Sonne and in the application to the Holy spirit for by the Holy Ghost was Christ conceiued in flesh and by the Holy Ghost are the Elect regenerate in spirite This worke likewise we consider either effectually in the Elect or priuately in the reprobate or according to apparance in the visible Church For manners the Doctrine thereof is contained in the lawe which discloseth sinne The lawe it selfe is deuided according to the edition thereof into the lawe of Nature the lawe Morall and the lawe Positiue and according to the stile into Negatiue and Affirmatiue Prohibitions and Commandements Sinne in the matter and subiect thereof is deuided according to the Commandements in the forme thereof it referreth to the three persons in deitie Sinnes of Infirmitie against the father whose more speciall attribute is Power Sinnes of Ignorance against the Sonne whose attribute is wisedome and sinnes of Malice against the Holy Ghost whose attribute is Grace or Loue. In the motions of it it either mooueth to the right hand or to the left either to blinde deuotion or to prophane libertine transgressiō either in imposing restraint where GOD granteth libertie or in taking libertie where GOD imposeth restrainte In the degrees and progresse of it it deuideth it selfe into thought word or Act. And in this part I commend much the diducing of the Lawe of GOD to cases of conscience for that I take indeede to bee a breaking and not exhibiting whole of the bread of life But that which quickneth both these Doctrines of faith and Manners is the eleuatition and consent of the heart whereunto appertaine bookes of exhortation holy meditation christian resolution and the like For the Lyturgie or seruice it consisteth of the reciprocall Acts betweene GOD and Man which on the part of GOD are the Preaching of the word and the Sacraments which are seales to the couenant or as the visible worde and on the part of Mans Inuocation of the name of GOD and vnder the law Sacrifices which were as visible praiers or confessions but now the adoration being in Spiritu veritate there remaineth only vituli labiorum although the vse of holy vowes of thankefulnesse and retribution may be accounted also as sealed petitions And for the Gouernment of the Church it consisteth of the patrimonie of the church the franchises of the Church and the offices and iurisdictions of the Church and the Lawes of the Church directing the whole All which haue two considerations the one in them selues the other how they stand compatible and agreeable to the Ciuill Estate This matter of Diuinitie is handled either in forme of instruction of truth or in forme of confutation of falshood The declinations from Religion besides the primitiue which is Atheisme and the Branches thereof are three Heresies Idolatrie and Witch-craft Heresies when we serue the true GOD with a false worship Idolatrie when wee worship false Gods supposing them to be true and Witch-craft when wee adore false Gods knowing them to be wicked and false For so your Maiestie doth excellently well obserue that Witch-craft is the height of Idolatry And yet we see thogh these be true degrees Samuel teacheth us that they are all of a nature when there is once a receding from the word of GOD for so he saith Quasi Peccatum ariolandi est repugnare quasi scelus Idololatriae nolle acquiescere These thinges I haue passed ouer so briefely because I can report noe deficience concerning them For I can finde no space or ground that lieth vacant and vnsowne in the matter of Diuinitie so diligent haue men beene either in sowing of good seede or in sowing of Tares Thus haue I made as it were a small Globe of the Intellectuall world as truly and faithfully as I coulde discouer with a note and description of those parts which seeme to mee not constantly occupate or not well conuerted by the labour of Man In which if I haue in any point receded from that which is commonly receiued it hath beene with a purpose of proceeding in melius and not in aliud a minde of amendment and proficience and not of change and difference For I could not bee true and constant to the argument I handle if I were not willing to goe beyond others but yet not more willing then to haue others goe beyond mee againe which may the better appeare by this that I haue propounded my opinions naked and vnarmed not seeking to preoccupate the libertie of mens iudgements by confutations For in any thing which is well set downe I am in good hope that if the first reading mooue an obiection the second reading will make an answere And in those things wherein I haue erred I am sure I haue not preiudiced the right by litigious arguments which certainly haue this contrarie effect and operation that they adde authoritie to error and destroy the authoritie of that which is well inuented For question is an honour and preferment to falshood as on the other side it is a repulse to truth But the errors I claime and challenge to my selfe as mine owne The good if any bee is due Tanquam adeps sacrificij to be incensed to the honour first of the diuine Maiestie and next of your Maiestie to whom on earth I am most bounden Historia Literarū Historia Naturae Errantis Historia Mechanica Historia Prophetica Metaphisica siue De formis F◅bus Rerū Naturalis Magiasiue Phisica Operatiua Maior Inuentarium Opum bumanarum Continuatio Problematum in Natura Catalogus Falsitatū grassantiū in historia Naturae De Antiquis Philosophijs Narrationes Medicinales Anatomia comparata Inquisitio vlterior de Morbis insanabisibus De Euthanasia exteriore Medicinae experimentales Imitatio Naturae in Balneis Aquis Medicinalibus Filum Medicinale siue de vicibus Medicinarum Experientia literata interpretatio Naturae Elenchi magni s◅e d◅ Idolis animi humani natiuis aduentitijs De Analogia Demonstrationum De Notis Rerum De Methode syncera siue ad filios Scientiarum De prudentia Traditionis De Productione Axiomatum Deprudentia sermonis priuati Colores boni mali simplicis comparati Antitheta rerum De cultura Animi Faber Fortunae siue de Am. bitu vitae De prudētia legislatoria fiue de fontibus Iuris De vsu legittimo rationis humanae in diuinis Degradibus vnitatis in Ci◅itate Dei Emanationes Scripturarum in doctrinas Positiuas
with when they once finde in themselues that they haue a superioritie in the faith and conscience of men so great as if they haue once tasted of it it is seldome seene that any torture or persecution can make them relinquish or abandone it But as this is that which the Author of the Reuelation calleth the depth or profoundnesse of Sathan so by argument of contraries the iust and lawfull soueraignetie ouer mens vnderstanding by face of truth rightly interpreted is that which approacheth neerest to the similitude of the diuine rule As for fortune and aduancement the beneficence of learning is not so cōfined to giue fortune only to states and Common-wealthes as it doth not likewise giue fortune to particular persons For it was well noted long agoe that Homer hath giuen more men their liuings than either Sylla or Caesar or Augustus euer did notwithstanding their great largesses and donatiues and distributions of Lands to so many legions And no doubt it is hard to say whether armes or learning haue aduanced greater numbers And in case of soueraigntie wee see that if armes or descent haue carried away the Kingdome yet learning hath carryed the Priest-hood which euer hath been in some competicion with Empire Againe for the pleasure and delight of knowledge and learning it farre surpasseth all other in nature for shall the pleasures of the affections so exceede the sences as much as the obtayning of desire or victorie exceedeth a song or a dinner and must not of consequence the pleasures of the intellect or vnderstanding exceede the pleasures of the affections we see in all other pleasures there is sacietie and after they be vsed their verdour deparreth which sheweth well they be but deceits of pleasure and not pleasures and that it was the noueltie which pleased and not the qualitie And therfore we see that voluptuous men turne Friers and ambitious Princes turne melancholy But of knowledge there is no sacietie but satisfaction and appetite are perpetually interchangeable and therefore appeareth to be good in it selfe simply without fallacie or accident Neither is that pleasure of small efficacie and contentment to the minde of man which the Poet Lucretius describeth elegantly Suaue marimagno turbantibus aequora ventis c. It is a view of delight sayth he to stand or walke vppon the shoare side and to see a Shippe tossed with tempest vpon the sea or to bee in a fortified Tower and to see two Battailes ioyne vppon a plaine But it is a pleasure incomparable for the minde of man to bee setled landed and fortified in the certaintie of truth and fromth once to descrie and behould the errours perturbations labours and wanderings vp and downe of other men Lastly leauing the vulgar arguments that by learning man excelleth man in that wherein man excelleth beasts that by learning man ascendeth to the heauens and their motions where in bodie he cannot come and the like let vs conclude with the dignitie and excellency of knowledge and learning in that whereunto mans nature doth most aspire which is immortalitie or continuance for to this tendeth generation and raysing of houses and families to this buildings foundations and monuments to this tendeth the desire of memorie fame and celebration and in effect the strength of all other humane desires wee see then howe farre the monuments of wit and learning are more durable than the monuments of power or of the hands For haue not the verses of Homer continued 25. hundred yeares or more without the losse of a sillable or letter during which time infinite Pallaces Temples Castles Cities haue been decayed and demolished It is not possible to haue the true pictures or statuaes of Cyrus Alexander Caesar no nor of the Kings or great personages of much later yeares for the originals cannot last and the copies cannot but leese of the life and truth But the Images of mens wits and knowledges remaine in Bookes exempted from the wrong of time and capable of perpetuall renouation Neither are they fitly to be called Images because they generate still and cast their seedes in the mindes of others prouoking and causing infinit actions and opinions in succeeding ages So that if the inuention of the Shippe was thought so noble which carryeth riches and commodities from place to place and consociateth the most remote regions in participation of their fruits how much more are letters to bee magnified which as Shippes passe through the vast Seas of time and make ages so distant to participate of the wisedome illuminations and inuentions the one of the other Nay further wee see some of the Philosophers which were least diuine and most immersed in the sences and denyed generally the immortality of the soule yet came to this point that whatsoeuer motions the spirite of man could act and perfourme without the Organs of the bodie they thought might remaine after death which were only those of the vnderstanding and not of the affection so immortall and incorruptible a thing did knowledge seeme vnto them to be But we that know by diuine reuelation that not onely the vnderstanding but the affections purified not onely the spirite but the bodie changed shall be aduanced to immortalitie doe disclaime in these rudiments of the sences But it must be remēbred both in this last point and so it may likewise be needfull in other places that in probation of the dignitie of knowledge or learning I did in the beginning separate diuine testimonie from humane which methode I haue pursued and so handled them both apart Neuerthelesse I doe not pretend and I know it will be impossible for me by any Pleading of mine to reuerse the iudgement either of Aesops Cocke that preferred the Barly-corne before the Gemme or of Mydas that being chosen Iudge betweene Apollo President of the Muses and Pan God of the Flockes iudged for Plentie or of Paris that iudged for Beautie and soue against Wisedome and Power nor of Agrippina Occidat matrem modo imperet that preferred Empire with condition neuer so detestable or of Vlysses Qui vetulam proetulit immortalitati being a figure of those which preferre Custome and Habite before all excellencie or of a number of the like popular Iudgements For these thinges continue as they haue beene but so will that also continue whereupon learning hath euer relyed and which fayleth not Iustificata est sapientia à filijs suis. THE SECOND Booke of FRANCIS BACON of the proficience or aduancement of Learning Diuine and Humane To the King IT might seeme to haue more conuenience though it come often otherwise to passe Excellent King that those which are fruitfull in their generations haue in themselues the fore sight of Immortalitie in their descendents should likewise be more carefull of the good estate of future times vnto which they know they must transmitte and commend ouer their dearest pledges Queene Elizabeth was a soiourner in the world in respect of her vnmaried life and was a blessing to her
owne times yet so as the impression of her good gouernement besides her happie memorie is not without some effect which doth suruiue her But to your Maiestie whom God hath alreadie blessed with so much Royall issue worthie to continue and represent you for euer and whose youthfull and fruitfull bedde doth yet promise manie the like renouations It is proper and agreeable to be conuersant not only in the transitory parts of good gouernment but in those acts also which are in their nature permanent perpetuall Amongst the which if affection do not transport mee there is not any more worthie then the further endowement of the world with sound and fruitfull knowledge For why should a fewe receiued Authors stand vp like Hercules Columnes beyond which there should be no sayling or discouering since wee haue so bright and benigne a starre as your Ma to conduct and prosper vs To returne therefore where wee left it remaineth to consider of what kind those Acts are which haue bene vndertaken performed by Kings and others for the increase and aduancement of learning wherein I purpose to speake actiuely without digressing or dylating Let this ground therfore be layd that all workes are ouercōmen by amplitude of reward by soundnesse of direction and by the coniunction of labors The first multiplyeth endeuour the second preuenteth error and the third supplieth the frailty of man But the principal of these is direction For Claudus in via antevertit cursorem extra viam And Salomon excellently setteth it downe If the Iron be not sharpe it requireth more strength But wisedome is that which preuaileth signifying that the Inuention or election of the Meane is more effectuall then anie inforcement or accumulation of endeuours This I am induced to speake for that not derogating from the noble intention of any that haue beene deseruers towards the State of learning I do obserue neuerthelesse that their workes and Acts are rather matters of Magnificence and Memorie then of progression and proficience and tende rather to augment the masse of Learning in the multitude of learned men then to rectifie or raise the Sciences themselues The Works or Acts of merit towards learning are conversant about three obiects the Places of learning the Bookes of learning and the Persons of the learned For as water whether it be the dewe of heauen or the springs of the earth doth scatter and leese it selfe in the ground except it be collected into some Receptacle where it may by vnion comfort and sustaine it selfe And for that cause the Industry of Man hath made framed Spring heads Conduits Cesternes and Pooles which men haue accustomed likewise to beautifie and adorne with accomplishments of Magnificence and State as wel as of vse and necessitie So this excellent liquor of knowledge whether it descend from diuine inspiration or spring from humane sense would soone perishe and vanishe to oblyuion if it were not preserued in Bookes Traditions Conferences and Places appoynted as Vniuersities Colledges and Schooles for the receipt comforting of the same The works which concerne the Seates and Places of learning are foure Foundations and Buyldings Endowments with Reuenewes Endowmēts with Franchizes and Priuiledges Institutions and Ordinances for gouernment all tending to quietnesse and priuatenesse of life and discharge of cares and troubles much like the Stations which Virgil prescribeth for the hyuing of Bees Principio sedes Apibus statioque petenda Quo neque sit ventis aditus c. The workes touching Bookes are two First Libraries which are as the Shrynes where all the Reliques of the ancient Saints full of true vertue and that without delusion or imposture are preserued and reposed Secondly Newe Editions of Authors with more correct impressions more faithfull translations more profitable glosses more diligent annotations and the like The workes pertaining to the persons of learned men besides the aduancement and countenancing of them in generall are two The reward and designation of Readers in Sciences already extant and inuented and the reward and designation of Writers and Enquirers concerning any partes of Learning not sufficiently laboured and prosecuted These are summarilie the workes and actes wherein the merites of manie excellent Princes and other worthie Personages haue beene conuersant As for any particular commemorations I call to minde what Cicero saide when hee gaue generall thanks Di◅ffcile non aliquem ingratum quenquam praeterire Let vs rather according to the Scriptures looke vnto that parte of the Race which is before vs then looke backe to that which is alreadie attained First therfore amongst so many great Foundations of Colledges in Europe I finde strange that they are all dedicated to Professions and none left free to Artes and Sciences at large For if men iudge that learning should bee referred to action they iudge well but in this they fall into the Error described in the ancient Fable in which the other parts of the body did suppose the stomache had beene ydle because it neyther performed the office of Motion as the lymmes doe nor of Sence as the head doth But yet notwithstanding it is the Stomache that digesteth and distributeth to all the rest So if any man thinke Philosophie and Vniuersalitie to be idle Studies hee doth not consider that all Professions are from thence serued and supplyed And this I take to bee a great cause that hath hindered the progression of learning because these Fundamental knowledges haue bene studied but in passage For if you will haue a tree beare more fruite then it hath vsed to do it is not any thing you can do to the boughes but it is the styrring of the earth and putting newe moulde about the rootes that must worke it Neyther is it to bee forgotten that this dedicating of Foundations and Dotations to professory Learning hath not onely had a Maligne aspect and influence vpon the growth of Scyences but hath also beene preiudiciall to States and gouernments For hence it proceedeth that Princes find a solitude in regard of able men to serue them in causes of estate because there is no education collegiate which is free wher such as were so disposed mought giue themselues to Histories moderne languages bookes of pollicie and ciuile discourse and other the like inablements vnto seruice of estate And because founders of Colledges doe plant and founders of Lectures doe water it followeth wel in order to speake of the defect which is in Publique Lectures Namely in the smalnesse and meanesse of the salary or reward which in most places is assigned vnto them whether they be Lectures of Arts or of Professions For it is necessary to the progression of Scyences that Readers be of the most able and sufficient men as those which are ordained for generating and propagating of Scyences and not for transitorie vse This cannot be except their condition endowmēt be such as may cōtent the ablest man to appropriate his whole labour and continue his whole age in that
differeth in end and purpose to sorte together those things which are next in Nature and those things which are next in vse For if a secretary of Estate should sort his papers it is like in his study or generall Cabinet he would sort together things of a Nature as Treaties Instructions c. But in his Boxes or particular Cabinet hee would sort togither those that he were like to vse together though of seuerall Natures So in this generall Cabynet of knowledge it was necessary for me to follow the diuisions of the Nature of things whereas if my selfe had beene to handle any particular knowledge I would haue respected the Diuisions fittest for vse The other because the bringing in of the Deficiences did by Consequence alter the Partitions of the rest For let the knowledge extant for demonstration sake be 15. Let the knowledge with the Deficiences be 20. the parts of 15. are not the parts of 20 for the parts of 15 are 3. and 5. the parts of 20. are 2. 4. 5. and 10. So as these things are without Contradiction and could not otherwise be WE proceed now to that knowledge which cō sidereth of the APPETITE and WILL OF Man whereof Salomon sayth Anteomnia fili custodi cor tuum nam inde procedunt actiones vilae In the handling of this science those which haue written seeme to me to haue done as if a man that professed to teach to write did only exhibit faire copies of Alphabets letters ioyned without geuing any precepts or directiōs for the cariage of the hād framing of the letters So haue they made good fair Exemplars coppies carieng the draughts and pour traiturs of Good Vertue Duety Felicity propoūding thē well described as the true obiects and scopes of mās wil and desires But how to attain these excellēt marks and how to frame and subdue the will of man to become true and conformable to these pursuites they passe it ouer altogether or slightly and vnprofitably For it is not the disputing That morall vertues are in the Minde of man by habite not by nature or the distinguishing That generous spirites are wonne by doctrines and perswasions and the vulgar sort by reward punishment and the like scattered glances and touches that can excuse the absence of this parte The reason of this omission I suppose to be that hidden Rocke wherevppon both this and many other barques of knowledge haue beene cast away which is that men haue dispised to be conuersant in ordinary and common matters the iudicious direction whereof neuerthelesse is the wisest doctrine for life consisteth not in nouelties nor subtilities but contrariwise they haue compounded Sciences chiefly of a certaine resplendent or lustrous masse of matter chosen to giue glory either to the subtillity of disputacions or to the eloquence of discourses But Seneca giueth an excellent check to eloquence Nocet illis eloquentia quibus non rerum cupiditatem facit sed sui doctrines should be such as should make men in loue with the Lesson and not with the Teacher being directed to the Auditors benefite and not to the Authors commendation And therefore those are of the right kinde which may be concluded as Demosthenes concludes his counsell Quae si feceritis non Oratorem duntaxat inpraesentia laudabitis sed vosmetipsos etiā nō ita multo post statu rerum vestrarum meliore Neyther needed men of so excellent parts to haue despaired of a Fortune which the Poet Virgill promised himselfe and indeed obtained who got as much glory of eloquence wit and learning in the expressing of the obseruacions of husbandry as of the heroicall acts of Aeneas Nec sunt animi dubius verbis ea vincere magnum Quam sit augustis his addere rebus honorem And surely if the purpose be in good earnest not to write at leasure that which mē may read at leasure but really to instruct and suborne Action and actiue life these Georgickes of the mind concerning the husbādry tillage therof are no lesse worthy thē the heroical descriptiōs of vertue duty felicity wherfore the maine primitiue diuision of Morall knowledge seemeth to be into the EXEMPLAR or PLATFORME of GOOD and the REGIMENT or CVLTVRE OF THE MIND The one describing the nature of Good the other prescribing rules how to subdue apply and accomodate the will of man therevnto The Doctrine touching the PLATFORME or NaTVRE of GOOD considereth it either SIMPLE or COMPARED either the kindes of Good or the degrees of Good In the later whereof those infinite disputations which were touching the supreme degree thereof which they terme Felicity Beatitude or the highest Good the doctrines concerning which were as the heathen Diuinity are by the christian faith discharged And as Aristotle saith That yong men may bee happy but not otherwise but by Hope So we must all acknowledge our Minority and embrace the felicity which is by hope of the future world Freed therefore and deliuered from this doctrine of the Philosophers heauen whereby they fayned an higher eleuation of Mans Nature then was For we see in what an height of stile Seneca writeth Vere Magnum habere fragilitatem hominis securitatem Dei We may with more sobriety and truerh receiue the rest of their Enquiries and labors Wherein for the Nature of Good Positiue or simple they haue set it downe excellently in describing the fourmes of Vertue and Duty with their situations and postures in distributing them into their kinds parts Prouinces Actions and Administrations and the like Nay furder they haue commended them to Mans Nature and spirite with greate quicknesse of Argumente and beauty of persuasions yea and fortified and entrenched them as much as discourse can doe against corrupt and popular opinions Againe for the degrees and Comparatiue Nature of Good they haue also excellentlye handled it in their triplicity of Good in the comparisons betweene a Contemplatiue and an actiue life in the distinction between vertue with reluctation and vertue secured in their encounters between honesty and profit in theyr ballancing of vertue with vertue and the like so as this parte deserueth to bee reported for excellentlye laboured Notwithstanding if before they had commen to the popular and receiued Nocions of vertue and vice pleasure and payne and the rest they had stayed a little longer vpon the Enquirye concerning the Rootes of Good and euill and the Strings of those Rootes they had giuen in my opinion a great light to that which followed and speciallye if they had consulted with Nature they had made their doctrins lesse prolixe and more profound which beeing by them in part omitted and in part handled with much Confusion we will endeauour to resume and open in a more cleare Manner There is fourmed in euery thing a double Nature of Good the one as euery thing is a Totall or substantiue in it selfe the other as it is a parte or Member of a greater Bodye whereof the the
voccm elicuere correplamque Groeco versu admonuit ideo laedi quia non regnaret And therefore the Poet doth elegantly cal passions tortures that vrge men to confesse theyr secrets Vino tortus ira And experience sheweth there are few men so true to themselues and so setled but that sometimes vpon heate sometimes vpon brauerye sometime vpon kindenesse sometimes vpon trouble of minde and weaknesse they open themselues specially if they be put to it with a counter-dissimulatioÌ„ according to the prouerb of Spain Dimentira y sacar as verdad Tell a lye and find a truth As for the knowing of men which is at second hand from Reportes mens weakenesse and faultes are best knowne from theyr Enemies theyr vertues and abilityes from theyr friendes theyr customes and Times from theyr seruauntes their conceites and opinions from theyr familiar friends with whom they discourse most Generall fame is light the opinions conceiued by superiors or equals are deceitful for to such men are more masked Verior sama è domesticis emanat But the soundest disclosing and expounding of men is by theyr natures and endes wherein the weakest sorte of men are best interpreted by theyr Natures and the wisest by theyr endes For it was both pleasauntlye and wiselye sayde though I thinke verye vntruely by a Nuntio of the pope returning from a certayne Nation where hee serued as LIDGER whose opinion beeing asked touching the appointemente of one to goe in his place hee wished that in anye case they did not send one that was too wise because no very wise man would euer imagine what they in that country were like to doe And certaynelye it is an errour frequent for men to shoot ouer and to suppose deeper ends and more compasse reaches then are the Italian prouerb being elegant for the most part true Di danari di senno e di fede C'n è manco che non credi There is commonly lesse mony Iesse wisedome and lesse good faith then men doe accompt vpon But Princes vpon a farre other Reason are best interpreted by their natures and priuate persons by theyr ends For Princes beeing at the toppe of humane desires they haue for the most part no particular endes whereto they aspire by distaunce from which a man mought take measure and scale of the rest of theyr actions and desires which is one of the causes that maketh theyr heartes more inscructable Neyther is it sufficient to infourme onr selues in mens endes and natures of the variety of them onely but also of the predominancy what humour reigneth most and what end is principally sought For so wee see when Tigellinus sawe himselfe out-stripped by Petrouius Turpilianus in Neroés humours of pleasures Metus eius rimâ—… he wrought vpon Neroes fears wherby he brake the others neck But to all this parte of Enquierie the most compendious waye resteth in three thinges The first to haue generall acquaintaunce and in wardnesse with those which haue generall atquaintance and looke most into the worlde and speciallye according to the diuersitie of Businesse and the diuersitye of Persons to haue priuacye and conuersation with some one friend at least which is parfite and well intelligenced in euery seuerall kinde The seconde is to keepe a good mediocritye in libertie of speeche and secrecy in most thinges libertye secrecy where it importeth for libertye of speeche inuiteth and prouoketh libertye to bee vsed againe and so bringeth much to a mans knowledge and secrecie on the other side induceth trust and inwardnesse The last is the reducing of a mans selfe to this watchfull and serene habite as to make accompte and purpose in euerye conference and action aswell to obserue as to acte For as Epictetus would haue a Philosopher in eue ry particular action to say to himselfe Et hoc volo etiam institutum seruare so a politique man in euerye thing should say to himself Et hoc volo ac etiam aliquid addifcere I haue staied the longer vpon thit precept of obtaining good information because it is a maine part by it selfe which aunswereth to all the rest But aboue al things Caution must be taken that Men haue a good staye and houlde of themselues and that this much knowing doe not draw on much medling For nothing is more vnfortunate then light and rash intermeddling in many matters So that this variety of knowledge tendeth in conclusion but onely to this to make a better freer choise of those actions which may concern vs to conduct them with the lesse error and the more dexterity The second precept concerning this knowledge is for men to take good informacion touching they re own person and well to vnderstand themselues know ing that as S. Iames sayth though men looke oft in a glasse yet they do sodainly forget themselues wherin as the diuine glasse is the word of God so the politique glasse is the state of the world or times wherin we liue In the which we are to behould our selues For men ought to take an vnpartiall viewe of their owne abilities and vertues and againe of their wants and impediments accounting these with the most those other with the least and from this view and examination to frame the considerations following First to consider how the constitution of their nature sorteth with the generall state of the times which if they find agreeable and fit then in all things to giue themselues more scope and liberty but if differing and dissonant then in the whole course of theyr life to be more close retyred and reserued as we see in Tyberius who was neuer seen at a play and came not into the Senate in 12. of his last yeers whereas Augustus Caesar liued euer in mens eyes which Tacitus obserueth Alia Tiberio morum via Secondly to consider how their Nature sorteth with professions and courses of life accordingly to make election if they be free and if ingaged to make the departure at the first opportunity as we see was doone by Duke Valentine that was designed by his father to a sacerdotal profession but quitted it soon after in regard of his parts and inclination being such neuerthelesse as a man cannot tel wel whether they were worse for a Prince or for a Priest Thirdly to consider how they sorte with those whom they are like to haue Competitors and Concurrents and to take that course wherin there is most solitude and themselues like to be most eminent as Caesar Iulius did who at first was an Orator or Pleader but when he saw the excellency of Cicero Hortensius Catulus and others for eloquence and sawe there was no man of reputation for the warres but Pompeius vpon whom the State was forced to relie he forsooke his course begun toward a ciuile and popular greatnesse and transgressed his designes to a marshall greatnesse Fourthly in the choyse of their friends and dependaunces to proceeed according to the Composition of their own nature as we may