Selected quad for the lemma: virtue_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
virtue_n	justice_n	prudence_n	temperance_n	1,847	5	10.3903	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A16206	The castle, or picture of pollicy shewing forth most liuely, the face, body and partes of a commonwealth, the duety quality, profession of a perfect and absolute souldiar, the martiall feates encounters and skirmishes lately done by our English nation, vnder the conduct of the most noble and famous Gentleman M. Iohn Noris Generall of the Army of the states in Friseland. The names of many worthy and famous gentlemen which liue and haue this present yeare. 1580. ended theyr liues in that land most honorably. Handled in manner of a dialogue betwixt Gefferay Gate, and William Blandy, souldiars. Anno 1581.	Blandie, William.; Gates, Geffrey.	1581 (1581)	STC 3128; ESTC S104609	42,363	70

dastardly feare Gate Doe these two vertues onely make in a Prince the fulnes of a florishing fame néedeth the Maiestye of a King no more for the setting forth of his glistring and shyning glorye Blandy There are other twoe most necessary which also must accompany the other spoken of before as speciall and chiefe vertues Gate What name haue they Blandy The one is called Prudence the other Temperaunce Gate If you would more at large display their singular condicions and priuate natures you should doe me a right acceptable friendshipp percase your report should bring no small profite to many other of the simpler sort Blandy No will I assure you shall want in me to pleasure you or profite any reckoning my selfe most fortunate if the meanest man may reape of my penn the least fruite Gate You speake most friendly wherefore I hartely pray you say on Blandy The excellencie therefore of iustice stands of force and vertue the vertue of iustice resteth in the measure of thinges ordered according to reasons prescription which teacheth that all men should beare the lyke affection to other as they would be affected of other The force of iustice is to make of many one to vnite and knit many partes in one which euidently may appeare if we call to minde that in the beginning it did so greatly excite and stirre vp mens mindes that for her loue they surrēdered their goods and possessions into the handes of one especiall man in whose amiable face this vertue did through flashing flames shewe forth her cleare light of glory I reade of Numa Pompilius a Romaine of meane estate who by vpright dealing and supporting of Justice was thought and proclaymed by the whole consent of the Romaines worthely to succéede Romulus in the state of Royall Maiestye What néedeth me here to speake of Licurgus Draco and Solon that I omit in meane while to make mention of Mercurie Phoroneus Pittacus of Millen and diuers other who by iustice haue bene aduaunced to great honor and haue thereby purchased to their posteritye perpetuall fame and memorye Therefore to perswade our selues that no one vertue deserueth the lyke preheminēce eyther is alyke to be honored it is hereby to be séene that each kinde of vertue being voyde of Justice hath lost his honor and estimation whereas Iustice alone secluded from other vertues retayneth still his especiall grace dignitie Whereby it is euident and playne that there is no way more cercayne then this to enlarge our honor no way more readilye to commend to posteritye our fame and memorye Gate I rest satisfied with your not so short as swéete discourse It remaineth that you speake of fortitude Blandy Fortitude resteth in an inuincible minde attempting for the loue of some excellent thing great difficult and daungerous actions Which high and lofty courage hath bene in all ages worthely magnified For it is a matter of no small importance so litle to esteeme of lyfe which we all in generall deeme to be sweete as to bestow it willingly and cherefully for the safegard and preseruation of a fewe and to refuse and feare for the wealth of our Countrie no daunger and terror of the enemy The recordes and ordinaunces of antiquitye doe playnely and manifestly shewe that there hath bene no glorye so great no renowme so honorable in any well gouerned Commonwealth as that which hath bene attributed to valiantnes and fortitude On the other side there were for Cowards euē by very good lawes bitter tauntes and reproches most iustly appoynted There was in olde tyme among the Macedonians a lawe ordeyned that he who had not in fight of battaile ouercome one should in the sight of all men be trust vp with an halter Therefore most wisely was it thought of Solō greatly honored among the Grecians for his deepe iudgement that the securitye and preseruatiō of a Commonwealth did consist in preferment punishmēt For by this wicked and desperate persons are restrained cut of by the other noble natures florishing witts are vehemētly styred vp to y e embracing of vertue honestye It hath bene therefore by deuine prouidence established of our forefathers y t in what kinde of men soeuer this vertue eminently appeared the same should be with many worthye and noble ensignes and titles honored And that I speake something of the Romaines Can any man be able to recite so many Images of men of Armes So many garlands either geuen to them that scaled the walles or first entred their enemies Tents or to them that by maine force saued the life of any one Citizen or to them that victoriously triumphed ouer their enemies Is any man able to recompt so many ensignes of vertue so many pryses of Prayes as to prowes and puissaunce were by the Romaine lawes assigned Gate It is not therefore to be maruailed at that that Cittie grewe to be so great and large in Empire wherein prowes and valiantnes was so honorably rewarded Blan. In that people this is also greatly to be noted that not onely noble men were wonderfully inflamed with the loue of glorye but very many of the common people And that I may of a great and infinite number call a fewe to memory the two Decii by race and byrth no gentlemen for theyr rare and singular fortitude aspired in the commō wealth to the highest degrée of honor and dignity and in y e end in theyr countryes quarrell consecrates themselues as valiaunt and vowed vessels to glory and immortality Lucius Marcius euen he which in Spayne recouered y e Romaine Empyre therefore shrunken and fallen downe to the ground was borne of simple and poore parentage yet through puissaunce obtayned in his countrey great honor a principal dignity What should I recite Marcus Porcius Cato a man much commended for his wisedome and pollicy To what end should I speak of Marcus Marcellus who first gaue Haniball the ouerthrow shewed playnly that the way to ouercome was by prowes and valiantnes Agayne why shoulde I omitt Marius that worthye wight and a thowsand moe being no gentlemen borne which notwithstanding through theyr passing skill and experience in feates of Armes were aduaunced to honour and promoted to high estate leauing to posterity fame and immortalitye Herehence the armes and cognizaunces of honor and noblenesse which euen in these our dayes are borne and had right worthely in estimation did fetch their originall and first beginning For when any man had in battayle shewed some notable poynt of a good valiaunt souldiar he was by the Generall made a gentleman had some badge or token therof assigned vnto him wherby his bloud might be ennobled through the prayse and glorye whereof his ofspring might be in like maner pricked with the desire of fame and commendation Therefore some haue in their scochins Castles engrauē geuing forth therby the strong holdes fortes straightes scōces and passages that were by them in warre wonne and vāquished other some ringes or bendes or

hoyse vpp the sayles of the minde whereby the course thereof may be made more swift certayne And euen as a skilfull couragious horseman doth not alway delight in a soft and gentle pace but sometymes geueth his horse the spurre to the end his stede should moue more liuely So by reason sometymes the affections of the minde are styrred and prycked forward that we might more cherefully dispatch our busines You know by these what Tēperaunce is wherein it doth consist and by what meanes it is attayned Gate My minde hitherto hath his content striue and styrre at all to the contrary I may not except you be silēt wherefore say on so shall you bring me a swéete rest Blandy It foloweth that I shew you my opiniō of prudēce which vertue is the very ornamēt and garland of the other two without which they before spoken of can no wise florish and geue out kindely their cleare and bright lights of glorye the want whereof maymeth the minde of a king Prudence therefore resteth in the knowledge of ciuile gouernement which learneth vs not onely to gouerne wisely our selues and families but to rule poletikly great Cittyes and Commonwealthes And that you may fully vnderstand by what meanes this vertue is attayned it is right necessary expediēt you call to minde how men liuing as Barbarians in woods and desolate places were brought to order and at length perswaded to lyue vnder one lawe embracing mutuall loue all kinde of humanitye Wherefore if the swéetenes and excellencie of eloquence in antiquitie so much preuailed that men were with y e mellodious harmonye thereof drawen from barbarousnes to ciuilytye If puissance in the beginning repelled iniuries and became thereby the roote of royaltye if good and profitable lawes stayed most fastly men thus reclaymed and brought to the quiet and happy home of peace and rest I holde the onely redye and perfect stepp to trace out prudence by the loue of Eloquence by the honor of chiualrye by the knowledge and studye of the ciuile lawes For these sciences are right worthely reckoned among those which are the most chiefe highest for y t they haue bene the founders of Citties the safegard of common societye the principall stay and rocke of all noble and florishing Commonwealthes To be prudent in a priuate man is right worthely commended in a king in a prince and in the place of Maiestye it geueth out such comfortable beames that thousands and infinite numbers thereby receaue reliefe For her propertye is to be diligent and busie for the weale of all They are therefore in no wise to be déemed prudent which séeke the aduauncement of themselues and the preferment of any one priuate Familye Wherefore if you to your expectation and our wished and laboured intent purpose to behold the high and hautye hue of the Maiestye of a king marke and imprint déepely in your minde what briefly insueth A king therefore as it appeareth by the discourse precedent came of no small beginning deriued and springing of no other roote then an honorable and royall hart garnisht and deckt with all worthye and noble vertues So that this king which we speake of and haue through the viewe and consent of many famous and worthy writers chosen to be chiefe in this our Commonwealth is such a one whose Scepter iustice raysed whose soueraigntye fortitude defendeth whose preheminence prudence ruleth whose prerogatiue temperaunce keepeth in most safe and quiet estate Which chiefe and principall vertues reste alwayes in perpetuall mouing the motion whereof bringeth forth aboundantly braunches or rather if you please buddes which cann be by no irkesome and sharpe aire blasted for that the sapp and iuice of this trée in euery braunch and twigge thereof continually equally florisheth being subiect to no tyme and season Herehence mercy floweth herehence mildenes herehence courtesie affabilitye liberalitye prouidence loue which maruelously graceth the maiestye of a king This is also to be required chiefely looked for of a King y t what noble acte soeuer he take in hād whether it appertayne to ciuile gouernmēt in tyme of peace or to martiall prowes in tyme of warre his clearenes and excellencye geue most manifest notice and signification that he setteth no store by humaine thinges but doth with most earnest indeuour intention of minde affect those thinges that be heauenly and euerlasting This high and lofty intention of minde causeth the Péeres and nobilitye of his nation with all dutye and reuerence to behold him styrreth all good men with all loue and honor to embrace him forceth all base and vile minded men to feare and tremble at his sight and presence Gate As you in our March discoursed in this manner and came to the lyke issue you haue hitherto bent the drift of your vnderstanding I with many moe if you remember well caused you to cutt of the rest speaking to our simple opinions sufficiently you would haue sayd of the Maiestye of a king Minding you of a Queene by distance of place then farre of yet by nature neare by due comparison of whose excellēt cleare brightnes either that haue bene in any monument of Antiquitye honorably spoken of or liue at this present Christened in magnificence merited most high renoume that when her excellencye was named all our powers and spirites were in a manner surprised with ioy and pleasure beholding through your speach as in a glasse her great guiftes rare vertues and noble gouernement At what tyme all wee most lowly prostrating our selues with one voyce assēted that Q. Elizabeth our most high noble maistres should suffice not onely vs her true faythfull naturall subiects but all other peeres of what kinde of people they sprang of of what noble lyne parentage they descended to behold in her excellencie the true and absolute Maiestye of a Prince and gouernour wishing then most earnestly that one among vs had a penn of that propertie that either he could at once write all lāguages or that all natiōs could vnderstand what he wrote Then not onely Europe which at this present ringes of her glory but all the world besides should have knowledge and vnderstanding of his soueraigne Lady and Maistres Blandy I can not easely forgett what ioy and pleasure we tooke of that honorable report wherein as we then rested in the cogitation of so rare and royall an example so I thinke it fitt to finishe our speach of this first and chiefe piller of our Common-wealth directing all other that would vnderstād more throughly of the perfection of a Prince which nothing sheweth forth more liuely then example to the beholding our most gracious Queene and gouernour whose fayth in Christian Religiō whose knowledge in learning whose pollicie in gouerning whose clemēcy in pardoning whose bountifulnesse in preferring whose pittifull and tender commiseration of the poorest wretch that liueth within her dominiōs doth not without great cause establish her louing subiects in honoring her powring out dayly

is there is also crueltye So that I conclude of this principle sith our Nation doth excell other in loue gentlenes courtesie placabilitye and mercye they also are to be preferred before the straunger in true value hardynes courage prowes and magnanimitye Blandy The ouerthrowe you speake of was great the prayses and honor you haue geuen to Maister Norris is such that he may in right challenge them The commendation of our Countrye you haue most firmely grounded on a sure rock of reason And whereas you haue made mētion of the Generall touching his small and litle troupe to finish this worke in my opinion shall fitt you best to geue all Gentlemen and Souldiars of our Nation a farewell who to winne their Prince and Countrye honor feare no force dread no daunger and terror of the Enemy The number whereof when I call to minde I cannot forget Maister Iohn Seintleger whose value and prowes ioyned with a princely humanitye and curtesie my penn cannot deseruedly describe Gate You haue I assure you named a Gentleman whose valor matcheth with the vertue of the best of our nation that serue in the Nether Landes although he be not a lyke preferred of the Prince there But no doubt if he indure those seruices he cannot but beare a principall office and that right worthelye in the field His carefull payne in all exploytes his equall labors in the tyresome March his dreadles attemptes in any perilous aduenture haue bene such so open and manifest that not onely his Country-men but Souldiars of other nations yelded him as his owne right emong them vnknowen a superioritye All which Captayne Morris a man of great experience and knowledge in feates of warre can witnes And whereas you haue occasioned me to speake something of Maister Seintleger whome in this maner I commend and commit to good fortune you haue minded me of a Gentleman who if he were no Gentleman by byrth and lynage as he is well borne of gentle bloud yet he hath layed for his name perpetually a foundatiō of high and true Nobilitie Blandy What is his name Gate Rowland Yorke Blandy The fame of his wisedome and déepe aduise hath made me more inflamed with his person then any former and priuate knowledge Gate What is the report of him Blan. He is sayth all that know the man which cannot be fewe in number bolde of courage prouident in direction industrious in labour and quick in execution Gate What can be more desired in a Generall of an Armye Blandy I referr that to the iudgement of other but this I may well say that these are the most principall poyntes which are to be required in a Gouernour What think you of the other Captaynes of our Nation Gate I finde Captayne Gaynssord foreward in the field prudent liberall and full of pollicye Captayne Sallisbury sufficient Captayne Byshopp sure and stedfast Captayne Richardes a proper and tall Souldiar Captayne Bowes most sufficient Blandy What of Liuetenaunt Senis Liuetenant Forder Liuetenant Fewilliams Liuetenant Burley Liuetenant Gittens Liuetenant Haruye Liuetenant Kelly Gate Senis is expert paynefull louing and courteous Forder valiant and fortunate Fewilliams redie and resolute Burley hautye Gittens stoute Haruie hardye Kelly well approued Blandy What of Auncient Manning Auncient Marchant Auncient Ling Auncient Maskrall Auncient Bines Gate All these are through long triall and experience ripe most fitt to doe their countrye seruice Blandy What thinke you of Dorrell Leye and Louelace Gate Dorrell hath well deserued Leye if you looke into him throughly may be iudged a man most fitt to take a charge Louelace is not behinde the best of his order which are accompted of Blandy What of Knight Baker Cranmer Copwydge Gray Sallisburies ●oth Gate Knight for his manlynes and actiuitye for his strength and knowledge in euery weapon that belonges to a tall and expert Souldiar may garde in peace and warre the Maiestye of an Emperor The other haue by their desartes wonne fame and glorye Blandy What of Smith Owen Padmore Shepheard Simmes Rogers Welch with fiue hundred moe Gate Good and well trayned Souldiars all which so constant is their courage so rare and resolute their mindes so flaming their fayth and fidelitye long sithens vowed and consecrated to theyr prince and Countrey that for her maiesties safetye honor and securitye they will at once most readily and willingly aduenture with Vlisses his wandringes and doubtfull viages sixe hundred shippwrackes the great glose and swallowing sourge of Caribdis the roaring of Silla the daunger in auoyding the Antiphates the greuous conflict which he had with Polephemus fill vp with Curtius the gaping and daungerous breach Performe in action pouerty lacke and perill although percase not with the like happy happe with Drake the vnacquaynted passage and stéepe downe straightes of Maielan Blandy More perfection in any people cannot be required Wherfore I commend them all to good happ wishing them as naturall loue bindes me a safe and prosperous return hither agayne if not that fruit and successe of life which belonges vnto these mindes which retayne true and perfect Nobility Gate It appeareth therefore by your discourse that in a perfect commonwealth one chiefly should rule and sitt in the place of maiesty other chosen especially for theyr vertue iustice prudence and pollicy occupy a place of honour by whose wisedome and pollicy the multitude should be gouerned other some for theyr skill and vertue in warlike practises be aduaūced to high degrée Now I thinke it most fit you speake of the Marchaunt artificer and Tiller of the ground Blandy When I consider with my selfe how requisite and necessary it is that men should differ in degree and dignity and that inumerable artes and sciences haue bene deuised to mayntayne the common society of men and no one may excell in all and few at any time may attayne the best I can no lesse maruayle at then commend the deuine decree of nature whose prouidence hath wrought and appoynted the varietyes of wittes dispositions qualityes Socrates in his booke intituled Phedro calleth this excellency of nature the golde of the Gods wherby he is induced to think that they whose mindes are of so rare and fine a making are vnto them allyed and fitte of all other to be placed on the earth in the Throne of Maiesty Dame nature therefore the mother of all thinges hath placed in the world principally such in the highest Roomes of which order are kings and Princes Other some she hath not framed in such perfect wise for the clearnesse and shining glory of vertue and nobility yet she hath imparted vnto them a most sharp wit and ready capacity greate value and singuler prouidēce Herehēce the iusticer and souldiar springeth of which thrée lofty and stately partes it is already discoursed On other she hath bestowed a mind and courage that for the magnificence of theyr prince weale of theyr countrey honor of theyr City estimation and creditt of theyr owne priuate familyes

any other thing for the number of enemies which they had in some doubtfull and daungerous battaile subdued Other haue in theyr schochins starres signifiyng percase that they brought in some darcke and cloudy calamity no small light and comfort to the miserable afflicted state of their natiue countrye by this it is playne that fortitude openeth the way to worshippe and bringeth vs most redyly to the beholding the excéeding bright and cleare nature of true nobility And to the end you may vndoubtedly discerne the true value of a man and know assuredly where fortitude is where puissaunce where that high and lofty minde dwelleth the calamities which doe equally assault aswell the noble as base-borne some with griefe some with feare some with terror some with trembling may yelde vs a plaine and vndeceiueable marck and testimony For where puissaunce and fortitude is there is ingraffed a minde not to faynt for any trouble not to dispayre in any perrill not to languish in any woe and greeuous misery yea if Fortune frowne if daunger death ensue a worthy mind will not be forgetfull So that nothing may alike shew a gentle and valiant hart thē not to be vāquished which is seene in sorrow tried in trouble proued in persecution Gate Nothing might haue bene sayd in my simple opinion more truely and with better proofe For euen as contented sufferaunce in the extremest and bitterest cruelty proueth the mind to be high and diuine as stedfastnes in a state neuer so vnstayed tottering argueth an vncōquered value So truely timerousnes interror and daunger bewrayeth the faynt and feeblenesse of a base and cowardly nature Blandy No maruaile is it therefore if they which haue not bene dismayd at the terror of death they which haue with most valiaunt courage suffered bodely tormentes they that would for no manner of griefe be disturbed in minde and do any thing to stayne their honour and estimation haue bene alwayes had in great admiration The prayse and glory whereof springeth frō the contempt of death Cate. Is the contempt of death in all men equally honored Or may all those alike be worthely commended that would willingly dye Blandy You haue I assure you moued me a questiō right profitable and not vnfitt to be handled in this place For many yea to to many there are who being throwne down from an happy and pleasing state of life do abide that hardnesse féele in theyr flesh and natures such vnaccustomed bitternesse that they haue receiued into theyr hartes a voluntary disposition to depart from life and therefore in an extreme desperation of chaunge and better fortune doe themselues to death who notwithstanding are of many through ignoraunce vnderseruedly commended whereby you may note that the strength and force of true vertue is such that the counterfayte shewe thereof stirreth vp some both to admire and commēd a lott rather lamentable then laudable For I condemne them vtterly guilty of dastardly cowardise for that they hasten theyr dying day not at all shewing thereby theyr constancy but rather a minde vanquished and subdued through a small tast of vading misery Other there are which offer themselues to daunger not with iudgemēt and prudent aduise but being pricked forward with a certayne rage or fury of minde conceiued either of hatred enuy or some other earnest hoat affection Some other there are y t aduenture a daungerous attempt being moued thereunto with a very earnest hope or with a desperate feare of their present estate Such except t●●y had some certayne hope to escape daunger or gayne some priuate commodity or els were past all hope of escaping would be neuer perswaded to come to daunger therefore sith they misse the true good purpose of Action they may also want the honour due vnto so great and noble a vertue Gate What is the purpose or marke whereunto this action this contempt of death should be directed which also winneth vs that high renowne and glory Blandy The marke and end which this contempt of death ought to respect and looke vpon is the glory of Christ the honor of our Prince the cause of our countrye the defence of our name and honesty They that venture theyr liues for these poyntes are appoynted in the right course and race of true honor for that they obtayne the true and vndoubted end of vertue wherefore all other that purpose vnto themselues riches fame and glory depending on the consent of the vnlettered multitude and respect not the true soueraygne good they are rather to be accompted men puft vpp with vayne desire and ambition then valiant and couragious men Gate You haue me thinkes not vnlearnedly discoursed of fortitude wherein I cannot easelie comprehende whether my profitt or pleasure hath bene greater both which your penn yeldeth to all those that happelie peruse your labours It remayneth that you speake of Temperance and Prudence which displayed the maiesty of a King will appeare more liuely and apparant Wherefore say on I most hartely pray you Blandy Temperance standeth in the true and iust moderation of our actions comming from a kinde of propentiō or inclynation which is most deepely by nature in vs imprinted And that you may more plainely conceiue the property and worthynesse of this vertue thus when we talke of Temperance we vse to dispute There is in vs a kinde of power inferior to reason yet her next handmayd wherby we féele in vs a prones to be this or that way affected The affection therefore that is ingendred by this faculty is such that as it is most fitt good and necessary so if it watcheth not the direction and as it were the finger poynt of reason it is intollerable bréedeth oft our woe and confusion For by nature we waxe hoate angry and cholericke naturally we loue naturally we loth we pitty we despise we feare we frowne we desire we disdayne we are maruailously by kinde stirred vp with ioy and pleasure Which affections before they become actions least they should excéede theyr iust due and proportion and turne thereby to our annoy are to be tempered and moderated by reasons rule and discipline This man therefore that can thus gouerne and moderate the motiōs of the minde hath wonne the loue of Temperaunce and shall be honored of all men as one indued with a rare and singular vertue The affections therefore of the minde as ire loue pleasure and the solace it selfe of lyfe with many other are not as ignoraunt men suppose to be raced out but rather with the light and flame of reason in the best and highest mindes enkindled Lyke as in the sea such quiet calme weather is not to be desired wherewith the floud may not be with the least puffe of winde troubled but rather such open aire wherby the shipp at the stearne may sulck the Seas with a mery gale and prosperous winde euen so there is to be desired in y e minde a puffe as it were a blowing billow to

endlesse felicity and that the iusticer is assaulted although after an other manner as egerly of his enemy in the chamber as the souldiar prouoked to fight in the fielde with his deadly foe I speake not here of a bodely death but of a death whereunto bodye and soule through offence is subiect and that peace is to be preferred before warres for which we dayly pray the officers and magistrates in peace and therefore the iusticer their chiefe and principall shall haue the second place in this commonwealth as one that will not harken to corruption much lesse suffer his minde to be abused and defiled with bribery For woe woe may that cōmonwealth crie if they which sitt in iudgement will be by any maner of entisementes allured and wonne from the swéete and sacred countenaunce of iustice In consideration whereof this realme of England is in my opinion in this poynt thrise happy and blessed Gate Verely I thinke no lesse if the Lawyers of this Realme for the most part with theyr companies did as well imitate the vertue and sincere dealing as they daylye beholde the grauity of the iudges of this land their order should not at this present be subiect to a deserued disgrace such rebuke such reproch should not follow those fellowshippes and houses of courte where gentlemen descended of noble Parentage liue and suppose themselues to trace the steppes of honor and worshipp Blandy What say you Gate I speake not against the law for without it no kingdome can stand The good and well minded Lawyer I greatly reuerence The young Gentlemen which come thither either to study the law or to approue what exercise and condition of life may best fitt theyr noble natures I highly commend wishing my selfe as able to perswade thē the best as they are of a good inclination tractable The rēnant which retayne no good thing I would with all lowly duety and submission to the state I speake it were well imployed Blandy Are any of this profession idle and vnoccupyed Gate It were better they were idle then so ocupied Blandy Is it possible Gate This is the blowing billow you in your bodye proportioned spake of before which deformeth all other parts This is y e mortiferous deadly worme which hath almost with his eger and perpetuall gnawing and biting worne the legges to the bone This is the impostumation which if it be not in time pricked will with his stincking contagiō poison all This order is the nurse mother of those mates which at their seasons styrre hither and thither to moue brawles It is a worlde to beholde what new and straunge natures they haue clapt on how they transforme them selues There where there is no hope of gayne he stādeth as he thinketh gaylye but yet as he is a counterfaite looking to be worshipped and will not stick so vnmanerly a puppye he is to take the vpper place of right good gentlemen Here the same man hoping to gayne of a poore and simple clowne of the Countrye fortye pence is become his slaue and drudge O that Georgias Leontinus did lyue in some English mans hart and stomack who reprouing the rulers of Larissa because they had receaued into the company of pleaders any kinde of people was wont to say that euen as plasterers of any kynde of stuffe would make Morter or any thing of lyke sort So there were so conning crafismē in Larissa which of any condition and kinde of men would make a Lawyar Cicero the most famous orator and learned in the lawes that euer Rome nourisht whē they brake their lists and lymits grewe disordered nippeth most wisely those of his owne order in this māner Proueniūt nobis oratores noui stulti adolescētuli So that I pray God most hartely it fareth not with vs the inhabitants of this noble Iland as it did after the forewarnings and shewes of these two not so faythfull to their Countrye as inséene in the state of their Commonwealth with the people of Larissa and the Cittizens of Rome For not long after these people and florishing Citties fell downe headlong to the ground For how was it possible that the state of those Empires could long stand stedfast when the chiefe and principall pillers that should susteyne the waight and burthen of so huge so high so honorable and ample a gouernement became rotten Which ruine and ouerthrowe of the whole Common-wealth appeared then not so much by decayed houses which were aunciēt of great nobility as by erecting mānors where dyrt and dong was found In consideration whereof I let to speake of the hills and mountaynes raysed lands and possessions purchased aboundance of wealth gathered and forst together by men in our nation neither wise nor learned politike nor prudent temperate liberall nor pitifull Blandy Is it not a poynt and chiefe poynt thinke you of great pollicye and wisedome to aduaunce our stock and family Is it not in the opinion of most men a happy thing to be rich doe not all men delight in and therefore desire a fayre large and beautifull house To be Lord of many Mannors to receaue many reuenewes doth it not in gender great fauour bring much worshipp and reuerence Gate If you folowe herein the iudgement of the multitude I assent If you forgett their blinde and grosse Imaginations and cleaue to the assured and vndeteaueable directions of wise men you shall briefely vnderstand what is séemely in and best becommeth a Lawyar Where the the minde is styrred with a desier to be aduaunced and to rayse his name and bloud frō a meane to a higher degrée there is the minde so vexed with diuersitye that at length it yeldeth to some great and greuous extremitye But whē the minde is taught that the chiefe and soueraigne good resteth in an honest and vertuous lyfe there are the cogitations calme and swéete there content holdeth desier restrayned from any ambitious affection This man that is thus affected séeketh altogether to please and inrich his minde prouideth for no more then will suffise nature holdeth it a perilous thing to be rich and is assuredly perswaded that aboundance and flowing of worldly wealth rather hindereth then helpeth rather plucketh downe then erecteth the courage and aspiring minde of a noble nature The Iusticer therefore and Lawiar which is the right hand of a Prince ought if he purpose to kéepe the state condition of his lyfe cleare and vnsteyned to lyue in the contemplatiō of iustice feede and nourish his minde with the lone of vertue thinking it a thing farr vnfitt for his high calling to be déemed in his desiers a Marchaunt in his order and course of lyfe an artificer The Souldiar who hath the third place in this Cōmonwealth of whose lyfe nature and propertye we purpose presently to treate of yeldeth the desire of riches to the Marchaunt déeming it for his condition of lyfe and profession a foule matter to be addicted to such trash dyrt and pelfe Blandy