further since both rich and poore doe daylie see the experience hereof And in thigs verie manifest it sufficeth onely for wise men to be put in memorie without wasting any more time to perswade them Now the Emperor Marcus Aurelius had a secretarie verie wise vertuous through whose hands the affaires of the Empire passed And when this secretarie saw his Lord and Master so sicke and almost at the houre of death and that none of his parents or friends durst speake vnto him he plainly determined to doe his dutie wherein hee shewed verie well the profound knowledge hee had in wisedome and the great good wil he bare to his Lord. This Secretary was called Panutius the vertues and life of whom Sextus Cheronensis in the life of Marcus Aurelius declareth CHAP. L. Of the Comfortable words which the Secretary Panutius spake to the Emperour Marcus Aurelius at the houre of his death O My Lord and Master mytongue cannot keepe silence mine eyes cannot refraine from bitter teares nor my heart leaue from fetching sighs nor yet reason can vse his duty For my bloud boyleth my sinews are dried my powers be open my heart doth faint and my spirit is troubled And the occasion of all this is to see that the wholesome counsels which thou giuest to others ether thou canst not or will not take for thy selfe I see thee die my Lord and I die for that I cannot remedy thee For if the gods would haue granted me my request for the lengthning of thy life one day I would giue willingly my whole life Whither the sorrow bee true or fayned it needeth not I declare vnto thee with wordes since thou mayest manifestly discerne it by my countenance For mine eyes with teares are wet and my heart with sighes is very heauie I feele much the want of thy companie I feele much the dammage which of thy death to the whole commonwealth shall ensue I feele much thy sorrowe which in thy pallace shall remaine I feele much for that Rome this day is vndone but that which aboue all things doth most torment my heart is to haue seene thee liue as wise and now to see thee dye as simple Tell me I pray thee my Lord why do men learne the Greeke tongue trauell to vnderstand the Hebrew sweate in the Latine chaunge so many Maisters turne so many bookes and in studie consume so much money and so many yeares if it were not to knowe how to passe life with honor and take death with patience The end why men ought to studie is to learne to liue well For there is no truer science in man then to know how to order his life well What profiteth it me to know much if thereby I take no profite what profiteth me to know straunge Languages if I refrain nor my tongue from other mens matters what profiteth it to studie many bookes if I studie not but to begyule my friendes what profiteth it to know the influence of the starres and the course of the Elements if I cannot keepe my selfe from vices Finally I say that it little auayleth to to bee a master of the Sage if secretly hee bee reported to bee a follower of fooles The chiefe of all Phylosophie consisteth to serue GOD and not to offend men I aske thee most Noble Prince what auaileth it the Pilot to know the Arte of Sayling and after in a Tempest by negligence to perish What auaileth it the valiaunt Captaine to talke much of Warres and afterwards he knoweth not how to giue the Battell What auayleth it the guyde to tell the nearest way and afterwards in the middest to loose himselfe All this which I haue spoken is saide for thee my Lord For what auayleth it that thou beeing in health shouldest sigh for death since now when hee doeth approche thou weepest because thou wouldest not leaue life One of the things wherein the wise man sheweth his wisdome is to know how to loue and how to hate For it is great lightnes I should rather say follie to day to loue him whome yesterday we hated and to morrowe to slaunder him whom this day wee honoured What Prince so high or what Plebeyan so base hath there been or in the world shall euer be the which hath so little as thou regarded life and so highly commended death What things haue I written beeing thy Secretarie with mine owne hand to diuers Prouinces of the world where thou speakest so much good of death that sometimes thou madest mee to hate life What was it to see that letter which thou wrotest vnto the noble Romaine Claudinaes widdowe comforting her of the death of her Husband which dyed in the warres Wherein shee aunswered that she thought her trouble comfort to deserue that thou shouldst write her such a Letter What a pittifull and sundry letter hast thou written to Antigonus on the death of thy childe Verissimus thy sonne so much desired Whose death thou tookest so that thou exceedest the limits of Phylosophie but in the ende with thy princely vertues thou didst qualifie thy woful sorows What Sentences so profound what wordes so well couched didst thou write in that booke intituled The remedy of the sorrowfull the which thou didst send from the warre of Asia to the Senatours of Rome and that was to comfort them after a sore plague And how much profite hath thy doctrine done since with what new kinde of consolation hast thou comforted Helius Fabatus the Sensour when his son was drowned in the riuer where I do remember that when we entred into his house we found him weeping and when wee went from thence wee lest him laughing I doe remember that when thou wentst to visite Gneus Rusticus in his last disease thou didst speake to him so effectuously that with the vehemency of thy words thou madest the teares to runne downe his cheekes And I demanding him the occasions of his lamentations he said The Emperor my Lord hath told me so much euils that I haue won and of so much good that I haue lost that I weepe I weepe not for life which is short but for death which is long The man whom aboue all thou hast loued was Torquatus whom thou didst obey as thy father and seruedst as thy master This thy faithfull friend being readie to die and desiring yet to liue thou sendest to offer sacrifices to the gods not for that they should graunt himselfe but that they should hasten his death Herewith I being astonied thy noblenesse to so satisfie my ignorance sayd vnto mee in secret these wordes Maruell not Panutius to see me offer sacrifices to hasten my friends death and not to prolong his life for there is nothing that the faithfull friend ought so much to desire to true friend as to see him ridde from the trauels of the earth and to enioy the pleasures of heauen Why thinkest thou most noble Prince that I reduce all these things to thy memory but for to
vs to a new builded Pallace And what other thing is the graue but a strong fort wherin we shut our selues from the assaults of life and broyles of fortune Truely wee ought to bee more desirous of that wee finde in death then of that wee haue in life If Helia Fabricia thy wife doe greeue thee for that thou leauest her yong doe not care for shee presently hath little care of the perill wherein thy life dependeth And in the end when she shall know of thy death shee will be nothing greeued Trouble not thy selfe for that she is left a widdow for yong women as shee is which are married to olde men as thou when their husbands die they haue their eyes on that they can robbe and their hearts on them whom they desire to marrie And speaking with due respect when with their eyes they outwardly seeme most for to bewayle then with their hearts inwardly doe they most reioyce Deceiue not thy selfe in thinkeing that the Empresse thy wife is yong and that she shall finde none other Emperor with whom again she may marrie For such and the like will change the cloth of gold for gownes of skinnes I meane that they would rather the young shepheard in the field then the olde Emperour in his royall pallace If thov takest sorrow for the children whom thou leauest I know not why thou shouldst do so For truely if it greeue thee now for that thou diest they are more displeased for that thou liuest The sonne that desireth not the death of his father may be counted the onely Phenix of this world for if the father bee poore he wisheth him dead for that he is not maintained and if hee rich he desireth his death to enherite the sooner Since therefore it is true as indeed it is it seemeth not wisedome that they sing and thou weepe If it greeue thee to leaue these goodly pallaces and these sumptuous buildings deceiue not thy selfe therein For by the god Iupiter I sweare vnto thee that since that death doth finish thee at the end of threescore and two yeeres time shall consume these sumptuous buildings in lesse then 40. If it greeue thee to forsake the company of thy friends and neighbors for them also take as little thought since for thee they will not take any at all For amongst the other compassions that they ought to haue of the dead this is true that scarcely they are buried but of their friends and neighbours they are forgotten If thou takest greatest thought for that thou wilt not die as the other Emperours of Rome are dead me seemeth that thou oughtest also to cast this sorrow from thee for thou knowest right well that Rome hath accustomed to bee so vnthankefull to those which serue her that the great Scipio also would not be buried therein If it greeue thee to die to leaue so great a Seignory as to leaue the Empire I cannot thinke that such vanity be in thy head for temperate and reposed men when they escape from semblable offices doe not thinke that they lose honour but that they be free of a trouble some charge Therefore if none of all these things moue thee to desire life what should let thee that throgh thy gates enter not death it greeueth men to dy for one of these two things either for the loue of those they leaue behinde them or for feare of that they hope Since therefore there is nothing in this life worthy of loue nor any thing in death why we should feare why doe men feare to die According to the heauy fighes thou fetchest the bitter teares thou sheddest and according also to that great paine thou shewest for my part I thinke that the thing in thy thought most forgotten was that the gods should commaund thee to pay this debt For admit that all thinke that their life shall end yet no man thinketh that death wil come so soon For that men think neuer to die they neuer begin their faults to amend so that both life and fault haue end in the graue together Knowest not thou most noble Prince that the long night commeth the middest morning Doest thou not know that after the moist morning there cometh the cleare Sun Knowest not thou that after the cleare Sun commeth the cloudy Element Doest thou not know that after the darke myst there commeth extreme heate And after the heate commeth the horrible thunders and after the thunders the sodaine lightnings and after the perilious lightnings commeth the terrible haile Finally I say that after the tempestuous and troublesome time commonly commeth cleare and faire weather The order that time hath to make himselfe cruell and gentle the selfe same ought men to haue to liue and die For after the infancy commeth childhood after childhood commeth youth after youth commeth age and after age commeth the feareful death Finally after that feareful death commeth the sure life Oftentimes I haue read and of thee not seldome heard that the gods onely which had no beginning shall haue also no ending Therefore mee thinketh most noble Prince that sage men ought not to desire to liue long Formen which desire to liue much either it is for that they haue not felt the trauels past because they haue bene fooles or for that they desire more time to giue themselues to vices Thou mightest not complaine of that since they haue not cut thee in the flower of the herbe nor taken thee greene from the tree nor cut thee in the spring tide and much lesse eate thee eager before thou wert ripe By that I haue spoken I meane if death had called thee when thy life was sweetest though thou hadst not had reason to haue complayned yet thou mightest haue desired to haue altered it For it is a greater griefe to say vnto a yong man that he must die and forsake the world What is this my Lord now that the wall is decaied ready to fall the flower is an hered the grape doth rot the teeth are loose the gowne is worne the lance is blunt the knife is dull and dost thou desire to returne into the world as if thou hadst neuer knowne the world These threescore and two yeeres thou hast liued in the proportion of this body and wilt thou now that the yron fetters haue rot thy legges desire yet to lengthen thy daies in this so wofull prison They that will not be contented to liue threescore yeeres and fiue in this death or to die in this life will not desire to liue threescore thousand yeeres The Emperour Augustus Octauian saide That alter men had liued fiftie yeeres either of their owne will they ought to dye or else by force they should cause themselues to bee killed For at that time all those which haue any humaine felicitie are at the best Those which liue aboue that age passe their daies in grieuous torments As in the death of children in the losse of goods and importunitie of
the diligence which the Iudges vsed towards the Senat to the end they might giue them offices the selfe same ought the Senate to haue to seeke vertuous men to commit such charge into their hands For the office of iustice ought to be giuen not to him which procureth it but to him that best deserueth it In the yeare of the foundation of Rome 642. yeares the Romane people had many warres throughout all the world That is to say Caius Celius against those of Thrace Gneus Gardon his brother against the Sardes Iunius Scilla against the Cimbres Minutius Rufus against the Daces Seruilius Scipio against the Macedonians and Marius Consull against Iugurtha King of the Numedians and amongst all these the warre of the Numidians was the most renowmed and also perillous For if Rome had many Armies against Iugurtha to conquer him Iugurtha had in Rome good friends which did fauour him King Boco at that time was king of the Mauritans who was Iugurthas friend in the end hee was afterwards the occasion that Iugurtha was ouerthrowne and that Marius tooke him These two Kings Marius the Consull brought to Rome and triumphed of them leading them before his triumphant chariot their neckes loaden with yrons their eyes full of teares The which vnlucky fortune al the Romaines which behelde lamented and tooke great pitie of the strangers whō they heard The night after the triumph was ended it was decreede in the Senate that Iugurtha should bee beheaded leauing king Boco aliue depriued of his Country And the occasion thereof was this The Romaines had a custom of long time to put no man to execution before that first with great diligēce they had looked the ancient bookes to see if any of their predecessors had done any notable seruice to Rome whereby the poore prisoner might deserue his pardon It was found written in a booke which was in the high Capitoll that the Grandfather of King Boco was very sage and a speciall friend to the Romane people and that once hee came to Rome and made diuers orations to the Senate and amongst other notable sentences there was found in that book that he had spoken these words Woe be to that realme where all are such that neyther the good amongst the euill nor the euil amongst the good are known Woe vpon that realme which is the entertainer of all fooles and a destroyer of all Sages Woe is that Realme where the good are fearefull and the euill too bold Wo on that realme where the patient are despised and the seditious commended Wo on that Realm which destroyeth those which watch for the good and crowneth those that watch to doe euill Woe to that realme where the poore are suffered to bee proud and the rich tirants Wo to that realme where all know the euil and no man doth follow the good woe to that realme where so many euill vices are openly committed which in another countrie dare not secrrtly bee mentioned Wo to that realm where all procure that they desire where all attaine to that they procure where all thinke that this is euill where al speake that they thinke and finally where all may doe that which they will In such and so vnfortunate a realm where the people are too wicked let euery man beware hee bee not inhabitant For in short time they shall see vpon him eyther the yre of the Gods the fury of the men the depoputation of the good or the desolation of the Tirants Diuers other notable thinges were contained in those Orations the which are not at this present touching my letter But forasmuch as we thought it was a very iust thing that they should pardon the folly of the Nephew for the deserts of the wise grandfather Thou shalt reade this my letter openly to the Pretours and Iudges which are resident there and the case shall bee that when thou shalt reade it thou shalt admonish them that if they will not amend secretly wee will punish them openly I wrote vnto thee the last day that as touching thy banishment I would be thy friend and be thou assured that for to enioy thy old friendshipp and to performe my word I will not let to danger my person I write vnto Panutius my Secretary to succour thee with two thousand Sesterses wherewith thou mayest releeue thy pouerty and from hence I send thee my letter wherewith thou mayest comfort thy sorrowfull hear I say no more to thee in this case but that thorough the Gods thou mayest haue contentation of all that thou enioyest health of thy person and comfort of thy friends the bodily euils the cruell enemies the perillous destenies bee farre from me Marke In the behalfe of thy Wife Rufa I haue saluted my wise Faustine shee and I both haue receyued with ioy thy salutations and with thankes wee sent them you againe I desire to see thy person here in Italy and wish my feuer quartens there with thee in Scicilie CHAP. XII An exhortation of the Author to Princes and Noble men to embrace peace and to eschew the occasions of warre OCtauian Augustus second Emperour of Rome is commended of all for that hee was so good of his person and so wel beloued of all the Romane Empire Suetonius Tranquillus sayth that when any man dyed in Rome in his time they gaue great thanks to the Gods for that they tooke their life from them before their Prince knew what death meant And not contented onelie with this but in their Testaments they commaunded their heires and children that yearely they should offer great sacrifices of their proper goods in all the Temples of Rome to the end the Gods shold prolong the dayes of their Prince That time indeed might bee called the golden age and the blessed land where the Prince loued so well his subiects and the subiects so much obeyed their prince for seldome times it hapneth that one will be content with the seruices of all neyther that all will bee satisfied with the gouernement of one The Romans for none other cause wished for the good Prince more then for themselues life out because he kept the commonwealth in peace The vertue of this Prince deserued much prayse and the good will of the people merited no lesse commendation he for deseruing it to them they for giuing it to him for to say the truth there are few in number that so heartily loue others that for theyr sakes will hate themselues There is no man so humble but in things of honour wil be content to goe before saue only in death where he can be content to come behinde And this seemeth to bee very cleare in that that now dyeth the father now the mother now the husband now the wife now the sonne now his neighbour in the end euery man is content with the death of an other so that he with his owne life may escape himselfe A Prince which is gentle patient stout sober honest and
which we are ignorant we haue no paine to attaine vnto them and lesse griefe also to lose them My intention to tell thee this was because that I knew that which I would not haue knowne and haue heard that which I would not haue heard that is to say that the dayes and troubles of Claudinus thy husband are ended and now thy sorrowes Lauinia his wife doe beginne It is now a good while that I haue known of the death of the good Claudinus my friend and thy husband though I did dissemble it And by the God Mars I sweare vnto thee that it was not for that I would not bewaile him but because I would not discomfort thee For it were extreame cruelty that shee which was so comfortlesse and sorrowfull for the absence of so long time should bee killed with my hand through the knowledge of the death of her so desired husband It were too vnkind and vnseemely a thing that shee of whom I haue receyued so many good works should receiue of me so euill newes The auncients of Carthage held for an inuiolable Law that if the Father did tell the death of his sonne or the sonne the death of the Father or the woman the death of her husband or the husband the death of his wife or any other semblable wofull and lamentable death that he should bee cast into the prison among them which were condemned to die It seemed to those of Carthage that he which sayde vnto another that his brother kinsman or friend was dead immediately they should kill him or hee ought to dye or at the least hee should neuer bee seene in his presence If in this case the Law of the Carthaginians was inst then I ought to be excused though I haue not told this heauie newes For as oft as we see him who hath brought vs any euill tidinges our sorrowes by his sight is renewed againe Since Claudinus thy Husband dyed I haue not had one houre of rest for to passe the time away for feare least such woefull and sorrowfull newes should come to thy knowledge But now that I know that thou knowest it I feele double paine For now I feele his death my care and thy want of consolation and the dammage by his death shall followe the Romaine Empire Thou hast lost a noble Romaine valiaunt in bloud moderate in prosperities pacient in aduersities couragious in daungers diligent in affaires wise in counsels faithful to his friends subtill and wary of his Enemyes a louer of the common-wealth and very honest in his person and aboue all and wherof I haue most enuie is that hee neuer offended man in his life nor hurt any with his tongue We finde seldome times so many vertues assembled in one man For saying the truth if a man doe narrowly examine the vices of manie which presume to be very vertuous I sweare that he should finde more to reproue then to praise Since thou hast lost so good a Husband and I so faithfull a Friend wee are bound thou to bewaile so great a losse and I to sigh for so good a companion And this I do not desire for Claudine who now resteth among the Gods but for vs others which remaine in daunger of so many euills For the dead doe rest as in the sure Hauen and we others doe faile as yet in raging Sea O thou heauy heart how doe I see thee betweene the Bell and the clappers that is to say that thou wantest the companie of the good and art enuironned with the flocke of euill For the which occasion I doubt often times whether I may first bewaile the euill which liue or the good which are dead because in the ende the euill men do offend vs more which we finde then doth the good men which we loose It is a great pittie to see the good and vertuous men dye but I take it to be more sorrow to see the euill and vitious men liue As the diuine Plato sayeth the gods to kill the good which serue them and to giue long life to the euill which offend them is a mysterie so profound that daily wee doe lament it and yet wee can neuer attayne to the secretes thereof Tell me I pray thee Lauinia knowest thou not now that the Gods are so mercifull with whom we go when we dye and that men are so wicked with whom we be whiles we liue that as the euill were borne to dye so the good dye to liue For the good man though hee dye liueth and the euill man though he liue dyeth I sweare vnto thee by the Mother Berecynthia and so the God Iupiter do preserue mee that I speake not this which I will speake fainedly which is that considering the rest that the dead haue with the Gods and seeing the sorrowes and troubles wee haue here with the liuing I say and affirme once againe that they haue greater compassion of our life then wee others haue of their death Though the death of men were as the death of beasts that is to say that ther were no Furyes nor diuels which should torment the euill and that the Gods should not rewarde the good yet wee ought to be comforted to see our friends die if it were for no other but to see them deliuered from the thraldome of this world The pleasure that the Pilot hath to bee in sure Hauen the glorie that the captaine hath to see the day of victorie the rest that the Traueller hath to see his journey ended the contentation that the workeman hath to see his work come to perfection all the same haue the dead seeing themselues out of this miserable life If men were borne alway to liue it were reason to lament them when we see them dye but since it is true that they are borne to dye I would say since needes dye wee must that wee ought not to lament those which dye quickly but those which liue long I am assured that Clandine thy Husband remembring that which in this life hee hath passed and suffered and seeing the rest that hee hath in the other though the Gods would make him Emperour of Rome he would not be one day out of his graue For returning to the worlde hee should dye againe but being with the Gods hee hopeth to liue perpetually Ladie Lauinia most earnestly I desire thee so vchemently not to pierce the heauens with thy so heauie sighes nor yet to wette the earth with thy so bitter teares since thou knowest that Claudine thy husband is in place where there is no sorrowe but mirth where there is no paine but rest where hee weepeth not but laugheth where hee sigheth not but singeth where he hath no sorrowes but pleasures where hee feareth not cruell death but enioyeth perpetuall life Since therefore this is true it is but reason the widdow appease her anguish considering that her husband endureth no paine Oftentimes with my selfe I haue thought what the Wddowes ought to imagine
their trauell and with a good will it should be granted for the gods vse for a little seruice to giue a great reward Triphon and Agamendo aunswered vnto the god Apollo that for their good will for their trauell and for their expences they demaunded no other reward but that it would please him to giue them the best thing that might bee giuen vnto man and that vnto them were most profite saying That the miserable men haue not the power to eschew the euill nor wisedome to chuse the good The god Apollo answered that he was contented to pay them their seruice which they had done and for to grant them that which they had demaunded By reason whereof Triphon and Agamendo hauing dined suddenly at the gates of the temple fel down dead so that the reward of their trauel was to plucke them out of their miserie The reason to declare these two examples is to the ende that all mortall men may knowe that there is nothing so good in this worlde as to haue an ende of this life and though to lose it there be no sauour yet at the least there is profite For wee would reproue a traueller of great foolishnes if sweating by the way he would sing and after at his iourneyes ende hee should beginne to weepe Is not hee simple which is sorry for that hee is come into the Hauen is not hee simple that giueth the battell and fighteth for that hee hath got the victorie Is not he stubborne which is in great distresse and is angry to be succoured Therefore more foolish simple and stubborn is hee which trauelleth to dye and is loath to meete with death For death is the true refuge the perfect health the sure Hauen the whole victorie the flesh without bones Fish without scales and corne without slrawe Finally after death wee haue nothing to bewayle and much lesse to desire In the time of Adrian the Emperour a Phylosopher called Secundus being meruellously learned made an oration at the funerall of a Noble Romaine Matrone a Kins-woman of the Emperours who spake exceedingly much euill of life and maruellous much good of death And when the Emp demanded him what death was The phylosopher aunswered thus Death is an eternall sleepe a dissolution of the bodie a terror of the rich a desire of the poore a thing inhetitable a pilgrimage vncertaine a Theefe of men a kinde of sleeping a shadow of life a separation of the liuing a companie of the dead a resolution of all trauels and the end of all ydle desires Finally Death is the scourge of all euill and the chiefe reward of the good Truely this Phylosopher spake very well and hee should not doe euill which profoundly would consider that hee had spoken Seneca in an Epistle declareth of a Phylosopher whose name was Bessus to whom when they demanded what euill a man can haue in Death since men feare it so much Hee aunswered If any damage or feare is in him who dyeth it is not for the feare of death but for the vice of him which dyeth Wee may agree to that the Phylosopher saide that euen as the deafe cannot iudge harmony nor the blind colours so likewise they cannot say euill of death especially he which neuer tasted it For of all those which are dead none returned again to complaine of Death and of these fewe that liue all complaine of life If any of the dead returned hither to speak vvith the liuing and as they haue proued it so they vvould tell vs. If there were any harme in secrete death it were reason to haue some feare of death But though a man that neuer saw heard felt nor tasted death doeth speake euill of Death should wee therefore feare Death Those ought to haue done some euill in their life which doe feare speake euill of death For in the last houre in the streight iudgement the good shal be known the euill discouered There is no Prince nor Knight rich nor poore whole nor sicke lucky nor vnluckie which I see with their vocations to be contented saue onely the dead which in theyr graues are in peace rest and are neither couetous proud negligent vain ambicious nor dissolute So that the state of the dead ought to bee best since wee see none therein to bee euill contented And since therefore those which are poore â—oe seek the meanes wherwith to endch themselues those which are sad rio seeke wherby to reioyce and those which are sicke to seeke to be healed why is it that those which haue such feare of Death doe seeke remedie against that feare In this case I would say that he which will not feare to die let him vse himself well to liue For the guyltles taketh away feare from death The diuine Plato demaunded Socrates how hee behaued himselfe in life and how he would behaue himselfe in death He answered I let thee know that in youth I haue trauelled to liue well and in age I haue studyed to die well and sith my life hath been honest I hope my death shall be ioyfull And although I haue had sorrow to liue I am sure I shall haue no paine to dye Truely these wordes are worthie of such a man Men of stout harts suffer maruellously when the swear of theyr trauell is not rewarded when they are faithful and their rewards aunswereth nothing to their true seruice when for their good seruices their Friends become vnthankefull to them when they are worthy honour and that they preferre them to honorable room and office For the noble and valiant harts doe not esteeme to loose the rewarde of their labour but thinke much vnkindenesse when a man doeth not acknowledge theyr trauells Oh happie are they that dye For without inconuenience and without paine euery man is in his graue For in this Tribunall iustice to all is so equally obserued that in the same place where wee haue deserued life in the same place we merited death There was neuer nor neuer shall be iudge so iust nor in iustice so vpright that giueth reward by weight and paine by measure but that somtimes they chasten the innocent absolue the guiltie they vexe the faultlesse and they dissemble with the culpable For little auaileth it the playntife to haue good iustice if conscience want to the iudge that should minister it Truely it is not so in Death but all ought to account themselues happie For he which shall haue good iustice shall bee sure on his parte to haue the sentence When great Cato was Censor in Rome a famous Romaine dyed who shewed at his death a maruellous courage and when the Romains praised him for that hee had so great vertue and for the words he had spoken Cato the Censor laughed at that they sayd for that they praised him And he being demanded the cause of his laughter annswered Yee maruell at that I laugh and I laugh at that yee maruell For the perills
and trauells considered wherein wee liue and the safetie wherein wee dye I say that it is more needefull to haue vertue and strength to liue then courage to dye The Authour hereof is Plutarch in his Apothegmes Wee cannot say but that Cato the Censor spake as a wise man since daylie we see shamefast and vertuous persons suffer hunger cold thyrst trauell pouerty inconuenience sorrows enmities and mishaps of the which things wee were better to see the ende in one day then to suffer them euery houre For it is lesse euill to suffer an honest death then to endure a miserable life Oh how small consideration haue men to thinke that they ought to dye but once Since the truth is that the day when wee are born and come inthis worlde is the beginning of our death and the last day is when we do cease to liue If death bee no other but an ending of life then reason perswadeth vs to thinke that our infancie dyeth our childhood dyeth our manhoode dyeth and our Age shall dye wherof we may consequently cōclude that we dye euery yeare euery day euery houre and euery moment So that thinking to leade a sure life we taste a new death I know not why men feare so much to dye since that from the time of their birth they seeke none other thing but death For time neuer wanteth for any man to dye neyther I knew any man that euer fayled of this way Seneca in an Epistle declareth that as a Romaine Woman lamented the death of a Childe of hers a Phylosopher saide vnto her Woman why bewaylest thou thy childe She aunswered I weepe because hee hath liued xxv yeares and I would he should haue liued till fiftie For amongst vs mothers wee loue our Children so hartily that we neuer cease to behold them nor yet ende to bewaile them Then the Phylosopher said Tell me I pray thee woman Why doest thou not complame of the Gods because they created not thy Sonne manie yeares before he was borne as well as thou complavnest that they haue not let him liue fiftie yeares Thou weepest that hee is deade so soone and thou dost not lament that he is borne so late I tell thee true Woman that as thou doest not lament for the one no more thou oughrest to bee sorrie for the other For without the determination of the Gods we cannot shorten death and much lesse lengthen our life So Plinie saide in an Epistle that the chiefest law which the Gods haue giuen vnto humane nature was that none shold haue perpactual life For with dis-ordinate desire to liue long wee should reioyce to goe out of this paine Two Phylosophers disputing before the great Emperor Theodose the one saide that it was good to procure death and the other likewise sayde it was a necessary thing to hate life The good Theodose taking him by the hand sayd All wee mortalles are so extreame in hating and louing that vnder the colour to loue and hate life wee leade an euill life For we suffer so many trauells for to preserue it that sometimes it were much better to loose it And further hee sayde Diuers vaine men are come into so great follyes that for feare of Death they procure to hasten death And hauiwg consideration to this me seemeth that wee ought not greatly to loue life nor with desperation to seeke Death For the strong and valiant men ought not to hate Life so long as it lasteth nor to bee displeased with death when hee commeth All commended that which the Emperour Theodose spake as Paulus Dyacon saith in his life Let euery man speake what he will and let the Phylosophers counsell what they lift in my poore iudgment hee alone shall receyue death without paine who long before is prepared to receyue the same For sudden death is not onely bitter vnto him which tasteth it but also it seareth him that hateth it Lactantius saide that in such sorte man ought to liue as if from hence an houre after he should dye For those men which will haue Death before their eyes it is vnpossible that they should giue place to vaine thoughts In my opinion and also by the aduise of Apuleius It is as much follie to flie from that which we cannot auoyd as to desire that wee can not attaine And this is only spoken for those that would flye the voyage of death which is necessarie and desire to come againe which is vnpossible Those that trauell by long wayes if they want any thing they borrow it of their companie If they haue forgotten ought they returne to seeke it at their lodging or else they write vnto their friends a letter But I am sorrie that if wee once dye they will not let vs returne again we cannot speake and they will not agree we shall write but such as they shall finde vs so shall wee bee iudged And that which is most fearfull of all the execution and sentence is giuen in one day Let Noble Princes and great Lords beleeue mee in this Let them not leaue that vndone til after their death which they may doe during their life And let them not trust in that they commaund but in that whiles they liue they doe Let them not trust in the workes of an other but in theyr owne good deedes For in the end one sigh shall be more worth then all the friendes of the world I counsell pray and exhort all wise and vertuous men and also my selfe with them that in such a sort wee liue that at the houre of death wee may say we liue For wee cannot say that wee liue when we liue not well For all that time which without profite wee shall liue shall be counted vnto vs for nothing CHAP. XLIX ¶ Of the death of Marcus Aurelius the Emperour and how there are fewe Friendes which dare say the truth to sicke men THe good Emperor Marcus Aurelius now beeing aged not onely for the yeares he had but also for the great trauells hee had in the warres endured It chaunced that in the xviii yeare of his Empire and lxxij yeares from the day of his birth and of the foundation of Rome fiue hundreth xliii beeing in the warre of Pannonie which at this time is called Hungaria besieging a famous cittie called Vendeliona suddenly a disease of the palsey tooke him which was such that hee lost his life and Rome her Prince the best of life that euer was borne therein Among the Heathen princes some had more force then he others possessed more riches then hee others were as aduenturous as hee and some haue knowne as much as hee but none hath bin of so excellent and vertuous a life nor so modest as hee For his life being examined to the vttermost ther are many princely vertues to follow and fewe vices to reproue The occasion of his death was that that in going one Night about his Campe suddenly the disease of the palsey tooke him in
his arme so that from thence forwards hee could not put on his gowne nor draw his sword and much lesse carrie a staffe The good Empreour being so loaden with yeres and no lesse with cares the sharpe Winter approching more and more great aboundance of water and snow fell about the Tents so that another disease fell vpon him called Litargie the which thing much abated his courage and in his Hoast caused great sorrow For he was so beloued of all as if they had been his owne Children After that he had proued all medicines and remedyes that could bee found and all other things which vnto so great and mightie Princes were accustomed to be done he perceyued in the end that all remedie was past And the reason heereof was because his sicknes was exceeding vehement and hee himselfe very aged the Ayre vnwhol-some and aboue all because sorrowes and cares oppressed his hart Without doubt greater is the disease that proceedeth of sorrowe then that which proceedeth of the Feuer quartaine And thereof fensueth that more easily is hee cured which of corrupt humours is full then hee which with profound thoughts is oppressed The Emperour then beeing sicke in his chamber and in such sort that hee could not exercise the feates of armes as his men ranne out of their Campe to skyrmish and the Hungarians in like manner to defend the fight on both sides was so cruell through the great effusion of bloud that neither the Hungarians had cause to reioyce nor yet the Romaines to be merrie Vnderstanding the euill order of his and especially that v. of his Captaines were slaine in the conflict and that he for his disease could not bee there in person such sorrows pierced his hart that although he desired forthwith to haue dyed yet hee remained 2. dayes and 3. nights without that hee would see light or speak vnto any man of his So that the heat was much the rest was small the sighes were continuall and the thyrst very great the meate little and the sleepe lesse and aboue all his face wrinckled and his lips very blacke Sometimes he cast vp his eyes and at other times he wrong his hands alwayes hee was silent and continually hee sighed His tongue was swollen that hee could not spit and his eyes very hollow with weeping So that it was a great pittie to see his death and no lesse compassion to see the confusion of his pallace and the hinderance of the warre Many valiant captains many noble Romaines many faithfull seruants and many old friends at all these heauines were present But none of them durst speake to the Emperour Marke partly for that they tooke him to be so sage that they knewe not what counsell to giue him and partely for that they were so sorrowful that they could not refraine their heauie teares For the louing and true Friendes in their life ought to bee beloued and at theyr death to be bewailed Great compassion ought men to haue of those which dye not for that we see them dye but because there are none that telleth them what they ought to doe Noble Princes and great Lords are in greater perill when they dye then the Plebeyans For the counseller dare not tell vnto his Lorde at the houre of death that which hee knoweth and much lesse will tell him how he ought to die and what things hee ought to discharge whiles hee is aliue Manie goe to visite the sicke that I would to GOD they went some other where And the cause heereof is that they see the sicke mans eyes hollowe the flesh dryed the armes without flesh the colour enflamed the ague continuall the paine great the tongue swollen nature consumed and besides all this the house destroyed and yet they say vnto the sicke man Be of good cheere I warrant you you shall liue As young men naturallie desire to liue and as death to all olde men is dreadfull so though they see themselues in that distresse yet they refuse no Medecines as though there were great hope of life And therof ensueth oftentimes that the miserable creatures depart the worlde without confessing vnto GOD and making restitutions vnto men Oh if those which doe this knewe what euill they doe For to take away my goods to trouble my person to blernish my good name to slaunder my parentage and to reproue my life these works are of cruell enemies but to bee occasion to lose my soule it is the works of the diuell of hell Certainly hee is a Diuell which deceyueth the sicke with flatteryes and that in steed to helpe him to dye well putteth him in vain-hope of long life Herein hee that sayeth it winneth little and he that beleeueth it aduentureth much To mortall men it is more meete to giue counselles to reform their consciences with the truth then to hazard their houses with lyes With our friends wee are ashamelesse in their life and also bashfull at their death The which ought ought not to be so For if our Fathers were not dead and that wee did not daylie see these that are present die mee thinketh it were a shame and also a feare to say to the sicke that hee alone should die But since thou knowest as well as he and he knoweth as well as thou that all doe trauell in this perillous iourney what shame hast thou to say vnto thy friend that hee is now at the last point If the dead should now reuiue how would they complain of their friends And this for no other cause but for that they would not giue them good counsell at their death For if the sicke man bee my Friend and that I see peraduenture he will dye Why shall not I counsell him to prepare himselfe to dye Certainly oftentimes we see by experience that those which are prepared and are ready for to dye doe escape and those which thinke to liue doe perish What should they doe which goe to visite the sicke perswade them that they make their Testaments that they confesse their sinnes that they discharge their conscience that they receyue the Communion and that they do reconcile themselues to their enemies Certainely all these things charge not the launce of death nor cut not the threed of life I neuer saw blindenesse so blinde nor ignorance so ignorant as to be ashamed to counsell the sicke that they are bound to do when they are whole As we haue sayd here aboue Princes and great Lords are those aboue all others that liue and dye most abusedly And the onely cause in this that as their Seruants haue no hearts to perswade them when they are merrie so haue they no audacity to tell them truth when they are in perill For such seruants care little so that their masters bequeath them any thing in their willes whether they die well or liue euill O what miserie and pitie is it to see a Prince a Lord a gentleman and a rich person die if they haue no
faithfull friend about them to helpe them to passe that paine And not without a cause I say that he ought to be a faithfull friend For many in our life do gape after our goods few at our deaths are sory for our offences The wise and sage men before nature compelleth them to die of their owne will ought to die That is to say that before they see themselues in the pangs of death they haue their consciences ready prepared For if we count him a foole which wil passe the sea without a ship truely we will not count him wise which taketh his death without any preparation before What losest a wisest man to haue his will well ordained in what aduenuenture of honour is any man before death to reconcile himselfe to his enemies and to those whom he hath borne hate and malice What loseth he of his credite who in his life time restoreth that which at his death they will command him to render wherein may a man shew himselfe to bee more wise then when willingly hee hath discharged that which afterwards by processe they will take from him O how many Princes and great Lords are there which onely not for spending one day about their testament haue caused their children and heires all the dayes of their life to bee in trauerse in the Law So that they supposing to haue left their children wealthy haue not left them but for Atturneyes and Counsellers of the law The true and vnfained Christian ought euery morning so to dispose his goods and correct life as if he shold dye the same night And at night in like manner he ought to commit himselfe to GOD as if he hoped for no life vntill morning For to say the truth to sustaine life there are infinite trauels but to meete with death there is but one way If they will credite my wordes I would coūsell no man in such estate to liue that for any thing in the worlde he should vndoe himselfe The Riche and the poore the great and the smal the Gentlemen and the Plebeyans all say and sweare that of death they are exceeding fearefull To whome I say and affirm that he alone feareth death in whome we see amendment of life Princes and great Lords ought also to be perfect to ende before they ende to dye before they die and to be mortified before they bee mortified If they doe this with themselues they shall as easily leaue their life as if they channged from one house to another For the most parte of men delight to talke with leysure to drinke with leysure to eate with leysure and to sleepe with leysure but they die in haste Not without cause I say they die in haste since wee see them receiue the sacrament of the Supper of the Lord in haste male their willes by force and with speede to confesse and receyue So that they take it and demaund it so late and so without reason that often times they haue loste their Sences and are readie to giue vp the spirite when they bring it vnto them What auaileth the Ship-master after the ship is sunke what doe weapons after the battell is lost What auaileth pleasures after men are dead By this which I haue spoken I will demaund what it auayleth the sicke being heauie with sleepe and berefte of their sences to call for Confessors vnto whome they confesse their sinnes Euill shall hee bee confessed which hath no vnderstanding to repent himselfe What auaileth it to call the confessor to vnderstand the secrets of his Conscience when the sicke man hath lost his speech Let vs not deceyue our selues saying in our age we will amend hereafter and make restitution at our death For in mine opinion it is not the poynt of wise men nor of good Christiās to desire so much time to offend and they will not espie any to amend Would to GOD that the third parte of the precious time which men occupie in sinne were employed about the meditations of Death and the cares which they haue to accomplish their Fleshly lusts were spent in bewayling their filthie sinnes I am very sorrie with my heart that they so wickedly spend and passe their-life in vices and pleasures as if there were no GOD vnto whom they shold render account for their offences All worldlings willingly doe sinne vpon a vaine hope onely in Age to amend and at death to repent But I would demaund him that in this hope sinned what certainty he hath in age of amendment and what assurance he hath to haue long warning before hee die Since we see by experience there are moe in number which dye young then olde it is no reason wee should commit so many sinnes in one day as that wee should haue cause to lament afterwards all the rest of our life And afterwards to bewayle the sins of our long life we desire no more but one space of an houre Considering the the Omnipotencie of the Diuine mercie it sufficeth yea and I say that the space of an houreis to much to repent vs of our wicked life but I would counsel all since the sinner for to repent taketh but one houre that that be not the last houre For the sighes and repentance which proceed from the bottome of the heart penetrate the high Heauens but those which come of necessity doeth not pierce the bare seeling of the House I allow and commende that those which visit◠the sick do counsell them to examin their consciences to receiue the Communion to pray vnto GOD to forgiue their enemyes and to recommend themselues to the deuoute prayers of the people and to repent them of their sinnes Finally I say that it is very good to doe all this But yet I say it is better to haue done it before For the diligent and careful Pyrate prepareth for the Tempest when the Sea is calme Hee that deepely would consider how little the goods of this life are to be esteemed Let him go to see a rich man when hee dyeth and what he doeth in his bed And he shall finde that the wife demandeth of the poore husband her dowrie the Daughter the third parte the other the fifth the childe the preheminence of age the Sonne in law his Marriage the physition his duetie the Slaue his libertie the Seruaunts their wages the creditours their debtes and the worst of all is that none of those that ought to inherite his goods will giue him one glasse of water Those that shall heare or read this ought to consider that that which they haue seene done at the death of their neighbours the same shall come vnto them when they shall be sicke at the poynt of death For so soone as the Rich shutteth his eyes forthwith there is great strife betweene the children for his goods And this strife is not to vnburthen his soule but which of them shall inherite most of his possessions In this case I will not my pen trauell any
demaund thee how it is possible that I which haue heard thee speake so well of death doe presently see thee so vnwilling to leaue life since the gods commaund it thy age willeth it thy disease doth cause it thy feeble nature doth permit it the sinfull Rome doth deserue it and the sickle fortune agreeth that for our great miserie thou shouldest die Why therefore sighest thou so much for to die The trauels which of necessitie must needes come with stout heart ought to be receiued The cowardly heart falleth before hee is beaten downe but the stout and valiant stomacke in greatest perill recouereth most strength Thou art one man and not two thou owest one death to the gods and not two Why wilt thou therefore being but one pay for two and for one onely life take two deaths I meane that before thou endest life thou diest for pure sorrow After that thou hast sayled and in the sayling thou hast passed such perill when the gods doe render thee in the safe Hauen once againe thou wilt runne into the raging Sea where thou scapest the victorie of life and thou dyest with the ambushments of death Threescore and two yeeres hast thou fought in the Field and neuer turned thy backe and fearest thou now beeing enclosed in the Graue Hast thou not passed the pykes and bryers wherein thou hast beene enclosed and now thou tremblest being in the sure way Thou knowest what dammage it is long to liue and now thou doubtest of the profit of death which ensueth It is now many yeeres since death and thou haue beene at defyance as mortall enemies and now to lay thy hands on thy Weapons thou flyest and turnest thy backe Threescore and two yeeres are past since thou wert bent against fortune and now thou closest thy eyes when thou oughtest ouer her to triumph By that I haue told thee I meane that since wee doe not see thee take death willingly at this present we do suspect that thy life hath not in times past beene very good For the man which hath no desire to appeare before the gods it is a token he is loaden with vices What meanest thou most noble Prince why weepest thou as an infant and complainest as a man in despaire If thou weepest because thou dyest I answer thee that thou laughest as much when thou liuedst For of too much laughing in the life proceedeth much wayling at the death Who hath alwaies for his heritage appropriated the places being in the common wealth The vnconstancy of the minde who shall bee so hardy to make steadie I meane that all are dead all die all shall die among all wilt thou alone liue Wilt thou obtaine of the gods that which maketh them gods That is to say that they make thee immortall as thēselues Wilt thou alone haue by priuiledge that which the gods haue by nature My youth demandeth thy age what thing is best or to say better which is lesse euill to die well or to liue euill I doubt that any man may attaine to the meanes to liue well according to the continuall and variable troubles and vexations which daily we haue accustomed to carrie betweene our hands alwayes suffering hunger cold thirst care displeasures temptations persecutions euill fortunes ouerthrowes and diseases This cannot be called life but a long death and with reason wee will call this life death since a thousand times we hate life If an ancient man did make a shew of his life from time he is come out of the intrailes of his mother vntill the time hee entreth into the bowels of the earth and that body would declare al the sorrowes that he hath passed and the heart discouer all the ouerthrows of fortune which he hath suffered I imagine the gods would maruell and men would wonder at the body which hath endured so much and the heart which hath so greatly dissembled I take the Greeks to be more wise which weepe when their children bee borne and laugh when the aged dye then the Romanes which sing when their children are borne and weepe when the olde men die Wee haue much reason to laugh when the olde men die since they dy to laugh and with great reason wee ought to weepe when the children are borne since they are borne to weepe CHAP. LI. Panutius the Secretarie continueth his exhortation admonishing all men willingly to accept death vtterly to forsake the world and all his vanities SInce life is now condemned for euill there remaineth nought else but to approoue death to be good Oh if it pleased the immortall gods that as I oftentimes haue heard the disputation of this matter so now that thou couldest therewith profite But I am sorry that to the Sage and wise man counsell sometimes or for the most part wanteth None ought to cleaue much to his owne opinion but sometimes he should follow the counsell of the third person For the man which in all things will follow his owne aduise ought well to be assured that in all or the most part hee shall erre O my Lord Marke sith thou art sage liuely of spirit of great experience and ancient didst not thou thinke that as thou hadst buried many so likewise some should burie thee What imaginations were thine to thinke that seeing the ende of their dayes others should not see the end of thy yeares Since thou diest rich honorably accompanied olde and aboue all seeing thou diest in the seruice of the commonwealth why fearest thou to enter into thy graue Thou hast alwaies beene a friend as much to know things past as those which were hid and kept secret Since thou hast prooued what honours and dishonours deserue riches and pouertie prosperitie and aduersitie ioy and sorrow loue and fear vices and pleasures mee seemeth that nothing remaineth to know but that it is necessarie to know what death is And also I sweare vnto thee most noble Lord that thou shalt learne more in one houre what death is then in an hundred yeares what life meaneth Since thou art good and presumest to be good and hast liued as good is it better that thou die and goe with so many good then that thou scape and liue amongst so many euill That thou feelest death I maruell nothing at all for thou art a man but I doe maruell that thou dissemblest it not since thou art discreet Many things doe the sage men feele which inwardly doe oppresse their heart but outwardly they dissemble them for the more honour If all the poyson which in the sorrowfull heart is wrapped were in small peeces in the feeble flesh scattered then the wals would not suffice to rubbbe neither the nayles to scratch vs. What other thing is death but a trap or doore wherewith to shut the shop wherein all the miserie of this wofull life are vendible What wrong or preiudice doe the gods vnto vs when they call vs before them but from an old decayd house to change
sonne in lawes in maintaining processes in discharging debts in fighing for that is past in bewayling that that is present in dissembling iniuries in hearing woful newes and in other infinite trauels I So that it were much better to haue their eyes shut in the graue thē their hearts and bodies aliue to suffer so much in this miserable life He whom the gods take from this miserable life at the end of fiftie yeeres is quitted from all these miseries of life For after that time hee is not weake but crooked hee goeth not but rowlleth he stumbleth nor but falleth O my Lord Marke knowest thou not that by the same way whereby goeth death death cometh Knowest not thou in like manner that it is 62. yeers that life hath fled from death that there is another time asmuch that death goeth seeking thy life and death going from Illiria where he left a great plague thou departing frō thy pallace ye two haue now met in Hungarie Knowest not thou that where thou leapedst out of thy mothers intrailes to gouerne the land immediately death leaped out of his grauè to seeke thy life Thou hast alwayes presumed not onely to bee honored but also to be honorable if it bee so since thou honouredst the Embassadors of Princes which did send them the more for their profite then for thy seruice why dost thou not honor thy messenger whom the gods send more for thy profite then for their seruices Doest thou not remember well when Vulcan my sonne in law poysoned me more for the couetousnesse of my gods then any desire that hee had of my life thou Lord that diddest come to comfort mee in my chamber and toldst me that the gods were cruell to slay the yong and were pitiful to take the old from this world And thou saidst further these wordes Comfort thee Panutius for if thou wert borne to the now thou drest to liue Since therefore noble Prince that I tell thee that which thou toldst me and counsell thee the same which thou counsellest me I render to thee that which thou hast giuen me Finally of these vines I haue gathered these cluster of grapes CHAP. LII The answer of the Emperour Marcus to Panutius his Secretarie wherein he declareth that he tooke no thought to forsake the world but all his sorow was to leaue behind him an vnhappie child to inherit the Empire PAnutius blessed be the milke which thou hast sucked in Dacia the bread which thou hast eaten in Rome the larning which thou hast learned in Greece and the bringing vppe which thou hast had in my pallace For thou hast serued as a good seruant in life and giuest mee good counsell as a trustie friende at death I command Commodus my son to recompence thy seruice and I beseech the immortall gods that they acquite thy good counsels And not without good cause I charge my son with the one and requrie the gods of the other For the payment of many seruices one man alone may doe but to pay one good counsell it is requisite to haue all the gods The greatest good that a friend can doe to his friend is in great and waightie affaires to giue him good and wholesome counsell And not without cause I say wholesome For commonly it chaunceth that those which thinke with their counsell to remedy vs doe put vs oftentimes in greatest perils All the trauells of life are hard but that of death is the most hard and terrible Al are great but this is the greatest All are perillous but this is most perrillons All in death haue ende except the trauell of death whereof wee know no end that which I say now no men perfectly can know but he which seeth himselfe as I see my selfe now at the point of death Certainly Panutius thou hast spoken vnto mee as a wise man but for that thou knowst not my griefe thou couldst not cure my disease for my sore is not there where thou hast layde the plaister The fistula is not there where thou hast cutte the flesh The opilation is not there where thou hast layd the oyntments There were not the right veines where thou didst let me bloud Thou hast not yet touched the wound which is the cause of all my griefe I meane that thou oughtest to haue entred further with mee to haue knowne my griefe better The sighes which the heart fetcheth I say those which come from the heart let not euerie man think which heareth them that he can immedialy vnderstand them For as men cannot remedie the anguishes of the spirit so the gods likewise would not that they should know the secrets of the heart Without feare or shame many dare say that they know the thought of others wherein they shew themselues to bee more fooles then wise For since there are many things in me wherein I my selfe doubt how can a stranger haue any certaine knowledge therein Thou accusest me Panutius that I feare death greatly the which I deny but to feare it as man I doe confesse For to deny that I feare not death should bee to denie that I am not of flesh We see by experience that the Elephants do feare the Lyon the Beare the Elephant the wolfe the Beare the Lambe the Wolfe the Rat the Cat the Cat the Dog the Dog the man Finally the one and the other do feare for no other thing but for feare that one killeth not the other Then since bruite beasts refuse death the which though they die feare not to fight with the suries nor hope not to rest with the gods so much the more ought we to feare death which die in doubt whether the furies will teare vs in peeces with their torments or the gods will receiue vs in to their houses with ioy Thinkest thou Panutius that I doe not see well my vine is gathered and that it is not hid vnto me that my palace falleth in decay I know well that I haue not but the kernell of the Raison the skin and that I haue not but one sigh of all my life vntill this time There was great difference betweene me and thee now there is no great difference betwixt me and my selfe For about the ensign thou dost place the army In the riuers thou castest thy nets within the parkes thou huntest the buls in the shadow thou takest cold By this I meane that thou talkest so much of death because that thou art sure of thy life O miserable man that I am for in short space of all that is life I haue possessed with mee I shall carrie nothing but onely my winding sheete Alasse how shall I enter into the field not where of fierce beasts I shall bee assaulted but of the hungrie wormes deuoured Alasse I see my selfe in that distresse from whence my fraile flesh cannot escape And if any hope remaine it is in thee O death When I am sicke I would not that hee that is whole should comfort me When
valiant but all these giftes are but meanes to make them vicious And in such case if the Fathers would bee gouerned by my counsell I would rather desire that members should want in them then that vices should abound Of the most fairest children which are borne in the Empire my sonne Commodus the Prince is one But I would to the immortall Gods that in face hee resemble the blackest of Ethiope and in manners the greatest Philosopher of Greece For the glory of the Father is not nor ought not to bee in that his child is fayre of complexion and handsome of person but that in his life hee bee very vpright Wee will not call him a pittifull Father but a great enemy who exalteth forth his child for that he is faire and doth not correct him though hee be vicious I durst say that the father which hath a child endued with many goodly gifts and that hee doth employ them all to vices such a child ought not to bee borne in the world and if perchance he were borne hee ought immediately to be buried CHAP. LIII The Emperour Marcus Aurelius concludeth his matter and sheweth that sondry young Princes for being vicious haue vndone themselues and empouerished their Realms O What great pitty is it to see how the father buyeth his child of the gods with sighes how the mother deliuers thē with pain how they both nourish them with trauels how they watch to sustain them how they labour to remedy them afterwards they haue so rebelled and be so vicious that the miserable Fathers oftentimes do die not for age but for the griefes wherewith their children torment them I doe remember that the Prince Commodus my sonne beeing young and I aged as I am with great paines we kept him from vices but I feare that after my death hee will hate vertues I remember many yong Princes which of his age haue inherited th' Empire of Rome who haue bin of so wicked a life that they haue deserued to loose both honour and life I remember Dennys the famous tyraunt of Scycile of whom is saide that as great reward hee gaue to those that inuented vices as our Mother Rome did to those which cōquered realms Such worke could not be but of a tyraunt to take them for most familiar which are most vicious I remember foure young Princes which gouerned the Empyre but not with such valiauntnes as the great Alexander that is to say Alexander Antiochus Syluius and Ptholomeus vnto whom for their vanity and lightnes as they called Alexander the Great Emperour in Greece so likewise do they call these young men tyrants in Asia Very happie was Alexander in life and they vnhappy after his death For all that which with glorious triumphs hee wanne with vile vices they lost So that Alexander deuided betweene them foure the worlde and afterwards it came into the handes of moe then foure hundreth I doe remember that king Antigonus little esteemed that which cost his Lorde Alexander much Hee was so light in the behauiour of his person and so defamed in the affayres of the Common-wealth that for mockerie and contempt in the steed of a crown of golde hee bare a garland in the steed of a scepter hee carryed nettles in his hand and of this sort and manner he sate to iudge among his counsellors vsed to talke with strangers This yong Prince doth offend me much for the lightnes he committed but much more I maruell at the grauitie of the Sages of Greece which suffered him It is but meete hee be partaker of the paine which condescended to the faulte I do remember Caligula the fourth Emperor of Rome who was so young and foolish that I doubt of these two things which was greatest in his time That is to say The disobedience that the people bare to their Lorde or the hate which the Lord bare to his people For that vnhappie creature was so disordered in his manners that if all the Romaines had not watched to take life from him hee would haue watched to take life from them This Caligula wore a brooche of gold in his cap wherein were written these wordes Vtinam omnis populus vnam precise ceruicem haberet vt vno ictu omnes necarem Which is to say would to God all the people had but one necke to the ende I might kill them all at a stroke I remember the Emperour Tiberius th'adoptiue sonne of the good Caesar Augustus which was called Augustus because hee greatly augmented the Empyre But the good Emperor did not so much augment the state of his Common-wealth during his life as Tyberius did diminish it after his death The hate and malice which the Romain people bare to Tiberius in his life was manifestly discouered after the time of his death For the day that Tyberius dyed or better to say when they killed him the Romaine people made great processions and the Senators offered great presents in the temples and the priests gaue great Sacrifices to their Gods and all to the end their gods shold not receiue the soule of this Tyraunt amongst them but that they would sende it to be kept among the Furyes of hell I remember Patrocles 2. K. of Corinth inherited the realm at xxii yeres of his age who was so disordred of his flesh so indiscret in his doings so couetous of goods such a coward of his person that wher his father had possessed the Realm 40. yeres the sonne did not possesse it thirtie moneths I remember Tarquine the prowde who though among eight Knights of Rome was the last and comlyest of gesture valiaunt in Armes Noblest of bloud and in giuing most liberall yet he employed all his gifts and grace◠which the Gods had giuen him euill For hee employed his beautie to ryot and his forces to tyrannie For through the treason villanie which hee committed with the Romaine Lucretia he did not only lose the realme and flying saued his life but also for euer was banished and all his Linage likewise I remember the cruell Emperour Nero who liued inherited and dyed young and not without a cause I say that hee liued and dyed young For in him was graffed the stocke of the noble worthie Caesars and in him was renued the memory of those tyrants To whom thinkest thou Panutius this Tyrant would haue giuen life since he with his owne hand gaue his Mother her death Tell mee I pray thee who thinkest thou hath made that cursed heart who slewe his Mother out of whose wombe he came opened the breasts which gaue him sucke Shedde the bloud wher of he was born Tore the armes in which hee was carryed saw the entrails wherin he was formed The day that the Emperour Nero slewe his mother an Orator said in the Senate Iure interficienda erat Agrippina qua tale portentum peperit in populo Romano Which is to say iustly deserued Agrippina to bee put to death which brought forth
ΑΡΧΟÎΤΟΡΟΛΟΓΙΟΠOR THE DIALL OF PRINCES CONTAINING THE GOLDEN AND FAMOVS BOOKE OF MARCVS AVRELIVS Sometime Emperour of Rome DECLARING What Excellency consisteth in a Prince that is a good Christian And what euils attend on him that is a cruell Tirant WRITTEN By the Reuerend Father in God DON ANTONIO of Gueuara Lord Bishop of Guadix Preacher and Chronicler to the late mighty Emperour CHARLES the fift First translated out of French by THOMAS NORTH Sonne to Sir EDWARD NORTH Lord NORTH of Kirthling And lately reperused and corrected from many grosse imperfections With addition of a Fourth Booke stiled by the Name of The fauoured Courtier LONDON Imprinted by Bernard Alsop dwelling by Saint Annes Church neere Aldersgate 1619. TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE SIR HENRY MOVNTAGVE Knight Lord Chiefe Iustice of the Pleas Holden before his most Royall Maiestie c THe Emperour Traiane Right Honourable writing a Letter to the Senate of Rome concerning the weightie and carefull condition of Princes among many other matters vsed these wordes of himselfe I doe freely confesse vnto you that since I tasted the cares and trauels attending on this Imperiall dignitie I haue repented a thousand times that euer I did vndertake it because if it bee accounted Honour to enioy an Empire there consisteth farre greater paine and labour to order and gouerne it as it ought to be But beside what enuie doth hee expose himselfe to multitude of mislikes that hath the charge of gouerning others If hee be iust hee is branded with cruelry if mercifull hee is contemned if beautifull tearmed lauish and prodigall if hee hoorde vp money then basely couetous if inclined to peace then hee is a coward If full of courage proudly anbitious if discreetly graue surly and scornefull if affably courteous silly and simple if affecting solitude a dissembling hypocrite if addicted to mirth and pleasure then wantonly dissolute In the end of all te worthy Emperour thus concluded Although willingly I accepted this high office at the first yet sorrow hath since made mee shrinke vnder so brdensom a charge For the Sea and dignitie are thinges pleasing to looke â—n but very perillous to meddle withall I haue alledged his example worthie Lord because present vnto your gracious acceptance his ancient and famous Booke called The Diall of Princes wherein is at lige and amply set downe what care and respect awayteth on the liues of Prinâ—â—s and great persons for if they canot runne into the smallest errour but redoundeth to the hurt of many nor neglect their duty without other mens userie Then sayde the Philosopher well A Prince should not appropriate the Common-wealth to himselfe but shape himselfe wholy to the Common wealth And so much the rather because he standing accountable to no man in this Life ought to remember a farre stricter account before him that maketh no respect of Princes saue onely in this that they shall finde the Iudge the more seuere against them by how much they haue abused their place of eminencie as also their power and princely authority In the learned Discourses following set downe by that good Emperour Marcus Aurelius the honourable Argument of all this worke are three especiall duties and actions obserued necessarily required in an absolute and perfect Prince as namely In Ruling Iudging and Defending To rule by iust lawes and good Example To Iudge by Wisedome Prouidence and Iustice And Defend by valour care and vigilancy And this is that which the Spirit of God so often intimateth by the Prophet Ieremie â—ap 22. verse 3. To execute Iudgement and righteousnesse To deliuer the oppressed from the handes â—â— the oppressour Not to vexe the Stanger fatherlesse or Widdow Neyther to doe violence or shedde the innocent bloud Into infinite other famous presidents for Princes I could enter and set them downe expressely but that I know they are so frequent to your Honour both in reading and memorie that it were as lost labour as to hold a burning Taper in the bright Sunne at Noone-day and therefore these few shall suffice Nor doe I dedicate this vnto your graue and learned iudgement as a new labour of mine owne or as a worke neuer seene before because it hath already past diuers impressions albeit not in so exact a maner nor with the like paines as hath now bin bestowed vpon it from many absurde and grosse imperfections and yet not so cleanely purged as I could wish it were nor as it shall bee if euer it come to the Presse againe Wherefore I humbly entreate your Honour to accept it as it is and as an oblation of my loue vnfainedly to you which gladly would shew it selfe by any possible meanes as time hereafter may better enable me Til when I remain ready at your Honours seruice to the very vtmost of my best abilitie Your Honors in all duty A. M. A GENER ALL PROLOGVE VPON THE BOOKE ENTITVLED THE DYALL OF PRINCES WITH THE FAmous Booke of MARCVS AVRELIVS Compyled by the Reuerend Father in GOD the Lord ANTONY of GVEVARA Byshop of Guadix Confessor and Chronicler to Charles the fifth Emperour of Rome vnto whom and to all other Princes and Noble-personages this worke was directed APolonius Thianeus disputing with the schollers of Hiareas said that among all the affections of nature nothing is more naturall then the desire that all haue to preserue life Omitting the dispute of these great Phylosophers herein wee our selues hereof haue daily proofe that to liue men do trauell to liue byrds do flie fishes do swimme and to liue beasts do hide themselues for feare of death Finally I say there is no liuing creature so brutish that hath not a naturall desire to liue If many of the auncient Paynims so little regarde life that of their owne free willes they offered themselues death they did it not for that they despised life but because they thought that for their little regarding life wee would more highly esteem their fame For wee see men of hauty courages seeke rather to winne a long-during-Fame then to saue a short lasting-life How loth men are to die is easily seen by the great paines they take to liue For it is a naturall thing to all mortall men to leaue their liues with sorrowe and take their deaths with feare Admit that all doe taste this corporall death and that generally both good and euill doe die yet is there great difference between the death of the one and the death of the other If the good desire to liue it is onely for the greater desire they haue to do more good but if the euill desire to liue it is for that they would abuse the world longer For the children of vanity call no time good but onely that wherein they liue according to their owne desires I let you vnderstand that are at this present and you also that shall come heereafter that I direct my writings vnto those which embrace vertue and not vnto such as are borne away with vice GOD
works as moueth vs rather to pitty their follie then to enuie their vertue I aske of those that reade or heare this thing if they will be in loue with Nembroth the first Tyrant with Semiramis which sinned with her owne sonne with Antenor that betrayed Troy his countrey with Medea that slew her children with Tarquine that enforced Lucretia with Brutus that slew Caesar with Sylla that shed so much bloud with Catilina that played the Tyrant in his countrey with Iugurtha that strangled his brethren with Caligula that committed incest with his sisters with Nero that killed his mother with Heliogabalus that robbed the Temples with Domitian that in nothing delighted so much as by straunge handes to put men to death and to driue away flyes with his owne hands Small is the number of those that I haue spoken in respect of those which I could recite of whom I dare say and affirme that if I had beene as they I cannot tell what I would haue done or what I should haue desired but this I know it would haue beene more paines to mee to haue wonne that infamie which they haue wonne then to haue loste the life which they haue lost It profiteth him little to haue his Ponds full of fish and his parkes full of Deere which knoweth neyther how to hunt nor how to fish I meane to shewe by this that it profiteth a man little to be in great auctoritie if hee be not esteemed nor honoured in the same For to attaine to honour wisedome is requisite and to keepe it patience is necessarie With great considerations wise men ought to enterprise daungerous things For I assure them they shall neuer winne honour but where they vse to recouer slander Returning therefore to our matter puissant Prince I sweare and durst vndertake that you rather desire perpetuall renowme through death then any idle rest in this life And hereof I doe not maruell for there are some that shall alwayes declare the prowesses of good Princes and others which will not spare to open the vices of euill tyrants For althogh your Imperial estate is much and your Catholike person deserueth more yet I beleeue with my heart and see with these eyes that your thoughts are so highly bent vnto aduenturous deedes and your heart so couragious to set vpon them that your Maiesty little esteemeth the inheritance of your predecessors in respect of that you hope to gaine to leaue to your successors A Captaine asked Iulius Caesar as he declareth in his Commentaries why he trauelled in the Winter in so hard frost and in the summer in such extreame heate Hee aunswered I will doe what lyeth in mee to doe and afterward let the fatall destinies doe what they can For the valiant knight that giueth in battel the onset ought more to bee esteemed then fickle fortune whereby the victory is obtained since fortune giueth the one and aduentur guideth the other These words are spoken like a stout and valiant Captaine of Rome Of how many Princes doe we reade whom truely I much lament to see what flatteries they haue heard with their eares being aliue and to reade what slaunders they haue sustained after their death Princes and greate Lordes should haue more regard to that which is spoken in their absence then to that which is done in their presence not to that which they heare but to that which they would not heare not to that which they tell them but to that which they would not bee told of not to that which is written vnto them beeing aliue but to that which is written of them after their death not to those that tell them lyes but to those which if they durst would tell them truth For men many times refrayne not their tongues for that Subiects bee not credited but because the Prince in his authority is suspected The Noble and vertuous Prince should not flitte from the truth wherof hee is certified neyther with flatteries and lyes should he suffer himselfe to bee deceyued but to examine himselfe and see whether they serue him with truth or deceyue him with lyes For there is no better witnes and iudge of truth and lyes then is a mans owne conscience I haue spoken all this to the entent your Maiesty might know that I will not serue you with that you should not bee serued That is for to shew my selfe in my Writing a flatterer For it were neyther meete nor honest that flatteries into the eares of such a noble Prince should enter neyther that out of my mouth which teach the truth such vaine tales should issue I say I had rather bee dispraysed for true speaking then to bee honoured for flattery and lying For of truth in your Highnesse it should bee much lightnesse for to heare them and in my basenesse great wickednesse to inuent them Now againe following our purpose I say the Histories greatly doe commend Lycurgus that gaue lawes to the Lacedemonians Numa Pompilius that honoured and addorned the Churches Marcus Marcellus that had pitty and compassion on those which were ouercome Iulius Caesar that forgaue his enemies Octautus that was so welbeloued of the people Alexander that gaue rewardes and gifts to all men Hector the Troian became hee was so valiant in wars Hercules the Thebane because hee employed his strength so well Vlisses the Grecian because hee aduentured himselfe in so many dangers Pyrrhus king of Epirotes because hee inuented so many engines Catullns Regulus because he suffred so many torments Titus the Emperour because he was father to the Orphanes Traianus because he edified sumptuous goodly buildings The good Marcus Aurelius because he knew more then al they I doe not say that it is requisit for one Prince in these dayes to haue in him all those qualities but I dare be bolde for to affirme this that euen as it is vnpossible for one Prince to follow all so likewise it is a great slaunder for him to follow none Wee doe not require Princes to doe all that they can but for to apply themselues to do som thing that they ought And I speake not without a cause that which I haue sayde before For if Princes did occupie themselues as they ought to doe they should haue no time to be vicious Plinie sayeth in an Epistle that the great Cato called Censor did weare a Ring vpon his finger wherein was written these words Esto amicus vnius inimicus nullius which is be friend to one and enemy to none He that would deepely consider these few words shall finde therein many graue sentences And to apply this to my purpose I say the Prince that would well gouerne his common weale shew to all equall iustice desire to possesse a quiet life to get among all a good fame and that coueteth to leaue of himselfe a perpetuall memorie ought to embrace the vertues of one and to reiect the vices of all I allow it very wel that Princes should bee equall
against the Romaines who without cause or reason had conquered his Countrey Approouing mainifestly that through offending the Gods they had thus preuayled And the Oration is diuided into chapt 3. fol. 362. ch 4. fol 366. And ch 5. f 366 That Princes and Noble-men ought to be very circumspect in choyce of their Iudges and Officers because therein consisteth the benefite of the weale publique chapt 6. fol 373 Of a Letter which the Emperour Marcus Aurelius wrote to his friend Antigonus answering an other which hee sent him out of Scicile concerning the crueltie exercised by the Romaine Iudges The letter is diuided in chap 7. fol 379. cha 8. fol. 381. chap 9. fol. 385 chapt 10. fo 387 cha 11. fol. 391 An exhortation of the Authour vnto great Princes and Noble-men to embrace peace and to auoyde all occasions of warre chap 12 fol. 394 Of the commodities which ensue by peace declaring that diuers Princes vppon light occasions haue made cruell warres chap 13 fol. 397 The Emperour Marcus Aurelius wryteth to his friende Cornelius wherein hee describeth the discomodities which come by warres and the vanitie of Triumphes Chap 14 fol. 406 Marcus Aurelius proceedeth on further in his letter declaring the order which the Romains vsed in setting forth their men of warre And of the outragious villainyes which Captaines and Souldiours vse in warre chap 15 fo 408 The Emperours further pursuite in the same letter shewing what great dammages haue ensued by warre begun with strange and forraigne Realmes ch 16 fo 409 Ad admonition of the Author to Princes and great Lordes to the intent that the more they growe in yeares the more they stād bound to refrain frō vices ch 17. 415 That Princes whē they are aged should be temperate in eating sober in drinking modest in apparel aboue al things else true in their cōmunication ch 18. fo 418 Of a letter written by the Emperour M. Aurelius to Claudius Claudinus reprouing them being olde men because they liued ouer youthfully chap 19 fo 423 A prosecution of the Emperours letter perswading Claudius and Claudinus beeing now aged to giue no more credite to the world nor to any of his deceiptfull flatteries chap 20. fol 430 A further continuation of the Emperour in the same Letter approouing by good reasons that in regard aged persons will bee serued and honoured of younger people they ought therefore to be more vertuous and honest then they of younger degree chap 21. fol 433 The Emperours conclusion of his Letter shewing what perills those olde men liue in that dissolutely like young Children spend their dayes And he giueth wholesome councell vnto them for better means and remedy therof ch 22. 438 How Princes ought to take heede that they bee not noted guiltie of Auarice because the Couetous man is hated both of God and man ch 24 441 Great reasons to discommend the vices of couetous men ch 24 444 Of a letter which the Emperour Marcus Aurelius wrote to his friend Cincinnatus who being a Romaine Knight became a Marchaunt of Capua reproouing such Gentlemen as take vppon them the trade of Marchaundise contrarie to their owne vocation declaring what vertuous men ought to vse and the vices which they ought to shunne instructing also how to despise the vanities of the world And although a man bee neuer so wise yet hee shall haue neede of another mans councell ch 25. fol 447. c. 26. fo 449. c. 27. 451. A perswasion to Princes great Lords to shunne couetousnes and to become liberall bountifull which vertue should alwayes appertaine to a Royall personage chap 28 fol. 454 A perswasion to Gentlemen and such as follow Armes not to abase themselues for gaynes-sake in taking vpon them any vile office or function ch 29 458 Of a Letter which the Emperour wrote to his Neighbour Mercurius a Marchant of Samia instructing men in those daungers which ensue by traffique on the Seas and the couetousnes of them that Trauell by Land chap 30 461 The conclusion of the Emperours Letter reprouing Mercurius because he tooke thought for the losse of his goods Shewing him the nature of Fortune and conditions of couetous men ch 31 fol 464 That Princes and Noble-men ought to consider the miserie of mans nature And that brute Beasts are in some pointes reason excepted to bee preferred with men chapt 32. fol. 466 A further comparison of the miseryes of men with the liberty of beasts ch 33. 469 A letter of the Emperour M. Aurelius to Domitius a cittizen of Capua comforting him in his Exile being banished for a quarrell betweene him and an other about the running of a Horse Comfortable for such as haue bin in great fauour afterward falne into disgrace ch 34 fo 474 That princes and Noble men ought to be aduocates for widdowes fathers of Orphans and helpes to the comfortlesse chap. 35 479 That the troubles sorrowes and griefes of widdows are much greater then those of Widdowers wherefore Princes and Noble men ought to haue more compassion vpon such women then men ch 36 fol. 462 Of a letter which the Emperour Marcus Aurelius wrote to a Romane Lady named Lauinia comforting her in her husbands death ch 37 486 A perswasion to widdowes to depend onely vpon Gods will and exhorting them to liue honestly chap. 38 489 That Princes and Noble men ought to despise the world because there is nothing in it but plaine deceit ch 39 493 A vehement inuectiue against the deceites of the world with a further proofe by strong and weightie reasons perswading all men that liue in the world not to trust it or any thing therein verefied by a letter of the Emperour to his friend Torquatus chap. 40. 41. 42. fol. 498. 501. 504 Princes and Nobles ought not to beare with Iuglers Iesters parasites and cōmon players nor with any such kind of rascals and loyterers And of the Lawes which the Romanes made especially on that behalfe chap. 43 507 How some Iesters were punished by our graue Ancients and of the Iesters loyterers in our time chap 44. 510 Of a letter which the Emperour wrote to Lambartus his friend then Gouernour of Hellespont certifying him that hee had banished from Rome all fooles and loy terieg players a notable lesson for them that keepe counterfeit fooles in their houses chap. 45 514 Marcus Aurelius proceedeth on in his letter declaring how he found the Sepulchres in Hellespont of many learned philosophers whereunto he sent all those loiterers chap. 46 517 The Letters conclusion relating the cause and time why and when Iuglers Iesters were admitted into Rome ch 47. 520 How Princes and Noble men ought to remember that they are mortall and must die with notable consolations against the feare of death chap. 48. 522 Of the death of the Emperour Marcus Aurelius and how there are few friendes that dare speake the truth to sicke men chap. 40 527 Of the comfortable wordes which the Secretarie Panutius spake to the
and of the Senate best fauoured to whom they committed the charge of the most cruell and dangerous warres For their strife was not to beare rule and to be in office or to get money but to be in the Frontiers to ouercome their enemies In what estimation these foure Frontiers were wee may easily perceyue by that wee see the most noble Romanes haue passed some part of their youth in those places as Captaines vntill such time that for more weighty affaires they were appointed from thence to som other places For at that time there was no word so grieuous and iniurious to a Citizen as to say Goe thou hast neuer beene brought vp in the wars and to proue the same by examples The great Pompey passed the Winter season in Constantinople The aduenturous Scipio in Colonges the couragious Caesar in Gades and the renowmed Marius in Rhodes And these foure were not only in the Frontiers aforesaid in their youth but there they did such valiant acts that the memory of them remaineth euermore after their death These thinges I haue spoken to proue sith wee finde that Marcus Aurelius father was Captain of one of these 4. Frontiers it followeth that he was a man of singular wisdome and prowesse For as Scipio sayd to his friend Masinissa in Affrike It is not possible for a Romane Captaine to want eyther wisdome or courage for thereunto they were predestined at their birth Wee haue no authenticke authorities that sheweth vs frō whence when or how in what countries and with what persons this captaine passed his youth And the cause is for that the Romane Chroniclers were not accustomed to write the things done by their Princes before they were created but onely the acts of yong men which from their youth had their hearts stoutly bent to great aduentures and in my opinion it was well done For it is greater honour to obtaine an Empire by policy and wisdome then to haue it by discent so that there be no tyranny Suetonius Tranquillus in his first booke of Emperours counteth at large the aduenturous enterprises taken in hand by Iulius Caesar in his yong age and how far vnlikely they were from thought that he should euer obtaine the Romane Empire writing this to shew vnto Princes how earnestly Iulius Caesars heart was bent to win the Romane Monarchy and likewise how wisdom fayled him in behauing himselfe therin A Philosopher of Rome wrote to Phalaris the Tirant which was in Cicilia asking him Why hee possessed the realme so long by tyranny Phalaris answered him againe in another Epistle in these few wordes Thou callest mee tyrant because I haue taken this realme and kept it 32. yeares I graunt then quoth hee that I was a tyrant in vsurping it For no man occupyeth another mans right but by reason he is a tyrant But yet I will not agree to be called a Tyrant sith it is now xxxii yeares since I haue possessed it And though I haue atchieued it by tyranny yet I haue gouerned it by wisdome And I let thee to vnderstand that to take another mans goods it is an easie thing to conquere but a hard thing to keepe an easie thing for to keepe them I ensure thee it is very hard The Emperour Marcus Aurelius married the daughter of Antoninus Pius the 16. Emperour of Rome and she was named Faustina who as sole Heyre had the Empire and so through marriage Marcus Aurelius came to be Emperour This Faustine was not so honest and chast as shee was faire and beautifull Shee had by him two sonnes Commodus and Verissimus Marcus Aurelius triumphed twice once when he ouercame the Parthians and another time when hee conquered the Argonants He was a man very well learned and of a deepe vnderstanding Hee was as excellent both in the Greeke and Latine as hee was in his mothers tongue Hee was very temperate in eating and drinking hee wrote many things full of good learning and sweete sentences He dyed in conquering the realme of Pannonia which is now called Hungarie His death was as much bewayled as his life was desired And hee was loued so deare and entirely in the City of Rome that euery Romane had a statue of him in his house to the end the memory of him among them should neuer decay The which was neuer read that they euer did for any other King or Emperour of Rome no not for Augustus Caesar who was best beloued of all other Emperours of Rome Hee gouerned the Empire for the space of eighteene yeere with vpright iustice and died at the age of 63 yeeres with much honor in the yeere Climatericke which is in the 63. years wherein the life of man runneth in great perill For then are accomplished the nine seuens or the seuen nines Aulus Gelius writeth a Chapter of this matter in the booke De noctibus Atticis Marcus Aurelius was a Prince of life most pure of doctrine most profound and of fortune most happy of all other Princes in the world saue only for Faustine his wife and Commodus his sonne And to the end we may see what Marcus Aurelius was from his infancy I haue put here an Epistle of his which is this CHAP. II. Of a letter which Marcus Aurelius sent to his friend Pulio wherein he declareth the order of his whole life and amongst other things he maketh mention of a thing that happened to a Romane Censor with his Host of Campagnia MAreus Aurelius only Emperour of Rome greeteth thee his old friend Pulio wisheth health to thy person peace to the common-wealth As I was in the Temple of the Vestall Virgins a letter of thine was presented vnto me which was written long before and greatly desired of me but the best therof is that thou writing vnto me briefly desirest that I should write vnto thee at large which is vndecent for the authority of him that is chiefe of the Empire in especiall if such one be couetous for to a Prince there is no greater infamy then to be lauish of words and scant of rewards Thou writest to me of the griefe in thy leg and that thy wound is great and truly the paine thereof troubleth me at my heart and I am right sorry that thou wantest that which is necessary for thy health and that good that I do wish thee For in the end all the trauels of this life may be endured so that the body with diseases be not troubled Thou lettest me vnderstand by thy letters that thou art arriued at Rhodes and requirest me to write vnto thee how I liued in that place when I was yong what time I gaue my minde to study and likewise what the discourse of my life was vntill the time of my being Emperor of Rome In this case truly I maruell at thee not a little that thou shouldest aske me such a question and so much the more that thou didst not consider that I cannot with out great trouble and
temple and in this case this philosopher shewed him selfe to be a good man For the vertuous man ought not to content himselfe only to be void of vices but he ought also to withdraw himselfe from the vicious 7 The seuenth and last that hee spake more often with the Gods then with men This Philosopher now drawing neere to the houre of death all the graue Senators came to visite him to thanke him for that he had liued so long amongst them in so good conuersation and that so willingly hee cared and watched for the wealth of Rome And likewise all the people of Rome were right sorry for his sicknesse and that they should loose the company of so excellent and vertuous a man The good Philosopher in the presence of them al spake these words vnto the Senate CHAP. VI. Of that the sage Philosopher Bruxellus spake to the Senate of Rome at the houre of his death SInce you are wise O worthy Senatours mee thinketh you should not lament my death sithens I my selfe so ioyfully doe receiue it For wee ought not to lament the death weo take but the wicked life wee leade The man is very simple that dreadeth death for feare to lose the pleasures of life For death ought not to bee feared for losse of life but because it is a sharpe scourge of the wicked life I dye noble Senatours in ioy and pleasure First because I doe not remember that euer I did any euill in all my life or displeasure to any of the Common-wealth And I am certaine that the man which did no euill to men in his life the Gods will doe him no harme at the houre of his death Secondarily I dye ioyfully to see all Rome lament the losse of my life For that man is very wicked and vnhappy whose life the people lament and at whose death they doe reioyce Thirdly I dye ioyfully onely to remember that the threescore yeers which I haue beene in Rome alwayes I haue trauelled for the common wealth For the iust Gods told mee that there is no death with paine but where life is without profite Fourthly I dye ioyfully not so much for the profit I haue done to men as for the seruice I haue done to the Gods For regarding to how many profitable things we employ our life we may say wee liue onely the time which is employed to the seruice of God Ceasing to speake further of my person I will worthy Senatours disclose vnto you a highsecret which toucheth your Common wealth and this it is That our Father Romulus founded Rome Numa Pompilius erected the high Capitoll Aeneus Marcius enclosed it with wals Brutus deliuered it from Tyrants the good Camillus droue out the Frenchmē Quintus Scicinnatus augmented her power but I leaue it peopled with gods which shall defend Rome better then walles or men For in the end the feare of one god is more worth the the strength of all men When I came to Rome it was a confusion to see how it was peopled with men and vnfurnished of Gods For there was but fiue Gods that is to say Iupiter Mars Ianus Berecinthia and the Goddes Vesta But now it is not so For there remaineth for euery one a priuate god Me thinketh it an vniust thing that Treasuries should bee full of gold and the Temples voide of Gods As there is 28000. housholds so you may account your selues happy that I leaue you 28000 Gods by the vertue of the which I coniure you O Romanes that each of you bee contented with the God of his house and haue no care to apply to himselfe the Gods of the Common wealth For he that emproprieth to himselfe that which ought to be cōmon to al is to be blamed of God hated of men This shall bee therefore the order that you shall keepe and haue towards the Gods if you wil not erre in their seruice That is to vnderstand that yee shall keepe the mother Berecinthia to pacifie the ire of the Gods yee shall keepe the Goddesse Vesta to turne from you the wicked destinies Yee shall keepe the God Iupiter and shall commit vnto him the gouernment of your Commonwealth And also yee shall keepe him for the God aboue all gods in heauen and earth For if Iupiter did not temper the ire which the Gods about haue against you there should bee no memory of men heere beneath in earth Of other particular gods which I leaue you vse your particular profite But yet notwithstanding in the meane season Romanes take you heede to your selues and if at any time fortune should hee contrary let no man be so hardy to speake euill of the God which hee hath in his house For the Gods tell mee that it was sufficient enough to dissemble with them which serue them not and not to pardon those that offend them And doe not deceiue your selues in saying that they are priuate Gods and not able to help themselues For I let you know that there is not so little a God but is of power sufficient to reuenge aniniury O Romanes it is reason that all from henceforth liue ioyfully and in peace and furthermore thinke your selues assured not to he ouercome by your enemies because now your neighbours of you and not you of them shall desire to borrow Gods and because yee shall see mee no more yee thinke I must dye and I thinke because I dye I shall beginne to liue For I goe to the Gods and leaue among you the Gods because I depart CHAP. VII How the Gentiles thought that one God was not able to defend them from their enemies and how the Romanes sent throughout all the Empire to borrow Gods when they fought against the Gothes IN the yeere of the foundatiō of Rome 1164. which according to the count of the Latines was 402. from the incarnation as Paulus Orosus in the sixt booke De machina mundi sayth and Paulus Diaconus in the 12. booke of the Romane Histories The Gothes which as Spartian sayeth were called otherwise Gethules or Messagethes were driuen out of their Country by the Huns and came into Italy to seeke new habitations and became naturall and built houses At this time there was an Emperour of Rome named Valentine a man of small reputation and courage in warres and endued with few good conditions for that hee was of Arian his sect The Kings of these Gothes were two renowmed men whose names were Randagagismus and Alaricus Of the which two Randagagismus was the chiefest and most puissant and he had a noble minde and a very good wit He led with him at the least 2000000. Gothes the which all with him and he with them made an oath to shedde as much bloud of the Romanes as they could and offer it to their Gods For the barbarous people had a custom to noint the God which was at that time in the Temple of Venus with the bloud of their enemies whom they had slain The newes
nor to come to so high an estate For those which by vertues deserue great Dignities are but fewe and sewer are those which attaine vnto them though they deserue them But if this matter be iudged according to sensualitie I tell you truely Dame Augusta that I thought not onely to deserue it but also I thought to come vnto it And hereof maruell not for it is an infallible rule Where least desert is often-times there is most presumption You say you esteemed mee for a wise man and that by wisedome I could ouer-come any difficult or disordinate appetite To this I answere that you knewe my wisedome either in mine owne busines or else in other mens affaires If in other mens affaires where it did cost mee nought I was alwayes a louer of iustice For there is no man in the world so euill that doth not desire if it bee without his owne cost to be counted liberall But if you iudge mee Dame Augusta on mine owne businesse giue not too light credit For I will that you know there is no man so iust nor of so cleare a iudgement that doth not shewe himselfe fraile in matters which touch his owne interest You say that men which haue their thoughts high and their Fortunes base liue alwayes a pensiue life Truely it is as you say But in mine opinion as the members of the bodyes are but instruments of the minde so is it necessary for men to haue quicke and sharpe wittes if they will not be negligent For if Alexander Pyrrhus Iulius Caesar Scipio and Hanniball had not beene high minded they had neuer bene as they were so Famous Noble and stoute Princes I let you vnderstand most Noble Princesse that men are not to be esteemed as lost for hauing theyr thoughtes high nor yet for hauing their hearts couragious neither for being hardie and stout but they are vndone because they beginne things through folly pursue them without wisedome and atchieue them without discretion For Noblemen enterprising great things ought not to employ theyr force as their noble heart willeth but as wisedome and reason teacheth You say you maruell why I waste the Treasures without care which Iustinian and you gathered together with great paine Now to this I answere you ought not to maruell if all the Treasours you heaped together of so long time were spent and consumed in one day For there is an ancient Malediction on riches hidden and Treasours buryed which Epimenides casteth out saying these words All the Treasours hoorded vp by the Couetous shall bee wasted by the Prodigall You say Through that I wast in fewe dayes you shall haue neither to giue to waste nor yet to eate at the yeares ende To this I answere most gracious Princesse that if you had beene as ready to relieue the Poore as you and Iustinian were diligent to robbe the rich then you should iustly haue complained and I worthily might well haue had iust cause to repent Till now wee haue not seene but that of the Rich you haue made Poore and notwithstanding this yet you haue not gotten enough to builde an Hospitall for the Poore You say that Princes to resist theyr enemyes had neede of great Treasures To this I answer if Princes be proud greedy and of strange Realmes ambicious it is most certaine that they had need of great substances and Treasours to accomplish and maintaine theyr disordinate appetties For the enae of a tyran nous Princâ—â—s that he careth not whether by hooke or by crooke hee make himselfe rich in his life But if the Prince be or will be a man reposed quiet vertuou patient peaceable and 〈◊〉 couetous of the goods of an other man what need hath he of great treasurs For to speake truly in Princes houses there is more offence in that which aduaunceth then in that which wanteth I will not waste many wordes in answering sith I am much more liberal of deeds then of wordes But to conclude that there is no Prince which in vertuous deedes wasteth so much but if hee will hee may spend much more For in the ende Princes become not poore for spending their goods and Treasours vpon necessaries but for making waste vpon things superfluous And take this word for all that for this hee shall not be the poorer but rather the richer For most certainely it is a generall rule in Christian Religion that God will giue more to his Seruants in one houre then they will waste in 20. yeares Iustinian beeing Emperour 11 yeares who being a Foole and very obstinate in the heresie of the Pelagians dyed to the great offence of the Romaine people whose death was as much desired as his life abhorred For the Tyrannous Prince that maketh many weeping eyes in his life shall cause many reioycing bearts at his death Iustinian being dead Tiberius was elected Emperour who gouerned the Empire through so great wisedome and Iustice that no man was able to reproue him if the Hystories in his time did not deceyue vs. For it seldome happeneth to a Prince to be as he was vpright in Iustice pure in life and cleane in Conscience For fewe are those Princes which of some vices are not noted Paulus Diaconus in his 18. booke of the Romaine Gests declareth a thing both strange and maruellous which besel vnto this Emperour at that time and very worthie to recite at this present And it was that in the Cittie of Constantinople the Romaine Emperours had a Pallace very sumptuous and beseming the authoritie of the Imperiall maiestie which was begun in the time of Constantine the Great and afterwardes as the succession of good and euil Emperors was so were the Buyldings decayed or repayred For it is the deede of a vertuous Prince to abolish vices of the Common-wealth and to make great and sumptuous buildings in his countrey This Emperour Tiberius had spent much of his substance and Treasour for the redeeming of poore captiues to build Hospitals to erect Monasteries to marry and prouide for the Orphares to sucour poore people and widdowes In this and such like hee was so prodigall that it came almost to passe that hee had nothing to eate in his Pallace And truely this was a blessed necessity For Catholike Princes ought to think that wel imployed which in the Seruice of Christ is bestowed And hereof this Emperour was not ashamed but he thought it a great honour and that which onely grieued him was to see the Empresse reioyce so much at his misery For the High and Noble hearts which feele themselnes wounded do not so much esteeme their owne payne as they do to see their enemyes reioyce at theyr griefe God neuer forsooke them that for his sake became poore as appeareth by this It chanced one day that euen as the Emperor Tiberius walked in the middest of his Pallace he saw at his feete a Marble-stone which was in forme of the Crosse of the Redeemer of the world And because it had
resisted if it be not by wise men and graue counsells The sixt was What thing that is wherein men are praised to be negligent and that is in choosing of Friendes Hee answered In one thing onely men haue licence to be negligent Slowly ought thy Friends to bee chosen and they neuer after for any thing ought to be forsaken The seuenth was What is that which the afflicted man doth most desire Byas answered It is the chaunce of Fortune and the thing which the prosperous man doth most abhorre is to thinke that Fortune is somutable For the vnfortunate man hopeth for euery chaunge of Fortune to be made better and the wealthy man feareth through euery change to be depriued of his bouse These were the Questions which the Philosophers demaunded of Byas in the Playes of the Mount Olympus in the 60. Olympiade The Phylosopher Byas liued about 95. yeares and as he drewe neere his death the Prienenses shewing themselues to be maruellous sorrowfull for the losse of such a famous man desired him earnestly to ordayne some lawes whereby they might know how to choose Captaines or some Prince which after him might guide and gouerne the Realme The Phylosopher Byas vnderstanding their honest and iust requests he with his best counsell and aduisement gaue them certaine wholsome Lawes in fewe wordes which followe And of these Lawes the diuine Plato maketh mention in his Booke De Legibus and likewise Aristotle in the booke of Oecenomices The Lawes which BIAS gvue to the Prienenses WEe ordayne and command that no man bee chosen to bee Prince among the people vnlesse hee bee at least forty yeares of age For gouernours ought to be of such age that neyther youth nor small experience should cause them to erre in their affayres nor weakenesse thorow ouermuch age should hinder them from taking paines Wee ordayne and commaund that none bee chosen amongst the Prienenses Gouernour if hee bee not well learned in the Greeke Letters For there is no greater plague in the publike weale then for him to lacke wisedome which gouerneth the same Wee ordayne and commaund that there bee none amongst the Prienenses chosen Gouernour vnlesse hee hath beene brought vp in the warres ten yeares at the least for hee alone doth know how precious a thing peace is which by experience hath felt the extreame miseries of warre Wee ordayne and commaund that if any haue beene noted to bee cruell that hee bee not chosen for Gouernour of the people for that man which is cruell is likely to be a Tyrant Wee ordaine and commaund that if the Gouernor of the Prienenses bee so hardy or dare presume to breake the auncient lawes of the people that in such case hee be depriued from the office of the Gouernour and likewise exiled from the people For there is nothing that destroyeth sooner a publike-Weale then to ordaine new and fond lawes to breake the good auncient Customes Wee ordaine and commaund that the Gouernour of the Prienenses doe worship and honour the Gods and that hee bee a louer of the sacred Temples For otherwise hee that honoureth not God will neuer minister equall iustice vnto men Wee ordaine and command that the Prince of Prienenses bee contented with the warres which his Auncesters left him and that he doe not forget newe matters to inuade any other strange Countries and if perchance he would that no man in this case bee bound neyther with money nor in person to follow or serue him For the God Apollo told mee that that man which wil take another mans goods from him by force shall loose his owne Iustice Wee ordaine and command that the Gouernour of the Prienenses go to pray and worship the Gods twice in the weeke and likewise to visite them in the Temples and if hee doe the contrary he shall not onely bee depriued of the gouernement but also after his death he shall not bee buried For the Prince that honoreth not God in time of his life deserueth not his bones should bee honoured with sepnlture after his death CHAP XXII How God from the beginning punished men by his iustice and especially those Princes that despise his Church and how all wicked Christians are Parishioners of Hell WHen the Eternall Creatour who measureth all the things by his Omnipotency and weigheth them by his effectuall wisedome created all things aswell celestiall as terrestriall visible as inuisible corporate as incorporate not onely promised to the good which serued him but also threatned the euil with plagues which offended him For the iustice and mercy of GOD goe alwayes together to the intent the one should encourage the good and the other threaten the euill This thing seemeth to bee true for that wee haue but one GOD which hath created but one World wherein hee made but one Garden in the which Garden there was but one Fountaine and neere to that Fountaine he appointed onely one man one woman and one Serpent neere vnto which was also one tree only forbidden which is a thing maruellous to speake and no lesse fearefull to see how God did put into the terrestriall Paradise the same day that the creation of the World was finished both a sword and a gybet The gybet was the tree forbidden whereof they did eate Wherefore our Fathers were condemned And the sword was the penishment wherwith wee all as miserable children at this day are beheaded for truely they did eate the bitternesse of theyr fault and we doe feele the griefe of their paine I meane to shew how our God by his power doth rayse vp that which is beaten downe how with his wisedome he guideth those which are blind how by his will hee dissembleth with the euill doers neyther wil I tell how hee through his clemency pardoneth the offences and through his light lightneth the darkenesse nor how through his righteousnesse hee amendeth that which is broken and through his liberality payeth more then wee deserue But I will here declare at large how our omnipotent God through his iustice chastiseth those which walke not in his pathes O Lord God how sure may thy faithfull seruants be for their small seruices to receyue great rewards and contrary the euill ought alwayes to liue in as great feare lest for their hainous offences thou shouldest giue them cruell punishments for though God of his bounty will not leaue any seruice vnrewarded nor of his iustice will omit any euill vnpunished yet for all that wee ought to know that aboue all and more then all hee will rigorously chastice those which maliciously despise the Catholike faith For Christ thinketh himselfe as much iniured of those which persecute his Church as of those that layd handes on his person to put him to death We reade that in times past God shewed sundry grieuous and cruell punishments to diuers high Lords and Princes besides other famous renowned men But rigour had neuer such power in his hand as it had against those which honored
Azotes carryed away the Arke full of Relickes vnto their temple in the Cittie of Nazote and set it by Dagon theyr cursed Idoll The most High true God which will not suffer any to be coequall with him in comparison or in anie thing that hee representeth caused this Idol to be shaken thrown downe and broken in pieces no man touching it For our God is of such power that to execute his Iustice he needeth not worldly helpe God not contented thus though the Idoll was broken in pieces but caused those to bee punished likewise which worshipped it in such sort that al the people of Azotes Ascalon Geth Acharon and of Gaza which were fiue auncient and renowmed Citties were plagued both man and woman inwardly with the disease of the Emerodes So that they could not eate sitting nor ride by the wayes on horse-backe And to the end that all men might see that their offences were grieuous for the punishment they receyued by the diuine Iustice he replenished their Houses Places Gardens Seedes and Fields full of Rats And as they had erred in honouring the false Idol and forsaken the true God So hee would chastice them with two Plagues sending them the Emerodes to torment their bodyes and the Rats to destroy their goods For to him that willingly giueth his soule to the diuel it is but a small matter that God against his will depriue him of his goods This then being thus I would now gladly knowe whether of them committed most offence Eyther the Azotes which set the Arke in the Temple which as they thought was the most holiest or the false Christians which with a Sacrilegious boldnesse dare attempt without anie feare of GOD to robbe and pill the Church goods to theyr owne priuate commoditie in this world Truely the Law of the Azotes differed as much frō the Christians as the offence of the one differeth from the other For the Azotes erred not beleeuing that this Arke was the Figure of the True God but we beleeue it and confesse it and without shame cōmit against it infinite vices By this so rare and seuere a sudden punishment mee thinks the Princes great Lords should not only therefore acknowledge the True God but also Reuerence and honour those things which vnto him are dedicated For mans lawes speaking of the reuerence of a Prince doe no lesse condemne him to die that robbeth his house then him which violently layeth hands on his person ¶ The cause why Prince Oza was punished IN the booke which the sonne of Helcana wrote that is the second booke of the Kings and the vi Chapter hee saith That the Arke of Israel with his Relikes which was Manna the rodde and two stones stood in the house of Aminadab which was the next neighbour to the citie of Gibeah the sonne of Esay who at that time was King of the Israelites determined to transpose the Relikes into his Cittie and house For that it seemed to him a great infamy that to a mortal Prince a house should abound for his pleasures to the immortall God there should want a Temple for his reliques The day therefore appointed when they should carrie the Relique of Gibeah to Bethlehem there met thirty thousand Israelites with a great number of Noble men which came with the King besides a greater number of strangers For in such a case those are more which come of their owne pleasure then those which are commaunded Besides all the people they say that all the Nobility of the Realme was there to the end the relique should bee more honoured and his person better accompanied It chanced that as the Lords and people went singing and the King in person dancing the wheele of the Chariot began to fall and go out of the way the which prince Oza seeing by chance set to his hand and his shoulder against it because the Arke where the Relique was should not fall nor breake yet notwithstanding that suddenly and before them all hee fell downe dead Therefore let this punishment be noted for truly it was fearefull and ye ought to thinke that since God for putting his hand to the Chariot to holde it vp stroke him with death that a Prince should not hope seeking the destruction and decay of the Church that God will prolong his life O Princes great Lords and Prelates sith Oza with such diligence lost his life what doe yee hope or looke for sith with such negligence yee destroy and suffer the Church to fall Yet once againe I doe returne to exclaime vpon you O Princes and great Lords sith Prince Oza deserued such punishment because without reuerence hee aduanced himselfe to stay the Arke which fell what punishment ought yee to haue which through malice helpe the Church to fall Why King Balthasar was punished DArius King of the Perses and Medes besieged the auncient City of Babylon in Chaldea whereof Balthasar sonne of Nabuchodonozar the great was King and Lord who was so wicked a child that his father being dead hee caused him to be cut in 300. peeces gaue him to 300. hawkes to be eaten because hee should not reuiue againe to take the goods riches from him which he had left him I know not what father is so foolish that letteth his Son liue in pleasures and afterwards the entralles of the Hauke wherewith the sonne hawked should be the wofull graue of the Father which so many men lamented This Balthasar then beeing so besieged determined one night to make a great feast and banquet to the Lords of his Realme that came to ayde him and in this he did like a valiant and stout Prince to the end the Perses and Medes might see that hee little esteemed their power The noble and high hearts do vse when they are enuironed with many trauels to seeke occasions to inuent pleasures because to their men they may giue greater courage and to their enemies greater feare He declareth of Pirrus King of the Epirotes when hee was besieged very straightly in the City of Tharenta of the Romane Captaine Quintus Dentatus that then hee spake vnto his Captaines in this sort Lordes and friendes bee yee nothing at all abashed since I neuer here before saw ye afraid though the Romans haue compassed our bodies yet we haue besiged their harts For I let you to know that I am of such a complection that the straighter they keepe my body the more my heart is at large And further I say though the Romanes beate downe the walles yet our hearts shall remaine inuincible And though there bee no wall betweene vs yet wee will make them know that the hearts of Greekes are harder to ouercome then the stones of Tarentine are to be beaten downe But returning to King Balthasar The banquet then being ended and the greatest part of the night beeing spent Belthasar the King being very well pleased that the banquet was made to his contentation though he
on heapes it would both haue couered their carkases and also haue drowned the liuing Yet hee not contented with that I haue spoken off set in the Temple of the Lord an olde Idoll that stood in the wood for the punishment of which fact God suffered his seruants to kill his eldest sonne And afterward God would not suffer these such sundry mischiefes of mans malice but of his diuine iustice caused these words to bee proclaimed in Hierusalem Sith the King Manasses hath beene so bolde to contemne mee and himselfe alone to commit the offences of all I will chastice him alone with the same correction that hee hath shewed vnto others By these words let Princes note here how the diuine vengeance extendeth no further then our offences deserue so that if our fault bee litle the punishment which hee giueth vs is very temperate but if the Prince bee stubborne and obstinate in his wickednesse let him be sure that the punishment shall be extreame Why Iulius Pompeius Xerxes Catilina Germanicus and Brennus were punished WHen Pompeius the Great passed into the Orient with all the Host of the Romaine people and after he had subdued all Siria Mesopotamia Damasco and Arabia hee passed into the Realme of Palestine which otherwise was called Iudea where he committed diuers and sundry euils so that many of the Romanes and Hebrues dyed there Finally by force of Armes hee tooke the puissant City of Hierusalem which as Plinie sayeth was the best of all Asia And Strabo sayeth of the situation of the World that Rome was the chiefe of all Italy and of Affricke the principall was Carthage of Spaine Numantia of Germany Argentine of Caldea Babylon of Egypt Thebes of Greece Athens of Phenice Tira of Cappadocea Cesare of Thrace Constantinople and of Palestine Hierusalem Pompeius therefore not contented to kill all the Auncients of that warre to imprison the youth to behead the elders to force the mothers to defile the virgins to teare in peeces the children to beat down buildings and to rob the Treasure◠but encreasing euill vpon euill and putting all al the people to destruction he made of the Temple a Stable for his horses which before God was abominable that where alwayes heretofore he had beene a Conquerour and triumphed ouer twenty two Kinges euer after he was vnluckie and ouercome in battell The famous rebell Catilina as Salust affirmeth had neuer beene ouercome as if it had not beene for the robbing and destroying of the Temples which were consecrated to the Gods The noble Marcuus Marcellus to whome no Romaine is to bee compared in vertues the same day hee caused the Temple of the Goddesse Februa to be burnt was himselfe slaine in battell The noble Romaine Captaine Drusius Germanicus that was so well willed and beloued because hee gaue a calfe meate to eate which was the God of the Chaldeans being prohibited and forbidden within a moneth after dyed whose death was greatly lamented in Rome Suetonius sayeth that after Iulius Caesar had robbed the Temple of the Gawles the Gods alwayes made him afrayde in the night And Xerxes which was the Sonne of King Darius when he passed into Italy to wage battell before all other things hee sent foure thousand Horsemen to Delphos where the Temple of God Apollo was to beate it downe for the pride of Xerxes was so great that hee would not only subdue men but also conquer the Gods It chanced that euen as they approached neere the Temple to beate it downe a sodaine tempest fell vpon them so that with stones and thunderbolts they were all killed in the fields and so dyed Brennus was one of the renowned Captaines of the Gothes who sith hee had conquered and subdued the Greekes determined also to robbe the Treasures of the Temples saying that Gods should giue vnto men not men vnto Gods and that it was great honour to the Gods that with their goods men should bee made rich But as they beganne to robbe the Temple there fell a multitude of arrowes from heauen that the Captaine Brennus dyed there and all his men with him not one left aliue After that Sextus Pompeius was vanquished in the battell by sea neare vnto Sicilie by Octauus Augustus hee retired himselfe into the Arkes Lacinii where there was an auncient Temple consecrated to the Goddesse Iuno endowed with maruellous Treasures And it chaunced one day that his Souldiers asking him money and he being then without he commaunded them to beate down the Temple of the Goddesse Iuno and to pay themselus with the spoyle of her treasure Vhe Historiographers say that within a while after it chanced Sextus Pompeius to be taken of the knights of Marcus Antonius and when hee was brought before Titus Generall of the Army he spake vnto him these words I will you know Sextus Pompeius I doe not condemne thee to dye for the offences thou hast committed against my Lord Marcus Antonius But because thou hast robbed and beaten downe the Temple of the Goddesse Iuno For thou knowest that the good Captaines ought to forget the offences against men and to reuenge the iniuries done the Gods CHAP. XXIIII How Valente the Emperour because hee was an euill Christian lost in one day both the Empire and his life and was burned aliue in a sheepecote WHen Iulian the Apostate was Emperour of Rome hee sent to conquer Hungary of no iust title hee had to it more then of ambition to vnite it to the Romane Empire For tirannous Princes vse all their force to vsurpe other realms by crueltie and little regard whether they may doe it by iustice And because the Romane Empire was of great force this ambitious Emperour Iulian had in that warres a mighty and puissant Armie which did wonderfull much harme through all the coūtries they came For the fruites of warres is to bereaue the enemies of life and to spoyle the men of theyr goods It chaunced one day as fiue knights went out of the Campe to make a rode they found a youngman that carried a halter in his hand and as they would haue taken it away from him to haue tyed theyr horses to let them feede hee was so hardy and so stout that hee defended himselfe from them all so that he had more strength alone then they fiue altogether The Romane Knights amazed to see this young man defend himselfe from them all so stoutely very instantly desired him to goe to the Romane Campe with them and they promised him hee should haue great entertainement for the Romanes were so diligent that they should omit no good thing for want of money so that it were for the publike weale This young man was called Gracian and was borne and brought vp in the Country of Pannonia in a City they called Cibata His lynage was not of the lowest sort of people nor yet of the most esteemed Cittizens but were men that liued by the sweate of their browes and in loue
the Realme of Thracia which then was subiect to the Romanes And the Emperour Valente without any couenant receiued them into his land wherein hee committed great folly and vsed little wisedome for it is a generall rule where rebels vagabonds strangers come to inhabite there the Realme and dominions is destroyed The Gothes remained certain yeares among them without any dissention or quarrelling against the Romaines but afterwards through the couetousnes of Maximus chiefe Captain of the Romaines who denyed the Gothes of their prouision which so long time remained Friendes arose betweene them so cruell warres that it was the occasion of the losse and vtter vndoing both of Rome and of all Italie For truly there is no enmity doth somuch hurt as that of Friends when they fall out at discord The Warres now being kindled the Gothes were scattred through the Kingdome of Thrace and they left no Forte but they battered downe they came to no Townes Villages nor Cities but they sacked and spoyled They tooke no Women but they forced and rauished they entred into no house but they robbed Finally the Gothes in short time shewed the poison that they had against the Romans let no man maruell that the Gothes committed so many cruel and hainous facts sith we that are Christians doe commit dayly greater offences For among rebels it is a common errour that that which they rob in the warres they say they are not bound to restore in peace The Emperor Valente was then in the citie of Antioch and sith he had assembled there a great armie and had great aide out of Italy he determined himselfe in person to goe into the campe of the Romans and to giue the onset against the Gothes wherein hee shewed himselfe more bold then wise for a Prince in battael caÌ„ do no more then one man nor fight more then one man and if he die he is the occasion of the death and destruction of them all When both the hosts of the Romaines and the Gothes ioyned there was betweene them a cruell and mortall fight so that in the first brunt the Gothes shewed themselues so valiant that they put to flight the Romans horsemen leauing their footemen alone in great ieopardie the which in short space after were discomfited and slaine not one left aliue For the barbarous sware that that day the Gothes should all die or else vtterly they would destroy the name of the Romanes And in this first charge the Emperour Valente was mortally wounded who perceyuing he had his deathes wound and that the battell was lost hee determined to flye and saue himselfe but when fortune beginneth to persecute any man shee leaueth him not vntill shee see him dead or beaten downe without recouery Therefore as this wicked Emperour thinking to saue himselfe came into a sheepecote the enemies seeing him in the end set fire on the shepecote and burnt him aliue So in one day hee loft his person his life his honour and his Empire For it is meete that Princes and great Lords should lift vp their eyes to consider well the Historie of Valente that they stray not from the Catholike Faith that they dishonour not Gods Ministers and maintaine heresyes For as this accursed Emperour Valente for his wicked doings was condignely punished by the hands of Almighty God So let them be assured the selfe same God will not pardon their offences For it is a rule infallible That that Prince which is not a good Christian shal fall into the hands of his cruell enemies CHAP. XXV Of the Emperor Valentinian and Gracian his Sonne which raigned in the time of Saint Ambrose which because they were good Christians were alwayes fortunate and that God giueth victory vnto Princes more through the teares of them that pray then thorow the weapons of those that fight IAlentinian and Valent were brethren and the eldest of them was Valentinian who succeeded in the Empire after the death of his Father to bee Pretor of the Armies For amongst the Romaines there was a Law in vre that if the Father dyed in the fauour of the people of right the sonne without any other demand was heyre This Valentinian was a lusty yong man of a sanguine complexion and of his body well shaped and aboue all hee was a good Christian and of all the people generally welbeloued For nothing adorneth the noble man more then to bee counted ciuill and courteous of behauiour At that time when the Emperour Iulian persecuted most the Christians Valentinian was Pretour of the Armies and when Iulian was aduertised that Valentinian was a Christian hee sent vnto him and bad him doe sacrifice to the Idols of the Romane Emperor or else to forsake the office of his Pretorship Iulian would gladly haue killed Valentinian but he durst not for it was a Law inuiolable amongst the Romanes that no Citizen should be put to death without the decree of the Senate Valentinian receyuing the message of this Emperour Iulian aduertised of his will which was to renounce his faith or to leaue his office hee did not onely resigne his office but therewithall forgaue the Emperour all the money hee ought him for arrerages of his sernice And because hee would liue with a more quiet conscience he went from Rome into a Cloyster where hee banished himselfe for two yeares and a halfe for this hee was highly esteemed and commended For it is a good signe That man is a good Christian which of his owne free will renounceth worldly goods Shortly after it happened that Iulian the Emperour went to conquere the Realme of Persia where in a battell hee was very sore wounded and fell downe dead in the present place For to the mishaps of Fortune the Emperour with all his estate and pleasures is as much subiect as is the poorest man that lieth in the streetes When the newes came to Rome that Iulian was dead by the consent of all Valentinian was created Emperour so that hee being banished for Christs sake was called againe and crowned Prince of the Romane Empire Let no man care to loose all that hee possesseth let no man weigh to see himselfe despised for Christes sake For in the end men cannot in a thousand yeeres so much abase vs as God in one houre can exalt vs. In the same yeare which was from the foundation of Rome â—119 in a City called Atrobata it rained very fine wooll so that all the City became rich In the same yeare in the City of Constantinople it hayled such great stones that they killed many men left no heards in the fields aliue At that same time there came an Earthquake throughout Italy and so likewise in Sicille that many houses fell and slew sundry persons and aboue all the sea rose in such sort that it drowned many Cities nigh thereunto Paulus Diaconus in the 11. booke De Legibus Romanorum sayeth that the Emperour Valentinian was of a subtill wit of
Knights Companions in warre most thankefully I accept your seruice in that you haue solde your goods and do offer your liues here to accompany mee in the warres and herein you shew your duties for of right you ought to loose your goods and to venture your liues for the defence and surety of your Country But if I giue you some thanks for your company know you that I giue much more for your good counsell which presently you giue me for in great conflicts seldome is found together both good counsell and stout hearts If I haue enterprised this battell in hope of mans power then you had had reason that wee should not giue the battell seeing the great multitude that they haue and the small number that wee are for as you say the weighty affayres of the publike weale should not vnaduisedly bee committed to the incertainety of Fortune I haue taken vpon mee this daungerous and perillous warres first trusting that on my part iusticeremaineth and sith God is the same onely iustice I trust assuredly hee will giue mee the victory in this perillous conflict For iustice auayleth Princes more that they haue then the men of warre doe which they lead Wherfore sith my cause is iust and that I haue God the onely Iudge therof on my side me thinketh if for any worldly feare I should cease to giue the battell I should both shew my selfe to be a Prince of small faith and also blaspheme God saying hee were of small iustice For God sheweth most his power there where the frailenesse of man hath least hope Then sith I beginne the warre and that by mee the warre is procured and for mee you are come to the warre I haue determined to enter into the battell and if I perish therein I shall bee sure it shall bee for the memory of my person and the saluation of my Soule For to dye through iustice is not to dye but to change death for life And thus doing if I lose my life yet therefore I lose not my honour and all this considered I doe that which for the Common-wealth I am bound For to a Prince it were great infamy and dishonour that the quarrell being his owne should by the bloud of others be reuenged I will proue this day in battell whether I was chosen Emperour by the diuine will or not For if God this day causeth my life to bee taken frō me it is a manifest token he hath a better in store for me and if through his mercy I be preserued it signifieth that for some other better thing he granteth me life For in the end the sword of the enemy is but the scourge of our offences The best that I see therefore in this matter to bee done is that till three dayes be passed the battell bee not giuen and that wee confesse our selus this night in the morning prepare our selus to receiue our Redeemer and besides this that euery man pardon his Christian brother if he haue had any wrong or iniury done him for oft times though the demaund of the war bee iust yet many mishaps befall therein through the offences of those which pursue follow the same After that three dayes are past each thing according to my sayings before accomplished in euery point as behoueth then let God dispose all things as hee shall see good for now I am fully determined to aduenture my life in battell Wherefore my valiant and stout warriours doubt not at all for this day I must eyther vanquish mine enemies or else suffer death and if I dye I doe that which needes I must Wherefore I will now cease to exhort you any more desiring you to consider that whereunto your duties leadeth you remembring that you are come as knights and in the defence of your Country you wage battell for now we are come to that pinch that deedes must more auaile vs then words for peace ought to be maintained by the tongue but wars ought to be atchieued by sword Al these words then ended and three dayes past the Emperour in person gaue the battell where the conflict slaughter on both sides was very terrible yet in the end the Emperour Gracian had the victory ouer his enemies and there dyed in that conflict 30. thousand Gothes and Almaines and of the Romanes there were not slaine but fiue thousand For that Army only is preserued which to the diuine will is conformable Let all other Princes take example by this noble Prince let thē cōsider how it behoueth thē to be good Christians and that in great warres and conflicts they neede not feare the great number of their enemies but they ought greatly to see that the wrath of God bee pacified For the heart is more dismaied with the secret sinnes then it is feared with the open enemies CHAP. XXVII That the Captaine Theodosius which was Father of the Great Emperour Theodosius dyed a good Christian And of the King Hismarus and the Bishop Siluanus And of a Councell that was celebrated with the Lawes which they made and established in the same THe two brethren being Emperours that is to say Valentinian and Valente in the coastes of Africke the realme of Mauritania a Tyrant vsurped the place of a King against the Romanes who was named Thyrmus a man hardy in trauels and in daungers stout For the aduenturous hearts oftentimes doe commit many tyrannies This tyrant Thyrmus by much crueltie came possessed of the realme of Mauritania and not contented therewith but also by tyranny possessed a great part of Affricke and prepared as Hannibal did an huge armie to passe into Italy to dye in challenging the Empire of Rome This was a renowmed Tyrant that neuer tooke pleasure in any other thing so much as to spoyle and robbe others of their goods The Romaines that in all their doings were very sage and of the tyranny of tyrants sufficiently monished immediately prepared a great Army to passe into Affricke and to spoyle the realme and to destroy the Tyrant by the commandement and decree of the Senate and that for no pact or couenant the Tyrant should liue And without doubt this commaundement was iust For to him that is a destroier of the Common-wealth it is not punishment inough to take away his life At that time there was a Knight in Rome whose name was Theodosius a man well strucken in yeares and yet better approued in warres but he was not the richest howbeit hee vaunted himselfe as truth was to bee of the bloud of Traian the great Emperour vpon which occasion he was greatly honoured and feared in Rome for the Commons were so noble gracious towards their Princes that all those which from the good and vertuous Emperour descended were of the whole Common-wealth greatly esteemed This noble Theodosius was of yeers so auncient and so honoured in his olde age for his gray hayres so noble of lynage and so approued in warres that he was
places are Arbours and Gardeins to wofull and heauie hearts A slaue hath nothing to care for but himselfe alone but you that be princes haue to satisfie and please all men For the Prince should haue a time for himselfe and also for those which are about him The diuine Plato said well that hee that should haue the least parte of a Prince and belonging to a Prince ought to be the Prince himselfe For to that ende the Prince should bee all his owne he ought to haue no part in himselfe Though a slaue work trauel in the day yet he sleepes without care in the night but you Princes passe the time in hearing importunate suites and the nights in fetching innumerable sighs Finally I say that in a slaue be it well or be it euill all his paine is finished in one yeare or is ended at his death but what shall a wofull Prince doe when he dyeth If he were good there is but a short memory of his goodnesse and if hee hath beene euill his infamy shall neuer haue end I haue spoken these things to the end that great and small Lords and seruants should confesse and acknowledge the true Seigniory to be onely vnto him who for to make vs Lords aboue became a seruant heere beneath CHAP. XXX When the Tyrants beganne to ratgne and vpon what occasion commaunding and obeying first begann And how the authority which the Prince hath is by the ordinance of God CEasing to speake any further of the Poeticall Histories and auncient faynings and speaking the truth according to the diuine Histories the first that did liue in this World was our Father Adam who did eate of the fruite forbidden and that not so much for to trespasse the commaundement of one as for not to displease his wife Eue For many now a dayes had rather suffer theyr conscience a long time to bee infected then one onely day to see theyr wiues displeased The first homicide of the worlde was Caine The first that dyed in the World was Abel The first that had two wiues in the World was Lamech The first City of the World was by Enoch built in the fields of Edon The first Musition was Tubalcaim The first which sayled in the World was Noe The first Tyrant of the World was Nembroth The first Priest was Melcrisedech The first King of the World was Anraphel The first Duke was Moyses The first which was called Emperour in the World was Iulius Caesar For vntill this time they which gouerned were called Consuls Censors and Dictators And from Iulius Caesars hitherto haue beene called Emperours The first battell that was giuen in the world as wee reade was in the wilde valleyes which now they call the dead and salt sea For a great part of that that then was the maine land is novv the dead sea The holy Scriptures cannot deceyue vs for it is full of all truth and by them it is declared that eighteene hundred yeares after the World beganne there was no battell assembled nor company that met to fight in the field for at that time when they had no ambition nor couetousnesse they knew not what battell meant It is reason therefore that in this writing we declare the cause why the first battell was fought in the world to the end Princes may thereof bee aduertised and the curious Reader remaine therein satisfied The manner was this that Bassa being King of Sodome Bersa King of Gomorrhe Senaab King of Adamee Semebar King of Seboime and Vale King of Segor were all fiue Tributaries to Chodor Lanmor King of the Elamites which fiue Kings conspired against him because they would pay him no tribute and because that they would acknowledge no homage vnto him For the realmes paying tribute haue alwayes rebelled and sowed sedition This rebellion was in the 13 yeare of the raigne of Chodor Laomor King of the Elamites and immediately the yeare following Anraphel king of Sernaar Arioch king of Ponte and Aradal King of the Allotali ioyned with Chodor Laomor All which together beganne to make warres to destroy Cities and Countries vpon their enemies For the olde malice of the warre is That where they cannot haue their enemies which are in the fault they put to sacke and destroy those which are innocent and guiltlesse So the one assaulting and the other desending in the end all come to the field they gaue battell as two enemies and the greatest part was ouercome of the fewest and the fewest remayned victorious ouer the greatest which thing God would suffer in the first battell of the world to the end Princes might take example that all the mishappes of the Warres come not but because they are begun of an vniust occasion If Chodor Laomor had helde himselfe contented as his Predecessors did and that hee had not conquered Realmes in making them subiect and had not caused them to pay tribute neyther they vnto him would haue denyed reason nor hee with them would haue waged battell For thorow the couetousnesse of the one and the ambition of the other enmities grew betweene the people This considered which wee haue spoken of Sygnorie and of those which came into contentions for signories Let vs now see from whence the first originall of seruitude came and the names of seruantes and Lordes which were in the old time and whether seruitude was by the discorde of vertuous men first brought into the World or else inuented by the ambition of tyrants for when the one commaundeth and the other obeyeth it is one of the nouelties of the world as the holy Scripture declareth vnto vs in this manner The holy Patriarch Noah had three sons which were Sam Ham and Iaphet and the second sonne which was Ham begot Cusn and this Cusn begotte Nimrod Nimrod made himselfe a Hunter of wilde beasts in the woodes and mountaines Hee was the first that beganne to play the Tyrant amongst men enforcing their persons and taking their goods and the Scripture called him Oppressor hominum which is to say an Oppressor of men For men of euill life alwaies commit much euill in a Common-wealth He taught the Chaldeans to honor the fire hee was the first that presumed to be an absolute Lord and the first that euer required of men homage and seruice This cursed tyrant ended his life in the golden World wherein all things were in common with the Common-wealth For the Auncients vsed their goods in common but their wils onely they reserued to themselues They ought not so thinke in a light matter for his persō to haue been a tyrant but they ought to think it a greater matter to haue beene a rebel in a Common-wealth much more they ought to esteeme it as an euill matter in him which hath beene as hee was a disturber of the good customes of his country but the most vniust of all is to leaue behind him any euil custom brought into the common wealth for if hee deserue great
in heauen he had been blessed but now he is in the world enuironed with cares and afterwards he shall bee throwne into his graue and gnawne of the Wormes Let vs now see the disobedience wee had in the commaundement of God and what fruit we haue gathered in the world For hee is very simple that dare commit any vice taking no delight nor pleasure thereof in his body In my opinion through the sinnes which our forefathers committed in Paradise the seruitude remaineth in vs their children which are on the earth For so much as if I enter into the water I drowne if I touch the fire I burne if I come neare a dogge hee biteth mee if I threaten a horse hee easteth mee if I resist the winde it bloweth me downe if I persecute the serpent hee spoyleth me if I smite the beare hee destroyeth me and to be briefe I say that the man that without pitty eateth men in his life the Worms shall eate his entrals in his life after his death O Princes and great Lords lode your selues with cloth of gold heape vp your great Treasures assemble many Armies inuent Iusts and turneis seeke pastimes and pleasures reuenge your selues of your enemies serue your selues with your subiects marry your children to mighty Kings and set them in great estate cause your selues to bee feared of your enemies imploy your bodies to all pleasures leaue great possessions to your heyres rayse sumptuous buildinges to leaue memory of your persons I sweare by him that shall iudge mee that I haue more compassion to see your sinfull soules then I haue enuy to see your vicious liues for in the end all pastimes will vanish away and they shall leaue you for a gage to the hungry wormes of the earth O if Princes did consider though they haue beene borne Princes created and nourished in great estates that the day they are borne death immediately commeth to seeke the end of their life and taketh them here and there when they are sicke now tumbling then rising hee neuer leaueth them one houre vntill their wofull buriall Therefore sith it is true as indeed it is that that which Princes possesse in this life is but small that which they hope in the other is so great Truely I maruell why Princes the which shall lye so straight in the graue dare lye in such and so great largenesse in their life To be rich to be Lords and to haue great estates men should not thereof at all bee proude since they see how frayle mans condition is for in the end life is but lone but death is enheritage Death is a patrimony and heritage which successiuely is inherited but life is a right which dayly is surrendered For death counteth vs so much his own that oft times vnawares hee commeth to assault vs life taketh vs such strangers that oft times we not doubting thereof it vanisheth away If this thing then bee true why will Princes and great Lords presume to commaund a strange house which is this life as in their owne house which is the graue Leauing aside the sayd opinions I say that for sinne onely scruitude came to dwell in vs and entered into the world for if there had beene no sinners wee ought to beleeue there had beene no Lords nor seruants For asmuch as seruitude generally entreth into this World through sinne I say that the Seigniory of Princes is by the diuine commaundement for he sayeth By mee the King doth gouerne and by mee the Prince doth minister Iustice I conclude in this sort with this reason That since it is true Princes are sent by the hands of God for to gouerne vs Wee are bound in all and for all to obey them for there is no greater plague in a publike weale then to be disobedient to the Prince CHAP. XXXII How King Alexander the great after hee had ouercome King Datius in Asia went to conquer the great Indea and of that which happned vnto him with the Garamantes and how the good life hath more power then any force of warre IN the yeare of the Creation of the World 4970. in the first age of the World and in the 4027. yeares of the foundation of Rome Iado being High Priest in Hierusalew Decius and Mamilius at Rome Consuls in the third yeare of the Monarchie of the Greekes Alexander the Great sonne to Philip King of Macedonia gaue the last battell to Darius King of Persia wherein King Alexander escaped very sore wounded and Darius slaine so that the whole Empire of the Persians came vnder the gouernment of the Greeks For the vnfortunate Princes do not onely lose their liues with which they came into the world but also the Realmes which they did inherite After that Darius was dead and Alexander saw himselfe Lord of the field and that the Persians and Medes were become subiect to the Grecians though many Kings and Lords dyed in those cruell batailes yet it seemed to Alexander a trifle to be Gouernor of all Asia wherefore he determined in person to goe conquere the great India For Proude and stoute hearts obtayning that which they desire immediately beginne to esteeme it as little All his Armies repayred and placing gouernours in all the Realme of Asia Alexander departed to conquere the great India for hee had promised sworne to his gods that through all the World there should be but one Empire and that that should be his and moreouer that hee would neuer passe thorow any strange Realme or Country but it should giue obedience vnto him or else forthwith hee would destroy it for tyrannous harts haue neuer any regard to the damage of another vntill they haue obtained their wicked desires Alexander then going to conquer Realmes and destroy Prouinces by chance one sayde vnto him That on the other side of the mountaine Riphei towards the partes of India was a barbarous Nation which were called Garamantes as yet neuer conquered by the Persians and Medes Romaines nor Greekes neyther any of them euer triumphed ouer them for they had no weapons nor esteemed them not sith they had no riches King Alexander who for to conquer and subdue Realmes and strange countreys was very diligent hardy and to see new things very desirous determined not onely to send to see that countrey but also to goe himselfe in person and in that place to leaue of him some Memoriall which thing forthwith he accomplished For hee left them Altares as Hercules left in Gades pillars For mans heart is so stout that it Trauelleth not onely to compare with manie but also to excell all The Embassadours of Alexander were sent to Garamantes to aduertise them of the comming of King Alexander the great of the terrible and cruell battells which he in the warres had ouercome and to declare vnto them how the puissant K Darius was slayne and that all Asia was vnder his subiection and how euery Citie did yeelde themselues against
ought to be friend to one and enemie to none Besides all this wee haue amongst vs great friendshippes good peace great loue much rest and aboue all wee holde our selues contented for it is better to enioy the quietnesse of the graue then to liue a discontented life Our Lawes are few but in our opinions they are good and are in seuen words onely included as here followeth Wee ordaine that our children make no more Lawes then wee their Fathers doe leaue vnto them for new Lawes maketh them to forget good and ancient customes We ordaine that our Successors shall haue no moe Gods then two of the which the one God shall bee for the life and the other for the death for one God well serued is more worth then many not regarded Wee ordaine that all bee apparrelled with one cloath and hosed of one sort and that the one haue no more apparrell then the other for the diuersity of garments engendreth folly among the people Wee ordaine that when any woman which is maried hath had three children that then shee bee separated from her husband for the aboundance of children causeth men to haue couetous hearts And if any woman hath brought forth any mo children then they should bee sacrificed vnto the Gods before her eyes We ordaine that all men and women speake the truth in all things and if any bee taken in a lye committing no other fault that immediately hee bee put to death for the same For one lyer is able to vndoe a whole multitude We ordaine that no woman liue aboue forty yeares and that the man liue vntil fifty and if they dye not before that time that then they be sacrificed to the Gods for it is a great occasion for men to bee vicious to thinke that they shall liue many yeares CHAP XXXV That Princes ought to consider for what cause they were made Princes and what Thales the Philosopher was of the 12. questions asked him and of his answere he made vnto them IT is a common and olde saying which many times by Aristotle the noble and vertuous Prince hath beene repeated That in the end all thinges are done to some purpose for there is no worke neyther good nor euil◠but he that doth it meaneth to some end If thou demaundest the Gardener to what end he watereth so oft his plants hee will answere thee it is to get some money for his hearbes If thou demaundest why the riuer runneth so swift a man will answere thee that it his to the end it should returne from whence it came If thou demaundest why the trees budde in the spring time they will answere to the end they may beare fruite in haruest If wee see a traueller passe the mountaines in the snow the riuers with perill the woods in feare to walke in extreame heate in Sommer to wander in the night time in the colde winter and if by chance a man doth aske one of them saying Friend whether goest thou wherefore takest thou such paines And hee aunswereth Truly sir I know no more then you to what end neyther can I tell why I take such paines I aske thee now what a wise man would answere to this innocent Traueller Truly hearing no more hee would iudge him to bee a foole for he is much infortunate that for all his trauell looketh for no reward Therefore to our matter a Prince which is begotten as an other man borne as an other man liueth as an other man dyeth as an other man And besides all this commaundeth all men if of such a one wee should demaund why God gaue him signiory and that he should answere hee knoweth not but that he was borne vnto it In such case let euery man iudge how vnworthy such a King is to haue such authority For it is vnpossible for a man to minister iustice vnlesse hee knew before what iustice meaneth Let Princes and noble men heare this word imprint it in their memory which is that when the liuing God determined to make Kings and Lords in this world hee did not ordaine them to eate more then others to drinke more then others to sleepe more then others to speake more thē others nor to reioyce more then others but hee created them vpon condition that sith he had made thē to commaund more then others they should be more iust in their liues thē others It is a thing most vniust and in the Common wealth very slaunderous to see with what authority a puissant man commandeth those that bee vertuous and with how much shame himselfe is bound to all vices I know not what Lord he is that dare punish his subiect for one onely offence committed seeing himselfe to deserue for euery deede to bee chastised For it is a monstrous thing that a blinde man should take vpon him to leade him that seeth They demaunded great Cato the Censor what a King ought to doe that he should be beloued feared and not despised he answered The good Prince should be compared to him that selleth Tryacle who if the poyson hurteth him not hee selleth bis Triacle well I mean therby that the punishment is takē in good part of the people which is not ministred by the vitious man For hee that maketh the Tryacle shall neuer bee credited vnlesse the proofe of his Triacle bee openly knowne and tryed I meane that the good life is none other then a fine Triacle to cure the Common-wealth And to whome is he more like which with his tongue blazeth vertues and imployeth his deedes to all vices then vnto the man who in the one hand holdeth poyson to take away life and in the other Triacle to resist death To the end that a Lord bee wholy obeyed it is necessary that all that he commaundeth bee obserued first in his owne person for no Lord can nor may withdraw himselfe from vertuous works This was the answere that Cato the Censor gaue which in mine opinion was spoken more like a Christian then any Romane When the true God came into the World he employed 30. yeares onely in workes and spent but two yeares and a halfe in teaching For mans heart is perswaded more with the worke hee seeketh then with the word which hee heareth Those therfore which are Lords let them learne and know of him which is the true Lord and also let Princes learne why they are Princes for he is not a Pylot which neuer sayled on the seas In mine opinion if a Prince will know why he is a Prince I would say to gouern well his people to command well and to maintaine all in iustice and this should not bee with words to make them afrayde neyther by works which should offend them but by sweet words which should encourage them and by the good workes that should edifie them for the noble and gentle heart cannot resist him that with a louing countenance commaundeth Those which will rule and make tame fierce and wilde beasts do
Common-wealth hee which is most worth shal be no more esteemed then the fingers or paring the nailes or the falling of an haire from the head Let euery man the fore liue in peace in his common-wealth and acknowledge obedience vnto his prince and he that will not do so away with him for euen as the onely offence proceedeth of him so let the onely paine rest vpon him For it is an old saying That hee that taketh vp the sword against his Maister will shortly after lay his head at his feete The second condition is To compare the King to the head because the head is the beginning of Mans life The most part of things that euer God created according to their natures worke their operations as in growing high and towards the heauens We see the vapors ascend high the Trees budde out on high the sourges of the Sea mount high and the nature of Fire is alwayes to ascend mount on high onely the miserable Man groweth downwards and is brought low by reason of the feeble and fraile flesh which is but Earth commeth of earth and liueth on earth and in the ende returneth to earth againe from whence he came Aristotle saith well That Man is as a Tree planted with the rootes vpwardes whose roote is the head and the stocke is the bodie the braunches are the armes the barcke is the Flesh the knoties are the bones the sappe is the heart which with the braine is the seate of the soule first liuing and last dying the rottennes is malice the gumme is loue the flowers are wordes and the Fruites are the good workes To make the man to goe vprightly his head should be where his feet are and the feete where the head is sith the head is the root and the feet are the bowes but in this case I sweare that we are correspondent to our beginning for it our flesh bee planted contrariwise so much more contrary we haue our life ordered Therefore concerning our matter I say that the Realme hath no lesse his beginning of the King then the King of the Realme which thing is plainely seene for that the King giueth lawes and institutions vnto a Realme and not the Realme to the King The gifts and benefits which the King giueth cōmeth to the realm and not from the Realme to the King To inuent wars to take truce to make peace to reward the good and to punish the euill proceedeth from the King to the Realme and not to the contrary For it appertaineth only to the Maiesty of a Prince to commaund and ordaine and to the common wealth to authorize and obeye him As in a great sumptuous building it is more dāgerous where one stone of the foundation doth fall thē when ten thousand tiles fall from the toppe so he ought more to bee blamed for one onely disobedience committed and done to the King and his iustice then for fiue thousand offences against the common wealth For wee haue seene of a little disobedience a great slander arise in a cōmon wealth O it is a goodly matter for a Prince to be beloued of his subiects and a goodly thing also for the Realme to be fearefull of their King for the king that is not loued of his Subiects cannot liue in peace or quiet therealm that is not fearefull of their King cannot be well gouerned The Realme Sicilia had alwayes mighty Princes and Gouernors for in ancient time it was gouerned by vertuous Princes or els by cruell and malicious tyrants In the time of Seuerus the Emperour there raigne◠in Cecil a King called Lelius Pius who had so many good things in him that throughout all the Empire hee was very well esteemed and chiefly for foure Lawes amongst others he ordayned in that Realme which were these following Wee ordaine that if amongst equall persons there bee any iniuries offered that they be punished or else that they be assembled for where enuy is rooted betweene two it profiteth more to recōncile their good willes then to punish their persons Wee ordaine that if the greatest bee offended by the least that such offence bee little reproued and well punished for the audacite and little shame and also the disobedience of the seruant to the master ought not to be reformed but by grieuous punishment We ordaine that if any resist or speake against the commandement of a Prince that presently without delay he suffer death before them all for they may boldly by the way of supplication reuerently declare their griefes and not by slaunder rebelliously disobey their Lords Wee ordaine that if any rayse the common wealth against the Prince hee that can first strike off his head may lawfully without fearing any daunger of punishment for his head is iustly taken from him that would there should be many heades in the common weale Of all this before spoken Herianus is the Authour in his fourth Booke of the Kinges of Sieile where hee putteth many and singular Lawes and Customes whith the Auncients had to the great confusion of those that be present For truely the Auncients did not onely exceede those that bee present in their works doings but also in speaking profound wordes Therefore returning to our matter mans life greatly trauelleth alwayes to defend the head in such sort that a man would rather suffer his hand to bee cut off then to suffer a wound to bee made in his head By this comparison I meane that a fault in a Common-wealth is a cut which cankereth and festereth but the disobedience to a Prince is a wound which forthwith killeth If a man did aske mee what vnion Princes should haue with their Common wealth I would answere them in this sort that the wealth of the King and Realme consisteth herein That the King should accompany with the good and banish the euill For it is vnpossible that the King should bee beloued of the Common-wealth if the company hee hath about him be reputed vicious Hee should also loue his Realme without dissimulation and the Realme should serue him vnfaynedly for the Common-wealth which knoweth it to bee beloued of their Prince shall not finde any thing too hard for his scruice Further that the King vse his Subiects as his children and that the Subiects serue him as a Father for generally the good Father cannot suffer his children to bee in danger neyther the good children will disobey their Father Also the King ought to bee iust in his commaundements and the subiects faithfull For if it bee a good thing in their seruices to liue vnder a iust Law it is much better to liue vnder a iust King Also the King ought to defend his Subiects from enemies and they ought well to pay him his tribute For the Prince who defendeth his people from enemies and tyranny worthily deserueth to be Lord of all their goods Also the King ought to keepe his Common-wealth in quiet and ought not to be presumptuous of his
in keeping them they haue great expences and for to defray such charges they haue but little money For in this case let euery man doe what hee will and let them take what counsel they like best I would counsell all others as my selfe haue experimented that is that the Prince shuld be of so good a conuersation amongst those which are his and so affable and familiar with all that for his good conuersation onely they should thinke themselues well apaide For with rewards Princes recompence the trauells of theyr Seruants but with gentle and faire words they steale and robbe the harts of their subiects Wee see by experience that diuers Marchants had rather buye dearer in one shop because the merchaÌ„t is pleasant then to buy better cheap in an other wheras the merchant is churlish I meane that there are manie which had rather serue a prince to gaine nothing but loue onely then to serue an other prince for money For there is no seruice better imploied theÌ„ to him which is honest good and gracious and to the contrary none worse bestowed then on him which is vnthaÌ„kfull and churlish In Princes Pallaces there shall neuer want euill and wicked men malicious and diuelish flatterers which will seeke meanes to put into theyr Lords heads how they shal raise their rents leuy Subsidies inuent tributes and borrow money but there are none that will tell them how they shal winne the hearts and good willes of their Subiects though they know it more profitable to bee well beloued then necessary to be enriched He that heapeth treasure for his Prince and separateth him from the loue of his people ought not to bee called a faithfull seruant but a mortall enemy Princes and Lords ought greatly to endeauour themselues to bee so conuersant among their Subiects that they had rather serue for good Will then for the payment of money for if mony want their seruice wil quaile and hereof proceedeth a thousand inconueniences vnto Princes which neuer happen vnto those that haue seruants which serue more of good will then for money for hee that loueth with all his heart is not proude in prosperity desperate in aduersity neyther complayneth he of pouertie nor is discontented being fauourles nor yet abashed with persecution finally loue and life are neuer separated vntill they come vnto the graue Wee see by experience that the rablement of the poore Labourers of Sicill is more worth then the money of the Knight of Rome For the Labourer euery time he goeth to the field bringeth some profit froÌ„ thence but euery time the Knight sheweth himselfe in the market place he returneth without money By the comparison I meane that Princes should bee affable easie to talke with all pleasant mercifull benigne and stout and aboue all that they bee gratious and louing to the end that through these qualities and and not by money they may learne to winne the hearts of their subiectes Princes should greatly labour to bee loued specially if they will finde who shall succour them in aduersity and keepe them from euill will and hatred which those Princes caÌ„not haue that are hated but rather euery man reioyceth at their fall and misery for each man enioyeth his owne trauel and truly the furious and sorrowfull hearts take some rest to see that others haue pitty and compassion vpon their griefes Princes also should endeauour themselues to bee loued and well willed because at their death they may of all their seruants and friends bee lamented For Princes ought to bee such that they may be prayed for in their life and lamented and remembred after their death How cursed is that Prince and also how vnhappy is that Common-wealth where the seruants will not serue their Lord but for reward and that the Lorde dooth not loue them but for theyr seruices For there is neuer true loue where there is any particular interest With many stones a house is builded and of many men and one Prince which is the head of all the Common wealth is made For hee that gouerneth the Common wealth may be called a Prince and otherwise not and the Common-wealth cannot bee called or sayde a Common wealth if it hath not a Prince which is the head thereof If Geometrie do not deceyue me the lime which ioyneth one stone with an other suffereth well that it bee mingled with sand but the corner-stone that lyeth on the toppe ought to bee medled with vnslâ—ked lime And it soundeth vnto good reason For if the nether-stones seperate the wall openeth but if the corner stone should slippe the building incontinently falleth I suppse Fathers conscript you vnderstand very well to what end I applie this comparison The loue of one neighbour with an other may suffer to be cold but the loue of a Prince to his people should bee true and pure I meane that the loue amongst frends may passe sometimes although it bee colde but that loue betweene the King and his people at al times ought to be perfect For where there is perfect loue there is no fayned wordes nor vnfaithfull seruice I haue seene in Rome many debates and hurly-burlyes among the people to haue bin pacified in one day and one onely which betweene the Lorde and the Commonwealth ariseth cannot be pacified vntill death For it is a dangerous thing for one to striue with many and for many to contend against one In this case where the one is proud and the other rebelles I will not excuse the Prince nor yet let to condemne the people For in the end he that thinketh himselfe most innocent deserueth greatest blame And from whence thinke you commeth it that Lords now adayes commaund vniust things by furie and the Subiects in iust matters will not obey by reason I will tell you The Lord doing of will and not of right would cast the wills of all in his own braine and deriue from himselfe all counsell For euen as Princes are of greater power then all the rest so they thinke they knowe more then all the rest The contrary hapneth to subiects who beeing prouoked I cannot tell you with what Frensie despising the good vnderstanding of theyr Lorde will not obey that which their prince willeth for the health of them all but that which euery man desireth particularly For men now a dayes are so fonde that euery man thinketh the Prince should looke on him alone Truely it is a strange thing though it be much vsed among men that one man should desire that the garments of all others should be meete for him which is as vnpossible as if one mans Armour should arme a whole multitude But what shall we be Fathers conscript and sacred Senate sith our Fathers left vs this world with such follie and that in these debates and strifes wee theyr children are alwayes in dissention and controuersie and in this wilfalnes wee shall also leaue our children and heyres How many Princes haue I seen and read
friend Pulio because that since Traian spake for Nero and that hee found in him some prayse I doe thinke no lesse of the tyrant Periander whom though for his euill works hee did wee doe condemne yet for his good words that he spake and for the good lawes which hee made wee doe prayse For in the man that is euill there is nothing more easier then to giue good counsell and there is nothing more harder then to work well Periander made diuers lawes for the Common wealth of the Corinthians whereof here following I wil declare some Wee ordaine and command that if any by multiplying of wordes kill another so that it were not by treason that hee bee not therefore condemned to dye but that they make him slaue perpetuall to the brother of him that is slaine or to the next of his kinne or friendes for a short death is a lesse paine then a long seruitude Wee ordaine and commaund that if any thiefe bee taken hee shall not dye but with a hote yron shall bee marked on the forehead to bee knowne for a theefe for to shamelesse men long infamy is more paine then a short life wee ordaine and commaund that the man or woman which to the preiudice of an other shall tell any lye shall for the space of a moneth carry a stone in their mouth for it is not meete that hee which is wont to lye should álwayes bee authorized for to speake Wee ordaine and commaund that euery man or woman that is a quarreller and seditious person in the common wealth bee with great reproach banished from the people for it is vnpossible that hee should be in fauour with the gods which is an enemy to his neighbor Wee ordaine and commaund that if there bee any in the Common wealth that haue receyued of an other a benefite and that afterwards it is proued he was vnthankefull that in such case they put him to death for the man that of benefites receyued is vnthankefull ought not to liue in the world among men Behold therefore my friend Pulio the antiquity which I declared vnto thee and how mercifull the Corinthians were to murtherers theeues and Pirates And contrary how seuere they were to vnthankefull people whom they commaunded forthwith to be put to death And truely in mine opinion the Corinthians had reason for there is nothing troubleth a wise man more then to see him vnthankefull to him whom heo hath shewed pleasure vnto I was willing to tell thee this history of Periander for non other cause but to the end thou shouldest see and know that for as much as I do greatly blame the vice of vnthankefulnes I will labour not to bee noted of the same For hee that reproueth vice is not noted to be vertuous but hee which vtterly flyeth it Count vpon this my word that I tell thee which thou shalt not thinke to bee fayned that though I bee the Romane Emperor I will be thy faithfull friend and will not fayle to bee thankeful towards thee For I esteeme it no lesse glory to know how to keep a friend by wisdome then to come to the estate of an Emperour by Phylosophy By the letter thou sentest thou requiredst me of one thing to answere thee for the which I am at my witts end For I had rather open my treasure to thy necessities then to open the books to answer to thy demands although it be to my cost I confesse thy request to be reasonable and thou deseruest worthy prayse for in the end it is more worth to know how to procure a secret of Antiquities past then to heape vp treasures for the necessities in time to come As the Philosopher maketh Philosophie his treasure of knowledge to liue in peace and to hope and to looke for death with honour so the couetous being such a one as hee is maketh his treasure of worldly goods for to keepe and preserue life in this world in perpetual warres and to end his life and take his death with infamy Herein I sweare vnto thee that one day employed in Philosophy is more worth then ten thousand which are spent in heaping riches For the life of a peaceable man is none other then a sweet peregrination and the life of seditious persons is none other but a long death Thou requirest me my friend Pulio that I write vnto thee wherein the Ancients in times past had their felicity know thou that their desires were so diuers that some dispraysed life others desired it some prolonged it others did shorten it som did not desire pleasure but trauels others in trauels did not seeke but pleasures that which variety did not proceede but of diuers ends for the tastes were diuers and sundry men desired to tast diuers meates By the immortall gods I swear vnto thee that this thy request maketh me muse of thy life to see that my Philosophy answereth thee not sufficiently therein For if thou aske to proue mee thou thinkest mee presumptuous if thou demaund in mirth thou countest mee to bee too light if thou demaundest it not in good earnest thou takest mee to bee simple if thou demaundest mee for to shew it thee be thou assured I am ready to learne it if thou demandest it for to know it I confesse I cannot teach it thee if thou demandest it because thou mayest be asked it be thou assured that none will bee satisfied with my answere and if perchance thou doest aske it because sleeping hast dreamed it seeing that now thou art awake thou oughtest not to beleeue a dreame for all that the fantasie in the night doth imagine the tong doth publish it in the morning O my friend Pulio I haue reason to complaine of thee for so much as thou doest not regard the authority of my person nor the credite of thy Philosophy wherefore I feare least they will iudge thee too curions in demaunding and mee too simple in answering all this notwithstanding I determine to answere thee not as I ought but as I can not according to the great thou demaundest but according to the little I know And partly I doe it to accomplish thy request and also to fulfill my desire And now I thinke that all which shal reade this letter will bee cruell Iudges of my ignorance Of the Philosopher Epicurius IN the Olimpiade 103. Serges being King of Perses and the cruell tyrant Lysander Captaine of the Peloponenses a famous battell was fought betweene the Athenians and Lysander vpon the great Riuer of Aegeon whereof Lysander had the victory and truly vnlesse the histories deceyue vs the Athenians took this conflict grieuously because the battell was lost more through negligence of their Captaines then through the great number of theyr enemies For truely many winne victories more through the cowardlinesse that some haue then for the hardinesse that others haue The Philosopher Epicurus at that time florished who was of a liuely wit but of a meane stature
it is he that shall hereafter destroy the Romaine people as Suetonius Tranquillus affirmeth in the booke of Caesar Albeit that Iulius Caesar was vncomlie in his behauior yet in naming onely his name he was so feared through the world as if by chance any king or Princes did talke of him at their table as after supper for feare they could not sleepe that night vntill the next day As in Gallia Gotica where Iulius Caesar gaue battell by chance a French knight tooke a Caesarian knight prisoner who beeing led prisoner by the Frenchmen said Chaos Caesar which is to say Let Caesar alone Which the Gaulloys hearing the name of Caesar let the prisoner escape and without any other occasion hee fell besides his horse Now then let Princes and great Lords see how little it auaileth the valiant man to bee faire or foule sith that Iulius Caesar being deformed only with naming his name caused all men to feare to change their countenance Hanniball the aduenterous captaine of Carthage is called monstruous not onely for his deedes he did in the world but also for the euill proportion of his bodie For of his two eyes he lacked the right and of his two feete he had the left foote crooked and aboue all he was little of body and verie fierce and cruell of countenance The deeds and conquests which Hanniball did among the people of Rome Titus Liuius declareth at large yet I will recite one thing which an Historiographer declareth and it is this Frontine in the book of stoutenesse of the Penians declareth that in seuenteene yeeres that Hannibal warred with the Romaines he slue so great a number that if the men had bin conuerted into Kine and that the blood which was shed had beene turned into Wine it had beene sufficient to haue filled and satisfied his whole armie being foure score thousand footmen and seuenteene thousand horsemen in his campe I demand now how many were at that time fairer and more beautifull of their bodyes and countenance then he was whose beautie at this day is forgotten whereas his valiantnesse shall endure for euer For there was neuer any Prince that left of him eternall memorie only for being beautiful of countenance but for enterprising great things with the sword in the hand The great Alexander was no fairer nor better shapen then another man For the Chronicles declare of him that he had a litle throte a great head a blacke face his eyes somewhat troubled the body little and the members not well proportioned and with all his deformitie hee destroyed Darius king of the Perses and Medes and he subdued all the tyrants he made him selfe Lord of all the Castles and took many kings and disherited and slue mightie Lords of great estate hee searched all their riches and pilled all their treasors and aboue all things all the earth trembled before him not hauing the audacitie to speake one word against him Of a letter the Emperour Marcus Aurelius wrote to his Nephew worthie to be noted of all yong Gentlemen CHAP. XLII SExtus Cheronensis in his second booke of the life of Marcus Aurelius declared that this good Marcus Aurelius had a sister called Annia Melena the which had a sonne named Epesipus who was not onely nephew but also Disciple to Marcus Aurelius And after he was created Emperour he sent his nephew into Greece to study the Greeke tongue and to banish him from the vices of Rome This yong Epesipus was of a good and cleare iudgement well made of his body and faire of countenance and sith in his youth he esteemed his beauty more then his learning the Emperour his vncle wrote him a letter in Greeke which sayd thus Marcus Aurelius the Romaine Emperour first Tribune of the people and Bishop wisheth to thee Epesipus his Nephew and Scholler health and doctrine In the third Calends of December came thy cousin Annius Verus at whose comming all our parentage reioyced and so much the more because that hee brought vs newes out of Grecia For truely when the heart hath the absence of that he loueth it is no minute of an houre without suspition After that thy cousen Annius Verus had spoken in generally to all bringing newes from their friends and children we talked together and he gaue me a letter of thine which is contrary to that which was written mee out of Greece because thou writest to mee that I should send thee mony to continue thee in studie and they did also write vnto me from thence that thou art more youthfull and giuen more to the pleasures of the world then becommeth thee Thou art my blood thou art my Nephew thou wert my Scholler and thou shalt bee my sonne if thou art good But God wil neuer that thou be my Nephew nor that I shall call thee my sonne during the time that thou shalt be yong fond light and frayle For no good man should haue parentage with the vitious I cannot deny but that I loue thee from the bottome of my stomacke and so likewikewise thy vnthriftinesse greeueth me with all my heart For when I read the letters of thy follies I will content my selfe For the sage wise men though against their willes they heare of such things past yet it pleaseth them to redresse other things that may come heareafter I know well that thou canst not call it to minde though perhaps thou hast it that when thy vnlucky mother and my sister Annia Melena died she was then yong enough for she was no more but eighteene yeares of age and thou haddest not then foure houres For thou wert borne in the morning and shee dyed iust at noone-tide so when the wicked childe possessed his life then the good mother tasted death I can tell thee that thou hast lost such a mother and that I haue lost such a sister that I beleeue there was no better in Rome For she was sage honest and faire the which things are seldome seene now a dayes For so much as thy mother was my sister and that I had brought her vp and marryed her I read then Rethorike at Rhodes because my pouertie was extreame that I had no other thing but that which by reading Rethorike I did get When newes came vnto me of the death of thy mother and my sister Annia Milena al comfort laid on side sorrow oppressed my heart in such wise that all members trembled the bones shiuered my eyes without rest did lament the heauy sighes ouercame me at euery minute my heart vanished away from the bottome of my heart I inwardly lamented and bewayled thy vertuous mother and my deare sister Finally sorrow executing his priuiledge on mee the ioyfull company greeued me and onely with the louely care I quieted my selfe I know not nor cannot expresse vnto thee how and in what sort I tooke the death of my sister Annia Milena thy mother for in sleeping I dreamed of her and dreaming I saw her when I was awake
in my life and for the gifts he sends mee now at my death For one friend can doe more to another then to offer him his person to depart with his proper goods Tell the king thy father that I maruell what hee should meane that I now beeing foure score yeares of age and haue walked all my life time naked in this world should now be laden with vestures and money since I must passe so great a gulfe in the Sea to go out of this world The Egyptians haue a custome to lighten the burden of their Camels when they passe the Desartes of Arabia which is much better then to ouercharge them I meane that he onely passeth without trauell the dangers of the life which banisheth frō him that thought of temporall goods of this world Thirdly thou shalt say to the King thy Father that from hence forth when any man will dye he doe not succour nor helpe him with Money Golde nor Riches but with good and ripe counsell For Golde will make him leaue his life with sorrow and good Counsell will moue him to take his death with patience The fifth king of the Macedonians was called Archelaus who they say to be the grandfather of king Philip father of the great Alexander This king boasteth himselfe to descend from Menelaus King of the Grecians and principall Captaine which was at the destruction of Troy This king Archelaus was a great friend to the Sages and amongst others there was a Poet with him called Euripides who at that time had no lesse glory in his kinde of Poetrie then Archelaus in his king dome being king of Macedonia For now a dayes we esteeme more the Sages for the bookes which they wrote then we do exalt kings for the Realms which they ruled or the battels which they ouercame The familiaritie which Euripides had with the king Archelaus was so great that in the Realme of Macedonie nothing was done but first it was examined by the hands of this Philosopher And as the simple and ignorant would not naturally be subiect to the Sage it chanced that one night Euripides was talking a long time with the King declaring vnto him the ancient Histories and when the poore Poet would depart to goe home to his house his enemies espyed him and let the hungrie dogges flie vpon him the which did not onely teare him in peeces but also eate him euery morsell So that the intrayles of the dogges were the wofull graue of the most miserable Poet. The King Archelaus being certified of this wofull case immediately as soone as they told him was so chafed that almost he was bereft of his senses And hereat maruell not at all For gentle hearts doe alter greatly when they are aduertised of any suddaine mishappe As the loue which the King had to Euripides in his life was much so likewise the sorow which he felt at his death was very great for he shed many teares from his eyes he cut the hairs off his head he rounded his beard hee changed his apparrell which he ware and aboue all he made as solemne a funerall to Euripides as if they had buried Vlisses And not contented with al these things he was neuer merry vntill such time he had done cruell execution of the malefactors for truely the iniury or death which is done vnto him whom wee loue is no other but as a bath and token of our owne good wills After iustice was executed of those homicides and that some of the bones all gnawne of the dogs were buried a Grecian Knight said vnto King Archelaus I let the know excellent king that all Macedonta is offended with thee because that for so small a losse thou hast shewed so great sorrow To whom king Archelaus aunswered Among Sages it is a thing sufficiently often tryed that noble hearts ought not to shew themselues sad for mishaps and sodaine chances for the king being sadde his Realme cannot and though it might it ought not shew it selfe merry I haue heard my father say once that Princes should neuer shed teares vnlesse it were for one of these causes 1 The first the Prince should bewaile the losse danger of his common wealth for the good Prince ought to pardon the iniuries done to his person but to reuenge the least act done to the Common-wealth he ought to hazard himselfe 2 The second the good Prince ought to lament if any man haue touched his honour in any wise for the prince which weepeth not drops of bloud for the things touching his honour deserueth to be buried quicke in his graue 3 The third the good Prince ought to bewayle those which can little and suffer much For the Prince which bewayleth not the calamities of the poore in vaine and without profit liueth on the earth 4 The fourth the good Prince ought to bewayle the glory and prosperity wherein the tyrants are For that Prince which with tyranny of the euill is not displeased with the hearts of the good is vnworthy to bee beloued 5 The fift the good Prince ought to bewayle the death of Wise men For to a Prince there can come no greater losse then when a wise man dyeth in his Common wealth These were the words which the King Archelaus answered the Grecian Knight who reproued him because he had wept for the death of Euirpides the Philosopher The ancient Historiographers can say no more of the estimation which the Philosophers and wise men had as well the Greekes as the Latines but I will tell you one thing worthy of noting It is well knowne through all the world that Scipio the Ethnicke was one of the worthiest that euer was in Rome for by his name and by his occasion Rome got such a memory as shall endure And this was not only for that he conquered Affricke but for the great worthinesse of his person Men ought not to esteeme a little these two giftes in one man that is to say to be happy and aduenturous For many of the Auncients in times past wanne glory by their swords and after lost it by their euill liues The Romane Historiographers say that the first that wrote in Heroicall meeter in the Latine tongue was Ennius the Poet the workes of whom was so esteemed of Scipio the Ethnick that when this aduenturous and so luckie Romane dyed he commaunded in his will and testament that they should hang the image of this Ennius the Poet ouer his graue By that the great Scipio did at his death wee may well coniecture how great a friend he was of Sages in his life since he had rather for his honour see the Statue of Ennius on his graue then the banner wherwith he wonne and conquered Affricke In the time of Pirrus which was King of the Epirotes and great enemy of the Romanes flourished a Philosopher named Cinas borne in Thessaly who as they say was the Disciple of Demosthenes The Historiographers at that time did so much
deaths should not be buryed CHAP. II. ¶ The Authour following his purpose declareth that by meanes of Marryage many mortall enemies haue beene made good and perfite Friends BY sundrie examples that we haue declared and by all that which remaineth to declare a man may knowe well enough of what excellencie Matrimonie is not onely for the charge of Conscience but also for the things touching honour for to say the truth the men that in the Common-wealth are married giue small occasion to bee slaundered and haue more cause to be honourd VVe cannot deny but that Matrimony is trouble some and chargeable to them that be marryed for two causes The one is in bringing vp their children and the other in suffering the importunities of their Mothers Yet in fine we cannot deny but that the good and vertuous wife is shee that setteth a stay in the house and keepeth her husband in estimation in the Common-wealth for in the publike affayres they giue more faith and credite vnto those that are charged with children then vnto others that are loaden with yeeres The fifth commoditie that ensueth Matrimony is the peace and reconciliations that are made betweene the enemies by meanes of Marriage Men in this age are so couetous so importune and malicious that there are very few but haue enemies wherby groweth contention and debate for by our weaknesse we fall daily into a thousand occasions of enmities and scarcely wee can finde one to bring vs againe into friendship Considering what men desire what things they procure and whereunto they aspire I maruell not that they haue so few friends but I much muse that they haue no more enemies For in things of weight they marke not who haue beene their friends they consider not they are their neighbours neyther they regard that they are Christians but their conscience laid a part and honestie set a side euery man seeketh for himselfe and his own affayres though it bee to the preiudice of all his neighbours What friendshippe can there bee amongst proud men since the one will goe before and the other disdayneth to come behinde What friendshippe can there bee amongst enuious men since the one purchaseth the other possesseth VVhat loue can there be between two couetous men since the one dare not spend the other is neuer satisfied to hourd heap vp For all that we can read see goe and trauell for all that we may do we shall neuer see nor heare tell of men that haue lacked enemies for either they be vicious or vertuous If they be euil and vicious they are alwaies hated of the good and if they be good vertuous they are continually persecuted of the euill Many of the ancient Philosophers spent a great part of their time and lost much of their goods to search for remedies and meanes to reconcile them that were at debate contention and to make them by gentlenes good friends louers Some said that it was good profitable to forget the enmities for a time for many things are pardoned in time which by reasō could neuer take end Others said that for to appease the enemies it was good to offer mony because mony doth not only breake the feminate tender hearts but also the hard and craggy rocks others said that the best remedy was to set good men to bee mediators between them in especially if they were sage wise men for the honest faces and stout hearts are ashamed whē they are proserred mony the good do humble thēselues by intreaty These means wel considered and the remedies wel sought out to make friends there are none so ready and so true as Marriage for the marriage done Sacramentally is of such and so great excellency that betweene some it causeth perfect friendshippe and betweene others it appeaseth great iniuries During the time that Iulius Caesar kept him elfe as father-in-law to the great Pompeius and that Pompeius held himselfe his sonne in law there was neuer euill will nor quarells betweene them but after that Pompeius was diuorced from the house of Caesar hatred enuy and enmities engendred betweene them in such sort that they contended in such and so cruell warres that Pompeius against his will lost his head and also Iulius Caesar shortned his life When those that dwelled in Rome rauished and robbed the daughters of the Sabines i◠after they had not changed their counsell and of theeues to become husbands without doubt the Romans bad beene all destroyed for the Sabines had made an oath to aduenture both their goods and their liues for to reuenge the iniuries done vnto them their daughters and wiues but by the meanes of Marriage they were conferred in great amitie and loue For the Romanes receiued in marriage the daughters of the Sabines whome before they had rauished Greater enmitie there cannot be then that of God towards men through the sin of Adam notwithstanding there neuer was nor neuer shall be greater friendship then that which was made by the godly marriage and for greater authoritie to confirme marriage the Sonne of God would that his Mother should be marryed and afterward hee himselfe was present at a Mariage where hee turned the Water into Wine though now adayes the euill maried men doe turne the wine into water He doth not speake here of Religious persons nor men of the Church neither of those which are closed in deuout places for those fleeing the occasions of the world and choosing the wayes lesse dangerous haue offered their soules to GOD and with their bodies haue done him acceptable Sacrifices for there is difference betweene the Religion of Christ and the sinfull Sinagogue of the Iewes for they offered Kidds and Muttons but heere are not offered but teares and sighs Leauing therefore all those secrets apart which men ought to leaue to God I say and affirme that it is a holy and commendable counsell to vse his profite with the Sacrament of Marriage the which though it bee taken of all voluntarily yet Princes and great Lords ought to take it necessarily For that Prince that hath no wife nor children shall haue in his Realme much grudging and displeasure Plutarch in the Booke hee made of Marriage sayth that amongst the Lidians there was a law well obserued and kept that of necessitie their Kings and Gouernours should be marryed and they had such respect to this thing and were so circumspect in this matter that if a Prince dyed and left his Heyre an infant they would not suffer him to gouerne the Realme vntill he were married And they greatly lamented the day of the departing of their Queene out of this life for with her death the gouernment ceased the Royall authoritie remayned voyde and the Common-wealth without gouernment so long time as the King deferred to take another wife and so they were sometimes without King or gouernment For Princes are or ought to be the mirrour and example of all to
oportunitie to accomplish her desires wherfore shee answered vnto his Parents that shee did accept their counsell and said to Sinoris that she did chuse him for her husband speaking these words more for to comfort him then with intent to pardon him And as amongst those of Galatia there was a custome that the new maried folkes should eate together in one dishe and drinke in one cup the day that the mariage was celebrated Cāma determined to prepare a cup with poyson and alsso a lute wherewith shee began to play and sing with her prober voyce before the Goddesse Diana in this manner TO thee Dian whose endles raigne doth stretch Aboue the bondes of all the heauenly rout And eke whose ayde with royall hand to retch Chiefe of all Gods is most proclaimed out I sweare and with vnspotted faith protest That though till now I haue reserude my breth For no intent it was but thus distrest With wailfull end to wreke Sinatus death ¶ And if in minde I had not thus decreed Whereto should I my pensiue daies haue spent With longer dole for that forepassed deed Whose oft record newe sorrowes still hath bent But oh sinee him their kindled spite hath slaine With tender loue whom I haue waide so deere Since he by fate is rest from fortunes raine For whose decay I dreadlesse perish here Since him by whom my onely life I led Through wretched hands the gaping earth now haue Ought I by wish to liue in any sted But closde with him together in the graue O bright Dian since senslesse him I see And Makeles I here to remaine alone Since he is graude where greedy wormes now bee And I suruiue surmounted with my fone Since he is prest with lumpes of wretched soyle And I thus chargde with flame of frozen care Thou knowst Dian how hard with restles toyle Of hote abhoring minde my life I spare For how can this vnquiet brest reserue The fainting breth that striues to draw his last Since that euen then my dying heart did starue When my dead Phere in swallowing earth was cast The first blacke day my husband sleptin graue By cruell sworde my life I thought to spend And since a thousand times I thought to haue A stretched cord my sorrowes wrath to end And if till now to waste my pining dayes I haue deferde by slaughter of my hand It was but loe a fitter cause to raise Whereon his sharpe reuenge might iustly stand Now since I may in full suffising wise Redeeme his breath if wayward will would let More deepe offence by not reuenge might rise Then Sinoris erst by guiltles bloud did get Thee therefore mighty Ioue Iiustly craue And eke thy daughter chast in thankfull sort That loe the offering which of my selfe ye haue Ye will vouchsafe into your heauenly fort Since Sinatus with soone enflamed eyes Amongst the Acaian routes me chiefly viewed And eke amidst the prease of Greekes likewise Chose for his phere when sweetly he had sewed Since at my will the froth of wasting wealth With gladsome minde he trayned was to spend Since that his youth which slippeth loe by stealth To waite on me he freely did commend Since he such heapes of lingring harmes did waste Aye to content my wanton youthfull will And that his breath to fade did passe so fast To glut their thirst that thus his blould did spill Though great the duetie be which that I owe Vnto his graued ghost and cindred mould Yet loe me seemes my duety well I shew Performing that my feeble power could For since for me vntwined was his threed Of guiltlesse life that ought to purchase breath Can reasons doome conclude I ought to dreed For his decay to clime the steps of death In wretched earth my father graued lies My deare mother hath runne her race of life The pride of loue no more can daunt mine eyes My wasted goods are shrunke by fortunes strife My honour soone ecclipsed is by fate My young delight is loe for done by chaunce My broken life these passed haps so hate As can my grieued heart no more aduaunce And now remaynes to duetie with my phere No more but refuse loe my irksome life With willing minde followed eke with drere Which I resigne as fitteth for a wife And thou Sinoris which Iunos yoke doest craue To presse my corps to feede thy liking lust The rout of Homers gods thee grant to haue In stead of royall feates a throne of dust In change of costly robes and rich array A simple winding sheete they digne thee giue And eke in stead of honest wedlocks stay They sing thy dirge and not vouchsafe thee liue In place of Himens hye vnfiled bed They lay thee vp in closure of thy graue In stead with precious meates for to be fed They make the Woormes for fitter prey thee haue In stead of song and Musickes tuned sowne They waite on thee with lowd lamenting voyce In change of ioyfull life and high renowne Thy cruell death may spread with wretched noyse For you great gods that stalled be on hie Should not be iust ne yet such titles claime Vnlesse this wretch yee ruthlesse cause to die That liueth now to slaunder of your name And thou Dian that haunted Courts dost shunne Know'st with what great delight this life I leaue And when the race of spending breath is done Will pierce the soyle that did my phere receiue ¶ And if perchance the paled ghosts despise Such fatall fine with grudge of thankelesse minde Yet at the least the shamefast liuing eyes Shall haue a Glasse rare wisely gifts to finde Wherein I will that Lucrece sect shall gaze But none that liue like Helens line inblaze ANd when the prayer was ended that this fayre and vertuous Camma made shee dranke and gaue to drinke to Sinoris of this cuppe of poyson who thought to drinke no other but good wine and water and the case was such that he died at noone daies and she likewise in the euening after And truely her death of all Greece with as great sorrow was lamented as her life of all men was desired Princesses and great Ladyes may most euidently perceiue by the examples heerein contayned how honest and Honourable it is for them to loue and endeauour themselues to be beloued of their husbands and that not onely in their life but also after their death For the wife to serue her husband in his life seemeth ofttimes to proceede of feare but to loue and honour him in his graue proceedeth of loue Princesses and great Ladies ought not to do that which many other women of the cōmon people do that is to say to seeke some drinkes and inuent some shamefull sorceries to be beloued of their husbands for albeit it is a great burden of conscience and lacke of shame in like manner to vse such superstitions yet it should be a thing too vniust and very slaunderous that for to be beloued of their husbands they should
liue very circumspectly when they know they are conceyued with childe I should bee excused to speake of this matter since it is not my profession and that as yet I was neuer marryed but by that I haue read of some and by that I haue heard of others I will and dare be so bolde to say one word For the Sage oft times giueth better account of that he hath read then the simple doth of that hee hath proued This thing seemeth to bee true betweene the Physitian and the Patient For where the patient suffereth the euill hee oft times demaundeth the physitian what his sicknes is and where it holdeth him and what it is called and what remedie there is for his disease So the Physitian knoweth more by his science then the patient doth by his experience A man ought not to denie that the women and in especially great Ladies know not by experiēce how they are altered when they are quicke and the great paines they suffer when they are deliuered wee could not denie but that there is great danger in the one and great perill in the other but they shall neuer know frō whence all commeth and frō whence all proceedeth and what remedie is necessarie For there are manie which complaine of robberyes but yet they knowe not what the thieues are that haue robbed them First according to my iudgement opinion that which the woman quicke with childe ought to doe is that they go softly and quietly and that they eschue running eyther in comming or going for though she little esteem the health of her person yet shee ought greatly to regarde the life of the creature The more precious the liquor is and the more weaker the vessell is which containeth it so much the more they ought to feare the danger lest the liquor shead and the vessell breake I meane that the complexion of Women beeing with Childe is very delicate and that the soule of the creature is more pretious and therefore it ought with great diligence to be preserued For all the treasure of the Indies is not equall in value to that which the woman beareth in her bowells When a man planteth a vineyard forthwith he maketh a ditche or some Fence for it to the ende that Beastes should not crop it whiles it is young nor that Trauellers should gather the Grapes when they are ripe And if the Labourer doeth this thing for to get a little wine onely the which for the soule and bodie is not always profitable How much more circūspection ought the woman to haue to preserue her childe since she shall render an accosit to the Creator of her creature vnto the Church of a christian and vnto her Husband of a childe In mine opinion where the account at the houre of death is so streight it is requisite for her that in the time of her life she be very circumspect For GOD knoweth euery thing so well in our life that there is none that can beguile him in rendring his account at his death There is no wight can suffer nor hart dissemble to see a man haue his desire that is to say to haue his Wife great with chllde and ready to bring forth good fruite and afterwards to see the wofull Mother by or throgh some sudden accident perish the innocent babe not to be borne When the VVoman is healthfull and big with childe she is worthie of great reproach if eyther by running leaping or dauncing any mischaunce hap vnto her And truly the Husband hath great cause to lament this case For without doubt the Gardener feeleth great griefe in his heart when in the Prime-time the tree is loden with blossomes and yet by reason of some sharpe and bitter Frost it neuer beareth fruite It is not onely euill that women should runne and leape when they are bigge and great with childe but it is also dishonest specially for great Ladyes For alwayes women that are common dauncers are esteemed as light houswiues The Wiues in generall Princesses and great Ladyes in particular ought to goe temperately and to be modest in theyr mouings For the modest gate argueth discreetnesse in the person All women naturally desire to be honoured and reuerenced and touching that I let them know that there is nothing which in a commonwealth is more honour for a woman then to be wise and warie in speaking moderate and quiet in going For it is vnpossible but that the woman which is light in her going and malicious in her talking should bee despised and abhorred In the yeare of the Foundation of Rome 466. the Romaines sent Curius Dentatus to make warre against King Pyrrus who kept the citie of Tharent and did much harme to the people in Rome For the Romaines had a great courage to conquer strange Realmes and therefore they could haue no patience to suffer any stranger to inuade theirs This Curius Dentatus was he which in the end ouercame King Pyrrus and was the first that brought the Elephants to Rome in his triumphe wherfore the fiercenesse of those Beasts astonished the Romane people much for they weighed little the sight of the Kings loden with yrons but to see the Elephants as they did they wondred much Curius Dentatus had one onely Sister the which he entierly loued They were seuen children two of the which died in the warres and other three by pestilence So that there were none left him but that sister wherefore hee loued her with all his heart For the death of vnthrifty children is but as a watch for children vnprouided of fauors This sister of Curius Dentatus was marryed to a Roman Consull and was conceyued and gone 7. moneths with childe and the day that her brother Triumphed for ioy of her Brothers honour she leaped and daunced so much that in the same place shee was deliuered and so vnluckely that the Mother tooke her death and the Childe neuer liued wherevpon the feast of the Triumph ceased and the Father of the infant with sorrowe lost his speech For the heart which suddenly feeleth griefe incontinently loseth vnderstanding Tibullus the Grecian in the 3. booke De casibus Triumphi declareth the hystorie in good stile how and in what sorte it chaunced Nine yeares after that the Kings of Rome were banished for the rape that Tarquine did to the chaste Lucretia the Romaines created a dignitie which they called Dictatura and the Dictator that had this office was aboue all other Lord and chiefe For the Romaines perceyued that the Commonwealth could not be gouerned but by one head alone And because the Dictatour had so great authoritie as the Emperour hath at this present and to the end they shold not become Tyrants they prouided that the office of the Dictatorship should last no longer then vi moneths in the yeare the which past and expired they chose another Truely it was a good order that that office dured but 6. moneths For oft times Princes thinking
the proofe of this it needeth not books to read but onely our eyes to see how the brute Beasts for the most part when their females are bigge do not touch them nor yet the Females suffer them to be touched I meane that the Noble and high Estates ought to absent thēselues from their wiues carnally being great with childe and hee that in this case shall shewe himselfe most temperate shall of all men be deemed most vertuous I doe not speake this to the ende it should binde a man or that it were an offence then to vse the companie of his wife but vnto men that are vertuous I giue it as a counsell For some things ought to bee done of necessitie and others ought to be eschued for honestie Dyodorus Siculus saieth that in the Realme of Mauritania there were so few men and so many women that euery man had fiue wiues where there was a law among them that no man should marrie vnder three wiues furthermore they had a wonderfull and foolish custome that when any Husband died one of those women shuld cast herselfe quicke into the graue and be buried with him And if that within a moneth she did it not or that she dyed not by iustice shee was openly put to death saying that it is more honestie to bee in companie with her Husband in the graue then it is to be alone in her house In the Isles of Baleares the contrary is seene for there increase so many men and so few women that for one woman there was seuen men and so they had a custome especially amongst the poore that one woman should bee marryed with fiue men For the rich men sent to seeke for women in other strange Realmes wherfore then Merchants came heauie loaden with women as now they doe with marchandize to sell Vpon which occasion there was a custome in those Isles that for as much as there were so few women when any woman with childe drew neere the seuen monethes they were seperated from their husbands and shutte and locked vp in the Temples where they gaue them such things as were necessary for them of the common treasure For the ancients had their Gods in such veneration that they would not permit any person to eate that which he brought but of that which vnto the Gods of the Temple was offered At that time the Barbarous kept theit wiues locked in the Church because the Gods hauing them in their Temples should bee more mercifull vnto them in their deliuerie and also to cause them to auoyde the dangers at that time and besides that because they tooke it for a great villany that the women during that time should remaine with their husbands The famous and renowmed Philosopher Pulio in the fift Booke De moribus antiquorum said That in the Realme of Pannonia which now is Hungarie the women that were great with childe were so highly esteemed that when any went out of her house all those which mette with her were bound to returne backe with her and in such sort as wee at this present doe reuerence the holy Communion so did these Barbarous then the women with childe The women of Carthage being with childe when Carthage was Carthage had as great priuileges as now our Sanctuaries haue for the safegard of misdoers for in times past all such offenders as could enter into the house where a woman lay in child-bed should haue beene free from correction of Iustice As Fronto saith in his Booke of the Veneration of the Gods the Gallois Transalpins did not only honor reuerence the women with childe but also with much care and diligence watched her deliuery for it little auaileth the Shippe to haue passed safe the dangerous Seas if at the Shore she be cast away The case was in this sort that al the ancient Gentiles honored some gods in their Temples and kept other in their houses the which were called Lares and Penates and when any woman began to labour each neighbour brought his familiar god vnto her to present her with all because they thought that the more gods there were of so much more power they were to keepe her from perills Speaking like a Christian Truely those gods were of small value since they could not helpe the woman safely to be deliuered that was in trauaile CHAP. XII What the Philosopher Pisto was and of the Rules hee gaue concerning women with childe IN the time of Octauian the Emperour was a Philosopher called Pisto which was of the sect of Pithagoras and when Rome flourished he was very familiar with the Emperour Octauian and well beloued of all the people which ought not to be a little esteemed for he which of the Prince is most fauored commonly of the people is much hated This Emperour Octauian was a Prince very desirous of all vertuous things so that when he dined with his Captaines he spake of Warre when he supped with the Sages hee reasoned of the Sciences and he that vttered any dishonest or idle word in his presence hee alwaies afterward tooke him as his enemie This Pisto was very graue in waightie affaires very pleasant in slents and jests and oft times he was demanded many questions of the Emperour whereof the answeres of some according to the demands and questions here followeth The Emperour sayd to Pisto Of all these that liueth whom takest thou to be most Foole To whom the Philosopher answered In my opinion I take him to be most foole of whose word there commeth no profite for truely he is not so very a foole that flingeth stones into the winde as he that vttereth vaine words Tell me Pisto Whom ought wee of right to desire to speake whom of right to command to be silent He answered It is good when speech doth profite and good to keepe silence when speech is hurtfull for the one desiring to maintaine the good and the other to defend the euill warres begin throughout all the world Tell mee Pisto from what thing ought the fathers most to keepe their children He sayd In my opinion parents ought in nothing to watch so much as to keepe them from being vicious for the father ought rather to haue his sonne dye well then to liue euill Tell me Pisto What shall man do if hee be brought to this extremitie That if he speake truth hee condemneth himselfe and if hee make a lye he saueth himselfe The vertuous man said he ought rather to choose to be ouercome by truth then to ouercome by lyes for it is vnpossible that a man which is a lyer should continue long in prosperity Tell me Pisto What shall men do to obtaine rest He answered As I thinke the man cannot haue rest vnlesse he forsake worldly affayres for the men that are occupied with weightie affaires cannot be without great cares or alwaies accompanied of great troubles Tell me Pisto wherein a man sheweth himselfe to be most wise He answered
they did more esteeme the good will wherewith they gaue it then they did the gifts themselues for there was so much indeed that sufficed both to make the Image of the Goddesse Berecinthia and also for a long time to maintaine the Warres Therefore from that day that those Matrons presented their Iewels in the high Capitoll the Senate forthwith in remembrance of the gentlenesse graunted them these fiue things as a priuiledge for at that time Rome neuer receiued seruice or benefite of any person but Shee rewarded it with double payment The first thing that the Senate granted the Romane Women was That in the day of their buriall the Oraters might openly make Orations in the prayse of their liues for in olde time men vsed neyther to exalt them when they were dead nor yet to accompany them to their graues The second thing that was graunted vnto them was That they might sit in the Temples for in the olde time when the Romanes did offer Sacrifices to their Gods the aged did alwayes sit the Priests kneele the marryed men did leane but the women though they were of Noble and high linage could neyther be suffered to talke sit nor leane The third thing that the Senate granted the women of Rome was That euery one of them might haue two rich Gownes and that they should not aske the Senate leaue to weare them for in the old time if any woman were apparelled or did buy any new Gowne without asking licence of the Senate she should immediately lose her Gowne and because her husband did condiscend vnto the same he was banished the Common-wealth The fourth thing which they granted them was That they should drinke Wine when they were sicke for there was in Rome a custome inuiolable that though their life was in hazard they durst not drinke wine but water for when Rome was well corrected a woman that drunke wine was as much slandered among the people as if she had committed Adultery towards her husband The fith thing granted by the Senate vnto the women was That a man might not deny a Romane being with childe any honest and lawfull thing that she demanded I cannot tell why the Ancients of Rome esteemed more of women with childe then others that had no children All these fiue thinges were iustly granted to the Matrons and Noble Romane Ladyes And I can tell thee Faustine that they were of the Senate most willingly granted for it is reason that women which in vertues doe excell should with all meanes be honoured I will tell thee Faustine the especiall cause that mooued the Romanes to grant vnto you Matrones this last priuiledge that is to say That a man cannot deny them any thing being with child Thou oughtest to know that the others as well Greekes as Latines did neuer giue Lawes nor Institutions vnto their people without great occasions for the great multitude of lawes are commonly euill kept and on the other part are cause of sundry troubles We cannot deny but that the Ancients did well auoyde the great number of Institutions for it is better for a man to liue as reason commandeth him then as the lawe constraineth him The case therefore was that in the yeere of the foundation of Rome 364. Fuluius Torquatus then being Consull in the warre against the Volces the Knights of Mauritania brought to Rome an huge Monster with one eye called Monoculus which he had found in the Desarts of Aegipt at the time the wife of Torquatus called Macrina should haue beene deliuered of child for the Consull did leaue her great This Macrina amongst all was so honest that they spent as much time in Rome to praise her for her vertues as they did set foorth her husband for his Victories They read in the Annalles of that time That the first time that this Consull Torquatus went into Asia he was eleuen yeeres out of his Country and his found for a truth that in all the time that Torquatus was absent his wife was neuer seene to looke out at the window which was not a thing smally esteemed for though it was a custome in Rome to keepe the doore shut it was lawfull notwistanding to speake to women at the windowes Though men at that time were not so bold and the women were so honest yet Macrina wife to Torquatus liued so close solitary to her selfe that in all these eleuen yeeres there was neuer man that saw her goe through Rome or that euer saw her doore open neither that shee consented at any time from the time that shee was eight yeeres of age that any man should enter into her house and moreouer there was neuer man saw her face wholly vncouered This Romane Ladie did this to leaue of her a memorie and to giue example of her vertue She had also three children whereof the eldest was but fiue yeeres olde and so when they were eight yeeres of age immediately shee sent them out of her house towards their Parents lest vnder the colour to visite the children others should come to visite her O Faustine how many haue I heard that haue lamented this excellent Romane and what will they thinke that shall follow her life Who could presently restrain a Romane woman from going to the window eleuen yeeres since things now adayes are so dissolute that they doe not onely desire to see them but also run in the Streetes to babble of them Who should cause now adayes a Romane woman that in the eleuen yeeres she should not open her dores since it is so that when the husband commaunded her to shut one doore she will make the whole house to ring of her voyce Hee that now would commaund his wife to tarry at home and let her of her vagaries into the Towne shall perceiue that there is no Basiliske nor Viper that carryeth such poison in her taile as she will spit with her tongue Who could make a Romane woman to bee eleuen yeeres continually without shewing her face to any man since it is so that they spend the most part of their time in looking in a Glasse setting their Ruffes brushing their Cloathes and painting their faces Who would cause a Romane woman to keepe her selfe eleuen yeeres from being visited of her Neighbors and Friends since it is true that now women thinke them greatest enemies which visite them most seldome Returning therefore to the Monster As they led this Monster before the doore of Torquatus his house she being great with childe and her husband in the warre by chance a Mayde of his told her how that this Monster passed by wherefore so great a desire tooke her to see the Monster that for to keepe that she had begun suddenly for this desire she dyed Truely I tell thee Faustine that this Monster had passed many times by the Streete where she dwelt and she would neuer notwithstanding go to the window and much lesse out of her doore to see it The death of this Romane of
to come with me from Capua to Rome the selfesame thou hadst to goe with another from Rome to Capua It is an euill thing for vicious â—eâ— to reprooue the vices of others wherein themselues are faulty The cause why I condemn thee to dye is onely for the remembrance of the old Law the which commandeth that no nurse or woman giuing sucke should on paine of death be begotten with childe truly the Law is very iust For honest women do not suffer that in giuing her child sucke at her breast she shold hide another in her entrails These words passed between Gneus Fuluius the Consul and the Ladie Sabina of Capua Howbeit as Plutarche saith in that place the Consull had pitie vpon her and shewed her fauour banishing her vpon condition neuer to returne to Rome againe Cinna Catullus in the fourth booke of the xxij Consulls saith that Caius Fabricius was one of the most notable Consulles that euer was in Rome and was sore afflicted with diseases in his life onely because hee was nourished foure moneths with the milke of a Nurse being great with Childe and for feare of this they locked the nurse with the Childe in the Temple of the Vestall virgines where for the space of iij. yeares they were kept They demaunded the Consul why he did not nourish his children in his house He answered that children being nourished in the house it might bee an occasion that the Nurse should begotteÌ„ with child and so she should destroy the children with her corrupt milke and further giue me occasion to do iustice vpon her person wherefore keeping them so shut vp wee are occasion to preserue their life and also our children from perill Dyodorus Siculus in his librairy and Sextus Cheronensis saith in the life of Marc. Aurelius that in the Isles of Baleares there was a custom that the nurses of young children whether they were their owne or others should be seuered from their Husbands for the space of two yeares And the woman which at that time though it were by her husband were with child though they did not chasten her as an adulteresse yet euery man spake euill of her as of an offender During the time of these two yeares to the ende that the Husband should take no other wife they commanded that hee should take a concubine or that hee should buye a Slaue whose companie hee might vse as his wife for amongst these barbarous hee was honoured most that had two Wiues the one with child and the other not By these Examples aboue recited Princesses and great Ladyes may see what watch care they ought to take in choosing their Nurses that they be honest since of them dependeth not onely the health of their children but also the good fame of their houses The seueÌ„th condition is that Princesses and great ladies ought to see their nurses haue good conditions so that they be not troublesome proud harlots liars malicious nor flatterers for the viper hath not so much poyson as the woman which is euil coÌ„ditioned It little auaileth a man to take wine from a woman to entreate her to eate little and to withdrawe her from her husband if of her owne nature she be hatefull and euill mannered for it is not so great daÌ„ger vnto the child that the nurse be a drunkard or a glutton as it is if she be harmfull malitious If perchaunce the Nurse that nourisheth the child be euil conditioned truly she is euill troubled the house wherin she dwelleth euil coÌ„bred For such one doth importune the Lorde troubleth the Lady putteth in hazard the childe aboue all is not contented with her selfe Finally Fathers for giuing too much libertie to their nurses oft times are the causes of manie practises which they doe wherewith in the ende they are grieued with the death of their childreÌ„ which foloweth Amongst all these which I haue read I say that of the ancient Roman Princes of so good a Father as Drusius Germanicus was neuer came so wicked a son as Caligula was being the iiij Emp of Rome for the Hystoriographers were not satisfied to enrich the praise the excellencies of his Father neyther ceased they to blame and reprehend the infamies of his Sonne And they say that his naughtines proceedeth not of the mother which bare him but of the nurse which gaue him sucke For often times it chaunceth that the tree is green and good when it is planted and afterwardes it becometh drie and withered onely for being carryed into another place Dyon the Greeke in the second book of Caesars saieth that a cursed woman of Campania called Pressilla nourished and gaue suck vnto this wicked child Shee had against all nature of women her breasts as hayrie as the beardes of men and besides that in running a Horse handling her staffe shooting in the Crosse-bowe fewe young men in Rome were to bee compared vnto her It chaunced on a time that as shee was giuing sucke to Caligula for that shee was angrie shee tore in pieces a young child and with the bloud therof annoynted her breasts and so she made Caligula the young Childe to sucke together both bloud and milke The saide Dyon in his booke of the life of the Emperour Caligula saieth that the women of Campania whereof the saide Pressilla was had this custom that wheÌ„ they would giue their Teat to the childe first they did annointe the nipple with the bloud of a hedge-hog to the ende their children might be more fierce and cruell And so was this Caligula for hee was not contented to kill a man onely but also hee sucked the bloud that remained on his Sworde and licked it off with his tongue The excellent Poet Homer meaning to speake plainely of the crueltyes of Pyrrus saide in his Odisse of him such wordes Pyrrus was borne in Greece nourished in Archadie and brought vp with Tygers milke which is a cruell beast as if more plainely he had saide Pyrrus for being borne in Greece was Sage for that hee was brought vp in Archadie he was strong and couragious for to haue sucked Tygars milke he was very proud and cruell Hereof may be gathered that the great Grecian Pyrrus for wanting of good milke was ouercome with euill conditions The selfe same Hystorian Dyon saith in the life of Tiberius that hee was a great Drunkard And the cause hereof was that the Nurse did not onely drinke wine but also she weyned the childe with soppes dipped in Wine And without doubt the cursed Woman had done lesse euill if in the stead of milke she had giuen the child poyson without teaching it to drinke wine wherefore afterwardes he lost his renowne For truely the Romane Empire had lost little if Tiberius had dyed being a childe and it had wonne much if he had neuer knowne what drinking of Wine had meant I haue declared all that which before is mentioned to the intent that Princesses and great Ladyes might
often times it chanceth that the wisedome of the good child doth remedy the folly of the wicked Father The Historians say that this Lelya Sabina had not onely a great grace in reading but also shee had much excellency in writing for she wrote many letters and orations with her own hand which her Father Lucius Sylla afterwards learned by hart and as he was indeed quicke of spirite so he vsed to recite them to the Senate alwayes for his purpose And let no man maruaile hereat for there are some of so grosse vnderstanding that that which they write and studie they can scarcely vtter others againe are of such liuely wits that of that onely which they haue heard it seemeth maruellous to heare with what eloquence they will talke Because Sylla had such and so excellent a daughter in his house hee was esteemed for a sage and wise councellour throughout all the Common wealth He was counted very absolute in executing strong in maintaining for right eloquent in speaking Finally of this came this ancient prouerbe which sayth Lucius Sylla gouerneth his own countrey with the eloquence of his tongue and is Lord of strange nations by the force of his sword What the great Plato hath beene and what great authority he hath had amongst his countrey men and amongst the strangers it is apparant for so much as the Greekes do acknowledge him of all other Phylosophers to be the Prince and likewise the Latines by one consent call him diuine And me thinketh that in doing this they doe no Phylosopher iniurie for as Plato in his life time had great modestie so truely in his writing hee exceeded mans capacitie An Historian called Hyzearchus declareth that Lasterna and Axiothea were two Greekes very well Iearned and amongst the Schollers of Plato chiefly renowmed The one was of so perfect a memory and the other of so high an vnderstanding that Plato oft times beeing in the chayre and these two not readie hee would not beginne to reade And being demaunded wherefore hee reade not his Lecture hee answered I will not reade for that there wanteth here vnderstanding to conceyue and also memory to retaine Meaning that Lasterna was absent that Axiothe was not yet come The wisedome of these two women ought to bee much since Plato without them would not vtter one word vnlesse they were present in his Schoole For Plato esteemed more the vnderstanding and memory of those two women alone then hee did the phylosophy of his other Schollers together Aristippus the phylosopher was Scholler to Socrates and of the most renowmed of Athens Hee had a daughter called Aretha the which was so well learned in Greeke and Latine letters that the common renowme sayd the soule of Socrates was entred into Aretha and the cause that mooued them to say this was because shee read and declared the doctrine of Socrates in such wise that it seemed to most men shee had rather write by hand then learne by studie Bocchas in the second booke of the prayse of women sayeth that this Aretha was so excellent a woman that shee did not only learne for her selfe but also to teach others and did not onely teach in diuers Schooles but also shee wrote many and sundrie bookes one especially in the prayse of Socrates an other of the manner of bringing vp children an other of the Warres of Athens an other of the tyrannicall force an other of the Common Wealth of Socrates an other of the infelicity of Women an other of the tillage of the Auncients an other of the Wonders of the Mount Olimpus an other of the vaine care of the Sepulchre an other of the care of the Antes an other of the Workemanshippe of the Bees in honey and shee wrote two others the one of the vanities of youth and the other of the miseries of age This woman did reade openly naturall and morall Phylosophy in the Schooles of Athens for the space of fiue and twenty yeares she made fortie bookes she had a hundred and ten Phylosophers to her Schollers shee dyed being at the age of seuentie and seuen yeares and the Athenians after her death engraued on her graue these words THe slysed stones within their bowels keepe Wise Aretha the great and onely wight That forceth enuie gentle teares to weepe For Greekes decay on whom the losse doth light The eye of Fame the heart of vertues life The head of Greece lyes here engraued loe More heauenly forme then had that heauenlie wife Which vnderminde the Phrigies toyes with woe Within the chest of her vnspotted mind Lay Thyrmas truth and eke her honest faith Within her hand as by the gods assignde Stoode Aristippus penne that vertue wayeth Within the dungeon of her body eke Imprisoned was wise Socrates his soule That liued so well and did so wisely speake That follies brest he could to wisodome toule Within her head so ouer heapt with wit Lay Homers tongue to staine the Poets arte Erst was the golden age not halfe so fit For Vertues Impes as when her life did part As Marcus Varro sayth the sects of the Philosophers were more then seuenty but in the end they were reduced into seuen and in the end they were brought into three sects chiefly That is to say Stoickes Peripatetickes and Pythagoriques Of these Pythagoriques Pythagoras was the Prince Hizearcus Annius Rusticus and Laertius with Eusebius and Boccas all affirme one thing whereunto I did not greatly giue credite which is that this Phylosopher Pithagoras had a sister not onely learned but if it bee lawfull to speake it excellently learned And they say that not she of Pythagoras but Pythagoras of her learned phylosophy And of a truth it is a matter whereof I was so greatly abashed that I cannot tell who could bee maister of such a woman since shee had Pythagoras the great phylosopher to her Scholler The name of the woman was Thecclea to whom Pythagoras her brother wrot and sent her a letter when hee read phylosophy at Rhodes and she at Samothracia doing the like The Epistle was thus CHAP. XXIX Of a Letter which Pythagoras sent to his sister Theoclea hee beeing in Rhodes and shee in Sam othracia reading both Philosophie PYthagoras thy brother and Disciple to thee Theoclea his sister health encrease of wisedome wisheth I haue read the book which thou diddest send mee of fortune and misfortune from the beginning to the end and now I know that thou art no lesse graue in making then gracious in teaching The which doth not chance very oft vnto vs which are men and much lesse as wee haue seene to you women For the Philosopher Aristippus was rude in speaking but profound in writing and Amenides was briefe in writing and eloquent in speaking Thou hast studyed and written in such sort that in learning that thou shewest thou seemest to haue read all the Philosophers and in the antiquities that thou doest declare it seemeth that thou hast seene all
the time past Wherin thou being a woman shewest thy selfe more then a woman because the nature of women is to cast their eyes onely in that that is present and to forget that is past They tell me that thou doest occupy thy selfe now in writing of our Country And truely in this case I cannot say but that you haue matter enough to write on For the warres and trauels of our times haue beene such and so great that I had rather reade them in bookes then to see them with my eyes And if it bee so as I suppose it is I beseech thee heartily and by the immortall Gods I coniure thee that in writing the affayres of thy Countrey thou doest vse thy penne discreetely I meane that thou doe not in this case blemish thy writing by putting therein any flattery or lesing For oft times Historiographers in blasing more then truth the giftes of their Countrey cause worthily to be suspected their writing Thou knowest very well how that in the battell past the Rhodians were ouercome and that ours remained victorious Mee thinketh thou shouldst not in this case greatly magnifie extoll or exalt ours because in the end they fought to reuenge their iuiury neyther thou oughtest to blame the Rhodians for they did not fight but in the ayde of Rome I speake this my sister because for to defend their owne women shew themselues Lyons and for to defend the things of another man men shew themselus chickens For in the end hee onely may bee counted strong the which defendeth not his owne house but which dyeth defending his and another mans I will not deny the naturall loue of my Country nor I will not deny but that I loue them that write and speake well thereof but mee thinketh it is not reason that they should disprayse the goodnesse and truth of other Countries nor that they should so highly commend the euill and vilenesse of their owne For there is not in the world this day so barren a realme but may bee commended for something therein nor there is so perfect a nation but in somthings may be reproued Thou canst not deny me but that amōgst thy brethren I am the eldest and thou canst not deny but that amongst all thy Disciples I am the youngest and since that for being thy Disciple I ought to obey thee thou likewise for that I am thy eldest brother oughtest to beleeue me By the faith of a people I doe counsell thee my sister that thou do trauell much to be profound in thy words vpright in thy life and honest of thy person and besides all this true in thy writing For I let thee vnderstand that if the body of the man without the soule is little regarded I sweare vnto thee that the mouth of a man without truth is much lesse esteemed CHAP. XXX The Authour followeth his purpose perswading Princesses and other Ladies to endeauour themselues to be wise as the women were in olde time THis therefore was the letter which Pythagoras sent to his sister Theoclea whereby is shewed the great humility of him and the hie eloquence of her Hierchus the Greeke and Plutarch also in the booke of the gouernement of Princes say that Pythagaras had not onely a sister which was called Theoclea of whom he learned so much Philosophy but also he had a daughter the wisedome and knowledge of whom surmounted her Aunt and was equall to her Father I thinke it no lesse incredible which is spoken of the daughter then that which is spoken of the Aunt which is that those of Athens did reioyce more to heare her speake in her house then for to heare Pythagoras reade in the Schoole And it ought to bee beleeued for the saying of the graue Authours on the one part and by that wee daily see on the other part For in the end it is more pleasure to heare a man tell mery tales hauing grace and comelynes in his words then to heare a graue man speake the truth with a rude and rough tongue I haue found in many writings what they haue spoken of Pythagoras and his Daughter but none telleth her name saue only in an Epistle that Phalaris the Tyrant wrote I found this worde written where hee saith Polychrata that was the Daughter of the Phylosopher Pythagoras was young and exceeding wise more faire then rich and was so much honoured for the puritie of her life and so highly esteemed for her pleasaunt Tongue that the word which shee spake spinning at her Distaffe was more esteemed then the Phylosophie that her Father read in the schoole And he saide more It is so great a pittie to see and heare that women at this present are so dishonest and in their tongues so malicious that I haue greater pleasure in the good renowme of one that is dead then in the infamie of all them which are aliue For a good woman is more worth with her distaffe spinning then a hundred euill Queenes with their royall Scepters reigning By the words which Phalaris said in his letter it seemed that this Daughter of Pythagoras was called Polichrate Pythagoras therefore made manie Commentaryes as well of his owne countrey as of strangers In the end he dyed in Mesopotamia where at the houre of his death hee spake vnto his Daughter Polichrate and saide these wordes I see my Daughter that the houre wherein I must ende my life approcheth The Gods gaue it mee and now they will take it from mee Nature gaue me byrth and now shee giueth me death the Earth gaue me the bodie and now it returneth to ashes The woefull Fatall destenyes gaue mee a little goods mingled with many trauells So that Daughter of al things which I enioyed here in this world I carrie none with mee For hauing all as I had it by the way of borrowing now at my death eache man taketh his owne I die ioyfully not for that I leaue thee rich but for that I leaue thee learned And in token of my tender heart I bequeathe vnto thee all my Bookes wherein thou shalt finde the treasure of all my trauells And I tell thee that that I giue thee is the riches gotten with mine owne sweate and not obtained to the preiudice of another For the loue I beare vnto thee Daughter I pray thee and by the immortall Gods I conjure thee that thou bee such and so good that although I die yet at the least thou mayst keepe my memorie For thou knowest well what Homer sayth speaking of Achilles and Pyrrhus That the good life of the Childe that is aliue keepeth the renowne of the Father which is dead These were the wordes which the Phylosopher spake to his daughter lying in his death bed And thogh perhaps hee spake not these wordes yet at the least this was the effect and meaning As the great Poet Mantuan sayth King Euander was father of the grant Pallas and he was a great friend of king Eneas he vaunted himselfe to
so woful that each wise man without comparison would haue greater pleasure to bee in the wars of Affricke then in the peace at Rome For in the good war a man seeth of whom he should take heed but in the euill peace no man knoweth whom to trust Therefore my children since you are naturall of Rome I will tell you what Rome is at this present I let you know that the Vestall virgins are now dissolute the honour of the gods is forgotten the profite of the Common weale no man secketh of the exercise of chiualrie there is no memory for the orphanes and widdowes there is no man doth answer to minister iustice they haue no regard and the dissolute vices of the youth are without measure Finally Rome that in times past was a receite of all the good and vertuous is now made a denne of all theeues and vitious I feare me I feare me lest our mother Rome in short time will haue some sudden and great fall for both men and Cities that fal from the top of their felicitie purchase greater infamie with those that shal come after then the glory that they haue had of them that be past Peraduenture my children you desire to see the walles and buildings of Rome for those things which children see first in their youth the same they loue and keepe alwayes in memory vntill their age As the auncient buildings of Rome are destroied and the few that are now built So would I you should lose your earnest affection to come to see them For indeede the noble hearts are ashamed to see that thing amisse which they cannot remedie Do not thinke my children though Rome be made worse in manners that therefore it is diminished in buildings For I let you vnderstand if you know it not that if a wall doth decay there is no man that doth repayre it If a house fall there is no man that will rayse it vppe againe If a streete bee foule there is no man that will make it cleane If the Riuer carry away any bridge there is no man that will set it vp againe If any Antiquity decay there is no man that will amend it If any wood be cut there is no man that wil keepe it If the Trees waxe olde there is no man that will plant them a new If the pauement of the streetes bee broken there is no man that will laye it againe Finally there is nothing in Rome at this day so euill handled as those things which by the common voyces are ordered These things my children though I doe greatly lament as it is reason yet you ought little to esteeme them all but this all onely ought to bee esteemed and with droppes of bloud to be lamented That now in Rome when the buildings in many places fall downe the vices all wholy together are raysed vp O wofull mother Rome since that in thee the more the wals decay the more the vices encrease Peraduenture my children since you are in those frontiers of Africke you desire to see your parents here in Rome And there at I maruell not for the loue which our naturall Country doth giue the strange country cannot take away All those which come from those parties doe bring vs no other certaine newes but of the multitude of those which die and are slaine in Affricke therefore since you send vs such news from thence looke not that we should send you any other then the like from hence for death hath such authority that it killeth the armed in the warres and slayeth the quiet in peace I let you know that Licia your sister is dead Drusio your vnckle is dead Torquatus your neighbour is dead His wise our cosen and her 3. daughters are dead Fabius your great friend is dead Euander and his children are dead Bibulus which read for me in the chaire the last yeare is also dead Finally there are so many and so good with all that be dead that it is a great shame and pitty to see at this present so many euil as do liue know ye my children that all these and many others which ye left aliue full high in Rome are now become wormes meat full low vnder the earth and death also doth summon me vnto the graue If you my children did consider what shall become of you hereafter truely you will thinke it better to weepe a thousand yeares with the dead then to laugh one houre with those that be aliue Remembring that I bare yee in great paine and haue nourished you in great trauel that yee came of my proper entrailes I would haue you as children about me for the comfort and consolation of my paines but in the end beholding the prowesses of these that are past that bindeth their heires I am content to suffer so long absēce your persons onely to the end you may gette honour in chiualrie for I had rather heare tell you should liue like knights in Affricke then to see you vtterly lost here in Rome My children as you are in the wars of Affricke so I doubt not but that you desire to see the pleasurs of Rome for there is no man in this world so happy but at his neighbours prosperity had som enuy enuy not the vicious neyther desire to bee among vices for truly vices are of such condition that they bring not with thē so much pleasure as they leaue sorrow behind them for the true delight is not in pleasure which suddenly vanisheth but in the truth which euer remaineth I thanke the gods for all these things first for that they made me wise and not foolish for to a woman it is a smal matter to be called so fraile that indeed she bee not foolish The second I thank the gods because in all times of my troubles they haue giuen me patience to endure them for the man onely in this life may be called vnhappie to whom the gods in his troubles giueth not patiēce The 3. I thanke the gods for that those 65. years which I haue liued I neuer hitherto was defamed For the Woman by no reason can complaine of her fortune if in none of her troubles shee hath lost her honour The fourth I thanke the Gods that in this fortie yeares I haue liued in Rome and remained widow there was neuer man nor woman that contended with mee For since we women little profite the commonwealth it is but reason that shee which with euill demeanors hath passed her life should by iustice receiue her death The fifth I giue the Gods thankes that they gaue me children the which are better contented to suffer the trauells of Affrike then to enioy the pleasures of Rome Doe not count me my Children for so vnlouing a Mother that I would not haue you alwaies before mine eyes but considering that many good mens children haue been lost onely for being brought vp in the excessiue pleasures of Rome I doe content my selfe with your absence For
weight and measure plentifull and chiefly if there be good doctrine for the young and little couetousnesse in the old Affro the Historiographer declareth this in the tenth booke De rebus Atheniensium Truly in my opinion the words of this philosopher were few but the sentences were many And for none other cause I did bring in this history but to profite mee of the last word wherein for aunswere hee sayeth that all the profite of the Common wealth consisteth in that there be princes that restraine the auarice of the aged and that there bee Masters to teach the youthfull We see by experience that if the brute beasts were not tyed and the corne and seedes compassed with hedges or ditches a man shold neuer gather the fruit when they are ripe I meane the strife and debate will rise continually among the people if the yong men haue not good fathers to correct them and wise masters to teach them Wee cannot deny but though the knife be made of fine steele yet sometimes it hath neede to bee whet and so in like manner the young man during the time of his youth though he doe not deserue it yet from time to time hee ought to bee corrected O Princes and great Lords I know not of whom you take counsell when your sonne is borne to prouide him of a Master and gouernour whom you chuse not as the most vertuous but as the most richest not as the most sagest but as the most vile and euill taught Finally you doe not trust him with your children that best deserueth it but that most procureth it Againe I say O princes and great Lords why doe you not withdraw your children from their hands which haue their eyes more to their owne profite then their hearts vnto your seruice For such to enrich themselus doe bring vp princes viciously Let not Princes thinke that it is a trifle to know how to finde and chuse a good Master and the Lord which herein doth not employ his diligence is worthy of great rebuke And because they shall not pretend ignorance let them beware of that man whose life is suspitious and extreame couetous In my opinion in the pallace of princes the office of Tutorshippe ought not to be giuen as other common offices that is to say by requests or money by priuities or importunities eyther else for recompence of seruices for it followeth not though a man hath beene Ambassadour in strange Realms or captaine of great Armies in warre or that hee hath possessed in the royall pallace Offices of honour or of estimation that therefore he should bee able to teach or bring vp their children For to bee a good Captaine sufficeth onely to be hardy and fortunate but for to bee a Tutour and gouernour of Princes hee ought to be both sage and vertuous CHAP. XXXV Of the two children of Marcus Aurelius the Emperour of the which the best beloued dyed And of the Masters he prouided for the other named Comodus MArcus Aurelius the 17. Emperour of Rome in the time that hee was married with Faustine onely daughter of the Emperour Antonius Pius had onely two sonnes whereof the eldest was named Comodus and the second Verissimus Of these two children the heyre was Comodus who was so wicked in the 13. yeares he gouerned the Empire that hee seemed rather the Disciple of Nero the cruell then to discend by the mothers side from Antonius the mercifull or sonne of Marcus Aurelius This wicked child Comodus was so light in speech so dishonest in person and so cruell with his people that oft-times hee being aliue they layed wagers that there was no vertue in him to bee found nor any one vice in him that wanted On the contrary part the second sonne named Verissimus was comely of gesture proper of person and in witte very temperate and the most of all was that by his good conuersation of all hee was beloued For the fayre and vertuous Princes by their beauty draweth vnto them mens eyes and by their good conuersation they winne their hearts The child Verissimus was the hope of the common people and the glory of his aged Father so that the Emperor determined that this child Verissimus should bee heyre of the Empire and that the Prince Commodus should bee dishenherited Wherat no man ought to maruell for it is but iust since the childe dooth not amend his life that the father doe dishenherite him When good will doth want and vicious pleasures abound the children oft times by peruerse fortune come to nought So this Marcus Aurelius being 52. yeares old by chance this childe Verissimus which was the glory of Rome and the hope of the Father at the gate of Hostia of a sodaine sicknesse dyed The death of whom was as vniuersally lamented as his life of all men was desired It was a pittifull thing to see how wofully the Father tooke the death of his entirely beloued son and no lesse lamentable to beholde how the Senate tooke the death of their Prince being the heyre for the aged Father for sorrow did not go to the Senate and the Senate for a few dayes enclosed themselues in the hie Capitoll And let no man maruell though the death of this young Prince was so taken through Rome for if men knew what they lose when they lose a vertuous Prince they would neuer cease to bewayle and lament his death When a Knight a Gentleman a Squire an Officer or when any of the people dyeth there dyeth but one but when a Prince dyeth which was good for all and that he liued to the profite of all then they ought to make account that all do dye they ought all greatly to lament it for oft times it chanceth that after 2. or 3. good Princes a foule flocke of Tyrants succeede Therfore Marcus Aurelius the Emperor as a man of great vnderstanding and of a princely person though the inward sorrow from the rootes of the heart could not bee plucked yet hee determined to dissemble outwardly to bury his grieues inwardly For to say the truth none ought for any thing to shewe extreame sorrow vnlesse it be that hee hath lost his honour or that his conscience is burdened The good Prince as one that hath his vineyarde frozen wherein was all his hope contented with himselfe with that which remaineth his so deerly beloued sonne being dead and commaunded the Prince Comodus to be brought into his pallace being his onely heire Iulius Capitolinus which was one of those that wrote of the time of Marcus Aurelius saide vpon this matter that when the Father saw the disordinate frailenesse and lightnes and also the little shame which the prince Comodus his Sonne brought with him the aged man beganne to weepe and shed teares from his eyes And it was because the simplenesse and vertues of his deere beloued Sonne Verissimus came into his minde Although this Noble Emperour Marcus Aurelius for the death of
of Hostia and his mother Faustine other two yeares brought him vp wantonly in Capua Howbeit this was a sufficient excuse I would as a pittiful father if I could giue him correction at the least this twenty yeares For I sweare by the immortall gods that to a Prince that shall bee an enheritor one yeeres punishment is more worth then twentie yeares of vaine pleasure Since the Nurses which giueth the Children sucke knoweth little and since the Mothers that bare them doe loue them much and since the childe peraduenture as yet is but of a weake vnderstanding they are occupyed about the thinges that are present considering that chastisemeÌ„t is much more better for him then pleasure But the wise man which hath vnderstanding ought to thinke of that that is past and by much wisdome to prouide for that which is to come For he cannot be counted wise thaâ—â—â—ely in one thing is carefull 〈…〉 Comodus was borne the last 〈◊〉 of August in a Cittie by Danuby 〈◊〉 shall not forget the day that the Gods gaue him vnto me nor yet this day in the which I commit him vnto you Of greater reason I should remember that day wherein I put him to be taught then the day which I saw him to be borne For the Gods gaue him mee as I gaue him to you mortall since hee is a man but you shall restore him againe vnto me and I likewise him to the Gods as immortall if hee be wise What will you I say more vnto you but if you regarde that any thing at all which I say you will regarde much more this which I will say When the Gods determined that I should haue a childe of my wife and that my woful destenies deserued that I shold haue such a childe truely the Gods made me a man in the spirite and I begote him a beast among the beasts in the flesh But if you will you may make him a God among the Gods by science For Princes winne infamie for being fierce and selfe willed but they get good renowne for beeing wise and pacient I would you should applie this businesse well and therefore it is necessarie that you examine him oft For it is a generall rule that the pretious iewell is little regarded when hee which hath it knoweth not the value thereof I require that you answere mee in this one thing What did I giue vnto my sonne Comodus when the Gods gaue him mee but fraile and mortall flesh by the corruption whereof his life shall end but you shall giue him high doctrine whereby hee shall alwayes deserue perpetuall memory For the good renowne is not gotten by that the weake flesh doth but by that the high vnderstanding imagineth and by that the curious hart executeth O if this tender age knew what I gaue to his weake flesh and if his dull vnderstanding could come to the true wisedome which you may giue him he would call you his right fathers and mee but his steppe father For he is the true Father that giueth vs doctrine to liue and hee is but an vniust stepfather that giueth vs flesh to die Certainely the naturall Fathers of children are but their owne open enemies and cruell stepfathers since we giue them such dull vnderstanding so weake a memory a will so froward life so short flesh so frayle honour so costly health so vncertain riches so troublesome prosperitie so scarce and death so fearefull Finally wee giue them a Nature subiect to infinite alterations and great misfortunes Reason would not you should little regarde that which I commit vnto your iudgement that is to say that you haue the charge of Comodus my sonne For the thing that Princes ought chiefly to foresee is to whome they ought to recommend the gouernement of their children To bee a Master and Tutour of a Prince in the earth is to haue an office of the Gods which are in heauen because hee gouerneth him that ought to gouerne vs he teacheth him that ought to teach vs hee chastneth him that ought to chasten vs. Finally hee commaundeth one that ought to command all What will you that I say more vnto you Truely hee that hath the charge to teach the children of Princes and great Lords is as the Gouernour of the shippe Standard of a Battell a defence of the peovle a guide of the Wayes a father of the Orphanes the hope of Pupils and a Treasurer of all For there is no other true Treasure in the Common wealth but the prince which doth maintaine and keepe it in good peace and perfect iustice I will tell you furthermore to the end you shall esteeme it more that when I doe giue you my sonne to teach I giue you more then if I gaue you all the riches of the Realme For in him that hath the reformation of the Childes life dependeth the fame of the Father after that hee is dead So that the Father hath no greater renowme then to see his Childe leade an honest life I pray the gods that they may bee so mercifull and the fatal destinies so fortunate that if till this time you haue watched to teach the children of others that froÌ„ hence forward you watch to teach this my sonne Comodus which I trust shall be to the comfort of all For the thing which is vniuersally good to all ought for to bee preferred before that which tendeth but to the profite and commodity of some You see my friends that there is a greate difference to teach the children of Princes and to teach the children of the people and the cause hereof is the greatest part of those come to schooles vniuersities to learne to speake but I do not giue you my sonne Comodus to the end you should teach him to speake many words but that you should learne him to doe good works For all the glory of the Princes is that in the workes which he doth he be vpright and in the words that hee speaketh he be very discreet After that the children haue spent many yeares in Schooles after their fathers haue spent much money vpon them if perchance the child can dispute in Greeke or Latine any thing at all though hee bee light and vicious the Father thinketh his goods well imployed for in Rome now a dayes they esteeme an Orator more which can nought but babble then a Philosopher which is vertuous O wofull men that now liue in Rome and much more wofull shall those be which hereafter shall succeede for Rome is no more that Rome which it was wont to be that is to say that the Fathers in olde time sent their children to Schooles and studies to learne them to bee silent and now they send them to learne to speake too much They learned them then to bee sage and temperate and now they learne them to bee dissolute And the worst of all is that the Schooles where the sage and patient were wont to be and from whence issued the good
of counsel they themselues imagine and other flattrers telleth that thogh they haue much in respect of other princes yet they can doe little Also they say vnto them that if their substaunce bee great their Fame ought to bee greater Further they tell them that the good Prince ought little to esteeme that hee hath inherited of his predecessors in respect of the great deale more hee ought to leaue to his successours Also they tell them that neuer prince left of him any great memory but inuenting some cruell Warre against his enemie Also they tell them that the houre that one is chosen Emperour of Rome hee may boldely conquer the whole earth These vaine reasons being heard of the princes afterwardes as their Fortune is base and their mindes high immediately they defie their enemies they open their Treasures they assemble great armies and in the end of all the Gods suffer that they thinking to tkae an other mans goods they waste and lose their owne Oh Princes I knowe not who doth deceyue yee that you which by peace may be rich and by war wil be poore Oh Princes I know not who doth deceiue you that you which may be loued doe seeke occasions to be hated Oh princes I knowe not who doth beguyle yee that yee which may enioy a sure life doe aduenture your selues to the mutabilitie of Fortune Oh princes I knowe not who doeth deceyue you that you so little esteeme and weigh your owne aboundance and so greatly set by the wants of others Oh princes I know not who doth deceiue you that all hauing need of you you should haue neede of others I let thee to knowe my Cornelius though a prince bee more quicke and carefull then all other his predecessors haue bin in Rome yet it is vnpossible that all things touching warre should succeede vnto him prosperously For in the greatest neede of warres eyther he wanteth money or his subiects do not succour him or time is contrarie vnto him or he findeth perilous pasges hee lacketh Artillerie or the captaines rebell or else succour commeth to his aduersaryes so that hee seeth himselfe so miserable that thoughtes doe more oppresse his heart then the enemies do harme his land Though a prince had no warre but for to suffer men of warre yet he ought to take vpon him no warre I aske thee now my Cornelius what trauell so great to his person or what greater damage to his Realme can his Enemies do then that which his own men of warre doe c The Enemies to doe the worst they can will but robbe our Frontiers but our men of War do robbe the whole countrey The Enemies we dare and may resist but to ours we cannot nor dare not speake The Enemyes the worst they can do is once in a moneth to robbe and runne their wayes but ours daily do robbe and remaine still The Enemyes feare their enemies only but ours doe feare their enemyes and haue no pitie on their friends The enemies the further they goe on the more they diminish but ours the further they goe the more they encrease I know no greater warre that Princes can haue then to haue men of warre in their realmes For as experience doth shew vs before the Gods they are culpable to Princes importunate and to the people troublesome so that they liue to the damage of all and to the profit of none By the God Mars I swear vnto thee my friend Cornelius as hee may direct my hands in the war that I haue more complaints in the Senate of the thefts which my Captaines did in Illyria then of all the enemies of the Romane people Both for that I say and for that I kept secret I am more afraid to create an Ensigne of two hundred men of warre then to giue a cruell battell to thirty thousand men For that battell fortune good or euill forthwith dispacheth but with these I can bee sure no time of all my life Thou wilt say vnto me Cornelius that since I am Emperour of Rome I should remedy this since I know it For that Prince which dissembleth with the fault of another by reason hee will condemne him as if it were his owne To this I answere that I am not mighty enough to remedy it except by my remedy there should spring a greater inconuenience And since thou hast not beene a Prince thou couldest not fall into that I haue nor yet vnderstand that which I say For Princes by their wisdom know many things the which to remedy they haue no power So it hath beene so it is so it shall be so I found it so I keepe it so will I leaue it them so I haue reade it in bookes so haue I seen it with my eyes so haue I heard it of my predecessors And finally I say our Fathers haue inuented it and so will wee their children sustaine it and for this euill wee will leaue it to our heyres I will tell thee one thing and imagine that I erre not therein which is considering the great dammage and little profite which men of warre do bring to our Common wealth I thinke to doe it and to sustaine it eyther it is the folly of men or a scourge giuen of the Gods For there can be nothing more iust then for the Gods to permit that wee feele that in our owne houses which wee cause others in strange houses to lament All those thinges I haue written vnto thee not for that it skileth greatly that I know them but that my heart is at ease for to vtter them For as Alcibiades sayde the chests and the hearts ought alwayes to be open to their friends Panutius my Secretary goeth in my behalfe to visite that Land and I gaue him this Letter to giue thee with two Horses wherewith I doe thinke thou wilt be contented for they are Genets The Weapons and riches which I tooke of the Parthians I haue now diuided notwithstanding I do send thee two Chariots laden with them My wife Faustine greeteth thee and shee sendeth a rich glasse for thy Daughter and a iewell with stones for thy sister No more but I doe beseech the gods to giue thee a good life and me a good death CHAP. XVII An Admonition of the Author to Princes and great Lordes to the entent that the more they grow in yeares the more they are bound to refrayne from vices AVlus Gelius in his booke De noctibus Atticis sayeth that there was an auncient custome among the Romanes to honour and haue in great reuerence aged men And this was so inuiolate a Law amongst them that there was none so noble of bloud and linage neyther so puissant in riches neyther so fortunate in battels that should go before the aged men which were loden with white hayres so that they honoured them as they did the Gods Amongst other the aged men had these preheminences that is to say that in feasts they sate highest in the
but he that spendeth it in Apparel not requisite to seeke delitious Wines and to eate delicate meates To such a one I would say that the pouertie which he suffereth is not sufficient for his deserts For of all troubles there is none so great as to see a man suffer the euil whereof hee himselfe hath bin the occasion Also according to the counsell of Seneca the Auncients ought to be wel aduertised in that they should not only be temperate in eating but likewise they should be sober in drinking and this both for the preseruation of theyr health as also for the reputation of their honestie For if the olde physitians doe not deceyue vs humaine bodyes doe drye and corrupt because they drinke superfluously and eate more then Nature requireth If I should say vnto the olde men that they should drinke no wine they might tell mee that it is not the counsell of a Christian But presuppose they ought to drinke and that for no opinion they should leaue it yet I admonish exhorte and desire them that they drinke little and that they drinke very temperate For the disordinate and immeasurate drinking causeth the young men to be drunke and the olde men both drunke and foolish Oh howe much authoritie lost they and what grauitie doe honorable and ancient men lose which in drinking are not sober Which seemeth to be true forasmuch as the man being loden with wine although he were the wisest in the world he should bee a very foole that would take counsel of such one in his affaires Plutarche in a booke which he made of the Fortunes of the Romaines saied that in the Senate of Rome there was an Auncient man who made great exclametions that a certaine young man hadde in such heinous sort dishonoured him that for the iniuryes hee had spoken he deserued death And when the yong man was called for to answere to that he had said vnto him he answered Fathers conscript though I seeme young vnto you yet I am not so young but that I knew the Father of this olde man who was a vertuous and noble Romane and somewhat a kinne to mee And I seeing that his Father had gotten much goods fighting in the warres and also seeing this oldeman spending them in eating and drinking I sayde vnto him one day I am very sorry my Lord and vncle for that I heare of thy honour in the market place and am the more sorry for that I see done in thy house wherein we saw fifty men armed before in our houre and now wee see a hundred knaues made drunke And worse then that as thy Father shewed to all those that entered into his house the Ensignes hee had wonne in the Warres so now to those that enter into thy house thou shewest them diuers sorts of Wines My vncle complayned of mee but in this case I make the Plaintife iudge against mee the defendant And I would by the immortall Gods hee deserued no more paine for his workes then I deserue by my words For if hee had been wise he would haue accepted the correction which secretely I gaue him and had not come openly to declare his faults in the Senate The complaint of the old man being heard by the Senate and the excuse in like manner of the yong-man they gaue iudgement that they should take all the goods from the olde man and prouide him of a Tutour which should gouerne him and his house And they commaunded the Tutour That from hence forward hee should not giue him one cuppe of Wine since hee was noted of drunkennesse Of truth the sentence which the Senate gaue was very iust For the olde man which giueth himselfe to wine hath as much neede to haue a Gouernour as an Infant or a foole Laertius made a booke of the Feasts of Philosophers and declareth sundry auncient banquets among the which hee putteth one where were assembled many great Philosophers And admit that the meates were meane and simple yet the bidden guests were sage And the cause why they did assemble was not to eate but to dispute of some graue doctrines whereof the Philosophers did somewhat doubt For in those dayes the greater the Stoyckes and the Peripatetikes were in number so much the more were the Philosophers diuided amongst themselues When they were so assembled truly they did not eate nor drinke out of measure but some pleasant matter was moued betweene the masters and the schollers betweene the young and the olde that is to say which of them could declare any secret of Philosophy or any profounde sentence O happy were such feasts and no lesse happy were they that thether were bidden But I am sorry that those which now bidde and those that are bidden for a truth are not as those Ancients were For there are no feastes now a dayes of Philosophers but of gluttons not to dispute but for to murmure not to open doubtfull things but to talke of the vices of others not to confirme auncient amities but to beginne new dissentions not to learne any doctrines but to approue some nouelty And that which worst of all is the old striue at the table with the yong not on him which hath spoken the most grauest sentence but of him which hath drunke most wine and hath rinsed most cups Paulus Diaconus in the history of the Lumbards declareth that foure olde Lumbards made a banquet in the which the one dranke to the others yeares and it was in this manner They made defyance to drinke two to two and after each man had declared how many yeares olde hee was the one dranke as many times as the other was yeeres olde and likewise his companion pledged him And one of these foure companions had at the least 58. yeares the second 63 the third 87. the fourth 92. so that a man knoweth not what they did eate in this banquet eyther little or much but wee know that hee that dranke least dranke 58. cups of wine Of this so euill custome came the Gothes to make this Law which of many is read and of a few vnderstood where it sayeth We ordaine and commaund on paine of death that no olde man drinke to the others yeares being at the table That was made because they were so much giuen to Wine that they dranke more oft then they did eate morsels The Princes and great lords which now are old ought to be very sober in drinking since they ought greatly to be regarded honoured of the yong For speaking the truth and with liberty when the olde man shall be ouercome with wine hee hath more necessity that the young man leade him by the arme to his house then that hee should take off his cappe vnto him with reuerence Also Princes and great Lordes ought to bee very circumspect that when they become aged they bee not noted for young in the apparrel which they weare For although hat for wearing a fine and riche garment the Prince
no sporte nor lightnes inuented in Rome but first it is registred in your house And finally they say that you giue your selues so vnto pleasures as though you neuer thought to receyue displeasures O Claude and Claudine by the God Iupiter I sweare vnto you that I am ashamed of your vnshamefastnes and am greatly abashed of your manners and aboue all I am exceedingly grieued for your offence For at that time that you ought to lift your hands you are returned againe into the filth of the world Manie things men commit which though they seeme graue yet by moderation of the person that cōmitteth them they are made light but speaking according to the truth I finde one reason whereby I might excuse your lightes but to the contrarie I see tenne whereby I may condemne your follies Solon the Phylosopher in his Lawes said to the Athenians that if the young offended hee should be gently admonished and grieuously punished because he was strong and if the olde erre hee should bee lightly punished and sharply admonished sith hee was weake and feeble To this Lycurgus in his lawes to the Lacedemonians sayd contrarie That if the young did offend hee should be lightly punished and grieuously admonished since through ignorance he did erre and the olde man which did euill should bee lightly admonished and sharply punished since thorough malice hee did offend These two phylosophers beeing as they haue bin of such authority in the worlde that is past and considering that their lawes and sentences were of such weight it should bee much rashnes in not admitting the one of them Now not receiuing the one nor rereprouing the other Mee thinketh that there is no great excuse to the young for their ignorance and great condemnation to the aged for their experience Once againe I returne to say that you pardon me my friends and you ought not greatly to weigh it thogh I am somewhat sharpe in condemnation since you others are so dissolute in your liues for of your blacke life my penne doth take inke I remember wel that I haue heard of thee Claude that thou hast beene lusty and couragious in thy youth so that thy strength of all was enuyed and the beauty of Claudine of all men was desired I will not write vnto you in this letter my friends and neighbours nether reduce to memory how thou Claude hast employed thy forces in the seruice of the comonwealth and thou Claudine hast won much honor of thy beauty for sundry times it chāced that men of many goodly giftes are noted of grieuous offences Those which striued with thee are all dead those whom thou desirest are deade those which serued thee Claudine are dead those which before thee Claudine sighed are dead those which for thee dyed are now dead and since all those are deade with theyr lightnesse doe not you others thinke to die and your follies also I doe demand now of thy youth one thing and of thy beauty another thing what do you receiue of these pastims of these good entertainements of these aboundances of these great contentations of the pleasures of the world of the vanitie that is past and what hope you of all these to carry into the narrow graue O simple simple and ignoraunt persons how our life consumeth and wee perceiue not how wee liue therein For it is no felicitie to enioy a short or long life but to know to employ the same eyther well or euill O children of the earth and Disciples of vanitie now you know that Time flyeth without mouing his wings the life goeth without lifting vp his feete the World dispatcheth vs not telling vs the cause men doe beguile vs not mouing their lippes our flesh consumeth to vs vnawares the heart dyeth hauing no remedie and finally our glorie decaieth as it it had neuer beene and death oppresseth vs without knocking at the dore Though a man be neuer so simple or so very a foole yet hee cannot deny but it is impossible for to make a fire in the bottome of the sea to make a way in the ayre of the thinne bloud to make rough sinewes and of the soft veines to make hard bones I meane that it is vnpossible that the greene flower of youth be not one day withered by age CHAP. XX. The Emperour followeth his Letter and perswadeth Claudius and Claudinus being now olde to giue no more credite to the World nor to any of his deceitfull flatteryes THat which I haue spoken now tendeth more to aduertise the young then to teach the olde For you others haue now passed the prime time of childhood the summer of youth and the haruest of adolescency and are in the winter of age where it seemeth an vncomely thing that those your hoary haires should bee accompanied with such vaine follies Sithens young men know not that they haue to end their youth it is no maruell that they follow the world but the olde men which see themselues fall into this guile why will they runne after vices againe O world for that thou art the world so smal is our force so great our debilitie that thou willing it and we not resisting it thou dost swallow vs vp in the most perillous gulfe and in the thornes most sharpe thou dost pricke vs by the priuiest wayes thou leadest vs by the most stony waies thou carriest vs. I meane that thou bringest vs to the highest fauours to the end that afterwards with a push of thy pike thou mightest ouerthrow vs. O world wherein all is worldly two and fifty yeeares haue passed since in thee I was first borne during which time thou neuer toldest mee one truth but I haue taken thee with ten thousand lyes I neuer demanded the thing but thou diddest promise it me and yet it is nothing at all that euer thou diddest perform I neuer put my trust in thee but euer thou beguiledst me I neuer came to thee but thou diddest vndoo me finally neuer saw I ought in thee wherby thou deseruest loue but alwayes hatred This presupposed I know not what is in thee O world or what we worldlings want for if thou hatest vs we cannot hate thee if thou doest vs iniury we can dissemble it if thou spurne vs with thy feet wee wil suffer it if thou beatest vs with a staffe wee wil hold our peace also though thou persecutest vs we will not complain though thou take ours wee will not demand it of thee though thou dost beguile vs we will not call ourselues beguiled and the worst of all is that thou doest chase vs from thy house yet we will not depart from thence I know not what this meaneth I know not from whence this commeth I know not who ought to prayse this same that wee couet to follow the world which wil none of vs and hate the gods which loue vs oft times I make account of my yeares past somtimes also I turne and tosse my booke to see what
banishment I did helpe him with money and moreouer he was banished another time for the lightnes hee did commit in the night in the Citie and I maruell not hereof For we see by experience that Olde men which are fleshed in vices are more obstinate to correct then the young Oh what euill fortune haue the old men which haue suffered themselues to waxe olde in vice For more dangerous is the fire in an old house then in a newe and a great cut of a sword is not so perillous as a rotten Fistula Though olde men were not honest and vertuous for the seruice of the Gods and the commonwealth for the saying of the people nor for the example of the young yet he ought to bee honest if it were but for the reuerence of their yeares If the poore old man haue no teeth how shall he eate If he haue no heate in his stomacke how can he disgest If hee haue no taste how can he drinke if he be not strong how can hee be an adulterer if he haue no feet how can he goe if he haue the palsey how can he speake if he haue the gowte in his hands how can he play Finally such like worldly vicious men haue employed their forces being young desirous to proue al these vices and when they are old it grieueth thē extreamly that they cānot acomplish their desire Amongst all these faultes in olde men in myne opinion this is the chiefest that since they haue proued all things that they should still remaine in theyr obstinate follie There is no parte but they haue trauelled no villanie but they haue essayed no Fortune but they haue proued no good but they haue persecuted no euill but hath chanced vnto them nor there is any wickednes but they haue attēpted These vnhappie men which in this sort haue spent all their youth haue in the ende theyr combes cut with infirmities and diseases yet they are not so much grieued with the vices which in them doe abound to hinder them from vertues as they are tormented for want of corporall courage to further them in their lustes Oh if wee were Gods or that they would giue vs licence to knowe the thoughtes of the olde as wee see with our eyes the deedes of the young I sweare to the God Mars and also to the Mother Berecynthia that without comparison wee would punish more the wicked desires which the aged haue to be wicked then the light deedes of the young Tell mee Claude and Claudine doe you thinke though you behaue your selues as young you shall not seme to be olde Knowe you not that our nature is the corruption of our bodie and that our bodie hindereth our vnderstandings and that the vnderstandings are kept of our soule and that our soule is the mother of desires and that our desires are the scourge of our youth and that our youth is the ensigne of our age and age the spye of death and that death in the end is the house where life taketh his harbor from whēce youth flyeth a foot frō whence age cānot escape a horseback I would reioyce that you Claude and Claudine would but tell mee what you finde in this life that so much therwith you should be contented since no we you haue passed foure-score yeares of life during the which time either you haue bin wicked in the worlde or else you haue bin good If you haue bin good you ought to thinke it long vntill you bee with the good Gods if you haue bin euill it is iust you dye to the ende you be no worse For speaking the truth those which in threescore and ten yeares haue bin wicked in workes leaue small hope of their amendment of life Adrian my Lord beeing at Nola in Campania one brought vnto him a nephew of his from the studie whereas the yong childe had not profited a little for hee became a great Grecian and Latinist and moreouer hee was faire gratious and honest And this Emperour Adrian loued his Nephew so much that he saide vnto him these wordes My Nephewe I knowe not whether I ought to say vnto thee that thou art good or euill For if thou be euill life shall be euill employed on thee and if thou be good thou oughtest to dye immediately and because I am worse then all I liue longer then all These words which Adrian my Lord said doe plainly declare and expresse that in short space the pale and cruell death doth assault the good and lengtheneth life a great while to the euill The opinion of a phylosopher was that the gods are so profound in their secrets high in their mysteries and so iust in their works that to men which least profite the commonwealth they lengthen life longest and though he had not saide it we others see it by experience For the man which is good and that beareth great zeale friendship to the Commonwealth eyther the Gods take him from vs or the Enemyes doe slay him or the daungers doe cast him away or the trauells doe finish him When the great Pompeyus and Iulius Caesar became enemyes and from that enmitie came to cruell warres the Gronicles of the time declare that the kings and people of the occidental part became in he fauour of Iulius Caesar and the mightiest and most puissant of al the oriental parts came in the ayde of great Pompeius because these two Princes were loued of a few and serued and feared of all Amongst the diuersity and sundry nations of people which came out of the Orientall part into the hoast of the great Pompeius one nation came maruellous and cruell barbarous which sayde they dwelled on the other side of the mountaine Riphees which goe vnto India And these Barbarians had a Custome not to liue no longer then fifty yeares and therefore when they came to that age they made a greater fire and were burned therin aliue and of their owne wils they sacrificed themselues to the Gods Let no man be astonied at that we haue spoken but rather let them maruell of that wee will speake that is to say that the same day any man had accōplished fifty yeares immediately hee cast himselfe quicke into the fire and his friends made a great feast And the feast was that they did eate the flesh of the dead halfe burned and dranke in wine and water the ashes of his bones so that the stomacke of the childrē being aliue was the graue of the Fathers being dead All this that I haue spoken with my tongue Pompeius hath seene with his eyes for that some being in the camp did accomplish fifty yeares and because the case was strange hee declared it oft in the Senate Let euery man iudge in this case what he will and condemne the barbarians at his pleasure yet I will not cease to say what I thinke O golden world which had such men O blessed people of whom in the World to ome shall be
and not of necessity weareth his gowne all to torne his shooes out his points without agglets an euill fauouted girdle his coate rent his hat olde his hose seame rent his cap greasie and his shirt lousie Finally I say that diuers of these misers faine that they haue a great summe to pay and it is for no other thing but for not wearing a good garment What can the couetous doe more then for keeping a penny in his purse hee will go two moneths and not trimme his beard Sithence it is true that these pinch-penies doe behaue their persons so euill do ye thinke they haue their houses any thing the better furnished I say no but you shal see their chambers full of cobwebs the dores out of the hinges the windowes riuen the glasses broken the planches loose the couertures of the house without gutters the stooles broken the beds worme-eaten and chimnies ready to fall so that to harbour a friend or kinsmen of theirs they are constrayned to Lodge him in theyr neighbours house or else to sende to borrow all that they want And passing ouer the garments they weare the housen wherein they dwell let vs see what Tables they keepe For of their Gardens they eate no fruite but that that falleth off the tree of theyr vines but rotten grapes of their sheep the sickest of their Corne the wettest of wine that which hath taken winde of Lard that is yeallow of milke that is turned And finally I say the felicitie that gluttons haue in eating the selfe same haue they in keeping Oh vnhappie are the gluttons and much more the couetous for the tast of one consisteth only in the throate the felicitie of the other consisteth in that he may locke vp in his chest Wee haue now seene how the couetous weare simple apparell keepe a poore Table and dwell in a filthie house and yet they lesse regard those things that touch their honor For if they had their eares as open to heare as they haue their hearts bent at eache houre to gather and heape vp they should heare how they are called mysers vsurers niggards pinchpennies oppressors cruell vnthankefull and vnfortunate Finally I say that in the comon-wealth they are so hated that all men had rather lay hāds vpon their bodyes to kill them then tongues on their renowme to defame them The couetous man is of all other the most vnlucky For if he fall at strife with any he shal find no one friend that will come to visit him in his house but he shal haue a hundred thieues which wil rob him of his goods For to reuenge a couetous enemy a man neede desire nought else but that he liue long for hee is more tormented in his life with his owne couetousnes then he can be otherwise with any pennance If rich men would say vnto me that they doe not reioice to haue faire houses sithēs they haue thē neither of curious apparell since they may weare it nor of daintie meates sithens they may eate them and that that which they doe is not to be couetous but for that they are good Christians In so iust a thing reason would my pen should cease but I am sorry they so little esteem things touching their honour and much lesse the matters touching their conscience If the auaritious say hee keepeth goods to do almes I doe not beleeue it for dayly we see if a poor man aske him alms hee answereth them immediatly God helpe you for hee hath neither purse nor money The couetous vseth this that he neuer giueth almes in his house but fat meat restie bacon rotten cheese hoary bread so that it seemeth rather that they make cleane their house then giue almes to the poore If the couetous man would tell vs that that which they haue is to discharge some debts of their predecessors wherewith they are burdened I say it is a vaine excuse sithens wee see that the willes of their fathers of their mothers and of their grandfathers be not as yet performed neyther will they thinke to performe them which seemeth very true For since the houre that they layde their fathers in the graue they neuer had any thought of their deade Fathers Hee which of pure couetousnesse and misery suffereth himselfe to dye for hunger and colde I thinke hee hath small deuotion for to giue almes and much lesse to doe any man good If the couetous man say vnto vs that that which hee keepeth is for none other cause but for to build a sumptuous Chappell and to leaue of them some memory To this I answere That if such a one doeth it with his owne proper swette and maketh restitution of all the euill that he hath done it shall be sanctified and of all good men commended but if the couetous wil that many liue in great pouerty onely to make a rich tombe God doth not command that neyther dooth the Church admit it for sacrifice done to God with the cries of others is not acceptable If the couetous tell vs that thogh they heape treasures it is not but at their death to distribute it vnto the poore and to be brought honestly to the ground I say that I commend this purpose so his entent bee accordingly performed but I am sorry the couetous man should thinke hereby to merite and that hee should thus discharge the wickednesse of his life for the distribution of a little money after his death I would thinke it more sure that Princes great Lords should spend their goods to marry poore maydens being Orphans in their life then to commaund money to bee dealt after their death For oft times the heyres or their executors the body interred doe little performe the will of the Testator and much lesse obserue the Legacies bequeathed though it be to the vtter vndoing of the poore Orphanes O what guerdon and commendation deserueth he that iustly and truely dischargeth the Legacies of the dead and of the surplus if any be or with their owne releeue the Orphanes and marry the poore maydens keeping them from the vices of the worlde Suppose that a couetous man chanceth to traffique at Medine in Spaine at Lions in France at Lisbone in Portingall at London in England at Antwarpe in Flaunders at Millaine in Lombardy at Florence in Italy at Palermo in Scicill at Prage in Bohemie and at Buda in Hungarie Finally vith his eyes he hath seene all Europe and by traffique he hath knowledge of all Asia Admit now that in euery place he hath gotten goods and that which he hath gotten was not with whole conscience but acording to the companies so hath the offences beene diuers In this case if at the houre of death when the couetous man diuideth his money betweene the children hee might also deuide his offences so that he dispossessing himselfe of the goods might thereby bee free from the offences then it were well But alas it is not so for the wicked children liue triumphing
be so many couetous men in the common wealth for nothing can bee more vniust then one rich man heape vp that which wold suffice 10000. to liue with all we cannot deny but that cursed auarice to al sorts of men is as preiudicial as the moth which eateth all garments Therefore speaking the truth there is no house that it doth not defile for it is more perillous to haue a clod of earth fall into a mans eye then a beame vpon his foote Agesilaus the renowmed king of the Lacedemonians beeing asked of a man of Thebes what word was most odible to be spoken to a King and what word was that that could honor him most hee aunswered The Prince with nothing so much ought to bee annoyed as to say vnto him that hee is rich and of nothing hee ought so much to reioyce as to be called poore For the glory of the good Prince consisteth not in that hee hath great treasures but in that hee hath giuen great recompences This word without doubt of all the world was one of the most royallest and worthyest to be committed vnto me morie Alexander Pyrrhus Nicanor Ptholomeius Pompeius Iulius Caesar Scipto Hanniball Marcus Porlius Augustus Cato Traian Theodose Marcus Aurelius c. All these Princes haue bin very valiaunt and vertuous but adding hereunto also the Writers which had written the deeds that they did in their liues haue mentioned also the pouertie which they had at their death So that they are no lesse exalted for the riches they haue spent then for the prowesses they haue done Admit that men of meane estate be auaritious and Princes great Lords also couetous the fault of the one is not equall with the vice of the other though in the ende all are culpable For if the poore man keepe it is for that hee would not want but if the knight hoord it is because he hath too much And in this case I would say that cursed bee the Knight which trauelleth to the end that goods abound and doth not care that betweene two bowes his renowm fall to the ground Sithens Princes and great Lordes will that men doe count them Noble vertuous and valiaunt I would fayne know what occasion they haue to be niggards and hard If they say that that which they keepe is to eate herein there is no reason for in the end where the rich eateth least at his table there are many that had rather haue that which remaineth then that which they prouide to eate in their houses If they say that that which they keepe is to apparrell them herein also they haue as little reason for the greatnes of Lordes consisteth not in that they should bee sumptuously apparrelled but that they prouide that their seruants goe not rent not torne If they say it is to haue in their chambers precious iewels in their hals rich Tapestry as little would I admit this answere for all those which enter into Princes Pallaces doe behold more if those that haunt their chambers bee vertuous then that the Tapestries be rich If they say it is to compasse their Cities with walles or to make fortresses on their frontiers so likewise is this answere among the others very cold For good Princes ought not to trauell but to be well willed and if in their realms they be welbeloued in the world they can haue no walles so strong as in the hearts of their Subiects If they tell vs that that they keepe is to marry their children as little reason is that for sithence Princes and great Lords haue great inheritances they need not heape much For if their children bee good they shall encrease that shall be left them and if by mishappe they be euill they shall as well lose that which shall bee giuen them If they say vnto vs that which they heape is for the wartes in like manner that is no iust excuse For if such warre bee not iust the Prince ought not to take it in hand nor the people thereunto to condiscend but if it be iust the common-wealth then and not the Prince shall beare the charges thereof For in iust warres it is not sufficient that they giue vnto the Prince all their goods but also they must themselues in person hazzard theyr liues If they tell vs that they keepe it to giue and dispose for theyr soules at their dying day I say it is not onely for want of wisedome but extreame sollie For at the houre of death princes ought more to reioyce for that they haue giuen then for that at that time they giue Oh how Princes and great Lordes are euill counselled since they suffer themselues to be slaundered for being couetous onely to heape a little cursed treasure For experience teacheth vs no man can be couetous of goods but needs he must be prodigall of honour and abandon libertie Plutarche in the Booke which hee made of the fortunes of Alexander saith That Alexander the great had a priuate seruant called Perdicas the which seeing that Alexander liberally gaue all that which by great trauell hee attained on a day he said vnto him Tell mee most Noble Prince sithens thou giuest all that thou hast vnto others what wilt thou haue for thy selfe Alexander answered The glorie remaineth vnto mee of that I haue wonne and gotten and the hope of that which I will giue and winne And further he said vnto him I will tell thee Perdicas If I knew that men thought that all that which I take were for couetousnes I sweare vnto thee by the God Mars that I would not beate downe one corner in a Towne and to winne all the world I would not go one dayes iourney My intention is to take the glorie vnto my selfe and to diuide the goods amongst others These words so high were worthy of a valiant and vertuous Prince as of Alexander which spake them If that which I haue read in books doe not beguile mee and that which with these eyes I haue seen to become rich it is necessarie that a man giue For that Princes and great lords who naturally are giuen to bee liberall are alwayes fortunate to haue It chaunceth oft times that some man giuing a little is counted liberal and another giuing much is counted a niggard the which proceedeth of this that they know not that liberalitie and niggardnesse consisteth not in giuing much or little but to knowe well how to giue For the rewardes and recompences which out of time are distributed doe neyther profite them which receyue them neyther agree to him which giueth them A couetous man giueth more at one time then a noble and free heart doeth in twentie thus saith the prouerbe It is good comming to a niggardes feast The difference betweene the liberality of the one and the misery of the other is that the noble and vertuous doth giue that he giueth to many but the niggard giueth that hee giueth to one onely Of the which vnaduisement
profound which the Philosopher spake and great reason had the king to esteeme it so much For if wee doe prepare our selues to consider whereof wee are and what we shall be that is to say That wee are of earth and that we shall returne to earth We would not cease to weepe nor sigh One of the greatest vanities which I finde among the children of vanity is that they employ themselues to consider the influences of the starres the nature of the Planets the motion of the heauens and they will not coÌ„sider themselues of which consideration they should take some profite For man giuing his mind to thinke on strange things commeth to forget his owne proper Oh if we would consider the corruption whereof wee are made the filth whereof wee are engendred the infinit trauell wherewith we are born the long tediousnes wherewith we are nourished the great necessities and suspitions wherein wee liue and aboue all the perill wherein wee dye I sweare and affirme that in such consideration wee finde a thousand occasions to wish death and not one to desire life The children of vanity are occupyed many yeares in the Schooles to learne Rethorike they exercise themselues in Philosophy they heare Aristotle they learne Homere without booke they study Cicero they are occupied in Xenophon they hearken Titus Liuius they forget not Aulus Gelius and they know Ouid yet for all this I say that we cannot say that the man knoweth little which doth know himselfe Eschines the Philosopher sayde well that it is not the least but the chiefest part of Philosophy to know man and wherefore he was made for if man would deepely consider what man is he should finde more things in him which would moue him for to humble himselfe then to stirre him to be proud If we doe behold it without passion and if we doe examine it with reason I know not what there is in man O miserable and fraile nature of man the which taken by it selfe is little worth and compared with an other thing is much lesse For man seeth in brute beastes many things which hee doth enuy and the beasts doe see much more in men whereon if they had reason they would haue compassion The excellencie of the soule layde aside and the hope which we haue of eternall life if man doe compare the captiuity of men to the liberty of beasts with reason we may see that the beasts doe liue a peaceable life and that which men doe lead is but a long death If we prepare our selues to consider from the time that both man and beast come into this world vntill such time as they both dye and in how many thinges the beasts are better then men with reason we may say that nature like a pittifull mother hath shewed her selfe to beasts and that she doth handle vs an vniust stepmother Let vs beginne therefore to declare more particularly the originall of the one and the beginning of the other and wee shall see how much better the brute beasts are endowed and how the miserable men are disinherited CHAP. XXXIII The Author followeth his purpose and excellently compareth the misery of men with the liberty of beasts WE ought deeply to consider that no wilde nor tame beast is so long before hee come to his shape as the miserable man is who with corruption of bloud and vile matter is nine moneths hid in the wombe of his mother Wee see the beast when shee is great if neede require doth labour all exercises of husbandrie so that shee is as ready to labour when she is great as if shee were empty The contrary hapneth to women which when they are big with child are weary with going trobled to be laid they ride in Chariots through the market places they eate little they brooke not that they haue eaten they hate that which is profitable and loue that which doth them harme Finally a woman with childe is contented with nothing and shee fretteth and vexeth with her selfe Sithence therefore it is truâ—â—hat we are noysome and troubleâ—â—â—e to our mothers when 〈◊〉 beare vs in theyr wombes why doe we not giue them some safe conduct when they are in deliuering O miserable state of maÌ„ since the brute beasts are borne without destroying their mothers but the miserable men before they are born are troublesome and carefull and in the time of their birth are both perillous to themselues and dangerous to their mothers which seemeth to be very manifest for the preparation that man maketh when he wil die the selfe same ought the woman to doe when shee is ready to bee deliuered Wee must also consider that though birdes haue but two feete they can goe moue and runne immediately when it commeth foorth but when man is borne hee cannot goe nor moue and much lesse runne So that a Popingey ought more to bee esteemed which hath no hands then the man which hath both hands and feet That which they do to the little babe is not but a prognostication of that which he ought to suffer in the progresse of his life that is to say That as they are not contented for to put the euill doer in prison but they lode his hands with yrons and set his feete in the stockes so in like manner to the miserable man when hee entreth into the Chaâ—ter of his life immediately they binde both his hands and his feete and lay him in the Cradell So that the innocent babe is first bound and rolled before hee bee embraced or haue sucke of the mother We must note also that the houre wherein the beast is brought foorth though it know not the Sier which begate it at the least it knoweth the damme which brought it forth which is apparant for so much as if the mother haue milke the youngling forthwith doth seeke her teates and if perchaunce the haue no milke they goe afterwards to 〈◊〉 themselues vnder her wings Of the miserable man it is not so but the day that hee is borne he knoweth not the Nurse that giueth him sucke neyther the Father which hath begotten him the mother which hath borne him nor yet the Mid-wife which hath receyued him moreouer hee cannot see with his eies heare with his eares nor iudge with the taste and knoweth neyther what it is to touch or smell so that wee see him to whome the Seigniory ouer all brute beasts and other things that are created partayneth to bee borne the most vnable of all other creatures We must consider also that thogh the beast be neuer so little yet it can seeke for the teates of his mother to sucke or to wander in the fieldes to feede or to scrape the dunghilles to eate or else it goeth to the fountains and riuers to drinke and that he learneth not by the discourse of time or that any other beast hath taught it but as soone as it is borne so soone doth it know what thing is necessarie for
it The miserable man is not born with so many present commodities he cannot eate drinke nor goe make himself ready aske nor yet complain and that which is more hee knoweth not scarsely how to sucke for the mothers oft times would giue to their children if they could the bloud of their heart and yet they cannot cause them to take the milke of their brests O great misery of mans nature forsomuch as the brute beasts as soone as they are come forth of their mothers wombe can know and seeke but when it is offred vnto man he cannot know it We must note also that to brute beasts nature hath giuen cloathing wherewith they may keepe themselus from the heate of Sommer and defend themselues from the colde of Winter which is manifest for that to Lambes and sheepe she hath giuen wooll to birdes feathers to hogges bristles to horses hayre to fishes scales and to snailes shels Finally I say there is no beast which hath neede with his hands to make any garment nor yet to borrow it of another Of all this the miserable man is depriued who is borne all naked and dyeth all naked not carrying with him one onely garment and if in the time of his life he will vse any garment hee must demaund of the beasts both leather and wooll thereunto he must also put his whole labour and industry I would aske Princes and great Lords if when they are borne they bring with them any apparrell and when they dye if they carry with them any treasure To this I answere no but they dye as they are borne as well the rich as the poore and the poore as the rich And admit that in this life fortune doth make difference betweene vs in estates yet nature in time of our birth and death doth make vs all equall We must also thinke and consider that for so much as nature hath prouided the beasts of garments shee hath hath also taken from them the care of what they ought to eate for there is no beast that doth eyther plow sow or labour but doth content her selfe and passeth her life eyther with the flyes of the ayre with the Corne that shee findeth in the high-wayes with the hearbes in the fieldes with the Ants of the Earth with the grapes of the vine or with the fruites which are fallen Finally I say that without care all beasts take their rest as if the day following they should haue no neede to eate Oh what a great benefite should GOD doe to the miserable man if he had taken from him the trauell to apparrell himselfe and the care to search for things to eate But what shall the poore miserable man doe that before he eateth hee must tyll sow hee must reape and thresh the Corne hee must cleanse it grinde it paste it and bake it and it cannot bee prouided without care of minde nor be done without the proper sweate of the browes And if perchaunce any man did prouide for himselfe with the sweate of others yet shall hee liue with his owne offences Also in other things the silly beasts doe excell vs For in the Flowers in the leaues in the hearbes in the straw in the Oates in the bread in the flesh or in the fruits which they eate or in the waters which they drinke they feele no paine although it be not sweet nor take no displeasure thogh theyr meates be not sauorie Finally such as Nature hath prouided them without disguysing or making themselus better they are contēted to eate Man could loose nothing if in this point he agreed with beasts but I am very sorrie that there are many vicious and prowd men vnto whom nothing wanteth eyther to apparell or eate but they haue too much to maintaine themselues and herewith not contented they are such Drunkards to taste of diuers wines and such Epicures to eate of sundry sorts of meates that oft times they spend more to dresse them then they did cost the buying Now when the Beasts are brought foorth they haue knowledge both of that that is profitable and also of that which is hurtfull for them For we see this that the sheep doth fly the wolfe the catte flieth the dogge the ratte flieth the catte and the chicken the kyte so that the beasts in opening the eyes doe immediately knowe the friendes whom they ought to followe and the Enemies whome they ought to flye To the miserable man was vtterly denyed this so great priuiledge For in the worlde there hath bin many beastly men who haue not onely attayned that which they ought to know whiles they liued but also euen as like beasts they passed their dayes in this life so they were infamed at the time of their death Oh miserable creatures that we are which liue in this wicked world For wee know not what is hurtfull for vs what we ought to eate from what we ought to abstaine nor yet whom wee should hate wee doe not agree with those whome wee ought to loue wee know not in whome to put our trust from whom we ought to flie nor what it is we ought to choose nor yet what wee ought to forsake Finally I say that when wee thinke oft times to enter into a sure Hauen within three steps afterwards wee fall headlong into the deepe Sea Wee ought also to consider that both to wilde and tame beasts nature hath ginen arms or weaponsto defend themselues and to assault their enemyes as it appeareth For that to byrds shee hath giuen wings to the Harts swifte feete to the Elephants tuskes to the Serpents scales to the Eagles tallons to the Fawkon a beake to the Lyons teeth to the Bulles hornes and to the Beares pawes Finally I say that she hath giuen to the Foxes subtiltie to know how to hyde themselues in the Earth and to the Fishes little finnes how to swimme in the water Admit that the wretched men haue few enemyes yet in this they are none otherwise priuiledged then the beasts for we see without teares it cannot be told that the beasts which for the seruice of Man were created with the selfe same beasts men are now a dayes troubled and offended And to the ende it seeme not wee should talke of pleasure let euery man bethinke with himselfe what it is that we suffer with the Beasts of this life For the Lyons doe feare vs the Wolues deuoure our sheep the dogges do byte vs the Cats scratche vs the Beare doeth teare vs the Serpents poyson vs the Bulls hurt vs with their hornes the Byrds doe ouerflye vs the Rats doe trouble vs the spyders doe annoy vs and the worste of all is that a little Flye sucketh our bloud in the day and the poore Flea doth hynder and let vs from sleeping in the night Oh poore and miserable man who for to sustaine this wretched life is enforced to begge all things that he needeth of the Beasts For the beasts do giue him wooll the
beasts doe drawe him water the beasts doe carrie him from place to place the beasts doe plough the Lande and carryeth the corne into their barnes Finally I say that if the man receyue any good hee hath not wherewith to make recompence and if they doe him any euill hee hath nought but the tongue to reuenge Wee must note also that though a man loade a beast with strypes beate her and driue her by the fowle wayes though hee take her meate from her yea though her younglings dye yet for none of all these she is sad or sorrowfull and much lesse doth weepe and though she should weep she can not For beasts little esteme their life and much lesse feare death It is not so of the vnhappy and wretched man which cānot but bewaile the vnthankfulnesse of theyr friendes the death of their Children the wants which they haue of necessaries the cases of aduersitie which doe succeed them the false witnes which is brought against them and a thousand calamityes which doe torment their hearts Finally I say that the greatest comforts that men haue in this life is to make a riuer of water with the teares of their Eyes Let vs enquire of Princes and great Lordes what they can doe when they are borne whether they can speake as Orators if they can runne as Postes if they can gouern themselues as kings if they can fight as men of Warre if they can labour as labourers if they can worke as masons if they knowe to teach as maisters These litle children would answer that they are not onely ignorant of all that wee demaund of them but also that they cannot vnderstand it Let vs returne to aske them what it is that they knowe since they know nothing of that we haue demaunded them They will answer that they can doe no other thing but weepe at their byrth and sorrow at theyr death Though all those which saile in this so perillous Sea doe reioyce and take pleasure and seeme to sleepe soundly yet at the last there cometh the winde of aduersitie which maketh them all know their follies For if I be not deceiued and if I know any thing of this world those which I haue seene at the time of their birth take ship weeping I doubt whether they will take Land in the graue laughing Oh vnhappy life I should say rather death which the mortalls take for life wherein afterwards we must spend and consume a great time to learne all Artes Sciences and offices and yet notwithstanding that whereof we are ignorant is much more then that which wee knowe Wee forget the greatest part saue only that of weeping which no man needeth to learne for wee are borne and liue weeping and vntill this present wee haue seene none to die in ioy Wee must note also that the beasts doe liue and dye with the inclinations wherwith they were borne that is to say that the Wolfe followeth the sheepe and not the birdes the hound followeth the hares and not the rattes the sparrow flyeth at the birdes and not at the fish the spider eateth the flyes and not the herbes Finally I say that if wee let the beast search his meate quietly we shall not see him giuen to any other thing The contrary of all this hapneth to men the which though nature hath created feeble yet Gods intention was not they should bee malitious but I am sorry since they cannot auoyd debility that they turne it into malice The presumption which they haue to bee good they turne to pride and the desire they haue to be innocent they turne into enuy The fury which they should take against malice they turne into anger and the liberality they ought to haue with the good they conuert into auarice The necessity they haue to eate they turne into gluttonie and the care they ought to haue of their conscience they turne into negligence Finally I say that the more strength beasts haue the more they serue and the lesse men are worth so much the more thankes haue they of God The innocency of the brute beastes considered and the malice of the malitious men marked without comparison the company of the brute beast is lesse hurtfull then the conuersation of euill men For in the end if hee bee conuersant with a beast yee haue not but to beware of her but if yee bee in company with a man there is nothing wherin yee ought to trust him Wee must note also that it was neyther seene or read that there was any beast that took care for the graue but the beasts being dead some were torne in peeces with Lions other dismembred by the bears others gnawn with dogs other remain in the fields other are eaten of men and other by the Ants. Finally the entrailes of the one are the graues of others It is not so of the miserable man the which consumeth no small treasure to make his Tombe which is the most vainest thing that is in this miserable life for there is no greater vanity nor lightnes in man then to be esteemed for his goodly and sumptuous sepulture and little to weigh a good Life I will sweare that at this day all the dead doe sweare that they care little if their bodies be buried in the deepe Seas or in the golden Tombes or that the cruell beasts haue eaten thē or that they remaine in the fieldes without a graue so that their soules may be among the celestiall Companies Speaking after the Lawe of a Christian I durst say that it profiteth little the body to be among the painted and carued stones when the miserable soule is burning in the fierie flames of hell O miserable creatures haue not wee sufficient wherewith to seeke in this life to procure to trauell to accomplish to sigh and also what to bewayle without hauing such care anguish to know where they shall bee buried Is there any man so vaine that hee dooth not care that other men should condemne his euil life so that they praise his rich tombe To those that are liuing I speake and say of those that are dead that if a man gaue them leaue to returne into the World they would bee occupied more to correct their excesse and offences then to adiourne and repayre their graues and tombes though they haue found them fallen downe I cannot tell what to say more in this case but to admonish men that it is a great folly to make any great account of the graues CHAP. XXXIIII The Emperour Marcus Aurelius writeth this letter to Domitius a Citizen of Capua to comfort him in his exile beeing banished for a quarrell betwixt him and another about the running of a horse very comfortable to those that haue beene in fauour and now fallen in disgrace MArke the Romane Emperour borne at Mount Celio to thee Domitius of Capua wisheth health and consolation from the gods the onely Comforters The bitter Winter in these partes haue raysed bosterous winds and
vpon the needle and thrust it into her breast whereby the mother dyed Gneus Ruffirius which was a very wise man and also my Kinsman one day combing his white hayres strake a tooth of the combe into his heade wherewith hee gaue himselfe a mortall wound so that in short space after his life had end but not his doctrine nor memory How thinkest thou Domitius By the immortal Gods I do sweare vnto thee that as I haue declared to thee this small number so I could recite thee other infinite What mishappe is this after so many fortunes what reproch after such glory What perill after such surety what euill lucke after such good successe what darke night after so cleare a day what euill entertainement after so great labour what sentence so cruell after so long processe O what inconuenience of death after so good beginning of life Being in their steade I cannot tell what I would but I had rather chuse vnfortunate life and honorable death then an infamous death and honourable life That man which will bee counted for a good man and not noted for a brute beast ought greatly to trauell to liue well and much more to dye better for the euill death maketh men doubt that the life hath not bin good and the good death is the excuse of an euill life At the beginning of my Letter I wrote vnto thee how that the gowte troubleth mee euill in my hand I say it were to much to write any longer and though the Letter bee not of my owne hand these two dayes the loue that I beare thee and the griefe that holdeth me haue striued together My will desireth to write and my fingers cannot hold the penne The remedy hereof is that since I haue no power to doe what I would as thine thou oughtest to accept what I can as mine I say no more herein but as they tell mee thou buildest now a house in Rhodes wherefore I do send thee a thousand sexterces to accomplish the same My wife Faustine saluteth thee who for thy paine is sore grieued They tell vs thou hast beene hurt wherefore she sendeth thee a weight of the Balme of Palestine Heale thy face therewith to the end the scarres of that wound doe not appeare If thou findest greene Almonds new nuts Faustine desireth thee that thou wilt send her some By another man shee sendeth a gowne for thee and a kirtle for thy wife I conclude and doe beseech the immortall Gods to giue thee all that I desire for thee and that they giue me all that thou wishest me Though by the hands of others I write vnto thee yet with my heart I loue thee CHAP. XXXV That Princes and Noble men ought to bee aduocates for widdowes Fathers of Orpnans and helpers of those which are comfortlesse MAcrobius in the 3. booke of the Saturnals sayeth That in the noble Citie of Athens there was a temple called Misericordia which the Athenians kept so well watched and locked that without leaue licence of the Senate no man might enter in There were the Images of pittifull Princes onely and none entered in there to pray but pittifull men The Athenians abhorred always seuere and cruell deeds because they would not be noted cruell And thereof commeth this manner of saying that the greatest iniurie they could say vnto a wan was That hee had neuer entred into the Schoole of the Philosophers to learne nor into the Temple of Misericordia to pray So that in the one they noted him for simple and in the other they acused him for cruell The Historiographers say that the most noble linage that was at that time was of a King of Athens the which was exceeding rich and liberall in giuing and aboue all very pittifull in pardoning Of whom it is written that after the great Treasures which he had offred in the temples and the great riches he had distributed to the poore hee tooke vpon him to bring vp all the Orphans in Athens and to feede all the widdowes O how much more did that statute of the sayde pittifull King shine in that Temple who nourished the Orphanes then the Ensignes which are set vp in the Temples of the Captains which had robbed the widows All the auncient Princes I say those that haue beene noble and valiant that haue not had the name of Tyrants though in some thinges they were noted yet they alwayes haue beene praysed esteemed and commended to be mercifull and gentle so that they recompenced the fiercenesse and cruelty which they shew to their enemies with the mercy and clemency which they vsed to the Orphans Plutarch in his Politiques sayeth that the Romanes among themselues ordained that all that which remayned of banquets and feastes which were made at mariages and triumphs should bee giuen to Widdows and orphanes And this custome was brought to so good an order that if any rich man would vse his profite of that which remayned the Orphanes might iustly haue an action of felony against him as a thing robbed from them Aristides the Philosopher in an Oration hee made of the excellency of Rome sayth That the Princes of Persia had this custome neuer to dine nor suppe but first the Trumpets should blow at their gates the which were more loude then harmonius And it was to this end that all the Widdowes and Orphanes shoulde come thither for it was a Law amongst them that all that which was left at the royall tables should bee for the poore and indigent persons Phalaris the Tirant writing to a friend of his sayde these wordes I haue receyued thy briefe Letter with the rebuke likewise which thou gauest me therein more bitter then tedious And admit that for the time it grieued mee yet after I came to my selfe I re ceyued thereby great comfort For in the ende one louing rebuke of his friēds is more worth then a fayned flattery of his enemie Amongst the things whereof thou accusest mee thou sayest that they take mee for agreat tyraunt because I disobey the Gods spoyle the Temples kyll the Priestes pursue the innocents robbe the people and the worst of all that I doe not suffer mee to be entreated nor permit that any man be conuersaunt with mee To that they say I disobey the Gods in very deede they say true For if I did all that the Gods would I should doe I should doe little of that men doe aske mee For as much as they say I robbe the Temples there vnto also I graunt For the immortall Gods doe demaund rather of vs pure hearts then that wee should buylde their Temples For that they say I kill the priests I confesse also that it is true For they are so dissolute that I thinke I doe more seruices to the Gods to put them to death then they doe in doing their Sacrifices while they liue For that they say I robbe the Temples I also confesse it For I defending it as I doe
of her Husband doe spoyle her of her goods For in this case their heires oftentimes are so disordered that for a worne cloake or a broken shirt they wil trouble and vexe the poore widdowe If perchance the miserable widdow haue children I say that in this case shee hath double sorrow For if they are young shee endureth much paine to bring them vp so that each houre and moment theyr Mothers liue in great sorrows to bethinke them only of the life death of their children If perhaps the Children are olde truely the griefes which remaine vnto them are no lesse For so much as the greatest part of them are either proud disobedient malicious negligent Adulterers gluttons blasphemers false lyars dull-headed wanting witte or sickly So that the ioy of the woefull Mothers is to bewaile the deaths of their well beloued Husbands and to remedy the discordes of theyr youthfull children If the troubles which remaine vnto the careful mothers with their sonnes be great I say that those which they haue with their Daughters bee much more For if the Daughter be quicke of wit the Mother thinketh that shee shall be vndone If shee be simple she thinketh that euery man will deceyue her If she be faire shee hath enough to doe to keepe her If shee be deformed she cannot marrie her If she be well mannered she will not let her go from her If shee be euill mannered she cannot endure her If she be too solitary she hath not wherewith to remedy her If she be dissolute she will not suffer her to bee punished Finally if she put her from her she feareth she shal be slaundered If she leaue her in her house she is afraid she shal be stollen What shall the wofull poor widdow doe seeing herselfe burdened with daughters and enuironed with sonnes and neyther of them of sufficient age that there is any time to remedy them nor substance to maintaine them Admit that shee marrie one of her sonnes and one daughter I demand therfore if the poor widdow wil leaue her care anguish truly I say no thogh she chuse rich personages wel disposed she cānot scape but that day that shee replenished her selfe with daughters in law the same day she chargeth her heart with sorrows trauels and cares O poore widdowes deceyue not your selues and doe not imagine that hauing married your sonnes and daughters from that time forwardes yee shall liue more ioyfull and contented For that layde aside which their Nephewes doe demaund them and that their sonnes in Law do rob them when the poore olde woman thinketh to be most surest the young man shall make a claim to her goods what daughter in Law is there in this world who faithfully loueth her stepmother And what sonne in Law is there in the world that desireth not to bee heyre to his father in Lawe Suppose a poore widdow to be fallen sicke the which hath in her house a sonne in Law and that a man aske him vpon his oath which of these two things hee had rather haue eyther to gouerne his mother in Law with hope to heale her or to bury her with hope to inherite her goods I sweare that such would sweare that he could reioyce more to giue a ducket for the graue then a penny for a Physition to cure and heale her Seneca in an Epistle sayeth That the Fathers in Law naturally do loue their daughters in Law and the sons in Law are loued of the mothers in Law And for the contrary he saieth that naturally the sonnes in law doe hate their mothers in Law but I take it not for a generall rule for there are mothers in Law which deserue to be worshipped and there are sonnes in Law which are not worthie to be beloued Other troubles chaunce dayly to these poore widdowes which is that when one of them hath one onely sonne whom she hath in steade of a husband in stead of a brother in steade of a sonne shee shall see him dye whom sith shee had his life in such great loue shee cannot though she would take his death with patience so that as they bury the deade body of the innocent childe they burie the liuely heart of the woefull and sadde mother Then let vs omit the sorrowes which the mothers haue when their children dye and let vs aske the mothers what they feele when they are sicke They will aunswere vs that alwayes and as oftentimes as their children bee sicke the death of their husband then is renued imagining that it will happen so vnto them as it hath done vnto others And to say the truth it is no maruell if they doe feare For the vine is in greater perill when it is budded then when the grapes are ripe Other troubles oftentimes increase to the poore widdowes the which amongst others this is not the least that is to say the little regard of the Friendes of her Husband and the vnthankfulnes of those which haue been brought vp with him The which since hee was layde in his graue neuer ented into the gates of his house but to demaund recompence of their old seruices and to renew and beginne new suites I would haue declared or to say better briefly touched the trauells of widdowes to perswade Princes that they remedie them and to admonish Iudges to heare them and to desire all vertuous men to comfort them For the Charitable worke of it selfe is so Godly that hee deserueth more which remedyeth the troubles of the one onely then I which write their miseries altogether CHAP. XXXVII Of a letter which the Emperour Marcus Aurelius wrote to a Romane Lady named Lauinia comforting her for the death of her husband MArcus of mount Celio Emperour of Rome chiefe Consull Tribune of the people high Bishop appointed against the Daces wisheth health and comfort to thee Lauinia noble and worthy Romane matron the late wife of the good Claudinus According to that thy person deserueth to that which vnto thy husband I ought I thinke well that thou wilt suspect that I weigh thee little for that vnto thy great sorrowes complaints and lamentations are now arriued my negligent consolations When I remember thy merites which cannot fayle and imagine that thou wilt remember my good will wherewith alwayes I haue desired to serue thee I am assured that if thy suspition accuse mee thy vertue and wisdome will defend me For speaking the truth though I am the last to comfort thee yet I was the first to feele thy sorrowes As ignorance is the cruell scourge of vertues and sputre to all vices so it chaunceth oft times that ouer much knowledge putteth wise mē in doubt and slaundereth the innocent For as much as wee see by experience the most presumptuous in wisedome are those which fall into most perilous vices We find the Latines much better with the ignorance of vices then the Greekes with the knowledge of vertues And the reason hereof is for that of things
barbarous people shedding their owne proper bloud And in the hindermost parte of Spaine when those of Seuill had warre with the Gaditanes it chanced that euen in the middest of the time those of Seuill wanted money and two Parasites offered themselues for 2 years to sustaine the warres with their own proper goods so that with the riches of two fooles many wise men were ouercome When the Amazones were Ladies of Asia then they built the great temple of the goddesse Diana And as the histories account only with that they tooke away from a player was builte this noble Temple If the histories of the Egyptians do not deceyue me King Caâ—mus who with a 1000. gates built the great City of Thebes for such a building so high and monstrous a City all his subiects together gaue him not so much as two Parasites did alone When the good Emperour Augustus renued the walles of Rome made them of hard stone which before that time were onely of earth and bricke towards such a costly Worke he had more of two Parasites which were drowned then of all the City beside I beeing in the City of Corinthe saw an auncient Tombe wherein the Corinthians say their first King was buried And the Historiographers say that this King was a great wrastler other say hee was a Parasite others say hee was a Iugler but howsoeuer it was he was first a Iester and obtained a Realme in earnest Behold Lambert how they are neglected of the gods and fauoured of fortune and in how little estimation the goods of this life ought to bee esteemed since som by counterfaiting the fooles leaue of them as great memory of their folly as the others doe by their wisedome There is one thing onely of these loyterers that pleaseth me that is to say that in his presence they make euery man laugh with the follyes they speake and after that they are gone all remaine sadde for the money they carrie away Truly it is a iust sentence of the gods that those which haue taken vain pleasures together do weepe afterwards for their losse seuerally At this present I will write no more vnto thee but that I send thee this letter written in Greeke to the end thou maiest reade it to al those of that Isle And thou shalt immediatelie dispatch the ships to the end they carry the prouisions to the men of warre in Illyria Peace bee with thee Lambert health and good fortune to mee Marke The Senate saluteth thee and do send thee the propagation of the gouernement for the next yeare In the Calends of Ianuary thou shalt say Gaude foelix My wife Faustine commendeth her to thee and sendeth thee for thy daughter a rich girdle In payment of thy seruices I do send thee two rich Iewels two light horses and one laden with 4000. Sexterces Marcus of Mount Celio with his owne hand writeth vnto thee CHAP. XLVIII That Princes and Noble men ought to remember that they are mortall and must dye wherein are sundry notable consolations against the feare of death CLeobolus and Biton were the sonnes of a renowmed woman the which was Nunne to the goddesse Iuno when the day of that solemne feast was celebrated her children prepared a Chariot wherein their mother should goe to the Temple For the Greekes had this custome the day that the Priestes went to offer any sacrifice eyther they were carried on mens armes or in Chariots They adorned their temples so well they esteemed their Sacrifices so much and did so much honour their Priests that if any Priest did set his foot on the ground that day they did not permit him to offer any sacrifices to the Gods It chanced as this Nunne went in her Chariot and her children Cleobolus Biton with her the beasts which drew the Chariot suddenly fell down dead ten miles from the Temple of the goddesse Iuno The children seeing the beasts dead and that their mother could not goe a foot and that the Chariot was all ready and that there was no beasts to draw it they as louing children determined to yoake themselues and draw the chariot as if they had been dumb beasts And as the mother carried them nine moneths in her wombe so did they draw her in the chariot x. miles Now for that they passed through infinite numbers of men to the feast of the goddesse Iuno euery man seing Cleobolus and Biton yoked in the Chariot like beasts were greatly amazed saying that these two children deserued with great rewards to be recompenced And truly they sayde iustly and so they deserued it For they deserued as much to be praysed for the example which they shewed to all children to reuerence their parents as for carrying their mother in the Chariot to the Temple So after that the Feast was ended the mother not knowing how to require the benefite of her children with many teares besought the goddesse Iuno that she with the other gods would be contented to giue her two children the best thing that the gods could giue to their friends The Goddesse Iuno answered her that shee was contented to require the other Gods and that they would doe it And the reward was that for this noble fact the gods ordained that Cleobolus and Biton should sleepe one day well and in the morning when they should wake they should dye The mother pittifully bewayling the death of her children and complaining of the gods the Goddesse Iuno sayde vnto her Thou hast no cause why to complaine since wee haue giuen thee that thou hast demaunded hast demaunded that which wee haue giuen thee I am a goddesse and thou art my seruant and therefore the gods haue giuen to thy children the thing which they count most dear which is death For the greatest reuenge which among the gods wee can take of our enemies is to let them liue long and the best thing that we keep for our friends is to make them to die quickely The author of this historie is called Hisearchus in his politikes and Cicero in his first booke of his Tusculanes In the Isle of Delphos where the oracle of the god Apollo was there was a sumptuous Temple the which for want of reparation fell downe to the ground as oftentimes it chanceth to high and sumptuous buildings which from time to time are not repaired For if the walles dungeons Castels and strong houses could speak as well would they complaine for that they doe not renue them as the olde men doe for that wee doe not cherish them Triphon and Agamendo were two noble Personages of Greece and counted for sage and rich men the which went vnto the Temple of Apollo and built it new againe as well with the labour of their persons as with the great expences of their goods When the building was atchieued the god Apollo sayde vnto them that hee remembred well their good seruice wherefore he would they should demaund him any thing in rewarde of
to his owne profite As the gods gaue me long life of these things haue I had great experience wherein I let thee know that for the space of xv yeares I was Consull Senator Censor Pretor Questor Edil and Tribune and after all this I haue beene 18. yeares Emperour of Rome wherein all those which haue spoken most against me touched the profite or damage of another The chief intention of those which follow the Courts of Princes are to procure to augment their houses And if they cannot come to that they seeke to diminish that of another not for that any profite should follow vnto them thereof be it neuer so little but because mans malice is of such condition that it esteemeth the profite of another his owne dammage They ought to haue great compassion of the Prince for the most that follow him serue him not for that they loue him but for the gifts and rewards which they hope to haue of him And this seemeth to be true for the day that Princes shall cease to giue them the selfe same day beginne they for to hate him So that such seruants wee cannot call friends of our persons but couetous of our goods That thou loue my sonne the one aboue the other thou mayest right well but I aduertise thee that thou nor they do make any semblance in such sort that all doe know it for if thou doest otherwise they will murmur at thee will all persecute thee Hee incurreth into no small perill nor hath no little trouble which is aboue all of the Prince beloued and of the people hated For then hee is hated and persecuted of all and yet more damage ensueth vnto him of the enmity of all then doth of the loue of the Prince alone for sometimes the gods permitting it and his behauior deseruing it the prince doth cease to loue him and therewith his enemies beginne to persecute him From the time I knew what meaned to gouerne a Common weale I haue alwayes determined neuer to keepe man in my house one day after I knowe him to bee an enemie to the Common-wealth In the yeare of the Foundation of Rome 649. Lucius Lucullus the Senatour going to the warres against Mythridates by chaunce found a tablet of coppper in the cittie called Trigane the which was at the gate of the king of that Prouince And on the same was engrauen certaine Caldean letters the which in effect saide these words The Prince is not sage who will put in hazzard the state of his Common-wealth for the onely commoditie of one alone For the seruice of one can not auaile against the loue of all The Prince is not sage that for to enrich one alone seeketh to empouerish all For it is a thing intollerable that one doe labour the fields and the other doe gather the fruite The Prince is not iust which will satisfie the couetousnes of one more then the seruices of all For there is mean to pay the seruices of the good and there is no Riches to satisfie the couetousnes of the euill The prince is a foole that despiseth the counsell of all and trusteth in the opinion of one For though there bee in a great Ship but one pilot yet it needeth many mariners Bolde is the Prince which to loue one onely wil be hated of all For noble Princes ought to think it much profite to be beloued and much more displeasure to be hated These were the words which were written in that tablet worthy of eternall memory And I will tell thee further in this case that Lucullus the Senatour sent on the one part that Tablet of copper where these wordes were on the other part the coffers wherein he had brought the riches to the end the Senate should chose one and leaue the other The Senate despising the riches and Treasours chose the Tablet of counsells CHAP. LVI The Emperour followeth his matter and exhorteth his Sonne vnto certaine particular things worthy to be engraued in the hearts of men VNtil now I haue spoken as a father to his Sonne that which toucheth thy profit Now I will tell thee what thou shalt doe after my death for my seruice And if thou wilt bee the true Sonne of thy Father the things which I haue loued in my life shall be of thee esteemed after my death Do not resemble many Children which after theyr Fathers haue closed their Eyes doe remember them no more For in such case though indeede the Fathers be dead and buryed yet they are alwaies liuing to complaine to the Gods of their children Though it seemeth not to be slaunderous yet it is more perilous to contend with the dead then to iniure the liuing And the reason is for that the liuing may reuenge and are for to answere but the dead cannot make aunswer and much lesse they can bee reuenged And in such case the Gods do take their cause in protection and somtimes they execute such cruell punishment of those that liue that rather then they would endure it rhey wish to be dead Thou oughtst to thinke my Sonne that I haue begoten thee I haue nourished thee I haue taught thee I haue trymmed thee I haue chastised thee and I haue exalted thee And for this onely consideration though by death I am absent it is not reason that thou euer forget me For the true and not vnthankefull Childe ought the same day to bury his Father in his tender hart when others haue laide him in the harde graue One of the visible chasticements which the Gods giue to men in this world is that the children obey not their Fathers in their life For the selfe same fathers did not remember their owne fathers after their death Let not young Princes thinke after they haue inherited after they see their Father dead and after they are past correction of their Masters that all things ought to bee done as they themselues will it for it wil not be so For they want the fauour of the gods and haue malediction of their fathers they liue in trouble dye in danger I require nought else of thee my sonne but that such a father as I haue been to thee in my life such a sonne thou be to mee after my death I commend vnto thee my sonne the veneration of the Gods and this chiefly aboue all things for the Prince which maketh account of the gods need not to feare any storm of fortune Loue the gods and thou shalt bee beloued Serue them and thou shalt bee serued Feare them and thou shalt be feared honour them and thou shalt be honoured Doe their commaundements and they will giue thee thy hearts desire for the gods are so good that they doe not onely receiue in account that which we do but also that which we desire to doe I commend vnto thee my sonne the reuerence of the Temples that is to say that they be not in discord that they be cleane and renued that they
iustice but none do reioyce that they execute it in his house And therfore after the Prince endeth his life the people will take reuenge of those which haue beene ministers thereof It were great infamy to the Empire offence to the gods iniurie to mee vnthankefulnes to thee hauing found the armes of my seruants ready eighteene yeers that thy gates should be shut against them one day Keepe keepe these things my sonne in thy memory and since particularly I doe remember them at my death consider how heartily I loued them in my life CHAP. LVII The good Marcus Aurelius Emperour of Rome endeth his purpose and life And of the last words which he spake to his sonne Commodus and of the table of Counsels which he gaue him WHen the Emperor had ended his particular recommendations vnto his sonne Commodus as the dawning of the day beganne to appeare so his eyes beganne to close his tongue to faulter and his handes to tremble as it doth accustome to those which are at the point of death The Prince perceyuing then little life to remaine commaunded his Secretary Panutius to goe to the coffers of his bookes and to bring one of the coffers before his presence out of the which hee tooke a table of 3. foote of bredth and 2. of length the which was of Eban bordered all about with Vnicorne And it was closed with 2. lids very fine of red wood which they call rasing of a tree where the Phenix as they say breedeth which did grow in Arabia And as there is but one onely Phenix so in the world is there but one onely tree of that sort On the vttermost part of the Table was grauen the god Iupiter and on the other the goddesse Venus and in the other was drawne the god Mars and the goddesse Diana In the vppermost part of the table was carued a Bull and in the nethermost part was drawne a King And they sayde the painter of so famous and renowmed a worke was called Apelles The Emperour taking the Table in his handes casting his eyes vnto his Sonne said these words Thou seest my sonne how from the turmoyles of Fortune I haue escaped and how I into miserable destinies of death do enter where by experience I shall know what shall be after this life I meane not now to blaspheme the Gods but to repent my sinnes But I would willinglie declare why the Gods haue created vs since there is such trouble in life and paine in death Not vnderstanding why the Gods haue vsed so great crueltie with creatures I see it now in that after lxij yeares I haue sayled in the daunger and perill of this life now they commaund mee to land and harbour in the graue of death Now approcheth the houre wherein the band of Matrimonie is loosed the threede of Life vntwined the key doth locke the sleepe is wakened my life doth ende and I goe out of this troublesome paine Remembring mee of that I haue done in my life I desire no more to liue but for that I knowe not whether I am carryed by death I feare and refuse his darts Alas what shall I doe since the Gods tell mee not what I shall do What counsell shall I take of any man since no man will accompanie mee in this iourney Oh what great disceipt Oh what manifest blindnes is this to loue one thing all the dayes of our life and to cary nothing with vs after our death Because I desired to be rich they let me dye poore Because I desired to liue with companie they let me die alone For such shortnes of life I know not what hee is that will haue a house since the narrow graue is our certaine mansion place Belieue mee my sonne that manie things past doe grieue mee sore but with nothing so much I am troubled as to come so late to the knowledge of this life For if I could perfectly belieue this neyther should men haue cause to reproue me neyther yet I now such occasion to lament me Oh how certaine a thing is it that men when they come to the point of death doe promise the Gods that if they prerogue their death they will amend their life but notwithstanding I am sorry that we see them deliuered from death without any manner of amendment of life They haue obtained that which of the Gods they haue desired and haue not performed that which they haue prornised They ought assuredly to thinke that in the sweetest time of their life they shall be constrained to accept death For admit that the punishment of ingrate persons be deferred yet therefore the fault is not pardoned Be thou assured my Sonne that I haue seene ynough hearde selte tasted desired possessed eaten slept spoken and also liued ynough For vices giue as great troubles to those which follow them much as they do great desire to those which neuer proued them I confesse to the immortall Gods that I haue no desire to liue yet I ensure thee I would not die For life is so troublesome that it wearyeth vs and Death is so doubtfull that it feareth vs. If the Gods deferred my death I doubt whether I should reforme my life And if I do not amend my life nor serue the gods better nor profit the commonwealth more and if that euery time I am sick it should grieue mee to dye I say it is much better for mee now to accept death then to wish the lengthening of my life I say the life is so troublesom so fickle so suspicious so vucertaine and so importunate Finally I say it is a life without life that hee is an obstinate foole which so much desireth it Come that that may come for finally notwithstanding that I haue spoken I willingly commit selfe into the hands of the gods since of necessitie I am therunto constrained For it proceedeth not of a little wisedome to receiue that willingly which to doe wee are constrained of necessitie I will not recommend my selfe to the Priests nor cause the Oracles to be visited nor promise any thing to the temples nor offer sacrifices to the gods to the end they should warrant me from death and restore mee to life but I will demaund and require them that if they haue created mee for any good thing I may not lose it for my euill life So wise and sage are the gods in that they say so iust true in that they promise that if they giue vs not that which wee others would it is not for that they will not but because wee deserue it not for wee are so euill and worth so little and we may doe so little that for many good works wee deserue no merite and yet with and euill worke wee be made vnworthy of all Since therefore I haue put my selfe into the hands of the gods let them doe with me what they will for their seruice for in the end the worst that they will do is much better then
rising at midnight to serue God yet haue they great hope after their death of the heauenly rest and comfort but poore Courtiers alas what should I say hard is their life and more perillous their death into greater danger truly putteth he himselfe that becommeth a Courtier then did Nasica when gee was with the Serpent then King Dauid with the Philistines then the Southsayers with Euah then Hercules with Antheon then Theseus with the Minocaure then King Menelaus with the wilde Bore then Corebus with the Monster of the marish and then Perseus with the monstrous whale of the sea For euery one of these valiant mē were not afraid but of one but the miserable Courtier standeth in feare of all For what is he in Court that seeing his neere Kinsman or deerest friend more in fauour or credit then himselfe or richer then he that wisheth not his friendes death or at the least procureth by all meanes he can he shall not equall nor goe euen with with him in credite or reputation One of the worst things I consider see in Courtiers is that they loose much time and profite little For the thing wherein they spend their dayes and hestow the nights for the most part is to speake ill of those that are their betters or excel them in vertues and to vndoe those that are their equals and companions to flatter the beloued and among the inferiour sort to murmur one against an other and alwayes to sigh and lament for the times past And there is nothing that prouoketh Courtiers more to complaine then the dayly desire they haue to see sundry and new alterations of time For they little weigh the ruine of the Common weale so they may enlarge and exalt their owne estates Also it is a thing of course in Court that the reiected and fauourlesse Courtiers meete together murmuring at their Princes and backbiting their councellers and officers saying they vndoe the Realme and bring all to nought And al this presupposed for that they are not in the like fauour and estimation that they be in which beareth office and rule in the Common-weale And therefore when it commeth in question for a Courtier to aduaunce himselfe and to come in credit in the Court one Gourtier can scarsly euer trust an other On the other side mee thinketh that the life of the Court is not the very life in deede but rather an open penance And therefore in my opinion wee should not reckon Courtiers aliue but rather dead buried in their life For then the Courtier euer findeth himselfe plunged with deaths extream passious when hee perceyueth an other to be preferred and called before him Alas what great pitty is it to see a haplesse and vnfortunate Courtier for hee seely soule awaketh a thousand times in the night tosseth from side to side of his bed sometime vpright hee lyeth lamenting his yron happe now he sigheth for his natiue soyle and sorroweth then for his lost honour so that in maner he spendeth the whole night in watch and cares imagining with himselfe all the wayes hee can to come in credite and fauour againe that he may attaine to wealth and preferment before others which maketh mee thinke that it is not a paine but a cruell torment no seruice but tribute and not once only but euer that the body of the poore miserable Courtier abideth that in despite of him his wretched heart doth beare By the Law of the Court euery Courtier is bound to serue the King to accompany the beloued of the Court to visite noble men to wayte vpon those that are at the Princes elbow to giue to the vshers to present the Auditors to entertaine the Wardens and captaines of the Ports to currey fauour with the Harbingers to flatter the Treasurer to trauell and speake for their friendes and to dissemble amongst their enemies What legges are able to doe all these things what force sufficient to abide these brunts what heart able to endure them and moreouer what purse great inough to supply all these deuises I am of opinion there was neuer any so foolish nor marchant so couetons that hath solde himselfe in any fayre or exchangde himselfe for any other Marchandize but only the vnhappy Courtier who goeth to the court to sell his liberty for a litle winde and vaine smoake of the court I graunt that a courtier may haue in the court plenty of golde and siluer sumptuous apparrell fauour cresite and authoritie yet withall this aboundance yee cannot deny me but he is as poore of liberty as rich of substance or credite And therefore I dare boldly say this word againe for one time the Courtier hath his desire in Court a thousand times they will enforce him to accomplish others desires which neyther please nor like him Surely it commeth of a base and vile minde and no lesse cowardly for any man lightly to esteeme his liberty and fondly to embrace bondage and subiection being at others commaundement And if the Courtier would aunswere mee to this that though hee serue yet at least hee is in his Princes fauour I would replye thus Though hee bee in fauour with the Prince yet is he notwithstanding slaue to all his other officers For if the Courtier will sell his horse his moyle his cloke his sworde or any other such like whatsoeuer hee shall haue ready money for all sauing for his liberty which hee liberally bestoweth on all for nothing So that hee seemeth to make more estimation of his sword or appaarrell hee selleth then he doth of his liberty which hee giueth For a man is not bound to trauell at all to make himselfe master of others more then pleaseth him but to recouer liberty or to maintaine it he is bound to dye a thousand deaths I speake not these things for that I haue read them in my bookes but because I haue seene them all with mine eyes and not by science but by experiennce and I neuer knew Courtier yet content in Court much lesse enioying any iot of his liberty which I so much esteeme that if al men were sufficient to know it and knew well how to vse it he would neuer for any Treasure on earth forgoe it neyther for any gage lendi◠were it neuer so precious Yet is there in Court besides this an other kind of trouble I haue not yet touched and that is not small For oft times thither commeth of our friends which be straungers whom of necessitie and for honesties sake the Courtier must Lodge with him at home the Court beeing already full pestered And this happeneth oft in such a time when the poore Courtyer hath neither Lodging of his owne to lodge them in nor happily six pence in his purse to welcome themwithall I would you would tell mee also what griefe and sorrowe the poore Courtyer feeleth at his heart when hee lodgeth in a blinde narrowe-lane eateth at a borrowed table sleepeth in a hyred bedde and perhaps his
they should be throwne at their tayle and kept filthily for as charily and daintily doth a poore labouring and hus bandman keepe his woollen coverlet and setteth as much by it as doth the iolly Courtier by his quilt or ouerpaine of silke And it chanceth oft times also that though at a neede the poore mans bed costeth him lesse money then the rich mans bed costeth him yet doth it serue him better then the rich and costly bed serueth the Gentleman or Nobleman And this to be true we see it by experience that the poore husbandman or Citizen sleepeth commonly more quietly and at his case in his poore bedde and cabben with sheetes of towe then doth the Lord or rich Courtier lying in his hanged Chamber and bed of sickenesse wrapped in his finest Holland sheetes who still sigheth and complaineth And finally wee conclude that then when the Court remoueth and that the Courtier departeth from his lodging where he lay hee must with all courtesie thanke the good man and good wife of the house for his good lodging and courteous intertainment hee hath had of them and must not sticke also to giue them somewhat for a remembrance of him and besides giue certaine rewards among the maides and men seruants of the house according to their ability that he may recompence them for that is past and winne their fauour for that is to come CHAP. IIII. What the Courtiers must doe to win the Princes fauour DIodorus Siculus saith That the honour reuerence the Egyptians vsed ordinarily to their princes was so great that they seemed rather to worship them then to serue them for they could neuer speake to them but they must first haue licence giuen them When it hapned any Subiect of Egypt to haue a suite to their Prince or to put a supplication to them kneeling to them they sayde these words Soueraigne Lorde and Mightie Prince if it may stand with your Highnesse fauour and pleasure I will boldly speake if not I will presume no further but hold my peace And the selfe reuerence and custom had towards God Moses Aaron Tobias Dauid Salomon and other Fathers of Egypt making like intercessiō when they spake with God saying Domine mi Rex Si inueni gratiam in oculis tuis loquar ad Dominummeum O my Lord and King if I haue found fauour in thy sight I will speake vnto thee if not I will keepe perpetuall silence For there is no seruice ill when it is gratefull and acceptable to him to whom it is done as to the contrary none good when it pleaseth not the party that is serued For if he that serueth be not in his masters fauor he serueth he may wel take paine to his vndoing without further hope of his good wil or recompence Wherfore touching that I haue said I inferre that hee that goeth to dwell and abide in the Court must aboue all endeuour himselfe all hee can to obtaine the princes fauour and obtaining it hee must study to keepe him in his fauour For it should little preuaile the Courtier to bee beloued of all otherr and of the Prince onely to be misliked And therefore Alcamidas the Grecian being once aduertised by a friend of his that the Athenians did greatly thirst for his death and the Thebans desired his life hee answered him thus If those of Athens thirst for my death and them of Thebes likewise desiring my life I can but bee sorry and lament Howbeit yet if K. Philip my soueraigne Lord and Master holde me still in his grace and fauour and repute me for one of his beloued I care not if all Greece hate maligne me yea and lye in waite for me Indeed sir it is a great thing to get into the princes fauour but when he hath gotten it doubtlesse it is a harder matter to know how to keepe it For to make them loue vs and to win their fauour wee must doe a thousand manner of seruices but to cause them to hate and dislike of vs the least displeasure in the world sufficeth And therefore the paine and trouble of him that is in fauour in the Court is great if hee once offend or bee in displeasure For albeit the prince do pardon him his fault yet he neuer after returneth into his fauor againe so that to conclude hee that once onely incurreth his indignation hee may make iust reckoning neuer after or maruellous hardly to be receyued againe into fauour Therefore sayeth the diuine Plato in his bookes De Republica That to be a King and for to raigne to serue and to be in fauour to fight and to ouercome are three impossible thinges which neyther by mans knowledge nor by any diligence can be obtained onely remaining in the hands and disposing of fickle fortune which doth deuide and giue them where it pleaseth her and to whom she fauoureth best And truely Plato had reason in his saying for to serue and to be beloued is rather happe and good fortune then industry or diligence Since wee see oft times that in the Court of princes those that haue serued but three yeares onely shall bee sooner preferred and aduanced then such one as hath serued perhaps 20. or 30. yeares or possible all his life time And further hee shall bee both displaced and put out of seruice by meanes of the other And this proceeds not through his long and faithfull seruice hee hath done but onely by reason of the good happe that followeth him Although Plato telleth that to gette Realmes and Seigniories to ouercome battels and to be fauoured and beloued of princes be things graunted to vs rather by hazard and fortune then by force of good works and laudable actes or by long toyling in painefull seruice yet the Noble and stout heart therefore should not cease at any time to enterprise and manfully to execute in euery occasion presented to him to atchieue to fame and honour neyther for any pain and labour to lose the hope to obtaine his pretended purpose for men sometimes lose many things rather through timerousnes and want of audacity then for that they lacke good happ or fortune To see in the Court of princes some to bee richer more honoured more noble more esteemed better beloued more wayted vpon better serued and better welcome then others and more seared then others we may by these tokēs know that fortune hath not vsed to reward those with such fauours and preferments which liue at home idely and much lesse Courtiers who liue in Court with all pleasure and delicacie wherewith they are neuer wearied Let no man bee so fond to thinke that fortune is so bountifull and liberall that for his authority or onely thought shee will be once moued to lift him out of misery to exalt him to higher place and dignity without som secret and priuate respect had to his vertue For when shee many times vpon a suddaine rayseth any to high and great estate it commeth by the
then all others and otherwise to fall in disgrace and to make the Prince forget all the good seruice he hath don him his whole life time hee need but the least displeasure and fault he can commit Eusenides was maruellously beloued with Ptolomey who after Fortune had exalted and brought him to honour and that he was grown to great wealth sayde one day to Cuspides the Philosopher these words O my friend Cuspides tell mee I pray thee of thy faith is there any cause in mee to be sadde sith Fortune hath placed me in so great authoritie and honour as she can deuise to doe and that the King Ptolomey my Lorde hath now now no more to giue me he hath already beene so bountifull to me To whom the Philosopher aunswered saying O Eusenides if thou wert a Philosopher as thou art a beloued seruant thou wouldest tell mee an other tale then that thou tellest mee now For although King Ptolomey hath no more to giue mee knowest thou not that spightfull fortune hath power to take away from thee many things For the noble heart feeleth more griefe and displeasure to come downe one stayre or steppe then to clime a hundred Not many dayes after these words passed betweene Cuspides and Eusenides it happened that one day King Ptolomey found Eusenides talking with a Lemman or Curtesan of his which hee loued dearely whereat hee was so much offended that hee made her straight drinke a cuppe of poyson and caused him to bee hanged before his owne gates The Emperour Seuerus had one in so great fauour and credit which was called Plautius and he loued him so extreamely and trusted him so much that he neuer read letter but Plautius must reade it and hee neuer graunted commission or licence to any man but it must passe vnder Plautius Seale neither did hee euer graunt anything but at the request of Plautius nor did make warres or peace without the counsell and aduise of Plautius The matter fell out so that Plautius entring one night into the Emperours Chamber with a priuy coate his ill happe was such that a little of his breast before was open whereby was spyed the male which Bahhian seeing being the Emperours eldest Sonne sayde vnto him these sharpe words Tell me Plautius Doe those that are beloued of Princes vse to come into theyr Bed-Chambers at these howers Armed with yron-coates I sweare vnto thee by the immortall Gods and so let them preserue me in the succession of the Empyre That since thou commest with yron thou shalt also dye with yron Which presently tooke place For before hee went out of the Chamber they strake off his head The Emperour Commodus that was sonne of the good Emperour Marcus Aurelius had a Seruant called Cleander a wise and graue man olde and very pollitike but withall a little couetous This Cleander was oft times requested of the Praetorian company that is to say of the whole band of souldiers that he would commaund they might be payd their pay due vnto them and to perswade him the better to pay it they shewed him a bill signed from the Emperour to which he answered That the Emperour had nothing to do in the matter For althogh he were lord of Rome yet had he not to deale in the affayres of the Common-weale These discurteous and vnseemely wordes related to the Emperour Comodus and perceyuing the small obedience and respect of duty that Cleander shewed to him hee commaunded forthwith he should be slaine to his great shame and that all his goods should be confiscate Alcimenides was a great renowned King among the Greekes as Plutarch writeth of him and hee fauoured one Pannonius entirely well to whom only hee did not commit his person his trust but also the whole affaires and doings of the common weale and hee might dispose of the goods of the king at his will and pleasure without leaue or licence So that all the Subiects found they had more benefite in seruing of Pannonius then in pleasing of the King Therefore the King and the beloued Pannonius playing at the ball together they came to contend vpon a Chase and the one sayde it was thus the other sayde it was contrary and as they were in this contention the king commaunded presently those of his guarde that in the very place of the Chace where Pannonius denyed they should strike off his head Constantius the Emperour also had one whome hee liked very well and made much of called Hortentius which might well bee counted a Princes darling for hee did not onely rule the affayres of the common weale of the pallace of warres his goods and person of the Emperour but also hee was euer placed aboue all the Ambassadours at his table And when the Emperour went in progresse or any other iourney he euer had him to his bedfellow Thus things being in this state I tell you it happened that one day a Page giuing the Emperour drinke in a glasse the glass by mishappe fell out of the Pages hand and brake in pieces whereat the Emperour was not a little displeased and offended And euen in this euill and vnhappy howre came Hortensius to the king to present him certaine billes to the signe of hasty dispatch which was a very vnapt time chosen and the Emperour yet contented to signe it could neyther the first nor the second time because the penne was ill fauouredly made the inke so thicke that it woulde not write which made the king so angry that euen presently for anger he commaunded that Hortensius head should be strucken off But to the end wee may come to the knowledge of many things in few words I will shew you how Alexander the Great slew in his choller his deere accounted Cratherus and Pirrhus king of the Epirotes Fabatus his Secretary The Emperour Bitillion his greatest friend Cincinnatus Domitian the Emperour Rufus of his Chamber Adrian the Emperour his onely fauoured Ampromae Dâ—cclesian his friende Patritius whom he loued as himselfe and alwayes called him friend and companion Diadumeus Phamphilion his great Treasurer for whose death hee was so sorrowfull that hee would haue made himselfe a way because he caused him to be so cruelly slaine All these aboue named and infinit others also some were Masters some Lordes some kings and som of great authority and fauour about Princes by whose tragicall histories and examples wee may plainely see that they did not onely loose their goods fauor and credit but also vpon very light occasions were put to death by sword Therefore mortall men should put no trust in worldly things sith that of little occasion they become soone great and of much lesse they suddenly fall and come to worse estate then before And therefore king Demetrius asking one day Euripides the Philosopher what hee thought of humane debility and of the shortnesse of this life answered Mee thinkes O king Demetrius that there is nothing certaine in this vnstable life sith all men liuing
one meale a day but I saw him suppe many times in the night O diuine Plato if thou wert aliue as thou art dead and present with vs in this our pestilent age as thou werte then in that golden how many shouldest thou see that doe not onely dine and sup well but before dinner breake their fast with delicate meates and wines banket after dinner and supper also before they goe to bed So wee may say though Plato saw then but one Tyrant suppe hee might see now euery body both dine and suppe and scant one that contenteth him with one meale a day in which the brute beasts are more moderate then reasonable men Sith we see that they eate but so much as satisfieth them and are not contented to eate inough yea till they be full but more then nature will beare And brute beasts haue not also such diuersity of meates as men haue neyther seruants to wait on them beds to lye in wine to drinke houses to put their heads in money to spende nor Physitions to purge them as men haue And yet for all these commodities wee see men the most part of their time sicke And by these things recited we may perceyue that there is nothing preserueth so much the health of man as labour and nothing consumeth sooner then rest And therefore Plato in his time once spake a notable sentence and worthy to be had in minde and that is this That in that City where there are many Physitions it must needs follow of necessitie that the Inhabitāts there of are vicious and riotous persons And truly we haue good cause to carry this saying away sith wee see that Physitions commonly enter not into poore mens houses that trauell and exercise their body dayly but contrarily into the rich and wealthy mens houses which liue continually idely and at ease I remember I knew once a Gentleman a kinsman of mine and my very friend which hauing taken physicke I came to see how he did supposing hee had beene sicke and demaunding of him the cause of his purgation he tolde mee hee tooke it not for any sicknesse hee had but onely to make him haue a better appetite against hee went to the feast which should be two or three daies after And within sixe dayes after I returned again to see him and I found him in his bedde very sicke not for that he had fasted too much but that hee had inglutted him selfe with the variety of meates hee did eate at the feast So it happened that when hee purged himselfe once onely to haue better stomacke to eate hee needed afterwards a dozen Purgations for to discharge his loaden stomacke of that great surfet hee had taken at the feast with extreame eating And for the foure howres hee was at the Table where this Feast was hee was lodged afterwardes in his Chamber for two monethes to pay vsury for that hee had taken and yet it was the greate grace and mercy of GOD hee escaped with Life For if that it bee ill to sinne It is farre worse to seeke procure occasions to sinne And therefore by consequent the sin of Gluttonie is not onely dangerous for the conscience hurtfull to the health of the body and a displeasing of God but it is also a worm that eateth and in fine consumeth wholy the goods and faculties of him that vseth it Besides that these gurmands receiue not so much pleasure in the eating of these dainty morsels as they do afterwards griefe and displeasure to heate the great accounts of their stewards of their excessiue expences It is a sweet delight to bee fed daylie with daintie dishes but a sowre sauce to those delicate mouthes to put his hand so oft to the purse Which I speake not without cause sith that as wee feele great pleasure and felicitie in those meats that enter into our stomackes so doe we afterwards thinke that they plucke out of our heart the money that payeth for these knackes I remember I saw written in an Inne in Catalogia these words You that hoast here must say when you sit downe to your meate Salue regina Yea and when you are eating vitae dulcedo yea and when you reckon with the hoste Ad te suspiramus yea and when you come to pay him Gementes flentes Now if I would goe about to describe by parcels the order and maner of our feasts and banquets newly inuented by our owne Nation there would rather appeare matter to you to lament and bewayle then to write And it had beene better by way of speech to haue inuented diuers fashiōs of tables formes and stooles to sit on then such diuersity of meates to set vpon the Tables as wee doe vse now a dayes And therefore by good reason did Licurgus king of Lacedemonia ordaine and command that no stranger comming out of a strange Countrey into his should be so hardy to bring in any new customes vpon paine that if it were knowne he should be straite banished out of the Countrey and if he did vse and practise it he should be put to death I will tell you no lye I saw once serued in at a feast 42. sorts and kindes of meates in seuerall dishes In an other feast of diuers sortes of the fish called Tuny And in an other feast being flesh day I saw diuers fishes broyled with larde And at an other feast where I saw no other meat but Troutes and Lamperies of diuers kinds of dressing And at an other feast where I saw onely vi persons agree together to drinke each of them three pottles of wine a peece with this condition further that they should bee 6. houres at the table and he that dranke not out his part should pay for the whole feast I saw also an other feast where they prepared three seuerall Tables for the bidden guests the one boorde serued after the Spanish manner the other after the Italian and the thirde serued after the fashion of Flanders And to euery table there was serued 22. sorts of meates I saw also at an other feast such kinds of meates eaten as are wont to bee seene but not eaten as a horse rosted a cat in gely little lysers with hote broth frogges fryed and diuers other sorts of meats which I saw them eat but I neuer knew what they were till they were eaten And for Gods sake what is he that shall reade our writings and see that is commonly eaten in feastes now a dayes that it will not in a manner breake his heart and water his plantes The onely Spices that haue beene brought out of Calicut and the manner of furnishing of our boordes brought out of Fraunce hath destroied our Nation vtterly For in the old time they had no other kinds of Spices in Spaine but Saffron Comin Garlicke and Onions and when one friend inuited an other they had but a peece of beefe and a peece of veale and no more and it was a rare and dainty
Realme to haue so worthie a King Amongst other Lawes for women hee enacted one worthy of high commendations the wich commaunded that the Father which dyed should giue nothing to his daughter and an other that neyther liuing nor dying hee should giue any Money to marrie her withall to the intent that none should take her for her goods but only for her vertues and not for her beautie but for her good qualities whereas now some are forsaken because they be poore so then they abode vnmarryed because they were vicious Oh Time worthie to bee desired when maydens hoped not to be marryed with their Fathers goods but by the vertuous works of their owne persons this was the time called The golden Worlde when neither the daughter feared to be disinerited by the father in his life nor the Father to dye sorrowfull for leauing her without dowrie at his death Oh Rome treble accursed bee hee that first brought Gold into thy house and cursed be he that first beganne to hoord vp treasures Who hath made Rome to be so rich of Treasures and so poor of vertues who hath caused noble-men to marry the Plebeyans and to leaue the daughters of Senatours vnmaried what hath made that the rich mans Daughter is demaunded vnwilling and the daughter of a poor man none will desire What hath caused that One marryeth a Foole with 500. marks rather then a wise woman with ten thousand vertues then I will not say that in this case the flesh vanquished the flesh but I say that vanitie is ouercome of malice For a couetous person will now-adayes rather take a wife that is rich and foule then one that is poore and faire Oh vnhappy woman that bringeth forth children and more vnhappie be the daughters that are born the which to take in marriage no man desireth neyther for the bloud of their predecessors nor the fauor of their friends nor the worthinesse of their persons nor the puritie of their liues Oh wicked world where the daughter of a Good-man without money shal haue no mariage but it was not wont to bee so For in the olde time when they treated of Marriages first they spake of the persons and afterward of the goods not as they do at this present in this vnhappie time For now they speak first of the goods and last of all of the persons In the said Golden-world first they spake of the vertues that the person was endued with and when they were marryed as it were in sporte they would speake of the Goods When Camillus triumphed ouer the Gaules he had then but one sonne and he was such a one that his deserts merited great praise and for the renowm of his Father diuers Kings desired to haue him to their sonnes and diuers Senators desired to haue him to their sonnes in law This yong man being of the age of thirty years and the Father at 60. was importunately styrred by his naturall friendes and desires of strange kings for to marie him but alwayes the olde Camille withstood the counsell of his friends and the importunitie of the straungers When it was demaunded why he determined not vpon some Marriage for his sonne sith thereby should ensue the quyet life of the man and the ioy and comforte of himselfe in his age He aunswered them thus I will not marry my Sonne because some offer mee rich daughters some noble of lynage some young and some fayre But there is none hath sayde to mee I giue you my vertuous daughter Certainely Gamille merited triumph for that hee did and deserued eternall memory for that he said I spake to you Faustine all these wordes because I see you leade your daughter to Theaters and playes and bring her into the capitol you put her to the keeping of the Sword players you suffer her to see the Tumblers and yet doe not remember that shee is young and you not too aged you goe into the streetes without licence and sport you by the riuers I find no villany therein nor thinke that your daughter is euill but I say it because you giue occasion that she should not bee good Beware beware Faustine neuer trust to the race of flesh of young people nor haue no confidence in old folkes for there is no better way then to flye the occasion of all things For this intent the virgins vestals are closed vp betweene the walles to eschew the occasions of open places not to bee more light and foolish but to bee more sad and vertuous flying occasions The young shall not say I am young and vertuous nor the olde shall not say I am olde and broken for of necessity the drie flaxe will burne in the fire and the greene flagge smoke in the flame I say though a man be a Diamond set among men yet of necessity hee ought to bee quicke and to melte as waxe in the heate among Women Wee cannot deny that though the Wood bee taken from the fire and the imbers quenched yet neverthelesse the stones oftentimes remaine hote In likewise the flesh though it bee chastised with hote and drie diseases consumed by many yeares with trauell yet concupiscence abideth still in the bones What neede is it to blaze the vertues and deny our Naturalities certainely there is not so olde a horse but if hee see a Mare will neigh once or twice there is no man so young nor old but let him see fayre young Damsels eyther hee will giue a sigh or a wish In all voluntary things I deny not but that one may bee vertuous but in naturall thinges I confesse euery man to be weake when you take the wood from the fire it leaueth burning when Sommer commeth the colde winter ceaseth when the sea is calme the waues leaue their vehement motions when the Sunne is set it lightneth not the World I will say then and not before the flesh wil cease to trouble vs when it is layde in the graue of the flesh wee are borne in the flesh wee liue and in the flesh wee shall dye and therby it followeth that our good life shall sooner end then our fleshlie desires forsake vs oftentime some wholesome flesh corrupteth in an euil Vessell and good wine sometimes sauoureth of the foist I say though that the Workes of our life bee vertuous yet shall wee feele the stench of the weake flesh I spake this Faustine sith that age cannot resist those hote apetites how can the tender members of youth resist them vnlesse you that are the Mother goe the right way how should the Daughter that followeth you find it The Romane Matrones if that they will bring vppe their Daughters well ought for to keepe and obserue these Rules when they doe see that they would wander abroade that they breake their legges and if that they should bee gazing then put out their eyes and if they will listen stop their eares if they will giue or take cut off their hands if they dare speake sowe vp their mouthes
described Cares that are incident to them that hoorde vp riches Deceyuers neuer go vnpunished either in this life or the other A good counsell to reframe froÌ„ couetousnes Couetousnes alwayes accursed A saying of Pisistratus the Tyrant The opinioÌ„ of the Philosopher Lido concerning a couetous man A custome among the Lumbards worthy to be noted and followed Couetousnes in great personages a greater blemish theÌ„ in the poore The safetie of Princes consists in the loue of his subiects A Question lemau ded of great Alaxander his answere An olde prouerbe A worthy â—aying of the Emperour Seuerus The prayse of King Ptolomeus A wise saying of King Ptolomeus A worthy saying of Titus the Emperour A worthy saying of great Alex to king Darius A worthy saying of Phocion the phylosopher Great difference betweene the ancieÌ„t warriours these of our times An ancient custome among the Romanes A Letter of the Emperour to Mercurius What profiteth it a man to couet much since his day â—s are so short Riches neuer letteth man be in quiet Socrates teacheth vs how to esteeme the goods of this world The conclusion of the Emperours letter shewing the nature of couetous men A superscriptio written ouer the gates of the King of Lacedemonia The vices of Rome and Alexandria layd open What it is that couetous men doe long for in this life The tyranny of Mydas described The answere of the Oracle concerning the life of King Mydas Conference betweene Mydas and the Philosopher Silenus The speech of the Philosopher Silenus A worthy thing to bee considered of among Christians A worthy saying of Eschynes the Philosopher Beasts more prouicent in their kinde then man The miserable estate of man in his infancy Nature of men and beasts compared both together The cares troubles that followe man in this life Man of all other creatures subiect to dangers Brute beasts an instrument to punish man Malitious men worse then brure beasts We ought not to regard where our dead corpes are enterred A Letter of the Emperour to a banished man When good orders were obserued in Rome The time when good orders were broken in Rome The reason that Domitius was banished A worthy speech of Seneca to his mother Albina How little wee ought to regard the flatteries of forune Alexaander the great after his so many conquests dyed by poyson How quickly sodaine death ouertaketh many men How carefull men ought to be to liue wel A worthy example of an AtheniaÌ„ King A good custome among the ancient Romanes A rebuke of a frieÌ„d more acceptable then the slattring words of foes The pittifulnes of the Emperour Claudius The speech â—t King Alexander to king Darius Wherefore the worthie Anthoninus was renowm d. A worthy saying of the Emp worthy to be followed How accessarie it is for a wife to be in her owne house A custome vsed by widdowes in ancient times What a coÌ„fort a good husband is to a woman The care that Worldlings haue Sorrowes that women haue in bringing vp their children A saying of Seneca Troubles and cares incident to Widdowes 〈…〉 An ancient Law amoÌ„g the Carthagenians The life vertues of Claudinus described How little this life is to bee respected How little we ought to esteeme of this life MeÌ„ in their kinde more cruell then beasts The prosecutioÌ„ of the Emperours letter to widowes The dutie that euery Christian â—â—eth to God A custome vsed by the Romains in visiting widdowes A custome vsed among the Romane widowes An admonition of the Emperour to widowes to leaue off mourning 〈…〉 What punishment ought to be inflicted vpon a widow of light behauiour The opinion of sundry Philosophers of the description of the world 〈…〉 The deceitfulnes of the world layd open A worthy saying of K. SalomoÌ„ Nothing in this worlde but vanitie The vaine hope of the worldly minded man The speech of the Emp Traian The answer of Plutarch How little we ought to esteeme the flatteries of the world The inconstancie of the world How the world deceiueth sinfull men The vaine opinion of the worldly minded meÌ„ How suddeÌ„ly Death assaulteth vs comfor◠〈…〉 if the Emp Marc Aur. How a true friend is to be knowne The loue of Marcus Aurelius to his friend The considerations that euery man ought to haue A worthy saying of Plato No man in safety to long as hee liueth in this world The Emperour perswedeth meÌ„ to trust in the world What the world is compared vnto How malicious vnconstaÌ„t the world is Fortune Nature two contrary enemyes Doe what thou canst at last the world will deceyue thee Examples of the vncoÌ„stancy of the world Plutarch commendeth the Lacedemonians in obseruing their lawes A saying of Plutarch The laws of Plutarche Wherfore the Romans esteemed Fencers An ancient custome among the Romaines The reason wherefore the RomaÌ„s allowed Iesters Allowance giuen by the Romans to Iuglers The difference betweene Roscio the Iester and Cicero A good and ancient Law amoÌ„g the Lacedemonians Punishment infflicted by Augustus vpon a Iester An other worthy sentence of the Emperour Augustus The vanity of men in maintaining Iesters such idle persons How necessarie it is to bee beneficiall to the poore How hatefull Iesters and loyterers ought to be in a Common-wealth A custome vsed by the Romanes worthy to be vsed of euery Nation The cause wherefore the Emperour wrote this letter The Emperour bewayleth the folly of the Romanes Such company as meÌ„ haunt the same shall they shew in their life To what sorts of people men ought to giue to eate The Emp coÌ„mendeth the isle of Helespont How reuerently the Sages were esteemed in former time The noble minded respect antiquities What vnloked for mischiefes arise at such meetings The reason wherefore the Emperour banished fooles and loyterers The reward a poore Philosopher had for speaking truth Idlenes the mother of all vices The folly of fooles ought to be contemned of the wise The great riches of two Parasites The property of Iuglers A true patterne for good and vertuous children Death the best gift that can be giuen to mortall men How little we ought to esteeme of Death Comforts against the feare of death A Question of Plato demaunded of Socrates A question demanded of Cato his answer A worthie sentence of Seneca A sentence of Plinie A worthie speech of the Emp Theodose None ought to procrastinate or deny their amendment A great discouragemeÌ„t to loâ—e so worthie a personage Extreame sorrows oppressed the good Emp M Aur. Men ought to prouide a cleare conscience to depart this life c. Good counsell against the feare of death Wise men prepare theÌ„selues before death Death terrible to all men Repentance not to be omitted What care is had to inherit transitory goods The worthy secretary Panurius his speech The reason why men studie is to learne to liue well Stedfastnes of minde is commendable The words of a wise man workes strange effects How loath great
men are to die Too much merriment in life breedeth woe in death A custome of the Grecians and Romains Wise men do outwardly dissemble inward griefes The custoÌ„e of many widowes There are two things that grieue men at their death The same order that Time keepeth man ought to follow This transitory life not worth the desiring Man neuer happy till death The trauell of death is harder then all the trauell of life The cause why men feare death He giues best counsel to the sorrowfull that is himselfe likewise tormented The occasion why Aurelius tooke his death heauily Children brought vp in liberty wantonnes easily fals into vices It is perillous to be adorned with naturall giftes to want requisite vertues What parents should glory of in their children Many yong vicious princes in Rome The cruell inscription in Coligulaes brooch The cruelty of Nero to his Mother They seldome mend that are vicious in youth The difference betweene the poore and the rich in death Vicious children by an ancient law disinherited Fiue things that oppressed Marcus Aurelius heart The counsell of the Emperour to his sonne Comodus What words cannot doe treason will The sinnes of a populous Cittie not to be numbred As vice intangleth the vicious so vertue cleaneth to the vertuous Disobedience of children is their vndoing Ripe counsell proceedeth from the aged The pastime that Princes should seeke Princes are to accompanie Ancient men All young men are not light nor all olde men sage Princes that rule many must take counsell of many Weighty affayres are to be dispatched by counsell Whose couÌ„sell is to be refused The marks of an vndiscreet prince or ruler It is more perillous to iniure the dead then the liuing The duty of a thankefull child Ministers are to bee honoured of all men A good admonition for children how to vse their stepmothers Women are of a tender condition Princes that doe iustice doe get enemies in the execution thereof The Emperour here concludeth his speech and endeth his life Death altereth all things Deferring of the punishment is not the pardoning of the fault The wisedome of God in disposing his gifts A Table of good counsell The painefull iourney the Philosophers booke to viâ—â—t good â—en The properties of a true friende What Loue is A remarkeable saying of Zenocrates Great eate is to bee had in choosing a friend The saying of Seneca touching frindship Good workes doe maruellously cheare the heart The times past better then the times present A question demaunded by the Emperour Augustus of Virgil and his answere Sinne is not so pleasaot in the committing as it is likesome in the remembraÌ„ce Good counsell for all men especially for Courtiets Christians are in all things to be prefered before all others What the Author or wryter of books should ayme at A wise man reserueth some time for his profite and recreation Leâ—rned men greatly honored in times past The letter of K. Phili to Aristol at the birth of his sonne Alexander The benefite that accreweth by companying with wise men They are oft times most known that least seeke acquaintaÌ„ce No misery comparable to that of the Courtier Why this name Court was adhibited to the Pallace of Princes It is more difficult to bee a Courtier then a religious person Many a Courtier spends his time all The life of aâ— Courtier an open penance The Courtier is abridged of his liberty An honest hart is more greeued to shew his misery then to suffer it The Courtyer subiect to much trouble What epences the Courtier is at The misery that Courtiers are subiect vnto How Courtyers ought to order their expences The trouble courtyers haue with Friends The griefe of thâ— courtyer that caÌ„not pleasure his friend The mishaps of the Court are more then the fauors The Courtier wanteth many things hee would haue Few purchase fauor in the court A speech of Lucullus and may well bee applyed to euery Courtier Courtiers are rather grieued then relieued with the princely pompes of the Court. The particular troubles of theÌ„ which follow the Court. The Ambition of the Courtyers Many rather glory to be right Courtiers tken good Christians The Courtyer of least calling proues most troublesom All Courtiers subiectto the authority of the Harbingers How a courtyer may make the Harbinget his friend How the Harbinger is to appoint his lodgings The Courtier must entrear his host well where hee lyeth â—ow the Courtier may make his host beholden to him It is necessary for Courtiers to keepe quiet seruants The Courtier is to commaund his seruants courteously to aske of his Host all needfull things Too many women about the Court. The care the Courtier ought to haue of his Apparell How the Courtier is to demeane himselfe at his departure from his lodging The troble of him that is in fauour in the court is great Want of audacity hinders good fortunes The reason why fortune rayseth some and throweth down others The course he must take that would bee in his Princes fauour The saying of Dionisius to Plato other Philosophers that came to visite him Backbyting is a kinde of treason especialâ—y against princes The law of A drian the Emperour againest sedicious persons Good seruice demaÌ„ds recompence though the tongue bee silent Things to be eschewed of him that would speake with the King In what sort the Courtier is to demand recompeuce of the prince The Courtier shoulde not be obstinate How princes are to be spoken to if they be in an error How the Courtier must demean himselfe when his Prince sporteth before him Where wise men are best known What disposition should be in a Princes Iester He that will come to fauour in the Court must be acquainted with all the Courtiers in the Court. A Prince hath alwais some fauourite The inconueniences that follow the needles reasoning of that the King allowes Betweene words spokeÌ„ the inteÌ„t with which they were spoken is great difference It is best for the Courtier to bee 〈◊〉 friendshippe with all if can possible There is no man but giues more credit to one then another Wherein true visitation of our betters or friends consisteth The indiscretion of some that are visited The discretion the Courtyer is to vse in his curtesie One gyft in necessitie is better then a thousand words Two things which a maÌ„ should not trust any with A custome wherein the Courtier may lauish hia reputation When a wise man may put himselfe in perill How hee that is biddeÌ„ to a feast may purchase thaÌ„kâ— of the bidder To what ende wee should desire riches Many not 〈◊〉 to serue God as their own bellies How he is welcome that is a common runner to other mens Tables How he is to demeane himself that will visite noble means Table Many loue to haue their cheere and attendance commended Wine tempered with water bringth 2. commodities No man ought to complaine of want at anothers table What talke should bee vsed at the