophist in much desiring and much enioying they fell from Argument to ill words The Sophist saying that Socrates felicity was the felicity of a block or stone and Socrates saying that the Sophists felicity was the felicity of one that had the itch who did nothing but itche and skratch And both these opinions do not want their supports For the opinion of Socrates is much vpheld by the generall consent euen of the Epicures themselues that vertue beareth a great part in felicity and if so certain it is that vertue hath more vse in cleering perturbations then in compassing desires The Sophists opinion is much fauoured by the Assertion we last spake of that good of Aduancement is greater then good of simple Preseruation because euery obtayning a desire hath a shew of aduancement as mocion though in a Circle hath a shew of progression But the second question decided the true waye maketh the former superfluous For can it be doubted but that there are some who take more pleasure in enioying pleasures then some other and yet neuerthelesse are lesse troubled with the losse or leauing of them So as this same Non vti vt non appetas Non
iudge that my labor is but to Collect into an Art or Sciēce that which hath bin pretermitted by others as matter of cōmon Sence and experience he iudgeth well But as Philocrates sported with Demosthenes you may not maruaile A thenians that Demosthenes and I doe differ for hee drinketh water and I drinke wine and like as wee reade of an aunciente parable of the two gates of sleep Sunt geminae somni portae quarum altera fertur Cornea qua veris facilis datur exitus vmbris Altera Candenti perfecta nitens Elephanto Sed falsa ad coelum mittunt insomnia manes So if wee put on sobriety and attention we shall finde it a sure Maxime in knowledge that the more pleasaunte Liquor of Wine is the more vaporous and the brauer gate of Iuorye sendeth foorthe the falser dreames But we haue now concluded That generall part of Humane Philosophye which contemplateth man segregate and as hee consisteth of bodye and spirite Wherein wee maye further note that there there seemeth to be a Relatiō or Conformity betwen the good of the mynd and the good of the Body For as we devided the good of the body into Health Beau ty strength and Pleasure so the good of the mynde inquired in Rationall and Morall knoweledges tendeth to this to make the minde sound and without perturbation Beautifull and graced with decencie and Strong and Agill for all duties of life T◅eis three as in the bodye so in the minde seeldome meete and Commonly seuer For it is easilye to obserue that many haue Strength of witte and Courage but haue neither Healthe from perturbations nor any Beauty or decencie in theire doings som againe haue an Elegancy and finenesse of Carriage which haue neither soundnesse of honestie nor substance of sufficiencye And some againe haue honest and refourmed Myndes that can neither become themselues nor Manage Businesse and sometimes two of them meete and rarely all three As for pleasure wee haue likewise determined that the minde oughte not to bee reduced to stupide but to retayne pleasure Confined rather in the subiect of it then in the strength and vigor of it CIVILE KNOVVLEDGE is conversant about a subiect which of all others is most immersed in matter and hardliest reduced to Actiome Neuerthelesse as Cato the Censor saide That the Romane were like sheepe for that a man were better driue a flock of them then one of them For in a flocke if you could get but some fewe goe righte the rest would follow So in that respect Morall philosophie is more difficile then Pollicie Againe morrall Philosophye propoundeth to it selfe the framing of Internall goodnesse But ciuile knowledge requireth onelye an Externall goodnesse for that as to societye sufficeth And therfore it cometh oft to passe that therebe Euill Times in good gouernments for so we finde in the holy story when the kings were good yet it is added Sed adhuc populus non dixerat cor suum ad dominum Deumpatrum suorum Againe States as great Engines mooue slowly and are not so soone put out of frame for as in Aegypt the seauē good years sustained the seauen badde So gouernments for a time well grounded doe beare out errors following But the resolution of particuler persons is more so dainly sub verted These respects doe somwhat qualifie the extreame difficulty of ◅iuile knowledge This knowledge hath three parts according to the three summary Actiōs of society which are Cōversation Negotiatiō and Gouernment For mā seeketh in society comfort vse and Protection theybe three wisedōs of diuers natures which do oftē seuer wisedome of the behauiour wisedom of Businesse wisedome of state The wisedome of of conuersation ought not to be ouer mvch affected but much lesse despised for it hath not onely an honour in it selfe but an influence also into businesse and gouernment The poet saieth Nec vultu destrue verba tuo A man maie destroy the force of his woords with his countenance so may he◅ of his deeds saieth Cicero recommending to his brother affability and easy accesse Nil interest habere ostium apertum vultum clausum It is nothing wonne to admitte men with an open doore and to receiue them with a shutte and reserued countenaunce So wee see Atticus before the first interuiewe betweene Coesar and Cicero the warre depending did seriouslye aduise Cicero touching the composing and orderinge of his countenaunce and gesture And if the gouernemente of the countenaunce bee of such effecte much more is that of the speeche and other carriage appertayning to conuersation the true modele whereof seemeth to mee well expressed by Ltuye though not meante for this purpose Ne aut arrogans videar aut obnoxius quorum alterum est alienae libertatis obliti alterum suae The summe of behauioure is to retayne a mans owne dignitye without intruding vpon the libertye of others on the other side if behauioure and outwarde carriage bee intended too much first it may passe into affection and then Quid deformius quam Scaenam in vitam transferre to acte a mans life But although it proceede not to that extreame yet it consumeth time and imployeth the minde too much And therefore as wee vse to aduise younge studentes from company keeping by saying Amici sures Temporis So certainely the Intending of the discretion of behauioure is a great Theefe of Meditation Againe such as are accomplished in that howr of vrbanity please themselues in name and sildome aspire to higher vertue whereas those that haue defect in it do seeke Comlines by Reputation for where reputacion is almost euery thing becommeth But where that is not it must be supplied by Puntos and Complementes Agayne there is no greater impediment of Action then an ouercurious obseruaunce of decency and the guide of decencye which is Tyme and season For as Salomon sayeth Qui respicit ad ventos non seminat qui respicit ad nubes non metet A man must make his opportunity as ofte as finde it To conclude Behauiour seemeth to me as a Garment of the Minde and to haue the Condicions of a Garmente For it ought to bee made in sashion it ought not to bee too curious It ought to bee shaped so as to sette foorthe anye good making of the minde and hide any deformity and aboue all it ought not to be too straighte or restrayned for exercise or mocion But this parte of Ciuile knowledge hath beene elegantlye handled and therefore I cannot reporte it for deficient The wisedome touching Negotiation or businesse hath not bin hitherto collected into writing to the great derogacion of learning and the professors of learninge For from this roote springeth chiefly that note or opinion which by vs is expressed in Adage to this effecte That there is noe greate concurrence betweene learning and Wisedome For of the three wisedomes which wee haue sette downe to pertaine to ciuil life for wisedome of Behauiour it is by learned men for the moste parte despised as an
see in Caesar all whose friends and followers were men actiue and effectuall but not solemn or of reputation Fiftly to take speciall heed how they guide them selues by examples in thinking they can doe as they see others doe whereas perhappes their natures and carriages are farre differing in which Error it seemeth Pompey was of whome Cicero sayeth that hee was woont often to saye Sylla potuit Ego non potero wherein he was much abused the natures and proceedinges of himselfe and his example beeing the vnlikest in the worlde the one being fierce violent and pressing the fact the other solemn and full of Maiesty and circumstance and therefore the lesse effectuall But this precept touching the politicke knowledge of our selues hath many other branches whereupon we cannot insist Next to the wellvnderstanding and discerning of a mans selfe there followeth the well opening and reuealing a mans selfe wherein we see nothing more vsuall then for the more able man to make the lesse shewe For there is a greate aduantage in the well setting foorthe of a mans vertues fortunes merites and againe in the artificiall couering of a mans weakenesses defectes disgraces staying vpon the one slyding from the other cherishing the one by circumstaunces gracing the other by exposition and the like wherein we see what Tacitus sayth of Mutianus who was the greatest politique of his time Omnium quae dixerat fecer atque arte quadam ostentator which requireth indeed some arte least it turne tedious and arrogant but yet so as ostentation though it be to the first degree of vanity seemeth to me rather a vice in Manners then in Policye for as it is sayd Audacter calumniari semper aliquid haeret So except it be in a ridiculous degree of deformity Audacter te vendita semper aliquid haeret For it will sticke with the more ignoraunt and inferiour sort of men though men of wisedome and ranke doe smile at it and despife it and yet the authority wonne with many doth counteruaile the difdaine of a few But if it be carried with decency and gouernement as with a naturall pleasaunt and ingenious fashion or at times when it is mixte with some perill and vnsafety as in Military persons or at tymes when others are most enuied or with easie and carelesse passage to it and from it without dwelling too long or being too serious or with an equall freedome of taxing a mans selfe aswell as gracing himselfe or by occasion of repelling or putting downe others iniurye or insolencie It doth greately adde to reputation and surelye not a fewe solide natures that wante this ventositye and cannot saile in the heighth of the windes are not without some preiudice and disaduantage by they re moderacion But for these flourishes and inhansements of vertue as they are not perchaunce vnnecessary So it is at leaste necessary that vertue be not disualewed and imbafed vnder the iust price which is doon in three manners By offering and obtruding a mans selfe wherein men thinke he is rewarded when he is accepted By doing too much which wil not giue that which is well done leaue to settle and in the end induceth saciety and By finding to soone the fruit of a mans vertue in commendation applause honour fauoure wherein if a man be pleased with a little let him heare what is truly said Caue ne insuetus rebus maioribus videaris si haec te res parua sicuti magna delectat But the couering of defects is of no lesse importance then the valewing of good parts which may be doone likewise in three manners by Caution by Colour and by Confidence Caution is when men doe ingeniously and discreetely auoyde to be put into those things for which they are not propper wheras contrarywise bould and vnquiet spirits will thrust themselues into matters without difference and so publish and proclaime all their wantes Coloure is when men make a way for themselues to haue a construction made of their faultes or wantes as proceedinge from a better cause or intended for some other purpose for of the one it is well sayde Saepe latet vitium proximitateboni And therefore whatsoeuer want a man hath he must see that he pretend the vertue that shadoweth it as if he be Dull he must affect Grauitie if a Cowarde Mildenesse and so the rest for the second a man must frame some probable cause why he should not doe his best and why he should dissemble his abilities and for that purpose must vse to dissemble those abilities which are notorious in him to giue colour that his true wants are but industries and dissimulations for Confidence it is the last but the surest remedie namely to depresse and seeme to despise whatsoeuer a man cannot attaine obseruing the good principle of the Marchantes who endeuour to raise the price of their owne commodities and to beate down the price of others But there is a confidence that passeth this other which is to face out a mans own defects in seeming to conceiue that he is best in those things wherein he is failing and to help that againe to seeme on the other side that he hath least opinion of himselfe in those things wherein he is best like as we shall see it commonly in Poets that if they shew their verses and you except to any they will say That that lyne cost them more labour then any of the rest and presently will seeme to disable and suspect rather some other lyne which they know well enough to be the best in the number But aboue al in this righting and helping of a mans selfe in his owne carriage he must take heed he shew not himselfe dismantelled and exposed to scorne and iniury by too much dulcenesse goodnesse and facility of nature but shew some sparkles of liberty spirit and edge Which kind of fortified cariage with a readye rescussing of a mans selfe from scornes is somtimes of necessity imposed vpon men by somwhat in their person or fortune but it euer succeedeth with good felicity Another precept of this knowledge is by all possible endeauour to frame the mind to be pliaunt and obedient to occasion for nothing hindereth mens fortunes so much as this Idem manebat nequeidem decebat Men are where thty were when occasions turne and therefore to Cato whom Liuie maketh such an Architect of fortune hee addeth that he had Versatile Ingenium And thereof it commeth that these graue solemne wittes which must be like themselues and cannot make departures haue more dignity then foelicity But in some it is nature to bee somewhat viscouse and inwrapped and not easie to turne In some it is a conceipte that is almost a nature which is that men can hardlie make themselâ—…ns beleeue that they oughte to chaunge their course when they haue found good by it in former experience For Macciaue noteth wisely how Fabius Maximus would haue been temporizing still according to his ould biasse when the nature of the warre was altered