thou canst geeue mee to redeeme thy parson for I let thee to weete that I am not contented any phlosopher shoold perysh in my countrey because you other philosophers say that yow wyll willyngly renounce the goods of the world syth yow can not haue it The phylosopher Silenus aunswered hym Mee thinketh kyng Mydas that thou canst better execut tyrāny then to talk of phylosophy for wee make no accompt that our bodies bee taken but that our willes bee at lyberty Thy demaund is very symple to demaund raunsome of mee for my parson whether thow takest mee for a phylosopher or no. If I bee not a phylosopher what mooueth thee to feare to keepe mee in thy realme for sooner shooldst thow make mee a tyrant then I thee a phylosopher If thou takest mee for a phylosopher why doost thow demaund money of mee sins thow knowst I am a phylosopher I am a craftesman I am a poet and also a musicion So that the time that thow in heapyng vp riches hast consumed the selfsame tyme haue I in learning sciences spent Of a phylosopher to demaund eyther gold or siluer for raunsome of hys parson is either a woord in mockery or els an inuention of tyranny For sithens I was borne in the world riches neuer came into my hands nor after them hath my hart lusted If thou kyng Mydas wooldst geeue mee audience and in the fayth of a prynce beeleeue mee I woold tell thee what is the greatest thyng and next vnto that the second that the gods may geeue in this life and it may bee that it shal bee so pleasaunt vnto thee to here and so profytable for thy lyfe that thou wilt pluck mee from my enemies and I may diswade thee from tirannies When king Mydas hard these woords hee gaue him lycence to say these two things swearing vnto him to heare him wyth as much pacyence as was possible The phylosopher Silenus hauyng lycence to speak freely taking an instrument in his hands beeganne to play and syng in thys wyse The senate of the gods when they forethought On earthly wights to still some ryall grace the chiefest gyft the heauenly powers had wrought had bene to sow his seede in barrayne place But when by steps of such diuine constraint they forced man perforce to fyxe his line The highest good to help his bootles plaint had been to slyp his race of slender twine For then the tender babes both want to know the deare delight that lyfe doth after hale And eke the dread that griefly death dooth shew Er Charons bote to Stigeanshore dooth sal◠THese two thinges the philosopher proued with so high and naturall reasons that it was a marueylous matter to see with what vehemency Sylenas the philosopher sang them and with what bitternes Mydas the tirant wept Without doubt the sentences were marueilous profound which the philosopher spake and great reason had that king to esteeme it so much For if wee doo prepare our selues to consider whereof wee are and what wee shall bee that is to weete that wee are of earth and that wee shall retourn to earth Wee woold not cease to weepe nor sygh One of the greatest vanities which I fynd among the children of vanity is that they imploy them selues to consyder the influences of the starres the nature of the planets the motion of the heauens and they wil not consider them selues of which consyderacion they shoold take some profyt For man geeuing his minde to think on straunge things commeth to forget his own propre O if wee woold consider the corruption whereof wee are made the fylth whereof wee are ingendred the infinit trauaile wherew t wee are borne the long tediousnes wherew t wee are norished the great necessities and suspicions wherein wee liue and aboue all the great peryll where in wee dye I sweare and affirme that in such consideracion wee fynd a thousand occasions to wysh death and not one to desire life The children of vanyty are occupyed many years in the schools to learn rethoryk they excercise them selues in philosophy they here Aristottel they learn Homere without booke they study Cicero they are occupied in Xenophon they herken Titus Liuius they forget not Aulus Gelius and they know Ouide yet for all this I say that wee can not say that the man knoweth lytell which doth know him self Eschines the philosopher sayd well that it is not the least but the chiefest part of phylosophy to know man and wherefore hee was made for if man woold deepely consyder what man is hee shoold fynd mo things in him which woold moue him to humble him self then to stirre him to bee proud If wee doo beeholdyt without passion and if wee doo examin it with reasō I know not what there is in man O miserable and fraile nature of man the which taken by it self is littel woorth and compared with an other thing is much lesse For man seeth in brute beasts many things which hee doth ēuy and the beasts doo see much more in mē whereō yf they had reason they woold haue cōpassion The excellency of the soule layd asyde and the hope which wee haue of eternall lyfe yf man doo compare the captyuyty of men to the lyberty of beasts wyth reason wee may see that the beasts doo liue a peacible life and that which men doo lead is but a long death If wee prepare our selues to consyder from the tyme that both man and beast come into this world vntill such time as they both dy and in how many things the beasts are better then men with reason wee may say that nature lyke a pitifull mother hath shewed her self to beasts that shee doth handle vs as an iniust stepmother Let vs beeginne therefore to declare more particularly the original of the one and the beginning of the other wee shall see how much better the brute beasts are endowed how the myserable men are disherited ¶ The auctour followeth his purpose excellently compareth the mysery of men with the lyberty of beasts Cap. xxxiij WE ought deepely to consyder that no wilde nor tame beast is so long beefore hee come to his shape as the myserable man is who wyth corruption of blood vile matter is nine moneths hyd in the womb of his mother Wee see the beast when shee is great if neede require doth labor all exercises of husbandry so that shee is as ready to labor when shee is great as if shee were empty The contrary happeneth to women which whē they are bigge with childe are weary with going troubled to bee layd they ryde in chariots through the market places they eat lytle they brooke not that they haue eaten they hate that which is profytable loue that which doth thē harm Fynally a woman with childe is contented with nothing and shee fretteth and vexeth with her self Sithens therefore it is true that wee are noysome and troublesome to our mothers when they beare vs in theire wombs why
lyeth truly I thinke none O vnkind mothers my penne had almost called you cruel stepmothers since you lay vp in your hart the cursed mouâ—ke of the ground and sende out of your houses that which sprang of your bloud And if women shold say vnto me that they are weake feable tender that now they haue found a good nourse to this I aunswere that the nourse hath smal loue to the child which she nourisheth when she seeth the vngentlenes of the mother that bare it For truly she alone doth norishe the child with loue that heretofore hath borne it with paine The second reason is that it is a thing very iust that women should nourishe their children to the end they may be lyke vnto their conditions For otherwise they are no children but are enemyes for the child that doth not reuerence his mother that bare him can not enioye a prosperous life Synce the intention of the parentes in bringing vp their children is for none other purpose but to be serued of them when they are old they shal vnderstande that for this purpose ther is nothing more necessary then the milke of the proper mother for wher the child sucketh the milke of a straunger it is vnlikely that it should haue the condicions of the mother If a kidde sucke a shepe they shal perceiue it shal haue the wolle more faire the nature more gentle then if he had sucked a Goate which hath the wolle more hard of nature is more wild wherin the prouerbe is verefied not from whence thou commest but wherof thou feedest It auayleth a man much to haue a good inclinacion but it helpeth him much more from his infancye to be wel taught For in the end we profite more with the customes wherwith we lyue then we do by nature from whence we came The third reason is that women ought to nourish their owne children because they shold be hole mothers not vnperfect for the woman is counted but halfe a mother that beareth it likewise halfe a mother that nourisheth it but she is the hole mother that both beareth it nourisheth it After the duetie considered vnto the father that hath created vs vnto the sonne that hath redeamed vs me thinketh next we owe the greatest duty vnto the mother that hath borne vs in her body and much more it is that we should beare vnto her if she had nourished vs with her owne breastes For when the good child shall behold his mother he ought more to loue her bycause she nourished hym wyth her mylke thenne bycause she hath borne hym in her body ¶ The Aucthour stil perswadeth women to giue their owne children sucke Cap. xix IN the yere of the foundacion of Rome fiue hundred two After the obstinate cruel warre betwene Rome Carthage where the renowmed captaines wer Hannibal for the Carthagians Scipio for the Romaines sone after that warre followed the warre of Macedonie against kinge Philip The which when it was ended that of Siria began against Antiochus king of Siria For in .630 yeres the Romanes had alwaies continuall warres in Asia in Affricke or in Europe The noble Romanes sent the consul Cornelius Scipio brother to the great Scipio the Affrican for captaine of that warre And after many battayles fortune shewed her force in a Citie called Sepila the which is in Asia the great where king Antiochus was ouercome and all his realme discomfited for trees that haue their rootes plucked vppe must nedes within short time lose their fruites After that kinge Antiochus was ouercome his land spoiled Cornelius Scipio came vnto Rome triumphinge for the victorie that he had of Asia so that as his brother for the victorie that he had of Affrica was called Affricane so he was called Scipio the Asian because he vanquished Asia The captaines of Rome loued honour so much that they would no other reward nor recompence of their trauaile but that they shoulde geue them the renowme of the realme which they had ouercome Truly they had reason for the noble hartes ought lytle to esteme the increase of their riches ought greatly to esteme the perpetuite of their good name As Sextus Cheronensis saithe in his third booke De ambigua iusticia that Cornelius Scipio had a long time the gouerment of the people forasmuch as he was consul censour and Dictatour of Rome for he was not onely hardy and couragious but also he was sage and wise which thinge ought greatly to be esteamed in a man For Aristotle doth not determine it which of these two is most excelleÌ„t eyther stoutnes to fight in the warres or policye to rule in peace Scipio therfore being Dictatour which was an office then as the Emperour is now it chaunced that the x. captaines which had bene with him in the warres violently fought to haue entred into the Monastery of the virgines vestalles wherfore the Dictatour commaunded their heades to be cut of For the Romaines punished more cruelly those that only required the virgins vestalls then those that forced the maried matrones Cornelius Scipio was besought of many in Rome that he would moderate chaunge his so cruel sentence And he which most in this case did importune him was his brother Scipio the Affrican whose praier was not accepted how be it in the end they sayde the captaines wer pardoned by the request of a sister of the said Dictatour Scipio the Affrican And bycause he blamed his brother Scipio that he had done more for the doughter of his nourse then for the sonne of his proper mother he aunswered I let the wete brother that I take her more for my mother that brought me vp and did not beare me then she which hath borne me and in my infancye hath forsaken me And since I haue had her for my true mother it is but reasonne that I haue thys for my deare and welbeloued sister These were the woordes which passed betwene these two brethren I haue diligently red in holy and prophane wrytinges that many tirauntes haue caused their owne mothers to be killed whiche bare them but I could neuer find that they haue done any discurtesye or disobedience to the nourses whyche gaue them milke For the cruell tirauntes doo thirste after the bloude of others but they feare theym whose milke they sucke The fourthe reasonne that byndethe womenne to nourishe their children is to kepe them in more obedience for if the fathers liue long time they must of force come into the handes of their children And let not olde fathers make their accompts saying that during the time that they shall haue the gouernement of the house their children shal be kepte in obedience for in so doing they might abuse them selues For yong men in their youth fele not the trauayles of this life nor knowe not as yet what it meaneth to make prouision for householde For to the stomacke that is ful and cloyed with eating al meates
this good Emperour sucking her dugge but a while was constrained to passe all his lyfe in paine Thirdely Princesses great Ladies ought to know and vnderstand the complexion of their children to the end that accordyng to the same they myghte seke pitieful nources that is to wete if the child wer cholorycke flegmaticke sanguine or melancolye For looke what humour the child is of of the same qualitie the milke of the nource should be If vnto an old corrupted mā they ministre medecines conformable to hys diseases for to cure hym why then should not the mother seeke a holesome nource to the tender babe agreable to his complexion to nourish hym And if thou sayest it is iuste that the flesh old and corrupted be susteined I tel the likewise that it is much more necessary that the children should be curiously well nourished to multiplye the world For in the end we do not say it is time that the yong leaue the bread for the aged but contrarye it is time that the old leaue the bread for the yong Aristotle in the booke De secretis secretorum Iunius Rusticus in the .x. boke de gestis Persarum say that the vnfortunat king Darius who was ouercome by Alexander the great had a doughter of a merueilous beautie And they saye that the nource which gaue sucke to this doughter all the time that she did nourishe it did neither eate nor drinke any thing but poison and at the end of .iii yeares when the child was weyned plucked from the dugge she did eate nothing but Colubers and other venemous wormes I haue heard say many times that the Emperours had a custome to nourish their heires children with poysons when they were yong to the entent that they should not be hurt by poyson afterward whē they wer old And this errour commeth of those which presume much and know litel And therfore I say that I haue heard say without sayeng I haue read it For some declare histories more for that they haue heard say of others then for that they haue read them selues The truth in this case is that as we vse at this present to were Cheynes of gold about our necks or Iewels on our fingers so did the Gentils in times past a rynge on their fingers or some Iewel in their bosome replenished with poison And bycause the Panims did neither feare hel nor hope for heauen they had that custome for if at any times in battaile they should find them selues in distresse they had rather end their liues with poison then to receyue any iniury of their enemies Then if it were true that those Princes had bene nourished with the poison they would not haue caried it about thē to haue ended their lyues Further I saye that the princes of Persia did vse when they had any child borne to geue him milke to sucke agreable to the complectiō he had Since this doughter of Darius was of melancholye humour they determined to bring her vp with venim and poyson because all those which are pure malancolye do liue with sorow dye with pleasure Ingnacius the Venetian in the life of the .v. emperours Palleolus which wer valiaunt emperours in Constantinople saieth that the second of the name called Palleolles the hardie was after the .xl. yeares of his age so troubled with infirmities and diseases that alwayes of the .xii. monethes of the yeare he was in his bed sycke ix monethes and beyng so sicke as he was the affaires and busines of the empire were but slenderly done loked vnto For the prince can not haue so small a feuer but the people in the commen wealth must haue it double This Emperour Palleolus had a wyfe whose name was Huldouina the which after she had brought all the Phisitions of Asia vnto her husbande and that she had ministred vnto him all the medecins she could learne to healpe him and in the end seyng nothing auaile ther came by chaunce an olde woman a Gretian borne who presumed to haue great knowlege in herbes and sayd vnto the empresse noble Empresse Huldouina If thou wilt that the Emperour thy husband doe liue longe see that thou chafe angre and vexe him euerye weeke at the least twyse for he is of a pure malancoly humour and therfore he that doth him pleasure augmenteth his disease he that vexeth him shal prolong his life The empresse Huldouina folowed the counsel of this Greeke woman which was occasion that the emperour lyued afterwardes sounde and hole many yeres so that of the .ix. monethes which he was accustomed to be sicke euery yeare in .xx. yeares afterwardes he was not sicke .iii. monethes For wher as this Greke woman commaunded the empresse to angre her husbande but twise in the weeke she accustomeablye angred hym .iiii. times in the daye Fourthly the good mother ought to take hede that the nource be verye temperate in eatyng so that she should eate litell of diuerse meates and of those few dishes she should not eate to much To vnderstand that thyng ye must know that the white milke is no other then blod which is soden and that whiche causeth the good or euill bloud commeth oft tymes of no other thyng but that eyther the personne is temperate or els a glutton in eating and therfore it is a thyng both healthfull and necessary that the nource that nourisheth the child do eate good meates for among men and women it is a general rule that in litle eating ther is no daunger and of to much eating there is no profit As all the Philosophers saye the wolfe is one of the beastes that deuoureth most and is most gredyest and therfore he is most feared of al the sheppardes But Aristotle in his third booke de Animalibus sayeth that when the wolfe doth once feele her selfe great with yong in all her lyfe after she neuer suffereth her selfe to be couppled with the wolfe againe For otherwyse if the wolfe should yearely bryng forth .vii. or .viii. whealpes as commonly she doth and the shepe but one lambe there woulde be in shorte space more wolues then shepe Besides all this the wolfe hath an other propertie whyche is that though she be a beast most deuouryng and gredy yet when she hath whealped she eateth very temperately and it is to the end to nouryshe here whealpes and to haue good milke And besydes that she doth eate but once in the day the whych the dogge wolfe doth prouide both for the byche and her whealpes Truly it is a monsterous thyng to see and noysome to heare and no lesse sclaunderous to speake that a wolfe whyche geueth sucke to .viii. whealpes eateth but one onely kynde of meate and a woman whych geueth sucke but to one chylde alone will eate of eyght sortes of meates And the cause hereof is that the beast doth not eate but to susteine nature and the woman doth not eate but to satisfie her pleasure Princesses and great Ladies ought to
watche narrowly to know wheÌ„ and how much the nources doe eate whiche doe nourish their children For the child is so tender and the milke so delicate that with eatyng of sondrye meates they become corrupte and with eatyng muche they waxe fat If the children suck those which are fatte and grosse they are commonly sicke and if they sucke milke corrupted they ofte tymes go to bed hole and in the mornyng be found dead Isodore in his etimologies saieth that menne of the prouince of Thrace were so cruell that the one dyd eate the other and they dyd not onely this but also furder to shew more their immanitie in the sculles of those that were deade they dranke the bloud of him that was lately alyue Thoughe men were so cruell to eate mennes flesh and to drynk the bloud of the vaines yet the women â—hich nourished their children wer so temperat and moderat in eatyng thaâ—â—hey dyd eate nothyng but nettelles sodden and boyled in goates milke And â—â—ause the women of Thrace were so moderate in eatinge the philosopher Solon Solynon brought some to Athens for the auncientes sought no lesse to haue good women in the commen wealthe then to haue hardy and valiant captaines in the warre The auctoure addeth .iii. other conditions to a good nourse that giueth sucke that they drinke no wine that she be honest and chiefly that she be well conditioned Chap. xxi THe Princesses and great ladies may know by this example what difference there is betwene the women of Thrace which are fed with nettelles only and haue brought forth suche fierce men and the women of our tyme whiche through their delicate and excessiue eatyng bryng forthe suche weake and feable children Fiftly the Ladies ought to be very circumspecte not onely that nources eate not much that they be not gready but also that they be in drinkynge wine temperat the which in old time was not called wine but â—enym The reason hereof is apparant and manifest ynough for if we doe forbyd the fat meates which lieth in the stomacke we should then much more forbidde the moyst wine whyche washeth all the vaines of the body And further I say that as the child hath no other nourishement but the milke only that the milke proceadeth of bloud that bloud is nourished of the wine and that wine is naturally whot from the first to the last I say the woman whyche drinketh wine and geueth the child sucke doth as she that maketh a greate fire vnder the panne wher ther is but a litle milke so that the panne burneth and the milke runneth ouer I will not denaye but that some times it maye chaunce that the child shal be of a strong complexioÌ„ and the nource of a feable and weake nature and theÌ„ the child would more substanciall milke wheÌ„ the womeÌ„ is not able to geue it him In such a case though with other thinges milke may be conferred I allow that the nource drink a litel wine but it ought to be so litel and so well watered that it should rather be to take awaye the vnsauorines of the water then for to tast of any sauour of the wine I do not speake this without a cause for the nource being sicke and feable of her selfe and her milke not substancial it ofte times moueth her to eate more then necessitie requireth and to drinke wine which is somewhat nutritiue so that they supposyng to giue the nource triacle do giue her poyson to destroy her child Those excellent auncient Romaines if they had bene in our time and that we had deserued to haue bene in their time thoughe our time for beyng Christians is better they had saued vs from this trauaile for they were so temperat in eatyng meates and so abstinent in drynkyng wynes that they dyd not only refrayne the drinkyng therof but also they would not abyde to smell it For it was a greater shame vnto a Romayne woman to drynke wyne then to be deuorced from her husbande Dionisius Alicarnaseus in his boke of the lawes of the Romaynes sayed that Romulus was the fyrste founder of Rome and that he occupyed hym selfe more in buildyng houses to amplifie Rome then in constituting lawes for the gouernement of the commen wealth But emongest .xv. lawes which he made the seuenth therof was that no Romaine woman on paine of death shold be so hardy to drinke wine within the walles of Rome The same Historian saieth that by the occasion of this law the custome was in Rome that when any Romain Ladye would drinke wine or make any solempne feast she must nedes goe oute of Rome where euery one hadde their gardens and dwellyng place because the smell also of wine was prohibited and forhidden women within the circuite of Rome If Plinie do not deceyue vs in his .xxiiii. booke of his naturall history It was an auncient custome in Rome that at eche time that parentes met both men and women they did kisse the one the other in the face in token of peace and this ceremony began first for that they would smel whether the woman hadde dronke any wine And if perchaunce she sauored of wine the Censor mighte haue banished her from Rome And if her kinseman found her without Rome he might frely and without any daunger of lawe put her to death because within the circuite and walles of Rome no pryuat man by Iustice could put any Romaine to death As aboue is rehersed Romulus was he which ordeined the paine for dronkardes and Ruptilius was he which ordeined the paine for adulterers And betwene Romulus and Ruptilius there was .xxxii. yeares so that they ordeyned this strayght lawe for dronckardes a long time before they dyd the law for adulterers For if a woman be a dronckarde or harlot truly they are both great faultes and I can not tell whether of them is worst for beyng a harlot the woman loseth her name and for being a dronckard she loseth her fame and the husbande hys goods Then if women for the honestie of their personnes only are bound to be temperat in eating and drincking the woman which nourisheth giueth the child sucke ought to be much more corrected and sober in this case For in her is concurrante not only the grauitie of their personnes but the health and lyfe also of the creature whiche she nourisheth Therfore it is mete that the nource be kepte from wine since the honour of the one and the lyfe of the other is in peryll Sixtly the princesses and great Ladies ought to take hede that their nources be not gotten with child And the reason herof is that in that time wheÌ„ the woman is with child her natural course is stopped and that corruption is mingled with the pure bloud so that she thinking to giue the child mylke to nourish it geueth it poison to destroye it And nothyng can be more vniuste then to put the childe whiche is alredy borne and aliue in daunger for that which
and the house wherein she dwelleth euell combred For suche one doeth importune the lorde trobleth the ladye putteth in hazard the childe and aboue all is not contented with her selfe Finallye fathers for geuynge to much libertie to their nources oftetimes are the cause of many practises which they do wherwith in the end they are greued with the death of their children which foloweth Amongest all these which I haue red I saye that of the auncient Romaine princes of so good a father as Drusius Ge manicus was neuer came so wycked a sonne as Caligula was beyng the fourth Emperour of Rome for the historiographers were not satisfyed to enryche and prayse the excellencies of hys father neither ceased they to blame and reprehende the infamyes of his sonne And they say that hys naughtines proceadeth not of the mother which bare hym but of the nource which gaue hym sucke For oftimes it chaunceth that the tree is grene and good when it is planted and afterwardes it becommeth drye and wythered only for beyng caryed into another place Dion the greke in the second boke of Cesars sayeth that a cursed woman of Campania called Pressilla nouryshed and gaue sucke vnto thys wycked childe She had agaynst al nature of women her breastes as heary as the berdes of men and besides that in runnyng a horse handelyng her staffe shoting in the Crosbowe fewe yong men in rome were to be compared vnto her It chaunced on a time that as she was geuyng sucke to Caligula for that she was angry she tore in peces a yong child with the bludde there of annoynted her breastes and so she made Caligula the yong childe to sucke together both blud and milke The sayed Dion in hys booke of the lyfe of this Emperour Caligula sayeth that the women of Campania whereof the sayed Prescilla was had this custome that when they would geue their teat to the childe firste they dyd anoynte the nipple with the bludde of a hedge hogge to the end their children myght be more fyerce and cruell And so was this Caligula for he was not contented to kyll a man onely but also he sucked the bludde that remayned on his swerde and lyked it of with his tong The excellent Poet Homer meanyng to speake playnely of the crueltyes of Pirrus sayed in his Odisse of him suche wordes Pirrus was borne in Grece nourished in Archadye and brought vp with tigers milke whiche is a cruel beast As if more plainelye he had sayed Pirrus for beyng borne in Grece was Sage for that he was brought vp in Archadie he was strong and couragyous and for to haue sucked Tigars milke he was veray proude and câ—uell Hereof maye be gathered that the great Gretian Pirrus for wantinge of good milke was ouercome with euell condicions The selfe same historian Dion sayeth in the lyfe of Tiberius that he was a great dronckarde And the cause herof was that the nource dyd not onelye drynke wyne but also she weined the child with soppes dypped in wyne And wythout doubte the cursed woman had done lesse euill if in the steade of milke she had geueÌ„ the child poison wythout teachinge it to drinke wine wherfore afterwardes he lost his renowme For truly the Romayne Empire had lost lytell if Tiberius had died beyng a child and it had wonne muche if he had neauer knowen what drinkyng of wyne had mente I haue declared all that whyche before is mencioned to thentente that Princesses and great Ladyes myghte be aduertised that sinse in not nouryshyng their children they shewe them selues crewel yet at the least in prouidyng for them good nourses they should shew them selues pitifull For the children oftetymes folow more the condicion of the milke which they sucke then the condicion of their mothers whyche broughte them forth or of thâ—ir fathers whych begot them Therfore they oughte to vse much circumspectioÌ„ herin for in them consisteth the fame of the wyues the honoure of the husbande and the wealth of the children Of the disputations before Alexander the great concernyng the time of the suckyng of babes Chap. xxii QVintus Curtius sayeth that after the great Alexander whych was the last kyng of the Macedonians and first Emperour of the grekes hadde ouercome kynge Darius and that he sawe hym selfe onely lorde of all Asia he went to rest in babylon for among menne of warre there was a custome that after they had ben long in the warres euery on should retire to his owne house King Philip whych was father of kyng Alexander always councelled his sonne that he should lead with him to the warres valiaunt captaines to conquere the world and that out of his realmes and dominioÌ„s he should take chose the wysest men and best experimented to gouerne the empire He had reason in such wyse to councell hys sonne for by the councell of Sages that is kept and mainteined whych by the strengthe of valiaunt men is gotten and wonne Alexander the great therefore beyng in Babilon after he had conquered all the countrye since all the citye was vitious and hys armye so long without warres some of his owne men began to robbe one another others to playe their owne some to force women and others to make banquettes and feastes and when some were droncke others raysed quarels striffes and dyscentions so that a man could not tell whether was greater the ruste in their armours or the corruptions in their customes For the property of mans malice is that when the gate is open to idlenes infynite vyces enter into the house Alexander the great seing the dyssolution which was in his armye and the losse which myght ensewe hereof vnto his great empire commaunded streightly that they should make a shew and iuste thoroughe Babilon to the end that the men of warre should excersise their forces thereby And as Aristotle sayethe in the booke of the questions of Babylon the turney was so muche vsed amongest them that sometimes they caryed awaye more dead and wounded men then of a bloudy battaile of the enemy Speaking accordyng to the law of the gentiles whiche loked not glorie for their vertues nor feared hell to dye at the torney the commendemant of Alexander was veray iuste for that doyng as he dyd to the armye he defaced the vyce whych dyd wast it and for him selfe he got perpetuall memorye and also it was cause of muche suretye in the common weale This good Prince not contented to excersise his armye so but ordeined that daily in his presence the philosophers should dispute and the question wherin they shold dyspute Alexander him selfe would propounde â–ª wherof folowed that the great Alexander was made certayne of that wherin he doubted and so by his wisedom all men exercysed their craftes and wittes For in this tyme of idlenes the bokes wer no lesse marred with dust because they were not opened then the weapons were with rust which were not occupied There is a booke of Aristotle intituled the
auncient and renowmed oratours of Rome one was called Metellus Numidicus the whiche one daye makinge his oration to the Senate sayde these wordes Worthy Senatours I let you vnderstande that I haue greatly studied what the counselles should be that I ought to geue ye touching mariage For the counsell rashe and sodeyne oftentymes is not profitable I doe not perswade you at all to mary neyther doe saye that ye shall not mary but it is true that if ye can lyue without a woman yee shall be free from many troubles But what shall we doe O ye Romaines synce that nature hath made vs such that to kepe women it is a great trouble and to lyue without them it is more daunger I dare saye if in this case my opinion myght be accepted that it should not be euyll done to resiste the lust since it coÌ„meth by fittes and not to take wiues which are continuall troubles These were the wordes which Metellus Numidicus spake the which were not very acceptable nor pleasaunt to the fathers being in the Senate for they would not that he shuld haue spoken such wordes against mariage For there is no estate in this lyfe wherein fortune sheweth her force more then in this state of matrimonie A man maye proue them in this sort that if the fashions and vsages of the auncientes were diuerse as concernynge ordinaunce truly there was no lesse contrarietie in their contractes and ceremonies Boccase the Florentine in a booke that he made of the mariages of the auncientes reciteth many and sondrie customes that they vsed in making the mariages whereof he telleth some not for to allowe nor maintaine them but to reproue and condemne them For the wryters did neuer wryte the vices of some but onely to make the vertues of others more clerely to be knowen The Cymbres had a custome that when they would marie after the mariage was nowe agreed vpon he that was made sure shoulde pare his nayles and sende them to his wife that should be and she in like sorte sent hers vnto him And then when she of him and he of her had receiued the nayles the one of the other they toke them selues maried for euer and did afterwardes liue together as man and wyfe The Theutonians had a ceremonie that the man that was sure rounded the heere of her to whome he was made sure and she did the lyke vnto him and when the one suffered the other to doe so immediatly they celebrated mariage The Armenians hadde a lawe that the brydegrome should pinche the right eare of the bryde and the bryde should likewyse pinche the lefte eare of the brydegrome and then they tooke them selues maried for euer The Elamites had a custome that both parties whiche were made sure pricked one the others litle finger vntil they bledde the whiche bloud they did sucke naturally and this done they were maried The Numidians vsed that the brydegrome and the bryde shoulde gather together a pece of earth and with their spet tell they tempered it and therewith the one annointed the foreheade of the other so that the mariage betwene theym was to annoynte the one and the other with a litle claye When those of Dace would be maried the brydegrome and the bryde eche one by them selues were brought in chariottes the one metinge the other and when they came togethers the brydegrome gaue a newe name to the bryde and she likewyse to him and from that tyme forewarde they liued as in lawfull matrimony When those of Hungary would marye the one sent vnto the other a familier god made of syluer whom they called Lares and when they had receiued the God of eche other the mariage was finished and they lyued as man and wyfe The Siconians had a custome and lawe that when they should mary the one sent to the other a shooe and that receiued of both they agreed to the mariage The Tharentins had a custome that when they did marie they set them selues at the table to eate and the one did feade the other so that if by mishappe the one should chaunce to feade him selfe that mariage was not estemed for constant nor good The Scithes had a custome and they kept it as a lawe that when men and women should marie as nowe they touche the handes the one of the other so did they them touche with their feete afterwards they set together their knees then they touched with their handes and then they sette their buttockes together and so their heades and in the ende they imbraced the one the other All these ceremonies done the mariages were assured and sufficiently confirmed and so we might saye of many others but to auoyde tediousnes we will folowe our matter ¶ How Princesses and great Ladies ought to loue their husbandes and that loue ought not by coniurations and enchauntementes to be procured but by wisedome honestie and vertue desired Cap. iiii ALl men that desire to achieue and obteyne any worthy thinge in this life inuente and searche many meanes to come thereunto for men by good prouision and circumspection compasse sondrie thinges whiche otherwise they should loose onlesse thei would by force take them As in the mariages of our christian religion wherin we doe not suffer that the man the wife be parentes and nigh of bloud leauing a part that the one is a maÌ„ and the other a woman that the one is strong the other weake oft times it chaunceth that there is betwene the man and the wyfe more contrarietie in conditions then diuersitie in linage I would saye therfore for healthfull counsel necessary aduice to the great dames princesses to al other wiues since they must nedes eate and drinke with their husbandes that they must sleape treate be conuersaunt talke finally liue die with their husbands that they should vse muche diligence to beare with their conditions for to say the trothe the wife ought in all thinges to folowe the conditions of her husband the husbaÌ„d in some thing to beare with the coÌ„ditions of his wife So that she by her pacience ought to suffer the imperfâ—ctions of him and he likewise by his wisdome ought to dissemble the importunities of her and in such sorte they ought to agree loue togethers that all those of the common wealth should reioyce at their behauiours For maried men which are quarellers sedicious persones the neighbours in steade of weeping wailing for the depriuation of their life demaund giftes the one of the other for bringing newes of their 〈◊〉 â—â—mit that the husband be couetous vnthrifty that he be deformed in his body that he be rude in condition base of linage rashe in his speache in aduersities fearefull in prosperities carelesse in the end being as he is husbande we can not denie but in the house he ought to be chiefe maister For the which it is also necessary that we geue now vnto the wyues some healthfull counsell
gladsome mynde he trained was to spend Synce that his youth which slippeth loe by stelth To waite on me he freely did commend Since he such heapes of lingring harmes did wast Aye to contente my wanton youthly wil And that his breath to fade did passe so fast To glut their thrust that thus his bloud did spill Though great the dutie be which that I owe Vnto his graued ghost and â—indred moulde Yet loe me seames my duetie well I showe Perfourming that my feble power coulde For since for me vntwined was his threede Of giltles life that ought to purchase breath Can reasons doome conclude I ought to dreede For his decaye to clyme the steppes of death In wretched earth my father graued lyes My deere mother hath ronne her rase of life The pride of loue no more can dawnt mine eies My wasted goodes ar shronke by fortunes strife My honours sone eclipsed is by fate My yong delight is loe fordone by chaunce My broken life these passed happes so hate As can my graued hart no more aduaunce And nowe remaines to duetie with my phere No more but refuse loe my yrkesome life With willing mynde followed eke with drere Whiche I resigne as sitteth for a wife And thou Sinoris whiche Iunos yoke doest craue To presse my corps to feede thy liking lust The route of Homers gods the graunt to haue In steade of roiall feates a throne of dust In chaunge of costlie robes and riche araie A simple winding sheete they deigne the giue And eke in stede of honest wedlockes staie They singe thy dirge and not vouchsaue the liue In place of himens hie vnfiled bedde They laie thée vp in closure of thy graue In steed with precious meates for to be fedde They make the wormes for fitter praie thee haue In steed of songe and musikes tuned sowne They waite on thée with loude lamenting voice In chaunge of ioyfull life and hie renowne Thy cruell death may sprede with wretched noise For you great gods that stalled be on hie Should not be iust ne yet suche titles clame Vnles this wretche ye ruthles cause to die That liueth nowe to sclaunder of your name And thou Dian that haunted courtes doost shonne Knowst with what great delight this life I leaue And when the race of spending breath is donne Will perse the soile that did my phere receaue ¶ And if perchaunce the paled ghostes despise Suche fatall fine with grudge of thankeles minde Yet at the least the shamefast liuing eies Shall haue a glasse rare wysely giftes to finde Wherein I will that Lucres secte shall gase But none that lyue like Helens line in blase AND when the praier was ended that this faire and vertuous Camma made she dranke and gaue to drynke to Sinoris of this cuppe of poyson who thought to drynke no other but good wyne and water and the case was suche that he died at noone daies and she likewyse in the eueninge after And truly her death of all Grece with as great sorowe was lamented as her life of all men was desired Princesses and great Ladies may moste euidently perceiue by the examples herein conteyned howe honest and honourable it is for them to loue and endeuoure them selues to be beloued of their husbandes and that not onely in their lyfe but also after their deathe For the wyfe to serue her husbande in his life seameth oft tymes to proceade of feare but to loue and honour him in his graue proceadeth of loue Princesses and great Ladies ought not to doe that which many other women of the common people doe that is to wete to seke some drinkes and inuente some shamefull sorceries to be beloued of their husbandes for albeit it is a great burden of conscience and lacke of shame in lyke maner to vse such superstitions yet it should be a thing to vniust and very slaunderous that for to be beloued of their husbandes they should procure to bee hated of God Truly to loue to serue and contente God it is not hurtefull to the woman for that she should be the better beloued of her husbande but yet God hathe suffered and doth permitte oftetymes that the women beinge feble deformed poore and negligent should be better beloued of their husbandes then the diligent faire and ryche And this is not for the seruices they doe to their husbandes but for the good intention they haue to serue loue God whiche sheweth them this especiall fauour for otherwyse God doth not suffer that he being with her displeased she should lyue with her husbande contented If women would take this councell that I geue them in this case I wil teache them furthermore a notable enchauntement to obteine the loue of their husbandes whiche is that they be quiet meke pacient solitary and honest with which fiue herbes they may make a confection the which neither seene nor tasted of their husbands shal not onely cause them to be beloued but also honoured For women ought to knowe that for their beautie they are desyred but for their vertue onely they are beloued ¶ That Princesses and great Ladies ought to be obedient to their husbandes and that it is a great shame to the husbande that his wyfe should commaunde him Cap. vi MAny auncient historiographers trauailed greatly and consumed long tyme in wryting to declare what authoritie the man ought to haue ouer the woman and what seruitude the woman oweth to the man and some for to auaunce the dignitie of the man and others to excuse the frailtie of the woman alleged such vayne thinges that it had bene more honour for them not to haue written at all then in suche sorte as they did For it is not possible but the wryters should erre whiche wryte not as reason teacheth but rather as their fantasie leadeth Those that defende the frailtie of the women saied that the woman hath a body as a man she hath a soule as a man she hath reason as a man dieth as a man and was as necessarie for generation as man she liueth as a man and therefore they thought it not mete that she should be more subiect to man then man to her for it is not reason that that whiche nature hath made free should by any lawes of man be made bond They saide furthermore that God created not the creatours but to augmente the generation of mankinde and that in this case the woman was more necessary then the man for the man engendreth without payne or trauayle but the woman is deliuered with perill and daunger and with payne and trauayle norysheth vp the childe Wherfore it seameth great vnkindnes and crueltie that the women whiche are deliuered with peryll and daunger of their lyues and brynge vp their chyldren with laboure and toyle of their bodyes should be vsed of their husbandes as sclaues They sayed further that men are those that cursse that moue seditions that make warres that mayntayne enmytie that weare weapons that sheade mans bloude
and committe sondrie other mischiefes whiche the women doe not but in steade of kylling menne sheading bloude and other notorious euilles that men doe they imploye them selues to increase men And since it is so then women rather then men oughte to haue dominion and commaunde in the common wealthe for women increase the common wealth and men dyminishe it For neyther deuine nor humayne lawe commaundeth that the foolyshe man should be free and gouerne and that the wyse woman should be bonde and serue Those of Achaia affirmed this opinion and groundeth them selues vppon this reason and obserued it as a custome that the husbandes should obeye and the wyues commaunde And so they dyd as Plutarche sayeth in the booke of consolation for the husbande swept and made cleane the house made the bedde wasshed the bucke couered the table dressed the dynner and went for water And of the contrary part his wyfe gouerned the goodes aunswered the affayres kepte the money if she were angrye shee gaue hym not onely foule woordes but also ofte tymes layed her handes on hym to reuenge her anger And hereof came this auncient prouerbe the which of many is redde and of fewe vnderstanded that is to wete Vita Achaiae the lyfe of an Achaian When in Rome the husband suffred to be ruled commaunded of his wyfe the neighbours would saie vnto him in maner of a reproche Vita Achaiae whiche is as muche as if a man would say go go as thou art since thou liuest after the law of Achaia where men haue so litle discretion that they suffer them selues to be gouerned be it well or euil of their wyues and that euery woman commaundeth her husbande Plinie in an epistle that he wrote reproued greatly his frende Fabatus for that he kepte in his house a wyfe the whiche in al his doinges ruled and commaunded him wherein he tolde him that he durst do nothinge without her commaundement And to make the matter to seme more heinous in the latter ende of his epistle he saide these wordes Me valde poenitet quod tu solus Rome polles vita Achaiae whiche is it greueth me muche that thou alone in Rome shouldest leade the life of one of Achaia Iulius Capitolinus sayth that Anthonius Caracalla being in loue with a faire Lady of Persia and seing that he could not enioy her nor obtaine his desire promised to marie her according to the lawe of Achaia and truly she shewed her selfe more wise in her aunswere theÌ„ he did in his demaund telling him that she would not nor might not marye for because she had promised her selfe to the goddesse Vesta and that she had rather be a seruaunte of the gods then a mistresse of men The Parthes had a law contrary to them and likewise those of Thrace the which so lytle esteamed women that their husbandes vsed them none otherwise then lyke seruauntes And in this case men had so great lybertie or to say better lightnes that after a woman had borne and brought forth twelue children the children remayned in the house and the husbande 's sold their wiues to them that wold giue most or els they chaunged them for others that were more yong And the children agreed to the selling of their owne mother to thintent that their father might refresh himselfe with another that was more yong and the old and baren woman should eyther be buried quicke or els serue as a slaue Dionisius Halicarnaseus sayth that the Lides had a law and the Numidians in lyke maner that the woman should commaund thinges without the house and the man should prouide for those that were within But according to my poore iudgement I cannot tell how this law was kept nor how they could fulfil it for by reason the wife should not go out of the house but very lytel and therfore me thinketh that they ought not to commaund any thing abroade nor the husband should enter into another mans house for to commaund there Ligurgus in the lawes that he gaue to the Lacedemonians sayth that the husbands should prouyde abrode see al thinges necessarie for the house and that the wiues should keape and dipose them within so that this good philosopher deuided the trauaile betwene the man and the woman but yet notwithstanding he reserued the rule and aucthority to the man For to say the truth it is a monsterous thing that the wife shoulde commaund the husband in his house Vnder our Christian relygion ther is neyther deuine nor humaine lawes but wil preferre man aboue all other thinges and though some philosophers would dispute to the contrary that manye men would haue folowed theym yet me thinketh that a man should not prayse nor commende them for their opinyons For there can be nothyng more vaine nor lyght then by mans lawe to giue that aucthority to woman which by nature is denyed her We se by experience that women of nature are al weake fraile feareful and tender and finally in matters of weight not very wise Then if matters of gouernment requyre not only science experience but also strengthe courage to enterprise doubtfull things wisedome for to know them force to execute them dyligence for to folow them pacyence to suffer them meanes to endure theym and aboue all great strengthe and hope to compasse them why then wyl they take frome man the gouernemente in whom all these thynges abounde and giue it to the woman in whome all these these thyngea do wante The ende whye I speake these thynges before is to requyre to counsell to admonishe and to perswade Princesses and great Ladyes that they thinke it spoken if they wil be happie in mariage to th end they should be obedient to their husbandes for speaking the truth in that house where the wife commaundeth the husband we may cal her a masculyne woman and him a feminine man Many women are deceyued in thinking that in commaunding their husbands they lyue more honorably and be better esteamed but truly it is not so for all those that see and perceiue it accompteth the woman for vaine and the men in lyke maner for folyshe I know and can tel right wel that there are some husbande 's so excessiue in spending and so wanton in liuing that it were not only good that their wiues should rule them but also chastice theym but yet in the end I saye that notwithstandynge all this is better and more tollerable that all the goodes be lost then betwene them any malyce hate or dissencion should â—yse If a womans chyldren dye she may bring forth others if she loose her goods she may get them againe if her seruauntes goeth from her she may find others if she se her self sad God may comfort her if she be sicke she may be healed but if she be at debate with her husband I cannot tell what she shal do for the wife that forsaketh the frendship of her husband gyueth to all men occasion to speake of her follye
speake many thinges in companye the which they do lament after whē they are alone Al the contrary commeth to wofull men for they doe not speake the halfe of their grefes because their heauy and woful hartes commaundeth their eyes to wepe and their tongs to be silent Vaine and foolish men by vaine and foolish wordes do publishe their vaine and light pleasurs and the wise men by wise wordes doe dissēble their greauous sorowes For though they fele the troubles of this lyfe they dissemble them as men Amongest the sages he is most wisest that presumeth to know least amongest the simple he is most ignoraunt that thinketh to know most For if ther be foūd one that knoweth much yet always ther is found an other that knoweth more This is one difference wherby that wise men are knowen from those that be simple that is to wete that the wise man to one that asketh him a questiō aūswereth slouly grauely and the simple mā though he be not asked aunswereth quicke lightly For in that house wher noblenesse wisdom ar they giue riches without measure but they giue words by ounces I haue told the al this Faustine bicause thy wordes haue wounded me in such sorte thy teares in such wise haue cōpelled me and thy vayne Iudgementes haue weryed me so much that I can not say what I would nor I thynke thou cāst perceiue what I say Those which wrote of mariage wrote many things but they wrote not so many troubles in al their bokes as one womā causeth her husbād to fele in on day The auncientes spake well when they reasoned of mariages For at all tymes when they talked of mariage at the beginnyng they put these wordes Onus Matrimonij That is to saye thc yoke of mariage For truly if the man be not well maried all the troubles that maye happen vnto him in all the time of hys lyfe are but small in respect to be matched one daye with an euyll wyfe Doest thou thinke Faustine that it is a small trouble for the husbande to suffre the brawlinges of his wife to indure her vayne wordes to beare with her fonde wordes to gyue her what she requireth to seeke that she desireth and to dissemble with all their vanities trulye it is so vnpaciēt a trouble that I would not desyre any greater reuengement of my enemye then to see him maried with a brawlynge wyfe If the husbande be proude you doe humble him For there is no proude man what so euer he be but a fyerce woman will make him stoupe If the husbande be foolyshe you restore him his sences againe For there is no greater wysedome in the world then to know how to endure a brawlynge woman If the husbande be wylde you make him tame For the time is so much that you occupie in brawling that he can haue no time to speake If the husbande be slow you make him runne for he desireth so much your contentation in harte that the wofull man can not eate in quiete nor sleape in rest If the husband be a great talker in shorte space you make him dōme For the floutes and mockes that you gyue hym at euery worde are so many in nombre that he hath none other remedye but to refraine his tonge If the husband be suspitious you make him chaunge his minde For the tryfelles that you aske at euery houre are such and so many and you therwith so selfe willed that he dare not tell what he seeth in hys owne house If the husband be a wanderer abroade you make him forthwith to be abider at home for you looke so yll to the house and goodes that he findeth no other remedye but to be alwayes at home If the husband be vitious you restraine him immediatly for you burden his hart with so manye thoughtes that his bodye hath no delighte to vse any pleasurs Finally I say that if the husbande be peacible within shorte space you make hym vnquiete for your paines are suche so many and so continuall that there is no harte can wholye dissemble them nor tong that vtterly can kepe them secret Naturally women haue in al thinges the sprite of contradiction for so muche as if the husbandes wil speake they wil hold their peace If he go forth they wil tarye at home If he will laughe they will weape If he will take pleasure they will vexe him If he be sorowfull they will be merye If he desire peace they would haue warre If he would eate they will fast If he would faste they would eate If he woulde slepe they will watche and yf thou wilte watche they will sleape Fynally I say that they are of so euill a condicion that they loue all that we dispise and dispise al that we loue In mine opinion the men that are wise and will obteine that which they desire of their wiues let them not demaunde of them that whiche they would obtaine yf they will come to their desire For to them which are diseased the letting of bloud is most profitable when the vaine in the contrarye side is opened It is no other thing to be let bloud in the contrary side but to aske of the woman with his mouthe the contrary of that whiche he desireth with his harte for otherwyse neither by fayre wordes of his mouth nor by the bitter teares of his eyes he shall euer obtayne that whiche his harte desireth I confesse Faustine it is a pleasaunte sporte to beholde the younge Babes and thou canste not denaye me but it is a cruell torment to endure the importunities of their mothers Chyldren nowe and then ministre vnto vs occasions of pleasures but you that are their mothers neuer doe any thinge but that whiche turneth vs to trouble It is muche pleasure to the husbande when he commeth home to fynde the house cleane swepte to fynde the table couered and to fynde the meate ready dressed this is to be vnderstanded if all other thinges be well But what shall we saie when he seeth the contrarie and that he findeth his children weaping his neighbours offended his seruauntes troubled and aboue all when he findeth his wyfe brauling Truly it is better to the wofull husbande to goe his waye fastinge then to tary and eate at home with brauling I durst take vpon me to cause that al maried men would be content to forbeare all the pleasures of the children with cōdition that they might be fre from the annoiaunce of the mothers for in the end the pleasures of the children endeth quickly with laughter but the griefes of the mothers endureth al their life with sorow I haue sene one thing in Rome wherin I was neuer deceiued which is that though men commitie great offences in this worlde yet God alwayes deferreth the punishmente thereof vntyll another But if for any womans pleasure we committe any faulte God permitteth that by the same women in this worlde we shall suffer the payne There is no
woman that from her deliuerie is escaped ought to accompt her selfe as one newly borne The woman likewise seing her selfe deliuered of her creature ought to geue it sucke with her owne breastes for it is a monsterous thinge that she that hath brought forth the creature out of her owne proper wombe should geue it to be nourished of a straunge dugge In speaking more plainly it is al one to me whether she be a noble woman or a woman of meane condicion I say affirme that god hath deliuered her of al her trauaile she her self ought with her owne pappes to nourish and geue sucke to their babes for nature did not only make women able to beare men but also besides that prouided milke in their breastes to nourishe their children We haue neither redde vntil this present nor sene that any beastes wild or tame after they had yong would commit them to any other to be nourished This which I haue spoken is not so worthy of noting as that which I will speake And it is that many beastes new borne before they open their eyes to know their fathers haue now all ready taken nourishmēt in the teates of their mothers more then that to se some of those litle beastes haue .x. litle whealpes the which without the aide of any others nourished them al with the substaunce of their owne teares the womā that hath but one child disdaineth to giue it sucke Al that shal read this writing shal find it true if they wil they may se as I haue sene it by experience that after the she Ape hath had her yonglings she alwaies hath them in her armes so long as they sucke so that oftentimes ther is such strife betwene the male the female which of them shal haue the yonglings in their armes that the beholders are enforced to part them with battes Let vs leaue the beasts that are in the fields talke of the byrdes that are in the neasts the which do lay egges to haue yong yet haue they no milke to bring them vp What thing is so straung to se as a smal bird that hath vnder her winges v. or vi litle naked byrds the which when she hath hached she hath neither milke to nourish them nor corne to giue them they haue neither wings to fly fethers to couer them nor any other thing to defend them yet in al this weaknes pouertie their mother forsaketh them not nor committeth them to any other but bringeth them vp al her selfe That which nature prouided for the swannes is no lesse marueilous in especiallye when they nourishe their yong signettes in the water Forasmuch as duringe the time that they can not swimme the mothers alwayes in the day are with thier yong signetts in their neastes and in the night the fathers carie them vnder their proper winges to refresh theym vnto the water It is therfore to be thought since these swannes so louyngly beare their yonglings vnder their wings that they would cary them in their armes if they were men and also giue them sucke with their owne breasts if they were women Aristotle sayth in his fift booke De animalibus that the lyons the beares the wolues the Eagles the griffins generally al beasts neuer are wer nor shal be sene so fierce nor so cruel as when they haue yonglings and this thing semeth to be true for at that time we se that many beasts might escape the hunters yet to saue their yonglings they turne backe put their proper lyues in daunger Plato sayth in his booke of lawes that the childrē are neuer so welbeloued of their mothers as when they are nourished wyth their proper breasts that their fathers daunceth them of their knees The whych thing is true for the fyrst loue in al things is the truest loue I was willyng to shew the bringing vp of brute beasts to shew the women with chyld how pitieful parents they are in nourishing their yonglings with their owne breasts how cruel mothers women are in committing their childrē to straungers It is a meruailous thyng to here the mothers say that they loue their children on the cōtrary side to se how they hate them In this case I cannot tel whether they loue more eyther the child or the money for I se that they couet greatlye to hourd vp riches into their cheastes and likewise they desyre asmuch to cast out theyr children out of theyr houses Ther are dyuerse reasons wherby the mothers oughte to be moued to norishe their children which they bare in their wombes wyth their owne propre breastes The first reasō is that the mother ought to haue respect how the yong babe was borne alone how litle he was how poore dilicate naked tender without vnderstanding and since that the mother brought it forth so weake feable it is neither mete nor conueniēt that in time of such necessitie she shold forsake it commit it into the hands of a straung nourse Let women pardon me whether they be ladyes brought vp in pleasures or other of meaner estate accustomed with trauelles I force not but I saye that those which forsake their children in such extremeties are not pitiful mothers but cruel enemies If it be crueltie not to cloth him that is naked who is more naked then the child new borne if it be cruelty not to comfort the sad who is more sad desolate and sorowful then the child which is borne weping if it be vngentlenes not to succoure the poore nedy who is more neady or more poore then the innocent child newly borne that knoweth not as yet neyther to go nor to speake If it be crueltie to doo euil to the innocent that cannot speake who is more innocent then the infant that can not complaine of that whiche is done vnto him The mother that casteth oute of her house the children borne of her owne bodye howe can we beleue that she will receiue in any other of straungers when the infante is nowe greate when he is stronge when he can speake when hee can goo when hee canne profitte him selfe and get his meate the mother maketh much of hym and leadeth him about with her but is lytle thanke vnto her For then the mother hath more neade of the child to be serued then the child hath of the mother to be cherished If the children were borne of the nayles of the fingers of the fete or of the hands it were a smal mater though their mothers sent them forth to noryshe but I cannot tell what hart can endure to suffer this since the child is borne of their propre intrayles that they do commit it to be brought vp into the handes of a straunger Is there paraduenture at this day in the world any Ladye that hath so great confidence in any of her frendes parents or neighbours that she durst trust any of them with the key of her cofer wherin her Iewelles money riches
be beleued for the saying of the graue authours on the one parte and by that we dayly see on the other parte For in the ende it is more pleasure to heare a man tell mery tales hauing grace and comlines in his wordes then to heare a graue man speake the truthe with a rude and rough tongue I haue founde in many wrytinges what they haue spoken of Pithagoras and his doughter but none telleth her name saue only in a pistle that Phalaris the tyraunt wrate I fouÌ„d this word written where he saith Polichrata that was the doughter of the philosopher Pithagoras was young and exceading wyse more faire then riche and was so much honoured for the puritie of her life and so high estemed for her pleasaunt tongue that the worde which she spake spinning vpon her distaffe was more estemed then the philosophy that her father red in the schole And he sayd more It is so great a pitie to see and heare that women at this present are in their life so dishonest in their tongues so malicious that I haue greater pleasure in the good renowme of one that is dead then in the infamie of all them which are aliue For a good woman is more worth with her distaffe spinning then a hundred euel queenes with their roiall scepters reigning By the wordes which Phalaris saied in his letter it seamed that this doughter of Pithagoras was called Polichrate Pithagoras therefore made many commentaries as wel of his owne countrey as of straungers In the end he died in Mesopotamia where at the houre of his death he spake vnto his doughter Polichrate saied these wordes I see my doughter that the houre wherein I must ende my life approcheth The Gods gaue it me and nowe they wil take it from me nature gaue me birth now she geueth me death the earth gaue me the body and now it retourneth to ashes The woful fatall destinies gaue me a litle goodes mingled with manie trauailes so that doughter of all thinges which I enioyed in this world I cary none with me for hauing all as I had it by the waye of borowyng nowe at my death eche man taketh his owne I die ioyfully not for that I leaue thee riche but for that I leaue thee learned And in token of my tender harte I bequethe vnto the al my bookes wherin thou shalt finde the treasure of my trauailes And I tel thee that that I geue thee is the riches gotten with mine owne sweat and not obtained to the preiudice of an other For the loue I beare vnto thee doughter I pray thee and by the immortall gods I coniure thee that thou be such so good that althoughe I die yet at the least thou mayst kepe my memory for thou knowest wel what Hoâ—ere saieth speaking of Achilles and Pirrus that the good life of the childe that is aliue keapeth the renowme of the father that is dead These were the wordes which this philosopher spake vnto his doughter lieng in his death bed And though perhaps he spake not these wordes yet at the least this was the meaning As the great poet Mantuan saieth king Euander was father of the giant Pallas and he was a great frende of king Eneas he vaunted him selfe to discend of the linage of the Troyans and therfore when king Eneas prince Turnus had great warres betwene them which of them should haue the princesse Lauinia in mariage the which at that time was only heire of Italy king Euander ayded Eneas not only with goodes but also sending him his owne sonne in persone For the frendes ought for their true frendes willingly to shed their bloud in their behalfe without demauÌ„ding thei ought also to spend their goods This king Euander had a wyfe so well learned that that which the Grekes saied of her semeth to be fables That is to say of her eloquence wisdome for they say that if that which this woman wrote of the warres of Troye had not bene through enuy cast into the fire the name of Homere had at this day remained obscure The reason hereof is because the woman was in the time of the destruction of Troy and wrate as a witnes of sight These wordes passed betwene the Romaine Calphurnius and the poet Cornificius I desire to declare the excellency of those fewe auncient women as wel Grekes as Latines Romaines to thintent that princesses and great ladies may knowe that the auncient women were more esteamed for their sciences then for their beauties Therefore the princesses and great Ladies ought to thinke that if they be women they were also in lyke maner and if they be frayle the others were also weake If they be maried the other also had husbandes if they haue their wylles the other had also what they wanted if they be tender the others were not strong Finally they ought not to excuse them selues saying that for to learne women are vnmete For a woman hath more abilitie to learne sciences in the scholes then the Parate hath to speake wordes in the cage In my opinion princesses great ladies ought not to esteame theÌ„selues more then an other for that they haue fairer heares then other or for that they are better appareled then an other or that they haue more ryches then an other But they ought therfore to esteame them selues not for that they can doe more then others To say the truth the faire and yelow heares the riche and braue apparel the great treasures the sumptuous palaces and strong buildinges these and other like pleasures are not guides and leaders to vertues but rather spies scout watches for vices O what a noble thinge were it that the noble ladies would esteme them selues not for that they can doe but for that that they knowe For it is more commendation to knowe howe to teache twoo philosophers then to haue authoritie to commaunde a hundred knightes It is a shame to write it but it is more pitie to see it that is to wete to read that we read of the wisdome and worthines of the auncient matrones paste and to see as we doe see the frailenes of these younge ladies present For they coueted to haue disciples both learned and experimented and these of this present desire nothing but to haue seruauntes not only ignoraunt but deceitful and wicked And I do not marueile seing that which I se that at this present in court she is of litle value lest estemed among ladies which hath fairest seruauntes is lest enterteined of gentlemen What shall I say more in this matter but that they in times past striue who should write better compile the best bookes and these at this presente doe not striue but who shal haue the richest and most sumptuous apparel For the ladies thinke it a iolier matter to weare a gown of a new fachion then the auncientes did to read a lesson of philosophie The auncient ladies striue whiche of them was
hee speak not with his head aswell as wyth hys tongue nor that hee play not wyth his hands nor his feete nor that hee stroke hys beard nor wynk with his eyes for such fond countenaunces and gestures doo rather beecome a foole or iester then a ciuill or honest courtier And in his discourse with the Prince that hee exceede not in superfluous woords more then shall onely bee needefull and touching his matter and not to seeme in his presence to depraue or detract any man Hee may honestly allege and that without reproch the seruyce hee hath doon him but not to lay beefore him others faults and imperfections For at such a tyme it is not lawfull for him to speak yll of any man but onely to communicate wyth hym of his own affayrs And hee may not goe so farre also as to remēber him with too great affection the blood spent by his auncestors in hys seruyce nor the great acts of his parents for this onely woord sayd to the prince I did this better pleaseth and lyketh the Prince then to tell him a hundred other woords of that that hys predecessors had doone It pertayneth onely to women and they may iustly craue recompence of the prince for the lyues of their husbands lost in the princes warres but the valyaunt and woorthy courtier ought not to demaund recompence but for that hee only hath doon by persyng launce and bloody swoord Hee must beeware also that hee shew no countenaunce to the king of insatisfaccion neither to bee passioned in casting his seruice in the princes teeth saying all others haue been recompenced saue only him whom the Prince hath clean forgotten For princes will not that wee only serue them but that wee also at their willes and pleasures tary for recompence and not to haue it when wee gape or are importune for yt Howbeeit it is lawfull notwithstandyng humbly and lowly wythout cholor or passion to put the Prince in remembraunce of all that wee haue doone for him and of the long tyme wee haue spent in seruyng him Also the curious courtier shall not shew him self to dyslike at all of the prince neither by heaping of many woords to induce him to bere hym the better good will For mens harts are so prone to yll that for one only vnpleasaunt or ouerthwart woord spoken to them they lyghtly forgeat a thowsand seruyces doone them Socrates beeing one day demanded what hee thought of the princes of Greece aunswered There is no other difference beetwene the names and properties of the gods and that of princes but that the Gods were immortall and these mortall For these mortall princes vse in maner the lyke aucthority here in earth that the gods immortall doo in heauen aboue Saying further also that I alwayes was am and wil bee of that mynd that my mother Greece remayn a common weal. But since it is determined to bee gouerned by princely monarchie I wish them in all and for all to acknowledge their obedyence and allegeance to their king and soueraigne For when they woold otherwise vse it they may bee assured they shall not only goe against mortall princes but also against the eternall god Suetonius Tranquillus sayeth that Titus the emperor being aduertised that the consuls woold kill him and vsurp his empire aunswered thus wisely Euen as without the diuine will and prouidence I coold neuer haue possessed the imperiall crown so without their permission and sufferaunce it lyeth in no mans power to depriue mee of it For to vs men it pertaineth only to keepe the imperiall iurisdiccion and to the gods alone to geeue and defend it Which wee haue spoken to thend no man presume to bee reuenged of his prince neither in woord nor deede for to speak yll of hym wee shoold rather purchase vs their high indignation and displeasure then procure vs any cause or suggestion to bee reuenged of him Let the good courtier bee also aduysed that in talking with the prince hee bee not to obstinate to contend with the prince or any other in the princes presence For this name of arrogant and self willed beecommeth not the person of a wise courtier For wee know that in sport and argument euery man desireth to ouercome how tryfling so euer the matter bee And therefore wee read in the lyfe of the emperor Seuerus that Publius the consull iested one day with Fabritius his compagnion and told him hee was in loue Whom Fabritius aunswered I confesse it is a fault to bee in loue but yet it is a greater fault for thee to bee so obstinate as thou art For loue proceedeth of witt and discretion but obstinacy commeth of folly and great ygnoraunce Yf perchaunce the kyng ask the courtiers opinion in those matters they discoursed if hee know his opiniō to agree wyth the princes let him tell it him hardely but if it bee contrary let hym hold hys peace and not contend against him framyng some honest excuse to concele hys oppinon But if perhaps the king were obstinate and bent to his oppinion in any thing and that through his self will and obstinacy hee woold doo any thing vnreasonable or preiudiciall to his common wealth and that great detryment might come thereby yet for all this in such case the beeloued courtier shoold not at that instant bee to playn with hym to let hym vnderstand his error neyther yet shoold hee suffer him altogeether to passe hys way vntouched but in some fyne maner and proper woords as may beecome the place best to geeue him to vnderstand the troth But to vse it with more discretion hee shall not neede beefore them all to open hys whole mynd but to keepe his oppynion secrete expecting a more apter tyme when the kyng shall bee apart in his priuy chamber and then frankly to tell hym his hole mynd with all humylity and reuerence and to shew him the plaine troth wythout keeping any one thing from his knowledge For otherwyse in tellyng the kyng openly hee shoold make him ashamed and in dyssemblyng his fault also priuily hee shoold not bee admonished of hys error committed Now therefore let our conclusion bee that the courtier that proceeds in his matters rather with oppinion and obstinacy then discretion and iudgement shall neuer bee in fauor with the Prince nor yet beeloued in the court For it is as necessary for the courtier that will seeke the fauor of the prince and loue of the court to impose his tongue to sylence as it is to dyspose his body to all maner of seruyce I know there are some such rash vndiscreete and arrogant fooles that as much doo bost and reioice to haue spoken vndiscreetly to the king and without respect of his princely maiesty as if they had doon some maruelous thankfull seruice with whom truely no man ought to bee greatly offended for such fond bostes and vaunts as they make and much lesse also with that that happens to them afterward The courtier also must bee
hurt for him the officer lost his estate office then hee his credit reputation Therefore those in fauor auctority ought to content them selues with the prince the seruants with their maisters the parents kinsfolks with the princes officers for that they procured them these offices at the kings hands with the yll willes of many wtout that they further prease importune thē to suborn their faults For after that the dooings of these woorthy officers bee once discouered to bee naught corupted it is impossible by any means to make them good before the prince with whom all the means the parents kinsfolks of such persōs can make cannot stead thē to bring them to their first honor by their own folly lost And now to end thys our present volume of the fauored courtier I doo assure al the beloued courtiers that if god shall fynd purity in their soules the comon weal iustice in their house the king troth in their mouthes fidelity in their harts the good and honest men grace in their fauor that the yll wicked boast them selues no more of their autority office that the poore shall praise them for their good woorks the king also fynd them faithfull seruants I will at this present with myne own hand geeue thē such faith assurance that they shall neede neuer to feare that god wil forsake them nor that men can hurt them and that they shal neuer bee detected of any infamy ouerthrowen by any misfortune neither put out of fauor credit with their prince at any tyme. Finis Here folovveth certaine other letters vvritten by Marcus Aurelius Selected out of the Spanishe copie not wrytten in the Frenche tongue ¶ Of the huge monstre seene in Scicily in the tyme of Marcus Aurelius And of the letters he wrote with bloude vpon a gate Cap. i. IN the yeare of the foundation of Rome .720 and .xlii. of the age of Marcus Aurelius and twoo yeares before he tooke possession of the Empire the twenty daie of August about the going downe of the Sunne in the Realme of Sicill in the Citie of Palermo a porte of the Sea there chaunced a thing perillous to them that sawe it then and no lesse dread full to those whiche shall heare it nowe Whiles they of Palermo were celebrating a great feaste with much ioy that they had vanquished the nauy of the Numidians the pirates deuiding their bootie were preuented by the magistrates of the citie who commaunded the whole spoyle to be layde vp tyll the warres were finished for such was the lawe of the I le And truly it was a iust lawe for oftentimes the only let why the peace is not made betwene princes is because there wanteth riches to satisfie the domages done in warres When all the people were retourned home vnto their houses to supper for it was in the Sommer there appeared an hughe monster in the citie in this fourme He seamed to be of the length of three cubites his heade was balde so that his scull did appeare He hadde no eares saue onely twoo holes in his necke whereby men iudged that he hearde he had two wrythen hornes like a goate his right arme was longer then his left his handes wer lyke the feete of horses without throte his shoulders and his head were both of one height his shoulders shone as doth the scales of fishes his brest was all rough of heere his face in all thinges was lyke vnto a man saue that it had but one eye which was in the middest of his forehead In his nose there was but one nosethril From the middle downwarde there was nothinge seene because it was all couered he satte on a chariot with foure wheles whiche was drawen with foure beastes that is two Lions before and two Beares behinde No man could tell of what wood the chariot was made In fashion it differed nothing from those whiche other men doe accustomably vse Within the chariot stode a great chauldron with eares wherein the monstre was wherfore it could not be seene but from the midle vpwarde It wandered a great space in the citie from one gate to an other castinge out sparkes of fyre The feare was so great throughout all the citie that some women with childe were with great daunger deliuered and others beyng faynte harted fell downe dead And all the people both men and women great and small ran to the temples of Iupiter Mars and Februa with dolefull clamoures and cries makyng their importunate prayers At the same tyme all these rouers were lodged in the gouernours pallace of the citie whose name was Solyno borne at Capua wher also the ryches was kepte After the monstre hadde bene in all partes of the citie or in the moste parte therof it came to the pallace where the pirates were and cut one of the Lions eares of and with the bloude thereof wrote these letters vpon the pallace gate which was shut R. A. S. P. I. P. These letters were of diuers men diuersly interpreted so that the interpretations were mo then the letters And in the ende a woman prophetesse greatly esteamed for her science to whom God had geuen this secret knowledge opened the true meanynge of these letters saying R. signifieth Reddite A. aliena S. si vultis P. propria I. in pace P. possidere Whiche altogethers is to say Render vnto other that which is theirs if you in quiet wyll possesse your owne Truely the pirates were wonderfully afrayd of this sodaine commaundement and the woman was highly commended for her exposition This being done the monstre went the same nyght out of the Citie vnto a high hill called Iamicia and there stode for the space of three dayes in the sight of the citie the Lyons with terrible voyces roaring the Beares with no lesse fearefull cryes ragyng and finally the monstre moste dreadfull flames casting During al this tyme there was neither byrde sene in the ayre nor beaste in the fieldes And the people offred suche great sacrifices vnto their Gods that they brake the vaynes of their handes and feete and offred the bloude thereof to see if they could appease their wrathes These three dayes being passed there appeared in the element a marueilous darke cloude whiche seamed to darken the whole earth and there with it began to thunder and lighten so terriblye that sundrye houses fell to the grounde and infinite men ended their lyues And laste of all ther came such a flame of fire from the monstre that it brent both the pallace where the rouers were all other thinges that were therin so that all was consumed with fire yea the very stones theim selues The tempest was so great that there fell aboue two thousand houses and there died more then ten thousand persones In this place where this monstre was on the toppe of the hill the emperour edified a sumptuous temple to the god Iupiter in perpetuall memory of the same Whereof afterward
thy children haue no nede to be maried For one thing we are bound to thee that is the example of thy pacience for since thou suffrest Faustine in so many open infamies it is no great nede we suffer any secretes in thee For this present I say no more I end my letter desiring to se shortly the ende of thy life ¶ Marcus Aurelius wryteth to the lady Macrine the Romaine of whom beholding her at the wyndowe he became enamoured Whiche declareth what force the beauty of a fayre woman hath in a weake man Cap. xiii MArke the very desirous to the lady Macrine greatly desired I know not whether by my euyl aduenture or by happe of my good aduenture not long agoe I saw the at a window where thou haddest thy armes as close as I my eyes displayd that cursed be they for euer for in beholding thy face forthwith my hart abode with the as prisoner The beginning of thy knowledge is the end of my reason and fallyng in shonnyng one euyl come infinite trauayles to men I say it for this if I had not bene ydel I had not gone out of my house and not gone out of my house I had not passed by the streat And not going through the streate I had not sene that at the window and not seing the at the window I had not desired thy person And not desiringe thy person I had not put thy fame in so greate peril nor my life in doubt nor we had geuen no occasion to Rome to speake of vs. For of troth lady Macrine in this case I condemne my selfe For willyngly I dyd behold the. I did not salute the althoughe thou desiredst to be sene Sith thou were set vp as a white it is no merueile though I shotte with the arrowes of my eyes at the but of thy beauty with rollyng eyes with browes bent wel coloured face incarnate teth ruddy lipps courled heere hands set with ringes clothed with a thousand maner of coloures hauyng purses full of swete sauoures the bracelettes and earinges ful of pearles and stones Tel me what this meaneth The most that I can thinke of this is sith you shew vs your bodies openly ye would we should know your desires in secret And if it be so as I beleue it is it semeth to me lady Macrine thou oughteste to loue him that lyketh the to enfourme him that seketh the to aunswere him that calleth the to feale him that fealeth the and to vnderstand him that vnderstandeth the and sith thou vnderstandest me I do vnderstand the vnderstand that thou knowest not I do wel remember as I went by the streat solitarily to se ii theues put to death my eyes saw the at a window on whom dependeth al my desires More iustice thou dost to me then I to the theaues for I being at iustice thou hast iusticed the iustice none dare paine the. The gallowes is not so cruel to them which neuer knew but doing euyl as thou art to me which neuer thought other but to serue the. They suffer but one death but thou makest me suffer a thousand They in one daye one houre end their lyues and I each minute do fele the pāges of death They died gilty but I innocently They dy openly I in secret What wilt thou I saye more to thee they wepte for that they died and I wepe teares of bloude from my hart for that I liue This is the differēce their torments spreadeth abrod through al their body I kepe mine together in my hart O cruel Macrine I know not what iustice this is that they kil men for robbing stealing of money suffer women to liue which steale mens harts If they take the liues from them that picke purses why then do they suffer ladies which robbe our entrailes By thy noblenes I pray the by the goddesse Venus I coniure the eyther satisfye my desire or restore to me my hart whych thou hast robbed from me I would thou knew lady Macrine the clere intencion of my hart rather then this letter written with my hande If my hap were so good as thy loue would permit me to speake with the I wold hope by sight speche to win that which I am in suspect by my letter to lose The reason wherof is because thou shalt rede my rude reasons in this leter if thou sawest me thou shouldest se the bitter teares which I would offer to thee in this my vnhappy life O that my mouth could publishe my cruel peines as my harte fealeth thē I sweare to thee lady Macrine that my woful plaintes would stirre vp thy small care and as thy beauty hath made thee thine owne so the knowledge of my griefe should make the myne I desire thou wouldest regarde the beginning and therewith note the ende For of truth the same day that thou imprisonest my hart at the window in the dungeon of my desires I had no lesse weakenes to ouercome then thou haddest strength to enforce me greater was thy power to take me frome my selfe then my reason was to put me from the. Now lady Macrine I doe not aske other mercy of the but that we may declare our minds together But in this case what wilt thou I say vnto the but that thou hast somuch power ouer me and I so lytle of my libertie that though I would not my hart must nedes be thine that being thine thou wilt shewe thy selfe to be mine And sith it may not be but that my life must be condemned in thy seruice be thou as sure of my faith as I am doubtful of thy good wil. For I shal haue a greater honor to be lost for thy sake thē to winne any other treasure I haue no more to say to the now but that thou haue respect to my perdicion draw life out of my death tourne my teares to ioy And because I hold my faith and wil neuer dispaire in thy hope I send the x. litle ringes of gold with x. ringes of Alexandria and by the immortall gods I cōniure the that when thou puttest thē on thy finger thou receiuest my loue into thy hart Marcus thy louer wrote this with his owne hand ¶ Of an other letter whiche the emperour sent to the Lady Macrine wherin he expresseth the firy flames which consume sonest the gentle harts Cap. xiiii MArke thy neighbour at Rome to the Macrine his swete enemy I cal the swete for it is iust I die for the enemy because thou ceasest not to kil me I cannot tel how it is but sithe the feast of Ianus hitherto I haue writen thre letters vnto the in the aunswere wherof I would haue ben cōtented to haue receiued but ii from the. If I wuld serue the thou wil not be serued if I speake to the thou wilt not aunswere me If I behold the thou wilt not loke at me if I cal the thou wilt not answer me If I visite