a wype To the Father Prior of Corta caeli I sende a riche palia for my sake I pray you to cōmaunde that it bée giuen him in my behalf to visit him bicause I lodged long time with him am much bound affectioned vnto him No more but that our Lord be your protector and kéepe you from an euill lemman and heale you of your goute From Madrid the thirde of Marche .1527 A letter vnto the Bishop of Zamora Sir Anthony of Acuna wherein he is sharply reprehended for that he was captain of the commons that rebelled in Spaine REuerent and seditious Prelate Zalobrena the sergeant of your bande gaue mée a Letter of yours whiche presently I coulde not vnderstand but after I had read returned againe to reade the same I did sée it was no letter but a bill that the Bishop of Zamora had sente wherein he dyd desie and threaten that he woulde kill me or commaunde mée to be chastized The cause of this defiaunce your Lordshippe declareth to procéede for that in Villa Braxima I withdrew Sir Peter Giron from your parcialitie and counselled hym to cease to followe you and retire to serue the king I my Lorde doe accept your defiance and hold my selfe defyed not that wée kill our selues but that we examin our selues not to the ende wée goe vnto the fielde but to incommende our selues to reason Which reason as a viewer of our factes shall declare whether of vs is moste culpable I in followyng and obeying the Kyng or you in altering and reuolting the kingdome I remēber me being as thē but yong in Trecenon a manour house of Gueuara I did sée my vncle Sir Ladron sir Beltram my father mourne in black for your father in verie trouth my lord Bishop seeing you as I did sée you in Villa Braxima compassed with artillery accōpanied with souldiours and armed at al points with more reason we might weare gréen bicause you liue than black for that your father died The diuine Plato of two thinges did not discerne which first to bewayle that is to wit the death of good men or the life of the wicked for it is a most great grief vnto the heart to sée the good so soon to die and the wicked so long time to liue A certain Greeke béeing demanded for what cause he shewed so great sorow in the death of Agesilaus He answered I wéepe not bicause Agesilaus died but for that Alcibiades remaineth liuing whose life offendeth the Goddes and escandalizeth the world A certain Gentleman of Medina who is named Iohn Cnaso reported that being appointed to haue the ouersight of your bringing vp he was driuen to change foure Nursses in six moneths for that in nursing you were fierce wayware and importune in suckyng It séemeth vnto mée my Lorde Bishop that since in your childhoode you were so paynfull and in your lyfe so sedicious it were great reason that in your olde yeares as you shoulde be quiet if not for your deseruing yet to repose you shoulde seeke quietnesse holding as you haue in youre possession thrée score yeare completed ▪ and shortely maye boaste youre selfe of thrée score and tenne accomplyshed it seemeth to mée no euyll counsayle that you offer if it lyke you the flower to God for that you bestowed so muche branne in the worlde Since your gardein is blasted your vinedage ended youre floure fallen your primetyme finished your youthe passed you olde age come it were muche more conueniente to take order for amendment of olde sinnes reformation of youre life than to execute the office of Captaine ouer rebelling cōmoners If you will not followe Christe that made you yet folow sir Lewes of Acuna that begat you at whose gates many poore euery day did féede and at your gates we sée not but playing and blaspheming souldiours To make of souldiours priests it passeth but of priests to make souldiors is an acte moste scandalous whervnto I wil not say your Lordship consented but that you exactely haue perfourmed You broughte from Zamora to Tordissillas thrée hundreth Massing Priestes not to instructe the Kinges subiectes but to defend that Town against the King and to remoue your Lordship from euill toungs as also for the better saluation of their soules you brought them from Zamora in the beginning of Lent in such wise that like a good pastor an excellent Prelate you remoued thē from praying to fighting in the assault which the Gentlemē gaue at Tordessillas against your bande I saw with mine eyes one of your priests with an harquebuse ouerthrow eleuen men behinde a window the grace was that when he did leuell to shoote he blessed him selfe with his péece and killed them with the pellot I sawe also before the assaulte was ended the Souldiours of oure side that were without giue that good Prelate such a blow in the forehead with an arrow that the death of that caytise was so suddain as he had neither time to confesse his sinnes nor yet so muche as to blesse himselfe But nowe the soule of that Bishop that remoued that priest from his churche the soule of that priest that slew so many men what excuse can they haue before men and what accounte maye they make to God It were a sinne to take you from the warres but much greater to make you of the church since you be so offensiue in nothing scrupulous hereof we be most certain for that you make no account to fight to kill and also to be irregular I woulde gladly knowe in whether booke you haue read most which is to wit in Vegetius whiche entreateth of matters of warres or in S. Austine his booke of Christian doctrine and that whiche I durste auouche is I haue séene you many tymes handle a partisan but neuer anye booke and it séemeth vnto mée not a little gréeuous that to the souldioures that assaulted and fel at the taking of the fort of Impudia they say that you sayde So my sonnes vp fight and die beholde my soule for yours since you dye in so iust an enterprise and a demaunde so holye My Lorde Bishop you well knowe that the Souldiors that there were slayne were excommunicate for sacriledge traytours to the King robbers of churches théeues on high ways enemies of the common wealth and maintainers of ciuill warre It is most euident that the soule of that Bishop that speaketh suche blasphemie is not much scrupulous that desireth to die as a souldiour neither doe I maruell that he desireth to die like a desperate Souldiour that neuer made account of his estate as a Bishoppe If you had raysed this warre to reforme the common wealth or to haue made frée your countrey from some oppression and taxation it might séeme you had occasion although in déed no reason but your Lordship hath not risen against the king for the weale of the kingdom but to make exchange for a better Bishoprike
great trauelles that vnprofitable friends bring with them is that they come not to seeke vs to the end to doe what we wil but to perswade vs to doe what they will. It is great perill to haue enemies and also it is greate trauell to suffer some kind of friendes for to giue the whole hart to one is not much but how much lesse when amongst many it is reparted neyther my condition may beare it either within the greatnes of your estate may it be cōtained that we should loue after such sort neither in such maner to behaue ourselues for that there is no loue in this worlde so perfect as that which holdeth no scruple of intereste Your Lordship saith in your letter that you write not vnto me for that I am rich or mighty but because I am learned and vertuous And you instantly desire me that I write vnto you with mine owne hand some thing that maybe worthy to be vnderstood and plesaunt to be read To that which you say that you hold me to be wise to this I aunswere as Socrates did whiche is too wit that hée knew not any thing more certaine but in perceyuing that he did know nothing Very great was the Philosophie that Socrates did inclose in the aunswere for as the deuine Plato doth say the lesser part that we vnderstand not is much more than al that we know In all this world there is not the like infamie as a man to bée imputed ignorant either the like kind of praise as to bée called wise bycause in the wise death is very euil imployed and in the foole life is much worse bestowed The tirant Epimethes séeing the Philosoher Demosthenes wéep immeasurable teares for the death of a Philosopher demaunded for what cause hée wept so muche since it was a straunge thing for Philosophers to wéepe To this Demosthenes answered O Epimethes I do not wéepe bycause the Philosopher died but for that thou liuest and if thou knowest not I will giue thée to vnderstand which is that in the scholes of Athens we do more wéepe bycause the euill doe liue than for the death of the good Also your honour doth saye that you doe iudge me to be a man solitarie and vertuous might it please the diuine clemencie that in al this and much more you speake the truth bycause in case for one to be or not to bée vertuous I dare venter to speake that how muche sure it is to be and not too séeme to be so daungerous it is to seeme to be and not to be in déede Man is naturally variable in his appetites profoūd in hart mutable in his thoughts incōstant in his purposes indeterminable in his conclusions wherof we maye well gather that man is easie to knowe and very difficile to vnderstand Your excellencie giues me more honour in calling me wise and vertuous than I giue to intitle you Duke of Sesa Marques of Bitonto Prince of Guilache and aboue all great captaine For to my vertue and wisedome warres can giue no impeachment but your potencie and greatnes is subiect vnto fortune Your honour writeth vnto me that I certifie you of my opinion in that the king our master doth commaund now of new that you passe once more into Italy by occasion of the battell that the Frenchmen of late haue ouercome at Rauenna whiche in the worldes to come shall be so famous as it was now bloudie Vnto this answering your honour I saye that you haue great reason to doubt and vpon the same too vse counsell for if you do not accomplishe what you be commaunded the Kyng takes displeasure and if you doe what they entreat you you contend with fortune Two times your honour hath passed into Italy and twice woon the kyngdome of Naples in which two iorneyes you ouercame the battell of Garrellano and the battell of Chirinola and slewe the best people of the house of Fraunce And that which is most of all you brought to passe that the Spanish nation of all the world were feared and obtained vnto your selfe renoume of immortall memory This being true as it is it were no wisedome either suretie once more to returne thither to tempt fortune which with none doth shew hir self so malicious and double as with such as spend long time in the warres Hanniball a Prince of the Carthaginians not contented too haue ouercome the Romanes in those great and famous battailes of Trene Trasmene and Canna but as hée would alway force and wrestle with fortune he came to be ouercome of those which he many times had ouercome Those that haue to deale with fortune must entreate hir but not force hir they must heare hir but not beleue hir they must hope in hir but haue no confidence in hir they must serue hir but not anger hir they muste bée conuersant with hir but not tempt hir For that fortune is of so euill a condition that when shee fauneth she biteth when she is angred she woundeth In this iourney that they commaund your honour neither do I perswade you that you go either diswade you to tary Onely I say and affirme with this third passage into Italy you returne to put your life in perill and your fame in ballance In the two first conquests you obtaine honour with them that be present fame for the worldes to come riches for your children an estate for your successours reputation amongst straungers credit amongst your owne gladnes for your friends and grief vnto your enemies Finally you haue gotten for excellencie this renoume of great Captaine not only for these our times but also for the world to come Consider well what you leaue and what you take in hand for that it may rather be imputed for rashnes than for wisedome that in keping your house where al doth enuie you should depart where al men should be reuenged You ouercame the Turkes in Paflonia the Mores in Granada the Frenchmen in Chirinola the Picardes in Italy the Lombardes in Garellano I holde it to be doubted that as fortune hath not more nations to giue you to ouercome she will now leade you where you shall be ouercome The Dukes the Princes the Captaines and vnder Captaines against whom you haue fought eyther they be deade or else gone In suche sort that nowe against an other kinde of people you must deale and fyght I sayd it for that it may chaunce that fortune which then did fauour you now maye fauour them To accepte warres to gather people to order them and to giue battaile it belongeth vnto men but to giue victorie appertaineth only to god Titus Liuius saith that many times with greate ignomie the Romaines were ouercome at Furcas Caudinas in the ende by the counsell of the Consull Aemilius they changed that Cōsul which had the charge of that army where they were before that time ouercome were frō thence forward conquerours of their enimies Of
the Court whervnto I answer that as my aduersaries do follow me and my businesse enlarging I do nothing but vndoe my selfe Likewise you will that I write vnto you in what thing I do imploy the time to this I answere that according to the fashion of vs Courtiers beare euil will blaspheme loyter lye trafike and cursse with more truth we may say of time that we lose it than employe it Also you demaund with whō I am moste conuersant in this Court to this I answer that the Court and the people therof be grapes of so euill a soyle that we that goe in the same and from our childhode be brought vp therein studie not with whome to be conuersant but in discouering of whom to beware with muche payne wée haue tyme to defende vs from oure enimies and will you that wée occupie our selues in séeking newe friendes In the Courtes of Princes I doe confesse there is a conuersation of persons but no confederation of will for here enimitie is holden for naturall and amitie a straunger The Court is of such nature that they that do most visit them the worse they doe entreate them and such as speake beste vnto them the more euill they do wish them They which haunt the Courts of Princes if they will be curious and no fooles shall fynde many things wherat to wonder and muche more whereof to beware Also you demaunde how the difference betwixt the Admirall and the Earle of Myranda standeth to this I answer that the Admirall as one of muche power and the Earle as one in much fauor giues to eche other wherwith to be occupied and to vs sufficient wherat to murmure Sir you demaund what newes we haue of the Emperors comming to this I answer that which we presently vnderstand is that the Turke is retired Florence is alyed the Duke of Milane is reduced the Venetians did amaine the Pope and Caesar did consecrate the Estates of Naples be reparted the Coluna is deade the Marques of Villa Franca is made Viceroy of Naples the Prince of Orange is slayn and vnto the Chanceler and to the Confessor to either of them is giuen a Cardinals hat Other secret news they write from thence which be lamentable to such as be therewith touched and gracious to those that heare therof which is many of those that went into Italie with Caesar are became amorous and in the artes of loue haue raunged too farre But sir in this case I sweare vnto you as it foundeth in myne eares theyr wiues be here sufficientely reuenged of them for if they leaue there any women greate with childe also they shall fynde here theyr wyues brought a bed You will also that I write vnto you howe it goeth wyth vs for vittailes this Lent to this I aunswere that by diuine grace we haue not wanted this lent fishe to eat and also fins ynowe to confesse For the case is come to such dissolution and vnshamfastnesse that the Gentlemen hold it for an estate and aduancement of honour to eate fleshe in Lent. Also you demaund if the Court be deare or good cheape to this I answere that my steward telleth me that from October vnto Aprill it hath cost me in wood and cole an hundreth and fortie Ducates The cause of this is that this same towne of Medina as it is rich in faires so is it poore in moūtaines or woods in suche sorte that the count being wel cast the wood costs as deare as the dressing of the pot Other thinges are in this Court at a good price or to say it better very good cheap that is to wit cruel lies false news vnhonest women fayned friendship continuall enimities doubled malice vaine words and false hopes of whiche eight things we haue suche abundance in this Courte that they may set out bouthes and proclayme faires Sir you demaund of me if there be good expedition of causes for that you haue some to be dispatched to this I doe answere as the things of the court be tedious displeasant long deferred costely intricate vnfortunate desired besieged lamented and bescratched I conceyue of mine own part that if ten be dispatched nintie be despited Also you will mée that I write vnto you if the faire be good thys yeare at Medina To this I answer that as I am a courtyer and a suter and haue neyther marchaundise to sell and muche lesse money wherwith to buy I knowe not whereof to prayse it nor do I fynde why to mislyke it But in passing thorough the faire I sée in the bouthes of these Burgaleses so many riche and pleasaunt things that in beholding them I tooke great pleasure and being not able to buy them I was muche tormented The Empresse came foorth to sée the faire and as a Princesse most wise wold not be accompanied with hir maids of honor bicause the Gentlewomen that did serue hir being so poore and so fewe it coulde be no lesse but that they would vse their libertie in asking fairings and the gentlemen should thinke it their partes to giue them Sir you demaund if the Courte be in health or if the pestilence be thereaboutes to this I aunswere that of agues tertians and quartaines plague sores and such other infirmities of the body we are al in health and verie well excepte the licenciate Alarcon that being relating a proces before the counsell sodainly fell downe dead And of a trouth his death was to many in this Court very terrible although I sée none to amende his lyfe by the same Other infirmities be in this Courte that bée not corporall but spirituall as angers hatred quarels rancours wrath and slaughters the whiche maladies doe consist not that they go with bodies infected but in the swelling of the splene corruption of the gall I haue turned many tymes to reade your letter and haue not founde any more to aunswere For of a suretie it did rather séene an Interrogatorie to take witnesses than a letter to a frend I wil say no more but that I haue escaped in writing vnto you very wearie also angrie not for the answering to the matter but in construing youre ill fauored letter Our Lord be your protector and giue me grace to serue him From Medina del Campo the fift of Iune in the yeare .1532 A letter to sir Antonie of Cneua wherin is expounded an authoritie of holie Scripture very notable which is to wit why God did not heare the Apostle and did heare the diuell against Iob. MAgnificent sir particular beloued Alonso Espinell gaue me a letter from your worship here in Toledo the date whereof was the .12 of May and it is nowe the .16 of Iune in such sort that your letter neyther may by cōdemned for stale either for fresh Many from many partes do write vnto me sometime their letters be suche that to read them it is very tedious and to aunswere them no lesse displeasant To sée a
the one that you liue onely with your own and in the other that also you take profit of other mennes 8 In the one that alwaies you remember to dye in the other that for nothing you leaue to lead an ill life 9 In the one that alwaies you occupie your self in knowledge in the other that you giue your self to be of much power 10 In the one that you impart of that you haue with the poore and friends and in the other that alwaies you keepe for deare yeares 11 In the one that you vse much silence and in the other that you presume to be very eloquent 12 In the one that you beléeue onely in Christ and in the other that you procure to haue money If you my Lord Embassador with these xy conditions wil be a Romane much good may it do you For vpon the day of accoumpt you would rather haue bin a laborer in Spaine than an Embassadour at Rome No more but that our Lord be your protector and to you and to me he giue good endings From Granado in the yeare 1525. the daye and moneth aforesaid A letter vnto the said Sir Ierome Vique in whiche is declared an Epitaph of Rome RIght magnificent Embassadour to Caesar by your letter that I haue receiued I was certified that to you was deliuered an other of mine wherein I haue vsed no curious care For vnder your good condicion there is no place for any thing to be dispraysed much lesse to be condemned Mosen Rubine aduertised me that by sléeping in an ayry place you haue bin very reumatike which I certainly béeleue hath procéeded of the great heate of the moneth of August but by my aduise you shall not vse it neither others so giue counsell for that it is lesse euill in sommer to sweate than to cough You write and also send vnto me certaine Gothicke letters that you haue foūd written in an aunciēt place in Rome whiche you can neither reade or they in Italy can declare Sir I haue very well séene considered and also reconsidered them and to him that is not acquainted with this Romish cyphringes they séeme illegible and not intelligible and that to vnderstand and read them well it were necessary that the men that bée a liue shoulde deuine or those that wrote them shoulde rise from death to life But to expound these letters no dead man shall bée raysed either am I a soothsayer or diuine I haue tyred my wittes and called to remembrance I haue ouerturned my Bookes and also haue ouerloked meruailous and many histories to see and to know who it was that did write them and wherefore they were written and in the ende as there is nothing that one man doth that another can not do or that one man knoweth and an other knoweth not your good luck wold and my great diligence that I met with that whiche you desired and I sought for And for that it shall not séeme that I speake without Booke in few wordes I will recite the history In the times of Octauius Augustus the Emperour there was in Rome a Romane Knight named Titus Annius verely a man of great experience in causes of warre and right wise in the gouernment of the common wealthe There was in Rome an office that was called Tribunus Scelerum this had the charge of all criminall causes whiche is to wit to hang to whip to banish to cut throates and to drowne in wels in such maner that the Censor did iudge the Ciuill and the Tribune the Criminall This office amongst the Romanes was of great preheminence and of no lesse confidence they neuer incommended the same but to a man of noble bloud auncient in yeares learned in the lawes in life honest and in iustice very moderate for that all these condicions did concurre in Titus Annius hée was by the Emperour Augustus in the office of Tribune named by the Senate confirmed and of the people allowed Titus Annius liued and was resident in this office xxv yeres in all whiche time hée neuer spake to man any iniurious word either did any iniustice In remuneration of his trauell and in reward of his bountie they gaue him for priuilege that hée shoulde bée buried within the walles of Rome and that hée should bury by him selfe some money and that in that sepulcher there shoulde not any other bée buried For a man to bée buried in Rome was amongst the Romanes a great preheminence the one was bycause the priests did consecrate the sepulcher and the other for that malefactors to flie vnto sepulchers were more worth than the temples But now these letters woulde saye that Titus Annius Iudge of the faultie by him in his sacred sepulcher did hide certaine money whiche is to wit ten foote off and that in the same sepulcher the Senate doth commaund that none of his heyres be buried This Titus Annius when hée died left his wife aliue that was named Cornelia whiche in the sepulcher of hir husband did set this Epitaphe The aucthors of this history are Vulpicius Valerius Trebellius And bycause the declaration of the history shall appeare more cleare let vs set the exposition ouer euery letter and these be the letters Titus Annius Tribunus Scelerum Sacro T. A. T. Sce. S. Suo Sepulcro Pecuniam Condidit Non. S. S. P. Con. N. Longe Pedes Decem. Hoc Monumentum Lon. P. X. H. M. Heres Non. Sequitur Iure Senatus H. N. S. I. S. Cornelia Dulcissima Eius Coniux Posuit Cor. D. E. Con. P. Behold here my Lord Embassador your letters expounded and not dreamed and in my iudgement this that we haue said they would say and if you be not satisfied with this interpretation let the dead expound them that did write them or those bée whiche aline that gaue them No more but that our Lord be your protector and giue vs grace that we ende in his seruice From Toledo the third of April 1526. A letter vnto the Bishop of Badaios in whiche there is declared the auncient lawes of Badaios RIght magnificent and Caesars Precor I receaued a letter from your Lordshippe with the whiche I did much reioyce my selfe before I did read it and after that I had reade it I remained no lesse offended not for that whiche you had written vnto me but for that you commaunded me and also demaunded of me If Plutarch do not deceaue vs into the chamber of Dionisius the Siracusan none did enter in the librarye of Lucullus no man sate down Marcus Aurelius with the key of his study no not with his Faustine did vse any trust and of a troth they had great reason bycause there be things of such qualitie that not only they ought not to be dealt withall neither yet to be looked vppon Aeschines the Philosopher said that for very great frendship that might be betwixt one and other he ought not to shew him all thinges in his house nor to communicate
sustained for sixe dayes whiche being past eyther I must die or be eaten with beastes or returne to my maister or else put my selfe in safetie Hauing past thrée days and thrée nights forsaking all high wayes thicked my self in the great desert And being vtterly tired with great extreme beate and no lesse in feare of them that shoulde séeke mée I conueyed my selfe into a great Caue somwhat darke the entrance narrow but more large within Not sixe houres after I had conueyed my selfe into that denne I saw at the entring therof a Lyon moste terrible to beholde whose feete and mouth was all bloudie and my iudgemente was that he had eaten some beaste or torne some man in pieces whiche was lyke inough for that notwithstanding the countrey is inhabitable and the heate intollerable yet there resorte into those desertes some that go to hunt the Lyon and other vnfortunate as I that flée from their Maysters whiche choose for lesse euyll to be eaten wyth Lions than all their liues to be slaues Perceyuing that monstrous Lion sitting at the entrance of the caue and séeing in my self that I had no place to escape or flée vnto nor strength to resiste the teares presently fell from myne eyes Remembring my selfe with feare I became senslesse fell dismayd to the ground holding for certain that now the hour was come in which by the rage of that beast my miserable lyfe should take an end Oh what difference there is to blason death with the tongue and to sée it with the sight of the eyes I say this puissant Caesar for that in séeing him at the doore that should eate mée and that the sepulcher of my fleshe shoulde be those bestiall entrayles I would haue chosen an other lyfe much worse at that presente to haue escaped with lyfe But after the Lyon had a little viewed and also rested at the entrance of the caue he came forward halting on one of his féete gréeuously groning and comming vnto me that was fallen to the grounde laide his lame foote vpon my hands after the maner of a wise man that discouereth his hurte to an other and craueth remedye for the same My tongue can not sufficiently say vnto thée Oh magnificent Caesar the strength I recouered and the ioy I cōceiued to sée that most cruel beast stand so myld come sicke goe so lame and to aske to be cured And you may wel beleue it for at that houre I was in such estate that if it were in the power of that Lion to take awaye my lyfe I had not at that instant any sense to féele my death The griefe of this poore lion was that from the head to the point he had thrust a thorne into his foote and his foote was full of of matter maruellously swollen and the worst of all was that the wounde was so blacke and so festred that hardly the thorne might be then séene When I had with the poynte of a knyfe opened the wounde presently issued the matter and foorthwith I pulled out the thorne incontinente I washed it with vrine and then annoynted it with salue and spéedyly I bound it vp with a piece of my shirt in such maner that if I did not as I ought to do at the least I did that I thought best to be doone Noble Caesar thou wouldest haue delighted to haue séene how at the tyme I brake vp the swelling pulled out the thorn thrust out the matter and bound vp the wound he stretched his féet clitched his fist turned his head gnashed with his téeth and secretly gaue certaine sighes in such sort that if he felt the grief as a beast yet he dissembled it as a man After I had drest him and bound it vp al that euening night the Lyon remained stil and lay close by me and like one that had reason he would lament one while and rest an other in such wyse we passed all the night he in bewayling and I in pitying Now when day appeared and light came into the caue I began againe to squise out the matter and to anoint it with a little salue which I had both little and verie drie bicause there had two dayes passed wherein I had not eaten and as muche more that I had not drunk Two houres after that I had drest him and that the sunne was risen the poore Lion departed by little little out of his caue vnto the desert to séeke something where vpon we might féed and wherwith we might be sustayned And when I thought not thereof beholde he brings me ouerthwart in his mouth a péece of a beast of what nature or kinde of beast it was I sweare O mightie Caesar I am not able to say vnto thée for at that tyme I was not able to vnderstād Hunger oppressing me hauing too much flesh wāting fire hauing no mean to boile nor rest I gat me out of the caue laying my flesh in the sun vpon a fayre stone where with the most feruent sunne in those desertes which doth not warme but burne althoughe not sufficient to rost I dyd eate it so dryed and parched not withstanding with no small appetite Foure whole daies and nightes I was with the Lion in his caue in whiche I tooke charge to cure him and hée to maintain and féede me Now six dayes being past that I had ended my bottell of water he went out of the caue very early before the sunne was vp and did take of those herbs most ful of dew which I tasted with my mouth more to refreshe than to kill the thirst which I had After I sawe my host the Lions foote somewhat amended and also that I likewise grew weary lothsome and full of that beastiall life at the instant that he went out of the caue to hunt presently I came foorth to hyde me constrayned thereto by necessitie and not of will. The nighte béeing come when the Lion returned to his caue and founde me absent of a trouth I swear vnto thée O magnificēt Caesar that I heard him from thence where I was hidden giue so many and so sorowfull brayes that they filled my eyes full of teares The poore Lion didde shewe that he was gréeued with solitarinesse whiche he felte by the wante of my companie and the lacke he had of me to performe his cure of my part being wearyed to trauell in those cruell desertes and to eate such rawe fleshe I determined to do that which I should not so much as once haue thought which was to séek a place inhabited where I might find people to speake and be conuersant withall to the end that I might kill hunger with bread the intollerable thirste with water But as my maister had taken all the passages and aboue all that yet my heauie and sorowfull destinies were not ended I was scarsly come vnto the first place but that I fell into their hands that had sought and followed me Being taken bound
Phisition but I found it as a Philosopher for that the good Constable did then goe in the yeare Climatike At the present I vnderstood the Constable to be sick I demaunded how old he was and when they answered that he was thrée score and thrée I sayde his life was in great perill for that he was then in the most daungerous yeare to die For the vnderstanding hereof it is to wit that all the lyfe of man is like a long a perillous sicknes wherin the seuēth and the ninth day is muche to be noted for that in those cretick dayes the sick do mend or grow worse That whiche the Phisition dothe call Terme in the sick man is called in the whole by the Philosopher Climate and from thence it is that from seuen to seuen yeares and from nine to nine yeares mē do chaunge their complexions and also many times theyr conditions That this is true it clearely appeareth in that the man which is now flegmaticke we sée him turne cholerike the furious to be milde the prosperous to be vnfortunate and also he that is wise remoue to be foolish All whych commeth to passe that after seuen or nine yeares they haue chaunged as we haue sayde their conditions and also theyr complexions Also it is to be vnderstoode that in all the discourse of oure lyfe we onely lyue vnder one onely climat the which is seuen or nine yeares except in the yeare of thréescore and thrée in the which two termes of two climats doe ioyne which is to witte nine seuens or seuen nines because nine times seuen and seuen times nine be thréescore and thrée yeares and therefore in that yeare many olde men dye Those that come to the yeare of thrée score and thrée oughte to lyue in very good order and to walke very warely because that yere is so perillous that none passeth the same without suffering some daunger Many and very notable men in time past and also present died in that yeare of thréescore and thrée More and ioyntly with this I saye that the sonne that shall sée his Father passe this terme let him not hope so soone to sée him die neyther as yet to inherite The Romaine and Greeke Princes after they sawe themselues escaped the yeare théescore and thrée they gaue greate gifts vnto their people and also offered no small offerings in their Temples as it is read of the Emperour Octauius the Emperour Antonie the méeke the good Alexander Seuerus I thought good to giue a reckoning vnto your honor of this historie or to say better of this philosophie because you maye vnderstand how I did diuine the death of the good Constable of Castile which all we his friends and louers did sée within the yeare sixtie thrée to begin to be sicke and also to make and to dye Of all the great-states of this kingdome I holde some for kinsmen others my good Lordes some for neighbours and others for aquainted but amongst them all I held him for my singuler good Lord and friend for that I foūd him of a very good conuersation and of a sounde condition The good Constable was milde in commaunding iust in gouerning wise in spéeche large in expence valiant in battell méeke in pardoning and a very good Christian in liuing For that your Lordship and he were captaynes in the warre and Viceroys in time of peace you will not denie that whiche I say to be very true although I leaue of him much more to be said When you gaue and also ouercame the battell of Reniega neare vnto Pampalona I do remember that I comming vnto your honour to confirme two billes the one as concerning Iustice the other for goodes your Lordship sayde vntoo me these words with me father master you haue framed and brought to passe that I will do what you will and confirme what you demaund but it is necessary that firste you informe the Constable of the case and make relation vntoo him of the qualitie of the matter for that he is very much aduised in the distribution of goodes and very scrupulous in matters of Iustice The good Constable had with me very great familiaritie and I with him inuiolable friendship and vpon this foundation he did alwayes communicate with me matters of conscience and discharges of his goodes wherein alwayes I did know of hym that he did procure to do well and did shunne and auoyde to offende I knowe not what to write more in this matter vnto your Lordship but that the good Constable if he finished his life here in Madrid at the least in my chronicle his memorie shall remayne immortall From Madrid the xv of October .1529 A letter vnto the Admirall Sir Frederique Enriques in which is expounded wherefore Abraham and Ezechiell did fall forward and Hely and the Iewes backwardes RIght renowmed Lord and Archmariner great be the complaints that your Honor sendeth me in this your last letter the one for that I haue not answered thys yeare vnto youre writing and the other bycause I haue not sent your doubt absolued The truth knowen and the certaintie vnderstood neyther shall I be blamed or you remaine offended The very truth that hath passed in this matter is that as they haue stolen from Mansilla your seruant his horse and he played away al his money that he brought by the way in séeking to borow to pay at his lodging he forgat with me to take order for his answere Since I read youre letters with a very good will and presently forthwith did put my self in studie for your doubts it is not iust that faulte to be imputed vnto me if youre seruantes be forgetfull to take their answer Oftentimes I was both ashamed and also offended to sée your letters come so bitter and so cholerike that of a troth to shew so much anger and to write so heauie or leadenlike youre Lordship had no occasion and muche lesse any reason But as your body is little and your hart excéeding the same by a third or fift if you giue him place to speake what he wil and that he complayne what he féeleth beléeue me my Lorde and be out of doubt you shall liue in your selfe payned and discontented and of others not welbeloued The great and mightie Lords ought of nothing more too presume or boast themselues than to haue great harts which they ought to inioy if they will imploy them well in moderating themselues in great prosperities and not to be dismaied in their great aduersities My iudgement is since your Lordship is naturally cholerike and of small patience that you giue not your selfe to write when you be distempered for men do write many times in their choler whiche afterwards they would not should haue passed so much as their thoughts To the argument whiche you alledge that I estéemed you but little bycause I wold not answer presently this I answere I deny the premises and defye the consequence bicause your
they will rather amēd God than correct themselues Let houses fal the vines be blasted the stormes spoile corne the flocks die and rent gatherers run away if we giue thanks to God for that he leaueth vs if we do not murmur for that he taketh away if we grow not dul to serue him he will neuer grow negligent to giue vs prouision They say vnto me that your Lordship is vexed sorowfull and also vntractable these are priuileges of olde menne but not of wise olde men for it shoulde be a muche greater losse to haue the wit blasted thā the Corne destroied Vncle you know very well that in all the the markets of Vilada Palencia we shal find bread to be sold but in none of the faires of Medina shal we find wisdome to be bought For which cause men ought to giue more thanks vnto God for that hée did create them wise than for that he made them rich It is a more sounde welthinesse for a man to estéeme himselfe wise than to presume to be of great wealth for with wisdom they obtaine to haue but with hauing they come to lose thēselues The office of humanitie is to féele trauells and the office of reason is to dissemble them For when sodaine assaultes come vpon vs and infortunes knocke at our gates if the hart should receiue them all and of euery one complaine and bewayle he should euer haue wherof to recount and neuer want wherfore to lament Prometheus that gaue laws to the Aegiptians said that the Philosopher should not wepe for any thing but for the losse of his friend for all other things are contained in our chestes onely the friend dwelleth in the hart If Prometheus did not permit to shew any griefe but for a friende it is not credible that he would wéepe for the corne in the field wherin he had greate reason for notwithstandyng that the losse of temporall good is wherewith we be moste grieued yet on the other part it is that wherein our losse is least Séeing the incertayntie of this lyfe and the continuall chaunges that be in the same as little suretie men haue thereof that be in their houses as the corne that is in the field I dare say that wée haue very little wherin to trust and many things wherof to be afrayd It is not vnknowen to your Lordship that in this lyfe there is nothyng sure since wée sée the corne blasted trées striken downe floures fall woodde wormeaten cloath deuoured with moathes cattell doe ende and menne doe dye and that all thynges well marked in the ende all thyngs haue an ende Men that haue passed thrée score yeares haue for their priuiledge to sée in their houses great misfortunes whiche is to witte absence of friendes deathe of children losse of goodes infirmities in their persones pestilences in the common wealth and manye nouelties in Fortune and for thys cause Plinie durste saye that men ought not to bée borne if that he being borne foorthwith should die Oh howe well sayde the diuine Plato that men oughte not to be carefull to liue long but to lyue well I thought good thus muche to write vnto you to the ende you shoulde vnderstande to profite your selfe by olde age since you had skil to enioye the dayes of youth for in the age of fourescore yeares it is a tyme to make small accounte of lyfe and to vse great skill and no small reckening of death All these thinges I haue written vnto your Lordshippe and my good vncle not for that you haue néede but bicause you shall haue wherein to reade and also to the ende you shall vnderstande that although I go bescattered and wandring in thys Court I doe not leaue to reknowledge the good No more but that our Lorde be your protectour From Madrid the eleuenth of Marche 1533. A letter vnto Master Gonsalis Gil in which is expounded that which is sayd in the Psalmist Inclinaui cor meum ad faciendas iustificationes tuas in aeternum RIght reuerend and eloquent Doctor ad ea quae mihi scripsisti quid tibi sim respōsurus ignoro although I saye that to so many things I know not to answer I should haue sayd better that I dare not to wright For the affaires of our common wealth are come to that estate that though we be bound to féele them we haue no licence to reporte them It is too gréeuous in our humanitie to suffer iniuries but it is much more gréeuouse vnto the hart to kéepe them secret and not to vtter them for the remedie of the sorowfull hart is to discouer his poyson and to vnburden where he loueth He deserueth much and can do very much that hathe a hart to féele things as a man and dissembleth them as discret For he is of a greater courage that forgettes the sorowe that once entreth into the hart than he which reuengeth it If my memorie should reueale what it doth retaine my tong speake what it doth knowe and my pen write what me listeth I am sure those that be present would maruell and suche as be absent would growe offended for nowe burneth the pearcher without tallow and at randon all goeth to the bottom The armie of gentlemen be here in Medina del ryo secco and they of the communaltie in Villa Braxima in suche wise that too the one we desire victory and of the other we haue compassion For the one be our good Lords and the others our good friēds I desire that the part of the gentlemen may ouercome and it grieueth me to sée the deathe and fall of the poore chiefly for that they know not what they aske either vnderstand what they do If the trauell of the warre and the perill of the battel might light vpō their shoulders that were inuenters therof and that haue altered the people it shoulde be tollerable too sée and iust to suffer but alas the sorow they fight in safetie and chase the bull in great suretie wée haue the monasterie full of souldiors and the Celles occupied with knights wherin there is no place for a man to withdrawe eyther a quiet houre to studie In such wyse that if my Bookes be scattred also my wits be wandring What quietnesse or contentation will you that I haue séeing the king is oute of his kingdome the commons rebell the counsell fled the Gentlemen persecuted the townes men altered the gouernours astonied and the people sacked euery houre entreth men of warre euery houre they make alarums euery houre they sound to battell euery houre they ordeine ambushes euery hour there is skirmishes euery houre they intende repayres and also euery houre I sée them bring men wounded The Cardinal and the gouernours commaunde me to preache and instructe them in the affaires of peace that which I can say is euery thirde day I goe from one campe to an other and they of the cōmonaltie will not beléeue me neither will be conuerted in suche wise that
vs with his mercie and to lend vs his blessed grace by the meanes whereof we might bring foorth the frutes of good woorks wherof he himselfe might be amourous and our conscience comforted Then Sainct Peter that denied him S. Paule that pursued him S. Mathew that as a Publican did exchaunge the théefe that did steale might not haue foūd the house of Iesus Christ if he himselfe first had not giuen his grace Oh loue neuer hearde of oh louer not to be compared the which against the heare of mundaine loue both giue loue and the occasions of loue In charitate perpetua dilexi te sayde Iesus Christ by the Prophete that the loue wherewith Iesus Christ doeth loue vs is not fayned much lesse transitorie but perpetuall stable whiche is moste true in as muche as by the meane of his owne grace he is pleased with vs before our good works can declare vs to be his friendes That with a perpetuall and perfect charitie thou louest mée oh thou loue of my soule and redéemer of my lyfe considering the loue which thou bearest vs is thine and the profite therof is mine pretēding no other thing of thy loue which thou bearest to all creatures but by demonstration to declare thy souerayne bountie in placing vpon vs thy most great and ardent charitie With perpetuall charitie O Lorde thou dost loue vs considering that greate daye of thy passion wherein neyther the tormentes of thy body eyther the despitefull malice of the people might in no maner withdraw thy souerayne bountie or darken thy most great charitie but rather with innarrable sighes and teares incomparable didst praye for them that did crucifie thée didst pardon them that did offend thée And most certainly with a perpetuall charitie did our good Lorde loue vs since from the present houre wherein hée finished his prayer and rendred his spirite incontinent was manifested the frute of his passion and the efficacie of his prayer Non rogo pro ijs tantum sed pro bis qui credituri sunt in me Iesus Christe speaking vnto his father the nyght before his passion sayd O my father I pray not vnto thée onely for my Apostles and Disciples but also I praye as well for all the faythfull whiche shall beleeue in mée and that shall loue thée For euen as thou I be one selfe thing in diuinitie so they and I be one body mysticall by charitie O Redéemer of my lyfe oh repayrer from all my distresses what may I do that may please thée wherewith may I recompence thy great goodnesse wherwith I am indebted if I be not sufficient to giue due thankes for the good things that hourely thou dost bestow vpon me what abilitie may I finde to satisfie the great loue which thou bearest vnto my soule Surely the woordes that the Lorde Iesus Christ did speake in his prayer bée ryght woorthie to bée noted retayned and to memorie to be commended considering we were not yet borne neyther yet our greate Grandfathers He prayed vnto his father with suche instance and great efficacy for the health of all his Churche as much I saye as for those whiche were with him at supper in such wise that the good Lorde as he should die for all woulde pray for all whereof we maye inferre that we ought fully to beléeue and to be out of doubt that since oure redéemer had vs in remembrance before wée came into the world that he will not now forget vs when by faith we enter into his seruice I pray thée gentle Christian say vnto me if Iesus Christe had not pitied our estate what had become of vs surely if the Church of God at this present do contayne or is endued with any obedience patience charitie humilitie abstinence or cōtinence all is to be imputed to the ardēt loue that Iesus Christ did beare vs by the prayer he made vnto his father on oure behalfe redéeming our disgrace with his precious bloud and by his prayer placing vs in fauour To be in loue with such as be present and absent to be in loue both with quicke and dead it passeth but to loue suche as be yet to come and be not yet borne certainly is a thing that was neuer heard of the which our redeemer hath performed and brought to passe and yet hateth the wicked liuer and loueth the good not yet borne In such manner is cuppled togither both life and deathe loue and hatred he that loueth and the thing loued that al taketh end at an houre which is contrary vnto the loue whyche Iesus Christ doth beare vs for his loue had beginning before the creation of the world and yet shall not ende at the daye of iudgement The conclusion of all that we haue sayd shall bée that the excesse or extremitie which was spokē of in the mount of Thabor was of the extreme and excessiue sorrowes that Iesus Christ should endure and of the most great and excessiue loue that he did beare vs and in time to come shoulde shewe vs here by grace and after by glory Ad quam nos perducat Iesus Christus Amen The taking and ouerthrow of Carthage done by Scipio the great with a singular example of continencie which he there expressed written to the Byshop of Carthage MOst honorable Lord and Catholike Prelate I haue receyued in this Citie of Toledo in his Maiesties Chamber the letter that you haue written and the Emrode which you haue sent me the which surely is very faire and rich but notwithstanding in respect of the place and from whome it commeth I rather hold and estéeme it more deare incontinuall remembrance And I vnderstoode by your letter youre estate and how you behaue your selfe in your bishoprick and that you are not as yet disposed to come to this Court for that you are there in greater quietnesse and haue leysure to serue God whereof doubtlesse I do not a little enuie your felicitie for this life at Court is no other thing than a languishing death a certayne vnquiet life without peace and principally without money and a certayne purchace of domage and offence to the body and of Hell for the soule If it pleased his Maiestie that I might retire vnto my house I promise you by the fayth of a Christiā I would not stay one houre at court For the Court is neyther good or conuenient for me either I for the court But being confessor vnto his maiestie and Amner vnto the Emperesse I may not escape one day from the court Notwithstanding amongst all these discommodities wé receyue this benefite whiche is we vnderstand in this Courte all that is done or in practise through the world which is a matter wherein man dothe much delight content his spirites hauing no regarde to other thinges that might tourne him to more profite As touching you my Lorde you possesse youre house with great quietnesse deliuered of all fantasy to come to the
that Numantine warre Caius Crispus Trebellius Pindarus Rufus Venustus Eskaurus Paulus Pilos Cincinatus and Drusius nine Consuls that were very famous and Captaines of much experience These nine Consuls being slaine with an infinite number of Romanes it happened in the twelfth yere of the siege of Numantia that a Romane Captaine named Cneius Fabricius did ordaine and capitulate with the Numantins that they and the Romanes for euermore should be friendes and in perpetual confederation And in the meane time while they sent aduertisement therof to Rome they confirmed a long truce But the Romanes vnderstaÌ„ding the whole order to be greatly to the honour of the Numantins and to the perpetuall infamie of the Romanes they commaunded the Consulles throte to bée cut and to prosecute the warres Then in the yere following which was the thirtenth of the siege the Romans did sende the Consull Scipio with a newe armie to Numantia the whiche being come the first thing he did was to deliuer the Campe from all maner men that were vnprofitable and women that were leude of disposition saying that in greate armies more hurte is done with prepared vices than with determined enimies A yere and seuen monethes was Scipio at the siege of Numantia all which time he neuer gaue battaile or skirmish but only gaue order that no succour might come at them or vitayles might enter to them When a certain Captaine demaunded of Scipio why he did not skirmish with those that came foorth neither fight with them within He made answer Numantia is so fortunate the Numantins so luckie that we must rather think their fortune to come to an end than hope to ouercome them Many times the Numantins did sallie to fight wyth the new Romaines and it hapned one daye that there passed betwixt them so bloudie a skirmishe that in an other place it might be counted for a battaile And in the end the Romanes receyued suche foyle that if the fortune of Scipio had not holpen that day the name of Rome had ended in Spaine Scipio considering the Numantins to encrease in pride and the Romaines to discourage aduised to retire his campe more than a myle from the citie bicause they should giue no attempt vpon the sodaine and to auoyde by the néernesse of the place the hurts that might happen But in the end the Numantins waÌ„ting vitayles and hauing lost many of their men did ordeyn amongst themselues and did make a vowe vnto their gods no day to breake their faste but with the fleshe of Romaines neither to drinke water or wyne before they had tasted and dronken the bloud of some enimie they had slayne A monstrous thyng then to sée as it is nowe to heare that euen so the Numantins euery daye went in chase of Romanes as hunters doe in hunting Coneys and with as great apetite they did eate and drinke the flesh and bloud of enimies as if it had bin shoulders and loynes of mutton Verie greate were the hurtes that euery day the Consul Scipio receiued in the stege bicause the Numantins like most fierce beastes with Romanes bloud imbrued did not fighte as enimies but as men desperate Among the Numantines hée was holden excused that tooke any Romane alyue and muche lesse to giue him a buriall For at the houre that anye were slaine they did take hym slay him quarter him and in the shambles did waigh him In suche wise that a Romane was more being dead than alyue and raunsomed Verie manie tymes Scipio was perswaded prayed and importunated of his captaines to raise his siege and to â—…urue to Rome but hée would neuer doe it neyther could in any wise abide to heare of it for at his comming out of Rome a Nigromantik priest did aduertise him that he should not dismay neither retyre from that conquest although in the same he shoulde passe immeasurable perilles bicause the goddes had determined that ende of the fortunate Numantia shoulde be the beginning of all his glorie Howe Scipio dyd take Numantia SCipio perceiuyng the Numantins not to be ouercome by prayers neyther by armes he caused to be made in compasse of the citie a stately ditche the which was in depth seueÌ„ fadoms and in bredth fiue in such sorte that to the discomfortable Numantins neither mighte there any vitayles enter that they mighte eate neither they come out with the enimies to fighte Many times did the Consull Scipio requeste the Numantines to commende themselues to the clemencie of Rome and that they shoulde credit and giue faithe vnto his words to which thyngs they made answere that since they had liued thrée hundred and thirtie eight yeres free they would not now die slaues Great cryes did the women giue within the citie greate clamoures did the Priestes make vnto their Gods with great and loude voyces did the men exclame vpon Scipio that he should lette them out to fight as men of worthynesse and not to kill them with hunger like wretches And said more thou oh Scpio being a yong man of Rome valiant and bolde considerest not what thou dost neyther do they counsel thée what thou oughtest to doe For to kéepe vs in as thou doest is but a pollicie of warre but if thou shouldest ouercome vs in battel it shold be for thée an immorall glorie But in the ende the Numantins séeing them selues so infamously and miserably inclosed and that now their vitayles fayled them the moste strongest did ioyne themselues together and killed al the old men children and women and did take all the riches of the Citie and of the temples and heaped them vp in the market place and gaue fire to all partes of the Citie and poysoned themselues in suche wise that the Temples the houses the riches and the persons of NumaÌ„tia ended all in one day A monstrous thing it was to sée that which the Numantins did while they were aliue and a thing no lesse fearefull whiche they dydde when they were a dying Bicause they left to Scipio neyther goods to spoile neyther man or woman of whom to triumph During the tyme that Numantia was besieged no Numantin entred into prison or to any Romane was prisoner but suffered death before he consented to yelde When the Consul Scipio did sée the Citie burne and entred the same founde all the Citizens dead and burned there came ouer his heart great heauines and out of his eyes he poured out many teares and sayde O righte happie Numantia whyche the goddes willed to haue an ende but not to bée ouercome Foure hundreth threescore and syxe yeares endured the prosperitie of the Citie of Nmantia For so manye yeares had passed since the foundation thereof by Numa Pompilius vntill it was destroyed by Scipio the Affricane In those old tymes there were thrée Cities verie enemies and rebelles to Rome that is to wit Helia in Asia Carthage in Africa and Numantia in Europa the whiche thrée were vtterly destroyed but by the
whipt drawne they brought me to my cruell maister and I may say to thée O good Caesar that I wold rather haue remained dead at the Lions féete than aliue to appeare before my mayster Incontinent after I was brought into his presence he began to take aduice of them that brought me if I should be drawne to péeces haue my throate cut be hanged flayne quick or else be drowned In suche wyse that thou mayest well conceyue O noble Caesar in what case my hearte stoode and how afflicted in spirite I was when in my owne hearing they intreated not how they shuld chastise me but what cruell death they myght giue me After they had spoken many cruell wordes had threatned me with diuers cruell deathes he commaunded that I should be thrown into the dungeon amongst the condemned men for that with them I should be broughte hyther to Rome to bée meate for beastes and surely he did not erre in thinkyng to be thus moste cruelly reuenged of mée for there is not so cruell a kinde of death as to tarie thinke euerie houre to die This lion that you sée here lying by me is the same that I cured of the thorne and he that kept me so manie dayes in his caue and since the immortall Gods haue willed that he and I I and he should come to be acquainted in the place where they haue brought vs to be slain vpon my knées I beséech thée most victorious Caesar that since my fault hath condemned me to the beasts that it may please thy great clemencie to quite vs and to make vs frée This was that which Andronicus sayde vnto the Emperor Titus and that he related before all the Romane people If the myldnesse of the Lion had put them in greate maruel the words the great trauailes of Andronicus moued them to great compassion to heare the immeasurable paines the poore man had passed to sée how many times death had swallowed him with loude voyces al the people began to beséech pray the Emperour Titus that it might please him to prouide and commaund that Andronicus might not be slaine neyther cast vnto the Lion for the best part of the feast had bin to sée the mildnesse of the Liō to heare the life of Andronicus The Emperor Titus condescended with a very good wil to that whiche the people required and Andronicus desyred And thus it was that from thence forward he and the Lyon wente together throughout all the stréetes and Tauernes of Rome making merie and al the people reioycing with them After the maner of a little asse Andronicus with a small lyne did leade the Lion girded with a payre of bougets wherin he caryed certaine prouision of bread and other things that they gaue him at their houses and tauernes And somtime he consented that boyes shoulde ride vpon the Lion for money and to the straungers that came to Rome from farre countreyes and had not heard the storie therof demandyng what that so straunge and monstrous sighte shoulde signifye aunswere was made that that man was the Lyons surgion and that the Lyon was that mannes host This historie is recounted by Aulus Gellius the Latin and Apius the Gréeke much more at large Behold sir your paynting here declared behold here your straunge storie founde out beholde here your desire accomplished and beholde mée here that remayne tyred that for any thing woulde not againe take suche paine neyther put my selfe in suche care No more but that our Lord be your protector and giue vs good ending Amen From Toledo the .25 of August 1529. A letter vnto Sir Peter of Acuna Earle of Buedia wherin is touched howe Lordes should gouerne their estates A notable letter for suche as come newly to their inheritance REnoumed Lord and Christian knight Gonsalus of Vrena your seruant my friend gaue me a letter frō your lordship by the which you maintain against me a certain greate cōplaynt saying that it is a yere past since I haue not séene you and six monethes wherein I haue not written vnto you Syr I am so busyed and of my naturall condition so solitarie that it is painfull vnto me to visite and no lesse tedious to be visited not bycause they doe visit me but for that they let and hinder me The diuine Plato said quòd amici sunt fures temporis whiche is to saye that friends are stealers of tyme wherein he sayed troth For there be friends so importune in visiting and so tedious in communication that the time is more euill employed that is lost with them than the goods that theeues steale from vs. We Courtiers be much combred with tediousnes whiche in the court our friends doe vse with vs that sit downe by great leasure and doe settle them selues in a chayre not to aske any case of conscience or to talke any thing of holy scripture but to murmur saying that the King doth not firme the Counsell doth not dispatch the Paymasters doe delay the priuat doe commaund the Bishops bée not resident the Secretaries rob the Iustices dissemble the Officers compoūd the Gentlemen play and the women go at large Thinke you Sir that a man learned giuen to reading solitary and busied doth not more loose tyme in hearing these newes than to cure an infirmitie with euill diet to haue delight in murmuring he must be ill tongued that talketh of lend dispositiō and of euill condicion that delighteth therein They say that the good Marques of Santillana vsed to saye that euill tongs and euill eares did frame pleasant murmurings There be so many men in this Court loytering superfluous idle vagarant and euill tonged that if Laurence Temporall bée so great workman in refining clothes as they bée in shearing their neighbours liues we maye boldly giue more for the refining of cloth of Segeuia than for the cloth in Graine of Florencia My Lord I saye all this to the ende you haue me excused for my want of diligence and also to giue you to vnderstand of my condicion the whiche stretched no farther with his friendes than to make them aunswere to their letters and that sometime I write vnto them Before all things I am right glad of the sentence gyuen on your Lordships behalfe wherin they haue entituled you with Towne of Duennas and the Earldome of Buendia in whiche I beséeche God giue you many yeares of fruition and children to inherit For it is no small sorrowe to sée strange childrē inherit our proper sweat Your Lordship doth write vnto me in your letter that I pray vnto God to giue you grace as well to saue you as also to gouerne this estate whereunto I aunswere as also vnto them of the Towne of Duennas great is the mischance if they should not bée better intreated than my sacrifice of God aceepted Do you not thinke that I being a sinfull man a religious sinner and a Courtlike sinner shall not haue ynough to pray
they shoulde bée caried to the Church of Oiendo to be kept and gaue great rewards vnto such as had hid them This good King Alonso was the firsts that commaunded that all the greate writers and singers should resort to Leon to the end they should write great singing bookes and litle breuiaries to pray on the which he gaue and deuided amongst all the Monasteries and Churches that he had founded for the cursed Moores had not left a Church in Spaine that they did not ouerthrow either booke that they did not burne This good king Alonso was the first that did begin to make all the Bishops houses ioyning to the Cathedrall Churches bycause the heate in the Sōmer either the colde in Winter should not let them to be resident in the Quier and to sée how they worshipped God. This good king Alonso the first died in the age of .lxiiij. yeres in the Citie of Leon in the yeare of our Lord. 793. And hys death of the Castilians and Nauarrois was as much bewayled as of all men his life was desired How acceptable his life was vnto God it appeared most cleare in that the Lord shewed by him at his death whiche is to wit that at the point of his last breath they heard ouer his chamber Angelike voices sing and say Beholde how the iust dieth and no man maketh account thereof his dayes be ended and his soule shall bée in rest The lamentation was so great that was made through out Spaine for the deathe of this good King Alonso that from thence forward euery time that any named his name if hée were a man he put off his cap and if a woman she made a reuerence Not thrée months after the death of the good King Alonso all the mightie of the Kingdome ioyned in parliament wherein they did ordeyne and commaund by a publique Edict that from thence forward and for euermore none should presume to say coldly or driely the king Alonso but for his excellencie they should cal him the king Alonso the Catholique for that he had bin a prince so glorious and of the diuine seruice so zelouse This good king was sonne in law of sir Pelaius he was the third King of Castile after the destruction thereof he was the first king of this name Alonso he was the firste that founded Churches in Spaine he was the first King at whose death such Angelike voyces were heard he was the first king that was intituled Catholike by whose deseruings and vertues all the kings of Spaine his successors be called to thys day Catholike Kings My Lorde it séemeth to me that since the kings of Spaine presume to inherit the name they should also presume to follow his life which is to wit to make warre vpon the Moores and to be fathers and defendours of the Church And for that in the beginning of this letter I did vse the spéech of a friend and in this I haue accomplished what you craued as a seruāt I say no more but that our Lord be your protector and gyue vs all his grace From Segouia the xij of May. 1523. A letter vnto Mosen Rubin of Valentia beeing enamoured wherein is touched the displeasures that the amorous dames giue vnto their louers MAgnificent and old enamored being in Madrid the fourth of August where I receyued a letter of youres and for that it was torne and the firme somewhat blotted I sweare vnto you by the law of an honest mā I could not find meanes to read it or imagine or cal to remembrance who should write it For notwithstanding we were acquainted when I was Inquisitor in Valencia it is almost a thousand yeares since we saw eche other after I awakened and called my selfe to remembrance and did read and read againe your letter I fell in the reckoning that it was of Mosen Rubin my neighbour I say Mosen Rubin the enamored I remēber that sometimes we were wont to play at the chesse in my lodging and cannot aduise me that you gaue me the dame but I do certainly remember that you did not suffer me to sée your enamored I remember that at the rock of Espadon at the encounter we had with the Moores I escaped wounded and you with a broken head where wée could neyther finde Chirurgion to cure vs or as muche as a clout to bind vs I remember that in reward for that I caused your bill to be firmed by the Quéene you sent me a Mule which I did gratifie and not receyue I remember that when we went to accompany the French King to Requena whē we came to the seuen waters I complayned for want of meate and you for lacke of lodging and in the ende I receyued you into my lodging and you went foorth to prouide victualles I remember when Caesar commaunded me to repaire vnto Toledo you gaue me a letter to be deliuered vnto the Secretarie Vrias vppon a certaine businesse of yours to whome I dyd not only speake but also obtained your sute I remember that chiding with a Chaplayne of youre wiues in my presence when he said vnto you that it were not conuenient you shuld deale fowly with him for that he had charge of soules was a Curat you made answer that he was not a Curat of soules but of fooles I remember that I counselled you and also perswaded you being in Xatina that you shoulde giue to the Diuell the loue that you wot of and I also doe knowe bycause they were tedious perillous and costly I remember that after in Algezira you reported wéeping and sighing that you had no power to chase them from your minde either roote them from your hart and ther I returned to say and sweare that it was no loue eyther pleasant to your persone or too your estate conuenient I remember that after we mette at Torres where I demaunded to what conclusion you had framed your loue you answered in a thousand sorrowes and trauelles for that you had escaped from thence wounded abhorred beflouted infamed and also be pilled Of many other things I remember I haue both séene and hard you speake and do in that time that we were neighbours and couersant in Valentia whereof although we may talke they are not too be written In this present letter you aduertise me that now you are enamored and taken with other new loues and that since I sayd the troth in the first you pray me to write my opinion in the second holding it for certaine that my skil serueth to let bloud in the right vayne and also to bind vp the wound Sir Mosen Rubin I woulde you had written or demaunded some other matter for speaking the very troth in this matter of loue you are not in the age to follow it eyther may it be contained with my ingrauitie to write it of my habit of my profession and of my authoritie and grauitie you shoulde haue demaunded cases of counsell and not remedies of loue
Emperour Traiane did vse to say men that possesse noble heartes and blushing vysages ought neuer to beginne that whiche lyeth not in their handes to performe for otherwyse they shall leaue with great shame that they beganne with great hope Sir you doe well knowe that all those that you leade in your campe against the king be théeues murtherers blasphemers and seditious Commoners all whiche as they are a base people and men of handicrafte you haue to intreate them but not to force them suffer but not to chastise to pray but not to commaunde to flatter but not to threaten for they followe you not to remedie things amisse but to rob the goods that others haue in possession That daye that the king shall enter into Castile that day that you shal lose any battell and also that daye that you haue not to paye the men of warre then shall you sée howe they will trudge from you without takyng any leaue and also make a secrete sale of you Sir haue compassion of your age so tender and of youre bloud so vndefiled of your parentage so honorable of youre house so auncient of your condition so good of your abilitie so â—ntier and of your youth so euill imployed all which things you haue vnfauourly infected and also in a maner mortifyed If you will beléeue me and giue credite vnto my wordes incommende your selfe vnto God leaue this enterprise turne vnto the king goe vnto the Gouernours and shake handes with these commoners Forasmuche as the king is pitifull and all men desire your remedie and welfare hée woulde much more accept your comming to serue with the rest than to haue raised this war against him Let not the deuil deceiue you either any vaine or fantasticall imagination hinder you to performe the same neither to conceiue that they haue to charge you with vnstablenesse in that you haue enterprised either as a traitor for that you haue taken in haÌ„d bicause in al the histories of this world they be acompted loyal that serue their king and such as rebell be called disloyall traitors Also if a GeÌ„tleman be reproued for slouthfulnesse he riseth more early and vseth more diligence if they call him babbler he kéepeth silence if they accuse him for a glutton he vseth temperance if they charge him as an adulterer he abstayneth if they burden him to be furious he suffereth if they impute him to be ambicious he abaseth if they name him a sinner he amendeth but if they call him by the name of a traytor there is no water that may wash or make it cleane either any excuse that may excuse it Neyther is the King so muche offended or the kingdome so much altered or affaires so aforehand nor the Gouernours of so hard disposition but that you maye be reduced and finde time very conuenient to serue the King. The which if you woulde performe I promise you by the faith of a Christian and do sweare vnto you by the lawe of an honest man that amending this wrong my penne shall change his stile Montauan maister of your house and I haue communed in secrete things of greate importaunce and since he did herein credit me it shal not be amisse that you beleue him there and if you will not I washe my handes of all your faulte and from hence forwarde doe take my leaue of your friendship No more but that with the faith and credit that I haue receiued your letter with the verie same it may please you to receyue this of myne From Medina del camop the eight day of Marche in the yeare of our Lorde .1521 A letter vnto a Gentleman and secrete friend to the Author wherin he doth aduise and reprehende him for his wretched couetousnesse MAgnificent and couetous GeÌ„leman the good Emperor Titus that was son to Vaspasian and brother to Domitian was of himself so vertuous of al the Romane Empire so welbeloued that at the tyme of his death they did engraue these words vpoÌ„ his sepulcher Delitiae moriuÌ„tur generis humani which is to say To daye is dead in Rome that did reioyce all mankynd Of this good Emperor Titus is read in Suetonius that being at supper on a time with many Princes of the empire other Embassadors of diuers kingdoms sodeinly gaue a great sigh sayd Diem amisimus amici as if he should say more cléere Let not this day be accompted amongst the days of my lyfe bicause this day I haue not performed any bountie neither giuen any reward Plutarke doth report of Alexander the great that when many Philosophers had disputed in his presence wherein consisteth the good happe of this lyfe hée made answere Beléeue me friends and be out of doubt that in all this worlde there is not equall delighte or lyke pleasure as to haue wherwith to be liberall and not wherefore to chastise Also it is said of Theopontus the Thebane who béeing a Captayne of men of warre a souldioure craued of him some péece of money to buye breade and hauing none to giue pulled of his shoes saying If I had better I would giue thée better but in the meane while take these shoes of myne for that I haue no money for it is more iust that I goe barefoot than thou an hungred Dionysius the tyrant entring vpon a certain day into his sonnes chamber and séeing there many iewels of siluer and gold sayde Sonne I did not giue these riches to the end thou shouldest kéepe them but bicause thou shouldst giue and imparte them For there is no man in this world of more power than the giuing and liberall man for with his giuing he conserueth his frends and maketh teÌ„der his enimies I haue made this discourse to vtter a certaine thyng vnto you which if you were in Castile as you are in Andolozia my penne should neuer haue written vnto you but my toung should haue spoken it into your eare for our assured friendes notwithstanding wée haue licence to blame them yet we may not vse our libertie to defame them Some of Andolozia hath told me here and some of your frendes haue written me from thence that your delite excéedeth to farre in hoording vp of money and no lesse enimie with the spendyng therof Of which déede and disposition I am not a little grieued also muche ashamed bicause honor auarice be so contrarie and in such contention and defiance that they neuer dwell in one person neither at any time had any affinitie All vicious men in this life haue some tast in their vices except it be the miserable and most vnfortunate couetous nigard which is tormeÌ„ted with that which others do possesse takes no tast in that whiche he hath The painfull trauell of the couetous nigarde is that always he walketh suspicious and in feare that the raging flouds carrie awaye his Milles that the hierd eate vp his meades that hunters steale his game and
proper sinnes we discharge vpō others And in Iesus Christ charitie is so great That he taketh the sinnes of others vpon him selfe in such maner that he confesseth to haue many sinnes for as much as he is the redéemer of many sinners Behold honorable Rabbis what it is that the Christiās doe vnderstand of his diuinitie and that which we confesse of his humanitie Vnto which faith I extéeme to lyue and protest to dye And for that I haue sayd more then I thought to haue done yea and more then ye would haue heard we wyll remitte for another disputacion both your doubtes and my aunsweres Considering that my Lordes the Prelates And the noble men that be here do staye to goe to dinner and to withdrawe them selues c. ¶ A Letter to Syr Ferdenando of Cordoua wherein is discoursed the eleuen persecutions of the Church when and by whom they were persecuted WOrshipful Syr and Christian Knight Iohn de Cabreta your Steward deliuered me a letter from your worship which was as long as betwéen Madrid Almagro where at this present you do remaine wherby if you thinke to receiue no short answere by writing so long a Letter you do much abuse your selfe for wanting oportunity leasure to studie I maie not imploye my selfe to write such long tedious Epistles especiallye when he to whom they are written is simply but a friend Yet true friends delight not only in reading lōg letters but are grieued if their friends write not euery day al which aboue sayd is not to say that I estéeme not to place you in the chiefestes rankes of my best friends And if you imagine the contrarie you are much deceiued For your friendes mine do wel know that Don Ferdenand de Cordoua and Friar Anthony de Gueuarra Bishop of Mondoneto be twoo bodies ioyned in one wyll linked in a chaine of in dissoluble amitie But omitting this discourse retorning to your letter I assure you it pleased me very much chieflie in that I perceiued your good dispositiō which is no smal matter in the middest of these perillous heates Now touching the persecutions of the myllitant Church wherof you haue written wherof the Prior of Calatrana you haue liberally discoursed I aunswere that there haue beene many persecutions of the Church done at sundry times and by seuerall Princes And for that I greatly desire to do you that seruice which lyeth in my power I haue not fayled to sende you the sayde persecutions in order as followeth The first persecution was in the raigne of the Emperour Nero the which possessed with the Deuil in whose bonds his offēces did imprisō him perceiuing the nūber of Christiās daily to increase at Rome by grace of the euangelical worde which Peter Paul preached there where they were martered for such conuersion of the people determined with his power to persecute destroye the Church whereby he murdred many Christiās as wel in Rome as els where which was the first persecution of the Church For albeit the Church since the suffering of Christ hath béen continually persecuted in hir perticuler members yet notwithstanding vntyll the comming of Nero there went forth no commaundement to persecute the Christians Touching the constancy of the Martyrs and the diuersitie of the tormentes which they endured beside the Catholique Historiographers which write therof Cornelius Tacitus a Painim writer and enemie to the Christians yet verye credible in his writing doth report the same who making recitall of the persecutions made by the ordinaunce of the Emperour Nero of whome Sueton maketh also mencion doth say of the slaughter of Christians both men and women that amongest a thousande diuersities of punishmentes and deathes they cast the Christians to be torne in péeces with dogges And to make the dogges more fierce vpon them the men were braced in skinnes of Beares and other sauadge Beastes Which persecution was performed as witnesseth Cornelius Tacitus and Suetonius after the huge fire of Rome In the eleuenth yéere of the Empyre of Nero by whose decrée the glorious Apostles Peter and Paul were martyrred It maye well bée as I also beléeue that this martyrdome continued lytle more then thrée yéeres For though it were done at that time according to the Prior of Calatrana his opinion yet God would preserue his Apostles and deferre their martyrdoms vntyll the foresayde time The second persecution was in the time of the Emperour Domitian This wicked and accursed monster vnderstanding that there should one spring out of the lyne of Dauid which should expell him out of the Empyre he caused search to be made with much diligence for all those whiche descended from the race of Dauid amongst the Iewes and caused them to be put to death onelye raunsoming as Eusebius sayth twoo persons of the same familie who further for the accomplishment of his deuillishe deuices at the motion of the fiende he determined to persecute the Catholique Churche Whereby at his commandement a great slaughter was made of Christians within Rome and without In which persecution multitudes of the Christians were at the first committed to banishment who after were tormented and then murdered by most horrible paines and cruell deaths as affirmed Eusebius Orosius and many other Christian Historiographers This was the second general persecution of the primitiue Church in which S. Iohn the Euangelist was confined or exiled into the Yle of Pathinos where he sawe the visions of the Apocalips It were hard to know how long this persecution endured but as we may gather by Eusebius it continued twoo yéeres a lytle more For he sayth that Domician dyd moderate and cease his execution and yet notwithstanding aswel by reason of the sayd persecution as for his other vices the same Domician hath béene holden to be one of the most wicked and cruell Princes that euer liued The third persecution of the Church was vnder the gouernment of the Emperour Traian who allured by the Deuill his other ministers determined by torments to punishe the Christians and therfore by publique edict ordayned that the Christians should worship the Idol of the Gentiles vpon paine of death Wherevnto the Christians not wylling to obey he made a great slaughter of them This was the third persecution of the Church Catholique whereof Eusebius and diuers other Historiographers Christians do make plentiful mencion that was in the tenth yéere of the Empyre of Traian which afterward also commaunded this persecution to be stayed as doth apeare by some writers especially in the letters of Plyny directed to Traian in the answeres thereto sent by the same Emperor which are at this presēt extant where he prescribed that the christians should be permitted to lyue in their Lawes and vnder theyr liberties If they dyd not commit any other wickednesse therewith The fourth persecution was in the time and vnder the dominion of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius surnamed the Philosopher whose lyfe we haue discribed in