the race And moste approued perfect path of goodnesse and of grace O milde and honourable Age that doest abate the fire Of vicious youth and doest restraine eche lewde and fond desire The Paraphrase THE blessed Apostle telleth vs that as long as wee liue in this worlde we are Pilgrimes and straungers to the Lorde meaning that our true and naturall countrie is that of which Dauid speaketh saying I trust to see the glory of the almightie in the land of the liuing The land of the liuing is the glory of Paradise where who soeuer remaineth doe liue without any dread or daunger of death And as the Apostle sayeth all the while that we are absent from that place wee are aptly here called straungers and pilgrims meaning that as the pilgrim wandreth here and there forth of his Countrey So we are alwayes absent and out of our countrey as long as wee liue in this transitorie life And because that by the meanes of age we draw neare to our owne countrey when we drawe neare to death by which death as Plato saieth in his Phedro the soule atteineth vnto libertie and breaking out from the Gaole of the bodie being deliuered frō sorrow and miserie commeth to her owne quietnesse ioy and solace And therefore we ought not to be displeased at our olde age since that it is the race of goodnesse that is to say the plaine path way by which wee passe from sorrow and trouble to quietnesse and to rest And this is onely to be vnderstood of the modest and well gouerned age for that is shee that abateth the lustes and outrages of youth For there is an age as Aristotle sayeth in the first of his Ethikes that being destitute of all vertue and good behauiour is altogether doting and childish For there is no difference as Aristotle sayth betwixt him that is yong of yeeres and him that is young in behauiour so that the age which shall not be displeasant must be modest and furnished with good behauiour and vertuous exercises and that is the age that doeth abate the fire of vicious youth and doeth restraine eche lewde and fonde desire This age as Tullie in his booke de Senectute writeth doeth alay both lust pride presumption and doeth so enfeeble the force of the flesh as it bringeth a man to bee lowly milde and modest Of this kinde of age also speaketh the Psalme where it sayth When the time of meeknes mildnes shal come then shal we be reformed which time of mildnes is from the age of threescore to threescore and ten which season suffreth not a man to be prowd or disdainful but lowly milde and disposed to vertue And therfore the Prouerbe saith It doeth abate the fire of vicious youth c. 94. This to the vertuous man alone doth giue authoritie And makes him perfite in the pointes of grace and honestie For who is he that in his youth can keepe the perfite way Or measure in his life obserueth or runneth not astray The Paraphrase IT is commanded in the lawe of God that whensoeuer we see an old ancient man we should rise and reuerence him And we finde in the Ciuil law that in the Citie of Rome in the olde time they vsed to worship and reuerence their aged persons and the people of those dayes did yeelde the same honour to suche as were olde as they did to their Iudges and Magistrates and this onely they did in respecte of the honour that their olde yeeres doeth giue them for no young man though his wit be neuer so pregnant or quicke is able to attaine to that vnderstanding that the olde man by his experience hath gotten For as Aristotle in the first and sixteenth of his Ethikes witnesseth the number of yeeres is it that giueth knowledge experience And therefore he sayeth that the yong man can neuer giue anie perfect iudgement of anie thing because he neuer hath had anie great experience And although that in naturall Philosophie and in the liberal artes learnings there needeth nought else but a sharp and quicke conceite and vnderstanding yet in morall Philosophie which is the knowledge by which we learne to liue vprightly and honestly it is not onely enough to haue a good wit capacitie to but also to haue the experience and knowledge of time and such thinges as are done by men of ripe yeares we alwayes presume that they bee done vppon great aduise and deliberation which is nothing so with yong men And therefore vppon great consideration our Sauiour being perfect God and man although in the verie instant that he was conceiued he was perfect in all knowledge vnderstanding did not grow with space of time to more ripe knowledge skill would neither preach nor publishe his doctrine in his yong yeares but at such time as he was come to his perfect age neither doeth the Church receiue for trueth and certaintie anie other things then those which we read to bee done at his full age Wherevpon all such Bookes as are written of suche thinges as hee did in his childehoode and youngest yeares the Church doeth take for Apocripha and counteth them not in the Canon of holy Scriptures And it is good reason that the thinges that are done in vnripe yeares should be of no authoritie since our Sauiour Christ himselfe woulde neither preach nor publish his doctrine till such time as hee was of ripe and perfect age 95. This made the Catoes so renoumed for wisdome great and graue this made the valiant Scipioes so great a name to haue This onely gouernes in the field and giues the victorie And this in peace doth coūtries keepe from all hostilitie The Paraphrase THere is no man as hath bene saide before that attaineth to anie perfection in his doinges and deuises but onelie by long experience of manie yeeres And therefore saieth Aristotle in the sixth of his Ethikes that young men ought alwayes to haue about them olde and auncient men whose counsaile they may vse and whom they ought in al things to beleeue and therfore age is of great account and estimation for it maketh as the Prouerbe here sayeth men to be wise meete to iudge and discrete in gouernment And therefore Trogus Pōpeius in his eleuenth Booke writeth that Alexander whensoeuer hee happened vpon anie desperate aduenture or sawe himselfe in great daunger in the field woulde neuer haue about him anie yong blooddes or hewsters but olde men that were of experience such as had serued his Father and his Grandfather in their warres to the end hee might haue in his companie not onelie Souldiours but directers he sayeth beside that when his old Souldiours had required of him leaue to goe home to rest and refresh their olde and weeried bodies and that they woulde sende in their places their sonnes that were yong and lustie and better able to doe him seruice He answered them that he made a great deale more account of the wise and skilfull
Antigonus for whose sake a day and night you haue taken suche paines Now speake wel of him that hath made one amongest you and helped you in bearing part of your burdens this gracious answeare made the king to be a thousande times better beloued of his souldiours then he was before and therfore the Prouerbe saith Here well that the answeare shoulde alwaies be gentle since good woordes coste but a litle It auoideth quarrelling and fighting when any man falleth out with them In the Cronicle of the Philosopers wee read that one of Athens was alwaies quarelling and falling out with an honest quiet man one Anacharsis a Scithian which countrey was of all others of least estimation When the Athenian for the more despite called him a Scithian Anacharsis answering him gently again and smiling saide vnto him my countrey is a shame to me and thou art a shame to thy countrey The Prouerbe goeth farther and saith It litle doeth auaile with words thy wrath to wreake that is hee that threatneth with woordes and hath a will to be reuenged and to threaten shal be counted but for a vaunter and a pratler and if he haue a minde to reuenge he looseth the oportunity of it by his boasting and threatning In a Tragedie of Seneca Medea vitterly threatening Iason because he had cast her of and maried an other the Nurse reprehendeth her and blameth her telling her that it is not seemely for vs to be presumptious highminded nor enraged with those with whome wee deale neither oughte we on the other side so muche to abase our selues as we come therby to be counted for outcastes and persons of no value Among all the vertues and vices that Aristotle doeth entreate of in the fourth Booke of his Ethycks he speaketh of the vertue of Magnanimitie whiche is for a man to stand vpon his honour that he knoweth for his vertues and qualities he deserueth and to keepe his estimation in such sorte as it decay not and to this ende saith the Prophet My honor and my glory will I giue to no other This vertue hath two extremities and vices the one is as Aristotle saith for a man to be vaineglorious proude and disdainfull which is when hee taketh vpon him more then of right to him perteineth In the other extremitie and vice are thought to offend all such as by reason of their base minde are nothing accounted of nor esteemed and if they happen to come to any honor or preferment they behaue them selues like sheepe or mecockes Of this vertue and the vices the Marques speaketh in the Prouerbe where hee saith Let not vnwoorthy honors please thee For those that are therewith all delighted are vaunters vainglorious and foolish as Aristotle saith where he sheweth the inconueniēces that follow to thē that make more of them selues then there is cause why saying that such honor commeth quickly to the ground So that the man that taketh more vppon him then hee may is of others by great good reason soone put from it Of these proude and vaine vaunters speaketh Iob. The vaine man exalteth him selfe in his pride and thinketh that he is borne free from subiection as the Colte of a wilde Asse And before hee saith I would not haue thee so to throwe downe thy self as to be counted an outcast For this is not humilitie but basenesse and weakenesse of minde and this is it that Aristotle prooueth in the authoritie aforesaide And the Apostle saieth that forasmuch as hee was ordained the Apostle of the Gentiles hee would honor and esteeme his dignitie and office and yet for all that he left not to be humble and meeke for humilitie springeth not of basenesse and feeblenesse of mind but of vertue and noblenesse of nature And that which the Marques doeth heere disalowe is onely the basenesse and vilenesse of the minde in what sort the conuersation of men ought to be Isocrates in his Admonishments writeth in this sort Be not hautie nor disdainefull to those that bee in thy company for euen the very seruants will hardly away with their maisters that are proude and disdainful The modest and temperate behauiour is that which al men delight in that is neither to be to hautie nor to base to hie minded nor to abiect 7 Flee Taletellers and backbiters that striue to please the eare As greedy rauening wolues that seek the seelly Lambes to teare Whose traiterous traines and pathes do nothing else at all But serue for snares and subtle traps Where heedelesse men doe fall The Paraphrase IN the Prouerbe before the Marques hath shewed what order men ought to obserue in their speech in this and those that folowe he teacheth howe we should behaue our selues in hearing For as the tongue ought to be bridled in speaking so ought the eare to be temperate in hearing for such as are wise and vertuous ought not to giue eare to euery worde that they heare but only to suche as are good and honest For as Salomon in his Prouerbe saith The Prince that is contented to heare lies and tales shall haue his court replenished with naughtie persons For when the rest of his seruantes perceiue that he delighteth in a tatler or a taleteller the whole company will straight addict them selues to be liers and slaunderers picke-thanks for as saint Gregorie in the .xiiii. chapter of his booke of Moralls saith That suche as delight in hearing of slaunders accusations are counted to be eaters and deuourers of men as Salomon sayeth Be not present at the banquets of sinners nor eate thou with those that come togeather to feede of fleshe To come togeather to eate fleshe is as S. Gregorie saith To gather them selues togeather to speake euill of their neighbours And therefore the Prouerbe saith that we should flee taletellers as those that hurt anoy Innocentes For he that commeth to diffame or slaunder his neighbour commeth clothed with a sheeps skin but is in very deede a rauening Woolfe For his intent is to infect and mooue the minde of him that heareth him against him whō hee slandereth Valerius sheweth a way how to reiect rid away such slanders picthanks saith that there was 2 very deare friends hauing great enuy and seeking to set discorde betweene them came to the one of them and tolde him that he had heard his freend speake very euill of him Quoth the other I cannot beleeue it for hee is my frende and I knowe he will not speake euill of me The slaunderer beeing very earnest and the other not seeming to credite him hee confirmed it at last with a greate oathe that the thing was true that he had tolde him I now beleeue you quoth the other since you sweare that my freend hath spoken euill of me but be you well assured it was something that hee thought should benefite mee that made him to speake as he did With which aunswere the slaunderer was cleane out of countenance perceiuing that the partie
and one of the greatest defeatings or auoydings as the Lawyers say of any proces is if iudgemēt haue been prooued or done without deliberation And therefore the Prouerbe sayth See that you take good deliberation in iudgement 10. The deed that 's done by good aduice doth alwayes firmely stand And seldome seene to craue amendes at any second hand Be ruled by counsaile euermore whatsoeuer thou dost intend And from thy side let neuer goe thy faythfull aged friend The Paraphrase THe Marques in this Proueth concludeth two things The first is the effect that followeth when a thing is done with good deliberation and brought to passe by good aduise and counsaile the seconde is whose aduise and coūsaile in our doings we ought to follow Touching the first Solomon in his Prouerbes saith The determinations of a man neuer come to good where counsaile is not afore had The deuises that are executed by good aduise are alwayes perfect good And Seneca saith Do al thy things by good aduise thou shalt neuer repent them For a man not taking coūsaile nor aduise in that which he intendeth it is not possible for him that he should foresee the errours that he shal fal in And falling therein for want of good foresight counsaile it must needes be that he must repent himselfe and say I had not thought so great a mischiefe woulde haue folowed And as Valerius writeth that Scipio of Affrica was wont to say It was an euill fauoured a shameful thing for a man in any matter especially in such as belong to a man of warre to say I would not haue thought it For such things as are to be done with the sword ought well to be thought of before For the errours that in warres are cōmitted can neuer as Scipio saith be amended And as Vegetius in his booke that he made Of the knowledge of the Warres affirmeth There is no other reason to be yeelded why the Romanes did subdue the whole worlde conquered wheresoeuer they came but because they did al that they did by great deliberation aduise being verie skilfull well trained in such things as belonged to the warres For what saith he was a handful of poore Romanes to the infinite numbers of the Frenchmen or what could so slēder a power preuaile against the great forces puissance of the Germanes Certaine it is that the Spaniards were more in nūber and of greater strength force thē were the Romanes They were alwayes behind the Affricanes both in wealth policies And no mā doubteth but the Greeks were farre beyond them in grauitie wisedom Yet alwayes did the souldier of Rome preuaile because of his skill being continually trained daily exercised in the warres For there could nothing hap in any skirmish or battel wherew t they had not long time afore been acquainted Certaine it is as the Prouerb saith that that which is done by deliberation cōmeth not to craue amendment at the second hande and that from this counsaile and aduise the olde stager ought neuer to be shut out For as Aristotle sayth in the first of his Ethickes The yong man by reason of his small experience can haue no great knowledge in anie matter and therfore not able to giue anie good coūsaile And beside in his booke of Rethorike In mans affaires and actions the thinges that haue passed be cōmonly like to the thinges that after happen and as the young man hath had no experience of such thinges as haue happened before so can hee neuer bee able to iudge of the things that shall after fal out therefore the auncient mē are alwayes able to giue better counsaile And therefore Roboam the sonne of Solomon for taking the aduise of yong men and refusing the olde and expert fellowes did verire worthily forgoe tenne partes of twelue of his kingdome as shal hereafter be more at large declared And though young men are by reason of strength and lustinesse more able and fitte for the fight than are the olde men yet as Tullie in his booke of Age saith The great and notable exploites are neuer done by force nor agilitie of body but by counsaile aucthoritie secresie And among the principal causes that we reade why Alexander had alwaies the victory and the better hand it was the chiefe that he went alwaies accompanied with graue auncient counsellours For as Trogus Pompeius in his eleuenth booke writeth That Alexander whensoeuer he was in any iourney of great daunger he neuer called to counsel nor made priuie to his doinges the young and lusty Gallantes but the olde expert souldiers that had folowed the warres with his father and with his vncle whom he vsed not so muche for souldiers as for gouernours And it is saide that those whom he put in his battailes were commonly of the age of threescore yeeres vpwarde to the entent that none of them should thinke to run away but to ouercome and trusting more to their handes then their feete shoulde set their whole mindes vpon the victory And when diuers of his old souldiours desired him that they might depart to rest and refreshe them selues offering him their sonnes that were young and lustie to serue in their places It is saide that he answered I had rather to haue about me the well experienced grauitie of aged men then the frowardenesse and vnaduised rashnesse of young men And thus did Alexander attaine to whatsoeuer he desired and was in all his doinges honourable and vertuous because he neuer suffered as the Prouerbe sayeth The olde man to depart from his side 11 So long the common wealth of Rome Did floorishe strong and glad As they their aged senatours At home in honour had But when that Tirantes once began To rule and beare the sway They neuer any conquest made But lost from day to day The Paraphrase IN this Prouerbe the Marques sheweth and prooueth by good example and greate experience of thinges before passed That which before he declared that as long as the Romanes gaue credit to the aduise and counsaile of their aged Fathers so long they prospered and did well and when they once ceassed so to doe their honour presently ceassed and came to nought They were gouerned in those dayes by a certaine companie of men called Senators which woorde and name commeth of the Latine woorde Senex which signifieth aged In what sorte and by what meanes the Romanes prospered is plainely declared by Iudas Machabee in the first boke of the Machabees where he saith The Romanes by their wisedome and sober behauiour possessed the whole worlde and ouerthrewe the Princes that rebelled against them and made Tributaries Galacia and Spaine subdued and overcame the king of the Persians and Antiochus the king of Asia hauing in his company a hundred and thirtie Elephants sacked al their cities and made Tributarie vnto them all their Dominions and brought into subiection al the countries rounde about them as wel farre as neare
great griefe and mourning bewailed his offence Hee committed adulterie with the wife of Vrias who was mother to Solomon for the which greeuous offence the Lorde was more offended with him then for all that euer hee did as is to be seene at large in his life The Doctour SExtus Tarquinius was the sonne of Tarquinius the King as Liuie in the first of his Decades writeth The like is affirmed by Saint Augustine in his boke of the Citie of GOD Valerius Maximus and many other auncient writers No lesse was Lucretia famous for her vertue then was this Tarquine to be abhorred for his wickednesse Amongst many that haue written of the woorthinesse of this Ladie none doeth so greatly delite me as M. Iohn Galensis in a booke that hee wrote of the foure principal vertues whō I only determin to folow His words as I haue translated thē out of the Tuscan tongue are these Well woorthie of immortall and euerlasting remembraunce is the noble vertuous Lady Lucretia Who refusing to liue any longer did rip out the stain of the villany and violence done vnto her with the death of her owne person The maner wherof S. Augustine telleth in his boke of the citie of God saying that Sextus Tarquinius came with Collatinus the husbande of Lucretia to a house of his called Collatinū where they found Lucretia vertuously disposed amongst her maidens and women the only Paragon of her time most commended of all others was this Lucretia Whom when the sonne of Tarquinius king of the Romans had throughly behelde he was presently inflamed with disordinate and wicked loue towardes her whereuppon within a fewe dayes after accompanied only with one man he returneth vnknowne to Collatinus vnto the aforesaide place where he was honourably entertained and receiued of Lucretia who made him great cheare and lodged him according to his estate supposing that she had had her friende and not her enimie in her house Tarquinius being now a bed al a fire with the flames of beastly desire perceiuing that they were all fast a sleepe in the house taking his swoorde in his hande leapeth out of his bed and goeth directly to the chamber of Lucretia whom he founde fast a sleepe where laying his hande vpon her brest he said vnto her Lie stil Lucretia I am Sextus Tarquinius yf thou makest any noise thou shalt die for it Wherewithall the Lady beeing with great feare awaked and seeing no succour about her nor any waye too escape death Tarquinius beginneth to disclose vnto her his great affection and somtime with faire woordes intreating her and sometime againe terribly threatning her assaieth all the waies that he can deuise to bryng her to graunt to his desire But when he saw that she was by no waies to be remooued from her stedfast and chaste minde and that the terrour of death coulde nothing preuaile he casteth about againe and thinkeeth to boorde her on an other side and saith vnto her I will tel thee what I will doe if thou wilt not consent vnto me I wyll first kill thee and afterwards kill an euil fauoured knaue that I haue heere in the house and laye him in bedde with thee whereby it shal be reported to the worlde that thou wert taken in shameful and filthie adulterie And with this feare he ouercame the chaste minde of the vertuous Ladie and hauing obteined his desire with great disdaine departed Wherewith the poore Lucrecia beeing now ouerwhelmed with sorowe and pensiuenesse for her great and greeuous mishappe sendeth with al speede possible to her father her husbande and all other their friendes at Rome earnestly desiring them to come vnto her with as muche haste as they coulde VVho when they were come Lucrecia all heauie and sorowfull in her bedde at their entring into the house fell into a great weeping and when her friendes began to salute her and to bid her bee of good comfort Alas quoth she What comforte can there be to a woman that hath lost her chastitie and lookeing stedfastly vppon her husbande shee cried out and saide O Collatinus the feete of a straunger hath been in thy bed But I sweare vnto thee of a trueth only the body is defiled for the mind was neuer consenting and that shal my death presently declare And therefore I require you all to shewe your selues men and not to suffer this horrible act to remaine vnpunished Sextus Tarquinius was he whom I receiued not as an enimie but as a supposed friende who hath this laste night depriued me and you also yf you be men of al ioy VVhen shee had vttered these wordes they all beganne to comfort her and to tel her that her offence was nothing beeyng forced and constrained thereunto and that where there was no consent there coulde be no offence VVhereunto Lucrecia replied and saide As for that looke you to those thinges that concerne your selues I though I dooe cleare my selfe of beeing guiltie of any offence yet doe I not discharge my selfe of punishment There shal neuer chaste woman take occasion to be euyll by the example of Lucrecia And with these wordes plucking out a knife that she had secretly hidden and thrusting it to her hart she fell downe dead whereat both her husbande and Brutus her father makyng great lamentation presently drewe out the knife out of the wounde being al stained embrued with blood which knife Brutus takyng in his hande sware to reuenge the iniurie and the death of his daughter and to destroy both Tarquin the king his wife and his children either by fyer by swoord or by al the waies that he might and neuer to suffer any of the kindred to reigne in Rome VVith which he gaue the knife to Collatinus and so from one to another Whereby this mourning chaunged into wrath and desire of reuenge they all made promise to folowe Brutus and taking with them the body of Lucretia they brought it to Rome and laide it in the middest of the market place to the ende that the horrour of so strange a facte might stirre vppe the people to reuenge it At the sight wherof the people were straight in armes and folowing Brutus they thrust out of Rome Sextus Tarquinius who after miserably died in prison 4◠No lesse was worthie Scipio Commended for the deede That from his chaste and worthie mind Did worthily proceede Then for his valiant manly actes Esteemed in his daies By which he to his Countrey got A neuer dieyng praise The Paraphrase of the Marques COrnelius Scipio as Valerius rehearseth in his thirde booke hauing taken the Citie of Carthage was tolde by his souldiours that in the sacke of the Towne there was taken a young maiden of woonderful beauty great parentage who was affianced to a Gentleman of the nobilitie which as soone as he vnderstoode he commaunded that the Damsel her husbande and her parentes should be brought before him and caused the young maide safe and vntouched to be deliuered vnto them
commit themselues to no hasard nor danger wherby they are vncapable of any vertue or honor For Honor as Aristotle in the fourth of his Ethicks saith is a reuerence that is giuen to men in rewarde and recompence of their vertues And therefore the Marques saith That whosoeuer is so valiant as not to regarde his life in any vertuous attempt shal be sure to receiue the crowne of Mars that is the renowme rewarde of a vertuous minde which he shall quickly attaine vnto if he represse feare And where as there are in the vertue of Fortitude two extreames or vices the one in ventering to farre the other in fearing to much the Marques hath not here said If thou restrainest boldnesse as hee sayeth If thou abandonest feare because as Aristotle in the thirde of his Ethicks affirmeth and as dayly experience teacheth the nature of man is more inclined to fearfulnesse then to boldenesse and therefore those that seeke to bee valiaunt and vertuous ought more to trauel in the repressing and abandoning of feare then in the restraint or temperaunce of boldenesse And therefore to good purpose sayeth the Marques in this Prouerbe If thou abandonest or forcest feare and not corrage and because as it is sayde abooue it is in euery mans power and will to bee vertuous it is heere well saide of the Prouerb Thou shalt not want the honour nor the state thou seekest to beare 57. Detest an euill life that 's led with foule reproch and shame And alwayes ready be to dye with honorable name For life cannot be lent for loane nor let from day to day Nor can the appoynted houre bee shund nor skaped any way The Paraphrase THE Emperours did in their lawes carefully prouide for the behoofe and good estate of their Subiectes to sette downe rewardes and encouragements for such as were honest and vertuous and to deuise punishments and corrections for suche as were wicked and euill disposed And it is very wel thought as hath been saide before that such as valiantly lost their liues either in defence of their faith or for the libertie of their countrie are rewarded with euerlasting life or if any man dye in the defence of his owne honesty he shall continually be well thought of and commended But such as cowardly forsake the feelde and run away from the warres the lawes haue appointed to dye and are accounted for wretches and villaines whether they dye or liue and their shameful and reprochfull life is more griefe to them then any death that can bee deuised especially an honest death this is the meaning of the Prouerbe Detest an euill life c. For as Aristotle in the 3. of his Ethicks saith A man is borne to honor libertie which two things we ought alwaies to keepe and maintaine and to couet by all meanes we can to diehonestly to liue vertuously The Prouerb saith further that life can not be borrowed For as Iob sayeth The Lord hath rated the dayes of our life which can not bee lengthened And therefore no man may shunne the appointed houre that God hath determined And herevpon ariseth the tale among the Poets of the three sisters of destinie whereof the one of them called Clotho carieth the distaffe the other named Lachesis spinneth and draweth out the threede which the thirde sister Atropos windeth vppe vpon the reele And as Seneca in his first Tragedie sayth These three sisters are so cruell and hard that it was neuer seene that the threede which they had once wounde vppe could euer bee got backe againe These sisters of the Destinie doe signifie in deede the posting time of our transitorie life whereof the day once past can neuer be called backe againe And therefore sayeth Seneca these three vnliberall Ladies doe rule by assured order and may neither shorten nor lengthē otherwise then is appointed Therefore ought euerie man to applie himselfe to die well since the time of his death can by no maner of meanes be altered 58. King Codrus rather chose to haue the conquest then to liue And neuer did his noble minde refuse his life to giue To saue a valiant companie of such as him did serue The life is alwayes well bestowed that doth such praise deserue The Paraphrase COdrus beeing as both saint Austine Valerius report the king of Athens when as he was to fight with Pelops duke of the Lacedemonians and had answere of his Idols to whom he sacrificed that the side whose captaine was slaine should haue the victorie preferrin glike a worthie gentleman the liues prosperitie of his poore subiects farre aboue his owne apparailing himselfe in a base and simple habite and rushing into the thickest of the enemies was presently slaine Of whom Virgil writeth that he chose rather to die with the victorie then to liue with the ouerthrow 59. Take no delight to heare thy deedes commended to thy face A thing that wisedome alwayes hath accounted for disgrace And if thou doest reprochfull wordes of anie man sustaine It is no commendation to to report the same againe The Paraphrase VNder the vertue of Fortitude is takē and included all maner of vertuous and godly actions that are done without respect of praise For a man ought not to look for the praise of the people as a recōpence for his good deed and specially if it be done in his owne presence which for two causes is to be disliked The one because that glorie nor praise is no perfect recompence or rewarde for anie vertue For as Boecius sayeth Praise or glory is nought else amongest the multitude but a tickeling and bewitching of the eares The other reason is that praises and commendations before the face doth rather seeme a kinde of flattering and clawing then a praise The Prouerbe saith further That if thou doest reprochfull wordes of any man sustaine It is no cōmendation to report the same againe The meaning of it is that no man that is of great minde or courage ought to speake of the iniurious and euill words that hath been offered him but shall rather bee counted both wiser and valianter if he dissemble them and seeme not to wey them as it is writtē in the third booke Of the liues of the Philosophers where a Philosopher being railed at and reuiled made this answer Thou quoth he hast learned to speake euill and I haue learned to make no accompt of lewd speech And more is he to be commended that beareth euill wordes then he that offreth them 60. Likewise the praising of thy selfe thine actes and speciall grace Doth neuer thee aduaunce but all thy doings doth deface For if the deedes that here thou dost be onely done for praise An errour great thou dost commit and walkst the croked wayes The Paraphrase SOlomon is his Prouerbes sayth Let a stranger cōmend thee and not thine owne mouth And Cato saieth Neither praise nor dispraise thine owne doings for thy praise in thine owne mouth is a great disgrace vnto