meanes is kept backe from the hauen wherevnto it would most willingly arriue But according to a Christian exposition the verie faculties of the soule are so essentially defiled with Adams transgressions that it hath no power to thinke one good thought or beget an acceptable motion before it be regenerated and borne anew for Christian Vertue standeth in Faith Hope and Charitie not fashioned according to Philosophie but to haue him the Author which is both truth and righteousnesse We must not rest then vpon the morrall vertue and make that the chiefe good which are but steppes to clyme vp therevnto as the wise Heathen taught for all theyr doctrine was but to fashion the outward man to ciuill obedience making that the end which are but motiues to the end For it is not all one to be a morrall wise man and a good Christian a great proficient in humane Sciences and a great Clarke in diuine misteries heere is a maine difference let no man repose himselfe vpon such a sandie and shallow foundation if he will stand sure but build on Christ the Rocke the bright starre of the immortall maiestie on him to cast Anchor purifie the inward parts and digge vp that dunghill of filthinesse deriued from originall corruption Mans happinesse standeth not in pleasures honour nor in the goods of Fortune but onely in those holy Vertues which proceed from a pure heart This is the plaine pathway to sanctitie and immortallitie Vice sincking downe to hell the one with Eagle-winges mounts vp to heaueâ— the other clogges the soule with leadeÌ„ thoughts benumming her dexteritie for so high a flight But to prosecute my intent which is to handle the morrall Vertues and lay open the parts of humanitie it wil not be amisse to touch by the way the foure chiefe and principall Vertues called cardinall Vertues as Prudence â—ustice Fortitude and Temperance which are distinguished one from the other by their seuerall properties all conioyne in one and make a vnion For though Vertue be subsisting in one single being yet because of diuers workes she is deuidable and albeit many sprigges growe out of these foure braunches yet is shee called Vertue in the singular number Prudence is a certaine brightnesse shining in the minde by which the light of truth is descried foreseeing what is fit to be done a true affection labouring by reason to finde out the quallitie and to iudge what is iust fit honest profitable equall and good not onely aduisedly looking to the first motiue cause but also to the consequent and finall endes by this the present felicitie and infelicitie of this life is sweetly tempered and all things ordered in comelinesse Whosoeuer rashly setteth vpon his businesse without her rusheth vpon the rockes of errour and by his owne headie opinion commeth soone to ruine because it is impossible to effect any thing well vnlesse he be guided by her light neither can hee be able to discerne good from euill things profitable from thinges preiudiciall but as a blinde man doth venterously trauaile without a guide and at euery step readie to stumble so hee that is ignorant in plotting his affaires wadeth in darkenesse wherein euery storme of triall doth ouerturne his pollicie A prudent man is so cautelous and vigillant as wel in the consideration of fore-passed daungers as in preiudicating perills to come that he meeteth with euerie mischiefe and is not ouertaken with non putaui had I wist for hauing set his rest on a firme ground doth not doubt but expect not repeÌ„t in the end but reioice in the whole action so that she regardeth things past present and to come and bendeth her force to that part that is needfull to defend the weakenesse of reason and when she hath drawne out the plot which honestie doth require committeth it to Sapience whch as a hand-maide is readie to execute that in the outward worke which before was determined The main difference betweene these two is the former is a generall comprehending and knowledge of things the other an experience of that in action For as by reasoning reading and conuersing with wise men a man may vnderstand much yet without practise all is nothing Before a Phisition doth minister to his Patient he searcheth into the nature of the disease and acquaints himselfe with the state of the body which hauing once found out it is to no end if he apply not himselfe in outward meanes to benefite the sicke person with his potion So if there be but a defused knowledge of things and as it were such a collection as by it the vnderstanding is bettered and no outward demonstration it is as treasure hid in the earth and serues for no vse for there be markes to knowe a prudent man by if hee be vniustly vexed troubled or in pouertie sicknesse and tossed too and fro in miserie if he reioyce in these afflictions and patiently beare the crosse the same is a prudent man and his suffring maketh it a meane to him but when a man is chastised either in body or goods and will not suffer without griefe and muttering the same is a vitious and imprudent man To be briefe she is the right disposer of all things an enemie to ignorance the key of knowledge which openeth the rich treasure of diuine and humane things doing nothing but that which is right iust and praise-worthy Iustice is a vertue that giueth to eueryman his owne the first and principall part whereof is and euer was to doo God that honour which is due to his diuine maiestie consisting in feare loue reuerence for as Iustice will equally render to euery man his owne bring discording things to an equalitie by considering the difference betweene them so much more and most of all it is most iust to loue God of whom wee haue all that we haue and being perished by originall corruption were eftsoones recouered by the sufferings of his son this part of Iustice ought to be imbraced with other affectioÌ„ than the Heathen who wandring in the darknes of ignorance know not God as he is A iust man coueteth not that that is an others but rather neglecteth his owne for the good of the Common-wealth nor with a greedie humor doth incroach vpon his neighbors possession Without Iustice no estate can subsist for all vertues are comprehended vnder the name of Iustice of which a man is said to be a good man for all the other vertues cannot make a man good if Iustice be absent Tully calleth her the Lady Queen of all other vertues by her is the societie of man preserued the most excelleÌ„t blessing that euer God gaue to man was to be gouerned by Iustice which bridleth the hot fury of the wicked comforteth the innocent equally decideth between Meum TuaÌ„ And he that is exercised herein his mind is lifted vp to the apprehension of greater wisdome For howsoeuer the world is troubled with hurly burly yet the quietnesse
God the law of nature loue charitie which is aboue all care of their owne saluation do arrogant to themselues glory by defacing and spoyling the Image of their Creator The sonnes of Cain thus maistred with wrathful fuâ—ie murder and dismember their bretheren and as catiues and slaues bend the will to such inhumane crueltie and so become branded to euerlasting destruction Now if all Vertue doth consist in obeying God keeping his lawes maistring wicked anger and holding concord how can that be praised which is against such a blessed assembly of vertues or how thinke they that that offence can be remitted which is abhorred detested so expresly prohibited in the sixt Commaundement men ought to liue in Christian amitie and leaue all reuenge to him who saith Vengeance is mine and I will repay it The poore Cinick when one had hit him on the eare I thought quoth he I had left one place vncouered Socrates being tolde one spake many railing and euil words of him was no whit moued thereat and being asked why he would beare so great indignitie answered if he spake truth I haue no cause to be grieued being iustly blamed if false I haue lesse cause to be angry because that which hee spake pertained not to mee O that men would learne patience â— and not so often fight and murder one an other for verball and idle quarells for now if one amongst a hundred be patient quiet will carrie coales and meekely suffer rebuke he is noted of cowardize and deuoyd of manly parts Now lastly followeth Temperance as a sad and sober Matron a prouident guide and wise Nurse awaiting that voluptuousnesse haue no preheminence in the soule of man the most glorious Vertue in any kinde of estate she ordereth the affections with continencie an enemie to lust and a mediocritic in the pleasures of the body whose office is to couâ—t nothing that may bee repented of afterwarde nor to exceede the boundes of modestie but to keepe desire vnder the yoake of reason Of the lyneaments of her perfection the whole world doth subsist and abide euen from the lowest to the highest without whom our lusts would ouerthrowe our vnderstanding and the body rebell against all good order and the habit of reason wholy suppressed for shee tempereth and keepeth in frame the whole body of man without whose aide many enemies would creepe in and infect our best parts and vtterly ruinate and cast downe the bulwarke of reason and walles of vnderstanding but hee that doth sacrifice his endeuours to so diuine an essence swimmeth safe betweene two Riuers deuoyd of daunger Extreames are euer hurtfull for if a man eate too much or too little doth it not hurt the body so is it of too immoderate labour or too much idlenesse of too much boldnesse and too much cowardnesse these extremities are vicious and euill but the meane doth temper them both No man is wise happy or any thing worth if Temperance square not out the course of his life And herein the benefite of olde age is to bee honoured for that it hath this preheminence ouer youth time hath weakened theyr affections abated their courage and stayed the intemperate blastes of vnbrideled libertie and by long experience haue gotteÌ„ a more large portioÌ„ then they whose affections being strong and discretion weake set themselues against this Vertue eclipse her brightnesse with the fogges of ignorance And for this cause haue wise men so ioyfully embraced olde age which Tully so highly applaudes in his booke De Senectute This is guided by Prudence which doth gouerne the life of man with such reason as shee is euer carefull for the welfare of the body by curbing those passions of the mind which are vehement and vnruly by her the mind is made capable of honest actions and beautifull demeanours and like a prouident gouernesse ruleth ouer concupiscence flouds of lusts which would else surround the puritie of the minde A potion to purge the soule an Antidote against pride and a valiant tryumpher ouer flaming desires not like Aetna too hotte or Caucassus too colde but is content betweene both and reioyceth in it If the bodie be not dieted with moderation it will proue a stubborne seruant to the soule vnfruitfull fit for nothing but thorny cogitations the greatest enemies to the spirituall powers that can be for the flesh pampered in delicates or kept short of her naturall needments is effeminated corrupted and weakened and many diseases be gotten which are all staid by a meane and temperate dyet and the boyling lusts of the bodie asswaged Thus farre of these Vertues more might be added if I meant to intreat of them at large but this briefe recapitulation may serue as an introduction to our following discourse Omnis virtus vna virtus absoluta All Vertues are but one simple Vertue being chained and linked so neer together as one cannot be sundred from the other without disparagement of the whole Fortitude is a noble Vertue but if destitute of Iustice shee is hurtfull to the good if Temporance keepe not her vnder she will turne into rage and if Prudence be absent they all fall into error There is a mutuall league a proximitie and neare acquaintance which doth conglutinate and ioyne them all in one one must haue relation to an other and follow by degrees Pietie Truth and Temperance must march before Fortitude In a word Vertue is no other but Vitium fugere hating Vice and loathing euil and we better knowe her by her contrary then by her selfe which doth make the imagination gesse at Vertue a farre off so that knowing Vice is a good grounde of Vertue whereby the inwarde powers are helde in with vnspotted simplicitie farre more better then such as cunningly seeke to knowe what Vertue is then willingly betake themselues to follow it in theyr life so that knowledge is not enough alone vnlesse it be practised by outward action for it is better to doo wisely then wisely to deuise So that in generall Vertue rightly carried comprehendeth whatsoeuer is conducing and leading to a good and holy life and hee that once hath tasted the sweetnesse of one is drawne with much desire to an other one good thing begetteth an other and taking once a deepe impression his estate is thereby preserued incorruptible without chaunge whereas if a man taketh holde on externall goods and leane to the mutabilitie of Fortune doth often stumble vpon many daungerous Rockes and fall into wretchednesse when Vertue will firmely vpholde a man in the midst of all calamitie Villius argentum est auro virtutibus â—â—râ—m Siluer is cheaper then Gold and Gold of lesse price then Vertue She is of great moment and most inestimable value although a carnall and grosse minde cannot equally deeme the price of so rare a Iewell for where ignorance doth couer the minde she is reiected and held of base esteeme as a simple peasant trampleth many wholsome hearbes vnderfoote
good wishes of the common people gaine their loue and induce theÌ„ with more facilitie by his good example to trace in the wholsome path that leadeth to the house of honour Likewise the vnknowne the issue of a base stocke obscurely brought vp if he wil be aduanced to the type of honour must addict himselfe to Vertue which will be so much the more glorious at the last by how much more obuious his estate was at first And this I suppose should be a spurre or goade to push them forward because they shall not onely bee admired by the praises of the good which are the badges and simballes of Vertue but also acquire perpetuall fame and renowme as the surname thereof What should I say Vertue is a pearelesse and precious Iewell so rare and excellent that it can neither bee sufficiently commended nor worthily esteemed all humane things doo faint faile sinke downe and decay when that onely will abide for euer an honour for youth a crowne to age a comfort in prosperitie a succour in aduersitie delightfull at home not burthensome abroad a pleasant walking-mate to accompany a man wheresoeuer hee goeth What a diuine glory is heere that striketh the beholder in admiration dazeleth his sight and forceth the very abiect to reuerence him in whom it dooth appeare for shee is so beautifull a Lady as shee maketh many gaze at her a farre off that haue no power to come nigh her but striketh into wonderment at her incomparable maiestie are metamorphosed as it were by Medusa And howsoeuer it is that many are so blockish and sencelesse that they wander vp and downe like vagabounds and base peasants and make no account of Vertue and honestie yet are they forced will they nill they to flye to her for succour in time of want and hide their misdeeds vnder her golden wings And verily no pretence or vaine shewe can preuaile against her but that she will haue the iust victory and triumph ouer those that haue despised her and when they are on the toppe of their hatefull enuye they shall wish her company and desire to imbrace her though it bee but with dull affection which the Poet well noteth Virtutem incolumen odimus sublatam ex occulis querimus inuidi When Vertue doth offer her selfe we denie her but afterward seeke her greedily If thou therefore whatsoeuer thou art doest neglect to follow her in time thou shalt bee taught by experience when it is too late what it is to cast off thy profered happinesse a faithfull teacher but a seuere and sharpe corrector seeke her then while shee may bee founde and bee as readie to entertaine her into seruice as shee is willing to serue possesse thy selfe of her and shee will Register thy â—ame in her golden Booke of neuer dying honour It is not the riches of Cressus the tryumphes of Caesar the conquests of Alexander the great or any worldly pompe can make a man truly happie or crowne him with true honour but onely Vertue For if wee value men by outwarde prosperitie wee deceiue our iudgement and swarue from equitie Touching wealth it is like poyson in a golden â—uppe and commonly where it aboundeth most there Vertue is set by least a laborinth wherein many are lost not onely subiect to chance and infract fortune but also to misgouernment pride ambition and many other vices for good manners oftentimes is corrupted by ouer-regarding riches and moderate dispositions turned into greedie desires graunt it lifts vp a mans estate to make his delight subiect to his will indeed hee is somewhat the wealthier but no whit the honester vnlesse as gotten by Iustice so vsed in Temperance and distributed in charitie and if the rich man bee also a good man let him take heed least they bee a sting to his conscience and drawe him to sinfull pleasures So that the verdict must passe vpon honestie and the qualitie of Vertue more precious then the quantitie of mony for as a rich man couetous gripple and earthly minded is not to bee respected so a poore man simple honest and well qualified is to be regarded sith the one is as a craggie flint stone the other a pretious and princely Diamond and this was the cause a Prince of Troy chose rather to marrie his daughter to a poore man honest then a rich man vicious For it is better quoth he to haue a man without money then money without a man for Vertue is great riches when Vice is like a sheepe with a golden fleece and as the wise schoole maister Isocrates counselled his Pupill Demon to make more account of a poore good man than of a rich man not so honest Pauper enim non non est cui rerum suppetit vsus Hee is rich inough that is content with his state We must not measure men by those things as are subiect to the tottering wheele of Fortune which as Meteors in the aire vanish assoone as they seeme but for that which is permanent durable constant and firme which is Vertue onely Vertue and nothing but Vertue and therefore least worldly regard should striue against reason the immoderate care of this life must be sprinkled with the water of prouident respect in considering those inconueniences that rise out of the roote of aboundance Mans felicitie is not in riches they are gotten with paine and lost with griefe pleasures ende in sorrowe vaine-glorie vanisheth if we thinke it is in witte that is perfect follie for a wise man euer esteemeth an other wiser then himselfe Quoad Deum touching God and in this standeth the greatest poynt of wisedome when a man doth neither exalt himselfe aboue a stronger iudgement nor insult ouer those that be weake but readie to submit his opinion to a better information and hath such a slender care of his ownâ— woorthinesse that if he happe to possesse some worldly honour doth blushingly receiue it as a thing not deserued so that we cannot find the perfect good we looke for but onely and altogether in the exercise of Vertue Yet now men hunt after Riches as though there were no true honour without it and that to be onely rich were to be onely happie and so set their felicitie on a slipperie foundation but how false this opinion is doth appeare alreadie For be it that honour be not giuen as our auncients did onely to the vertuous and good yet shall the vertuous man be praised be he neuer so poore euen of his most vtter enemie as Metellus Macidâ—nicus praised Scipiâ— for his Vertues and wept for his death though he were his mortall foe for no man be he neuer so enuious can take that from him which Vertue hath merited but must and will maugre his head applaud and commend him for an honest man euen behinde his backe and be forced to admire those good parts that are in him when an other man being rich and nothing within but all without shall be clawde
recompence for theyr vertues The flourishing state of the Romaines Athenians Lacedemonians and other dominions were all vpheld by Vertue for where Vertue is established there Vice is detested for as light and darknesse fire and water cannot be put together but one will confound the others nature so these two contraries cannot ioyntly hold possession but one will vtterly extinct the other and where Vertue is wanting in a generall gouernment that Common-wealth is wholly ouerthrowne Oderunt peccare boni virtutis amore Oderunt peccare mali formidine pane The good hate to sinne because of Vertue the bad for lawe but he is onely good that of his owne wil and honest mind eschueth euil more for coÌ„science sake theÌ„ for dread of mans punishment the euill and vicious contrariwise are with-held by the rigour of Iustice and for feare of penaltie the rebellion within is kept from outwardly working so that nothing but the sword of the magistrate doth stay the hot rage of his furie when the conscience lyes vast and open to all wicked desires he is not to bee numbred amongst vertuous and good men To conclude where the Common-wealth is guided by godly lawes of Princes the lampe of Vertue shining in the hearts of subiects laudable sciences imbraced Iustice without partialitie administred the good protected the bad punished peace maintained there is a happpie and blessed gouernment a sweete harmonie of nature and an earthly Paradize for he that shall goe about to counite and couple Vice Vertue in one putteth a man and a beast together honestie admits no such knot for the end of good which ought to be after one sort must not be mingled with any thing disagreeable in an other sort for Vertue is no longer Vertue if mixed with contrarie qualities we may then safely conclude that there is no goodlyer possession then Vertue and that it is perfect folly to couet to be rich mightie and creepe vp to worldly honour and make so small reckening to be stored with Vertue which is so certaine the tytle so glorious and permanent wherevpon one calleth it Dimidium animae meae which is not vnproperly spoken for take away vertue from a man which is the plain path to sanctimony he must be numbred among those creatures that haue onely essence and want vnderstanding sith hee aymeth not at the purpose of his creation The audacitie and stout courage of the Heathen was such that for morrall vertues would caâ—â— themselues into daungers many times deadly abandon riches endure pouertie abide tortures desiring rather a poore quiet life to follow Vertue then by a prosperous state to draw the mind into a troublesome stirre for pouertie performes that indeed that all Philosophy goeth about to perswade But this dooth much shake the feeble conscience when wee behold diuers good men endued with rare vertues and stored with good parts notwithstanding oppressed discarred and as it were made the scorne and May-game of the world finding no place of safetie to rest vpon and the bad and vicious to sit in Fortunes lap Now wheÌ„ we mark these vnproportionable accidents onely with the eye of common reason oÌ„ how it distracteth the minde accusing through ignorance the iust and diuine prouidence because he permitteth the good to be punished with miserie and the bad to swim in prosperitie but if we bend our wits to find out a deeper reason we shal see that the good are not afflicted for their hurt but fatherly chastised for their better triall the wicked not fauored but seuerely punished for God worketh al things for the good of those that are his yet who can denie but that the burthen of pouertie is importable hunger imprisonment exile intollerable persecution and death insufferable all which is inough to driue a man to dispaire of his owne happinesse supposing God had vtterly forsakeÌ„ him but the waight hereof is lightned made easie to them that steadfastly beleeue Gods promises and cast their care on him as Peter willeth Cast thy care on him for hee hath care on thee Moreouer though a man be poore sicke diseased and wayed downe with a clogge of miserie yet can he not say hee is so bare and naked as vtterly vnable to help himselfe or an other for admit he hath no tempoâ—all goods to helpe that way yet can hee harbour and shewe the rights of hospitalitie if hee hath neither of both yet can hee visit the sicke and cheare vp his mind with good counsell if he be poore sicke lame harborlesse and comforâ—lesse himselfe yet can he helpe with his prayers and communicate his loue by his orysons and deuout supplications so that euery one hath a rich fountaine within which vpon euery occasion may be powred out and therefore no man can pleade disabilitie and want of meanes to relieue And what though a man haue some casuall deformitie in his body or bee vnhappily fallen into a wretched estate yet so long as his vertue and honestie may bee iustified hee neede not bee ashamed of brusing the flesh or feeling penurie but rather boast and glorie in them for it cannot bee any shame or dishonour to carrie about him the visible tokens of such scarres neither dooth it any whit impaire his credit with the wise and vertuous nor make him of lesse esteeme with good men much lesse with God who putteth no difference between a king and a begger but onely in obedience to his will but here is the ignominie to bee branded with the hotte iron of wicked conuersation as when a man shall haue his eares cut from his head or marked in the hand for some villainie and the spots of vice so pregnant on his body or going vnder a hard censure for a bad opinion iustly conceiued in this case hee hath small cause to glory or boast but rather blush be ashamed and exile himselfe from common societie and striue with humilitie to reforme those rebellious passions that haue so strongly lead him into such dishonestie But where Vertue doth rule the affaires and actions of this life are mannaged with wisedome and those swelling thoughts kept backe which as a raging floud carrie away all that is not ground fast that any outward griefe is quietly suffered and patiently endured for what aduerse fortune soeuer happens is borne with contentment in so much as neither pouertie sicknesse crosses afflictions or what calamitie soeuer come cannot moue or distemper a stayed minde for beeing inflamed with a constant resolution doth fit himselfe to beare the troubles of this life with a valiant and immutable courage Stilpâ— a Greeke Philosopher when the citie where hee dwelt was burnt to sinders his wife and children consumed in the flame and all that hee had turned to ashes himselfe hardly escaping with his life was asked what he lost in the fire quoth he I lost nothing for Omnia mea mecum porto all that is mine I carrie about me meaning his vertues the onely proper
rather keepe their graine till it be corrupt and foistie at home or send it to our enemies abroad to starue and weaken our owne state then to relieue their bretheren with the crop of their encrease Certainly though they would seeme Christians and men of good spirits yet are they not equall no nor any whit comparable to the Heathen sith they thought nothing too deare for their countrey neither life goods nor any thing else and these thinke all too much be it neuer so little And to what end serueth this greedie desire of gaine but to make logger-head the sonne march before the cormorant his father in some worldly pompe and to couer his fine daughter Siâ— with Copweb-lawne to catch butterflyes this is not the high-way to honour We see that plaine Corydon that hath no more wit then to knowe the price of Sattin and Veluet and toies to make him soole-fine cannot be content to hold the plough and be one of those Aratores optimos ciues Reip good common-wealths men keepe hospitalitie and spend his reuenewes moderately and doo good in the place where he dwells but being crept vp to wealth by the death of his miserable olde father must instantly be dubd a gentleman of the first head and purchase armes though it be at a deare rate and bee a smoakie gallant in youth though he beg his bread in age and lash out that riotously that his father got miserly and as one well saith tedding that with a forke in one yeare that was not gathered together with a rake in twentie And this iumpeth with that which is affirmed before that the goods of a wretched miser holdeth not long together but as it hath bene badly gotten so t is as leaudly spent He is now of no esteeme vnlesse hee be cut of the fashion and can swagger and braue it out sweare himselfe into smoake with pure refined oathes and fustion protestations take Tabacco with a whiffe and be odly humorous And in no case it must not be forgotten he is a Gentleman and therefore to shun the stab you must prouide a sacke-full of worshipfull titles to coole his bloud when God wot his grandfather would haue bene glad of a crust of browne bread but what should he be toucht with base birth or bad life is he not now a Gentleman and hath wherewithall to hold it vp but such generositie is like a copper Ring new guilt ouer that wareth off with the least persecution Now these cannot truly say that the honour of their house did first rise in them or that true gentilitie is deriued out of their loines to succession because they are neither possest with any notable Vertue nor created noble by accident but haue onely a little pelfe which with swallow-wings is flying away as fast as their riotous course can lay it on Yet will their insolence arrogate to themselues honour as though it stood onely in riches and worldly glory and many vaine titles will they plucke by violence from the rude world for simple ignorance giueth humble reuerence to wealth and a gay coate but though by the curtesie of wise men and simplicitie of fooles they haue many faire titles yet let them not thinke they are any whit the more honourable vnlesse they haue the temperance of the minde body before remembred We haue here in common vse to buy and sell diuers peeces of siluer and gold which passeth from man to man as good payment so long as the mettall be currant and the Princes stampe vpon it but if we finde a peece counterfeit and the true stampe set vpon base mettall we presently naile it to a post and wish the coiner hanged so that all the estimation is in the mettall and not in the print so in like manner though a man be neuer so rich neuer so highly aduanced yet if Vertue hath not framed him fit for those places wise affable temperate but foolish malicious and vainglorious he is no otherwise but as the print of honour set vpon base bullion and so commits horrible treason against the maiestie of Vertue There bee some that hunt after honour and some that be hunted after by honour touching the first they are such as by bribes or double diligence creepe into a place or office of preferment and neuer rest night not day till by money friendship they haue got it a hungrie eye to spye out and an impudent face to thrust in and beeing warmely seated strout vp and downe with swelling termes as if they had risen by some degree of Vertue The other sort are sought after by honour and they bee such that Vertue frameth fit for that purpose that first growe excellent in some high desert for these beg no place nor foist into office but if it come they vnwillingly hold it and be no whit the more puft vp in opinion but iustly exercise the same not so much for theyr owne priuate gaine as for the generall good Liberalitie is a mediocritie in giuing benefites the bloud and strength of sciences a Vertue diuine and to speake briefly of her properties first and chiefly a liberall man is ready to reward honesty his friends alliance and such are neare him to succour orphanes widowes bestowe poore maidens in marriage and raise vp foundations and mend decayed structures for the good of posteritie is still occupied in such memorable works and he is onely a franke man that distributeth his substance measurably and where it is fit and must consider to whom he should giue that is to the needie how much according to his owne abilitie and the others necessitie and when in season and in due time for liberalitie resâ—eth not onely in the quantitie of the thing giuen but in the naturall disposition of the giuer And this is one of the chiefe species of Iustice to follow the worthines of the person in considering his good parts for if gifts followe not Vertue it is a great disparagement to her followers nothing is liberall but that which is iust which is the ground of all for Iustice is euery Vertue if her shoulders be bowed downe with want to be raised vp againe with gifts for there is no Vertue but too much miserie destroyeth in so much that if a man be as prudent as Cato as iustas Manlyus as magnanimious as Sâ—ipio and as temperate as Curius yet neuerthelesse if these vertues bee not eftsoones cherished by beneuolence they will soone faint growe feeble and be daunted Tollegloriae cupiditatem omne studium virtutis extingues saith one Take away the desire of glorie and all studie of Vertue is vtterly extinct for true it is that no man eyther for his priuate good or common profit will apply the minde to any Vertue vnlesse he be held vp and comforted in aduersitie or rauished with an immortall hope because the faculties of the minde are wholly studious to holde vp his poore dying life Againe who would
what a happie memorie is this how ought this feast to be celebrated in magnifying the Almightie and lauding his name for so great a benefite but what a commemoration is here when they turne true ioy into carnall iollitie doth this true ioy stand in eating drinking rioting feasting mumming masking dauncing dicing carding and such like that taste wholly of Heathens superstition is God honoured by this nay rather is hee not more dishonoured at that time of the yeare then all the yeare beside So that a counterfeit ioy is set vp in stead thereof meditation and mercifull workes are pulled downe and Epicurisme set vp which doth vsurpe and imperiously beare rule ouer all holy desires for in this is theyr deuotion in vnlawfull and sinfull pleasures to gurmandize and waste in excesse the good blessings of GOD and these men will not sticke to lash out a whole masse of money in dedicating feastes to diuell Bacchus and maintaine Playes in theyr houses as silthy as the Lupercalia in Rome spend whole nights and dayes in reuelling and toaste themselues by theyr great fires and as the Poet sayeth Regificâ— luxn paratae epulae haue their Tables furnished at exceeding and princely charges to stuffe the guts and feede the belley and wish with Polmixe that they had throates as long as Cranes so that they might taste their sweets with more leisure In so much that by this vnreasonable excesse and gluttony in a fewe daies wast out that riotously that would relieue many poore people if measurably bestowed Thus I saye like Epicures they consecrate the memorie of this blessed feast with such a ioy as sauours altogether of the drosse and slime of the earth and this is liberalitie forsooth charitie and Christian loue when it is but prodigallitie vain-glory and hypocrisie Moreouer although they be too too slacke in honest duties yet will they scotch at no charge may bring pleasure or holde vp some vaine-glorious memorie as in building great houses to be christned by their names when many of them are but as Absolons pillar a monument of folly a spectacle of vanitie and a prey of time many chimnies little smoake large roomes wherein a man may walke and chawe his melancholy for want of other repast and neuer be put to the charges to buye a tooth-picker And to what ende is this great building and cunning Architect but to stand in the gaze of the world and make the passenger cry out with admiration O domus antiqua hen quam dispari dominari Domino O gallant house full well do I see How vnlike a Lord hath lordship on thee Indeed here is the two-folde benefit it yeelds not only in setting many poore labouring men a worke but also a Princely edifise and stately building is a great honour to a kingdome But such are worthie blame that ouerthrowe their state by building not being able to vse one roome well of those many they build for if a man of reasonable wealth fall into this humour of building gay houses if he did small good before is now vtterly vnable to do any at al his new foundation hath eaten vp all his olde meanes this is the simple pollicie of some men that loue to begger themselues to please the eye Againe how prouident men are to graft their childreÌ„ into great stocks that may not easily be striken with the thunder-claps of aduersitie though the stocke be neuer so rotten infected blasted with Vice yet if rich and mightie it is inough and surely this Ethicall pollicie were highly to be aduanced if so be that our continuiâ—g Citie were here but seeing all things are fraile momentaine short and transitorie that we â—annot certainly number to morrow among the dayes of our life what a meere madnesse is this to be so in loue with the flattering smiles of this life and so myred in the dunghill of pleasures as to doate so much vpon it for verily men seeke their owne danger wheÌ„ they make the thing that is indifferent to be vnlawfull do they not with Orpheus catch the ayre seeke the shadow loose the substance win earth and loose heauen Yet these aboriginies carth bred wormes with high lookes and insolent bragges will stand vpoÌ„ termes of gentilitie and deriue their pedigree euen from Cadwallader the last king of the Britons wheÌ„ in sadnes they are not so much as sprinkled with one true drop of gentle bloud neither one propertie of a Gentleman vnlesse it should only stand in wealth great possessions which is contrary to our former assertion for if true gentrie be a mind excellently deckt with rare vertues not only by propagation of nature but by integritie of qualities not in beautie but in Vertue not in riches but in honor not in pride but in comelinesse not in costly and curious diet but feeding the hungry and cloathing the naked not in sumptuous building ioyning house to land kin to kin with respectiue marriages but onely in the true possession of Vertue then albeiâ—a man wallow in wealth liue in pleasure fare daintie goe princely hung with pearle sweetly perfumed hawkes horses hounds and in a word haue whatsoeuer pomp glorie his hart can wish or the world affoord yet if he be not noble in Vertues but ignoble in vices and haue not those good parts that carry a vnion of good mens praises he is but pirat latro a theefe and a robber and all his rich paintings goodly buildings are but monuments of shame and basenesse Is not Vertue then more honorable then riches doth it not raise a man to immortalitie doth not riches ouerthrow his happinesse if not duly ouer-watcht with Temperance and if so be a rich man looke narrowly into his state and cast vp his accounts well he shall finde himselfe a very bankerout and to owe more then he is worth for why hath hee more plentie of bastardly riches then other men but that hee is a bayliffe steward Feoffer in trust to dispose lay out in almes and charitable workes Now then if hee apply them to his owne vse what reckning can he make or how wil he answer it at the great assises when it shall be obiected by the king of glory When I was naked you cloathed mee not when I was hungry you fed me not c. Goe into euerlasting fire c. And therfore these great rich men of the world haue obiects before theyr eyes and are hemde in with poore on euery side heere is one crying for bread there an other for cloathes the sicke to bee visited the lame and infirme to be comforted the straunger to be lodged so that they cannot turne their eyes no way but they haue motions to stirre vp charitie and wofull clamors sounding into their eares of want and yet had diuers of them rather doo any thing then relieue theyr necessities to giue tenne pound for a Hawke then ten pence to cloathe the naked The Rauen forsakes her young
VERTVES Common-wealth OR THE HIGH-WAY TO HONOVR Wherin is discouered that although by the disguised craft of this age vice and hypocrisie may be concealed yet by Tyme the triall of truth it is most plainly reuealed Necessary for age to moue diligence profitable for youth to shun wantonnesse and bringing to both at last desired happinesse Haud curo inuidiam By Henry Crosse LONDON Printed for Iohn Newbery dwelling in Paules Church yard at the Signe of the Ball. 1603. TO THE RIGHT Honourable Robert Lee Lord Maior of the honorable Citie of London And to the Right worshipfull the Aldermen his brethren I Am not ignorant Right Honorable and right worshipfull Senators of the custome of this age which is that such as write bookes do vse to dedicate theÌ„ to some worthy persoÌ„ or other vnder whose protection they might passe with more safetie from the byting of the enuious so that many times a light discourse is grac't with a iudiciall censor I was therefore imboldned to obserue the same Method and that chiefly because I know true Vertue loueth whatsoeuer is like it selfe be it neuer so little and accepteth what is zealously offered though not alwayes deseruingly excellent wheÌ„ base deiected minds want wisedome experience to direct the puritie of iudgement And although I haue scattered here and there some iarring notes and harsh consonants vntunable to a modest eare yet the vglines of vice made me striue to paint out her lanus-face to the eye of the world Alexander refused not a cup of colde water at the hands of a silly begger the poore widows myte was more accepted then the abundance of the Scribes and Pharises for she offered all that she had they of their superfluitie so a noble mind doth alwaies patronize a poore gift as willingly as it is deuoutly dedicated If in like sort your bounties wil deign to giue free admittance to this homely worke I shall be prouoked not to end with this my rude beginning but striue to shewe some greater monument of my loue heereafter And thus leauing to trouble your wisedoms with tedious circumstance I rather abreuiate of that I would say then by speaking too much to breed suspitioÌ„ of my simple well meaning And so I humbly commit your affaires to the good guidance of the Almightie and my selfe to your fauourable censures Your Honors and worships most dutifull to commaund Henry Crosse To the curteous Reader WHen I had brought this poore labour of a â—ewe idle houres to a full period gentle Reader I was purposed to haue sent it to the world like an Orphane without a father being so vntimely borne yet considering it was not altogether vnprofitable for this last age wherin iniquitie doth so much abound and so much the rather being so instantly vrged thervnto by such as haue an absolute intrest in me my labours I was content to send it to the Presse and cast my selfe vpon the generall censure I must confesse it is very vnscholler-like handled being hudled vp in haste without the rule of order wanting time Decies castigari â—dvnguem to correct againe and againe and therefore I was almost disswaded from this desperate attempt and that chiefly because reproofe is growne so headstrong as she will buckle with Vertue yet in this hope I rested that although Momus and the whole broode of Sycophants byte and sâ—arle with their venemous and spitefull tongues though it be not in my power to stop their mouthes yet it is in my owne hands to stop my owne eares let them barke at the Moone with the Wolues of Assiria yet if thou wilt distinctly read not rashly iudge thou shalt finde matter worth the noting Here is Vertue leading the way to honor Vice and Ignorance exaulted with vaine glory Learning and good littrature wrapped in with pouertie Machauile writing bookes against honestie Idlenesse drunkennes the grosse errors of these dayes earnestly reprehended But if thou doâ—st patiently beare â—ith my rudenesse it will animate a grosse conceit to set vpon some thing that may shewe a further testimonie of my gratefull mind toward thee hereafter In the â—eane time let this my first labour be one little step whereby I may ascend into thy good opinion and that that is weake and in authenticke correct with thy pen or gently passe it ouer so shalt thou recompence my trauell and binde me to requite thy fauour But if thou art so auspicious as with narrow critticke eyes to looke a squiâ—t at euery thing thou wilt dismay a young beginâ—er and turne my Alpha into Omaega Henry Crosse VERTVES COMmon-wealth or the high-way to honour THe fame eternized Tâ—lly in his booke of duties setteth downe that the teaching of any doctrine which is to be taken in hand in due forme the exordium must begin with a definitioÌ„ that the life of the subiect whereof the discourse doth run may the better be vnderstood Vertue is an elected habit or a setled qualitie coÌ„sisting in a meane that meane standeth in the midst of two extreams the more the lesse and this that some laudable action which by no other name can be termed but by the onely title of Vertue Vice is opposite to Vertue a habit of the minde annexed to nature not striuing with reason an inconstant desire in the whole life rebelling against honestie which two affections growe vp to a habit by degrees through vse and exercise chosen by the rationall partes and when by custome the will is setled in the course of either the whole disposion is carried to good or bad The Stoikes call Vice and Vertue Animalia liuing creatures because by them a man is discerned for in respect of Vertue a man is said to be a man which is the Etymologie of the word and in respect of Vice to be a beast because he wanteth those faculties and demensions 〈◊〉 proper to a vertuous and good man Vertue is diuided into two parts the Intellectiue and the the Mortall the former is begotten and nourished by good tutors reading good Bookes and exercise from this floweth wisedome science prudence memorie The latter commeth by custome and vse for these two are so forcible as by it a man may get him a second nature and this worketh this thing called Actus in the extreame parts and is the mother of Liberalitie Fortitude and of all good manners The diuine essence of the soule beholdeth nothing with contentment but the perfect Idea of Vertue being so pure and excellent as she onely aymeth at perfect happinesse if the corruption and disobedience of the body did not contaminate defile her And therefore the Philosophers say wheÌ„ she is in the company of good men she possesseth ioy but among euill is euermore in heauinesse for the soule is occupied in heauenly contemplation and delighted to know her Creator his omnipotent maiestie and power the workes of nature but being imprisoned followes the bodies inclination and by that
of his minde is no whit distracted but resting in securitie smileth at the worlds turbulent state Finally it is a bloud in the vain giuing life to the whole body the head of all vertues for of her selfe she may do many things but without her the rest can doo nothing rightly Fortitude is a greatnesse of mind which without furious or rash resolution feareth not to hazard it selfe in the greatest perils and with eager pursuite to hunt after honourable actions thirsting after glory not respecting the tedious difficultie of the passages therevnto to encounter wiih dangers wade through the mystic clouds of darknes willingly endure all bitternes of fortune for the safegard of the country such were Scipiones Fabij Alcibiades Hannibal c. who by their valour great prowes reached to the top of honour Neither is true Fortitude measured by the compasse of a great body nor by dooing great enterprises in respect of the huge stature but by a fierce and couragious spirit striâ—ing in a good cause the cause is all it is not the torment that maketh a Martyr but the cause for which he suffereth So that to speake properly Fortitude is that which is granted vpon good cause possible to be atchieued such true valour was in Dauid who could not abide to heare the name of God blasphemed by such a monster as Goliah therefore knowing God would aide his enterprise he relyed not vpon his owne strength but cast off all vaine glory for when matters are rightly attempted many straunge aduentures proceed euen as it were by myracle a iust honest cause maketh a man bolde hardie and venterous to striue against one of greater force as King Alexander being of small body sought hand to hand with Porrus which was a more mightie man it is not then any great person or huge Collosse that can triumph ouer a good cause The Romaine Scipio was woâ—t to say no man ought to leuie war or fight with his enemie without iust cause offred but if hee were prouoked by an iniust intrusion it booteth not to tarry til they come but intercept theÌ„ in comming for such cause giueth encouragement to set vpon them freely As when our common enemies in 88. with their Spanish braues meant to haue inuaded our Territories and came armed with instruments of tirannie to insult ouer our natioÌ„ and to bring our necks into a Spanish yoake it pleased God to abate their pride and turne their cruelties into their owne bosomes Heere was cause to make a coward valiant and the fearefull forward to fight because he was compelled to take vp weapons for his owne safetie and he that will not defend himselfe is not worthy to liue in peace especially when his wife children father mother brothers sisters yea the whole Countrey is in daunger â—o be torne and rent in peeces by sauage and mercilesse tyrants When it is for a common defence is not he a wretch that will sit still and see his mothers throate cut What if he dye in the conflict were he not better to dye honourably like a Martyr and souldier of Christ then liue to see the ruine and desolation of his whole Countrey wherefore no man ought to stagger or saint at a good cause but bee the more imboldened because it giueth good encouragement We may call to mind and we cannot remember it too often the ouerthrowe they then had not simply in respect of our owne prowesse but by the assistance of a higher power we being but a poore handfull to their great multitude they came like Briarius threatning the heauens and casting mountaines at Iupiter yet theyr glorious tytle of inuincible was confounded to theyr shame and our glory this we may thinke vpon with reuerence but ascribe the honour of the victorie to him by whose meanes it was wrought If warre be leuied without cause or if one man shall be so foole-hardie to attempt things impossible and presume on his strength to assaile a greatmany beyond hope to vanquish it is no maruaile if the successe fall out against his desire for Ne Herculus contra duos For Hercules himselfe held it oddes to deale with two but when for the common good of the Countrey as I said before any man shall vndertake some hard aduenture to free it of some imminent perill if sent by imperiall commaund though he loose his life in the action yet for that hee is indued with true Fortitude doth winne immortalitie as the three Romans called Decij who for the safegard of their Countrey auowed to dye and with resolute and vndaunted courages pierced the host of their enemies and though they lost their liues yet by their stout example gaue such audacitie and courage to the rest of the Romaines by prouoking them forward as they easily obtained the victorie which was thought to be vnconquerable I might speake the like of Codrus Marcarius Curtius Marcus and Regulus which dyed most willingly for their Countrey I might recite here also a Catalogue of those valorous English Knights that haue honourably yeelded vp their liues in the field of Mars for their Prince and Countrey but that I intend not now to make an Apologie of this Vertue but referre it to a Treatise of Iustice which I suppose shall succeed this worke especially vpon the improuement of this God giuing mee time and quietnesse of minde to performe that This manlinesse is a Vertue that fighteth in defence of equitie and iust dealing but we neuer finde that any man got true praise and honour by rash furie for nothing is honest that is voyd of Iustice He that is hastie to surprise a man soone moued to impatiencie without iust cause cause doth rather merit the name of leaud boldnesse then manly courage because this Vertue standeth in honest deeds and not in vaine glory and being truly carried serueth as a hammer to beate downe those Vices that oppose themselues to the beautie of Vertue which chiefly doth appeare when preferment doth lift a man aloâ—t by imbracing humilitie and ouercomming pride which soone creepes vpon the aduanced or if tossed in aduersitie he be vigorous and beare an inuincible courage to combat against the passion of the minde which is ready basely to decline for whatsoeuer falleth out crookedly is turned to the better part she inableth to vndergoe damage to beare iniurie to be patient and not to stâ—rre but for a common good or his priuate defence when a violent intrusion is made vnto his person Many hide themselues vnder the wings of this Vertue that neuer seeke to apprehend her aright and would seeme valorous and magnanimous when they are but white liuerd cowards and miscreants as many of these brawlers and swashbucklers whose hot bloud once stirred cannot be cooled without reuenge and field-meetings which for euery light cause they vndertake and so violently swaid with fury that they rush forward into all desperation without reuerence of the lawes of
which a skilfull herbalist would carefully gather vp extract some rare quintessence out of theyr hidden secrets Wilt thou build thy safetie vpon a sure foundation then here is the rocke that no tempest can shake here is a shelter to defend thee from perils a safegard to preserue the puritie of the soule from beeing polluted by the concupiscence of the body and though neuer so many stormes of aduersitie and shewers of persecution beate vpon thee being in this world as in a wildernesse of woes yet shrowding thy selfe vnder the Cannapie of Vertue thou ioyest in the middest of all sorrow and though the whole world be of an vprore yet what is that to thee thou art no whit moued thereat for Animo calestia tangis thy affections are mounted vp to heauen thy mind aduanced aboue all earthly weaknesse It is not onely hard but very difficill to finde out which of the Vertues are most predominant that the victory may be imputed to her because they are all knit in one single vnion for the good of the soule For as one linke of a chaine draweth an other and an other after til it come to the last the Antecedent the Relatiue so one Vertue is an Adamant that draweth an other Vertue vnto it And though shee take vp her lodging in a crooked and deformed body as she is euer readie to dwel where shee findeth the heart yeeldable to honestie yet penetrating with inward desire and bringing the stragling powers of the minde to a vniformitie doth make vp the want of nature with a supply of grace causing him shine like Christall for when the life is laudably lead there appeareth so great a glory that it is not onely admirable to the eyes of man by reason of formall carriage in humanitie but also high pleasing to God by the intellectuall goodnesse Vertue is the spurre of Honour It is not the aboundance of wealth and great dignitie that maketh a man truly noble but the possession of Vertue which is true honour and auncient riches and is not gotten by loytering Idlenesse but with industrie and much labour for Ardua virtutis via est T is labours force that carrieth a man to Vertue a hard entrance a continuall perseuerance because he must encounter against his passions and stop the flouds of intemperance for such high and admirable things cannot be had without effectuall indeuour and by how much the more straighter the passage is therevnto by so much the more carefull must hee be least it slip away through arrogance or vaine glory for in Vertue pride begins to swell or some Vice or other to creep in which if not beateÌ„ back at the first wil hazard the whole frame of Vertue or beeing maistred by some ouer-weening thought or singularly carried away with selfe-loue a passion of the minde disquieting reason doth wholly estraunge himselfe from her Beatitude loosing those complements which formerly he was possest of The reward of Vertue is true generositie and where it is ioyned with great possessions and hath long continued in the house of a Gentleman without corruption of bloud that nobilitie is most to be honoured forasmuch as long continuance hath giuen it the badge of glorie Plato diuideth Nobilitie â—oure waies the first saith he are those that rise from good and iust parents the second those whose parents were Princes or great men the third famouzed for martiall exployts the fourth which excell in any kinde of learning and for Vertues sake onely are seated in the place of honour these latter are verè nobiles truly noble made noble by Vertue Yet if one shall stand vpon his riches parentage office place dignitie and by these onely suppose to win the place of true honour he climeth a rotten ladder for what is all this worlds pompe or titulary preferments if not atchieued by Vertue or what doth great birth auaile if hee debase it by his ill life or a vertuous memorie of his auncestors if hee follow not their example are they not like smoake and vapours which vanish with the Sunne can a man without offence brag of the Vertues of his auncients if his owne life be vitious For hath he not broken off the succession of Vertue by wilfull detraction wherefore what worldly glory soeuer is otherwise had is filched and her chastitie at no hand will bee defiled with such bastardly plants Prayses and commendations waite euer on Vertue And therefore Tully in his Tuscul questions defineth honour to be a vnion of praises of good men which iudge of Vertue without partialitie and not by the opinion of the multitude which looke more to a veluet Iacket the outward brauerie then to the minde how it is qualified so that the noblenesse of man is his vertue and they ought to be called noble honorable which are most honest and vertuous If I should enter into the wonderful account which the Heathen made of Vertue I might shewe how Numâ— Pompilius was taken from the plough and chosen the second King of the Romanes what was the cause think yee but his Vertue and wisedome for which they thought him worthy of so high a calling this they reckened true nobilitie likewise Quintius a poore Husbandman was made Dictator which was a great office and for three moneths had a Regall power and when he had ended his office went againe to his olde labour without indignitie to his person or derogating ought from his worthinesse of this high estimation was Vertue among them He that is nobly borne and descended of an auntient house should beare in his mind the remembrance of his birth and frame himselfe to imitate his parents in Vertue as well as hee looketh to possesse their inheritance and ioyning these two in one is truly noble for if his auntients were more noble then he whose dignitie he enioyeth his praise is diminished and becommeth a bye-word and a reproach among them that haue heard of the former Vertue or if they were vicious and of euill life then to auoyd the scandal in himselfe to abhorre the like and couet to liue in Vertue so shall he purchase true honour to his riches and worthily be deemed to enioy the inheritance And there is great reason to induce him therevnto for of such a one there is a generall expectation of some notable Vertue the eyes of all men are bent vpon him as on a Commet or blazing starre prying narrowly into him how hee liueth what he doth to what science he beÌ„deth his mind and what good hee doth in the Common-wealth for which he is borne and as if his priuate actions should be openly done no one word or deed of his can escape the common censure It is the more behouefull then to apply the mind to laudable actions to do good in the place where he is for so much as he may appropriate to himselfe a good report for well doing by that means participate the heartie prayers and many
and flattered before his face but cursed and bande behinde his backe and this preheminence it hath maugre the worldes malignitie that where this Christian veritie doth shine shee forceth the gazer to breake out into wonderment and spread that glorious report which it iustly meriteth yet there be some so sottish and madde that though they know themselues but flattered suppose they be by by praised when he neither speaketh it with his heart but for some carnall reason and they themselues know it to be false which hee speaketh Beleeue no man therfore of your owne goodnesse better then your selfe if there bee ought in you worthie of it if you deserue it not thinke assuredly they doo but mock and deceiue you and with their tongues seeme to be with you when their hearts be against you This is a sure token for a man to see into his owne Vertue first hee sueth not for honour but honour followeth him and secondly is not greeued though he be vnregarded nor beareth indignation at others happines and this same thing is it that we call honor now seeing this worldly honor is of so small price it is the part of a base and vile mind to beleeue glozing and faire words and grosse ignorance it is indeed to build honour vpon the brainsicke and rude opinion Now what are all the goods of this worlde but a troublesome carriage greeuance because they bring no assured comfort but doo rather with their waight plucke downe those minds that be flying towards heauen and hinder a man in the passage to glory Neuerthelesse this might somewhat dismay the weakenesse of man to striue for Vertue because commonly it hath no reward in this world but wandreth vp and downe naked forsaken but this is no disparagement to a good man for looke what he possesseth be it more or lesse is so moderatly expended that it is competent and sufficient and this is the very fountain whence all contentment proceedeth for being well composed within regardeth nothing without but a iust applause for well doing only couetous to carry away a good report of his Vertues which as Trophies are hung ouer his Tombe for eternall monuments Virtutiâ—merces â—adem labor illa trophium est Touching such as are loaden with this worlds drosse and moistened with golden showers liuing in voluptuous and vaine pleasures and defile those blessings with their lusts what should we thinke of this but that the great and rich God is content to throw and scatter about his goods among a sort of pedegrant peasants and insaciable horse-leaches which greedily scrape it vp to fill their Cofers and feed their lusts not thinking one day they must recken of the well imployment Riches not rightly ordered prouoke many hurtfull and wicked desires the mother of pride contempt disdaine selfe-loue and the very fire that burneth vp all good motions if not quenched with moderation for they puffe vp a man in opinion to be some bodie when he is no body and to thinke himselfe truly honourable because he is honoured of the vaine world supposing that to be rich in costly sutes is the onely glory This makes them spurne at all good aduertisements and despise Christian admonitions for how commeth it to passe that so many great rich and mightie men of the world are some Athists Papists Neuters Nâ—lla fidians c. and so colde in charitie but only this impatiencie of good counsell being hard to finde a faithfull man that will boldly speake without partiallitie but elther is blinded with greatnesse or driuen to silence for outward respects to keepe in fauour with smooth words especially when his state dependes vppon great men there is then a Filme growes ouer the eye-sight and such a dimnesse as he cannot see no not the Sunne at noone dayes be it neuer so cleare or splendidious but be rather as cloudes to hide their shame or instruments to incite them to more leaudnesse For if such a one fall into a grosse errour and by his life be a scandall to the good liuing openly in some vile crime he shall not want trencher-flies clawbackes and Sycophants that wil crie peace peace when he is at warre with his owne conscience and feede his humour with flattery be his life neuer so sinfull such may be fitly called seruingmen for they neuer serue God but soothe them vp to serue their owne turne they pretend much loue and great seruice when t is nothing but superficial flattery if these see but a small moate amisse a wrinkle awry how tentible they be to mend it but though the minde be neuer so spotted with vice the eye cannot pierce it be it ner so visible and indeed if the humour of their maister take it in ill part they may chaunce for their intelligence to be turnde out of all preferment O how they wil storme if controwlde in their course and take it exceedingly ill as though they had a dispensation to doo what they list without reproofe because they are great If Preachers crie out against vice in generall then is it specially applied he ment me he spites me and so goes about to stop their mouthes by accusing them of â—â—yling sedition or slaundring or if priuately admonished then are they busie factious and stray from their text yâ—t for all this a good man will not be abashed to whisper into their eares priuatly or inueigh against vice publikely come what will come Solon compareth not vnfitly lawes to copwebs for that great flies can breake through at ease when the lesser are intangled in like manner great men can soone rush through the walles of lawe and breake downe Iron Gates when the weake must abide the extremitie and haue no other defence but their owne innocencie Thus doth might deceiue them but Aâ—risacra fames quid non what cannot gold bring to passe it can dim the clearest sight and raise vp an humble minde to a haughtie courage is it not strange that a base pedanticall parasite in hope of a lease or some small fauour should clappe his hands at wickednesse and that a man indued with reason and hath the vse of his fiue wittes should beled by flattery and made blinde with plausible wordes not to see his owne faultes though they be as thicke as the darknesse of Egipt to be felt with the hande and not seene with the eye for be it he is so obdurate that he cannot or will not see them yet must he needs be noted pointed at liue defamed as a may-game to the worst and a lamentable spectacle to the best I remember I read once of Alexander if happily I can now repeate it who on a time vehemently blamed his Steward for that hauing serued him so long and bene so conuersant in his affaires so familiar with his priuate doings and laie as it were in his bosome as if he had bene his second selfe that in all the time of his seruice could not spie
ought amisse to dimme his glorie For it is impossile quoth hee in so many yeares and so much opportunitie that I should neuer offend and blemish my vertue with some dishonourable action deseruing either prewarning in the beginning or reproofe in the ende and so expelled him his seruice Here is a mirrour of true honour this noble Prince cast off his Steward because he concealde his faultes amongst Christians that should be inspired with higher wisedome the contrary is daily practised the â—eruant shall be dismist for telling truth and honest minds purchase shrewde rebukes this head-strong opinion is the downe-fall of all good order for when men-pleasers and claw-backes doo leade captiuitie capâ—iue in the fetters of vanitie a multitude of honest mindes are in daunger to be seduced to imitate their course of life For as the Marriners in a shippe haue theyr eyes earnestly bent vpon the Maister that sitteth at the helme and readie at his becke to doo his will so such men as stand vp in the Common-wealth and holde the Rudder of direction in theyr handes are duly watcht and attentiuely ouerseene and according to their aime the common sort bend their course O howe riches mocke men with certaintie when nothing is more mutable and slippery with perfect happineâ—â—e when nothing is more wretched the nursâ— of pride the schoole of abuse and the guide that leades into many temptations it is much better rather to shine in Vertue then in riches And therefore our Sauiour Christ in the Gospell compâ—reth the felicitie of a rich man to an impossibilitie â—aying that it is as hard for him to climbe to heauâ—n being loaden with drosse as for a Cammell to creepe through the eye of a Needlâ— and this made the Philosophers in their humane wisedome so much despise worldly honour and vndergoe pouertie with so great patience Aâ—nacreon hauing a huge masse of money sent him by Policrates could neuer rest till he was rid of it againe his minde troubled his sleepe broken returned it againe to him that sent it saying he neuer liued in so great feare and dread all his life long as hee had done those two dayes while the mony was in his house Phoâ—â—â—n in like manner when the king had sent him a great beneuolence hee asked him that brought it what mooued his maister to send him so much mony seeing the king did not know him answered it was in respect of the great fame he heard of his vertues If that be the cause quoth he carry it backe to him againe and let him leaue me as I am and â—ot by increase of wealth to diminish my vertues Diogines refused all and craued nothing but the common benefâ—â— of the Sunne which Alexander had taken from him by standing betweene him and it Plutarch reporteth that when Alexander vpon a time came into a poore barren Countrey thinking to haue made some great conquest found the inhabitants gathering rootes grasse to â—ate neither vsing force to repell and keep him backe nor any meanes to disswade him from his warlike attempt but as poore snakes were altogether busied for their bellâ—es The King considering their pouertie and vnfruitfulnesse of their countrey had pittie and compassion on their miserie and bad them aske what they would and it should incontinently be graunted Quoth they with one consent giue vs euerlasting life Why how can I giue that quoth he that am but a mortall man Then why seeke you to win the whole world as though you were immortall and should neuer dye Zenon Crates infinite were the examples of those that were rauished with the formossitie and excellent hue of Vertue that they contemned money riches pompe choosing pouertie for the pure life of perfection bearing the bitternesse of fortune with an vnconquerable courage The auntient victorious Romaines â—ought after Vertue and by their noble deedes and heroicall spirits got the palme of true honour not sparing body or goods to aduance the CoÌ„mon-wealth in so much as many of them had not wherewith to endowe theyr daughters nor which was lesse to defraye Funerall charges but what they had out of the commoÌ„ store which by their conquests they had so greatly enriched as Sâ—ipio Sylla and the great Pompâ—y for then Vertue was their chiefest riches An example we finde of a noble captaine who beeing offered a great reward by his Generall for his knighthood and valour done in seruice with this gratulation thou shalt bee paide in riches for thy valour and not in honour for Vertue hee refused the one and tooke the other counting riches not worthy to bee matched wiâ—h the dignitie of Vâ—rtue The Martyrs in all ages are much to bee admired that being indued with true fortitude did most willingly embrace their deathes and suffer their bodies to bee rent torne and cruelly burned by the persecutors for the profession of a good conscience and by theyr meeke sufferings gained perpetuall honour And although it falleth out as for the most part it doth that men indued with rare and singular vertues are vtterly forgotten and scarce noted while they liue yet beeing dead theyr fame mounts vp to heauen and is divulged and spread in the earth for the want of a good thing is then most precious when it is remooued farthest off Cato was scarce knowne while he liued but after his death was of great price and all those famous Philosophers Orators schoole-men that liued in darknesse and were so basely esteemed yet wee see by the memorie of their goodly vertues they now liue againe by being recommended from one age to an other And herehence sprung the multiplicitie of Heathen goddes I meane from the notable vertues of singular men for the foolish antiquitie honoured men as gods after their deathes which eyther were of high dignitie while they liued of great birth or had done some notable benefite for their Countrie for honour and reuerence is rehibited for some certaine cause rising of externall things framed by Vertue for honour is compounded of honestie Hâ—rmes or Mercurius was of such fame among the Aegiptians as hee was deified and made a god calling him the Messenger of Iupiter Mars a great warriour Bacchâ—â— the inuenter of wine Esculapius a Phisition Pythâ— was so reuerently thought of amongst the Barbarians for that by his singular wisedome hee had withdrawne the inhabitants from their vices that they made of his Cottage a Temple giuing him diuine honour What contumelies and strife was about the bodie of Homer when seuen Cities were at variance to possesse his corpes when he was dead Septem vrbes certant de stirpe insignis Homeri Smyrna Rhodes Colophon Salamiâ— Ios Argos Athenae Diogenes liued beggerly in contempt but after his death was honorably interred in a monument of fame so that the memorie of these sprung from the roote of Vertue and from some notable exployt which got the peoples loue who thought the applause of this worlde was no sufficient
goods of a wise man which no force of fire can coÌ„sume nor the furie of no enemy take away In like maner an other being told his own son was dead was no whit moued at yâ— message and being told againe again he was dead why quoth he what of that I knew I begat a mortall creature and being mortall he must needs die who could beare such great cause of griefe without some shew of sorrow but such smal reckning did the wise HeatheÌ„ make of worldly losses for it is the nature of maÌ„ to relent deplore and be subiect to lamentations yet their wisedome kept it vnder the yoake of reason or who in these daies would refuse such preferment as Diâ—genes oâ— his loade of gold as Fabritius or cast his treasure into the sea as Antippus I verily suppose fewe or none would bee of that minde neither is it so needfully required Christian sorrow for worldly losses is sufferable riches and wealth to a good man are comfortable by reason he hath greateâ— means to do good for the daunger lyeth in the abuse and not simply in the vse for to a bad man they are indeede the cause of more euill because they minister more matter to his wicked and sinfull desire A man may warme him by a fire though hee burne not himselfe in it so a rich man may modâ—rately vse his riches though with them hee stoppe not vp the gappe to happinesse but the deadly hatred they bore to externall things shewed theyr loue to Vertue and the desire they had to diue into the depth of wisedome ô how they stroue about the contemplatiue and actiue life some choosing one some the other strugling who should come nearest vnder the wings of Vertue and yet for all this they laboured but in darkenesse and blinde ignorance and neuer attained to that true ioy by which the heart is exalted to immortalitie for the true and absolute Vertue is the true knowledge of GOD the way to worship him aright and true comfort in aduersitie for nothing can bee good without the soueraigne good if mâ—n bee ignorant of that all is false and theyr intentions goe awrie but the Philosophicall summum bonum rested in this namely in the quiet apprehending of reason and fashioning the outward man to ciuill obedience and could neuer possesse themselues of that heauenly felicitie vnder which all Vertue is comprehended Pouertie ought not to moue the minde with restlesse passions but to allaie the heate with contentation and pacific the vnstaied affections which will more easily be done if a man considerately call to mind how many persons in the world are in as wretched or more wofull estate then he himselfe is yet the deare children of God too but in aduersitie many lose themselues in discontentment not patiently wayting but greedily snatching not content with that they haue be it neuer so much but adding goods to goods and multiplying more to enough with neuer satisfied desire tormenting the minde with vnquiet motions and by that meanes make the freedome of life a sharpe and bitter bondage for if their life were six times so long as it may be by the inuitable course of nature yet the tenth part of that they haue were sufficient to maintain them well and honestly and declare whereto they were borne and inrich their posteritie after why should they then be so greedy and earthly minded to consume their dayes in such vnreasonable cares whereby they are neuer at rest but in continuall slauery so greatly do they feare least they should be poore and so in the midst of plentie liue in want and thus become incaple of reason and most miserable of all men for no externall thing can in themselues make a maÌ„ vnhappie if immoderate desire creep not in to breed rebellion so that still our former assertion must hold In medio concisâ—â—t virtus Vertue stands betweene two extreames in cooling the heate of desire with Temperance not in feeding the belly so much as it will hold cloathing the backe so farre as the purse will stretch and giuing scope to pleasure as though much wealth gaue much libertie for that is prodigalitie nor in pinching hoording it vp from necessary duties for that is illiberalitie ouerturneth the whole fellowship of mankind neither must a man neglect his priuat state but labour in his calling to supply his wants the meane therefore is the safest path to walke in in which whosoeuer goeth is safe from stumbling vpon extremities If Y cor as had held his medium tâ—tissâ—mum he had not so vntimely fallen or Phaeton obserued the good counsell of his father he had not bin striken with thunder but presumption arrogance casteth men healong into woe and misery So that if Temperance do not order the life and dispose our humane affaires we fall into an insatiable desire of hauing or into an vtter neglect of our own wants spending too much that vainly or sparing too much that too nigardly But as the higher we clime the lesse appearance those things seeme to haue that are vnder vs our sight being remoued from the obiect and species of things so the nearer we approch to God and frame our obedience vnto him the lesse we value these base transitory things Now if by this compendious course our mindes are abstracted drawen backward immediatly our cogitations ascend vp to heaueÌ„ as vnto the country to which we are trauelling we must not the incumber our mindes with so heauy a load as the cares of this life least they hinder vs in the pursuit to perfect blessednesse O what a burden of torments doth the couetous desire bring with it a disease like the Dropsie the more it hath the more it would thirsty as the serpent Diâ—sas neuer satisfied till it burst wanting that it hath and hath that it wanteth because the good vse of those things present are euer absent ô whither would the greedineâ—â—e of man run if Mydas golden Wish were to be had the couetous Lawier would haue the diuell and all the secular Priest be sick of the golden dropsie the Artificer Alcumize his Instruments into gold the plow man weary of his labour so that here would be Aurea atas a golden world Thus would extreame couetousnes bring a misery vpon the owners and though with Mydas they might turne any thing into gold with a touch yet should they be starued with hunger famish the bodie and robbe the soule of all true comfort For these waight alwaies on a couetous man Impietie periurie thefts rapines treasons fraud deceits and all kind of vnconscionable and mercilesse dealings Let a man then be content with his portion and not seeke to aspire vnto terrestiall honour by tearing out the bowelles of his brethren with vsurie extortion and vnconscionable brokerie For it is better to be contentedly poore then miserably rich and to surpasse in rare Vertues then in earthly treasure for albeit a man
twins for he no sooner letteth his minde slip to one but the other is readie to cast him into miserable estate And therefore to shun pleasures it is good to behold her behind and not before to coÌ„sider what trouble torments dishonour and ignominie waits vpon her for after her ghests are surfeited with dainties she makes the ende as fatall and ominous as the Centaurs feasts a suttle Syâ—on that telles a pleasing tale to breede securitie dropping hony from her lippes but hath the poyson of Aspes vnder her tongue a standing ponde cleare aboue but all filth and mudde below and therfore the wise schoolemaister warneth his scholler to shunne pleasures for feare of smart sowre things follow sweete and ioy heauinesse Volupt as esca malorum saith he Pleasure is the bait of euil and hor. ad lollium Sperne volupt at is noâ—et empta dolore volupt as Yet many repute themselues wise and excellently seen though they are nothing daunted at such a hidious monster and so are wise only in opinion and with this sottish cogitation enterprise matters infamous yea oftentimes to the vtter ruine ouerthrow of themselues and by this meanes run headlong into all manner vice not suspecting the moÌ„ster-like danger ouer their heads He that followes pleasure is as the spider that laboureth all day to intangle a flie or like a waâ—â—on boy that blowes vp feathers into the aire and spends the time in running vp and downe after them for what is pleasure but a puffe and what is all painfull and ponderous labours but a copweb If we shoote not at this marke to cast anchor in the harbor of Vertue for if we couet to be honoured otherwise then by Vertue we climbe a rotten ladder sure to fall for vaine-glory is a blaze which soone vanisheth glistering for a while in some outward pompe in the darknesse of this world carrying with it some shewe of Gentriâ— when t is but the scumme of Vice Pride and swelling Ambition for what gaine is it for a man to win the whole world and loose his owne soule to daunce in pleasure for a while and liue in woe for euer What great matter was in Darius and Alexander Tamberlaine and Baiazeth Caesar and Pompey that stroue for the monarchiall gouernment and to be sole Potentates of the world but that the after times might sing with Melib. Haec memini victum frustra contendere Thyrsin Ex illo Coridon Coridon est tempore nobis What was their happines but vnquiet perturbations and neuer attained to that theyr ambition sought after but snatching at vncertaintie like Esops dog lost that they were sure of before so that all this worldly strife was but to satisfie the hungry desire of a fewe dayes to purchase such honour as sinkes into obliuion leauing no happie memorie behinde of any notable vertue But the onely warre-fare is striuing for Vertue by resisting the passions of the minde this is both a valiant and an honourable expedition a true Martialist he is indeed that by strong hand labours to suppresse his rebellious lusts and is ambitious of nothing but onely Vertue as Themistocles that said the monuments Trophies glory and great fame of Miltiades would not suffer him to take his rest for that exceeding desire he had to imitate him in Vertue that so he might rise vp to like honour Former presidents are spurres to quicken the mind to embrace that Vertue portraied out by our auntients and a meanes to make vs vigilent and watchfull least by sloath we become blinde ignorant and grope in the darke with Polephemus and this is most euident that so long as we liue in pleasure the minde is neuer illuminated with diuine moysture for while the time is spent in voluptuousnesse a blast of vanitie a bubble of water the excellent faculties of the soule are depressed and weyed downe with base seruile designements But hauing thus rudely run ouer the profitable studie of Vertue in this homely manner as the dulnesse of my wit and shortnesse of time would suffer it now remaineth to blaze out her enemie Vice more liuely to paint out those capitall euils which oppose themselues against honestie And in this the method of the auntient Philosophers is to be obserued who were not content to explain the morall vertues with a bare and simple demonstration but also set to euery one her contrary and repugnantvice that by due considering both we might embrace the good and shun the euill and that by the glory of one the other might be more vgly and loathsome for when Vertue is visibly painted out inuironed with Vice we haue her in greater admiratioÌ„ and her excellencies in higher regard therfore Fortitude hath audacitie on the one side timiditie on the other side science ignorance sinister perswasion and so euery one the more the lesse whereby we see not onely the Image and reflexion but the very abstract and essence of them both although one would think that Temperance a heauenly Vertue were inough to moue to sobrietie yet if the many enormities that come of the contrary be omitted a man is hardly disswaded Therfore Diogenes being demaunded how one should keepe himself sober by beholding quoth he the beastlinesse of drunkards for it is manifest that when a crabbed visage and a misshapen body shall stand by an amiable louely personage the deformitie of the one doth much illustrate and beautifie the other Venus was euer fairest when she stood by VulcaÌ„ so that viewing this Antithisis honour and shame perfect blisse neuer dying sorrow looking to the finall endes the reward that they both yeeld at last we may be stirred vp with an ardent zeale to destroy Vice maister that combersome seruant passion Now the chiefe motiue herevnto is diligent education training vp youth in discipline wherby a vniuersall good is attained for this is the maine pillar that holdeth vp vnderprops the gouernment without which no CommoÌ„-wealth could stand peaceably continue And therfore it is in the power of parents to make or marre the world for if children be not well nurtured how shall they bequeath that to posteritie which they neuer derâ—ued froÌ„ their auncestors or if superiours and magistrates giue not good example in their places how should they induce other to pietie for as Atlas is faigned to support the heauens with his shoulders so must the world be held vp by discipline those vices cut off with the sword of reformation that fight against honestie for her valour and courage will soone weaken by impunitie and euill example but as the cutting off the head of a serpeÌ„t killeth the body so the immoderate passions of the mind rooted out in the beginning the whole body of this hidious moÌ„ster voluptuousnes is destroied and the tranquility of the mind possest with greater ioy for being once taught to loath Vice traded in wel doing from the
cradle is thereby so well qualified as it doth not easily chaunge any good course it vndertakes but vpon well grounded reasons For hauing some knowledge of it owne inward good findeth nothing without of so equall rate for which it should alter and turne but being firmly setled in an honest course keepeth a sweete concord betweene the intellectiue and the morrall and yeeldeth it selfe sutable to the vertuous disposition of the minde the excellencies whereof is manifested with such rare demonstrations that it neuer subiecteth it selfe to base inconstancie and feeble hazards expelling Vice as an enemie to all good endeuour To proceed Vertue cannot bee gotten without imployment of the minde and body in commendable arts Securitie and ease draweth to Vice if a man then will build vpon a perfect assurance and make his estate durable hee must bend his whole endeuours to honest labour not onely do well but continue therein to the end But if a man suppose to be richly vertuous for one good deed as in paying duties impositions tallages to the poore Church or CommoÌ„-wealth if taxed according to his abilitie and forcibly exacted from him it is but the superficies and blaze of Vertue for Intentio animi non actus perfecit actum the willingnes doth approue the act or if a man do a good deed by accident and haphazard to blinde the opinion and by a counterfeit shewe seeke to insinuate into a good report when otherwise the whole scope of his life be vitious and euill what lawde can hee iustly merite but where intirely the minde is bent therevnto and inflamed with her pulchritude so that he persist and holde out therein As for example as he is not to be termed a Taylor that onely mendeth his garment or he a shoomaker that onely patcheth his shooe vnlesse he make it his whole art and expose himselfe therevnto as to his trade and occupation so in like manner he that stumbleth vpon one good action by chaunce is not by and by to be deemed a perfect man but he onely that doth well and persisteth in so doing and as his trade bee wholly occupied therein For as the minde of the husbandman is euer vpon cattell tillage and such things as belong to his calling Saylors vpon their ships souldiers on the warres and schollers on learning so must the whole disposition and carriage be occupied in Vertue as on the day-starre that guideth to the hauen of rest It is not therefore one or two good deeds or such things as are done by chaunce-medley or peraduenture without a setled minde that Vertue honoreth for euery man goeth so far in common honestie but when the integritie of the heart is stirred vp by deuotion to streame out a continuall store of good workes with a mind willingly disposed therevnto Neuerthelesse if our eye sight and vnderstanding could pierce inward or that we had the eyes of Linx to penetrate the secrets of the minde we might see many rauening wolues couered with a sheepes skinne and the nature of a cruell and sauage Tyger lurking in some that outwardly carrie a semblance of Vertue a ciuil course an hypocrite clad with the mantle of honestie for shee carrieth a generall good liking of all men and as Plato saith if she could be visibly painted out to the eye euery one would bee wonderfully rauished with her perfections and therefore the euill seeke to hide their vices vnder her shadow and drawe the curtaine of pollicie in the portraiture of pietie for stand he neuer so obstinate in a desperate state and bee really possest with wickednesse yet in no case will hee willingly seeme to be that in shewe which hee is indeed but labour to hide it what he may and couer the shame of euill with a simple shadow if it be but with figge-leaues and deaurate and guild ouer his spottes and sores with the tincture and dye of holynesse For the puritie of Vertue makes men detest their owne euill and though Vice breake out and be neuer so pregnant yet will they cunningly blinde the opinion and flye to her for succour and albeit theyr eyes bee dazeled with the splendour of Vertue and cannot choose but admire her beautie yet haue they no power to follow her but pine away and giue her no entertainment which the Poet well noteth Virtus laudatur alget Vertue saith hee is praised of many but she may sâ—arue for colde before they will take her in and warme herby their fire These are right counterfeites that haue nothing but a clowde or skinne of Vertue which as a slender painting is washt off with cuâ—ry dash a glose an Image that they keepe so long as they haue pleasure or profit thereby they may well be compared to vaine-glorious women who because they want beautie colour their faces with painting to get that by art that nature hath denied them Yea there be some that seeme the very Images of sanctitie lowely courteous modest humble their eyes fixed on their graues their haire shorter then their eye-browes as though they were myrrours of religion and pietie and by robbing Vertue of her best apparell decke themselues with the habite of honestie and yet haue nothing within but artificiall knauerie fraud deceit and hypocricie for if outwardly stretcht to shewe theyr inward good they then appeare as they are and lay themselues open to theyr owne shame the touch-stone of triall can soone distinguish them aright ô how such smoothe fronted hypocrites can dally with the time and cut out their manners to the best fashions onely to please those who measure others good by their owne integritie and as long as the Sun shines goe by the shadowe of others but their light failing soone leaue their earnest following and is so hotly bent in his colde zeale that he is neuer without a boult in his mouth to shoote through his simple neighbour But because I will not be too Cinicall to anatomize particular imperfections I will bee sparing I could neuerthelesse paint out some that as long as gaine hung on their profession were not slacke to ouertake the best men but the world slyding their meanes failing and the gaine they reaped by such their profession decaying theyr hotte loue to pietie melts away like snowe before the Sunne and as dogs turne back to their owne vomit So that heere is the depth of policie in sifting the carryage to the humour of good men that tracing the path of counterfeit holynesse might gaine both fauour and aduancement For as I said before if Vice should come in her own shape fewe or none would giue her entertainment and though in wardly imbraced of some yet outwardly detested of all These are like blades that haue painted sheathes but canker-fret and rustie within And as the Cameleon hath all colours saue white so haue they all parts saue honestie The fish Polipus as some write hath this propertie that it can turne itselfe into the likenesse
of a stone or seeme to be that which is next it and so vnder colour of not seeming as it is doeth rauen vppon other fishes So in like manner do colde Christians prey vppon the simplicitie of honest mindes and fit themselues to all companies If among good and vertuous men then is he like them setting himselfe in his best properties and seeme to haue that which euery honest man ought to haue and so by that means hide great vices vnder a thin colour of Vertue that by so fitting his habit to the time and place is for the humour of euery person and thus by craftie and disguised dissimulation liue in outward happinesse by praying vpon the good opinion of other men But as Socrates said to an humble hypocrite his pride might be seene through the rents of his cloake so this false and double dealing cannot so long be hid but it wil breake out at one rent or other and detect his pilferie according to the chaunge of times And albeit â—he puritie of truth is not hereby any whit impeached being euer one and the same yet by this we may see the nakednes of old Adam that wil at no hand appeare as he is But this idle shewe and false appearance ô how dangerous it is to the truth being possessed with nought but treacherie and cosonage a capitall plague it is for the wicked to make shewe of goodnesse and may fitly be sorted to the Apothicaries painted boxes that haue nothing within but poyson or some deadly compound for which the Pharises were sharpely reprehended by our Sauiour in the Gospell and as the Lorde complaineth by the Prophet They honour me with their lippes but their hearts are farre from me And therefore he is no good man that can reason of Vertue in words but hee that hath a true possession in deed whereby the conscience is lead to deale iustly in a continued course of well doing for it is no paine to giue milkie words sweete tearmes and make a vaine florish of honestie to choake the hard opinion which otherwise might iustly be imputed for this is but vaine-glory which is euer gaping with open mouth for popular applause for doing some thing that hath a shew of Vertue to get praise of the rude multitude And though by prosperitie a man be dignified with glorious titles yet if it spring not from Vertues roote it is but a bastard plant a rotten carkasse with a painted skin And howsoeuer they mocke the world for a while with the badge of honestie yet the all-seeing eye of heauen to whom darknesse is light perspicuously obserueth all their deeds and will bring them forth euen as they are naked and vncouered But as such fallacies and dillusions are incident to a base and seruile condition so are they euermore abhorred of an honest man Neuerthelesse many there be that binde themselues apprentise to vniust collusion and fraudulent dealing in so much that lying and falshood is become an occupation faire and smoothe words carry away all their gaines increased by oppression and by deluding the simple make bad wares vendible and that which is corrupt vnholsome naught with many protestations vtter for good and excellent and that at vnreasonable rate too It is lawfull for euery man to maintaine his charge and by his calling in which he is set which to omit is worser then an Infidell but with this caution euermore profit must go with honestie and not immeasurably carried with greedy affectioÌ„ to multiply gain by vniust means that that is coÌ„scionablygotteÌ„ is profitable and nothing profitable that is dishonest but to pull away either by vsurie extortion briberie or fraudelent dealing is repugnant to honestie or to encrease a commoditie by an other mans discommoditie ryueth asunder the common fellowship of mankinde Tully handling this argument in his offices to his sonne Marke saith If two runne in a race each one ought to striue so much as he can to win the prize but in no case he must not trip his fellow keep him back with his hand or cast blocks to stumble on for that is not equal so in like sort saith he while we run a race in this world it is good to get that may serue the turn in an equall iust course but it is neither right nor honest to racke extort and purloyne from other and by setting the conscience on the tainter-hookes to rise vp by his fall It was ordained by the Athenian Lawe that the seller should laie open the faultes of the ware to the buyer and seeing he selleth to sell with the best aduantage to him that buyeth with this or the like promulgation Aduexi exposui vendo meum non plur is quam â—â—terie fortasse etiam minoris cum maior est copia câ—ifit iniuria Here is my ware I offer it to sell I sell mine for no more then other men perhappes also for lesse seeing I haue more store to whom is the wrong done but hee that should obserue this in our dayes would either be thought a mad man or a foole so farre is this griping couetousnesse rooted in the harts of many that they make no conscience to get gaine Fas aut nephas by hooke or crook so they may come by it in so much that this greedie desire hath eaten vp all remorse of conscience that labor all day with deceit and rise vp early to wealth by the spoyle vndoing of other O how pleasant sweet is the sauour of gaine to the carnall man be it neuer so iniuriously gotten Vespasian the Emperour delighted so in powling and pilling his subiects that nothing was exempted from his tallage not so much as the very vrin made in euery house but he had tribute for a certaine quantitie for which being maligned and ill spoken of his sonne disswaded him from it as a thing base dishonourable but putting some of the pissing mony in a perfumed napkin held it to his sonnes nose asking him how it smelt meaning thereby that though it was had of a filthy excrement yet the money sauoured well enough Suauis odor lucriex qualibet and that gaine is sweete of whatsoeuer it commeth All lying in making bargaines is vtterly forbidden false waits measures abhominable and wealth gotten this way clogs the soule for it is neuer profitable to do euil because it is euermore hatefull and because it is alwayes honest to deale iustly t is euermore profitable No man by the ignorance of an other ought to increase his owne gaine and no greater iniurie can be vsed amongst godly Christians then falsely to mocke the vnderstanding Nothing couetously vniustly wrongfully or waueringly is fit to be done He that is therfore set vp in a trade and hath to deale with men in bargaining must be warie least he be carried into vnconscionable getting and be content with a reasonable gaine without exaction for the ignorance of the buyer cannot excuse the deceit of the
bend himselfe to Art Science Facultie or any kinde of learning if there were not some glory for what moueth the Lawier to beate his wits on Littletons Maximes or to be so earnest to finde out the differences of causes to bring them to a head but glory the Diuine to studie the mysteries of Gods wonders or the Phisition to diue into the secrets of nature if they aymed not at preferment To conclude honour nourisheth Art and for the regard of dignitie do learned men striue to exceede in facultie so that aduancement is the mother of Vertues Common-wealth yet neuerthelesse is it not so tyed within the limits of a circle to keepe there and goe no further I meane in respecting simply the vertues of the Donee as to reward Vertue and nothing but Vertue for the vicious being in want must bee likewise cherished though not for his owne sake hauing nothing in him of worth yet because he is a Christian brother therfore the Apostle willeth vs to do good to all but especially to the vertuous So that a franke minde doth as well march before and leade the way to Vertue as nourish her in whom she is first set The substance of a rich man is not so to be shut â—p that liberalitie cannot open it nor so vnlocked to lye abroad for euery body but a measure to be kept which must bee referred to abilitie for as it is not the part of a liberall man to be too pinching and niggardly as to with-hold from good dutie so is he prodigall that spendeth his faculties vpon flagitious and vile persons or vpon bad and leaud courses but onely where there is a signe of Vertue present or an introduction to a future honestie for the imployment of money is not honest vnlesse it be to some good end neither is he a wise man that is so foole-large in distributing his goods to waste his patrimonie especially vpon such vaine things whereof a short memorie or none at all doth remaine necessitie not prouoking nor shewe of honestie inducing such vnaduaned mispence bringeth nought but ignominie and shame for what credit is it for a man to lash out his mony in feasts playes huntings hawkings and such vaine sports that soone vanish It is the greatest folly that may bee that the thing that a man doth which is honest to endeuour it may no longer be done for as a wise man omitteth not to do good at all times so hee vseth the matter with such moderation that he keepeth a store by him to helpe with when occasion is offered How infamous among writers is Comodus Nerâ— Caligula Heliogabalus and other like monsters which exhausted and deuoured infinite treasures in banquets brothel houses and such abhominations was this liberalitie shal they not suffer reproach to the worlds end and shall not all prodigall spend-thrifts that wastfully consume their wealth be partakers of the like shame Surely yes when they are not transferred with the rule of measure to doo that which they may continue to do and sith they haue meanes to do good to raise vp a happie memorie by dedicating theyr beneuolence to posteritie and this was the cause our auntients set forth the picture of a Gentleman with his hands open to signifie that liberalitie was the honour of a Gentleman and that to giue was alwayes heroicall Now what aduantage then hath a rich man that by rewards may purchase immortalitie and outstrip the furie of Vice with good workes if so be hee abandon vaine glory and do that he doeth with sinceritie From a good man gifts passe with a free donation not looking backe for requitall nor blowing the trump when he giueth almes yet can wee not say but gratitude as a hand-maide is euer attendant for though a poore man cannot acquite againe in measure yet is he forced will hee nill hee to confesse a debt beyond measure for a good mind doth alwayes remunerate a good turne Benefacta male locata malefacta arbitrâ— Good deeds misplaced become euill deeds So that it is a great decay of Vertue when the merits of the vertuous are carelesly ouer-passed for when men are ledde by passion not by reason many worthy spirits run out their liues vnprofitably consume their daies in condolement and repent the time spent in science when they might haue gotten some adulterous trade Now I say when Vertue doth knocke at the doore of liberalitie and can haue no entrance no maruell though she be frozen with colde goe a begging from doore to doore but the iniquitie of the time hatcheth many euils in aduancing where Vertue doth not merit in raising vp such as are voyd of all good parts Now wheÌ„ notable imploymens are vnworthily bestowed and giuen by corruptioÌ„ the power of Vertue must needs be weakened and growe colde and be feeble as the Orator saith Malê enim se res habet cum quâ—d virtute effici debet id tentat ur pecunia The matter saith he cannot goe well when the same that should be wrought by Vertue is accomplished by money this ouerturneth all for no man will willingly embrace her if shee bring no aduancement so that in this there lyeth a two folde mischiefe one in the discouraging of learning the other in the corruption for he that buyeth an office must needs sell it againe and by extortion wring the conscience with iniustice and therefore Cato would that no olde officer should be remoued till he dye or for some notable crime For â—aith hee new officers are as hungrie flyes that neuer leaue sucking till their bellies be full whereas the old ones being ful before sucke more faintly so that the oftner they are chaunged the more do they gnawe and sting the Common-wealth and yet what is more common then buying and selling of offices for there is almost now a daies no office but is bought sold offered to him that wil giue most as a bankerout selles his goods for if he can but nickhornnize his name in some ordinary faâ— simile he may step vp to dignitie NaÌ„genus formaÌ„ Regina pecunia donat though he want all good properties intelligible parts If a hungry flye a smatteâ—er either for enuy of the partie that is already possest of some office or to satisfie his desire of priuate gaine for by this it shal be best knowne do seeke vniustly to aspire by crowding and wresting the other out therein lalabour Omnibus neruis by direct and indirect means it may wel be thought he hath opened the gate of his coÌ„scieÌ„ce to corrupt false dealing And therfore if a maÌ„ be not lawfully called it is a point of wisdom to stay haue an vnworthy opinioÌ„ of himselfe be pacified with his present state vntill the vacancie of a place shall importune him to make sute But it often otherwise commeth to passe that money and countenance can promote men of no desert to preferment for instance
one whose braine is all mudde that neuer put his asse-head into the Accademie little wit and lesse honestie may notwithstanding climbe vp to office and be highly seated so that he sing sweetely with Menalcâ—â— Aurâ—a mala decem misi cras altera mittam And a base stigmaticall Thraso Fex populi the scum and dregges of the people that hath no commendable qualitie as meanes to insinuate into fauour but garrulous pratling vnworthy chaste cares yet shall he want no countenance if so be he can but Ars adulandi to feed the flambe of wickednesse with the fuell of sinfull fopperie And thus shall Vice be animated and borne out be it neuer so brutish and vnciuill and be hugd in the bosome of charitie when a man honest if poore shall bee scarce knowne of his neighbours much lesse haue any measurable allowance O pittifull case when Vice shall be exalted wickednesse loued and godlinesse hated Hence it is so many daungers arise when the meede of Vertue is ingratitude and so many good wits iniured in the iustice of their merit guld by sycophants and flatterers are not onely heereby distracted in their studies and dismayed to proceed but which is worse so great discontentment breed that they often proue disloyall reuolt from obedience and eyther fall into dishonest shifts at home or bad atchieuements abroad thrusting their weapons into the bowels of their mothers eyther by open practises or secret conspiracies When with bribery and collatorall practises men of no gifts leape vp to preferment though they be neuer so weake and simple in iudgement yet wil dare being thus lifted vp to censure euery man as they were not meanly sighted in the deepest things and by a malicious rage are readie to controwle others doings wheÌ„ to back their carping tongues put on a superficiall habit of learning whereas if they be nearly toucht they appeare nothing else but emptie bagges stuft with vain-glory Nomine gramatice re Barbari seeke what they can to barre the vertuous of their iust reward and darken their good names with scandalles that the memorie of their labours may die Thus when good deserts are neglected liberalitie forgotten and the bad countenanced the common state is in great hazard but this is that iron age Ouid speakes of wherein Vertue should finde cold comfort and passe from doore to doore vnregarded which prescience of the Poet was neuer more verified theÌ„ in these last times for neuer was this sweet harmony of nature the eye of world the mistris of reason of lesse price amongst men then now for some are puft vp with pride violence that they had rather burye their coyne with Eâ—clio in Plautus then impart a myte for the incouragement of laudable Sciences in so much as this colde deuotion causeth many to leaue trading for so excellent a Iewell And not only Couetousnesse is an obstacle and let therevnto but Pride Pride diuellish Pride is crept into all states euery man is fallen in loue with himselfe either of his person or apparell his quallities are so excellent in his owne eye a poore mans wife will be as trim as a gentlewoman and euery one studious to deck themselues in brauerie when their manners are out of all good order like the Musition that is very carefull to set his strings in tune and let his manners be still out of order the minde is set vpon fashions fangles gawish cloathes now one and then an other neuer content long with modest and sober attire it is too meane too base too beggerly for now he or she that can put themselues into a monstrous fashion a singular habit and be straungely drest vp are in theyr owne opinion very gallant but in the iudgement of wise men they are but a blowne bladder painted ouer with many colours stuft full of pride and enuie the brauerie without sheweth the arrogancie within for as there is no fire without smoake nor no visible griefe but an inward festering so in whom so euer such badges of vanitie appeares it is a sure token there is a stinking puddle of vain glory within Some iuggle theyr lands into gay apparell and clap it vp in a small roome that contained a great circuite and holde it a point of pollicie to put their lands into two or three truncks of new cloathes that wearing their lands on their backs they may see that no strip nor wast be done by their tenants but when they would Iuggle backward their cloaths into lands againe alas and weladay they are so thredbare out at th'elbows that they will not match the former value and so is dubd Sir Iohn Hadland a knight of pennylesse bench Thus to make Idolls of their carkasses for a while begger themselues for euer And many such base pesants that haue witlesse wealth or wealth without wit are puft vp with such presuming thoughts as they ambitiously aime to tricke vp themselues in costly suites and couet to match nay to exceed men of good worth and place but this is destined to such high mindes that when they are crept vp to the toppe of such brauerie they often fall to great shame being the first steppe to the downe-fall of beggerie but howsoeuer they incroach into vaine-glorious tytles yet wise men measure all estates by their vertues not by pompe and outward brauery and despise not him whome birth time place or office maketh worthie of such costly ornaments but holde it lawfull and commendable to fit their degrees in apparrell answerable to their callings but if we should enter into the intollerable abuse of Pride wee might paint out some that are dying theyr faces with painting to be more louely and amiable and stretch their wits aboue Ela to be the originall of some new toye but who is so foolish to count them the fairer for that but rather the fowler for that face that is slubbred starched with so many ointments dregs is more liker a sore scurffe then a naturall face God hath giuen the face and thou defilest it with myre dirt wouldst thou be faire to be more amiable why silence sobrietie chastity are beautifull ornaments and richer then any orient pearle and with wise men more inestimable but indeede if thou wouldest intice the eyes of them that behold thee nourish lust in young men and drawe them after thee then this is the way but in my opinion it is impossible for thee to get a good vertuous husband with whoÌ„ thou maist liue quietly wel by smering thy visage for wheÌ„ he seeth that thy face was but florisht ouer he shall finde thee a deceitfull crocodile and so loathe and hate thee more afterward then euer he loued thee before Now what are these thus patcht vp by their owne workmanship but the least part of theÌ„selues they caÌ„not be coÌ„tent to be as God made them but as though they were hudled vp in haste and sent into the world not fully
diâ—ina humanáque pulchris Diuitijs parent quaâ— qui construxerit ille Clarus erit fortis sapiens etiam Rex Et quicquid volet hoc velâ—ti virtute paratâ—m Sperauit magnae laudi fore So that a man hath all these properties in the vaine opinioÌ„ of the world if so be he be rich but if poore notwithstanding he be stored with good vertues yet is he not reputed as he is hath he mony yea is he rich and hath he great possessions yea why theÌ„ let him be honoured and deemed vertuous gratious and what hee will though in truth and veritie he be nor so nor so Againe is he beggerly hath he no money nor meanes why then let him packe and walke along no penny no Pater noster for hee is as one dead among the liuing though indeede properly this peremptorie sentence ought not to be so applied but rather to Vertue and littrature without which the bodie is dead although it liue What cannot this humpish elemeÌ„t bring to passe can it not couer a masse of ill humors and cause the son to betray his owne Father as a leaud fellow said once If my Father were a hangman my mother a harlot my self no better yet if I haue mony I am liked wel inough and neuer toucht with their misdeeds so that there is no vice that wealth doth not smother a rich man as proud as Tarquine as cruell as Nero as doggish as Tymon as couetous as Diues and as foolish as Lobellinus yet all these vices are hid with greatnesse and though counterfeit mettall yet with a true stampe may currantly passe but a poore man in whom is great wisedome and many good parts Si res angusta domi if coyne be wanting he is despised reiected and neuer vsed in exployting waightie matters so that a man is neuer thought wise learned vnlesse he be rich and swim in the streame of wealth and though he speake well and to the purpose yet is he neuer gracious as the Poet saith Rara tenui facundia panno A poore mans speech is seldome pleasant and wisedome vnder a ragged coate seldome canonicall which the Philosopher wel found when offring to presse into the presence with his simple weedes was shut out by a grim Cerberus but shifting his cloathes was admitted without repulse wherefore comming before the king hee turned all his obeysance vpon his owne cloathes saying I must honour them that honour me for my cloutes brought that to passe which all my Philosophie could neuer accomplish And thus is the rich beautie of the minde measured by a beggers weede and gay apparell preferred before a minde well qualified so the rude opinion lookes at nothing but the outward picture and magnifie an ignorant Asse so he haue a gay coate set him on a high seate where by silence he may seeme wise for the wisedome of a man saith Salomon is knowne by his speech But as by knocking on a vessell the cracke if any be wil soone be seene so if toucht with an argument his crackt vnderstanding will soone be manifest Great places are possest with men of weake iudgement that haue no iotte of worthinesse but wealth and worldly fame and can serue for no other vse but for a Nomenclator to tell the clocke call a spade a spade and recken vp the proper names of things yet if trimly spunged vp in some formality though he haue litle wit and small honestie it is inough to raise him vp to some dignitie but when such an one is exalted into the imparatiue moode how moodie his maistership is so toade-swolne with pride and ambitioÌ„ that he is ready to burst in sunder so rapt vp in conceit of his high place that he vtterly forgets his first creation Oh it is a world of sport to heare how some such clouting beetles rowle in their loblogicke and intrinsicate into the maior of the matter with such hide bound reasons that he makes a pittifull learned face one spreads his armes cleares his throate as who should say attend attend for now hee speakes whose conclusions are vnanswerable but finding the proposition too deepe for his shallow wit suddenly starts backe and briefly huddles vp his headlesse matter An other shakes his emptie head and diues into the bottome of his bottomelesse braines to finde some intricate and tedious circumstance into which when he is entered hee cannot finde a period and full rest so many Tautokogies and itterations come into the way that vnlesse some Ariadne lend a threed to pull him out of Dedalus laborinth hee must needs be lost or at leastwise when he is gotten out is so myred with his owne slyme that he becommeth a scorne to wise men in laying open his owne weakenesse yet who more talkatiue and readie to stop the mouthes of men able to speake then such insencible tatlers for drunken fortune hath this opinioÌ„ of it selfe that looke whatsoeuer it speaketh is authenticall and droppeth froÌ„ the mouth like the Oracles of Appollo There is nothing therefore so holy so pure so honest so chaste but money will corrupt violate and batter downe so that these emptie bottles apish gestures and anticke faces if wealthy rich well monied all grosse imperfections are ouershadowed So that wheÌ„ men are sotted in the alluremeÌ„ts of this life dedicate their whole labours to so wicked a saint they soone loose the vse of their goods become partially affected if passion rule not reason all goes to wracke for if either prodigallitie rule the purse whereby the mind is strongly carried into temporarie ioy or so gripple and couetous as to doo nothing but scrape in the dunghill of this world why these extreames doo so vrge the opinion that they headlong run at randome into all licentious and loose liuing in so much as they do not perceiue to what ende they are aduanced aboue other men and made so rich among a company of beggers Many there be the more is the pittie that although God hath abundantly multiplyed his blessings vpon them that they cannot iustly say they want any worldly thing yet bee they so neere to holde fast that which they haue that they doo as it were single themselues from all common duties and lay aside that regarde of the publique good which theyr conscience and priuate abilitie doth instantly tye them vnto let vs note them a little who will sooner shift and wrangle off honest duties then they will they not brabble and sophisticate for verye small payments and will they not wrest and winde lawes to their owne sence if they may saue but a penny and beare the repulse of superiour rebukes theÌ„ to part with ought shall contradict their froward nature is this the dutie of good subiects do these seeke the peace of the state doth not the Heathen man say Non solum nobis natisumus we are not borne for our selues alone but for our countrey also shall Christians be
worser then Pagans Let this great dutie therefore be considered seeing thou hast store with-hold nothing that is due is not hee a caytiffe that will see his mother dye for hunger and he hath bread to relieue her if he would why the Common-wealth is thy mother euery poore Christian is thy brother wilt thou see them famisht before thy face and not succour them hauing inough Thou hast thy wealth to that end if thou couldest see it and vse it aright Neuerthelesse we see how men of good place and reckening will hide themselues in corners liue priuately onely to keepe their purses that they may be lyable to no imposition and crowde into Cities Boroughs and priuiledge places or like nonresidents rowle vp and downe from one lodging to an other to the intent that being vncertaine where to be had their states may be vnknowne and by this meanes both ouerthrowe hospitalitie defraude the Queene and Common-wealth of necessarie duties and depopulate the countrey Is it not a token of a couctous minde that men of good possessions and faire liuings should breake vp house and soiourne onely with one or two seruants that they may hoorde vp theyr rents when they are sufficientlye able to keepe a good house themselues surely it is a signe of a base condition Furthermore many wealthy Yeomen rich Farmers that are risen vp to goods inough doo tread the same path For wheras erst when they dwelt vpon their owne they kept good houses and were no small stay to the places where they liued are eyther couetous of some vaine-glorious title of gentilitie or otherwise so miserly greedie of wealth for one of the two I know not which thrust themselues in like maner into Cities Corporations and Liberties and yet holde theyr Farmes still in their owne occupying for they haue such long armes that they claspe many great liuings And also lying vpon the aduantage take Farmes ouer their neighbours heads ten yeares before their Leases be expired And what do they with these plurified liuings but place shepheards heards vnderlings and such thred bare tenants in their stockes and that at such vnreasonable rents too that the poore snakes that dwell vnder them are driuen to weake shifts to fare hardly liue barely moyle and toyle the whole yeare to scrape vp theyr rent not sauing at the yeares ende for all theyr paines scarce the price of an old Frise Ierkin for theyr Lorde knowes better then they what profit will arise and how euery thing will fall out and if hee thriue vnder him then doth hee stretch and racke it to the vttermost till at last hee bring the whole gaine into his owne bagge and so by this means can hardly beare ordinarie charges much lesse doo workes of superrerogation being kept downe so cruelly by their greedie Land lords Now these haue not onely theyr meanes brought in vnto them by the sweat of poore mens browes and sleepe in peace and securitie when others watch and labour a great blessing if rightly weighed but will closely and cunningly seeke to shift off all duties by withdrawing them into odde corners Oh that men of such abilitie should haue such Iron rustie hearts to hide their heads shut their hands and whip deuotion from their doores doo they not seeke to subuert and weaken the state as much as they can by with-holding that part of dutie required by the lawe of nature but the greedinesse of gaine causeth vnrelenting hearts for one would possesse all alone O how are men deceiued in their owne estate that being rich are yet euer poore because opinion is neuer satisfied whereas if we onely respect nature no man can be poore Natà r a enim vt ait Philoso paucis minimisque contenta nature is content with necessitie But to bring all this to a head though some bee carried with the streame of pride some with the flouds of desire some prodigall some pinching and though the couetous man gape for more more and like hell mouth neuer satisfied yet will they hide theyr plough-sores vnder the carpet of liberalitie as now and then to giue an almes against a good time as they call it to beate downe a hard opinion intimating thereby to bee good free-hearted men when all the yeare beside they scrape and clawe it from other by the excessiue prices of theyr badde commodities and by pinching them with many vncharitable gripes and yet will they hide theyr want of loue vnder Vertue and Religion and why so because it carrieth a generall good liking of all men for although many haue no religion at all nor one sparke of a vertuous man yet for all this wil they seeme to loue and embrace it intirely because of the vnspotted simplicitie they see in the true professors thereof and that chiesly because this outward shewe is some meanes to asswage the heate of sharp reprehensions and that vnder colour of this they may liue in some good report of the common sort for if they should not hide the malice within with a shewe of holinesse without but permit the rebellion to rush forth they would be hatefull to others and disquiet theyr owne peace to hold friendship therfore with the world it is expedient for them to be hypocrites and deceiuers and therefore will they performe many Christian duties and communicate with the Saints yea and crowde to the Church doore of true deuotion and both pray and vse good exercises in their families frequent Sermons yea and ride and goe six or seuen miles to heare a good Preacher are not these good things and the very properties of a true Christian yes verily but all this is but done in pollicie to mocke the world how know you that why looke into their course of life if any vaine opportunitie be offred wil theynot follow it if the wicked call to goe will they not run will they not dice carde sweare swagger and be drunke are they not vsurers extortioners proud persons and so cold in charitie that no Christian dutie can heat their loue so it is an casie thing to see their hypocrisie if a man but cast his sight vpon their conuersation And in like manner many at the end of the yeare as a charitable worke will keepe open house and set opē their gates for al the rake-hels loose vagabounds in a countrey and fill idle bellies with their flesh-pots when the poore blind lame and sicke are faine to lye in the depth of miserie without comfort helpe or succour and to what ende is this great superfluitie forsoothe to reioyce for the blessed feast of Christmas Indeede this feaste dooth bring great cause of ioy for that beeing all lost in Adam and heires of damnation are neuerthelesse by the comming of the Messias the sonne of God who tooke on him our flesh at this time of the yeare to vndergoe the wrath of his father due to vs redeemed vs from hell and made vs inheritors of heauen here is cause of ioy
owne praise saying I giue thus much weekly to the poore and do this and that good but he is to examine himselfe if it be according to his wealth and place or no for otherwise an other man doth as much that is farre behind in substance and with whom hee would bragge without measure in comparatiue termes but some thinke if they do a little good though it be nothing in liew of their state or if they doo not a great deale of hurt by pilling powling strife factions and such like troubles they haue done so much good that God is bound to paie them somewhat back again But according to the Poet Est quodam prodireteâ—â—s sinon datur vltra Here could I enter in a field of matter more then much But ghesse that all is out of frame and long it hath bene such Although it were better to be occupied in practising those bookes alreadie written then to write more this last age being so full that it doth exceed all other yet the necessitie of times by reason of controuersies do prouoke the learned to spende their labours that way and not only so but in explaining the scriptures and discoursing of Sciences which worke is not only necessary but commendable whereby a generall good is brought in this godly vse of writing cannot be disliked of any vertuous man But forasmuch as some are diuersly affected they obserue not this decorum before noted but fall into vaine iangling and so conceited of their owne wits and haue so many crotchets in their heads that they publish great volumes of nice and curious questions ambiguities doubts as many of the Asse-stronomers that are very inquisitiue to knowe if the world were created in the Spring or Autumne the night before the day and how Moses could write credibly of the worlds creation liuing so many yeares after as thougâ— God could not as well tell him what was passed as he did the Prophets what was to come and such deep secrets as thogh God had called them to counsel In like maner some are busied in Natiuities Destinies Dreames Palmestrie and Phisiognamie in a word who is able to expresse the foolish curiositie of some men that are neuer satisfied in these vaine idle studies but spend whole yeares in searching after doubts and fallacies and in the mean time ouerpasse those things which he hath vouchsafed to reueale vnto vs sufficient for vs to know Noli altum sapere it is no time well spent to soare so high in things shut vp from common vnderstanding and reason and chiefly seeing they are no ground of faith nor meanes to edification But by this the Romaine marchant hath fetched in his greatest gaine I meane by false reuâ—lations and fond opinions as Purgatorie the Econimicall gouernment of the heauenly powers the mansions and chambers in heauen the degrees of Angels and Archangels Cherubins and Seraphins and a thousand other fond imaginations foysted in among them by their schoole dunces which they falsely deriue from Dionisius Ariopagita one of the seuentie Disciples so that by these intricate fallacies and subtill silogisâ—â—es wherewith they are maintained many poore soules are insnared and cast headlong into a laborinth of blinde superstition This curiositie therefore is a daungerous disease and a sore that must be healed least it fester and run ouer the whole body Others there bee that haue such a leaprosie of wit that they to disquiet and trouble the estate seeke for innouation and displant all good order established not onely thereby amazing the weake Christians but also alinating the hearts of many from their due obedience Touching these that carpe at the present discipline I will say little onely this much by the way that although many things may bee misliked in a pollitique state not seeme so precisely good to them that looke a farre off with slight imagination yet may be wel permitted and tollerated in pollicie to keepe peace and quietnesse so be it the fundamentall properties stand fast which otherwise could not but bring much confusion and disorder and therefore it is no sure opinion as the learned suppose to goe about to change lawes and breake downe discipline which is alreadie established least all comelinesse and good order be therewith ouerthrowne Some do nought else but scrape the puddle of contentions to finde matter to wrangle though they haue no cause to carpe Alter rixatur de lana sâ—pe caprina propugnat nugis armatus And these are so ambitious of their sophisticall vaine of wrangling that they put their brabbles in print to the view of the world and out of the rancour and malice of their hearts spew and belch outscandals slaunders rumors and false reports by that meanes kindle flambes of contentions in a peaceable state and distemper the quietnesse of mens affections and this is chiefly bent against good men for the qualitie of grudging enuie is to be sicke with sorrow and virulent hate at the prosperitie of other for hee that is exhorted by the desert of Vertue is subiect to scandalls and the back-biting of the uious But the hauen I intend to harbourin is to speake somewhat of those vaine idle wanton Pamphlets and lasciuious loue-bookes which as fire-brands inflame the concupiscence of youth for in my opinion nothing doth more corrupt and wither greene and tender wits then such vnsauoury and vituperable bookes as hurtful to youth as Machauile to age a plaugh dangerous and as common as dangerous The lazie Monkes fat-headed Friers in whom was nought but sloath idlenes bred this contagion for lining in pleasure ease and not interrupted with cares they had time inough to vomit out their doltish rediculous fables this was the subtiltie of SataÌ„ theÌ„ to occupie Christian wits in Heathens foolery but now this age is more finer mens wits are clarified the dulnesse of that time is thrust out an other method is brought in fine phrases Inkchorn-termes swelling words bumbasted out with the flocks of sundry languages with much pollished and new-made eloquence with these daintie cates they furnish and set out their filthy and vicious bookes now what do they but tye youth in â— setters of lust keepe them in the thoughts of loue for do they not with glosing words tickle and stirre vp the affections to be conceited of some fond passion to be more vngraciously subtill and doo they not labour in vaine cunning to infect and poison delicate youthâ— are not there idle Poems of carnall loue lust and â—nchaste arguments the very nurses of abuse by which the minde is drawne to many pestilent wishes For when as young folkes haue licked in the sweete iuice of these stinking bookes their conuersation and manners are so tainted and spotted with Vice that they can neuer be so cleane washed but some filthy dregges will remaine behinde I may liken them to fawning curres that neuer barke till they bite or a gaye painted coffer full
of toades and venemous beasts So in like manner many of these bookes haue glorious outsides and goodly titles as if when a man tooke them in hand he were about to read some angelicall discourse but within full of strong venome tempered with sweete honey now while the minde is occupied in reading such toyes the common enemie of man is not idle but doth secretly insnare the soule in securitie And some of good partes and beautified with no common gifts both of art and nature not being ledde by the sun-shine of Vertue infect the puritie of wit with prophane inuention in some loose subiect as patrons of Vice and nurses of impietie and spend the blessednesse of time in vnnecessary babling Other base and seruile wits runne rashly into any sinfull argument and crowde to the prease with might and maine not so much regarding the generall hurt as some sixe penny allowance nay euery triuiall mate and cashired Clarke will bewray his folly in print and with a tumultuous confusion of words lay out a deale of amorous prattle though he be as tedious to his reader as a muddie way to a wearie traueller Now what is to be found in these bookes but filthinesse and grosse ignorance as for learning there is none to be found in them which neuer came neare the shadow of learning themselues and as little wit but a fewe fine words of lust which are chiefly ment to bend the minde to wantonnesse yet are they led with this vaine suppositioÌ„ that if they haue bin luld a sleepe but one night on the Muses lap are able to publish any thing with well deserued commendations and I must needs say that I my selfe haue read in them and taken great delight in their foolish lyes but surely I could neuer find either goodnes or wit vnles Vice be Vertue or to tel a bawdie tale be wit Neuertheles I would not haue any man think that I inueigh against or discommend Poetrie for in al ages it hath bin thought necessarie but only against those abusers of Poesie who vnder the name title of Poets foist in their wanton lasciuious verses The true vse of Poetrie standeth in two parts the one in teaching the way to Vertue the other to moue with delight therevnto for honest delight stirreth vp men to take that goodnesse in hand which otherwise would bee loathsome vnpleasant so that when it is bent to a good end and euery thing laide out in his due annalligie with some ioy the affections are thereby inuoked to a serious consideration to imitate that goodnesse wherevnto it is moued Those bookes that both delight and perswade with learned discretion out of which some wholsome document may be extracted though it be simple yet is it praiseable Disdaine not saith the wise Heathen the simple labour of an other though thou beest neuer so great especially if he speake good words Againe considering the diuersitie of mens minds and how diuersly they are disposed all honest delight is not to be disproued because euery man may finde both pleasure profit for as I say by a pleasant discourse the minde is more chearefully carried both to read meditate to muse and studie the memory more willing to holde that it hath conceiued So that Poetrie is no other thing but a liuely presentatioÌ„ of things ingeniously disposed wherby Vertue is painted out with such fresh colours that the mind is inflamed with her excellent properties Now whosoeuer shall discent from this true vse is no Poet but a vaine babler for what are all these scurrillous tales bawdie verses do these moue to Vertue with honest delight nay doo they not rather stirre vp bawdrie and beastlinesse for are they not full of Paganisme and ribald speeches to stirre vp the mind to shady idlenesse is this Poetrie verily they are as vnworthy the name of Poets as Chirrillus who had nothing to grace his verses by but onely the name of Allex. But if a man superficially slitely glideth ouer these pye-bald Pamphlets they are like a pleasing dream that mockes the mind with silken thoughts but if seene into with a sober iudgement hee shall finde in that faire beaten path many Adders Snakes lye in waite to byte him by the heele For if a view be had of these editions the Court of Venus the Pallace of Pleasure Guy of Warwicke Libbius and Arthur Beuis of Hampton the wise men of Goatam Scoggins Ieasts Fortunatus and those new delights that haue succeeded these and are now extant too tedious to recken vp what may we thinke but that the floud-gates of all impietie are drawne vp to bring a vniuersall deluge ouer all holy and godly conuersation for there can be no greater meanes to affright the mind from honestie then these pedling bookes which haue filled such great volumes and blotted so much paper theyr sweete songs and wanton tales do rauish and set on fire the young vntempered affections to practise that whereof they doo intreate who by reason of theyr infancie and imbicillitie of wit are soone seduced and with wine-puft eloquence doo so artificially lim out the life of vanitie as they easily take the impression of that which is portrayed out vnto them and on this rocke stands the ensigne of their glory if smoothly and pithily they can trick vp a tale of some beastly prapus of lawlesse lust and rip vp the genealogie of the Heathen gods to carrie the minde into wonderment ô how they will diue into the bottome of their braine for fluant termes and imbossed words to varnish theyr lyes and fables to make them glib and as we vse to say to goe downe without chewing which as poyson doth by litle and litle disperse it selfe into euery part of the body From hence riseth so much foolish idle prattle the Seruing-man the Image of sloath the bagge-pipe of vanitie like a windie Instrument soundeth nothing but prophanenesse and some are so charmed as they spend their whole life in vaine reading because they see in theÌ„ as in a glasse their owne conditions now such vaine fragments as fit their humors they sucke in and â—queese out againe in euery assembly It is too true that one such wanton toye dooth more breed Vice then twentie godly treatises can induce to Vertue nor twentie Sermons preached by the best Diuine in EnglaÌ„d doth not so much good to moue to true doctrine as one of these bookes do harme to intice to ill liuing they corrupt good learning subuert all sanctimony and by a tedious pratling ouer-sway the memory from that good purpose whervnto it ought to be imployed not informing the iudgement in matters worthy to be learned From whence then creepeth in this pestilence but out of these vaine bookes for euery mischiefe by litle litle crawleth vpon the good manners of men which vnder some shewe of goodnes is suddenly receiued which by a voluntary admittance at the first becoÌ„meth habituall especially
when the spirituall faculties are defiled with much conuersatioÌ„ in so much that many that hold places in sacred assemblies become affected to their phrases Metaphors Allegories and such figuratiue and suparlatiue termes and so much vaine eloquence as they yeeld no fruite at all to their auditors but driue them into amazement with a multitude of Inkehorne-termes scummed from the Latin and defused phrases as they flye aboue the commoÌ„ reach when the most profitable and best affected speech is that that is most congruable and fitly applied to the intendment vnderstanding of the hearers by familiar and ordinarie termes not sophisticall darke and obscure nor too base and barbarous but such as are animated by their present abillitie to speake more then other men and be addicted to affectation haue commonly a dearth of iudgement sildome edifie but gallop ouer prophane writers to shewe theyr vaine reading Demosthenes beeing called to declaime against the rude multitude that had assembled themselues in the Forum of Athens answered he was not yet readie if he that had Facacia ingenij the very soule of wit durst not speak in a serious matter without preparing himselfe before how caÌ„ such that come far short of him in promptnes of naturall wisdome presume to handle holy things so rashly with humane learning for it is an impudent boldnesse for a man to take vpon him to teach others that which he before hath not bene taught but I may speake as Tully spake of the Orators of Rome Sed tamen videmus quibus extinctus Oratoribus quam in paucis spes quanto in paâ—cioribus facult as quam in multis sit audacia We see saith he what noble Orators are put out of the way and how in fewe a hope remaineth in fewer a skill but in many a boldnesse that dare set vpon any thing To returne doo not these idle pernicious bookes poyson the well disposed manners of youth and macerate and kill the seedes of Vertue that begin to bloome for doo they not vse more vaine eloquence then confidence in matters of wisedome So that all that which they do is but to make a mutinie Men need not sowe for weedes for they growe fast inough so we are polluted inough by kinde though we be not more defiled by custome thus do they proceed like cankers to eate off the tender buddes Neither do they want some Mecenas to Patronize their witlesse workes and to haue some applause bend the scope of theyr argument to fit their dispositions yea and many times thrust their dedications vpon men of graue and sober carriage who will not sticke to recompence their idle labours Now if the principall scope of all our actions and counsels ought to be to some good ende and that it must needs passe as a Maxime that nothing can be good but that which moueth to Vertue theÌ„ it must coÌ„sequeÌ„tly follow that all prophane and lasciuious Poems are as an infectious aire that brings a generall plague because they striue against honestie And if Plato sawe so great cause to shut them out of his common-wealth as noysome to the peace and tranquillitie thereof what ought our Platonists to do sith they more abound heere then euer they did there or if we had but the zealous affections of the Ephesians we would loathe the price of so great iniquitie and sacrifice them at a stake though they were of neuer so great value But happily it will be demaunded how Ladies Gentlewomen c. should spend the time and busie their heads as though idlenesse were not a vice badde inough of it self without fire to be added and as though there were not a Bible and many good bookes wherein they might be vertuously exercised Of good wits well imployed what good would ensue by setting out the praises of the immortall maiestie that giueth hands to write and wittes to inuent what matter might they not finde both honest and necessary in which they might first want words to vtter then matter worthie to be vttered especially those that are not only by their outward felicitie freed from troubles and perturbation of minde imbracing content in the bosome of peace the nurse of Sciences but are also inabled and sufficiently gifted to publish any thing of worth ô how willing is Vertue to crowne them with honour But this contagion ought seriously to be considered by men of riper iudgement and by such as haue authoritie to suppresse the abuses for is it not lamentable that a Pamphlet discoursing nought but Paganisme should be so vendible and vertuous bookes want sale the one bought vp thicke and three fold the other lye dead for there commeth forth no sooner a foolish toye a leaud and bawdy ballad but if sung in the market by the diuels quirristers they flocke to it as crowes to a dead carkasse buying them vp as Iewels of price be they neuer so ribauld filthie or dorbellicall but bookes of Christianitie of modest argument that tenâ— to rectifie the iudgment lieth still in the Stationers hand as waste paper not so much as looked after so that by this we may plainly see what a froward generation we are fallen into where in such bookes as are most hurtfull and daungerous are most deuoutly coueted But if they would obserue the Philosophers rule to abstain from speaking fiue yeare I doubt not but in that time they would be fitted and fully established to write with sober iudgement as men of vnderstanding reason or if the Apostles rule were followed Be swift to heare and slowe to speake they would be more considerate and not runne out the course of their liues in such vnprofitable studie But touching the defence some make to approue this vaine writing it is too ridiculous and not worth an answere that they doo by this meanes polish refine our English tongue and drawe it from barbarisme into a more finer Cadence of words but those bookes that polish the toong depraue the life are dangerous and in the sentence of wise men in no case to be allowed for it were better for a man to be dumbe then by speaking to approue a wrong and accuse the innocent and better it were indeed that they had not only no learning at all but also that they had no eyes to see nor eares to heare for as it is in the Gospell it were much better for a man to goe blinde into heauen then with two eyes to be cast into hell Neither can I see but that they drawe our language from the auncient tenor by mixing it with so many straunge countries that it seemeth rather more artificiall then naturall and more baser then the common lawe which is compounded of French English and Latin c. The harsh tooting of Pans pipe was more pleasing to Mydas care then the sweet harmony of Apolloes harp but this fault was in the Iudge whose simplicitie could not distinguish them aright in like manner many are better content with vicious bookes
bawdie songs foolish and wanton ditties then in the well seaâ—oned writings of holy men and this is for want of iudgement being as blinde as he was foolish It may be said of such as Pythagoras said to a leaude fellow that soothed himselfe in conuersing with badde company I had rather quoth he be acquainted with bawdes then wise Phylosophers No maruell quoth he very sadly swine delight more in dirt then in pure and cleane water Of such bookes as moue to good life and bring a benefit to posteritie we haue but too fewe and can neuer haue too many but of such as followe their owne fancies in spewing out their wandering imaginations we haue but too many and it were to be wished we had none at all Good men are not only otherwise imployed but also greatly discouraged for if they set forth any notable booke of diuinitie humanitie or such like they are in no request but to stop musterd-pots what is the reasoÌ„ but this euery Stationers shop stal almost euery post giues knowledge of a new toy which many times intercepts the vertuous dispositioÌ„ of a willing buyer so that hauing time and incouragement labor what they can to deface good mens workes with the multitude of their sinfull fopperies Hee that can but bombast out a blancke verse and make both the endes iumpe together in a ryme is forthwith a poet laureat challeÌ„ging the garland of baies and in one slauering discourse or other hang out the badge of his follie O how weake and shallow much of theyr poetrie is for hauing no sooner laide the subiect and ground of their matter and in the Exordium moued attention but ouer a verse or two runne vpon rockes and shelues carrying their readers into a maze now vp theÌ„ downe one verse shorter then an other by a foote like an vnskilfull Pilot neuer comes nigh the intended harbour in so much that oftentimes they sticke so fast in mudde they loose their wittes ere they can get out either like Chirrillus writing verse not worth the reading or Battillus arrogating to themselues the well deseruing labours of other ingenious spirits Farre from the decorum of Chauser Gowers Lidgate c. or our honourable moderne Poets who are no whit to be touched with this but reuerently esteemed and liberally rewarded Then seeing this naughtie kinde of writing dooth plucke vp the seeds of Vertue by the rootes and quench that little fire assoone as it beginneth to kindle they ought to be shunned as Serpents Snakes and youth chiefly to be kept from reading them The Libeller is punished according to the qualitie of his Libell either by pillorie whipping losse of eares fine imprisonment and such like the thiefe hanged the traitor drawne and euery one punished in that kind he doth offend in are not these filthy bookes libells do they not defame discredit and reproach Vertue and honestie by expounding Vice with large comments do they not steale away all holy deuotion poyson good wits and corrupt young people shall hee be pardoned by course oâ— lawe that offends in the highest degree and shall hee be counted a maister of wisedome that teacheth nought but foolishnesse to the people wherefore then should this so great mischiefe goe vnreproued To conclude he that can read shall finde bookes worthy to be read wherein is both wisedome and learning pleasant wittie sober and chast that both profit the life and ioy the mind but before all other to read those diuine bookes that both lift the heart to God and direct vnto Christian duties for such is Fomentum fidei nourishing faith Lexio alit ingenium so the bookes bee wise vertuous chaste and honest touching the former they are but stinking infectious writings which as mudde and dyrt defile the body so do they pollute the soule By reading good bookes the minde is stored with wisedome the life bettered and setled in quietnesse so that still all reading be referred to the Bible froÌ„ whence all Vertue is deriued For this cause S. Paul admonisheth Timothie to giue attendance to reading for albeit hee was trained vp in the scriptures from a childe and had all Ephesus vnder his charge yet hee stirreth him to reading for by reading more knowledge is not onely gotten but also the decayes and breaches of the memorie is againe renued and vnlesse there be both a powring in of more and a continuall restoring of that which is lost all will drop away and leaue a man emptie for the memorie is like a ruinous house readie to fall downe which if not eftâ—oones repaired will soone become inhabitable Touching Enterludes and Playes I will omit to speak how the best iudgements conceiue of them their reasons being strong and manifolde to thrust them out as things indifferent and make them simply vnlawfull For although they are not simply forbidden in expresse words yet if it once appeare the true vse be lost and cleaue to a bad report it is the part of euerie man to shun and auoyd the same and rather drawe other to reformation then violently suffer himselfe to be swayed with the like affection And this agreeth with that of Paul If indifferent things giue offence to the weake they ought to bee remooâ—ed for the freedome of those things giueth courage to the defect of grace to be more vngracious Nothing is lawfull but that which tendeth to the glory of God and profit of man in comelinâ—sse so that the end of all ioy and myrth must be to glorifie the Creator Those pleasures of the body mind which are of good report are indifferent if modestly vsed honest exercise doth much relieue the debilitie of nature and quicken the dull spirits which would else be depressed and ouerladen with moderate labour Idlenesse is to be condemned as the bel-dame of all euil but idlenesse is not onely in doing nothing but also in doing things vnprofitable Eschew euill and do good it is not inough to abstaine from euill but we must do good also Some Playes as they are now in vse are scandalous and scurrillous detract from Vertue adde to Vice and the very May-games of all sin and wickednesse for for the most part they haue nothing in them but scurrillitie or some grosse shewe of doltishnesse to make the sinfull mouth of laughter to gape and often sporting at that which should rather moue pittie and compunction Stages of desolutenesse and baites to entice people to lightnesse For is not Vice set to sale on open Theaters is there not a Sodome of filthinesse painted out and tales of carnall loue adulterie ribaldrie leacherie murther rape interlarded with a thousand vncleane speeches euen common schooles of bawdrie is not this the way to make men ripe in all kinde of villanie and corrupt the manners of the whole world And there wanteth no Art neither to make these bawdie dishes delightfull in taste For are not their Dialogues puft vp with swelling wordes are
not theyr arguments pleasing and rauishing and made more forcible by gesture and outward action surely this must needes attract the minde to imitate such vices as are portrayed out whereby the soule is tainted with impietie for it cannot be but that the internall powers must be moued at such visible and liuely obiects And principally youth are made pliant to wantonnes idlenes and the tender buddes of good maners vtterly rooted out And many times which is most sinfull intermixe the sacred words of God that neuer ought to be handled without feare and trembling with their filthy and scurrillous Paganisme is not this abhominable prophanation is not that humble reuerence of the oracles of God hereby blasphemed and basely scorned is this fit to be suffered where Christ is professed must the holy Prophets and Patriarkes be set vpon a Stage to be derided hist and laught at or is it fit that the infirmities of holy men should be acted on a Stage whereby others may be inharted to rush carelesly forward into vnbrideled libertie doubtlesse the iudgement of God is not farre off from such abusers of diuine mysteries as wee haue an example in Eâ—sebiâ—â— lib. 8. to this effect of a certaine Poet who mixing the word of God in a Heathinish Play was suddenly smitten blinde for his prophanenesse Furthermore there is no passion wherwith the king the soueraigne maieâ—tie of the Realme was possest but is amplified and openly sported with and made a May-game to all the beholders abusing the state royall mocking the auntient Fathers and Pastors of the Church and albeit the holy Ghost vouchsafeth them many faire tytles and honourable Epethites yet notwithstanding they are so impudent as to traduce them on the Stage and imploy them in base offices for looke what part is more scornfull then other is imputed vnto them Must not this breede contempt to them and their places and impeach so holy a function no doubt yes For when the faults and scandalls of great men as Magistrates Ministers and such as hold publike places shall be openly acted and obiected to the sences or faigned to bee replenished with vice and passion it must needes breed disobedience and slight regard of theyr authoritie whereof ensueth breach of lawe and contempt of superiours there neede not bee a quickening or calling backe againe of the scapes of such men to make them odious and contemptible for euerie fault they commit be it as smal as a pibble yet is it so big as a mil-stone because they stand in the gaze of the world and soone spyed if they offend neuer so litle This Vetus comaedia was inuented to good purpose the subiect matter of morall documents the assembly the Senators and chiefe Cittizens and as Tully calleth them Humanae vitae speculum a glasse of mans life for when they represent the acts of vertuous men time place and persons considered they are deemed by some to be sufferable and that for this cause when as the comely deedes of good men are feelingly brought to remembrance it cannot but moue other to imitate the like goodnesse or on the other side when the spots and errours of our life shall be acted to our owne shame it is impossible that we should be content to be such and not loath our owne euill as when a bragging Thraso a strutting Philopolimarchides a double dealing Parasite or such mad humours as raigne in common disorder dsplayed according to decorum no spectator but is driuen to prye into himselfe if hee haue the like faultes or no for I thinke verily that no man will allowe such abhominable actions in himselfe when they are so visibly painted out in other And albeit some benefite might come if circumstances were obserued yet now is it farre otherwise for these moderne Playes wherewith the world is now so pestred are altogether made vpoÌ„ lasciuious arguments and serue as the very Organs Instruments to vanitie the honour due to God and reuerence to man is laid aside Vertue disroabed and Vice exalted and in stead of morallitie fictions lies and scurrillous matter is foysted in and is cunningly conueied into the hearts of the assistants whereby they are transformed into that they see acted before them for the rusticke common sort are as Apes that will imitate in themselues that which they see done by other Or if they stuffe their Scene with some one good precept or well-worded instruction what power hath that to moue to Vertue when it is immediately prophaned with their exorbitant foolerie as pure water in a foule and muddie cesterne The indicorum of Poets greedinesse of Historians iumping in one simpathy haue changed the inteÌ„dment of the former ages For as Menander in Greece which is thought to bee the first inuenter of Comedies Aeschilus or Thespis the deuiser of Tragedies aymed at Vertue in blazing out the deeds of honestie with graue and sober termes which indeed were rude imperfect by reason of the infancie of the time vntil they were afterward adorned with the choice flowers of Sophocles and Euripides of whom it is doubted whether is the better Poet. These did labour by modest delight to drawe men by example to goodnesse neither can I imagin but that they obserued many particulars as well in the choise of their Auditorie as of good matter without greedie desire to multiply excessiue gaine and no doubt were played priuately in their Accademies at some set times at which were present the chiefe Burgomaisters Senators and graue Fathers of the citie But if we oppose our quotidian Enterludes to them of former time and consider the multitude of ours with the paucitie and fewnesse of theirs wee shall see a great diuersitie as well in the method of writing as in the time place and company for now nothing is made so vulgar and common as beastly and palpable folly lust vnder colour of loue abstract rules artificially composed to carrie the minde into sinfull thoughts with vncleane locution and vnchaste behauiour as groping colling kissing amorous prattle and signes of Venerie whereby the maidenly disposition is polluted with lust and moued to impietie Againe if a man will learne to be proud fantasticke humorous to make loue sweare swagger and in a word closely doo any villanie for a two-penny almes hee may be throughly taught and made a perfect good scholler so that publike Sermons are made of all kinde of naughtinesse and the bridle of wicked libertie laid on euery mans necke and herein standeth their glory if by pleasing the vulgar opinion they gaine a plaudite at which they streake their plumes spread theyr pride When Phosion had made an eloquent oration before the people and seeing them clap their hands for ioy questioned such as were next him if he had vttered any foolish and vnseemly thing teaching vs by this that we ought alwayes to suspect the rude multitude for that their weake iudgements can hardly discerne
Ars amandi was exiled by Augustus Iuuinall as an instrument of obscenitie and bawdery was driuen out of his countrey because by their wanton Elegies they made the mindes obsequies to loose liuing A good old father being demanded what he thought of Playes and idle Poetrie answered they were very good to infect young wits with vanitie and needlesse fopperie The grossenesse of the Heathen was such that they dedicated Playes games mummeries maskes c. to their Idols to pacifie their supposed displeasure And although there is none but abhorreth such foule Idollatrie yet the diuell hath such a Heccatombe of sacrifices out of obscene and filthy Playes To bee short men ought to recreate themselues comely and decently and vse exercises of better report and lesse hurt for what saieth Saint Chrisostome to the faithfull of his time In no case saieth hee frequent Theaters least you bee branded with infamie It is no small offence saieth Ciprian for a man to disguise himselfe in the garments of a woman vnlesse in cases of great necessitie to saue the life c. And therefore it were to bee wished that all loue-bookes Sonnets and vile pamphles were burned and no more susfered to be printed nor filthy Playes rehearsed which are the bellowes to blowe the coales of lust soften the minde and make it flexible to cuil inclinations vnlesse first seene and allowed by some of approued and discreet iudgement To conclude it were further to be wished that those admired wittes of this age Tragaedians and Comaedians that garnish Theaters with their inuentions would spend their wittes in more profitable studies and leaue off to maintaine those Anticks and Puppets that speake out of their mouthes for it is pittie such noble giftes should be so basely imployed as to prostitute their ingenious labours to inrich such buckorome gentlemen And much better it were indeed they had nor wit nor learning at all then to spend it in such vanitie to the dishonour of God and corrupting the Common-wealth but he that dependeth on such weake staies shall be sure of shame and beggerie in the ende for it hath sildome beneseene that any of that profession haue prospered or come to an assured estate Hast thou wit learning and a vaine to write wickednesse adde wisedome to thy wit and couet to write goodnesse so shalt thou in stead of cursing be blessed and immortally praised of the good and honest The floud of wittie foolishnes hath a long time ouerflowne the bankes of modestie the world is full of idle bookes and friuolous toyes neuer in any age was the like turne thy pen write not with a goose quill any longer clense thy wit of grosse folly and publish things profitable and necessary new and good to the building vp of Vertue and godlinesse Againe is the minde and body wearied with vnreasonable care and labour rest ease and inoffensiue pastimes are then most fittest and in season for we are not created to follow sports and pleasures and sent into the world to play but for graue and waightie studies and to vse honest mirth when the body is tyred and no longer able to endure trauaile vnlesse it be againe refreshed with some actiuitie and not otherwise so that such as spend the time in vaine trifles gadding after Playes and idlely runne vp and downe breake that straight iniunction made by God to Adam In the sweat of thy browes shalt thou eate thy bread What whoredomes drunkennesse swearing and abhominable Sodomie is daily practised doth it not inuite and call vpon Magistrates to draw the sword of reformation do they not crie for vengeance to heauen surely there was neuer more filthinesse committed then now the word contemned Preachers despised and a direct opposition against all honestie that were it not for some fewe that stand in the gap fire and brimstone would fall from heauen consume the wicked like Sodome and Gomorrah For doubtlesse the sins of Sodome are as rife here as euer they were there pride gluttony cutthroat-enuy self-loue vnmercisulnesse to the poore and such like and those not priuate but vnuersall in all places and amongst most men The next enemy to Vertue is Idlenesse a burthen of impediment a vice so deeply rooted in some that it casteth them headlong into infernall bondage the toade out of which issueth nought but drunkennesse whoredomes pride ignorance errour blindnesse beggerie and a thousand moe miseries Time is like so many lighted lampes that with care diligence ought to be kept with oyle which with dampish idlenesse are soone put out and by negligence let fall for mans life of it selfe is not so short by nature but it is more shortned by sinne and the length of time hastened on by iniquitie The soule is of too fine a mettall and so pure a temper as to loue to do nothing but wil be imployed in labour yet because she is imprisoned in the walles of flesh followeth her sluggish inclination the body by too much ease is like a pampered Iade vnseruiceable and her dexteritie and faculties being made blunt and dull with sloth becommeth wholy vnfit for honest labour for if he remit and giue his minde to idlenesse ill corrupting motions creepe into the soule which polluting the purer parts do by little and little carry him to all impietie vntill the whole man become nothing but the sonne of Belial by it a wide gap is opened for adultery to enter in at and therefore Diogenes was wont to say by doing nothing we learne to do euil and lust quoth he is the trade and occupation of loyterers and as that grand-maister of wantonnesse Ouid in his booke Deremedio amors saith Osia sitâ—llas periere Cupidinis arcus And it being asked how the Emperour Aegistus became an adulterer it is answered In promptâ— causa est desidiâ—sus erat It is a plaine case he was idle For if the bodie be not set on worke the minde goeth astray whereby this litle world is soone ouerthrowne by the inuasion made against it by concupiscence as wheÌ„ a man doth fast long and abstaine from bodily foode the emptinesse of the stomacke and passages draweth into the bodie windie humours and infectious vapours because according to Philosophie there is no vacuum but a present supply of ayre so that often eyther by the disposition of the elements or by reason of some accidentall cause the ayre is so infected and poysoned as it pierceth into the vitall powers and either bringeth a vniuersall mortalitie or some lingring disease and sicknesse so in like manner when the body is kept from corporall labour and the minde from studious exercise a fit mansion for don Sathan is prepared euery roome emptied and the whole poores and faculties of soule and body really possest with wicked impietie wherein this grand-traitor to mans happinesse as in a worke-house forge or common shoppe dooth stampe and coine a multitude of euils and suggest abhominable vices into the heart for verily none are such
lawe and are many times eaten vp by Tyborne And yet some heires of good possibilities vnder colour of learning ciuilitie humanitie and some commendable qualities are by their parents made Seruingmen and their young wits so pestered with vice that they sildome proue good members in the Common-wealth To conclude euery one ought to betake himselfe to some honest and seemely trade and not suffer his sences to bee mortified with idlenesse for whom the diuell findeth in that case hee soone possesseth imploying him in some damned worke and wicked practise and for euer disabling him to be vsed in matters of good consequence Sarge igitur duroque manus adsuâ—sce labori Det tibi dimensos crastina vt hor a cibos Raise vp therefore thy lazie limbes apply thy minde to paine Both foode and cloath and all thing else with ease thou shalt attaine Rioting and drunkennesse doth both corrupt the body and pollute the soule and is such an extreame madnesse as it transformeth a man into a beast sauing in forme and portraiture putting out the light of vnderstanding dulling the wits breeding diseases hatching whoredomes vncleannesse quarels strifes c. which as a chaine draweth one linke after an other vntill the linke of wofull wretchednes maketh his death timerous and fearfull by his leaud life yet notwithstanding so ordinarily practised in most places as it is scarce noted as a fault An euill custome not contradicted is made currant by long vse But as the schoole-men say Bonum quo comunius eo melius by how much the more common goodnesse is by so much the more is it prized So it holdeth in the opposition the longer a beastly custome is in vse the more odious and loathsome it is This cacoethes or ill custome vsurpeth such a priuiledge and incroacheth so vpon the good maners of men by comming in the habit of honestie that they are not ashamed to hide their filthinesse with glorious titles and necessarie colours as a spurre to quicken the wit and set an edge on a blunt capacitie a whetstone to memorie a breeder of loue an enemie to melancholy a chearing the minde prompt the conceit a readinesse to pronounce and many such youth that are easily catched with these baites and tasting the sweetnesse of this sin are by manhood and age so deepely rooted that they rather seeke to nourish an ill custome then to frustrate so abhominable a practise filling the body full of diseases emptying the purse of all thrift and cause them to stumble on theyr graues before olde age come Neither can these allegations imputed to this vice excuse the daÌ„gerous effects which proceed of her monstrous deformitie For as the Poets allude that Medusa could turne men into marble pictures Circes into swine so the excessiue vse hereof altereth reason vnderstanding and all the poores of the minde and wrap vp many brutish conditions in a humane shape for he that is ouerladen with sensualitie looseth the vse of all those graces and diuine faculties wherewithall a modest and sober man is possest And as those properties may holde in part that is so long as moderation beareth sway so once falling into the more it can no longer stand for as one may sharpen his knife with grinding so by too much and often doing it the edge and mettall may be quite ground away and made blunt and therfore Anacharsis a great wine-bibber who was choked with a huske of a grape did notwithstanding preach this doctrine The first draught saith he cherisheth the bloud the next comforteth the heart but the third inflameth the braine fumeth into the head and breedes drunkennesse He said moreouer that the vine bareth three maner of grapes the first of pleasure the second of drunkennesse and the third of sorrow O how farre doth intemperance make a man differ from himselfe and forget the finall ende of his creation in procuring enemies against his owne happinesse O what lamentable Tragedies is by this Vice acted among wine-bibbing companions There bee euils inough we bring with vs into the world and we haue worke inough to holde warre with them though we procure no more which are alwayes a temptation to our best parts Drunkennesse is no inbred nor inherent sinne but procured by custome and bad company it corrupteth the soule sucketh out the iuice of the body withereth the beautie drieth vp the sinewes and like a canker corrodeth and deuoureth vp all good motions making that body which should be a holy temple a habitacle and dwelling house for the diuell for being ouerladen with wine gluttonie the body is so much brokeÌ„ that as a holy Father saith it is a wonder that those bodies made of earth and clay become not myre and dyrt it stirreth the mind to whoredome for like twins they are neuer a sunder Sine cerere baccho friget venus without wine and belly-cheare lust would be asswaged incapable of conceit for you shall neuer see a drunkard so wel aduised to aske counsell or with patience marke good documents but either fleere and laugh it out or be furious and quarelsome and therefore Father Cate was wont to say it was lost labour to talke of Vertue to the belly for that it hath no eares to heare because their loose life maketh religion loathsome to their cares This wine-washing licour giueth such scope and libertie to the tongue as it rowleth vp and downe restlesse annoying the whole world with vnnecessarie prattle running into all degrees censuring all men and laying out that openly which modestie would conceale powring it into the bosome of his pot-mate for the tongue of a drunken man is the clozet of his heart and that which a sober man thinketh a drunkard speaketh And as by a noise of crowes one may ghesse where carrion is so a flocke of drunkards may be found by their words being so inflamed with the fume and strength of the lycour as it is impossible to keepe silence Therefore as Cicero saith there need no racking to procure confession of the truth for it may with more ease be gotten by drunkennesse And as Homer saith wine distracteth the wits of a wise man withvoluntary madnesse and his grauitie is vtterly quenched with indiscretion A drunken man is so prolixious and talkatiue as he molesteth all his hearers if he be in company with a sober man he wearieth him with talke if he come to the sicke he grieueth him more then his sicknesse if in a ship among passengers he annoyeth them more then the waues of the sea so that whersoeuer he commeth he is troublous and irkesome It were one of Herculus labours to describe their seuerall humours some apt to quarell if but crost with a word and not pledged as he would be readie to stab and make woâ—ke for the Constable an other throwes the pot about the house breakes the glasse windowes with his dagger and calles his hostise whore some full of Apish tricks and toyes sing hollow whoope sweare
meates when one doth gurmandize and feede vpon diuersitie and disguised dishes of manifolde operations Many accidences arise and diseases growe and this is by reason of the contrarietie and different natures of those meates and in the superfluitie and aboundance as the prouerbe saith much meate much maladie whereas in simple and vniforme kindes delight neuer exceedes the appetite and he that feedeth but of one dish liueth longer and is more healthfull then those accidentall dieters queasie stomackes that glutte themselues with eueric kinde artificially compounded sometime of easie digestion then of harde digestion that many times before one can be concocted the other putrifieth in the stomacke and this is verie familiar in common knowledge that the ploughman that liues by curdes bread and cheese and such homely fare workes harde all the day and lyeth vneasie at night is more sounder healthfuller and more free of malladies then those fine nice and curious dyeters Now when the bodie is thus misdieted by surfetting and drunkennesse it is not only subiect to diseases and afflicted with torments and incurable laments whereby it becommeth vnweildie vnfit for any vertuous exercise but also draweth the horror and iudgements of God vppon both bodie and soule How ought men therefore to liue soberly and chastely and stoppe the abuse of such abhominable Epicurisme and as wise Cato saieth Eate to liue and not liue to eate like the Epicure that putteth all his felicitie in Bacchus his belly-cheare By this the quicke conceit of the spirit is dulled and made impregnable the glorious sun-shine of Vertue eclipsed and all good motions quite extinguished that a man cannot be saide to be a man but the trunke or caâ—kasse of a man wherein an infernall spirit in stead of a soule doth inhabite Heereby hee becommeth rash-headed and vnaduised dooing that in haste whereof he repenteth at leisure As Alexander who in his drunken nesse would sley his dearest friends and being sober w ould be readie to kill himselfe for anger and all those noble vertues and princely qualities wherewith he was endued were all defaced by the intollerable delight he had in drinking The famous Citie Persepolis in a drunken humour was burned to ashes which was no sooner deuised by Thayis the harlot but was executed with great celeritie but recouering his wits repented his folly for with this spirit is a drunken man alwaies possest to attempt things rashly to despise good counsel to vndertake great exployts but neuer with mature deliberatioÌ„ vnruly disobedient and violating the lawes both of God and man and lastly with the foolish Troians sero sapiunt phriges be wise when it is too late If this Hidra infuse her venome into the tendernes of youth and not crushed downe when it begins to peepe by killing the serpent in the egge but suffered to growe ripe ô how it distilleth into the soule and pulles downe the whole frame of Vertue whereby he is cast downe headlong from a high promentarie into a deepe vgly dungeon it weakeneth the nature and maketh them fooles and meacockes not fit for any imployment And therefore the Spartans and Lacedemonians at their great festiuals would shewe vnto their children drunkeÌ„ men that by seeing their beastlines they might shun the like practise It was a great shame among the Athenians for a young man to haunt tauernes or common tap-houses in so much as on a time when a youth beeing in a tauerne and seeing Diogenes come towards him shifted into an other roome for feare he should see him Nay quoth he stay young man the more you goe in that way the further you goe into the Tauerne If Diogenes or Polemon liued in these daies they should haue woâ—ke inough to sweepe youth out of Tauernes and Ale-houses being now traded vp in it as in an occupation If we see a man often frequent the Phisitions house we by and by suspect his health and suppose he is not well his body out of temper and some infirmitie breeding so when wee behold one often to repaire to such places of ill note we may censure him and safely conclude his wits are distracted and daungerously infected with Opprobrium medicorum Neuerthelesse leaud company is the ouerthrow of many good wits which otherwise be ingenious and of a liuely promptitude to Vertue getting such vices in an houre as tarrieth with theÌ„ many dayes for bad company is as a stench about a man that annoyeth the sence And as cleare christall water is corrupted if it fall into a a stinking puddle so a vertuous minde is stained with the leaud vices of loose liuers and therfore no man can be freed of the effect till he shun the cause for conuersing with naughtie people the good disposition is soonet infected with their euill maners then the bad reformed with their good conditions For as by a contagious ayre the soundest bodies are soonest infected so the tender and greene capacitie is soone violently carried away into all voluptuousnesse For as it is impossible to holde the hand in the fire and not be burnt so can hee not hold fellowship with bad companie but hee must needs be the worse Euery creature keepeth a due course and order the Sunne like a ramping Lyon runneth about the world with a swift reuolution the Moone knoweth her sitting downe and rising vp the Pleiades keepe their stations the Starres goe their circuit the earth the sea and euerie creature keepe theyr time onely man is out of frame and temper too and euerie part disioynted the naturall impediment is the verie bane and putrifaction of the soule O how hard is it then to pull out those weedes within which like rebels hold a continuall warre against all good motions a greater victorie is it therefore to ouercome a mans owne selfe then to conquere a citie for he that vanquisheth an enemie mastereth but flesh and bloud but hee that can humble his pride and rule his passions ouercommeth the diuell the one is but the sonne of man the the other the sonne of God Dauid could cut off the head of Goliah yet was not able to tame his owne affections Sampson could slaie the Philistines with a iaw-bone and yet was made a slaue to Dalilath In like manner the Poets ascribe to Hercules many incredulous labors as in killing the snake of Learna maistering the wilde bull of Aramanthus clensing Domedes stables killing the Centaures and such toilsome works that his taske-mistresse Iuno was faine to crie out Defessa sum iubendo and yet for all this was conquered by lust and made spinne on a rocke by Omphila with womens garments So that by this we may see that it is more difficill to quench the raging lust of concupiscence and chase away the corruption of nature then to do these wonderfull labours Which thing Cicero in his Oration Pro Marcello dooth well remember speaking to the Emperour O Caesar saith hee thou hast subdued kingdomes subiected nations tamed the Barbarians
and brought them vnder the Romaine yoake and by thy matchlesse and heroicall spirit hast made the Capitoll ring of thy glorious triumphes yet notwithstanding to beate downe ambition to bridle furie to temper iustice with mercie to be humble in maiestie and conquer the vnruly passion of the minde hee that can do this Non ego eum cum summis viris comparo sed simillimum deo iudico I do not onely compare him with the best men but I thinke him rather a God By this it is manifest that this Annarchie this rebellion that is in nature cannot so easily bee bridled and kept from rushing into disorder but by execution of lawes and to this ende is the Magistrate set vp and the sword of Iustice held out to tame the vnrulinesse of nature Now therefore the whole felicitie of man standeth in temperance and in quelling those boyling lusts that set themselues against the noblenesse of Vertue Epictetus giueth two rules to beare and forbeare by the first patiently to beare aduersitie and the bitternesse of Fortune by the second to flye concupiscence and abstaine from the will of the flesh and these are the two pathes leading to Vertue To conclude there is no true ioy without Vertue this is perfect honour true nobilitie she offereth herself freely to euery man she denieth none but is open and ready to all that will seeke her and doth neither require house land orworldly wealth but is content with a poore naked man and therefore seeing that all is vaine without her it is a shame to desire glory by riches or birth and not rather deserue it by his owne vertue For he that is therewith possest is famous in earth glorious in the graue and immortall in heauen according to the Poet Omniâ— roscidulae quacunque sub orbe Diana Vivunt sunt fatis interitur a suis Virtus sola mori diuorum munere nescit Cumque suis musae vatibus vsque manent All things that vnder Dians sphere doth liue or draweth breath To fatall chaunge are subiect sure and vnto greisly death But Vertue onely with the gods remaines immortall aye Where her religious followers do liue in happie staye By Vertue the famous Camilli Fabij Scipiones are mounted vp aboue all earthly weaknesse a memorie of their noble vertues coÌ„meÌ„ded to posteritie For there is nothing in this world of so great price and which causeth more to augment then the trade of good manners For by this meanes not onely fathers of families haue taken a domesticke forme of regiment in theyr houses by good order keeping but also Kingdomes Common-wealthes and publique affaires doo hereby flourish and are happily maintained And for this cause I haue willingly aduentured to moue and stirre the mind therevnto and that with a zealous affection And although I haue taken vpon mee a thing very vnfit for my rude and small vnderstanding yet I doubt not but the honest and vertuous will gratifie and approuc this my simple endeuour especially because they more esteeme the preciousnesse of Vertue then the pompious glorie of Vice wherein they obserue the counsell of the wise Heathen who wisheth that no man should despise the simple labor of an other man especially if he speake good words and giue no offence to the weake And this was Platoes diuine institution amongst many other soueraigne decrees that it is needfull in euery Common-wealth to prescribe and giue order that it be not permitted to any man to publish any thing hee hath composed except it be first perused and allowed by indifferent Iudges therevnto assigned If this iniunction were duly obserued so many leaud bookes vaine pamphlets and scurrillous ditties would not so easily passe neither would idle wits bend themselues to write For now through the abundance of naughtie bookes wee are greatly endamaged for by learning the sound doctrine of good men the basest and blindest manner of writers is most-what approued From this spring or fountaine is risen this mortall and monstrous infection before noted Neither is this all for there is a naturall rebellion which like a sore runneth ouer the whole body so that if the ground of the heart be not fallowed and ploughed vp and good seede sowne therein the happinesse and felicitie of man is choked hith weedes and poysoned with Hemplocke iniquitie hath gotton the vpper hand so farre that if we looke into the monstrousnesse of sinne in this age we may see euery abhomination sport it selfe as though there were no God Drunkennesse is good fellowship Whoredome and adulteriâ— youthfull prankes Swearing the fire of manhood Hypocâ—isie deceit and cousonage a common practise In a word there be too many whores too many knaues too many brothel houses too little labour too much idlenesse too many Ale houses too litle loue too much hate too little deuotion and too much hard-hearted Christianitie But I speake not this to derogate ought from the diligence of any Neuerthelesse it were to be wished that more care were had to execute Iustice on such grieuous malefactors If I haue done well to note what is amisse thou shalt doo much better to mend the abuse Or if it be ill and of little worth If thou canst do better I pray set it forth Finally the consideration of these abuses before named ought to stirre vp both superiour magistrates and inseriour officers to aduance Vertue and reforme Vice because as the one begetteth most heauenly things in this earthly world so is the other the ouerthrowe of all happinesse both here and in the life to come The Minister of the word therefore is not exempt from this labour for as he is the Phisition of the soule so is hee to watch ouer the sicke patient not so much to attendere famae corpori as to negligere salutem ecclcsie to be olde in yeares and young in knowledge to couet to be rich in purse and poore in charitie to purchase pleasures build great houses and shewe no fruites by the sequell and euent that they worthily enioy their dignities as many do in this age that stand in a spiritual place are notwithstanding meere temporall men and so rooted in the slesh as they yeeld no fruites at all of the spirit but they ought for care conscience and in a godly zeale holding sacred places to labour earnestly and officiously to suppresse those horrible euils that are so vsuall and commonly practised that by this sinne and wickednesse may be abolished the true seruice of God maintained to his owne glory the good of his Church and the happy and peaceable gouernment of this honorable Citie FINIS The faults escaped in the printing I pray thee friendly Reader correct with thy pen for by reason of some earnest businesse I haue not so narrowly looked to them as I would haue done Vertue desined Vice deâ—ined Ex viro dicitur virtus Actus The Christian Vertue Prudence Scire tuum nibil est nisi te scire hoâ— sciat alter Ennius Notes of a
wise man Iustice â—ortitude The cause maketh a Martyr The Spanish brauadoes God gâ—ue the victoriâ— True valour standeth not in vaine quaâ—elling The patience of â— Heathens memorable Temperancâ— This little mâ—crâ—coâ—miâ— is vphâ—ld by Temperance Plato Horatius Maior nobilitas Quadri faria nobilitas Vera nobilitas The commodâ—ie of Vertues is vnspeakeable Hoâ—â—b 1. Worldly honor is no true happinesse Hâ—ra ad iccium Vertue abideth to eternitie A foolish opinion A true vertuouâ— ma. Riches puffe vp men in pride Vaine honoâ—r The mâ—lici-Aâ—hâ—st neuer want slaunders A memorable example of a Heathen â—ing Obsequium amicos veritas odium parit Sycophants are daungerous enemies to Vertue â—â—amples of conâ—emnâ—rs oâ— money The shadow of vertue was more esteemed among the Heathen then the true body is now among the Christians Cicerods nat dâ—or Honor ex virtute â—ritur Aulus bell Vertues hold vp a common-wealth Hora. Vertue disâ—â—yed by pouertie An honest maÌ„ is not poore for in aduersitie Vertue sheweth her chiefest operation The simbolls of vanitie Omnia mea mecuÌ„ perto Richeâ— rightly vsed are great blessingâ— Pouertie ought not to disquiâ—tâ— the minde In mediâ— concistit virtâ—s Post fâ—â—â—râ— virtâ—â— The comfortable hope of a poore man Vice Vertue two waies Dulcia non merâ—it Many waies leading to lâ—ame Iâ—o ad Deâ—on Fâ—olish wisedome Eclog â— The best warre fare Plâ—tarch A diometrical opposition betwixt Vice and Vertue Good education is the happinesse of a kingdome Hypoâ—rkes and deceâ—uerâ— creepe vnder Verâ—ue Hypocrisie is double impieâ—ie Hor. Decâ—itâ—ul doâ—â—ble dealers There be too many such cold ChristiaÌ„s Vertue is not in vain words but in conscionable workes God searcheâ—h into the heart Lying is become â—n occupation â—mongst many men Lib. 3. Lib. 3. offic Vnlawfull gaine is sweet to a stinking minde Many â—â—ue vpon the simplicitie of the poore The pâ—inter spake this so long since that it is now forgotten One thing is necessarâ—e So said old â—â—ther Latimer Three things intended in policie If it were not for some honourable well quallified and conscionable Lawierâ— the generation of Fogge would eate out the bowelles of the common-wealth Euery misers son must be a gentleman Fortunafaâ—et fatâ—os Honoured igâ—â—rancâ— Counterfeit gentilitie Liberalitie â—s the artires vaines and sinewes of leâ—rning and the worlds Paragon A liberallman iâ— a generall good man Osâ—r â—ib 1. Honâ—s alit artâ—s Entisignâ—tioÌ„s of Vertue to be cherished Prodigalitle iâ— a râ—ging firâ— Eâ—nius Offic. lib. 2. Officers sought for wiâ—h greedinâ—sle Hor. ad nun Hungry flyes bloudsuckers Eglâ— 3. Viâ—e rides on horsebacke when Vertue iâ— faine to trot on footbacke The ignoranâ— is selfe-wisâ— Feâ—ea â—tâ—â— Pride as brief in England as euer it was in Sodome Painted faces abhominable The diuell the inuenter of fâ—arch poking stickes c. Cold charitie now a dayes Euery base Tapster or Oastler will be as fine as a Gentleman A faire whore iâ— a sweet poyson and her louâ— like a false fire soone out Hor. in sermon li 2. A true speech of a Cannibal Saâ—yr 7. Learning thrust out by head shoulders Simple men clâ—mbe to high places Hard-hearted Christians The Citie is extreamly postered with Inmates and Idle families when the Countrey lies waste vnpeopled Cunning deceluers The false vse ofâ—ue ioy Virg. Ennius Vertue more honourable then riches Cold charltie in these daies among many mysers A note for belly-gods Hor. No ende of making maâ—y bookes Curious starre gazets The Pope looseth nothing by this Epist 18 li. 1. Busie controwlers Vaine bookes the spoile of many young wits Good wits vaine writers Modest Poetrie coÌ„mendable A Legend of lyes Vaine workeâ— wel rewardâ—d Pythagoras rule Vaine men iudge vainly L. Max. Good bookes lye dead Many Poets shallow witâ— A fit comparison The profit of reading good bookes The groundâ—d opinion of wise and godly men against Playes must be authentick I. Cor. 8. Lustâ—ull Comedies hurtâ—ull Briefe Chronicles honourable if circustances c. A sinfull mixture The State many times is â—gregiouâ—ly wronged and the vulgar â—ort dâ—rided Vetus comaedia Auntient Comediâ—s abstacles of Vertue Hor. in artâ— poetica Quintill lib. 10. The documents of Playes Wisedome doth euer mistrustiâ— selfe The common spectators and Play-gadders Playes in the night very hurtfull Foule idollatrie in the Heathen Idenesse the roote of all cuill Ouid. The cause of the plague or peâ—â—â—lence An idle man is a dead carkasse Pron 14. 30. The picture of time Mora traâ—it periculum Lâ—mea hath many childré Caesar Com Plato Quint. Cur. The vaniâ—ie of some olde men A Seruingmans life an idle life vnlâ—â— he be imployed in some office Comunis error facit ius The benefit of dâ—unkennesse Ale-houses the cruse of much drunkennâ—sâ—e The vse of dâ—inking one to an other The often bibbing at feasts breakes the bonds of modesâ—ie Some are neuer well but when theyr nose is in the pot and so are made drunke by accident Thus doth God pursuâ— them with his iudgements some the gallows knits vp the sword deuourâ— the pox marbleâ— c. To giue wine to youâ—h is olium igni addere Vinum est quasi remedium aduersâ—s duritism senectutis largiâ—â—â— est Sunt septem steâ—â—â— in humero tauro Ouid Metam