That which among the Painims and Gentiles was not lawful without speciall licence of the superiours to be attempted against a publike enemie armed to the ruine of their State and Common-weale will these iolly politicians haue now to be lawfull among Christians in despite of their naturall and lawfull Lords and Princes vpon whom the foundation of well pollicied States is layd and in the obedience towards whom ciuill felicitie it selfe doth rest But we neede not to maruell if such men contemne humane lawes and ordinances when they sticke not to disobey God himselfe vnto whom they knowing manifestly this kind of fight to be odious and displeasing yet are they not ashamed by publike writings to maintaine it and thereby to draw souldiers and men of valour into their errror of a wilfull madnesse and mischieuous mind It is a more mockery and a thing worthy to be laughed at to see how busily such fellowes build vpon a false foundation as if their building were like to stand For leauing and forsaking the patterne and true rules of vertuous behauiour of policie and states and of good lawes written by that excellent Philosopher Aristotle they take hold forsooth of some fragments or parcels of his Rhetorikes to worke vpon as though from thence men were to take the precepts of ciuill conuersation or politike gouernement whence onely the rules and method of well speaking are to be taken and not of ciuill felicitie Out of his Rhetorikes they haue culled out namely this place where he saith that God helpeth those that are wronged not vnderstanding or seeming not to vnderstand that Aristotle in that place speaketh of ciuill iudgements or criminall and not of battels or combats such as this that he neuer knew ne yet euer heard spoken of and if he had would haue sought to haue driuen it out of the frantike fancie of all men It is not to be denied but that in good and godly iudgements managed by men desirous to maintaine iustice God is alwayes at hand to help and vphold the right and to tread downe and ouerthrow the wrong For by him haue iudgements bin appointed and ordained and magistrates to rule and ouersee them not only for the common benefit of men but also for the defence of truth and righteousnesse and for the punishment of vntruth and wickednesse Moreouer it is to be vnderstood that onely such places in Aristotles Rhetorikes are to be approoued and allowed in ciuil or politike life as are by him confirmed in his Ethikes and Rhetorikes as that it is lawfull for a man to repulse an iniury and to defend himselfe and such other like For as himselfe affirmeth the drift of his booke of Rhetorikes is to instruct a man how to frame his speech to perswà de and how to moue the minds of Iudges to anger hatred reuenge compassion and such like other affects which oftentimes wrest the truth and make wrong to preuaile So as if the Orator preuaile and attaine the end he seeketh which is to perswade or vse the meanes to attaine it artificially he hath done his dutie By which it appeareth that Rhetorike is ordained for iudgements and controuersies but not for instruction of ciuill life and manners But let vs see what they get by this place taken out of the Rhetorikes For my part I see not wherfore any man should looke or hope for any helpe or fauour at Gods hands in this so vniust vnlawfull and wicked an action most offensiue to his diuine Maiestie as contrary to his expresse commandement and a worke most pleasing and acceptable to the diuell by whose instigation the same is wholy set forward Nay rather may the preuailing of them that haue the wrong cause to defend as oftentimes we see it happen in the combat serue for a most cleere argument that it falleth out by Gods speciall permission to vnseele the eyes if it were possible of such as are so wilfully blinded to the end they might see how vniust the conflict is which these men say was first inuented among other causes that truth might be knowne and right from the wrong But how is truth or right found out if he which hath right on his side be ouercome as oftentimes it falleth out Forsooth they answer that it so hapneth by reason of some other offences of him that is ouercome and that God will haue him so punished for the same By which reason it should follow that God who is truth it selfe suffereth in this fight which they say was deuised for trying out of the truth that in respect of punishing him for other offences that maintaineth the truth the other who hath the wrongfull cause in hand should triumph in his vniust victory and truth should be borne downe and defaced Then which reason what can be imagined more contrary to the goodnes iustice and power of God as if he could not otherwise punish sinners then by a meane that should spot and ouerthrow truth in which he is so well pleased It is therfore a most euident signe certaine testimonie that this kind of proofe or trial of truth is most vncertain and the fight to that end vniust and wicked And that it is no other then the work of the very diuell who being the author of all discord hatred debate falshood seditions vniust wars of death mortal enemy to truth reioiceth when he seeth right ouerwhelmed with wrong reason oppressed by iniustice truth defaced by falshood and by meanes thereof men drawne to euerlasting damnation And when it doth come to passe that he which maintaineth the right doth preuaile if any right or reason may be supposed in so wicked and vnlawfull an action euen that it selfe is to be imputed to the subtiltie of the diuell to draw men on as with a baite because he is loth to lose the great gaine of soules which he maketh by the humor of this detestable combat By which not onely the champions themselues but they that hauing power permit them or grant them libertie to fight all they that counsel them therunto all they that giue them the looking on in so damnable an action become subiect vnto him and enemies to God their Creator and Redeemer And indeed there is no vice or sinne in the world whereby he winneth more to his kingdome then by this because at once he purchaseth thousands of soules so foolishly do men flocke to be the beholders of a bloudie spectacle with inhumane desire to see the spilling of mans blood But now to conclude this matter it is a lamentable thing that any Christian Prince or other generall commander should permit so pernicious and so damnable a thing and consent that vnder their authoritie it should be lawfull for one man to kill another for priuate quarrell and they to sit themselues protribunali to behold so vniust and cruell a fight For they ought rather to consider that they are Gods ministers and by his diuine prouidence called to so high and so eminent a
of his owne counsell How then doth Menander say that men did many euils compelled by necessitie I meane not by necessitie as commonly we do want or pouertie but by necessitie of destinie We may then conclude that our will and election is free and that it is in our power to follow vice or vertue Neuerthelesse true it is that man may abuse this his libertie and of a free man make himselfe bond if he will and therefore do the Platonike say that a good and a wel-minded man doth all his actions freely but that if he giue himself to do euill forsaking the light of reason he becommeth a bruite beast and looseth the diuine gift of his libertie for thenceforth doth he work no more freely of himself but yeeldeth his minde which ought to be the Lord of our libertie slaue to the two basest parts of the soule and then reigneth no more the reasonable soule but the brutish which maketh him abandon the care of the minde and onely to attend the pleasures of the body as brute beasts doe Hitherto said my Lord Primate I find nothing to be misliked in your discourse which as a Philosopher is declared according to morall reason But as a Christian what sayth your author to Gods predestination Is it not necessary that whatsoeuer God hath determined of vs from the beginning in his fore-knowledge being the most certaine and true knower of all things shall come to passe This is said I no small question to be fully answered and being also not very pertinent to the matter we haue in hand being meerely morall my author medleth not with the particular points of the same onely hereof he saith that Euripides had little reason to say that God had care of greater things but that he left the care and guiding of the lesser to fortune For we are bound by holy writ to beleeue and some of the auncient Philosophers haue likewise so thought that there moueth not a leafe vpon a tree nor falleth a haire from our heads but by the will of God Whereupon the holy Prophet Dauid sayd that God dwelleth on high and beholdeth the things that are humble in heauen and in earth And the Peripatetikes seemed to consent thereunto when they sayd that the heauenly prouidence foreseeing that the particulars were not apt to preserue themselues eternally had therfore ordained that they should be continued in their vniuersalities which are the seuerall kinds or species containing vnder them the particulars which of themselues are mortal and perishable but are made perpetual in them through generation He sayth also that predestination is an ordinance or disposition of things in the mind of God from the beginning of what shal be done by vs in this life through grace But he thinks not that it tieth our free wil but that they go both together that our well doing is acceptable and pleasing to God and our euil deeds displeasing and offensiue to his diuine Maiestie and that for the good we shall receiue reward and punishment for the euill The further discussing whereof appertaining rather to Diuines then Morall Philosophers he thinketh fit to referre vnto them and to beleeue that this is one of those secrets which God hath layed vp in the treasury of his mind whereunto no mortall eye or vnderstanding can reach or penetrate humbling our selues to his holy will without searching into that which we cannot approch vnto And if Socrates in that time of darknesse and superstition of the heathen could exhort men to assure themselues that God hauing created them wold haue no lesse care of them then a good and iust Prince would haue of his subiects how much more are we to beleeue that our heauenly Lord and God Almightie who hath sent his onely begotten Sonne to redeeme vs from the bondage of Sathan doth dispose and ordaine of vs as is best for vs and for the honor of his diuine Maiestie For as they are to be commended that referre themselues humbly to whatsoeuer he hath determined of them doing their best endeuours to purchase his grace and fauour so are they to be misdoubted who ouer-curiously will needes take vpon them the iudgment of Gods predestination or prescience And that sentence cannot but be very good which sayeth that he that made thee without thee will not saue thee without thee For were a man certaine to be damned yet ought he not to do otherwise then well because he is borne to vertue and not to vice which the very heathen by the onely light of reason could well perceiue Besides it is thoght that al they that are signed with the character of Christ in baptisme may stedfastly beleeue that they are predestinated and chosen to saluation not that our predestinatiō giueth vs a necessitie of wel doing but because we hauing the grace of God to assist vs dispose our selues by the same grace to keep his cōmandements for our saluation and for the honor and glory of his maiestie whereas by doing otherwise it is our owne wickednesse that excludeth vs from that blisse And further mine author saith not In good sooth said sir Robert Dillon this seemeth to me to be well and Christian like spoken For he that acknowledgeth not so great a gift from God being a speciall marke or token by which we are distinguished from brute beasts who wanting the vse of reason can haue no free election is not onely vnthankfull but doth foolishly thrust himselfe into the number of vnreasonable creatures while he will needs depriue himself of that he hath specially different from them Neither doth the reuerent regard to Gods prouidence impeach our free wil which prouidence the Platonikes partly vnderstanding affirmed as I haue heard that it did not alter or change the nature of things but guided and directed destinie imposing no necessitie of doing good or euill vpon vs. And if any it did impose it should be onely to good and neuer to euill For what is diuine must needes worke diuinely and diuine working can produce none but good effects Wherefore they concluded that our election was not constrained by Gods prouidence This they confirmed by common experience For sayd they if prouidence tie things to necessitie then chance or fortune can haue no place in the actions of men But we see dayly many things maturely debated which should by the naturall and ordinary course of causes haue a determinate and certaine end yet misse their effect whereunto they are ordained and another produced which was neuer intended which is the proper worke of fortune I haue also heard some Diuines say that it should seeme strange if wise prudent men in this world by their prouidence and foresight seek euermore to bring perfection to those things which are vnder their gouernement God contrariwise who is the fountaine of all wisdome prudence and the true and absolute preseruer and conseruer of all things by him produced should not giue perfections and continuance through his prouidence
complaint of him and others of his disposition that looke to their owne priuate interest and consider onely what they may misse by not hauing a friend in such a place who might stand them in stead and regard no whit the contentment or discontentment of their friend which they are not able to measure as wanting the generall rule by which it ought to be measured according to reason and so consequently frame the measure according to their owne minds vsing their owne iudgements euen as the auncient Greekes were wont to say of the Lesbian rule which being made of lead the work-men would bend and fit to their worke and not frame their worke by a right rule But hauing added to his obiection your owne censure of me whose iudgement and prudence is so wel knowne and so much by me to be respected I can no lesse do then make some further Apologie for my selfe touching that point and open so much of my counsell and purpose in that behalf as I shall thinke needfull to giue you and others that will prefer reason before their opinions sufficient satisfaction And first where you say that my seruice in the place was acceptable vnto you all I cannot but therein acknowledge my good hap rather then impute it to any sufficiencie in my selfe Neither would I in regard of that great courtesie and fauour which I receiued therein haue willingly done any thing whereby I might haue seemed vnthankfull or to haue made so small estimation of so worthy a fauour But my not hauing bin brought vp or vsed to much writing and long standing which of ordinary that office doth require besides the extraordinary occasions which the seruice bringeth forth to trauell to sit vp late and disorder the body had bred such an increase of rheume in me and of infirmities caused therby as I could not without manifest and certaine perill of shortning my dayes haue continued the exercise of that place Whereupon hauing in dutifull sort made knowne the cause of my desire to resigne the office to the Lord Deputy who was in like sort priuy to some other iust occasion I had to further that my resolution it pleased him with his accustomed prudence and fauour towards me to consider and to allow of my request and to grant me his honorable consent to the accomplishmēt of the same Neither can this be rightly termed in me a retiring my selfe from the State or a withdrawing from action to hide my talent For leauing aside the vncertaintie and vaine issue for the most part of those hopes that commonly draw men on into ambitious heauing shouing for dignities and places of credit and commoditie from which to be freed little do men know or beleeue what gaine it is as of things that when they obtaine them not vexe and torment their minds and when they obtaine them do soone glut and weary them What comparison can a man of reason iudgement make betweene them and that contentednes which a well tempered and a moderate mind doth feele in a priuate life employed to the bettering and amending of the principall part which distinguisheth him from brute beasts Surely for my part I confesse frankly vnto you and protest I speake truly I haue found more quietnes and satisfaction in this small time that I haue liued to my selfe and enioyed the conuersation of my bookes when the care of my little building and husbandry hath giuen me that ordinary intermission which it must haue then I did before in all the time that I spent in seruice about the State the toile whereof was farre too high a price for the profit I might make of my place and the expectation which was left me of rising to any better Which neuerthelesse suppose it had bin much greater then euer I conceiued or then you haue seemed to make the same so free am I from ambition or couetise howsoeuer M. Smith would haue me to frame my mind thereto as I am not only content not to flatter my selfe with the shew of good which the best hopes might haue presented vnto me but resolued also to put from me and tread vnder foot whatsoeuer desire or inclination that either nature ill custome or daily example might vrge me vnto or stirre vp within me It is a perillous thing for men of weake braines to stand in high places their heads will so soone be giddie and all cilmbing is subiect to falling Let men of great spirits of high birth and of excellent vertues possesse in Gods name those dignities and preferments which the fauour of the Prince and their sufficiencie may purchase vnto them for it is they that as the Poet sayth Posuêre in montibus vrbem and of whom you might iustly say Grauior est culpa c. For as for me I am one of those of whom the same Poet sayd Habitabant vallibus imis And so I had rather to do still then to forsake my studies which I haue now begunne to renew againe hauing applied my endeuour to lay hold vpon the foretop which Lady Occasion hath offered me to that effect for to any other intent she neuer yet did so much as once shew her selfe to me a farre off much lesse present her selfe to me so neare as I might reach to catch her or fasten my hand in her golden locke I wish my friends therefore rather to allow and giue their consents to this my resolution grounded as I thinke vpon a reasonable consideration and an exact weighing of mine owne abilitie and disposition then to concurre with M. Smith in opinion or with any others that would lay to my charge folly or lacke of iudgement for the same And that generally all men would beleeue the Italian prouerbe which sayth that the foole knoweth better what is good and meet for himselfe then doth the wise man what is fit for another man Not that I would thereby reiect good counsell and friendly aduice which I know well enough how beneficiall a thing it is to all men in matters of doubt and difficultie but my meaning is onely to reserue to a mans owne vnderstāding the iudgement of such particular and priuate determinations as concerne the contentment or discontentment of his mind the circumstances of which perhaps are not meete to be communicated to others The example whereof Paulus Aemilius hath giuen vs with that graue and wise answer he made vnto his friends that wold needs reprehend him for repudiating his wife alledging her many good qualities as her beautie her modestie her nobilitie and other such like when putting forth his leg he shewed them his buskin and sayd You see this buskin is wel and handsomly made of good leather and to your seeming fit enough for my foote and leg yet none of you knoweth I am sure where it doth wring me Euen so my selfe may haply say to any whom my former answer may not fully satisfie that although to their seeming my state and condition was better by holding
three hauing written vpon the Ethick part of Morall Philosopie both exactly and perspicuously And would God that some of our countrimen wold shew themselues so wel affected to the good of their countrie whereof one principall and most important part consisteth in the instructing of men to vertue as to set downe in English the precepts of those parts of Morall Philosophy whereby our youth might without spending of so much time as the learning of those other languages require speedily enter into the right course of vertuous life In the meane while I must struggle with those bookes which I vnderstand and content my selfe to plod vpon them in hope that God who knoweth the sincerenesse of my desire will be pleased to open my vnderstanding so as I may reape that profit of my reading which I trauell for Yet is there a gentleman in this company whom I haue had often a purpose to intreate that as his leisure might serue him he would vouchsafe to spend some time with me to instruct me in some hard points which I cannot of my selfe vnderstand knowing him to be not onely perfect in the Greek tongue but also very well read in Philosophie both morall and naturall Neuertheles such is my bashfulnes as I neuer yet durst open my mouth to disclose this my desire vnto him though I haue not wanted some hartning thereunto from himselfe For of his loue and kindnes to me he encouraged me long sithens to follow the reading of the Greeke tongue and offered me his helpe to make me vnderstand it But now that so good an oportunitie is offered vnto me to satisfie in some sort my desire I thinke I should commit a great fault not to my selfe alone but to all this company if I should not enter my request thus farre as to moue him to spend this time which we haue now destined to familiar discourse and conuersation in declaring vnto vs the great benefites which men obtaine by the knowledge of Morall Philosophie and in making vs to know what the same is what be the parts thereof whereby vertues are to be distinguished from vices and finally that he will be pleased to run ouer in such order as he shall thinke good such and so many principles and rules thereof as shall serue not only for my better instructiō but also for the contentmēt and satisfaction of you al. For I nothing doubt but that euery one of you will be glad to heare so profitable a discourse and thinke the time very wel spent wherin so excellent a knowledge shal be reuealed vnto you from which euery one may be assured to gather some fruit as wel as my self Therfore said I turning my selfe to M. Spenser It is you sir to whom it pertaineth to shew your selfe courteous now vnto vs all and to make vs all beholding vnto you for the pleasure and profit which we shall gather from your speeches if you shall vouchsafe to open vnto vs the goodly cabinet in which this excellent treasure of vertues lieth locked vp from the vulgar sort And thereof in the behalfe of all as for my selfe I do most earnestly intreate you not to say vs nay Vnto which words of mine euery man applauding most with like words of request and the rest with gesture and countenances expressing as much M. Spenser answered in this maner Though it may seeme hard for me to refuse the request made by you all whom euery one alone I should for many respects be willing to gratifie yet as the case standeth I doubt not but with the consent of the most part of you I shall be excused at this time of this taske which would be laid vpon me For sure I am that it is not vnknowne vnto you that I haue already vndertaken a work tēding to the same effect which is in heroical verse vnder the title of a Faerie Queene to represent all the moral vertues assigning to euery vertue a Knight to be the patron and defender of the same in whose actions and feates of armes and chiualry the operations of that vertue whereof he is the protector are to be expressed and the vices vnruly appetites that oppose themselues against the same to be beatē downe ouercome Which work as I haue already well entred into if God shall please to spare me life that I may finish it according to my mind your wish M. Bryskett will be in some sort accomplished though perhaps not so effectually as you could desire And the same may very well serue for my excuse if at this time I craue to be forborne in this your request since any discourse that I might make thus on the sudden in such a subiect would be but simple and little to your satisfactions For it would require good aduisement and premeditation for any man to vndertake the declaration of these points that you haue proposed containing in effect the Ethicke part of Morall Philosophie Whereof since I haue taken in hand to discourse at large in my poeme before spoken I hope the expectation of that work may serue to free me at this time from speaking in that matter notwithstanding your motion and all your intreaties But I will tell you how I thinke by himselfe he may very well excuse my speech and yet satisfie all you in this matter I haue seene as he knoweth a translation made by himselfe out of the Italian tongue of a dialogue comprehending all the Ethick part of Moral Philosophy written by one of those three he formerly mentioned and that is by Giraldi vnder the title of a dialogue of ciuil life If it please him to bring vs forth that translation to be here read among vs or otherwise to deliuer to vs as his memory may serue him the contents of the same he shal I warrant you satisfie you all at the ful and himselfe wil haue no cause but to thinke the time well spent in reuiewing his labors especially in the company of so many his friends who may thereby reape much profit and the translation happily fare the better by some mending it may receiue in the perusing as all writings else may do by the oftē examinatiō of the same Neither let it trouble him that I so turne ouer to him againe the taske he wold haue put me to for it falleth out fit for him to verifie the principall part of all this Apologie euen now made for himselfe because thereby it will appeare that he hath not withdrawne himself from seruice of the State to liue idle or wholy priuate to himselfe but hath spent some time in doing that which may greatly benefit others and hath serued not a little to the bettering of his owne mind and increasing of his knowledge though he for modesty pretend much ignorance and pleade want in wealth much like some rich beggars who either of custom or for couetousnes go to begge of others those things whereof they haue no want at home With this answer of M. Spensers it seemed
that they will proue either good or euill but of such as being commonly heads and ring-leaders of factious and seditious people do make themselues authors of the destruction of noble families and whole cities such as were both the Gracchi in Rome and sundry others in Greece And so it is to be applied to wit that such a man shall rather die then for the sauing of his life a whole citie or people should go to wracke Or otherwise when in time of warre by the ioyning of two armies in battell a great multitude were likly to be slaine it were farre better that one or two or moe in certaine number on each side should fight and hazard their liues in stead of the rest then their whole powers to meet and venter the slaughter of the most part of them As in the beginning of the State of Rome the Horatij and the Curiatij did to keepe from hazard of battell both people which were ready armed and prepared to fight together In like manner may that saying be applied in case a whole citie be in danger of desolation that the death of one man may redeeme the same As by Curtius the same citie of Rome was preserued who with so great courage threw himselfe armed on horsebacke into that pestilent pit which infected the whole citie to the end that by his death he might saue the people from that mortalitie and infection And the same effect but farre more excellently did our Sauiour likewise work who to redeeme mankind from the bands of hell tooke vpon him all our sinnes through which we were become thrals to Satan and for our saluation yeelded himselfe willingly to a most bitter death But as in such cases it is to be allowed that one should die for the people so is it much more to be discommended then I can declare that an infant newly borne should be killed though by defect of nature want of seed or any straine or mischance of the mother or through abundance of ill humors or any other strange accident it be borne imperfect or marked as is said Well said sir Robert Dillon it is true indeed that the law of Lycurgus was too cruell and vniust But Plato in his books de Repub deuised a more mild and reasonable way for he allowed not that such children should be killed as holding it inhumane yet he ordained that they should be brought vp in some place appointed out of the citie and that they should be debarred all possibilite of bearing any rule or magistracie in the Common-wealth For it seemed he thought that through the intemperance and disordinate liuing of the parents children came to be ingendred no lesse deformed and corrupt in mind then in body and therein the excesse of drinking wine to be a principall cause In which respect he forbad as wel to the man as to the woman the vse of wine at such times as they were disposed to attend the generation of children Plato said I must not be left vnanswered neither wil I spare to say by his leaue that his law though it be milder then the other was neuer the more allowable for the causes aboue specified For it is not alwayes true that the imperfections of the body are likewise in the mind or that a faire body hath euermore a faire mind coupled vnto it Haue we not seene men of mis-shapen bodies that haue had diuine minds and others of goodly personages that haue bin very furies of hell as Plato himselfe constrained by the force of truth and dayly experience could not but confesse The good or bad shape of the body therefore must be no rule for vs to bring vp or not to bring vp our children though it be to be esteemed a great grace to be borne with seemely and wel proportioned members and that it is a speciall point of happinesse to haue a faire mind harbored in a comely body because both together beare with them a naturall grace pleasing and gratefull to the eyes of men constraining in a sort the loue of all that behold them which thing Virgil wel vnderstanding when he spake of Eurialus said Gratior pulchro veniens in corpore virtus Adiuuat c. For although vertue of it selfe be louely and to be highly esteemed yet when she is accompanied with the beauty of the bodie she is more amiable whatsoeuer Seneca the Stoicke more seuere then need please to say and with more affection embraced of all them that see her Which thing appeared in Scipio Africanus when he met with Asdrubal his enemy in the presence of king Siphax for as soone as the subtill African had beheld the comely presence and gratefull countenance of Scipio he forthwith conceiued that which afterward fell out to wit that Scipio would draw Siphax to ioyne with the Romanes against the Carthaginians But for all this we are not in any wise to esteeme a person in body mis-shapen or deformed lesse worthy to be nourished or to be admitted to magistracie if he be vertuous then the other that is of gratefull presence For though Aristotle thinke the deformitie of the body to be an impediment to the perfect felicitie of man in respect of exteriour things yet he determineth that it is no hindrance to the course of vertue To conclude therfore this point though children be borne weake crooked mis-shapen or deformed of body they are not therefore to be exposed but as wel to be brought vp and instructed as the other that they may grow and increase in vertue and become worthy of those dignities which are dispensed in their common-weales And me thinketh Socrates that wise man spake very well to his scholers and to this purpose when he aduised them that they should often behold themselues in looking-glasses to the end said he that if you see your faces and bodies comely and beautifull ye may endeuor to set forth and grace the gifts of nature the better by adioyning vertues thereunto and if ye perceiue your selues to be deformed and il-fauoured you may seeke to supply the defects of nature with the ornaments of vertue thereby making your selues no lesse grateful and amiable then they that haue beautiful bodies For it is rather good to see a man of body imperfect and disproportioned endued with vertues then a goodly body to be nought else but a gay vessell filled with vice and wickednes Children are to be bred such as nature giueth them vnto vs and we are to haue patience to abide their proof and to see what their actions will be and if theirs that be of deformed body do proue good and vertuous they are so much the more to be commended as they seemed lesse apt thereunto by their birth And on the contrary side they that being beautifull of body are lewd and vitious deserue to be driuen from the conuersation of ciuil men yea chased out of the world as vnthankful acknowledgers of so great a gift bestowed vpon them and as vnworthy
said he I would gladly know since he hath spoken of truth and vntruth and declared how the iniury receiued by taking the lie cannot be cancelled but by striking or chalenging the partie who gaue it whether this kind of chalenging and fighting man to man vnder the name of Duellum which is vsed now a dayes among souldiers and men of honour and by long custome authorized to discharge a man of an iniury receiued or for want of proofes in sundry causes be ancient or no whether it concerne honor or no and whether it appertaine to ciuill life and that felicitie which we are discoursing vpon or no You haue said I moued your question very right and to the purpose which to answer at full would require along speech so deepe rootes like an ill weed haue the opinions of men taken concerning the same in this our age which to cut downe or roote vp many sithes and howe 's would scarce suffice But as briefly as may be you shall be satisfied in part and he will make it appeare vnto you that the reasons which are set downe in defence of this foolish custome and wicked act are false and absurd And first of all you shall heare him say that this maner of combatting which through the corruption of the world hath taken strength and is permitted of some Princes is nothing auncient at all For in histories it is not to be found that for reuenge of iniury for want of proofes for points of honour or for any such like causes this wicked and vnlawfull kinde of fight was euer graunted or allowed in auncient time For when any difference or controuersie fell out among men of honor which might concerne their credit and reputation for matter of valor they neuer tried the quarrell by combat betweene themselues but stroue to shew which of them was most worthy honor by making their valour well knowne in fight against their common enemies as in Caesars Commentaries we haue a notable example And the singular fights or combats that are mentioned in the Greeke or Latine histories or fained by the Poets happened euermore betweene enemies of contrary nations or otherwise in time of publike warre though perhaps the quarrell might be priuat betweene some of the chiefe men of both camps as betweene Turnus and Aeneas Paris and Menelaus Turnus labouring that Aeneas might not haue Lauinia to his wife and Menelaus seeking to recouer his wife whom Paris had taken from him Or else they fought for the publike quarrell one to one or more in number on each side for preuenting of greater bloodshed as did the Horatij and the Curiatij before Rome Or by the ordinance of some publike games as those called Pithij and Olimpici among the Greeks and those called Circenses among the Romanes whether they were celebrated in honour of their Gods or at the funerals of their dead or for other causes In which games or spectacles were produced certaine men named by the Romanes Gladiatores and by the Greeks Monomachi to fight together the first inuention wherof appeareth to haue come from the people of Mantinea But other priuate combats for causes aboue mentioned was neuer so much as heard of among them much lesse receiued or allowed in their common-weales which were well ordered and maintained by honest and vertuous lawes The name of Duellum was giuen by the Latins not to singular fight betweene man and man but to the generall warre betweene two nations or States as may be seene by Plautus Horace Liuie and other authors And as for them that say the name of Duellum was vnproperly applied to an vniuersal warre they are not to be heard or beleeued because they that so vsed it were the fathers of the Latine tongue who knew better the proprietie of the words of their owne language then these fellowes now do But rather they are to be blamed for wresting that auncient name to so wicked a fight which they rightly gaue to the generall warre allowed by the lawes and by all ciuil and politike constitutions The Primate who had bin attentiue to this speech said as concerning the Latins it is true that hath bin alledged but it seemeth the Greeks knew very well this combat as may be gathered by the word Monomachia which signifieth the fight of one man against another And I remember Plato in his dialogue intituled Laches maketh mention of this same singular fight which sheweth that in his dayes the combat of body to body was knowne and vsed Two things said I the author hath said the one that this sort of battell or fight which is now in vse and called Duellum was not knowne to the ancient Greeks nor Romanes in their wel-ordered Common-weales and that therefore they gaue no such name vnto the same the other that the Romanes gaue that name of Duellum to the publike warre betweene two people or nations being enemies But that the Greeks gaue not the name of Monomachia to those singular fights which were vsed among them that hath he not said But though the name of Monomachia were vsed among them yet was it not meant of this kind of combat which we speake but of that onely which was sometimes vsed in their publike games and spectacles or else might fall out sometimes accidentally in their warres And that same place of Plato which you haue alledged doth sufficiently declare it For if my memory faile me not he saith there that when the generall battell ceaseth and that it is requisite either to fight with them that resist or to repulse those that would assault in such a case the Monomachia or fight of man to man was meet to end all strife Which word of Monomachia neuertheles I remember not to be vsed by Aristotle in any place of all his works from whom neuertheles these men that defend this folly seeme to fetch their arguments as hereafter I shall declare But by this you may perceiue that the vse of Monomachia was a fight betweene two men in their publike games and shewes not for priuate quarrell or hatred nor for want of proofes or for points of honour And further I will say that in well ordered martiall discipline and warres lawfully enterprised after the fury of the battell was ceased it was not lawfull to kill or hurt the publike enemy Which thing is cleerly set foorth by Xenophon in the person of Chrisantas who although he had cast downe his enemy and fastned hold in the haire of his head ready to haue stricken it off yet hearing the trumpet sound the retreit forbare to strike him but let him go holding it not fit to offend his enemy after the time of fight was past signified by the retreit sounding This sort of fight was likewise suffered against publike enemies by the Romanes when their state flourished For we reade in their histories of sundry that haue in the warres fought hand to hand with their enemies but yet could not the Romane souldier though
the which can be no vertue Neither he that by rage and furie suffered himselfe to be transported to attempt any danger since there can be no vertue where reason guideth not the mind And for this cause wilde beasts though they be terrible and fierce by nature cannot be termed valiant because they being stirred onely by naturall fiercenesse wanting reason do but follow their instinct as do the Lions Tygers Beares and such other like Neuertheles he denied not but that anger might accōpany fortitude for that it is rather a help vnto it then any let or impediment so long as reason did temper them and that it serued but for a spurre to pricke men forward in the defence of iust and honest causes Moreouer he declared vnto his scholer that there is a kind of fortitude that hath no need of any such spurre of anger which kind concerned the bearing of grieuous and displeasing accidents and the moderating of a mans selfe in happie and prosperous successes And this is that blessed vertue which neuer suffereth a man to fall from the height of his minde being called by some men patience who will not onely haue her to be a vertue separate from the foure principall vertues but also that she should be aboue them But this opinion of theirs is not well grounded since in truth she is but a branch of fortitude through which as Virgil sayth men beare stoutly all iniuries whether they proceed from wicked persons or from the inconstancie and changeablenesse of fortune but remaineth alwayes inuincible and constant against all the crosses thwarts and despites of fortune This vertue is fitly described by Cicero where he saith that it is a voluntary and constant bearing of things grieuous and difficult for honesties sake And in the Scriptures it is said that it is better for a man to beare with inuincible courage such things then to be otherwise valiant or to hazard himself how where when it is fit For who so beareth stoutly aduersities deserueth greater commendation and praise then they which ouercome their enemies or by force win cities or countries or otherwise defend their owne because he ouercometh him selfe and mastereth his owne affects and passions Hauing respect to these things this wise schoole-master shewed his disciple that the valiant man was like a square solid body as is the die whereunto Aristotle also agreeth which in what sort soeuer it be throwne euer standeth vpright so he being still the same man which way soeuer the world frame with him or the malice and enuie of wicked men or the freakes of fortune tosse him which fortune some call the Queene of worldly accidents though as a blind cause she alwayes accompanieth her selfe with ignorance Moreouer he added that hope of gaine or profit ought not to moue a man to put his life in apparant danger for if it chanced as often it doth that the hope began to quaile forthwith courage failed withall and the enterprise was abandoned because vaine conceiued hope and not free choice of vertue had guided him A thing which neuer happeneth to them that in honest causes hazard their liues For though any vnexpected terror chance vnto them so as on the sudden they cannot deliberate what were best to do yet euen by habite which they haue made in the vertue of fortitude they loose not their courage but the more difficult and fearefull the accident appeareth the more stoutly will they resist and oppose themselues against the same Likewise he declared to him that it was not true fortitude when men not knowing what the danger was which they entred into did vndertake any perillous enterprise for it must be iudgement and not ignorance that shall stirre men to valorous attempts Neither yet that they were to be esteemed properly valiant who like wilde sauage beasts moued by rage and fury sought reuenge and to hurt them that had prouoked them to wrath for such were transported by passion and not guided by reason Last of all he concluded that he was iustly to be accounted a man of valour who feared not euerie thing that was perillous yet of some things would be afraid So as true fortitude should be a conuenient mean betweene rashnesse and fearefulnesse the effect whereof was to be ready and hardie to vndertake dangerous actions in such time place and maner as befitted a man of vertue and for such causes as reason commanded him so to do and because the doing thereof was honest and commendable and the contrary was dishonest and shamefull All these points did this worthy schoolmaster seeke to imprint in the yong Princes mind that he might become stout and haughtie of courage to the end that he who was borne to rule and commaund might not through any sudden or vnlooked for accidents be daunted with feare or become base and cowardly minded nor yet by ouermuch rashnesse or furie waxe fierce and cruell but with mild yet awfull behauiour gouerne and commaund the people subject vnto him These were the seeds of vertue which these wise and worthy masters did cast into the tender mindes of those yong Princes from whence as out of a fertile soile they hoped to reape in their riper yeares fruite answerable to their labour and trauell And this is all said I that this author hath discoursed vpon this matter and as much I suppose as is needfull for the education of children till they come to yeares of more perfection wherein they may begin to guide themselues And then sir Robert Dillon who as well as the rest had giuen a very attentine eare to the whole discourse sayd Truly these were right good and worthy documents and meete to traine a Prince vp vertuously neither could any other then a glorious issue be expected of so vertuous principles and education And though this diligence and care were fitting for so high an estate as the son of a mightie monarke yet hath the declaration therof bin both pleasing and profitable to this companie and may well serue for a patterne to be followed by priuate gentlemen though not with like circumstances since the same vertues serue as well for the one as for the other to guide them the way to that ciuill felicitie whereof our first occasion of this dayes discourse began But euening now hasting on and the time summoning vs to draw homeward we will for this present take our leaues of you hauing first giuen you harty thanks for our friendly entertainment especially for this part thereof whereby with your commendable trauell in translating so good and so necessary a worke you haue yeelded vs no small delight but much more profite which I am bold to say as well for all the companie as for my selfe whereunto they all accorded But said the Lord Primate we must not forget one point of your speech which was that you tied vs to a condition of three dayes assembly that as the author had deuided his work into three dialogues so we should giue
you three dayes time to runne ouer euery day one of his dialogues Supposing therefore that you haue finished his first we will to morrow if this company please to giue their consent thereunto be here to vnderstand whether he haue as sufficiently set downe rules for the fashioning a yong man to the course of vertue as he hath done for the education of his childhood Therefore you may looke for vs prepare your tongue as we will bring attentiuenesse to heare his doctrine by your study made ready for our vnderstanding And so they departed all together towards the citie The second dayes meeting and discourse of Ciuill life WHen the next morning was come which appeared faire and cleare the companie which the day before had bin with me came walking to my house all saue onely M. Smith the Apothecary whose businesse being of another sort was not so desirous to spend his time in hearing discourses of that nature which brought no profit to his shop And being entred into the house they found me ready to go walke abroade to take the sweete and pleasant ayre wherefore though they had already had a good walke from the citie thither being somewhat more then a mile yet were they not vnwilling to beare me companie and would needs go with me So I led them vp the hill to the little mount which standeth aboue my house along a pleasant greene way which I had planted on both sides with yong ashes from whence hauing the prospect not onely of the citie but also of the sea and hauen we there sate vs downe and some commending the ayre some the delightfulnesse of the view we spent the time in sundry speeches vntil one of the seruants came to summon vs to walk home to dinner Whereupon returning home and finding the meate on the table we sate vs downe I telling them that they found a Philosophers dinner for so I would now begin to take vpon me to entitle my selfe since they had made me at the lest the trucheman or interpreter of one that was worthy that name And that I had the rather prepared no greater store of meate for them because I would imitate the temperance of a Philosopher as we were in number a conuenient companie for a Philosophicall dinner Why said the Lord Primate what meane you by that is there any determinate companie appointed for such meales as are fit for Philosophers Yea sir quoth I if my memory faile me not I haue read that to such refections as might as wel feed the mind as the body there would not be any such great company of guests inuited as by the confusion of their talke and communication the serious and yet delightful discourses that might be proposed should not be imparted to all nor yet so few as for want of matter the same were to be omitted Therfore it was determined that the number should be betweene the Graces and the Muses that is to say not vnder three nor aboue nine We are therefore a fit companie for a Philosophicall dinner and your entertainment shall be according for your cheere Wel said sir Robert Dillō you shal need no shifts with vs for as we wil not cōmend your cheere which is the thing is cōmonly begged by the excusing of want of meate so shal you not need to take any care either for the satisfying of our appetites with dainty fare or to entertaine vs with Philosophicall discourses at dinner for we expect such a at your hands after dinner in that kind as we shall the better passe ouer our dinner without them which we desire in that respect may be the shorter to the end that our bodies being fed temperatly our mindes may be the sharper set to fall to those other dainties which you haue prepared for vs. Yea but let not our dinner I pray you said Captaine Dawtrey be so temperate for sir Robert Dillons words but that we may haue a cup of wine for the Scripture telleth vs that wine gladdeth the heart of man And if my memory faile me not I haue read that the great banket of the Sages of Greece described by Plutarke was not without wine then I hope a Philosophical dinner may be furnished with wine otherwise I will tell you plainly I had rather be at a camping dinner then at yours howsoeuer your rerebanket will haply be as pleasing to me as to the rest of the company Whereat the rest laughing pleasantly I called for some wine for Captaine Dawtrey who taking the glasse in his hand held it vp a while betwixt him and the window as to consider the colour and then putting it to his nose he seemed to take comfort in the odour of the same Then said the Lord Primate I thinke Captain Dawtrey that you meane to make a speculation vpon that cup of wine you go so orderly to worke as if you were to examine him vpon his qualities whereof two principall you haue already resolued your selfe of by the testimony of your two principall senses The colour we all determine with you is good the smell seemeth not to mislike you it is consequent therefore that when you haue drunke it vp you will also resolue vs whether all three the qualities concurring together it may deserue the title of vinum Cos or no for such was the wine wont to be entituled among the ancient Romanes that caried the reputation to be the best And what I pray you said I might be the cause that their best wine was so called for I haue heard that question sundry times demaunded but I could neuer heare it yet answered sufficiently to my satisfaction It is no maruell sayd the Lord Primate for although the matter haue bin long in controuersie and debated by many ful learned men and among them some that loued wine so well as their experience might make them beleeue that their verdit shold be very sound yet for ought I find we may say adhuc sub iudice lis est Some say it should be taken for vinum Cossentinum as coming from a territory so named which commonly bare the best wines neare about Rome Others interprete it by letters saying that Cos is to be taken for corpori omnino saluberrimum But they that presume most to haue hit the marke say that it is so to be vnderstood that Cos should signifie the wine to be best by these three qualities which Captaine Dawtrey seemeth to insist vpon that is to say coloris odoris and saporis which three recōmending a wine it cannot but be called very good And this is as much as I haue read or heard and will be content to be of the Iurie with Captaine Dawtrey to giue my verdit whether this of yours be such or no. In good faith said Captaine Dawtrey if I be the foreman of the Iurie as I haue bin the first to taste the wine I will pronounce it to be indeed singular good and well deseruing the title of Cos for all three
no not to themselues alone Which thing they shal the better performe if they vse to forbeare the doing of any thing by themselues which they would be ashamed of if they were in company It is written that among the auncient Romanes one Iulius Drusus Publicola hauing his house seated so as his neighbours might looke into it a certaine Architect offered him for the expence of fiue talents to make it so close as none of his neighbors should looke thereinto or see what he was doing But he made him answer againe that he would rather giue him ten talents to make it so as all the citie might see what he did in his house because he was sure he did nothing within doores whereof he neede be ashamed abroade though euery man should see him For which answer he was highly cōmended True it is that Xenophon esteemeth this blushng to a mans self to be rather temperance then bashfulnes but let it be named how it wil it is surely the propertie of a gentle heart so to do And therefore Petrarke said well Alone whereas I walkt mongs woods and hils I shamed at my selfe for gentle heart Thinkes that enough no other spurre it wils Yet would I not neither that our young man should be more bashfull then were fit as one ouer-awed or doltish not able to consider perils or dangers when they present themselues not yet to loose his boldnesse of spirit For Antipater the sonne of Cassander through the like qualitie cast himselfe away who hauing inuited Demetrius to supper with him at such a time as their friendship was not sure but stood vpon doubtful termes and he being come accordingly when Demetrius afterwards as in requital of his kindnesse inuited Antipater likewise to supper though he knew right well what perill he thrust himselfe into if he went considering the wyly disposition of the said Demetrius yet being ashamed that Demetrius should perceiue him to be so mistrustful would needs go and there was miserably slaine This is a vice named in the Greeke Disopia and which we may in English call vnfruitfull shamefastnesse wherewith we would not wish our yong man should be any way acquainted but onely with that generous bashfulnesse that may serue him for a spurre to vertue and for a bridle from vice But because Plato saith that though bashfulnesse be most properly fit for young men yet that it is also seemly inough for men of al yeares And that Aristotle contrariwise thinketh it not meete for men of riper years to blush it may therefore be doubted to whether of these two great learned mens opinions we should incline For cleering hereof you must vnderstand that the Platonikes say two things among others are specially giuen to for a diuine gift vnto man Bashfulnesse the one and Magnanimitie the other the one to hold vs back from doing of any thing worthy blame reproch the other to put vs forward into the way of praise and vertue whereby we might alwayes be ready to do well onely for vertues sake to the good and benefit of others and to our owne contentment and delight Of which course the end is honour in this world and glory after death But because the force of the Concupiscible appetite is so great and setteth before vs pleasure in so many sundry shapes as it is hard to shun the snares which these two enemies of reason set to intrap vs and that the coldnesse of old age cannot wholy extinguish the feruour of our appetites for my part I think that as in all ages it is fit that Magnanimitie inuite vs to commendable actions so also that we haue neede of shamefastnesse to correct vs whēsoeuer we shal go beyond the boūds or limits of reason in what yeares soeuer and to check vs with the bridle of temperāce For though Aristotle say that shame ought to die red in a mans cheekes but for voluntary actions only yet Plato considering that none but God is perfect without fault and that euery man euen the most vertuous falleth sometimes through humane frailtie thought according to Christianitie that ripenesse of yeares or wisedome should be no hinderance to make them ashamed but rather make them the more bashfull whensoeuer they should find in themselues that they had run into any errour vndecent or vnfitting for men of their yeares and quality Not intending yet thereby that the errors of the ancienter men were to be of that sort that yong mens faults commonly are who through incontinencie runne oftentimes into sin wilfully whereas men of riper yeares erre or ought to erre only through frailty of nature Much better were it indeede for men of yeares not to do any thing of which they might be ashamed if the condition of man would permit it then after they had done it to blush thereat and much more reprochfull is his fault if he offend voluntarily then the young mans But since no man though he haue made a habite in wel-doing can stand so assured of himselfe but that sometime in his life he shal commit some error it is much better in what age soeuer it be that blushing make him know his fault then to passe it ouer impudently without shame And accordingly Saint Ambrose said in his booke of Offices that shamefastnesse was meet for all ages for all times and for all places And for the same cause perhaps haue wise men and religious held that an Angell of heauen assisteth euery man to call him backe from those euils which the ill Angell with his sugred baite of delight and disordinate appetite inticeth him vnto onely for his ruine For they thought that our forces were not able to resist so mighty prouocations As for Plato and Aristotle seemeth they differed in opinion for that the one considered humane nature as it ought to be and the other as it commonly is indeed Which may the better be beleeued because Aristotle in his booke of Rhetorike restrained not this habite of shamefastnesse so precisely to young men but that it may sometimes beseeme an aged mans cheekes also though so farre as grace and wisedome may preuaile it would best beseeme him neuer to do the thing whereof he need be ashamed as before was sayd And the same rule ought young men also to propose to themselues whereby they shall deserue so much the more commendation as the heate of their yeares beareth with them fierie appetites and they the lesse apt to resist so sharpe and so intollerable prickes The way to obserue that rule is to striue in all their actions to master themselues and to profit in vertue whereunto will helpe them chiefly that they endeuour themselues to bridle such desires as they find most to molest them not suffering them to transport them beyond the limits of honestie But because the day goeth away and that to treate particularly of all that might be said concerning the direction of youth to vertue which leadeth him to his felicitie would require more time then is
occasions to be angry not with intention to offend others but for the defence of a mans selfe and of those to whom he is tyed and specially of his reputation lest by being too dull and carelesse in regarding iniuries done vnto him he become apt to be ridden and depressed by euery ruffling companion so to be either too sudden or outragious in anger and thereby to be incited to do any act contrary to reason cannot in any sort agree with vertue or become a gentleman For to speak of that bearing which is vndertaken for Christian humilitie or feare of offending God appertaineth not to this place This vertue then of Mansuetude is she that holdeth the reines in her hand to bridle the vehemency of anger shewing when where with whom for what cause how farre foorth and how long it is fit and conuenient to be angry and likewise to let them loose and to spurre forward the mind that is restie or slow in apprehending the iust causes of wrath with regard of like circumstances directing the particular actions of the vertuous man in such cases according to reason to whom she as all other the vertues is to haue a continuall eye and regard in euery thing Desire of Honor succeedeth next and is a vertue that is busied about the same subiect with Magnanimitie For as the magnanimous man respecteth onely great and excessiue honors so doth this vertue teach the meane in purchasing of smaller honours or dignities such as ciuill men of all sorts are to be employed in For as there are some that seeke by all meanes possible to catch at euery shew of honor at euery office or degree that is to be gotten and spare not to vndergo any indignity or to try any base or vnlawfull meanes to compasse the same heauing and shouing like men in a throng to come to be formost though they deserue to be far behind so are there others so scrupulous and so addicted to their ease and quiet that they cannot endure to take vpon them any paines or any place that may bring them either trouble or hazard absolutely refusing in that respect and despising al dignities and offices together with the honor they might purchase by the same The first sort of men are called ambitious the other insensible and carelesse of their reputation Betweene which two extremes this vertue hath her place to keepe the first from seeking not by vertue but by corruptiō deceit or other vnfit meanes to compasse honors dignities or authoritie as many do slandering and backbiting such as are competitors with them or else most basely flattering and with cappe and knee crouching to those that they thinke may yeeld them helpe or fauour them in their purchase which they seeke and beg to supply their owne vnworthinesse and to quicken the other whose mindes haue no care of their credit reputation but liue in base companies and estrange themselues from all ciuill conuersation like brute and sauage beasts And in this respect is she worthy high estimation and necessary for all them that esteeme true honour as they ought to be the most excellent good among exteriour things who neuerthelesse temper themselues from ambition so as they are not drawne to commit any vile or base act for the atchieuing of the same but striue euermore by vertue to purchase their honor reputation Neither is this vertue all one with Magnanimitie because it requireth not so excellent an habit as doth Magnanimitie though they both be busied about the same subiect for between them is the like difference as is betweene Magnificence and Liberalitie whereof we haue already spoken Veritie is the vertue which followeth in order by which a man in all his conuersation in all his actions and in al his words sheweth himselfe sincere and ful of truth making his words and his deeds alwayes to agree so as he neuer sayeth one thing for another but still affirmeth those things that are and denieth those that are not The two extremes of this vertue are on the one side dissimulation or iesting called in Greeke Ironia and on the other side boasting For some there are that seeke by this vice to purchase reputation and credit or profit or else euen for foolish delight giue themselues to vanting and telling such strange things of themselues as though they be incredible yet wil they needs haue men forsooth to beleeue them Others for the same respects dissemble the good parts that haply are in them seeme willing to make mē beleeue that their good qualities are not so great as they are with a counterfeit modestie faining alwayes to abase themselues in such sort as men may easily discouer them to be plaine hypocrites and that vnder pretence of humilitie they labour to set pride on horsebacke yea some euen of meriment or by long custome of lying thinke it sport sufficient neuer to tell any thing but exorbitant and strange lies insomuch as in fine though they wittingly speak no truth yet themselues fal to beleeuing what they say to be most true Betweene these two vices sitteth this bright-shining vertue of Truth as she is a morall vertue by which men vse the benefit of their speech to that true vse for which it is bestowed vpon them by God and purchase to themselues not onely honour and praise but also trust and credit with all men so as their words are obserued as oracles whereas of the others no man maketh more account then of the sound of bels or of old wiues tales This is that excellent vertue that is of all others the best fitting a Gentleman and maketh him respected and welcom in all companies which made Pythagoras to say that next vnto God truth in man was most to be reuerenced whose contrary likewise is of all other things the most vnfitting the very destroier of humane conuersatiō the mother of scandals and the deadly enemy of friendship the odiousnesse whereof may be discerned by this that albeit we stick not sometimes to confesse our faults though they be very great to our friends yet we are ashamed to let them know that we haue told a lie The vertue of Affabilitie which succeedeth is a certaine meane by which men seeke to liue and conuerse with others so as they may purchase the fauor and good liking of all men not forgetting their owne grauitie and reputation And because there are some that thinke with pleasing speeches and pleasant conceits to be welcom into all companies they giue themselues to flatter to commend and extoll euery man to sooth all that they heare spoken and still to smile or laugh in euery mans face purchasing thereby in the end to be esteemed but as ridiculous sycophants or base flatterers and others holding a contrary course neuer speake word that may be gratefull or pleasing to any man supposing thereby to be held for graue and wise men euermore opposing themselues to what others say dispraising al mens doings and finally with
Suppose here be two vessels the one greater then the other and that you fill them both with wine or other liquor the lesser shall neuertheles be as well full as the greater and if they both had speech and vnderstanding neither could the one complaine for hauing too much nor the other too little both being full according to their capacitie and so receiuing his due In this sort doth Iustice distribute to euery one that which is his due She produceth lawes by which vertue is rewarded and vice punished She correcteth faults and errours according to their qualitie She setteth vs in the direct way that leadeth to felicitie She teacheth rulers and magistrates to commaund and subiects to obey and therefore she is the true rule which sheweth the inferiour powers and faculties of the soule how to obey Reason as their Queene and mistris Which commaund of Reason Plotinus esteemed to be so important to be exercised ouer the passions as he esteemed them only to be worthily called wise men who subiected their passions in such sort to reason that they should neuer arise to oppose themselues against her She instructeth man to rule not onely himselfe but his wife his children and his family also She preserueth and maintaineth States and Common-weales by setting an euen course of cariage betweene Princes and their subiects She maketh men vnderstand how the doing of iniury is contrary to the nature of maÌ„ who is borne to be mild benigne gentle and not to be as wild beasts are furious fierce and cruel for such they are that hurt others wittingly And when iniuries happen to be done she distinguisheth them she seeketh to make them equall or to diminish them or to take them cleane away euermore teaching vs this lesson that it is better to receiue an iniury then to do it It is she that maketh those things that are seuerally produced for the good of sundry nations common to all by the meane of commutation of buying and selling and hauing inuented coine hath set it to be a law or rather a iudge in cases of inequalitie to see that euery man haue his due and no more Finally she tempereth with equitie which may be termed a kind of clemency ioyned to iustice things seuerely established by law to the end that exact iustice may not pâ—oue to be exact wrong And where as lawes not tempered by discreet Iudges are like tyrants ouer men this equitie was held by Plato to be of such importance that when the Arcadians sent vnto him desiring him to set them downe lawes to be ruled by he vnderstanding that they were a people not capable of equitie refused flatly to make them any lawes at all Agesilaus said that to be too iust was not onely farre from humanitie but eueÌ„ crueltie it self And Traian the Emperor wished Princes to link equitie iustice together saying that dominions were otherwise inhumanely gouerned The Aegyptians also to shew that lawes are to be administred with equitie expressed iustice in their Hieroglifikes by a left hand opeÌ„ meaning that as the left hand is slower and weaker then the right so that iustice ought to be aduisedly administred and not with force or fury And the opinion of some was that the axes and rods which were accustomably borne before the Romane Consuls were bound about with bands to declare that as there must be a time to vnbind the axes before they could be vsed to the death of any man so ought there to be a time to deliberate for them that execute the law wherein they may consider whether that which the rigor of law commaundeth may not without impeachment of Iustice be tempered and reduced to benignitie and equitie To conclude Iustice is she that maintaineth common vtilitie that giueth the rule the order the measure and manner of all things both publike and priuate the band of humane conuersation and friendship She it is that maketh man resemble God and so farre extendeth her power in the coniunction of mens minds that she not onely knitteth honest men together in ciuill societie but euen wicked men and theeues whose companies could not continue if among their iniustices Iustice had not some place She is of so rare goodnesse and sinceritie that she maketh man not onely to abstaine from taking anothers goods but also from coueting the same Indeed said M. Dormer if Iustice be such a vertue as you haue described me thinke that we haue smal need of other vertues for she comprehendeth them all within herselfe So doth she answered I if she be generally considered as before hath bin said But if we call her to the company of the other vertues as here we place her she hath as much need of them as they of her if she shall produce those effects which we haue spoken of For as one vice draweth another after it as do the linkes of a chaine the one the other euen so are the vertues much more happily linked together in such sort as they cannot be seuered But though a man be endued with them all yet is he called a iust man a valiant a prudent or a temperate man according as he inclineth more to this then to that or in his actions maketh more shew of the one then of the other for our naturall imperfection wil not suffer any one man to excel in them all which made me say a while sithens that it is so hard a thing to be magnanimous since the vertue of Magnanimity must be grounded vpon all the rest But to excell in iustice is a thing most glorious for it is said of her that neither the morning starre nor the euening star shineth as she doth And Hesiodus called her the daughter of Iupiter Wherupon Plato supposing that who so embraced Iustice contracted parentage with Iupiter the King of Gods and men accounted the iust man had gotten a place very neere vnto God Verily said M. Dormer and not without cause For it behoueth him that will be iust to be voide of all vice and furnished with all other vertues And therefore me thinketh he that said Iustice might wel be without PrudeÌ„ce considered ill what belonged to Iustice For Prudence is most necessary to discerne what is iust froÌ„ what is vniust and a good iudgment therin can no man haue that wanteth Prudence without which iudgment Iustice can neuer rule wel those things that are vnder her gouernment And as Agesilaus said of Fortitude so thinke I of Iustice that if she be not guided by Prudence which is aptly called the eie of the mind she works more harme theÌ„ good You thinke truly said I and of this vertue the course of our author draweth me to treate to declare of what importance she is to humane things and how beneficial But let me first put you in mind that hitherto hath bin spoken but of those vertues which haue their foundatioÌ„ in the vnreasonable parts of the mind of which mind they are the habits consisting in the
out of the world litle respecting any profit which the prudent hath still regard vnto For the wise maÌ„ hath his mind alwaies raised to the conteÌ„plation of sublime things whereby these baser of the earth seeme to him worthy no estimation the rather because he knoweth right well that nature hath need of very little to sustaine her And although Plato say that those men are called wise who by the light of reason know what is profitable not onely for themselues and particular persons but generally for the commonweale he there vseth the name of a wise man according to the coÌ„mon maner of speech and not properly But that you may the better vnderstaÌ„d my authors meaning you must giue me leaue to enlarge a litle the ground of this his distinction You are therfore to consider that there be three seueral things in vs to wit sense and feeling vnderstanding and appetite Of which the first is the beginning of no action properly because it is common to vs with brute beasts who are not said to do any action for that they want iudgement and election The appetite so farre forth as it is obedient to reason either followeth or eschueth things presented thereunto and in this part Counsell hath place and election as hath bin formerly said which election is the inducement to action for thereby we worke either good or euil and it is prouoked by the appetite though reason brideling the concupiscible desire be the minister of good electioÌ„ But the vnderstanding stretcheth furder then so For it trauels about things eternal necessary and so true as they neuer change nor can be any other then as by nature they haue bin framed But it is busied about this truth two manner of wayes for either it seeketh the knowledge of principles from whence true conclusions are drawne or else of principles that be the origâ—ne of things If we consider the vnderstanding according to the first manner it breedeth science in vs which commeth from the knowledge of true principles which are the grounds of true conclusions And in this sort do we know all things naturall and corporall yet eternall and immutable as causes naturall nature her selfe time place the elements heauen the first mouer so farre forth as he is applied to a moueable body for so far forth as he is a simple substance vnmoueable indiuisible free from all change and as he is alone by him selfe infinite neither body nor vertue contained in a bodie the first of all things naturally moued yea before the matter it selfe al other the properties attributed to that simple pure and diuine nature it is a thing not appertaining to the naturall Philosopher to treate of him and generally all other things natural But taking the vnderstanding according to the second way it raiseth vs vp to the knowledge of that diuine power from which all things great and small mortall and immortall haue their beginning and this knowledge is called wisedome which together with vertue we attaine by the meanes of Philosophie the only school-mistris of humane and diuine learning and the true guide to commendable life and vertuous actions being indeed the greatest gift that God giueth to man in this transitory life Now as these vertues before specified direct vs to that perfectest end that man in this world can attaine vnto by his vertuous deeds so doth this habit called wisedome conduct him to a farre more excellent end then this ciuill or politike end And if that which vertue guideth vs vnto be worthy to be called perfect in this world this other which wisedome leadeth vs vnto may well be termed most perfect because this diuine habit addresseth vs to the knowledge of the most pure simple and excellentest nature which is God eternall and immortall the fountaine of all goodnesse and infallible truth the onely and absolute rest and quiet of our soules minds For which cause Plato said that humane things if they were compared to diuine were vnworthy the employing any study in them as being of no price or estimation at all for they are rather shadowes of things then things indeed euermore fleeting and slippery as dayly experience teacheth vs. But being as we are among men and set to liue and conuerse with them ciuilly the ciuill man must not giue himself to contemplation to stay vpon it as wisedome would perswade him vntill he haue first employed his wit and prudence to the good and profit as well of others as of himselfe Giuing them to vnderstand how man is the perfection of all creatures vnder heauen and placed as the center betweene things diuine and mortall and shewing to them how great is the perfection of mans mind make them know how vnworthy vnfit it is for a maÌ„ to suffer those parts that he hath common with brute beasts to master and ouer-rule those by which he is made not much inferiour to diuine creatures and causing them to lift vp their minds to this consideration instruct them so to dispose and rule through vertuous habits those parts which of themselues are rebellious to reason as they may be forced to obey her no otherwise then their Queene and mistris and through Fortitude Temperance Iustice and Prudence with the rest of the vertues that spring from them frame their behauiour and direct all their actions to that end which we haue intituled by the name of ciuill felicitie to wit that perfect action or operation according to vertue in a perfect life whereof hath formerly bin largely discoursed Which felicitie once attained is of that nature that no man which is possessed thereof can become miserable or vnhappie For vice only can reduce man to be miserable and that is euermore banished from felicitie whose conuersation is onely with vertue to whom she is so fast linked and tied in the mind of man that he hath no power to dissolue or seuer the same And this felicitie is not only a degree but euen the very foundation of that other which we may attaine by the meane of wisedome For after we haue once setled and gounded our selues in the morall vertues and done well in respect of our selues and also holpen others as much as we could we may then raise our thoughts to a higher consideration and examining more inwardly our owne estate find that this most excellent gift of vnderstanding hath bin giuen vs to a further end and purpose then this humane felicitie and therfore bend all our wits to a better vse of our selues which is to take the way of that other felicitie so to place our selues not onely aboue the ordinary ranke of men but euen to approch as neere as our frailtie will permit to God himselfe the last end of all our thoughts and actions From this perfect knowledge of our selues we ascend by degrees to such a height as leauing all worldly cares we apply al our studies to the searching of diuine things to the end that by attaining the vnderstanding and knowledge