touch of this follie shall neuer attaine vnto wisdome Faith modestie a hartie and serious acknowledgment of that little that we haue is a great testimonie of a good and sound iudgement of a right will and is an excellent disposition vnto wisdome CHAP. II. A vniuersall and plaine libertie of spirit both in iudgement and will the second disposition to Wisdome THe other disposition vnto Wisdome which followeth the first which doth quit vs from this outward and inward captiuitie and confusion popular and passionate is a plaine entire generous and lord-like libertie of the mind which is two-fold that is to say of iudgement and will The first of iudgement consisteth in the consideration iudgement examination of all things and in not tying himselfe 1 The first part libertie of iudgemēt to any one but remaining free in himselfe vniuersall readie and open for all And this is the highest point the proper law and true priuiledge of a wise and actiue man But few they are that will vnderstand it and acknowledge it fewer that practise it as they should and this is the reason why we must heere establish it against such as are incapable of wisdome And first to auoid all miscountings we explaine the words giue the sense There are heere three things which maintaine cause and conserue one the other that is to iudge of all things not to be maried or bound to any to continue open and readie for all When I say to iudge my meaning is not to resolue affirme determine this were contrarie to the second which is not to bind our selues to any thing but it is to examine and weigh the reasons and counter-reasons on all parts the weight and merit of them and thereby worke out the truth So likewise not to bind our selues to any thing is not to settle our selues and to remaine short of that we should bleating in the aire and to cease our indeuors and to proceed in our necessarie actions and deliberations For I will that in all outward and common actions of our life and in whatsoeuer is ordinarily vsed a man should agree and accommodate himselfe to the common sort for our rule extendeth not it selfe to that which is outward and to the action but to that which is within the thought and secret and inward iudgement yea and therein likewise I consent that a man settle and applie himselfe to that which seemeth most agreeable to the truth most honest and profitable but yet that it be without determination resolution affirmation or condemnation of contrarie or diuers iudgements old or new but alwaies to hold himselfe readie to entertaine better if it appeare yea not to be offended if another shall contest with him against that which he thinketh better but rather desire to heare what may be said for this is the meane to exercise the first which is to iudge and alwaies to enter into the search of the truth These three I say doe maintaine and conserue one the other for he that iudgeth well and without passion of all things findeth in euery thing appearances of reason which hinder his resolution whereby he feareth to settle his iudgement and so remaineth vndetermined indifferent and vniuersall whereas contrariwise he that resolueth iudgeth no more but setleth and resteth himselfe vpon that which he holdeth and so makes himselfe a partaker and a particular To the former fooles simple and weake people are contrarie to the second obstinate opinatiue affirmers to the third both of them which are particulars but all three are practised by the wise modest discreet and temperate searcher of the truth and true Philosophie It remaineth for the explication of this our proposition that I let you know that by all things and some thing for it is said to iudge of all things not to be assured of any we vnderstand not those diuine verities which haue bin reuealed vnto vs which we are to receiue simplie with all humilitie and submission and without all controuersie and discussion submit our selues and captiuate our minds thereunto captiuantes intellectum ad obsequium fidei but we vnderstand heereby all other things without exception This simple explication would be sufficient perhaps to perswade an indifferent spirit to receiue this rule of wisdome but I see and perceiue a sort of people glorious resolute affirmatiue which would rule the world and command it as it were with a rod and as others in former times haue sworne to certaine principles and maried themselues to certaine opinions so they would that all others should do the like whereby they oppose themselues to this noble libertie of the spirit It shall be necessarie therefore to establish it more amplie and by order to confirme and handle these three points and members thereof The first is to iudge of all It is the propertie of a wise and 2 The first to iudge of all spirituall man saith one of the first and wisest of the world Spiritualis omnia dijudicat à nemine iudicatur The true office of man his most proper and naturall exercise his worthiest profession is to iudge Why is he a man discoursing reasoning vnderstanding Why hath he a spirit to build as they say castles in the aire and to feede himselfe with fooleries and vanities as the greatest part of the world doth Quis vnquam oculos tenebrarum causâ habuit No doubtlesse but to vnderstand to iudge of all things and therefore he is called the gouernour the superintendent the keeper of nature of the world of the works of God To go about to depriue him of this right is to make him no more a man but a beast to do it singularly excellently is the part of a wise man If not to iudge hurts the simple and proper nature of man what shall it doe in a wise man who is as farre aboue the common sort of men as a common man is aboue beasts It is then strange that so many men I speake not of idiots and the weaker sort who haue not the facultie and meane to exercise it who either are or make shew of vnderstanding and sufficiencie depriue themselues willinglie of this right and authoritie so naturall so iust and excellent who without the examining or iudging of any thing receiue and approue whatsoeuer is presented either because it hath a faire semblance appearance or because it is in authoritie credit and practise yea they thinke that it is not lawfull to examin or doubt of any thing in such sort do they debase and degrade themselues they are forward and glorious in other things but in this they are fearefull and submisse though it do iustly appertaine vnto them and with so much reason Since there are a thousand lies for one truth a thousand opinions of one and the same thing and but one that is true why should not I examin with the instrument of reason which is the better the truer the more reasonable honest and profitable Is it possible that amongst
1 Naturall materiall whereby the spirits remaine sottish feeble lesse capable plaine diminished obscure such as that is for the most part of the common sort of people or too hot ardent and drie which maketh the spirits foolish audacious vitious These are the two extremes Sottishnesse and Follie Water and Fire Lead and Mercurie altogether improper or vnapt to wisdom which requireth a spirit full of vigor and generous and yet sweet pliant and modest but the second is more easily amended by discipline than the former The second which is Acquired proceedeth either 2 Acquired from no culture and instruction or from that which is euill which amongst other things consisteth in an obstinate and sworne preiudicate preuention of opinions wherewith the minde is made drunken and taketh so strong a tincture that it is made vnapt and vncapable to see or to finde better whereby to raise and inrich it selfe It is sayd of these kinde of men That they are wounded and stricken that they haue a hurt or blow in the head vnto which wound if likewise learning be ioined because that puffeth vp it bringeth with it presumption and temeritie and somtimes armes to maintaine and defend those anticipated opinions it altogether perfecteth the forme and frame of follie and maketh it incurable So that naturall weaknesse and acquired preuention are two great hinderances but science if it do not wholly cure them which seldome it doth strengtheneth them and maketh them inuincible which turneth not any way to the dishonour of learning as a man may well thinke but to the greater honour thereof Science or Learning is a very good and profitable 10 Of Learning staffe or waster but which will not be handled with all hands and he that knowes not well how to rule it receiueth thereby more hurt than profit It besotteth and maketh foolish saith a great learned writer the weake See heerof Li. 3. ca. 14. and sicke spirit it polisheth and perfecteth the naturally strong and good The feeble spirit knowes not how to possesse science how to handle it and how to make vse thereof as he should but contrariwise is possessed and ruled by it whereby he submits himselfe and remaines a slaue to it like a weake stomacke ouercharged with more victuals than it can digest A weake arme wanting power and skill well to weld a waster or staffe that is somewhat too heauie for it wearieth it selfe and fainteth A wise and courageous spirit ouermastereth his wisdome enioyeth it vseth it and employeth it to his best aduantage enformeth his owne iudgement rectifieth his will helpeth and fortifieth his naturall light and maketh himselfe more quicke and actiue wheras the other is made thereby more sottish more vnapt and therewithall more presumptuous so that the fault or reproch is not in learning no more than that wine or other good drugge is faultie which a man knoweth not how to apply and accommodate to his owne needs Non est culpa vini sed culpa bibentis Now then against such spirits weake by nature preoccupated puffed vp and hindred by acquired wisdome I make open warre in this Booke and that often times vnder the word Pedante not finding any other more Of the vvord Pedante or Schoole-master proper and which by many good Authours is vsed in this sense In it owne Greeke Originall it was taken in the better sense but in other later languages by reason of the abuse and bad carriage of such men in the profession of their learning it is accounted base vile questuous contentious opinatiue vain-glorious and presumptuous by too many practised and vsed but by way of iniurie and derision and is in the number of those words that by continuance of time haue changed their signification as Tyrant Sophister and diuers other Le sieur de Bellay after the rehearsall of many notorious vices concludeth as with the greatest But of all the rest Knowledge pedanticall I detest And in another place Sayd I thou didst liue but to eat and drinke Then poore were my reuenge thy faults scantie But that which most doth make thy name to stinke Is to be short thou art a Pedantie It may be some will take offence at this word thinking An aduertisement it likewise toucheth them and that I thereby haue a will to tax or scoffe the Professors and Teachers of learning but let them be pleased to content themselues with this free and open declaration which I here make That it is no part of my meaning to note by this word any gown-men or learned profession whatsoeuer yea I am so farre from it that Philosophers are in so high esteeme with me that I should oppose my selfe against my selfe because I account my selfe one of them and professe the same learning only I touch a certaine degree and qualitie of spirits before desciphered that is such as haue naturall capacitie and sufficiencie after a common and indifferent maner but afterwards not well tilled preoccupated possessed with certaine opinions and these are men of all fortunes all conditions and goe as well in short garments as in long gownes Vulgum tam chlamidatos quà m coronam voco If any man can furnish me with any other word as significant as this to expresse these kinde of spirits I will willingly forgo this After this my declaration he that findeth himselfe agrieued shall but accuse and shew himselfe too scrupulous It is true that a man may finde other opposites to a wise man besides a Pedante but it is in some particular sense as the common prophane vulgar sort of people and often times I vse these opposits but this is as the low is opposite to the high the weake to the strong the valley to the hill the common to the rare the seruant to the master the prophane to the holy as also a foole which indeed according to the true sound of the word is his truest opposite but this is a moderate man to an immoderate a glorious opinatiue man to a modest the part to the whole the preiudicate and tainted to the neat and free the sicke to the sound but this word Pedante in that sense we take it comprehendeth all these and more too for it noteth and signifieth him that is not only vnlike contrary to a wise man as those before mentioned but such a one as arrogantly and insolently resisteth it to the face and as being armed on all sides raiseth himselfe against it speaking out of resolution and authoritie And forasmuch as after a sort he feareth it by reason that he seeth himselfe discouered euen from the top to the bottome and his sport troubled by it he prosecuteth it with a certaine intestine hatred he taketh vpon him to censure it to defame it to condemne it accounting and carrying himselfe as the truely wise though he be a foole without peere and an ignorant selfe-conceited Gull After the purpose and argument of this Worke we 11 The method of this book
come to the order and method thereof There are three Books The First is wholly in the knowledge of our selues and humane condition as a preparatiue vnto wisdome which is handled at large by fiue maine and principall considerations ech one including in it diuers others The Second Booke containeth in it the treatises offices and generall and principall rules of wisdome The Third the particular rules and instructions of wisdome and that by the order and discourse of foure principall and morall vertues Prudence Iustice Fortitude Temperance vnder which foure is comprised the whole instruction of the life of man and all the parts of dutie and honestie Finally I heere handle this matter not Scholarlike or Pedantically nor with enlarged discourse and furniture of Eloquence or other Arte For wisdome quae si oculis ipsis cerneretur mirabiles excitaret amores sui needs no such helps to commend it selfe being of it selfe so noble and glorious but rudely openly and ingeniously which perhaps will not please all The propositions and verities are compact but many times drie and sower like Aphorismes ouertures and seeds of discourse Some thinke this Booke too foole-hardie and free 12 An Aduertisement Apologie to the Reader to contradict and wound the common opinions and are offended therewith whom in foure or fiue words I thus answer First that wisdome which is neither common nor vulgar hath properly this libertie and authoritie Iure suo singulari to iudge of all it is the priuiledge of a wise and spirituall man spiritualis omnia dijudicat a nemine iudicatur and in iudging to censure and condemne as for the most part erroneous common and vulgar opinions What then should she doe for the case standing thus it can not be but she must incurre the disgrace and enuie of the world In another place I complaine of these kinde of men and reproue their popular weaknesse and feminine daintinesse as vnworthy being ouer-tender and delicate to vnderstand any thing of worth and altogether vncapable of wisdome The hardest and hardiest propositions are best befitting a hardie and eleuated spirit and there can nothing seeme strnage vnto him that doth but know what the world is It is weaknesse to be astonished at any thing we must rowze vp our hearts confirme and strengthen our mindes harden and inure our selues to heare to know to vnderstand to iudge of all things seeme they neuer so strange All things are agreeing and well befitting the palat of the spirit so a man be not wanting vnto himselfe and neither do any thing or yeeld his consent to whatsoeuer is not good and truly faire no though the whole world perswade him vnto it A wise man sheweth equally in them both his courage his delicates are not capable of the one or the other there being a weaknesse in them both Thirdly in all that I shall propose my meaning is not to binde any man vnto it I only present things and lay them out as it were vpon a stall I grow not into choler with any man that giues me no credit or dislikes my ware that were to play the Pedante Passion witnesseth that it is not reason so to do and he that out of passion doth any thing out of reason can not doe it But why are they angrie with me Is it because I am not altogether of their opinion Why I am not angry with them because they are not of mine Is it because I speake something which is not pleasing to their taste or to the palat of the vulgar sort Why therefore I speake it I speake nothing without reason if they knew how to vnderstand it how to relish it If they can bring better reason to disproue mine I will hearken vnto it with delight and thanks to him that shall shew it me But yet let them not thinke to beat me downe with authorities multitudes and allegations of other men for these haue but small credit in my iurisdiction saue in matter of Religion where only authoritie preuailes without reason This is authorities true Empire reason onely bearing sway in all other Arts without it as S. Augustine doth very well acknowledge For it is an vniust tyranny and an inraged follie to subiect and in thrall our spirits to beleeue and to follow whatsoeuer our Ancestours haue sayd and what the vulgar sort holde to be true who know neither what they say nor what they do There are none but fooles that suffer themselues to be thus led by the noses and this Booke is not for such which if it should popularlie be receiued and accepted of the common sort of people it should faile much in it first purpose and designment We must heare consider make account of our ancient Writers not captiuate our selues vnto them but with reason And if a man would follow them what should he doe for they agree not among themselues Aristotle who would seeme to be the most sufficient amongst them and hath aduentured to challenge to censure all that went before him hath vttered more grosse absurdities than them all and is at no agreement with himselfe neither doth he know many times where he is witnesse his Treatises of the Soule of man of the Eternitie of the world of the Generation of the windes and waters and so forth It is no cause of wonder or astonishment that all men are not of one opinion but it were rather strange and woonderfull that all men were of one opinion for there is nothing more befitting Nature and the spirit of man than varietie That wise Diuine S. Paul giueth vs this libertie in that he Rom. 14. willeth euery man to abound in his owne vnderstanding not iudging or condemning that man that doth otherwise or thinke otherwise And he speaketh it in a matter of greater moment and more ticklish not in that which consisteth in outward action and obseruation wherein we say we are to conforme our selues to the common sort and to that which is prescribed and accustomed to be done but also in that which concerneth Religion that is the religious obseruance of â—â—ands and dayes whereas all that libertie and boldnesse of speech which I challenge vnto my selfe is but in thoughts iudgements opinions in which no man is quarter-master but he that hath them euery man about himselfe Not withstanding all this many things which may seeme too harsh and briefe too rude and difficult for the simpler sort for the stronger and wiser haue stomacks warme enough to concoct and digest all I haue for the loue of them explicated enlightned and sweetned in this second Edition reuiewed and much augmented I would willingly aduertise the Reader that shall vndertake to iudge of this Worke to take heed that he fall not into any of these seuen ouersights as some others haue done that is To referre that vnto law and dutie which is proper vnto action that vnto action which is onely to be censured that to resolution and determination which is only proposed
the end of the vnderstanding this is knowledge intelligence resolution The action that followeth this knowledge and resolution which is to extend it selfe to put forward and to aduance the thing knowen this is will Intellectus extensus promotus Wherefore all these things Vnderstanding Imagination Reason Discourse Spirit Iudgement Intelligence Will are one and the same Essence but all diuers in force vertue and action for a man may be excellent in one of them and weake in another and many times he that excelleth in Spirit and subtiltie may be weake in iudgement and soliditie I let no man to sing and set forth the praises and greatnesse 2 The generall description commendation of the Spirit of the Spirit of man the capacitie viuacitie quickenesse thereof let it be called the image of the liuing God a taste of the immortall substance a streame of the Diuinitie a celestiall ray whereunto God hath giuen reason as an animated sterne to moue it by rule and measure and that it is an instrument of a compleat harmonie that by it there is a kinde of kindred betwixt God and man and that he might often remember him he hath turned the root towards the heauens to the end he should alwayes looke towards the place of his natiuitie to be briefe that there is nothing great vpon the earth but man nothing great in man but his spirit if a man ascend to it he ascendeth aboue the heauens These are all pleasing and plausible words whereof the Schooles do ring But I desire that after all this we come to sound and to study 3 The dispraise how to know this spirit for wee shall finde after all this that it is both to it selfe and to another a dangerous instrument a ferret that is to be feared a little trouble-feast a tedious and importune parasite and which as a Iugler plaier at fast and loose vnder the shadow of some gentle motion subtile and smiling forgeth inuenteth and causeth all the mischiefs of the world the truth is without it there are none There is farre greater diuersitie of spirits than of bodies 4 Diuersitie of distinctions of the spirit See hereof more Chap. 39. so is there likewise a larger field to enter into more parts and more formes or fashions to be spoken of we may make three classes or formes wherof each one hath many degrees The first which is the lowest are those weake base and almost brutish spirits neere neighbours to beasts themselues whether by reason of the first temper that is to say of the seede and temperature of the braine either too cold or too moist as amongst other creatures fishes are the lowest or by reason that they haue not been in some sort remoued and reviewed but suffered to rust and grow dull and stupid Of these wee make no great account as being vnfit to be ordered and setled into any certaine and constant societie because both for their owne particular they cannot possibly endure it and it were necessary they should alwaies be vnder the tuition of another this is the common and base people qui vigilans stertit mortua cui vita est prope iam viuo atque videnti which vnderstands not iudgeth not it selfe The second which is the highest are those great and rare spirits rather diuels than ordinary men spirits well borne strong and vigorous Of these kinde of people there was neuer age yet could tell how to build a common-weale The third which is the middle are all those indifferent spirits whereof there are infinite degrees of these almost is the whole world composed Of this distinction and others heereafter more at large But we are to touch more particularly the conditions and nature of this spirit as hard to be knowne as a countenance 5 The particular description Agent perpetuall to be counterfeited to the life which is alwaies in motion First therefore it is a perpetuall agent for the spirit cannot be without action but rather then it will it forgeth false and phantasticall subiects in earnest deceiuing it selfe euen to it owne discredit As idle and vnmannured grounds if they be fat and fertile abound with a thousand kinds of wilde and vn profitable hearbs vntill they be sowed with other seeds and women alone without the company of men bring foorth sometimes great abundance of vnformed indigested lumps of flesh so the Spirit if it be not busied about some certaine obiect it runnes riot into a world of imaginations and there is no folly nor vanity that it produceth not and if it haue not a setled limit it wandreth and loseth it selfe For to be euery where is to be no where Motion and agitation is the true life and grace of the Spirit but yet it must proceed from elsewhere than from it selfe If it be solitary and wanteth a subiect to worke on it creepeth along and languisheth but yet it must not be enforced For too great a contention and intention of the Spirit ouer bent and strained deceiueth and troubleth the Spirit It is likewise vniuersall it medleth and mingleth it selfe with all it hath no limited subiect or iurisdiction There is 6 Vniuersall not any thing wherewith it plaieth not his part as well to vaine subiects and of no account as high and weighty as well to those we can vnderstand as those we vnderstand not For to know that we cannot vnderstand or pierce into the marrow or pith of a thing but that we must sticke in the bone and barke thereof is an excellent signe of iudgement for science yea truth it selfe may lodge nere vs without iudgement and iudgement without them yea to know our owne ignorance is a faire testimony of iudgement Thirdly it is prompt and speedy running in a moment 7 prompt and sudden from the one end of the world to the other without stay or rest stirring it selfe and penetrating through euery thing Nobilis inquieta mens homini data est nunquam se tenet spargitur vaga quiet is impatiens nouitate rerum laetissima Non mirum ex illo caelesti spiritu descendit caelestium autem naturasemper in motuest This great speed and quicknesse this agility this twinkling of the eie as it is admirable and one of the greatest wonders that are in the spirit so it is a thing very dangerous a great disposition and propension vnto folly and madnesse as presently you shall heare By reason of these three conditions of the spirit that is a perpetuall agent without repose vniuersall prompt and sudden it hath beene accounted immortall and to haue in it selfe some marke and sparkle of diuinitie The action of the Spirit is alwayes to search ferret contriue 8 The action of the Spirit without intermission like one famished for want of knowledge to enquire and seeke and therefore Homer calles men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There is no end of our inquisitions the pursuites of the spirit of man are without limits without
the eagle of Montroyall the spheare of Sapor King of the Persians and that of Archimides with his other engins Now art and inuention The praise of inuention seeme not onely to imitate Nature but to excell it and that not only in the indiuiduum or particular for there is not any bodie either of man or beast so vniuersally well made as by art may be shewed but also many things are done by art which are not done by nature I meane besides those compositions and mixtures which are the true diet and proper subiect of art those distillations of waters and oiles made of simples which Nature frameth not But in all this there is no such cause of admiration as we thinke and to speake properly and truly there is no inuention but that which God reuealeth for such as we account and call so are but obseruations of naturall things arguments and conclusions drawen from them as Painting and the art Opticke from shadowes Sun-dials from the shadowes of trees the grauing of seales from precious stones By all this that hath before beene spoken it is easie to see 15 The Spirit very dangerous how rash and dangerous the spirit of man is especially if it be quicke and vigorous for being so industrious so free and vniuersall making it motions so irregularly vsing it libertie so boldly in all things not tying it selfe to any thing it easily shaketh the common opinions and all those rules whereby it should be bridled and restrained as an vniust tyranny it will vndertake to examine all things to iudge the greatest part of things plausibly receiued in the world to be ridiculous and absurd and finding for all an appearance of reason will defend it selfe against all whereby it is to be feared that it wandreth out of the way and loseth it selfe and we can not but see that they that haue any extraordinary viuacity and rare excellency as they that are in the highest roofe of that middle Classis before spoken of are for the most part lawlesse both in opinions and maners There are very few of whose guide and conduct a man may trust and in the libertie of whose iudgements a man may wade without temeritie beyond the common opinion It is a miracle to finde a great and liuely spirit well ruled and gouerned it is a dangerous sword which a man knowes not well how to guide for from whence come all those disorders reuolts heresies and troubles in the world but for this Magni errores non nisi ex magnis ingenijs nihil sapientiae o diosius acumine nimio Doubtlesse that man liues a better time and a longer life is more happie and farre more fit for the gouernment of a Common-wealth sayth Thucydides that hath an indifferent spirit or somewhat beneath a mediocritie than he that hath a spirit so eleuated and transcendent that it serues not for any thing but the torment of himselfe and others From the firmest friendships do spring the greatest enmities and from the soundest health the deadliest maladies and euen so from the rarest and quickest agitation of our soules the most desperate resolutions and disorderly frensies Wisdome and follie are neere neighbors there is but a halfe turne betwixt the one and the other which we may easily see in the actions of madde men Philosophie teacheth that Melancholy is proper to them both Whereof is framed the finest follie but of the finest wit And therefore sayth Aristotle there is no great spirit without some mixture of follie And Plato telleth vs that in vaine a temperate and sound spirit knocketh at the doore of Poetrie And in this sense it is that the wisest and best Poets doe loue sometimes to play the foole and to leape out of the hindges Insanire iucundum est dulce desipere in loco non potest grande sublime quidquam nisi mota mens quamdiu apud se est And this is the cause why man hath good reason to keepe it within narrow bounds to bridle and binde it with Religions 16 It must be bridled why Lawes Customes Sciences Precepts Threatnings Promises mortall and immortall which notwithstanding yet we see that by a lawlesse kinde of libertie it freeth it selfe and escapeth all these so vnruly is it by nature so fierce so opinatiue and therefore it is to be led by art since by force it can not Natura contumax est animus humanus in contrarium atque arduum nitens sequiturque faciliùs quam ducitur vt generosi Seneca nobiles equi melius facili fraeno reguntur It is a surer way gently to tutor it and to lay it asleepe than to suffer it to wander at it owne pleasure for if it be not well and orderly gouerned as they of the highest classis which before we spake of or weake and soft and pliant as those of the lower ranke it will lose it selfe in the libertie of it owne iudgement and therefore it is necessary that it be by some meanes or other held backe as hauing more need of lead than wings of a bridle than of a spurre which the great Lawyers and Founders of States did especially regard as well knowing that people of an indifferent spirit liued in more quiet and content than the ouer-quicke and ingenious There haue been more troubles and seditions in ten yeeres in the only citie of Florence than in fiue hundred yeeres in the countreys of the Heluetians and the Retians And to say the trueth men of a common sufficiencie are more honest better citizens more pliant and willing to submit themselues to the yoke of the lawes their superiours reason it selfe than those quicke and cleere sighted men that can not keepe themselues within their owne skinnes The finest wits are not the wisest men The Spirit hath it maladies defects tares or refuse as well 17 The defect of the spirit as the body and much more more dangerous and more incurable but that wee may the better know them we must distinguish them Some are accidentall and which come from Accidentall proceeding from three causes elsewhere and those arise from three causes the disposition of the bodie for it is manifest that the bodily maladie which alter the temperature thereof do likewise alter the spirit and iudgement or from the ill composition of the substance of 1. The body the braine and organs of the reasonable Soule whether it be by reason of their first formation as in those that haue their heads ill made either too round or too long or too little or by accident of some blow or wound The second is the vniuersall contagion of vulgar and erroneous opinions in the 2. The world world wherewith the Spirit being preoccupated tainted and ouercome or which is worse made drunken and manacled with certain fantasticall opinions it euer afterwards followeth iudgeth according to them without regard either of farther enquiry or recoiling backe from which dangerous deluge all spirits haue not
such as descend from them but also those that are voluntarie who either sell for money their libertie or giue it out of the lightnesse of their hearts or for some commoditie as the ancient fensers solde outright women to their mistresses souldiers to their captaines Now there is none of all this in beasts they neuer serue one another nor yeeld themselues to any seruitude either actiue or passiue either to serue or to be serued and are in euery thing more free than men And as man goeth to the chase taketh killeth eateth the beasts so is he taken killed eaten by them in his turne and more honourably too by maine strength not by wit and art as man doth and not only by them is he killed but by his companion by another man a thing base and dishonorable Beasts assemble not themselues in troops to go to kill to destroy to ransacke to inthrall another troope of their kinde as men do The fourth and greatest aduantage pretended by man is in vertue but of morall it is disputable I meane morall materially 12 4. Vertue by the outward action for formallie the moralitie good or euill vertue and vice can not be in a beast Kinde acknowledgement officious amitie fidelitie magnanimitie and many other vertues which consist in societie and conuersation are more liuely more expresse and constant than can be in the common sort of people Hircanus the dogge of Lysimachus continued vpon the bed of his dead master refusing all kinde of sustenance and afterwards cast himselfe into that fire wherein his master was burnt and there died with him The selfe same did another belonging to one Pyrrhus That dogge of wise Hesiodus discouered the murther of his master Another in like sort in the presence of King Pyrrhus and his whole armie Another which neuer ceased as Plutarch affirmeth going from citie to citie vntill that sacrilegious Robber of the Temple of Athens was apprehended and brought to iudgements That historie is famous of the lion that was host and nurse to Androdus the slaue and his Physitian which would not touch him being cast out vnto him which Appion affirmeth to haue seene at Rome An Elephant hauing in choler killed his gouernour repenting himselfe of it refused any longer to eat drinke or liue Contrariwise there is not a creature in the world more vniust vnthankfull traiterous perfidious lying and deceitfull than man Againe forasmuch as vertue consisteth in the moderation of our appetites and the bridling of our pleasures beasts are much more moderate therein than wee and doe better containe themselues within the limits of nature For they are not only not touched with vnnaturall superfluous and artificiall passions and desires which are all vitious and infinite as men who for the most part are plunged in them but also in the naturall as eating and drinking the acquaintance betwixt the male and the female they are farre more moderate and staied But that we may see which is the more vertuous or vitious a man or a beast and in good earnest to shame a man more than a beast let vs take the vertue most proper and agreeable vnto man that is as the word it selfe importeth humanity as the most strange and contrary vice is cruelty Now heerin beasts Humanity Cruelty haue aduantage enough euen to make men blush for shame They neuer assaile and seldome offend those of their kind maior serpentum ferarumque concordia quà m hominum They neuer fight but for great and iust causes as the defence and preseruation of their liues liberty and their little ones and that they doe with their naturall and open armes by their only force and valour and that one to one as in single combates and not in troupes nor by designements Their combates are short and soone ended vntill one of them be either wounded or yeeldeth and the combate ended the quarrell hatred and choler is likewise at an end But man hath no quarrell but against man for not only light vaine and friuolous causes but many times vniust with artificiall and traiterous armes by deceits and wicked meanes in troupe and assembly gathered by assignement and lastly his wars are long and neuer ended but with death and when he is able no longer to hurt yet the hatred and choler endureth The conclusion of this comparison is that vntruely and 12 The conclusion of this second consideration vainly doth man glorifie himselfe aboue beasts For if man haue in him something more than they as especially the viuacity of the spirit and vnderstanding and those great faculties of the soule so likewise in exchange is hee subiect to a thousand euils from which the beasts are freed inconstancie irresolution superstition a painfull care of things to come ambition auarice enuie curiositie detraction lying and a world of disordered appetites discontentments emulations This spirit wherewith man maketh himselfe so mery brings him a thousand inconueniences and then most when it is most stirred and enforced For it doth not only hurt the body trouble breake and weaken the bodily forces and functions but also it hurts and hindereth it selfe What casteth man into follie and madnesse but the sharpenesse agility and proper force of the spirit The most subtile follies and excellent lunacies proceede from the rarest and quickest agitations of the spirit as from greatest amities spring greatest enmities and from soundest healths mortall maladies Melancholie men saith Plato as they are more capeable of knowledge and wisedome so likewise of folly And hee that well marketh it shall finde that in those eleuations and salies of a free soule there is some mixture of folly for to say the truth these things are neere neighbours Touching a simple life and such as is according to nature beasts do farre exceede men they liue more freely securely 13 An exhortation moderately contentedly And that man is wise that considereth heereof and benefiteth himselfe by making them an instruction vnto himselfe which doing he frameth himselfe to innocencie simplicitie libertie and that naturall sweetnesse which shineth in beasts and is wholly altered and corrupteth in vs by our artificiall inuentions and vnbridled licentiousnesse abusing that wherein we say we excell them which is the spirit and iudgement And therefore God doth many times send vs to schoole to birds beasts themselues to the kite the grashopper the swallow the turtle the ant the ox the asse and diuers others Lastly we must remember that there is a kind of commerce betwixt beasts vs a certain relation mutuall obligation whereof there is no other reason but that they belong to one the same master and are of the same family that we are It is an vnworthy thing to tyrannise ouer them we owe iustice vnto men and pitie and gentlenesse to such other creatures as are capeable thereof The third Consideration of Man which is by his life CHAP. XXXV The estimation breuitie description of the life of man and the parts thereof IT is a
fained to be such as not to be aduanced in honour greatnes riches as cuckoldship sterility death for to say the truth there is nothing but griefe it selfe that is euill and which is felt And though some wise men seem to feare these things yet it is not for their owne sakes but because of that griefe which sometimes doth accompany them afterwards for many times it is a fore-runner of death and sometimes followeth the losse of goods of credit of honour But take from these things grief the rest is nothing but fantasie which hath no other lodging but in the head of man which quits it selfe of other businesse to be miserable and imagineth within it owne bounds false euils besides the true employing and extending his miserie in stead of lessening and contracting it Beasts feele not these euils but are exempted from them because nature iudgeth them not to be such As for sorrow which is the only true euill man is wholly borne thereunto and it is his naturall propertie The Mexicanes 5 He is borne to sorrow thus salute their infants comming forth of the wombe of their mother Infant thou art come into the world to suffer endure suffer and hold thy peace That sorrow is naturall vnto man and contrariwise pleasure but a stranger it appeareth by these three reasons All the parts of man are capable of sorrow very few of delight The parts capable of pleasure can not receiue more than one or two sorts but all can receiue the greatest number of griefs all different heat colde pricking rubbing trampling fleaing beating boiling languishing extension oppression relaxation and infinite others which haue no proper name to omit those of the soule in such sort that man is better able to suffer them than to expresse them Man hath no long continuance in pleasure for that of the bodie is like a fire of straw and if it should continue it would bring with it much enuie and displeasure but sorrowes are more permanent and haue not their certaine seasons as pleasures haue Againe the empire and command of sorrow is farre more great more vniuersall more powerfull more durable and in a word more naturall than that of pleasure To these three a man may adde other three Sorrow and griefe is more frequent and falles out often Pleasure is rare Euil comes easily of it selfe without seeking Pleasure neuer comes willingly it must be sought after and many times we pay more for it than it is woorth Pleasure is neuer pure but alwayes distempered and mingled with some bitternesse and there is alwayes some thing wanting but sorrow and griefe is many times entire and pure After all this the worst of our market and that which doth euidently shew the miserie of our condition is that the greatest pleasures touch vs not so neere as the lightest griefs Segnius homines bona quà m mala sentiunt we feele not so much our soundest health as the least maladie that is pung it in cute vix summa violatum plagula corpus quando valere nil quenquam monet It is not enough that man be indeede and by nature miserable 6 By memorie and anticipation and besides true and substantiall euills he faine forge false and fantasticall as hath beene saide but hee must likewise extend and lengthen them and cause both the true and false to endure and to liue longer than they can so amarous is he of iniserie which he doth diuers waies First by the remembrance of what is past and the anticipation of what is to come so that we cannot faile to be miserable since that those things which are principally good in vs and whereof wee glorie most are instruments of miserie futuro torquemur praeterito mult a bona nostra nobis nocent timoris tormentum memoria reducit prouidentia anticipat nemo praesentibus tantùm miser est It is not enough to be miserable but wee must encrease it by a continual expectation before it come nay seeke it and prouoke it to come like those that kill themselues with the feare of death that is to say either by curiositie or imbecillitie and vaine apprehension to preoccupate euils and inconueniences and to attend them with so much paine ado euen those which peraduenture will neuer come neere vs These kinde of people will be miserable before their time and double miserable both by a reall sense or feeling of their miserie and by a long premeditation therof which many times is a hundred times worse than the euils themselues Minùs afficit sensus fatigatio quà m cogitatio The essence or being of miserie endureth not long but the minde of man must lengthen and extend it and entertaine it before hand Plùs dolet quà m necesse est qui antè dolet quà m necesse est Quaedam magis quaedam antequam debeant quaedam cùm omninò non debeant nos torquent Aut augemus dolorem aut fugimus aut praecipimus Beasts do well defend themselues from this follie and miserie and are much bound to thanke nature that they want that spirit that memorie that prouidence that man hath Caesar said well that the best death was that which was least premeditated And to say the truth the preparation before death hath beene to many a greater torment than the execution it selfe My meaning is not here to speake of that vertuous and philosophicall premeditation which is that temper whereby the soule is made inuincible is fortified to the proofe against all assaults and accidents whereof we shall speake heerafter but Lib. 2. ca 7. of that fearefull and sometimes false and vaine apprehension of euils that may come which afflicteth and darkeneth as it were with smoke all the beauty and serenity of the soule troubleth all the rest and ioy thereof insomuch that it were better to suffer it selfe to be wholly surprised It is more easie and more naturall not to thinke thereof at all But let vs leaue this anticipation of euill for simply euery care and painfull thought bleating after things to come by hope desire feare is a very great misery For besides that we haue not any power ouer that which is to come much lesse ouer what is past and so it is vanity as it hath been said there doth stil remain vnto vs that euill and dammage Calamitosus est animus futuri anxius which robbeth our vnderstanding and taketh from vs the peaceable comfort of our present good and will not suffer vs to settle and content our selues therein But this is not yet enough For to the end man may neuer want matter of misery yea that he may alwaies haue his 7 By vnquiet search full he neuer ceaseth searching and seeking with great study the causes and aliments of misery He thrusteth himselfe into businesse euen with ioy of heart euen such as when they are offered vnto him he should turne his backe towards them and either out of a miserable disquiet of mind or to the end
that things faile vs according to that measure that we faile them or that they faile themselues according to that measure that they faile vs that they goe the selfe-same daunce with vs not vnlike those that rowe vpon the water thinke the heauens the earth yea cities themselues to mooue when they mooue we thinke to draw all with vs and there is no man amongst vs that sufficiently thinks he is but one Besides all this man beleeueth that the heauen the starres 3 Of Heauen all this great celestiall motion of the world is only made for him Tot circa vnum caput tumultuantes Deos. And the poore miserable wretch is in the meane time ridiculous he is heere beneath lodged in the last and worst stage of the world most distant from the celestiall vaut in the sincke of the world amongst the filth and lees thereof with creatures of baser condition made to receiue all those excrements and ordures which raine downe and fall from aboue vpon his head nay he liues not but by them and to endure all those accidents that on all sides happen vnto him and yet he makes himselfe beleeue that he is the master and commander of all that all creatures yea those great luminous incorruptible bodies whereof he knowes not the least vertue and which he is constrained with astonishment to admire moue not but for him and to do him seruice And because he beggeth wretch that he is his liuing his maintenance his commodities from the beames light and heate of the Sunne from the raine and other distillations of heauen and the aire he sticks not to say that he enioyeth the heauens and the elements as if all had been made and still mooue only for him In this sense a gosling may say as much and perhaps more iustly and peremptorily For man who many times receiueth many discommodities from aboue and of all that he receiueth hath nothing in his owne power or vnderstanding nor can diuine of them is in continuall doubt and feare lest those superiour bodies should not moue aright and to that end and purpose which he hath proposed and that they procure vnto him sterilitie sicknesse and whatsoeuer is contrary to his designement and so he trembleth vnder this burthen whereas beasts receiue whatsoeuer commeth from aboue without stirre or apprehension of what shall happen vnto them and without complaint of that which is hapned which man cannot doe Non Senec. nos causa mundo sumus hiemem aestatemque referendi suas ista leges habent quibus diuina exercentur minus nos suspicimus si digni nobis videmur propter quos tanta moueantur non tanta coelo nobiscum societas est vt nostro fato sit ille quoque siderum fulgor In respect of things base and earthly that is to say all other creatures he disdaineth and contemneth them as if they did 4 Of Creatures not appertaine to the same master-workeman and came not of the same mother did not belong to the same family with him as if they did not any way concerne him or had any part or relation vnto him And from hence proceedeth that common abuse and cruelty that is practised against them a thing that reboundeth against that common and vniuersall master which hath made them which hath care of them and hath ordeined lawes for their good and preseruation hath giuen them preheminence in certaine things and sent man vnto them as to a schoole But this belongs to the subiect of the chapter following Now this derogateth not any thing at all from that common doctrine that the world is made for man and man for God for besides the instruction that man draweth in generall from euery high and low thing whereby to know God himselfe his duty he also draweth in particular from euery thing either profit pleasure or seruice That which is aboue him which he hath least in vnderstanding and nothing at all in his power the azured heauen so richly decked and counterpointed with starres and rowling torches neuer ceasing ouer our heads he only enioyeth by contemplatiō he mounteth and is caried with admiration feare reuerence of the authour and soueraigne Lord of all and therefore in this sense it was truly said by Anaxagoras that man was created to contemplate the heauen and the sunne and as truly by other Philosophers was he called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from base and inferior things he draweth help seruice commoditie but for a man to perswade himselfe that in the framing of all these things no other thing was thought vpon but man and that he is the only end and butt of all these luminous and incorruptible bodies it is a greatfolly and an ouer-bold presumption Finally but especially this presumption is to be considered in man himselfe that is to say in regard of himselfe and of 6 Of man himselfe man his companion both within in the progresse of his iudgment and opinions and without in his communication and conuersation with another Concerning which wee are to consider three things as three heads which follow one the other Three degrees of humane presumption where humanitie bewrayeth in a sottish imbecillitie the foolish presumption thereof The first in beleeuing or misbeleeuing heere is no question of religion nor of faith and beliefe theologicall and therefore we must still call to minde the aduertisement giuen in the Preface where we are to note two contrary vices which are common in humane condition 1 To beleeue mis-beleeue the one and the other more ordinarie is a kinde of lightnes qui citò credit leuis est corde and too great a facilitie to beleeue and to entertaine whatsoeuer is proposed with any kinde of appearance of truth or authority This belongeth to the folly simplicitie tendernesse and imbecillitie of the weaker sort of people of spirits effeminate sick superstitious astonished indiscretly zealous who like wax do easily receiue all impressions suffer themselues to be taken and lead by the eares And this is rather an error and weakenesse than malice and doth willingly lodge in minds gentle and debonaire Credulitas error est magis quà m culpa quidem in optimi cuiusque mentem facilè irrepit We see almost the whole world led and caried with opinions and beliefes not out of choice and iudgement yea many times before they haue either yeares or discretion to iudge but out of the custome of the countrey or instruction in youth receiued or by some suddaine encounter as with a tempest whereby they are in such sort fastned subiected and enthralled that it is a matter of great difficultie euer to vnlearne them againe Veluti tempestate delati ad quamcunque disciplinam tanquam ad saxum adhaerescunt Thus is the world lead we trust our selues too much and then perswade others to beleeue vs. Vnusquisque mauult credere quà m iudicare versat nos praecipitat traditus per manus error ipsa consuetudo assentiendi periculosa lubrica
vs in such sort that it maketh vs beleeue that what is without the bounds thereof is without the bounds of reason and there is nothing good and iust but what it approueth ratione non componimur Senec. sed consuetudine abducimur honestius putamus quod frequentius recti apud nos locum tenet error vbi publicus factus This is tolerable with idiots and the vulgar sort who wanting sufficiencie to looke into the depth of things to trie and to iudge do well to hold and settle themselues to that which is commonlie held and receiued but to wise men who play another part it is a base thing to suffer themselues to be caried with customes Now the aduice which I heere giue vnto him that would be wise is to keepe and obserue both in word and deede the 7 An aduice lawes customes which he findeth established in the countrie where he is and in like maner to respect and obey the magistrates and all superiors but alwaies with a noble spirit and after a generous maner and not seruilely pedanticallie superstitiously and withall not taking offence nor lightly condemning other strange lawes and customes but freely and soundly iudging and examining the one and the other as hath been said and not binding his iudgement and beleefe but vnto reason only Heereof a word or two In the first place according to all the wisest the rule of rules and the generall law of lawes is to follow and obserue 1 Lawes and customes are to be obserued the lawes and customes of the countrie where he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 auoyding carefullie all singularitie and strange extrauagant particularitie different from the common and ordinarie for whatsoeuer it be it alwaies hurteth and woundeth another is suspected of follie hypocrisie ambitious passion though perhaps it proceede from a sicke and weake soule Non conturbabit sapiens publicos mores nec populum in se nouitate vitae conuertet We must alwaies walke vnder the couert of the lawes customes superiours without disputation or tergiuersation without vndertaking sometimes to dispence with the lawes sometimes like a frugall seruant to enhaunce the price But that it be which is the second rule out of a good mind and after a good maner nobly and wisely neither for the loue 2 Not for their iustice and equity nor feare of them nor for the iustice or equitie that is in them nor for feare of that punishment that may follow for not obeiing them to be briefe not of superstition nor constrained scrupulous fearefull seruitude eadem quae populus sed non eodem modo nec eodem proposito faciet sapiens but freely and simply for publike reuerence and for their authoritie Lawes and customes are maintained in credit not because they are iust and good but because they are lawes and customes this is the mysticall foundation of their authoritie they haue no other and so is it with superiours because they are superiours quia supra Cathedram sedent not because they are vertuous and honest quae faciunt nolite facere Hee that obeyeth them for any other cause obeyeth them not because hee should this is an euill and a dangerous subiect it is not true obedience which must be pure and simple vnde vocatur depositio discretionis mera executio abnegatio sui Now to goe about to measure one obedience by the iustice and goodnesse of lawes and superiours were by submitting them to our iudgement to serue them with processe and to call our obedience into doubt and disputation and consequently the state and the policie according to the inconstancie and diuersitie of iudgements How many vniust and strange lawes are there in the world not only in the particular iudgements of men but of vniuersall reason wherewith the world hath liued a long time in continuall peace and rest with as great satisfaction as if they had beene very iust and reasonable And he that should goe about to change or mend them would be accounted an enemie to the weale-publike and neuer bee admitted The nature of man doth accommodate it selfe to all with the times and hauing once caught his fish it is an act of hostilitie to goe about to alter any thing we must leaue the world where it is these trouble-houses and newfangled spirits vnder a pretext of reformation marre all All change and alteration of lawes beleefes customes and Against innouatours obseruances is very dangerous and yeeldeth alwaies more euill than good it bringeth with it certaine and present euils for a good that is vncertaine and to come Innouatours haue alwaies glorious and plausible titles but they are but the more suspected and they cannot escape the note of ambitious presumption in that they thinke to see more cleerely than others and that to establish their opinions the state policie peace and publike quiet must be turned topsy turuy I will not say for all this that hath beene said before that 3 Strange things are not lightly to be condemned we must absolutely obey all lawes all commandements of superiours for such as a man knoweth euidently to be either against God or nature hee is not to obey and yet not to rebell and to trouble the state how he should gouerne himselfe in such a case shall be taught heereafter in the obedience due vnto princes for to say the truth this inconuenience and infelicitie is rather and more common in the commandements of princes than in the lawes neither is it sufficient to obey the lawes and superiours because of their worth and merrit nor seruilely and for feare as the common and prophane sort doe but a wise man doth nothing by force or feare soli hoc sapienti contingit vt nil faciat inuitus recta sequitur gaudet officio he doth that which he should and keepes the lawes not for feare of them but for the loue of himselfe being iealous of his dutie he hath not to doe with the lawes to doe well that is that wherein he differeth from the common sort who cannot do well nor know what they ought to do without lawes at iusto sapienti non est lex posita By right a wise man is aboue the lawes but in outward and publike effect he is their voluntarie and free obedient subiect In the third place thereof it is an act of lightnesse and iniurious presumption yea a testimonie of weakenesse and insufficiencie to condemne that which agreeth not with the law and custome of his countrie This proceedeth either from want of leasure or sufficiencie to consider the reasons and grounds of others this is to wrong and shame his owne iudgement whereby he is enforced many times to recant and not to remember that the nature of man is capable of all things It is to suffer the eie of his spirit to be hood winked and brought asleepe by a long custome and prescription to haue power ouer iudgement Finally it is the office of a generous spirit and
or refusing company but cheerefully to goe on with or without companie as either our owne or anothers need do require but yet not so to shut vp our selues and to settle and establish our pleasure as some that are halfe lost being alone A man must haue within himselfe wherwith to entertaine content himselfe in sinu suo gaudere He that hath woon this point pleaseth himselfe in all places and in all things He must cary a countenance conformable to the company and the affaires that are in hand and present themselues and accommodate himselfe vnto another be sad if need be but inwardly to keep himselfe one and the same this is the meditation and consideration which is the nourishment and life of the spirit cuius viuere est cogitare Now for the benefit of nature there is not any businesse which we do more often continue longer that is more easie more naturall and more our owne than to meditate and to entertaine our thoughts But this meditation is not in all after one maner but very diuers according to the diuersity of spirits In some it is weake in others strong in some it is languishing idlenesse a vacancy and want of other businesse But the greater spirits make it their principall vacation and most serious study whereby they are neuer more busied nor lesse alone as it is said of Scipio than when they are alone and quitting themselues of affaires in imitation of God himselfe who liueth and feedeth himselfe with his eternall thoughts and meditations It is the businesse of the goddes saith Aristotle from whence doth spring both their 3 To know and culture himselfe and our blessednesse Now this solitary imployment and this cheerefull entertainment of a mans selfe must not be in vanity much lesse in any thing that is vitious but in study and profound knowledge and afterwards in the diligent culture of himselfe This is the price agreed the principall first and plainest trauell of euerie man Hee must alwaies watch taste sound himselfe neuer abandon but be alwaies neere and keepe himselfe to himselfe and finding that manie things go not well whether by reason of vice and defect of nature or the contagion of another or other casuall accident that troubleth him hee must quietlie and sweetlie correct them and prouide for them He must reason with himselfe correct and recall himselfe couragiouslie and not suffer himselfe to be caried away either with disdaine or carelesnesse He must likewise in auoiding all idlenesse which doth but 4 To keepe himselfe in exercise rust and marre both the soule and body keepe himselfe alwaies in breath in office and exercise but yet not ouer bent violent and painfull but aboue all honest vertuous and serious And that he may the better do it he must quit himselfe of other businesse and propose vnto himselfe such designments as may delight him conferring with honest men and good bookes dispensing his time well and well ordering his houres and not liue tumultuouslie and by chaunce and hazard Again he must well husband and make profit of all things 5 To make vse of all things that are presented vnto him done said and make them an instruction vnto him applie them vnto himselfe without any shew or semblance thereof And to particularise a little more we know that the duty of man towards himselfe consisteth in three points according 6 To gouerne his spirit that is his iudgement to his three parts to rule and gouerne his spirit his body his goods Touching his spirit the first and principall whereunto especially do belong these generall aduisements which we are to deliuer we know that all the motions thereof are reduced to two to thinke and to desire the vnderstanding and the will whereunto do answer science and vertue the two ornaments of the spirit Touching the former which is the vnderstanding he must preserue it from two things in some sort contrarie and extreame that is sottishnesse and follie that is to say from vanities and childish follies on the one side this is to bastardise and to lose it it was not made to play the nouice or baboun non ad iocum lusum genitus sed ad seueritatem potius and from phantasticall absurd and extrauagant opinions on the other side this is to pollute and debase it It must be fed and entertained with things profitable and serious and furnished and indued with sound sweet and naturall opinions and so much care must not be taken to eleuate and mount it to extend it beyond the reach as to rule and order it For order and continencie is the effect of wisdome and which giueth price to the soule and aboue all to be free from presumption and obstinacie in opinion vices very familiar with those that haue any extraordinarie force and vigor of spirit and rather to continue in doubt and suspence especiallie in things that are doubtfull and capable of oppositions and reasons on both parts not easily digested and determined It is an excellent thing and the securest way well to know how to doubt and to be ignorant and the most noble philosophers haue not beene ashamed to make profession thereof yea it is the principall fruit and effect of science Touching the will it must in all things be gouerned and submit it selfe to the rule of reason which is the office of vertue and not vnto fleeting inconstant opinion which is commonly false and much lesse vnto passion These are the three that moue and gouerne our soules But yet this is the difference that a wise man ruleth and rangeth himselfe according to nature and reason regardeth his duty holdeth for apocryphall and suspects whatsoeuer dependeth vpon opinion or passion and therfore he liueth in peace passeth away his life cheerefully and pleasingly is not subiect to repentance recantations changes because whatsoeuer falleth out he could neither do nor choose better and therfore he is neuer kindled nor stirred for reason is alwaies peaceable The foole that suffereth himselfe to bee led by these two doth nothing but wander and warre with himselfe and neuer resteth He is alwaies readuising changing mending repenting and is neuer contented which to say the truth belongeth to a wise man who hath reason and vertue to make himselfe such a one Nulla placidior quies nisi quam ratio composuit An honest man must gouerne and respect himselfe and feare his reason and his conscience which is his bonus genius his good spirit in such sort that hee cannot without shame stumble in their presence rarum est vt satis se quisque vereatur As touching the bodie we owe thereunto assistance and conduct or direction It is follie to goe about to separate and sunder these two principall parts the one from the other but contrarily it is fit and necessarie they be vnited and ioyned together Nature hath giuen vs a bodie as a necessarie instrument to life and it is fit that the spirit as the principall should
passions and defects as well inward and proper to himselfe as outward and common to other men mainteining his spirit pure free vniuersall considering and iudging of all things without band or affection alwayes ruling and directing himself in all things according to nature that is to say that first reason and vniuersall law and light inspired by God and which shineth in vs vnto which he doth apply and accommodate his owne proper and particular light liuing in the outward view of the world and with all men according to their lawes customes and ceremonies of the countrey where he is without the offence of any carrying himselfe wisely and discreetly in all affaires walking alwaies vprightly constant comfortable and content in himselfe attending peaceably whatsoeuer may happen and at the last death it selfe All these parts or qualities which are many for our better ease and facilitie may be drawen to foure principall heads Knowledge of our selues Libertie of spirit pure and generous Imitation of Nature this hath a very large field and alone might almost suffice True contentment These can no where be found but in him that is wise and he that wanteth any of these can not be wise He that hath an erroneous knowledge of himselfe that subiecteth his minde to any kinde of seruitude either of passions or popular opinions makes himselfe partiall and by enthralling himselfe to some particular opinion is depriued of the libertie and iurisdiction of discerning iudging and examining all things Hee that striueth against Nature vnder what pretence soeuer it be following rather opinion or passion than reason he that carrieth himselfe troubledly disquietly malcontent fearing death is not wise Beholde heere in a few words the picture of Humane wisdome and folly and the sum of that which I purpose to handle in this Worke especially in the Second Booke which expresly containeth the rules treatise and offices of Wisdome which is more mine than the other two and which I once thought to haue published by it selfe This verball description of Wisdome is represented vnto the eye euen at the entrance or threshall of this Booke by a woman all naked in a place void and empty resting her selfe vpon nothing in her pure and simple nature beholding her selfe in a glasse her countenance cheerefull merry and manly vpright her feet close ioyned vpon a square pillar and imbracing herselfe hauing vnder her feet inchained foure other women as slaues vnto her that is to say Passion with a changed and hideous countenance Opinion with wandering eyes inconstant giddy borne vpon the heads of the people Superstition astonished and in a trance and her hands fastened the one to the other Vertue or Honestie and Pedanticall Science with a sullen visage her eye-lids eleuated reading in a Booke where was written Yea No. All this needs no other explication than that which heereafter followeth but heereof more at large in the Second Booke To attaine vnto this wisdome there are two meanes 7 Two ways to attaine this wisdome the first is in the originall forming and first temper that is to say in the temperature of the seed of the Parents the milke of the Nurse and the first education whereby a man is sayd to be either well borne or ill borne that is to say either well or ill formed and disposed vnto wisdome A man would little thinke of what power and importance this beginning is for if men did know it there would be more care taken and diligence vsed therein than there is It is a strange and lamentable thing that so reachlesse a carelesnesse should be in vs of the life and good life of those whom we desire to make our other selues when in matters of lesse importance we take more care vse more diligence more counsell than we should neuer thinking of our greatest affaires and most honourable but by hazzard and peraduenture Who is he that taketh counsell with himselfe or endeuoureth to do that which is required for the preseruing and preparing of himselfe as he ought to the generation of male-children healthfull of spirit and apt for wisdome For that which serueth for the one serueth for the other and Nature after one maner attendeth them all This is that which men thinke of least yea little or not at all in the act of generation doth it enter into their thoughts to frame a new creature like themselues but only like beasts to satisfie their lustfull pleasures This is one of the most important faults and of greatest note in a Common weale whereof there is not one that thinketh or complaineth neither is there concerning it either law or rule or publike aduice It is most certeine that if men did heerein carrie themselues as they ought we should haue other men of more excellent spirit and condition than we haue amongst vs. What is required heerein and to the first nourishment and education is briefly set downe in our Third Booke Chap. 14. The second meanes to attaine wisdome is the studie 8 Acquired of Philosophie I meane not of all the parts thereof but Morall yet not forgetting the Naturall which is the light the guide the rule of our life which explaineth and representeth vnto vs the law of Nature instructeth man vniuersally in all things both publike and priuate alone and in companie in all domesticall and ciuill conuersation taketh away all that sauage nature that is in vs sweetneth and tameth our naturall rudenesse crueltie and wildnesse and worketh and fashioneth it to wisdome To be briefe it is the true science of man all the rest in respect of it is but vanitie or at the leastwise not necessarie or little profitable for it giueth instructions to liue and to die well which is all in all it teacheth vs perfect wisdome an apt iudicious well aduised honesty But this second meane is almost as little practised and as ill employed as the first for no man careth greatly for this wisdome so much are all giuen to that which is worldly Thus you see the two principall meanes to attaine to wisdome the Naturall and Acquired He that hath beene fortunate in the first that is to say that hath been fauourably formed by Nature that is of a good and sweet temperature which bringeth forth a great goodnesse in nature and sweetnes in maners hath made a faire march without great paine to the second But that man with whom it is otherwise must with great and painfull studie of the second beautifie and supplie that which is wanting as Socrates one of the wisest sayd of himselfe That by the studie of Philosophie he had corrected and reformed his naturall infirmities There are contrariwise two formall lets or hinderances 9 The lets to Wisdome and means to folly are tvvo to wisdome and two counter-meanes or powerfull wayes vnto follie Naturall and Acquired The first which is naturall proceedeth from the originall temper and temperature which maketh the braine either too soft moist and the parts thereof grosse and