of such a qualitie that it foloweth new inuentions and despiseth auncient customes All the people therfore gathered togethers the good philosopher Phetonius set vp in the middest of the market place a gybet hoote yrons a swerd a whip and fetters for the feete the whiche thyng done the Thebains were no lesse as they thought slaundered thē abashed To the which he spake these wordes You Thebains sente me to the Lacedemonians to the entent I should learne their lawes and customes and in dede I haue bene ther more then a yere beholdyng al thinges very diligentely for we Philosophers are bound not onely to note that whyche is done but also to know why it is done knowe ye Thebains that this in the aunswere of my Imbassage That the Lacedemonians hang vpon this Gybet theues with this same sworde they behede traytors with these hoote Irons they torment blasphemers and lyers with these roddes they whippe vacabondes and with these Irons do keape the rebels and the others are for players and vnthriftes Finally I say that I do not bryng you the lawes written but I bring you the Instrumentes wherwith they are obserued The Thebains were abashed to se these thinges and spake vnto hym such wordes Consider Phetonius wee haue not sent the to the Lacedemonians to bring instrumentes to take away life but for the good lawes to gouerne the common wealth The philosopher Phetonius replyed again aunswered Thebains I let you wete that if ye know what we philosophers knew you shold see how far your mindes wer from the truth For the Lacedemonians are not so vertuous thoroughe the lawes whych wer made of them that be dead as for the meanes they haue sought to preserue them that be alyue For maters of Iustice consiste more in execution then in commaundyng or ordeinynge Lawes are easely ordeyned but with difficultie executed for there are a thousande to make them but to put them in execution there is not one Ful lytle is that whych men knowe that are present in respect of that those knewe which are past But yet accordyng to my litle knowledge I proffer to gyue as good lawes to you Thebains as euer wer obserued among the Lacedemoniās For there is nothing more easy then to know the good and nothynge more commen then to folow the euill But what profiteth it if one will ordeyne and none vnderstand it Yf ther be that doth vnderstand thē there is none that excuteth them Yf there be that executeth them there is none that obserueth thē Yf there be one that obserueth them ther is a thousand that reproueth them For without comparison mo are they that murmure grudge at the good then those whych blame and despise the euyll You Thebains are offended bycause I haue brought suche Instrumentes but I let you wete if you wyll neyther Gybet nor sworde to kepe that which shal be ordeyned you shall haue your bookes full of lawes and the common wealth full of vices Wherfore I sweare vnto you that there are mo Thebains whiche folowe the deliciousnes of Denis the tyraunt then there are vertuous men that folowe the lawes of Lycurgus If you Thebains do desire greatly to know with what Lawes the Lacedemonians doe preserue their common wealthe I will tel you them all by worde and if you will reade them I will shew you them in writyng But it shal be vpon condition that you shall sweare all openly that once a daye you shall employ your eyes to reade them and your parsonnes to obserue them For the prince hath greater honour to se one onely law to be obserued in dede then to ordeyne a thousand by wryting You ought not to esteame muche to be vertuous in harte nor to enquire of the vertue by the mouth nor to seeke it by labour and trauaille of the feete but that whyche you ought greatly to esteame is to know what a vertuous lawe meaneth and that knowen immediatly to execute it and afterwardes to kepe it For the chefe vertue is not to do one verteous work but in swet and trauayl to continue in it These therfore wer the wordes that this philosopher Phetonius sayde to the Thebains The whyche as Plato sayeth estemed more his wordes that he spake then they dyd the lawes whyche he brought Truly in my opinion those of Thebes are to be praysed and commended and the philosopher for his wordes is worthy to be honoured For the end of those was to searche lawes to liue well and the ende of the Philosophet was to seke good meanes for to kepe them in vertue And therfore he thought it good to shew thē and put before their eyes the gibbet and the sword with the other instrumentes and tormentes For the euill do refraine from vice more for feare of punyshement then for any desire they haue of amendement I was willyng to bring in this Historie to th ende that all curious and vertuous men may see and know how litell the auncientes did esteme the beginnynge the meane and the ende of vertuous workes in respect of the perseueraunce and preseruacion of them Commyng therfore to my matter whych my pen doth tosse and seke I aske now presentely what it profiteth princes and great ladyes that God do gyue them great estates that they be fortunate in mariages that they be all reuerenced and honored that they haue great treasures for their inheritaunces and aboue al that they se their wiues great with child that afterwardes in ioy they se them deliuered that they se theyr mothers geuing their childrē sucke finally they se them selues happy in that they haue found them good nources helthful honest Truely al this auaileth litle if to their children when they are yong they do not giue masters to enstruct thē in vertues and also if they do not recomend them to good guides to exercise thē in feates of Chiualry The fathers which by syghes penetrat the heauē by prayers importune the Liuing god only for to haue children ought first to thinke why they wil haue childrē for that iustly to any man may be denayed which to an euil end is procured In my opinion the father ought to desire to haue a child for that in his age he may susteine his life in honour that after his doth he may cause his fame to liue And if a father desireth not a son for this cause at the least he ought to desire him to the end in his age he may honour his horye hed and that after his death he may enheryte his goodes but wee see few children do these thynges to their fathers in theyr age if the fathers haue not taught them in their youth For the fruite doeth neuer grow in the haruest vnlesse the tree dyd bere blosommes in the spryng I see oftentimes many fathers complaine of their Children sayenge that they are disobedient and proude vnto theim and they doe not consydre that they them selues are the cause of all those euilles For
vain and dishonest thoughts from him they will teach him to subdue and resyst all sodein passions and motions moued of choller by them they shal winne good frends and learn also neuer to bee troublesome or enemy to any they will make him forsake all sinne and vice declaring to him what good woorks hee shall follow and what hee shal most fly and eschew they will let him vnderstand how hee shall humble and beehaue him self in prosperity and they will also comfort him in his aduersity to keepe him from all sorow and dispayre For though a man bee neuer so carefull and circumspect yet hath hee always neede of the councell of an other in his affaires if therefore such person haue not about him good vertuous sage men how can it otherways bee but that hee must stumble oft and fall down right on his face hauing no man to ayd or help him Paulus Diaconus sayeth that albeeit the Affricans were wylde and brutish people yet had they withstandyng a law amongst them that the senators amongst them coold choose no other senator if at the electiō there were not present a philosopher So it happened one day amongst the rest that of many philosophers they had in Carthage amongst them was one named Apolonius Who ruled for the space of three score and two years all their senat with great quyet and to the contentacion of all the senators which to shew them selues thankfull to him erected in the market place so many images of him as he had gouerned their common weale years to the end the fame and memory of hym should bee immortall and yet they dyd dedycate to their famous Anniball but onely one image and to this philosopher they set vp aboue three score Alexander the great when hee was most bent to bluddy warres went to see and speak with Diogenes the philosoper offring him great presents and discoursyng with him of dyuers matters So that wee may iustly say this good prince of hym self tooke payns to seek out wise men to accompany him electing by others choise and aduise all such as hee made his captayns to serue him in the warres It is manyfest to all that Dionisius the Siracusan was the greatest tyraunt in the world and yet notwithstanding his tyranny it is a wonder to see the sage and wise men hee had continually in his court with him that that makes vs yet more to wonder of him is that hee had them not about him to serue him or to profyt one iot by their doctrine and councell but onely for his honor and their profyt which enforceth mee to say concurring with this example that syth tyrants dyd glory to haue about them wise woorthy men much more shoold those reioyce that in their woorks and deedes are noble and free harted And this they ought to doo not onely to bee honored with them openly but also to bee holpen with their doctrine councels secretly And if to some this shoold seeme a hard thyng to follow wee will say that woorthy men not beeing of ability and power to mainteyn such wise men ought yet at least to vse to read at tymes good and vertuous bookes For by readyng of bookes they reap infynyt profyt as for example by readyng as I say these good authors the desire is satisfyed their iugement is quickned idlenes is put away the hart is disburdened the time is well imployed and they lead their lyfe vertuously not beeing bound to render account of so many faults as in that tyme they myght haue committed And to conclude it is so good an exercise as it geeueth good examples to the neyghbor profyt to hym self and health to the soule Wee see by experience after a man taketh vppon hym once the study of holy scriptures and that hee frameth hym self to bee a diuyne hee will neuer wyllyngly thencefoorth deale in other studies and all beecause hee will not forgoe the great pleasure hee receyueth to read those holly sayyngs And that causeth that wee see so many learned and wise men for the more part subiect to dyuers diseases and full of melancoly humors For so sweete is the delight they take in their bookes that they forget and leaue al other bodely pleasure And therefore Plutarke wryteth that certayn Phylosophers beeing one day met at the lodgyng of Plato to see hym and demaūdyng him what exercise hee had at that tyme Plato aunswered them thus Truely my brethern I let you know that euen now my onely exercise was to see what the great poet Homer sayd And this hee told them beecause they tooke hym euen then readyng of some of Homers bookes and to say truly hys aunswer was such as they shoold all looke for of hym For to read a good booke in effect is nothyng els but to heare a wyse man speak And yf this our iudgement and aduise seeme good vnto you wee would yet say more that you shoold profyt more to read one of these bookes then yow should to heare speak or to haue conference wyth the autor hym self that made yt For it is wythout doubt that all wryters haue more care and respect in that their penne dooth wryte then they haue in that their tongue dooth vtter And to the end you should not thynk wee can not proue that trew that wee haue spoken I doo you to wytte that euery autor that wyll wryte to publysh hys dooyng in prynt to lay yt to the shew and iudgement of the world and that desyreth thereby to acquire honor and fame and to eternyse the memory of hym turneth many bookes conferreth wyth other wyse and learned men addycteth hym self wholly to hys booke indeuoureth to vnderstand well oft refuseth sleepe meat and drynk quyckneth hys spyrits dooyng that hee putteth in wrytyng exactly with long aduise and consideracion whych hee dooth not when hee dooth but only speak and vtter them though oft in deede by reason of his great knowledge in speach vnwares there falleth out of hys mouth many goodly and wise sentences And therefore god hath geeuen hym a goodly gift that can read and hym much more that hath a desyre to studdy knowyng how to choose the good bookes from the euill For to say the troth there is not in this world any state or exercyse more honorable and profytable then the study of good bookes And wee are much bound to those that read more to those that study and much more to those that wryte any thing but mostly doubtles to those that make compile goodly bookes those of great and hye doctrine For there are many vayn and fond bookes that rather deserue to bee throwen in the fyer then once to bee read or looked on For they doo not onely shew vs the way to mock thē but also the ready mean to offend vs to see them occupy their brayns best wyttes they haue to write foolish and vayn thyngs of no good subiect or erudicion And that that is woorst of al yet
mother in the chariot to the temple So after that the feast was ended the mother not knowyng how to requite the benefite of her children with many teares beesought the goddesse Iuno that shee with the other gods woold bee contented to geeue her .ii. children the best thing that the gods coold geeue to their frends The goddesse Iuno aunswered her that shee was contented to require the other gods and that they woold doo it And the reward was that for this noble fact the gods ordeyned that Cleobolus and Biton shoold sleepe one day well and in the morning when they shoold wake they shoold dye The mother pitifully beewayling the death of her children and complaining of the gods the goddesse Iuno sayd vnto her Thou hast no cause why to complayn sins wee haue geeuen thee that thou hast demaunded and hast demaunded that which wee haue geeuen thee I am a goddesse and thou art my seruaunt therefore the gods haue geeuen to thy children the thing which they count most deare which is death For the greatest reuenge which amongst vs gods wee can take of our enemies is to let them liue long and the best thing that wee keepe for our frends is to make them dye quickly The auctor of this history is called Hisearchus in his politikes and Cicero in his first book of his Tusculanes In the I le of Delphos where the Oracle of the god Apollo was there was a sumptuous temple the which for want of reparacion fell down to the ground as often times it chaunceth to high sumptuous buyldings which from tyme to tyme are not repayred For if the walles dungeons castels and strong houses coold speak as well woold they complayn for that they doo not renew them as the old men doo for that wee doo 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 buylt it new agayn as well with the labor of their persons as with the great expenses of their goods When the buylding was atchiued the god Apollo said vnto them that hee remembred well their good seruice wherefore hee woold they shoold demaund him any thing in reward of their trauail and with a good will it shoold bee graunted For the gods vse for a little seruice to geeue a great reward Triphon and Agamendo aunswered vnto the god Apollo that for their good will for their trauell and for their expenses they demaunded no other reward but that it woold please him to geeue them the best thing that might bee geeuen vnto man and that vnto them were most profit saying that the miserable men haue not the power to eschew the euill nor wisedom to choose the good The god Apollo aunswered that hee was contented to pay them their seruice which they had doon and to grant them that which they had demaunded By reason whereof Triphon and Agamendo hauing dyned sodeinly at the gates of the temple fell down dead So that the reward of their trauell was to pluck them out of their misery The end to declare these two examples is to th end that al mortal men may know that there is nothing so good in this world as to haue an end of this lyfe and though to lose it there bee no sauor yet at the least ther is profit For wee woold reproue a traueler of great foolishnes if sweating by the way hee woold sing and after at his iorneys end hee shoold beegin to weepe Is not hee simple which is sory for that hee is comen into the hauen is not hee simple that geeueth the battell and fighteth for that hee hath got the victory Is not hee stubbern which is in great distresse and is angry to bee succored Therefore more foolish simple and stubbern is hee which traueleth to dye and is loth to meet with death For death is the true refuge the perfect health the sure hauen the whole victory the flesh wythout bones fysh wythout scales and corne without straw Fynally after death wee haue nothing to beewail and much lesse to desire In the tyme of Adrian the emperor a philosopher called Secundus beeing marueilously learned made an oration at the funerall of a noble Romayn matrone a kinswoman of the emperors who spake exceeding much euill of lyfe marueilous much good of death And when the emperor demaunded him what death was the philosopher answered Death is an eternal sleepe a dissolucion of the body a terror of the rich a desire of the poore a thing inheritable a pilgrymage vncertain a theef of men a kynde of sleaping a shadow of lyfe a seperacion of the lyuing a company of the dead a resolution of all a rest of trauels and the end of all ydle desires Fynally death is the scourge of all euyll and the cheef reward of the good Truely this philosopher spake very well hee shoold not doo euill which profoundly woold consider that hee had spoken Seneca in an epistle declareth of a philosopher whose name was Bassus to whom when they demaunded what euil a man can haue in death since men feare it so much hee aunswered If any domage or fear is in him who dyeth it is not for the fear of death but for the vyce of him which dieth Wee may agree to that the philosopher sayd that euen as the deaf can not iudge harmony nor the blynd colours so lykewise they cannot say euill of death in especially hee which neuer tasted it For of all those which are dead none returned again to complayn of death and of these few that lyue all complayn of lyfe If any of the dead returned hyther to speak with the liuing and as they haue proued it so they woold tel vs. If there were any harm in secret death it were reason to haue some fear of death But though a man that neuer saw hard felt nor tasted death dooth speak euil of death shoold wee therefore fear death Those ought to haue doon some euil in their life whych doo fear and speak euill of death For in the last hour in the streight iudgement the good shal bee knowen and the euill discouered There is no prince nor knight rich nor poore whole nor sick lucky nor vnlucky whych I see with their vocacions to bee contented saue only the dead which in their graues are in peace and rest and are neyther couetous proud negligent vayn ambitious nor dissolute So that the state of the dead ought to bee best since wee see none therin to bee euil contented And since therefore those which are poore doo seeke wherewith to enrich them selues those which are sad doo seeke wherby to reioice and those which are sick doo seeke to bee healed why is it that those which haue such fear of death doo seeke some remedy against that fear In this case I woold say that hee which will not fear to dye let him vse him self well to liue For the giltles
The Dial of Princes Compiled by the reuerend father in God Don Antony of Gueuara Byshop of Guadix Preacher and Chronicler to Charles the fifte late of that name EMPEROVR Englished out of the Frenche by T. North sonne of Sir Edvvard North Knight L. North of Kyrtheling And now newly reuised and corrected by hym refourmed of faultes escaped in the first edition with an amplification also of a fourth booke annexed to the same Entituled The fauored Courtier neuer heretofore imprinted in our vulgar tongue Right necessarie and pleasaunt to all noble and vertuous persones Now newly imprinted by Richarde Tottill and Thomas Marshe Anno. Domini 1568. To the moste highe and vertuouse Princesse Mary by the grace of God Queene of Englande Spayne Fraunce bothe Sicilles Ierusalem Naples and Irelande Defendour of the faith Archiduchesse of Austria Duchesse of Burgundie Mylaine and Brabante Countesse of Haspourge Flaunders and Tyroll Longe health and perpetual felicitie THE Diuine philosopher Plato moste gracious soueraigne Lady trauailing all his life time to abolish the barbarous maners of the Grecians and to induce a ciuile forme of liuing among the people ordeined a lawe to the greate comfort of those that folowed vertue and no lesse to the terrour of others that haunted vices The which commaunded that not onely those which brought in or inuented any newe thing that might either corrupt the good maners violate the aunciente customes hinder through euill example good liuing impoison with erronious doctrine the consciences effeminate with voluptuous pleasures the heartes impouerish with vnprofitable marchaundise the people or diffame through malitious words the renowmes should be as vnprofitable membres from the common wealth expelled and banished but also ordeined that those which studied to publish any institution apperteyning either to the honoure of the Goddes to the reformation of the frayltie of men or by any other meane to the profit of the weale publike should be condingly of the common wealth enterteined preferred and honoured Then if this lawe were iust most gracious soueraigne Lady as it is moste iuste in dede who deserued more honorable enterteynement amonge the liuing or who meriteth a worthier fame among the dead then Don Antony of Gueuara the Author hereof For by his stayed life God hath bene glorified by his holsome doctrine the people of Spayne heretofore edified and by his swete and sauorie writinges we and sundrie other nations at this present may be much profited The which though they are al pitâ—y and ful of high doctrine yet this entituled Los relox de principes aboue the rest in my opinion is most profonde and pleasaunt For if the zeale that I beare to his workes deceiue not my iudgement there is no Authour the sacred letters set aparte that more effectuously setteth out the omnipotencie of God the frailtie of men the inconstancie of fortune the vanitie of this world the misery of this life and finally that more plainely teaceth the good which mortal men ought to pursue and the euill that all men oughte to flie then this present worke doth The which is so full of high doctrine so adourned with auncient histories so authorised with graue sentences and so beautified with apte similitudes that I knowe not whose eies in reading it can be weried nor whose eares in hearing it not satisfied Considering therfore most gracious soueraigne Lady that this worke may serue to high estates for councel to curious serchers of antiquities for knowledge and to al other vertuous gentlemen for an honest pleasaunt and profitable recreation and finally that it may profite all and can hurte none I according to my small knowledge and tender yeares haue reduced it into our vulgare tongue and vnder your graces name hame published it for the commoditie of many Most humbly beseching your highnes to accept in good parte according to your graces accustomable goodnes this my good will and trauaile which here I offer as a pledge of my bounden duty towardes your highnes and also as a perpetual memory of the feruent zeale I beare to my couÌ„trey And in so doing your grace shal not onely encourage me beinge young in these my first fruites but also others peraduenture of more ripe yeares to attempt the like enterprise by the whiche the deuine maiestie may be immortally glorified your puisaunt name worthely magnified your royall persone duely obeyed and all your graces naturall and louing subiectes greatly profited At Lincolnes Inne the .20 of December Your highnes most humble and loyal subiecte Thomas North. The generall Prologue vppon the Booke entytuled the Diall of Princes with the famous booke of MARCVS AVRELIVS Compyled by the reuerend Father in God the Lord Antony of Gueuara Bishop of Guadix Confessor and Chronicler of Charles the fifte Emperoure of Rome to whom to al other Princes and noble men this worke was directed APOLONIVS THIANEVS disputing with the Schollers of Hiarcas sayde that among all the affections of nature nothynge is more naturall than the desire that all haue to preserue life Omitting the dispute of these great philosophers herin we our selfes hereof haue dayly proofe that to lyue men do trauaile to liue birdes do flye to liue fisshes do swime and to lyue beastes do hide themselfes for feare of death Finally I say there is no liuinge creature so brutish that hath not a naturall desire to liue If many of the auncient Paynems so little wene lyfe that of their owne frée willes they offered theÌ„ selues to death they did it not for that they dispised life but bicause they thought that for their little regarding life we would more highly estéeme their fame For we sée men of hawte courages séeke rather to winne a longe during fame than to saue a shorte lasting life How lothe men are to dye is easely sene by the greate paynes they take to liue For it is a naturall thing to all mortal men to leaue their liues with sorow and take their deathes with feare Admitte that all do taste this corporall death and that generally bothe good and euill do dye yet is there great difference betwene the death of one the death of another If the good desire to liue it is for the greater desire they haue to do good but if the euill desire to lyue it is for that they woulde abuse the worlde longer For the children of vanitie call no tyme good but that wherein they liue according to their owne desires I let ye vnderstande that are at this present and ye also that shal come hereafter that I direct my writing vnto those which embrace vertue and not vnto such as are borne awaye with vice God doth not way vs as we are but as we desier to be And let no man say I would and can not be good for as we haue the audacitie to committe a faulte so if we liste we may enforce our selues to worke amendes Al our vndoing procedeth of this that we outwardly make a showe of vertue but inwardlye in
throughe thys wicked vice Chap. xiii That it is not fit for courtiers to bée to couetous if they meane to keape themselues out of many troubles and daungers Chap. xiiii That the fauoured of the courte shoulde not trust to muche to their fauour and credit they haue nor to the great prosperity of their lyfe a worthy chapter and ful of good doctryne Chap. xv The auctor admonysheth those that are in fauour and great with the prince that they take hede of the deceipts of the world and learne to liue and dye honourably and that they leaue the court before age ouertake them Chapter xvi Of the continencie of fauoured courtiers and how they ought to shonne the company and conuersacion of vnhonest women to be careful quickly to dispatch al suche as sue vnto them Chap. xvii That the nobles and beloued of princes excede not in superfluous fare that they be not to sumptuous in their meates A notable chapter for those that vse to much delicacye and superfluity Chap. xviii That the fauoured of princes ought not to be dishonest of their tongues nor enuious of their words Chap. xix A comendacion of trouth which professed courtiers ought to imbrace and in no respect to be found defectiue in the contrarye tellynge one thinge for another Chap xx The end of the table of the fourth Booke Heare beginneth the table of the letters translated out of Spanishe vvhich vvere not in the Frenche Copye OF a huge monster whych was sene in Scicilli in the tyme of Marcus Aurelius Chap. i. Of that whych chaunced vnto a neighboure of hys in Rome in the tyme of his Empyre Chap. ii How Marcus Aurelius the Emperoure soughte the wealth of hys people and how hys people loued hym Chap. iii. How at the intercession of many which the Empresse hadde sent the Emperoure graunted hys doughter Lucilla lycence to sport her selfe at the feastes Chap. iiii Of the sharpe woordes whyche Marcus Aurelius spake to hys wyfe and too hys doughter Chap. v. The Emperour exhorteth hys wyfe to take awaye all occasions of euil from her doughter wher in is declared the frailetye of the tender fleshe Chap. vi Of the wysedom of Marcus Aurelius in procuryng husbandes for his doughters Chap. vii Of a letter whych the Emperour Marcus Aurelius sent to hys especial frend to comfort hym in his troubles Chap. viii A letter sent by the Emperour Marcus Aurelius to Censorius that was so sorowful for the death of his sonne worthy to be red and noted Chap. ix A letter sent by Marcus Aurelius Emperour to Censorius of the newes whych at that tyme were at Rome Chap. x. Of a sharpe letter full of reprehensions sent by the Emperour Marcus Aurelius to the amourous ladyes of Rome because in his absence they deuised a playe of hym Cap. xi Of a letter which he sente to his louer Bohemia for that she desired so earnestlye to go wyth hym to the warres wherein is to be noted the great folly of yong men the lytle shame of euyl women Cap. xii The aunswere of Bohemia to the Emperour Marcus Aurelius wherin is expressed the great malyce and litle pacience of an euyl woman Chap. xiii Of a letter whych the Emperour Marcus Aurelius sent to the lady Macrine the Romayne of whom beholdyng her at the window he became enamoured which declareth what force the beauty of a fayre woman hath in a weake man Chap. xiiii Of an other letter whyche the Emperour sent to the lady Macrine wherein he expresseth the firie flames which consume sonest the gentle harts Chap. xv Of a letter which the Emperour Marcus Aurelius sent to the beautiful ladye of Lybia wherin he reproueth that loue is natural and that the most part of the philosophers and men haue bene by loue ouercome Chap. xvi The ende of the table The first booke of the Diall of princes vvith the famous Booke of Marcus Aurelius wherein be entreateth what excellencie is in the prince that is a good Christian and contrariwyse what euils do folowe him that is a cruell tyrante ¶ Where the Authour speaketh of the birth and lynage of the wyse Philosopher and Emperour Marcus Aurelius And he putteth also at the beginning of this Booke thrée Chapters wherin he entreateth of the discourse of his life for by his Epistles and doctrine the whole of this presente woorke is proued Cap. i. AFter the death of the Emperoure Antonius Pius in the 695. yeares from the foundation of Rome and in the 173. Olimpiade Fuluius Cato Gneus Patroclus then being consulles the fourth daie of October in the highe Capitoll of Rome at sute of the whole Romaine people with thassent of the sacred Senate Marcus Aurelius Antonius was proclaymed Emperoure vniuersall of the whole Romaine monarche This noble prince was naturally of Rome borne in the mount Celio on the sixt daye before the Kalendes of May which after the Latines accounte is the .xxvi. day of April His Graundefather was called Annius Verus and was chosene senatoure in the tyme of the Emperours Titus and Vespasian hys greate graunde fathere was named Annius Verus whiche was borne in Spayne in the free towne of Gububa whenne the warres were moste cruel betwene Caesar and Pompeius at what time many Spanyardes fled to Rome and manye Romaynes ranne into Spayne By this meanes this Emperour had a greate graundfather a Romayne and a greate graundmother a Spanyard Hys father was named Annius Verus after his grandfather and great grandfather by reason wherof the auncient historiographers call him Marcus Antonius Verus And true it is that the Emperour Adrian called him Marcus Verissimus for that he neuer forged lie nor swarued at anye tyme from the trueth These Annij Veri wer a kinred in Rome as Iulius Capitolinus reporteth which vaunted themselues to come of Numa Pompilius and Quintus Curtius the famous Romaine which to worke the Romaine people safetie and his owne person euerlasting memorie willingly threw him selfe into the lake which afterwards was called Curtius That as then was sene in Rome This Emperours mother was called Domitia Camilla as recounteth Cinna in the bookes that he wrote of Romain pedigrees That stocke of Camilli was in those dayes highly honoured in Rome for that they conueighed their dissent from that Camillus whych was the renowmed and valiaunt Romain captayne who deliuered Rome when the Gavvles had taken it and besieged the Capitoll The men that sprange of this linage bare the name of Camilli for remēbrance of this Camillus And the woman that came of the same stocke kepte the name of Camille in memorie of a doughter of the sayde Camillus Thys Camilla refused mariage and chose to liue amonge the vessall virgines and ther longe space remayned enduring a sharpe and hard lyfe And she was so vertuous a Romayne and precise in her life that in the time of Seuerus Emperour of Rome her tombe was honoured as a relique whereon was engraued this Epitaphe Camilla lo doth
after their death were changed into gods the wycked into deuils whych thing the Auctoure proueth by soundry examples Cap. x. ALthough the common opinion of the simple people was that ther were many gods yet not withstandinge al the Phylosophers affyrmed that ther was but one God who of some was named Iupiter the whiche was chiefe aboue al other gods Others called him the first intelligence for that he had created al the world Others called him the first cause because he was the beginner of all things It semeth that Aristotle vnderstode this thinge and was of this opinion forasmuch as he sayth in his .12 booke of his metaphisickes All superiour and inferiour thinges wold be well ordered and many thinges muche better by tharbitrement of one then by the aduice of many Marcus Varro in hys booke De theologia mistica Tullius in hys booke De natura Deorum although these were gentyles and curious enoughe of the Temples yet they do mocke the gentiles whych beleued ther were manye gods that Mars Mâ—rcury and lykewyse Iupiter the whole flocke of gods which the gentyles set vp wer al mortal men as we are But because they knew not that ther wer good nor bad angels nor knew not that ther was any paradise to reward the good nor hel to torment the euil They held thys opinion that the good men after their death wer gods and the euyl men deuils And not contented with these folysh abuses the deuil brought them into such an errour that they thought it consisted in the Senates power to make some gods and other deuils For when ther dyed at Rome any Emperour if he had bene wel willed of the Senate immediatly he was honoured for a god and if he died in dyspleasure of the Senate he was condemned for a deuyl And to the end we do not speake by fauour but by writting Herodian sayth that Faustine was the doughter of Antonius Pius wife of Marcus Aurelius which wer Emperours the one after the other And truly ther wer few eyther of their predecessours or of their successours which wer so good as they wer and in myne opinion more better therfore was she made a goddesse and her father a god An Emperour that coueteth perpetual memory must note 5. thinges which he should haue in his life That is to saye pure in lyfe vpright in iustice aduenturous in feates of armes excellent in knowledge and welbeloued in his prouinces which vertues were in these 2. excellente Emperors This Empresse Faustine was passing fayre and the wrytters praise her beauty in such sorte that they sayde it was vnpossible for her to be so beautiful but that the gods had placed som deuine thing in her Yet not with standing this added therunto it is doubtful whether the beauty of her face was more praysed then the dishonestie of her lyfe discommended For her beauty maruelously amazed those that saw her her dishonesty offended them moch that knew her Yet after the Emperour Marcus Aurèlius had triumphed ouer the Parthians as he went visitinge the prouinces of Asia the goodlye Faustine in 4. daies dyed in the mounte Taurus by occasion of a burnynge feuer and so annealed was caried to Rome And since she was the daughter of so good a father and wife of so dearely beloued an Emperour amonges the Gods she was canonyzed but consideringe her vnconstant or rather incontinent lief it was neuer thought that the Romaines would haue done her so much honor Wherfore the Emperour reioysed so much that he neuer ceased to render thankes vnto the Senate For truely the benefite ought to be acceptable to him that receiueth it especially whan it commeth vnloked for The contrary came to the death of Tiberius third Emperour of Rome which was not only killed and drawen throughe the streates by the Romans but also the priestes of all the Temples assembled together and openly prayed vnto the gods that they would not receiue him to them and prayed to the infernal furyes that greauously they would torment him sayinge it is iustly required that the Tirant which dispraiseth the life of the good in his life should haue no place amoÌ„gest the good after his death Leauing the common opinion of the rude people whiche in the olde time had no knowledge of the true god declaring the opinion of Aristole which called god the first cause the opinion of the Stoickes which called him the firste intelligeÌ„ce and the opinion of Cicero which vnder the colour of Iupiter putteth none other god but him I saye and confesse according to the religion of christian faith there is but one only God which is the creatour of heauen and earth whose excellency and puissaunt maiestie is litle to that our tong can speake For our vnderstaÌ„ding can not vnderstand nor our iudgemeÌ„t can determine neither our memory can comprehende and much lesse our tonge can declare it That which princes and other faithful ought to beleue of god is that they ought to know god to be almighty and incomparable a god immortall incorruptible immouable great omnipotent a perfite and sempiternall God for all mans power is nothing in respecte of his diuine maiesty I saye that our lord god is the onely hyghe god that if the creature hath any good it is but a meane good For a man comparing wel the good which he possesseth to the misery and calamitie whiche persecute him with out doubte the euill which foloweth him is greater then the good which accompanieth him Also our god is immortall and eternall which like as he had no beginning so shall he neuer haue ending And the contrarye is to the miserable man which if some see him borne others see him dye For the byrth of the children is but a memory of the graue to the aged Also God onely is vncorruptible the which in his beyng hath nother corruption nor diminution but al mortall men suffer corruption in their soules throughe vyce and in their bodyes through wormes for in the end no man is priuileged but that hys bodye is subiecte to corruption and hys soule to be saued or damned Also God is no chaungelyng and in this case thoughe he chaungeth his worke yet he chaungeth not his eternall counsayle But in men it is all contrarye for they oftetimes beginne their busynes with grauitye and afterward chaung theyr counseill at a better tyme and leaue it lyghtlye I haue now shewed you that God only is incomprehensible the maiestie of whom can not be attained nor his wisedome vnderstanded which thing is aboue mans intelligence For there is no man so sage nor profound but that an other in an other tyme is as sage and profound as he Also God onely is omnipotent for that he hath power not only ouer the lyuinge but also ouer the dead not onely ouer the good but also ouer the euill For the man which doth not feele his mercy to giue him glory he wil make him feele his
but also obtayned the death which they neuer feared for oftentimes it chaunceth to ambitious men that in their greatest ruffe and when they thinke their honoure sponne and wouen then their estate with the webbe of their lyfe in one moment is broken If at that time one had demaunded the Tiraunt Laodicius aspiring to the kingdome of Sicille Ruphus Caluus who loked to be Emperour of Rome what they thought of them selues assuredly they wolde haue sworne their hope to haue bene as certaine as ours was doubtful For it is naturall to proude men to delight them selues and to set their hole mynd vpon vaine deuises It is a straunge thing and worthy memory that they hauing the honour in their eyes fayled of it we not thinking therof in our harts should obtaine it But herein fortune shewed her mighte that she prouided hope for those whiche loked for least and dispaire for others that hoped for most which thing greaued them at the very hart For no pacience can endure to se a man obtaine that without trauaile which he could neuer compasse by much laboure I cannot tell if I should say lyke a simple Romaine that those thinges consist in fortune or if I should say like a good philosopher that all the gods do ordeine them For in the ende no fortune nor chaunce can do any thing without the gods assent Let the proude and enuious trauaile asmuche as they will and the ambicious take asmuch care as they can I say and affirme that lytle auayleth humaine dilygence to attaine to great estates if the gods be their ennemyes Suppose that euil fortune do ordeine it or that the god and gods do suffer it I see those which haue their thoughtes highe oftentimes are but of base estate and so in fine to come to mischiefe or extreme pouertie and those that haue their thoughtes low are humble of hart and for the more part are greatly exalted by fortune For many oftentimes dreame that they are lords and men of great estate which when they are awake fynd them selues slaues to all men The condicion of honor is such as I neuer read the lyke and therfore such as haue to do with her ought to take good hede For her conditions are such she enquireth for him whom she neuer saw she renneth after him that flyeth from her she honoreth him that estemeth her not and she demaundeth him which willeth her not she geueth to hym that requyreth her not she trusteth him whom she knoweth not Finally honor hath this custome to forsake him that estemeth her and to remaine with him whych litle regardeth her The curious trauellers aske not what place this or that is but do demaund what way they must take to lead them to the place they goe I meane that princes noble men ought not directly to cast their eyes vpon honour but in the way of vertue which bringeth them to honour For dayly we se many remaine defamed only for seking honour and others also exalted and extemed for flying from her O myserable world thou knowest I know the wel and that which I know of the is that thou art a sepulcher of the dead a pryson of the lyuyng a shop of vyces a hangeman of vertues obliuion of antiquitye an enemye of thinges presente a pitfall to the riche and a burden to the poore a house of pilgrames and a denne of theues Finally O world thou art a sclaunderer of the good a rauenour of the wicked and a deceuer and abuser of al and in the O world to speake the truth it is almost impossible to liue contented and muche lesse to lyue in honour For if thou wilt geue honor to the good they thnke them selues dishonored esteme thy honour as a thing of mockerie And if perchaunce they be euyl light thou suffrest them to come to honour by way of mockery meaning infamy and dishonour vnto them O immortal gods I am oftentimes troubled in my thought whose case I should more lament eyther the euyl man auaunced with out deserte or the good mā ouerthrowen without cause And trulye in this case the pitiful man wil haue compassiō on them both For if the euil liue he is sure to fal and if the good fal we doubt whether euer he shall rise againe If al falles were alike al woulde be healed and cured with one salue but some fal on their feete some on their sides others stumble and fall not and other fal downe right but some do giue them a hād I meane some ther are which fal from their estate loase no more but their substaunce others fal and for very sorow loase not onely their goodes but their life with all Other ther are that fal who neither loase their life nor goodes but their honor onely So according to the discreciō of fortune the more they haue the more stil he taketh from them and I greatly muse why the gods do neuer remedy it for whē fortune once beginneth to ouerthrow a poore mā she doth not only take al he hath from hym but all those which may wil succoure him So that the poore man is bound more to lament for another mans euil then for his owne proper There is a great dyfference betwene the mishappes of the good and aduentures of the euill For of the ill we cannot saye that he discendeth but that he falleth and of the good we may only say that he discendeth and falleth not For in the end the true honour doth not consist in the perfection and dignity that a man hath but in the good life that he leadeth It is a miserie to se the vaine men of this worlde when they go about to get any thing and to compasse any great matter of importaunce to marke their earely rysing in a morning their late going to bed at night and the loke which they cast vpon other men to note howe importunate they are to some and how troublesome they are to others and afterward notwithstandinge their longe sute and great paine an other man whiche lyttle thought thereof commeth to that honour reioysing and without trauaile which he before by so greate paines and with soo greate expenses of money hath sought so that in seeking honour by trauaile he commeth to infamye with shame For I my selfe haue sene sondry things lost by negligence and many moe by to much dilygence ¶ The Emperour procedeth in his lettter to admonishe princes to be feareful of their gods and of the sentence which the Senate gaue vppon this king for pulling downe the Churche Cap. xviii AL these things most excellēt prince I haue told the for none other cause but to agrauate this case to shew the peril therof For the good phisition to take away the bytternes of the pille ministreth some swete suger to delight the pacient withal The xx day of the moneth of Ianuary here before the Senate was presēted a long large informaciō of the
all perill and daunger The Romaines being aduertised of their gentlenes by the messengers which were come safe aliue did so muche reioyce that they ordeined in Rome that the nobles of Liparie shuld be made Senatours of Rome all the others shoulde be confederate of aliaunce vnto thē And they caused further that two priestes of Lipari should always remain in the temple of Iupiter whiche priuilege was neuer graunted to any other straungers but to them only For the Romaines had so great zeale loue to their gods that in the seruices of the temples they trusted none but those which were natiue auncient of Rome and also were both wyse and vertuous When Quintus Fabius Publius Decius were in the warres against the Samnites Toscanes and likewyse against the Vmbres many marueilous terrible signes were sene in Rome which thinges did not onely feare those that sawe them but also those which heard of thē Vpon which occasion the Romaines and the Romaine matrones both night and daye offered great sacrifices to the gods For they saide if we can once pacifie the wrath of the gods in Rome we shall neuer neade to feare our enemies in the fielde The thing was this that as the Romaine matrones went visiting the temples to appease the ire of the gods many Senatours wyues came to the temple of chastitie to offer sacrifice For in the time of the puissant power of the Romaines the women did sacrifice in the temples of the gods At that tyme came Virginea the daughter of Aureus Virgineus the Consul Plebeian the which was forbiddē to do sacrifice for that she was none of the Senatours wiues but a Plebeian as much to saie as a craftes womā no gentilmans daughter borne For the noble women were had in so great veneration so highly estemed that al the other semed in respect of thē but handmaides sclaues The noble Romaine Virginea seing her to be so repulsed disdained of the other matrons made of her own propre house a sēple to the goddesse of chastitie and with much deuotion reuerence honoured her The whiche thing being published abroade throughout Rome many other women came thither to doe sacrifice likewise For fortune is so variable that oftentimes those which of pryde haue forbidden vs their houses come after by humilitie to serue vs at ours For this cause this Virginea the foundresse was so greatly praysed that the Romaines in her life made her patrice that is a noble Romaine and after her death caused her image and statue to be made and set vp in the high Capitoll and aboue this image were grauen certaine Greeke letters the effecte whereof was this Patrice the great this Image doth present That in her life did giue with mynde deuout The Gods her house and therfore to them went When liuely breth by death was chased out Of all these hystories aboue named Titus Liuius maketh mencion in his first decade the seconde fift and ninth booke though he declareth thē more at large yet this shal suffice for my purpose I haue sought among the gentils these few exāples to reproue christiā princes to th end they might se how studious feruent our fathers were in the seruice of their Idols cōtrariwise how cold negligēt we are to honour serue our true liuing god It is a shame to tell how the auncient Romains with all their hartes did serue the gods without any vnderstanding how those which are christiās for the most part serue the true God not in truthe but with hypocrisie and dissimulation Fo the children of this worlde will take no paynes but for to prouoke the pleasures of the body Many wondred for what occasion God did so muche for them and they did nothing for God To this may be aunswered that if they had knowen one true God all the sacrifices they hadde done to their other gods they would haue done to him only and as God is iust so he rewarded them in their temporall prosperities not for that they did well but for that they desired to doe well For in our deuine lawe God doth not regard what we are but what we desire to be Christian princes maruayle muche what the occasion should be that they are not so fortunate as the Gentils were To this may be answered that either they be good or euill If they be good truly God should do them wrong if for the paiment of their faithful seruices he should recompence thē with those worldly vanities For without doubt one onely louing countenaunce of god in the worlde to come is more worth then all the temporall goods of this world present But if these suche great lordes be euil in their personnes ambitious in gouerning their dominions not pitifull to wydowes and fatherlesse not fearfull of god nor of his threatninges and moreouer neuer to haue mynde to serue him but only when they see them selues in some great ieopardie in suche case God will not heare them and muche lesse fauour them For without doubt the seruice is more acceptable whiche of free wyll proceadeth than that whiche of necessitie is offred ¶ For fiue causes princes ought to be better Christians then their subiectes Cap. xx IN myne opinion Princes ought and are bounde to be vertuous for fiue causes I saye vertuous in that they should loue and feare God For he onely may be called vertuous which in the catholique faith of the church and in the feare of God hath alwayes remayned constant First princes should feare loue serue and loue one onely god whom they worshippe for that thei acknowledge him onely and none other to be the head both of heauen and earth For in the ende there is nothing so puissaunt but is subiecte to the diuine power And truly the prince is is great perill of damnation of his soule if in his gouernemēt he hath not alwayes before his eies the feare and loue of the supreme prince to whom we must render of all our doynges an accōpt For the prince hath great occasion to be vicious thinking that for the vice he shall not be chastised I haue redde in diuerse sundry writinges and I neuer founde one auncient prince to be contented with one only god but that they had serued many gods Iulius Caesar caried fiue gods painted in a table and Scipio the great caried seuen portered in mettall And furthermore they were not contented to haue many but yet in sacrifices and seruices they offred vnto them all The Christian princes whiche kepe and haue but one very true and omnipotent god are so vnthankefull that they thinke it muche to serue and giue acceptable seruice vnto him And though peraduenture some saie that it is more painefull to serue one true god then all these false gods to this I aunswere That to serue them it is both trauaile paine but to serue our god it is both ioye and felicitie For in seruing those it
is costly and without profite and in seruing God great profite ensueth For those goddes require great and ryche sacrifices and our God demaundeth nothinge but pure and cleane hartes Secondarely princes shoulde be better Christians then others because they haue more to lose then all And he that hath more to lose then any other ought aboue al other to serue god For euen as he alone can gyue hym so likewise he alone and none other can take from hym And if a subiecte take any thynge from his neighbour the prince whom he serueth maketh him render it agayne but if the Prince be iniuried with any other tyraunte he hath none to complayne vnto nor to demaunde helpe of but onely of his mercifull God For in the ende one that is of power can not be hurt but by an other that is lykewyse mighty Let princes beholde howe the man that wyl make any great assaulte first commeth running afarre of as fast as he can I meane that the prynce whiche wyll haue God mercifull vnto him ought to be content with his onely god For he in vayne demaundeth helpe of him to whome before he neuer dyd seruice Thirdly princes ought to be better Christians then others and this shal be seen by that they succoure the poore prouyde for those that are vnprouided and visite the temples hospitalles and churches and endeuour them selues to heare the diuine seruice and for all these thinges they shall not onely receiue rewardes but also they shal receyue honour For through their good example others wyll doe the same Princes not fearinge God nor his commaundementes cause their Realmes and subiectes to fall into great misery For if the fountayne be infected it is vnpossible for the streames that issue therof to be pure We see by experience that a brydell maistereth a horse and a sterne ruleth a shippe I meane that a prynce good or bad wyll leade after him all the whole Realme And if he honour God all the people doe likewyse if he serue God the people also serue him if he praise God the subiects also praise him and if he blaspheme god they likewise will doe the same For it is vnpossible that a tree should bring forth other leaues or fruites then those whiche are agreable to the humour that are in the rootes Princes aboue all other creatures haue this preeminence that if they be good Christians they shall not onely receiue merite for their owne woorkes but also for all those whiche others shall do because they are occasion that the people worke wel And for the contrarie they shall not onely be punished for the euill whiche they shall doe but also for the euill whiche by occasion of their euill examples others shall commit O ye princes that nowe be aliue howe greatly do I wyshe that ye should speake with some one of those princes whiche nowe are dead especially with those that are cōdemned to the eternall firie flames then ye should see that the greatest tormentes whiche they suffer are not for the euils that they did commit but for the euils whiche through their occasion were done For oftentimes princes and prelates sinne more because they dissemble with others then for that they do committe them selues O howe circumspect ought princes and great lordes to be in that they speake and howe diligently ought they to examine that whiche they doe For they serue not God onely for them selues but they serue hym also in generallye for their subiectes And contrariwyse princes are not only punished for their owne offences but also for the sinnes of their people For the sheaperd ought greuously to be punished when by negligence the rauening woulfe deuoureth the innocent lambe Fourthly princes ought to be better Christians thē others because that to God onely they must render accompt of their estates for as muche as we are sure that god to whom we must render accompte is iust so muche the more we should trauaile to be in his fauoure because whether he finde or not finde in our life any faulte yet for loue pities sake he may correcte vs. Men one with another make their accomptes in this life because they are men and in the ende counte they well or euill all passeth amonges men because they are men but what shall the vnhappy Princes do whiche shall render no accompte but to God onely who wyll not be deceiued with wordes corrupted with giftes feared with threatninges nor aunswered with excuses Princes haue their Realmes full of cruell iudges to punishe the frailtie of man they haue their courtes full of aduocates to pleade against them that haue offended they haue their pallaces full of loyterers promoters that note the offences of other men they haue throughe all their prouinces auditours that ouersee the accomptes of their rentes and besides all this they haue no remembraunce of the day so streighte wherein they must render accompte of their wicked life Me thinkes since all that whiche princes receiue commeth from the handes of God that the greatest parte of the time whiche they spend should be in the seruice of God and all their trade in God and thei ought to render no accompt of their life but vnto God then sithe they are gods in thauthoritie whiche they haue ouer temporall thinges they ought to shewe them selues to resemble god more then others by vertues For that Prince is more to be magnified whiche reformeth two vices among his people then he which conquereth .x. realmes of his enemies But we will desire them from henceforth they presume not any more to be gods on the earth but that they endeuour them selues to be good Christians in the common wealth For all the wealthe of a Prince is that he be stoute with straungers and louing to his own subiectes Fiftly Princes ought to be better Christians then others For the prosperitie or aduersitie that chaunceth vnto them commeth directly from the handes of god onely and none other I haue seen sondry times Princes whiche haue put their whole hope confidence in other princes to be on a sodeine discomfaited and for the contrary those which haue litle hope in men and great confidence in god haue alwayes prospered When man is in his chiefest brauery and trusteth most to mens wisedome then the secret iudgement of God sonest discomforteth him I meane that the confederates frendes of princes might helpe succour thē but god will not suffer them to be holpen nor socoured to th end they should see that their remedie proceadeth not by mās diligence but by deuine prouidēce A prince that hath a realme doth not suffer any thing to be done therin without his aduise therefore sithe god is of no lesse power in heauen then princes are on the earth it is reason that nothing be done without his cōsent sins he taketh account of al mēs deades as he is the end of al things so in him by him al thinges haue their beginning O Princes if you
knewe howe small a thing it is to be hated of men and howe great a comfort to be beloued of god I sweare that you woulde not speake one worde although it were in ieste vnto men neither woulde you cease night nor day to commende your selues vnto god for god is more mercifull to succour vs then we are diligent to call vppon hym For in conclusion the fauour whiche men can giue you other men can take from you but the fauour that god will giue you no man can resiste it All those that possesse muche should vse the company of them whiche can doe muche and if it be so I let you princes wete that all men can not thynke so muche togethers as god him selfe is able to doe alone For the crie of a LyoÌ„ is more fearefull then the howling of a woulfe I confesse that princes and great lordes maye sometimes gayne and wynnne of them selfes but I aske them whose fauoure they haue neade of to preserue and kepe them we see oftentymes that in a short space many come to great authoritie the whiche neither mans wisedome suffiseth to gouerne nor yet mans force to kepe For the authoritie whiche the Romaines in sixe hundred yeares gayned fighting against the Eothes in the space of three yeares they loste We see dayly by experience that a man for the gouernement of his owne house onely nedeth the councell of his friendes and neighbours and doe princes great lordes thinke by their owne heades onely to rule and gouerne many realmes and dominions ¶ What the Philosopher Byas was of his constancie whan he lost all his goodes and of the ten lawes he gaue worthy to bée had in memorie Cap. xxi AMong all nations and sortes of men whiche auaunt them selues to haue had with them sage men the Gretians were the chiefest whiche had and thought it necessary to haue not onely wyse men to reade in their scholes but also they chose them to be princes in their dominions For as Plato saith those whiche gouerned in those daies were Philosophers or els they sayde and did like Philosophers And Laertius wryteth in his second booke De antiquitatibus Grecorum that the Gretians auaunted them selues muche in this that they haue had of all estates persons moste notable that is to wete seuen women very sage seuen Queenes very honest seuen kings very vertuous seuen Captaines very hardy seuen cities verie notable seuen buildinges very sumptuous seuen Philosophers well learned whiche Philosophers were these that folowe The first was Thales Milesius that inuented the Carde to sayle by The seconde was Solon that gaue the first lawes to the Athenians The thirde was Chilo who was in the Orient for Embassadour of the Athenians The fourth was Pittacus Quintilenus who was not only a philosopher but also Captaine of the Mitelenes The fifth was Cleobolus that descended froÌ„ the auncient linage of Hercules The sixte was Periander that long tyme gouerned the realme of Corinth The seuenth was Bias Prieneus that was prince of the Prieneans Therfore as touching Bias you muste vnderstande that when Romulus reigned at Rome and Ezechias in Iudea there was great warres in Grecia betwene the Metinenses and the Prieneans and of these Prieneans Bias the philosopher was prince and Captaine who because he was sage read in the vniuersitie and for that he was hardy was chiefetaine in the warre and because he was wyse he was made a Prince and gouerned the common wealth And of this no man ought to marueile for in those dayes the Philosopher that had knowledge but in one thing was litle estemed in the common wealth After many contentions had betwene the Metâ—nenses and Prienenses a cruell battayle was fought wherof the philosopher Bias was captaine and had the victorie and it was the first battayle that euer anye Philosopher gaue in Greece For the whiche victorie Greece was proude to see that their Philosophers were so aduenturous in warres and hardy of their handes as they were profound in their doctrine and eloquente in their toungues And by chaunce one brought him a nomber of women and maydens to sell or if he listed to vse them otherwyse at his pleasure but this good philosopher did not defile them nor sell them but caused them to be apparailed and safely to be conducted to their own natiue countries And let not this liberalitie that he did be had in litle estimation to deliuer the captiues and not to defloure the virgins For many times it chaunseth that those whiche are ouercome with the weapons of the conquerours are conquered with the delightes of them that are ouercome This deede amongest the Grekes was so highly commended and likewyse of their enemies so praysed that immediatly the Metinenses sent Embassadours to demaunde peace of the Prienenses And they concluded perpetuall peace vpon condition that they shoulde make for Bias an immortall statue sith by his handes and also by his vertues he was the occasion of the peace and ending of the warres betwene them And trulye they had reason for he deserueth more prayse which wynneth the hartes of the enemies in his tentes by good example then he whiche getteth the victorie in the fielde by shedding of bloud The hartes of men are noble and we see daily that oftentyme one shal soner ouercome many by good then many ouercome one by euyll and also they saye that the Emperour Seuerus spake these wordes By goodnes the least slaue in Rome shall leade me tied with a heere whether he wyll but by euill the most puissaunt men in the worlde can not moue me out of Italy For my harte had rather be seruaunt to the good then Lorde to the euill Valerius Maximus declareth that when the citie of Priene was taken by enemies put to sacke the wyfe of Bias was slayne his children taken prysoners his goodes robbed the citie beaten downe and his house set on fire but Bias escaped safe and went to Athens In this pytiful case the good philosopher Bias was no whit the sadder but rather sang as he went by the way and when he perceiued that men marueiled at his mirthe he spake vnto them these wordes Those whiche speake of me for wantinge my citie my wife and my children and losing al that I had truly such know not what fortune meaneth nor vnderstande what philosophie is The losse of children and temporall goodes cannot be called losse if the life be safe and the renowne remaine vndefiled Whether this sentence be true or no let vs profoundly consider if the iust god suffer that this citie should come into the handes of the cruell tyrauntes then this prouision is iuste for there is no thing more conformable vnto iustice then that those whiche receyue not the doctrine of the Sages shoulde suffer the cruelties of the Tyrauntes Also thoughe my ennemies haue kylled my wyfe yet I am sure it was not withoute the determynation of the Gods who after they created her bodye immediately appoynted the
to breake the good auncient customes We ordeine and commaund that the gouernour of the Prienenses do worship and honour the gods and that he be a louer of the sacred temples For otherwise he that honoreth not god wil neuer mynister equal iustice vnto men We ordeine commaund that the prince of Prienenses be contented with the warres which his auncetours lefte him and that he do not forge new matters to inuade any other straunge countreis and if perchaunce he would that no man in this case be bounde neyther with money nor in person to follow or serue him For the god Apollo tolde me that that man whiche will take another mans goods from hym by force shall lose his owne by iustice We ordeine and commaunde that the gouernor of the Prienenses go to pray and worship the gods twise in the weeke and lykewise to visite them in the temples and if he do the contrarie he shal not only be depriued of the gouerment but also after his death he shal not be buried For the prince that honoreth not god in time of his lyfe deserueth not his bones should be honored with sepulture after his death ¶ How god from the beginning punished men by his iustyce and speciallye those Princes that dispise his Churche and howe all wicked Christians are parishioners of hell Cap. xxii WHen the eternall creator who measureth the thinges by his Omnipotencye and wayeth them by his effectuall wisedome created al things aswel celestiall as terrestial vysible as inuisible corporate as incorporate not only promised to the good whyche serued him but also threatened the euyll with plagues whych offended hym For the iustice and mercy of god go alwayes together to thintent the one should encourage the good and the other threaten the euyl This thinge semeth to be true for that we haue but one god which hath created but one word wherin he made but one gardeine in the whiche garden ther was but one fountaine and neare to that fountayne he appointed only one man one woman and one serpente nere vnto which was also one tre only forbidden which is a thinge meruelous to speake and no lesse feareful to see how god dyd put into the terrestial paradyse the same daye that the creacion of the worlde was finyshed booth a sword and gibet The gibet was the tree forbidden wherof they dyd eate wherfore our fathers were condemned And the sword was the punishment wherwyth we al as miserable chyldren at this day are beheaded For truly they dyd eate the bytternes of their fault and we do feele the griefe of the paine I meane not to shewe howe our God by hys power doothe raise vppe that whyche is beaten downe howe wyth his wysedome he guideth those which are blind how by his wyl he dissembleth wyth the euyll doers neyther wil I tel how he through his clemency pardoneth the offences and through his light lyghtneth the darknes nor how through his ryghteousnes he amendeth that whych is broken and through hys liberality paieth more then we deserue But I wyll here declare at large howe our omnipotente God through his iustice chastiseth those whiche walke not in his pathes O Lorde god howe sure may thy faithfull seruauntes be for their small seruices to receiue great rewardes and contrary the euill ought alwayes to lyue in as great feare lest for their heynous offences thou shouldest geue them cruel punishmentes For though god of his bounty will not leaue any seruice vnrewarded nor of his iustice will omitte any euill vnpunished yet for all that we ought to knowe that aboue all and more than all he wil rigorously chastise those which maliciously despise the holy catholyke faith For Christe thinketh him selfe as much iniuried of those whiche persecute his church as of those that laide handes on his persone to put him to death We rede that in times past god shewed sondry greuous and cruel punishmentes to diuerse high lordes and princes besides other famous and renowmed men But rigour had neuer such power in his hande as it had against those whiche honoured the infamed Idoll and violated the sacred temples For to god this is the most heinous offence to forsake the holy catholike faith in his life and to dispaire in his mercy at the houre of his death Woulde to god we had so much grace to acknowledge our offences as god hath reason to punishe our sinnes For if it were so thē we would amend in time to come god would graunt vs a generall pardon for al that is past I see one thing wherin as I thinke I am not deceiued which is this that the frailnes miseries which we commit we thinke them naturall and in the satisfaction and amendement of the same we say they are straunge so that we admit the fault condemne the paine which therby we do deserue The secret iudgements of god do suffer it and our offences do deserue it I do not deny but that the euyll may hold possesse this life at their pleasour but I sweare vnto them when they shal lest thinke of it they shal lose their life to their great displeasour for the pleasurs of this life are so vnconstant that we scarce begin to taste thē when they vade out of their sight It is a rule infallible whiche bothe of the good euill hath bene proued that all naturally desire rather to abound than to want and all that which greatly is desired with great diligēce is serched and through great trauaile is obteined and that thing which by trauaile is attained with loue is possessed that which by loue is possessed with much sorow is lost bewailed lamented For in th end we can not deny but that the watry eies do manifestly shewe the sorowfull hartes To the fine wittes and stout harts this is a continuall torment and endlesse paine a worme that alway gnaweth to cal to mind that he must lose the ioyfull life whiche so entierly he loued and taste the fearfull death whiche so greatly he abhorred Therfore to proue this matter which I haue spoken of before it is but reason that princes know if they do not know that euen as the diuine prouidence exalteth them to high estates they not deseruing thē so likewise his rigorous iustice will bring them to nought if they be vnthankeful for his benefites For the ingratitude of benefittes receiued maketh the man not worthy to receiue any mo The more a man through benefits is bound the more greuous punishment if he be vnthankefull he deserueth Al wyse men shuld finde if thei apply their mindes therunto that in chastising god calleth those offences first to his mind which are furthest from the thoughtes of men For before the tribunal of god our secret faultes are alwaies casting out bloud to th end he should execute of our persons open iustice And further I saie that in this case I doe not see that the prince is exempted more though he liue
of lyfe constant in the defence of the Church and pacient in persecutions For he is a true relygious man that in tyme of peace is charitable to teache the ignorant and bold in the time of Scismes to confound the heretyques The Emperour Valente was not only not a frend to the Arrians an enemye to the Christians but also he was a persecutour of the deuoute and religious fryers For he commaunded proclamacyons to be had through all his realmes and domynions that all the relygious that were yonge in yeares hole of their bodyes and sound of their lymmes should immedyately cast of their cowles and hoodes leauyng their monasterye and take souldiers wages in the campe For he said Monasteryes were inuented for nothynge els but to maintaine those that were deformed blynde lame and maymed and vppon this occasion he shewed great tyrannye For many monasteryes were left naked many notable constitucions were broken manye hermites were martyred manye friers whypped many notable barons banyshed and many good men robbed of their goodes For the vertuous men desired rather the bytter lyfe of the monastery then the swete and pleasaunt lybertie of the world This Emperour yet not contented with these thinges as by chaunce his wife commended vnto him the beautye of a Romaine called Iustina without any more delaye he maried her not forsaking hys first wyfe and immedyatly made a lawe throughout all his Empire that without incurring any daunger eche Christian myght haue two wyues and mary with them by the lawe of matrymony For the tyrannous Princes to cloake their vyces make and enstablyshe the lawes of vices The shame was not litle that the Emperoure Valente against the commaundement of the Churche would marie wyth two women at one time but the lesse shame he had the greater was his iniquytye to put it in excucion and to cause it to be publyshed through hys realme as a law For a perticuler vyce corrupteth but one alone but a general law distroyeth al. At that tyme the puissaunt Gothes were in the parties of the orient the whych were in feates of armes very valyaunt and couragious but in thynges of faith they were euyl broughte vp althoughe the greateste part of them were baptysed For then the Churche was very poore of prelates howbeit those that they had were very notable men After the Gothes were baptysed and the furie of the warres somewhat appeased they sente Embassadours to the Emperour Valente desyring hym that immedyatlye and forthwith he would sende them holy catholyke Bishoppes by whose doctrine they myght be instructed and brought to the christian fayth For it was thought that the Emperoures of Rome coulde haue no byshoppes in their countryes vnlesse they were vertuous This wicked Emperour sythe he was now entangled with heresye and that he had peruerted the customes of the good Emperours that is for hauing about hym euil Bishoppes as he was enuyronned with all euills and myscheues so he sent to the Gothes a bishoppe called Eudoxius the whych was a ranke Arrian and brought with hym many Bishoppes which were heretyques by the whych the kynges and Princes of the Gothes were Arrians for the space of 200 yeares The catholyke Princes ought to take great care to watch and in watching to be ware and circumspect that they their Realmes neyther their subiects should in their time be defiled with heresie For the plague of heretykes and heresyes is not of lyght occasion bannished the place wher ons it hath reigned We haue declared of the small fayth that thys Emperoure had in Iesus Christe and of the greate myscheues he dyd to the Churche Let vs now see what was the ende of hys myserable life For the man of wycked lyfe seldome commeth to good ende The matter was this that as the Gothes were dryuen out of the Realme by some of the Hunnes they came immedyately to the Realme of Thracia which then was subiecte to the Romaynes And the Emperour Valente without anye couenaunte receyued theym into hys lande wherin he commytted great folye and vsed lytle wisedome For it is a generall rule wher rebelles vacabondes and straungers come to inhabyte there alwayes the Realme and dominions is destroyed The Gothes remayned certaine yeres amonge them without any discencion or quarrellynge against the Romaynes but afterwardes through the couetousnes of Maximus chiefe Captaine of the Romaines that denied the Gothes of their prouysion whyche so longe tyme remayned frendes arose betwene them so cruell warres that it was the occasion of the losse and vtter vndoing both of Rome and of all Italye For truly ther is no enmetye doth so much hurte as that of frendes when they fawle out once at dyscorde The warre now being kindeled the Gothes were scatered throughe the Realme of Thrace and they left no forte but they battered they came to no villagyes nor cytyes but they sacked they toke no women but they forced they entred into no house but they robbed Finally the Gothes in short time shewed the poyson that they had agaynst the Romaynes And let no man maruel that the Gothes committed so many cruell and heynous factes sith we that are Chrystians do commyt dayly greater offences For among rebelles it is a common errour that that whyche they robbe in the warres they saye they are not bound to restore in peace The Emperour Valente was then in the cytie of Antioche and sith he had assembled there a great army had greate ayde out of Italy he determyned hymselfe in person to go into the campe of the Romaynes and to gyue thonset against the Gothes wherin he shewed himselfe more bold then wise For a Prince in battaile can doo no more then one man nor fighte more then one man and if he die he is the occasion of the death and destruction of them all When both the hostes of the Romaynes and the Gothes ioyned ther was betwene theym a cruell and mortall fight so that in the first brunt the Gothes shewed them selues so valiaunte that they put to flight the Romaines horsemen leauing their fotemen alone in great ieopardy the which in short space after were discomfited and slaine not one left aliue For the barbarous sware that that day the Gothes should al dye or els vtterly they would destroy the name of the Romaynes And in this first charg the Emperour Valente was mortally woūded who perceiuing he had his deaths wound that the battaile was lost he determined to fire and saue himselfe But when fortune beginneth to persecute anye man she leaueth hym not vntill she se him dead or beaten downe without recouer Therfore as this wicked Emperour thincking to saue himselfe came into a shepecotte the enemyes seyng him in the end set fier on the shepecote and burnt him alyue So in one day he lost his person his lyfe his honoure and his empire It is mete that princes and great lordes should lift vp their eyes to consyder well thys historie of Valente that they straye not from
as an innocent and that the Emperour Valent had iudged euill and like a tyraunt For the innocencie of the good is the great enemy of the euill At the same time when Theodosius demaūded baptisme according to the saying of Prosper in his cronicle he sayd vnto the bishop whiche should baptise him these wordes O byshop sainct Roger I doe coniure thee by the creatour whiche made vs and doe desire thee for the passion of Iesu Christe who redemed vs to geue me the water of baptisme for I haue made a vowe to become a Christian if god graunted me victory Wherefore I wyll accomplishe my vowe for those thinges whiche necessitie causeth vs to promyse our owne free wyll ought to accomplishe I am sory with all my heart that beynge a Christian I can liue no longer and sith it is so I offer my life for his sake and into his mercifull handes I commende my soule I leue a sonne of myne who is called Theodosius and if the fatherly loue begile me not I thinke he wyll be a vertuous and stoute young man and besides that he wil be wise and sithe by thy handes he hath bene baptised I require thee holy father that thou through thy wysedome wilt bring him vp in the true faith for if he be a good Christian I trust in god he will be a great man in the Empire This Theodosius was the father of the great Emperour Theodosius so that the father was a Christian and the sonne a Christian Not longe after the Emperour Valent had caused Theodosius which was father to the great Emperour Theodosius to be executed Valent by the commaundement of God was by the Gothes persecuted and in th end put to death and truly this was the iust iudgement of god For he of right should suffer death him selfe whiche vniustly procureth the death of others Rufinus in the seconde booke of his histories saith that after the tyraunt Thirmus was put to death by the captaine Theodosius and that the Emperour Valent had caused this Theodosius to be put to death and that the same Valent was slaine of the Gothes the Romains created a king in Afrike whose name was Hismarus called for a right Christian in that time which was from the buylding of Rome .377 There was in the citie of Carthage a holy byshop called Siluanus a man in humaine and deuine letters excellently well learned and sithe the kyng was so iuste and the byshop so holy both the faith encreased and also the affayres of the common weale prospered For commonly the warres beginne rather through the pride of the highest then through disobedience in the lowest Therefore this holy byshop and good Christian king being desirous in their tyme to geue good example to the subiectes and for the time to come to leaue good preceptes they celebrated in the citie of Bona a counsaile with all the byshoppes of Affryke in the whiche kyng Hismarus was in persone For in auncient coūselles the kynges were not onely there in persones but also al the lordes and hie estates of their Realmes Amongest many excellent thinges which Rufinus mentioneth that were ordayned in this place it semed good vnto me to remember here these few to the ende christian princes nowe present may see what deuout christians those kinges were in times paste ¶ A collection or Purport of the counsell of Hyponense THese were the thinges which in the sacred counsayle of Hyponense were ordeined where there was in persone the catholyke kyng Hismarus and the relygious byshoppe Siluanus and in that whiche was ordeined the kinge spake in some of theym and dooth counsaile in other some Because in suche semblable affayres it is both mete and requisite that the royall preheminens be reuerenced and the auctoritie of the Churche not diminished We ordeine that from two yeares to two yeares all the Byshoppes Abbottes and prelates of our Realme doe assemble and celebrate a prouintial counsaile and that in this counsayle there be no temporall matters spoken of but of the disorders and misgouernaunce of Churches for the Churche is not lost for the lacke of scarsitie of money but for the to great aboundance of riches We ordeine and all prelates which are now and shal be here after we desire that when they will cal any counsaile in our Realmes that before the celebracion of the same they certifye vs leste that vnder the couler or cloke of a holy counsaile there shoulde some suspicious assembly be had We ordaine that from henceforth the Princes and great Lordes be bounde to repaire to the sacred counsaile wyth all the company of the holy Bishoppes For it were more mete they should come to destroye false heretikes in winning their soules then to fyght agaynst their enemyes in losinge their lyues We ordeine that the Prince whyche commeth not to the counsailes through negligence that vnto hym the Sacrament of the body of Christe be not ministred vntyll the next counsell be celebrated And if perchaunce he refuse not to come throughe negligence but throughe malyce we will that thenne they proceade against him as a suspect parson in the faith of Christe For the Christian Prince that of malyce onely committeth an offence is not parfitte in the holy catholyke fayth We ordaine that at the firste assemblie of the counsaile all the prelates togethers openlye and afterwardes eche one by hym selfe priuatelye shall saye the crede singynge the whyche thinge finished the Kynge hym selfe alone shall saye the crede lykewise For if the prince be suspected of the holy catholyke fayth it is vnpossible that hys people should be good Christians We ordaine that in thys counsaile the prelates haue lybertye and aucthoritie to saye vnto the kyng that that is comelye and decente and the kynge likewise to saye in the counsayle what hee thinke best soo that the prelates might tell the king without feare of hys lytell care he hath in destroyenge the heretikes and heresies of his realme and likewise the king might tell the prelates their neglygence that they vse in the charge of their flocke For the end and intencion of counsayles oughte not to be any otherwise then a scourge for offences paste and a reformacion of the euils to come We ordaine that all the princes of Affricke immediatly before they do any other thinge in the morning do openly and dilygently come to morning prayer and we wil also that ther be present al his courtiers and priuate counsellours which with them ought to enter into counsaile For that creature can not giue any good counsaile who hath not reconsiled himselfe vnto god before We ordaine that the Archbishoppes Bishoppes and Abbottes continually duringe the time of the counsaile do euery daye confesse them selues to almighty god seruing him deuoutly and that one of them do preach to the people gods word For if euery prelate be bound to giue good example alone then being altogether they shal giue it much better We ordaine the princes asmuch as lyeth in
whan they had no ambition nor couetousnes they knewe not what battaile mente It is reason therfore that in this wrytinge we declare the cause why the first battaile was fought in the worlde to the ende princes may therof be aduertised and the curious reader remaine therin satisfyed The maner was thus that Bassa being king of Sodome Bersa kyng of Gomorrhe Senaab kyng of Adamee Semebar king of Seboime and Vale king of Segor were al fyue tributaries to Chodor laomor kynge of the Aelamites which fyue kynges conspired agaynst hym because they woulde paye hym no tribute and because they woulde acknowledge no homage vnto hym For the Realmes payeng tribute haue alwayes rebelled and sowed sedicions This rebellion was in the 13 yere of the reigne of Chodor Laonâ—or king of the Aelamytes and immediatly the yere following Anraphel king of Sernaar Arioch kinge of Ponte and Aradal kinge of the Allotali ioyned with Chodor-Laomor The which altogether beganne to make warres to destroy cities countreys vppon their enemyes For the olde malice of the warre is that where they cannot haue their enemyes whiche are in the faulte they put to sacke and distroy those which are innocent and giltlesse So the one assaulting and the other defending in the end all come to the field they gaue battayle as two enemyes and the greatest part was ouercome of the fewest and the fewest remained victorious ouer the greatest which thing GOD would suffer in the first battaile of the world to the end princes might take example that all the mishappes of the warres come not but because they are begon of an vniust occasion If Chodor Laomor had held himselfe contented as hys predecessours dyd and that he had not conquered Realmes in makinge theym subiect and had not caused theym to paye trybute neither they vnto him woulde haue denied reason nor he with theym woulde haue waged battaile For throughe the couetousnes of the one and the ambition of the other enmyties grewe betwene the people This considered whiche we haue spoken of sygnorye and of those which came into contentions for signoryes Let vs now se from whence the first oryginal of seruitude came and the names of seruauntes and lordes whiche were in the olde tyme and whether seruitude was by the discord of vertuous men firste brought into the world or els inuented by the ambytion of Tyrauntes 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 maner The patriarche Noah had 3. sonnes which wer Shem Ham and Iaphet and the second sonne which was Ham begotte Cush and this Cush begot Nimrod Nimrod made him selfe a honter of wild beastes in the woodes and mountaines he was the first that began to play the tyraunt amongeste men inforcynge theyr personnes and taking theyr goodes and the scriptures called him Oppressor hominum which is to say an oppressor of men For men of euyl life alwayes coÌ„mit much euill in a common wealth He taught the Chaldeans to honour the fyre he was the first that presumed to be an absolute lorde and the firste that euer requyred of men homage and seruice This cursed tyraunte ended his lyfe in the golden world wherin al thinges were in common with the common wealth For the auncientes vsed their goodes in common but their willes onelye they reserued to them selues They ought not to thinke it a lighte matter for his person to haue bene a Tiraunt but they ought to thinke it a greater mater to haue bene a rebell in a common wealthe And muche more they oughte to take and esteame it as an euill matter in hym whyche hathe bene as he was a disturber of the good customes of hys countrye but the moste vniuste of all is to leaue behynd hym anye euyll custome brought into the common wealthe For if hee deserue greate infamye whyche woorketh euyll in hys lyfe trulye hee deserueth muche moore whych trauayleth to bryng that euyl in vre after hys death Eusebius semeth to affirme that after this Nimrod had destroyed the realme of Chaldea by his plagues he came to dwel in Italy with viii sonnes built the citie of Camesa which afterwards in Saturnes time was called Valentia in the time of Romulus it was called as it is at this present Rome And sithe this thinge was thus a man ought not to maruaile that Rome in auncient time was possessed with tyraunts and with tirauntes beaten downe since by so famous renowmed tyraunts it was founded For euen as Hierusalem was the doughter of the pacient the mansion of the quyet kinges in Asia so was Rome the mother of proude princes in Europe The histories of the gentiles which knew not the holy scripture declare in an other sort the beginninge of Signorye and seruitude when they came into the worlde for the Idolatrers not onlye did not know the creatoure of the world but also they were ignoraunte of many things which beganne in the world They therefore say that the Tyranne Nimrod amongest the others had a sonne called Belus that this Belus was the first the raigned in the land of Syria that he was the first that inuented warres on the earth that he set vp the first monarchie among the Assirians in the end he died after he had reigned 60 and 5. yeres in Asia left the world in great warres The first monarchie of the worlde was that of the Assirians continued 132. yeres The first king was Belus the last king was Sardanapalus whom at that tyme when he was slaine they found spinninge with women hauing a distaffe in his hand wherwith they vse to spinne truly this vile death was to good for such a cowardly king For the prince ought not to defend that with the distafe that his predecessours had wonne with the sworde As we haue said Nimrod begat Belus who had to wife Semyramis which was the mother of Ninus which Ninus succeded his father in tyranny in the empire also and both the mother the sonne not coÌ„tented to be Tyraunts inuented statues of newe gods For mans malice poursueth rather the euil which the wicked do inuent then the good which vertuous men begine We would haue shewed you how the graundfather the father the mother the sonne were Idolatrers warlicke to the end princes and great Lords might se that they beganne their Empyres more for that they were ambitious parsonnes then for that they were good paciente or vertuous men Albeit that Nimerod was the first that euer committed anye tyranny whether it be true or not that Belus was the firste that inuented warres and that Chodorlaormor was the first that inuented battayles and that ther be others wherof the writinges make no mencion euery man taking for himselfe afterwards all togethers those were occasions of euyll enough in the world to agre vnto those things Our inclinacion is greatly
to be blamed for those which haue credit for their euil are many and those whych haue power to do well are very fewe ¶ Of the golden age in times past and worldly miserie which we haue at this present Cap. xxxi IN the first age golden world al liued in peace ech man toke care for his owne lands euery one planted sowed their trees corne eueryone gathered his frutes and cut his vynes kned their breade and brought vp their children and finally all liued by their owne proper swette trauaile so that they all liued without the preiudice or hurt of any other O worldly malice O cursed wicked world that thou neuer sufferest things to remaine in one estate and thought I cal the cursed maruaile not therat for when we are in most prosperitie then thou with death persecutest vs most cruelly Without teares I say not that I wil say that 2000 yeres of the world wer past before we knew what the world ment god suffering it and worldly malice inuenting it ploughes were turned into weapons oxen to horses goades to lances whippes to arrowes slinges to crosbowes simplycitye into malice trauaile into Idlenes rest to paine peace to warre loue to hatred charitie to crueltie Iustice to tyranny profite to domage almes to theft aboue al fayth into Idolatrie And finallye the swete they had to profite in their owne goods they tourned to bloud sheading to the domage of the comon wealth And herein the world sheweth it selfe to be a world herein worldly malice sheweth it selfe to be malicious in somuch as the one reioyceth the other lamenteth the one reioceth to stomble to the end the other may fall breake his necke the one reioyceth to be poore to the end the other maye not be riche the one reioyseth to be dispraised to the end the other may not be honored the one delighteth to be sad to the ende the other shoulde not be merye to conclude we are so wicked that we banishe the good from our owne house to the end that the euill might enter in at the gates of an other man When the creator created the whole world he gaue to eche thinge immediatly his place that is to wete he placed intelligence in the vppermoste heauen he placed the starres in the firmament the planettes in the orbes the byrdes in the ayre the earth on the center the fyshes in the water the serpentes in the holes the beastes in the mountaines and to al in generallye he gaue place to reste them selues in Now let princes and great Lordes be vaine glorious sayenge that they are Lords of the earth for truly of all that is created god only is the true Lord therof because the miserable man for his part hath but the vse of the fruit for if we thinke it reasonable that we should enioy the profite of that which is created then were it more conuenient we should acknowledge god to be the Lord therof I do not deny but confesse the God created al things to the end they should serue man vpoÌ„ condicion that maÌ„ shold serue God likewise but wheÌ„ the creature riseth against god immediatly the creator resisteth against man For it is but reason that he be disobeyd who one only coÌ„maundemeÌ„t wil not obey O what euil fortune hath the creature only for disobeying the comaundement of his creator For if man had kept his coÌ„maundement in Paradise god had conserued to the world the signorie but the creatures whome he created for his seruice are occasion to him of great troubles for the ingratitude of benefit heapeth great sorow to the discret hart It is great pitie to behold the man that was in paradise that might haue bene in heauen now to se him in the world aboue al to be interred in the intrailes of the earth For in terrestiall paradise he was innocent in heauen he had bene blessed but nowe he is in the worlde enuirouned with cares and afterwardes he shal be throwen into hys graue and gnawen of the wormes Let vs nowe see the disobedience wee hadde in the commaundemente of GOD and what fruite we haue gathered in the world For he is very simple that dare commit any vice taking no delight nor pleasure therof in his body In my opinion through the sinnes whiche our forefathers committed in paradise the seruitude remaineth in vs their children which are on the earth For so much as if I entre into the water I drowne if I touche the fire I burne if I cone neare a dog he biteth me if I threaten a horse he casteth me if I resiste the wynde it bloweth me downe if I persecute the serpent he poysoneth me if I smite the beare he destroieth me and to be brief I saie that the man that without pitie eateth men in his life the wormes shal eate his intrailes in the graue after his death O princes great lordes lode your selues with cloth of gold heape vp your great treasours assemble many armies inuente Iustes Torneis seke your pastimes reueÌ„ge your selues of your enemies serue your selues with your subiectes marrye your children to mighty kinges set them in great estate cause your selues to be feared of your enemies imploye your bodies to al pleasures leue great possessions to your heires rayse sumptuous buildinges to leaue memory of your persons I sweare by him that shal iudge me 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 vanishe away and they shal leaue you for a gage to the hungry wormes of the earth O if princes did consider though they haue bene borne princes created norished in great estates that the day thei are borne death immediatly commeth to seke the end of their life and taketh them here and there when they are whole when they are sicke now tombling then rising he neuer leaueth them one houre vntill their woful burial Therfore sith it is true as in dede it is that that whiche princes possesse in this life is but small that which they hope in the other is so great truly I marueile why princes the which shal lie so straight in the graue dare liue in such so great largenes in their life To be riche to be lordes to haue great estates men should not therof at al be proude since they see how fraile mans condicion is for in th end life is but lone but death is enheritage Death is a patrimonie heritage which successiuely is inherited but life is a righte which daily is surrendred For death counteth vs somuche his owne that oftimes vnwaâ—es he coÌ„meth to assault vs life taketh vs such straungers that oftetimes we not doubting therof it vanisheth away If this thing theÌ„ be true why wil princes great lordes presume to coÌ„maunde in a straunge house which is this life as in their own house which is the
euer succeded so prosperouslye but that they had rather lyue in peace then in warre When the Romaine Emperours wente to the warres or came from the warres first they vysited the Temple of Iupiter secondarilye the Temple of the vestall virgins and thirdely they vysited the Temple of the God Ianus bycause there was a law in Rome that the Emperour should at his going forth to the warres vysite the Temple of Iupiter last of al and at his retourne againe the Temple of Ianus first And let them that be desierous of antiquities here know that when the Emperour should go to the warres in the Temple of the goddesse Vesta they put vpon his shoulders the royall mantell and in the Temple of Iupiter al the senators kissed his foote and in the Temple of Ianus the Consuls kissed his arme For since the time that the cruell Sylla caused thre thousand neighbours to dye which kissed his right hand they neuer after kissed the handes of any Emperour in Rome Therfore sith the gentyles woulde not issue out of Rome before that first they had taken the benediction of those vaine Gods how muche more ought Christian Princes to do it which know well that their Temples are consecrated to the true God and ordayned for his seruice only For the man that forgetteth God and commytteth his affaires to men shal see how his busines wil thriue in the handes of men Therefore procedinge forth the day wherin the feast of the god Ianus was celebrated euery man left his worke reioysed through al the streates of Rome no more then lesse then in the feastes of Iupiter Mars Venus and Berecinthia For the feastes of the other goddes sith they were many in nomber were not celebrated but in certaine places in Rome The Romaynes on that day put on their beste apparell for they had a custome in Rome that he whych had not that daye chaunge of apparell to honoure the feaste should eyther go out of Rome or els kepe themselues locked in his house That daye they set on their houses many lyghtes and made greate bondfiers before their dores and had sondry and many playes and pastimes for the feastes of vaine men are more to delight their bodies then to reforme their minds They watched al the night in the Temples and also they deliuered all the prisoners which were inprisoned for dette and with the common treasures paied their dettes Furthermore they had a custome in Rome that they shoulde susteine all the Senatours whiche were fallen into pouertie with the goodes of the common wealthe They had that daye tables set before their dores furnished with all sortes of meates so that that whiche remayned and was left was more worth then that which was eaten For vaine glorious men auaunt theym selues more of that which in bankettes and feastes is left then they do of that whyche is eaten They sought all that day for poore men bycause they shoulde be prouyded of all things For it was an auncient lawe that none should be so hardy to make any open feast excepte first he had prouided for all them of his streate The Romaynes thought that if they spend lyberallye that day the god Ianus would deliuer them from pouertye because he was the God of the temperall goodes And they sayde further that the GOD Ianus was a God very thankeful acknowledged the seruyces whych were donne vnto hym and beleued earnestlye that if they spente frelye for hys sake he woulde requyte it doble In the feaste of this God Ianus manye processions were made not all togethers but the Senate wente by theym selues the Censours by them selues the people by them selues the Matrones by theym selues the maydens by them selues the vestal virgins by them selues al the straunge Imbassadours went wyth the captiues in procession There was a custome in Rome that the same day the Emperour should were the imperyal robe al the captiues which could touche him with their hands were delyuered and all the transgressours pardoned the exules and outlawryes were called againe For the Romayne princes were neuer presente in any feast but they shewed some noble example of mercy or gentlenes towardes the people At this time Marcus Aurelius was Emperoure of Rome and maried with the beautiful lady Faustina who in the feast of Ianus leuing in procession the company of the Senatours came into the procession of the captiues the which easelye touched his robe wherby they obtained lybertie the which they so greatly desired I say desired for truly the captiue is contented with a small thinge And because ther is no good thing by anye good man done but immediatlye by the wycked it is repined at this deede was so contrary to the euyl as ioyfull to the good For there is nothing be it neuer so good nor so wel done but forthwith it shal be contraried of them that be euyl Of this thing I haue sene by experience in this miserable life sondry examples that euen as amonge the good one only is noted to be chiefe so lykewise amonge the euyll one is noted principall aboue the rest And the worst I find herein is that the vertuous do not so much glory of their vertue as the euil and malicious hath shame and dishonour of their vyce for vertue naturally makleth a man to be temperate and quyet but vice maketh him to be dissolute and rechlesse This is spoken because in the Senate of Rome there was a Senatour called Fuluius whose berd heere 's wer very white but in malyce he was most cankered blacke so that for his yeres he was honoured in Rome of many for his malyce he was hated of al. The Senatour Fuluius made frendes in the time of Adrian to succede in the empire and for this cause he had alwayes Marcus Aurelius for his competytour and whersoeuer he came he alwayes spake euyll of him as of his mortall enemye For the enuyous hart can neuer geue a man one good word This Senatours hart was so puffed with enuye that he seing Marcus Aurelius to obtaine the empire being so yong that he being so old could not attaine therunto ther was no good that euer Marcus Aurelius did in the common wealth openly but it was grudged at by Fuluius who soughte alwayes to deface the same secretlye It is the nature of those whiche haue their hartes enfected with malyce to spitte out their poyson with woordes of spite Oft times I haue mused which of these 2. are greater the dewtye the good haue to speake against the euyl or els the audacitie the euyl haue to speake against the good For in the world ther is no brute beast soo hardye as the euill man is that hath lost his fame O would to God the good to his desyre had asmuch power to do good workes as the euyl hath strength to his affection to exercise wicked dedes For the vertuous man findeth not one hand to helpe him in vertue to worke yet after he
wel of the father whiche is dead as of the children whyche are alyue is that Theodose was vertuous in deede and the children are capable to follow both good and euill and therfore it is requisite that you nowe goe aboute it For the prince whyche is yonge is in greate perill when in hys youth he begynneth not to folowe the steppes of vertue To speake particulerly of Archadius and Honorius I let the know Estilconus that it is a thyng superfluous to talke of it for I should loase my tyme because the thynges of Prynces are very delicate and though we haue lycence to prayse theyr vertues yet we are bounde to dissemble their faultes As a sage father Theodose desire that to giue his childreÌ„ good doctrine always to accoÌ„pany them But I as a frend do counsaile the that thou kepe them froÌ„ euil For in the end al is euil to accompany with the euil forsake the good but the worse euill pursueth vs rather by the presence of the euill than by the absence of the good It may wel be that one beyng alone without the company of the good may yet notwithstandyng be good but for one that is accompanied with euil men to be good of this I greatly doubte For the same day that a man accompanieth him selfe with the vicious the selfe same day he is bound to be subiecte to vice O Estilconus since thou so much desirest to accomplishe the commaundement of thy lord and maister Theodose if thou canst not cause that Archadius and Honorius which are yong princes doe accompany with the good yet at the least withdraw them from the company of the euil For in the courtes of princes vicious men are none other but solicitours in this world to attempte others to be vitious How many what solicitours haue we seene thou and I in Rome the which forgetting the affayres of their Lordes did solicite for them selues vices and pleasurs I will not tell what seruauntes of princes haue bene in times past but what they were what they are euery man may easely see I will tell the only not of those whiche ought to be counsellours of princes but also of those whyche ought not to liue in their courtes For the counsellers and officers of princes ought to be so iust that sheares can not finde what to cut away in their lyues nor that ther neadeth any nedle or thred to amend their fame If thou Estilconus haste hard what I haue sayd marke now what I wyll saye and keape it in memory for peraduenture it may profite the one daye In the courtes of princes proude men ought to haue no familiarity nor enterteinement For it is vnsemely that those which are not gentle in wordes shuld commaund those that haue not their hartes ready to obey should be familier with the prince In the courtes of princes ther ought not to be of counsaile much lesse familiar enuious men for if enuie reigne amongeste Princes and counsailours there shall alwayes be discentions in the coÌ„mon wealth In the courts of princes hasty men ought not to haue familiaritie for oftentimes it chaunceth that the impacieÌ„ce of the counsellers causeth the people to be euill content with their princes In the courtes of princes ther ought not to be familiar nor of counsaile gready nor couetous men for the Princes giue great occasion to the people to be hated because their seruauntes haue alwayes their handes open to receyue bribes In the courtes of princes ther ought not to be familiar fleshelye men for the vice of the fleshe hath in it so litle profite that he that is wholie ouercome ther with is or ought to be to the prince alway suspected In the palace of a king ther ought not to be drunkerdes nor gluttons for wheras the familiers ought principaly to serue their princes with good couÌ„saile in mine opinion a maÌ„ being full surcharged with exces is more like to bealche breake wind after his surfette then able to gyue any profitable counsaile in the common wealth In the palace of princes ought not to be resient nor familiar blasphemers for the man whiche is a seruaunt and openlye dare blaspeme his creator will not spare in secret to speake euyll of hys Lorde In the palace of princes ought not to be of counsail nor familiar the negligent and delicat persons For ther is nothing next vnto the deuine prouidence that healpeth princes more to be puissaunt and mightie then when their seruauÌ„tes are faythful and diligent In the palace of princes defamed men ought not to haue familiaritie for the prince can not excuse him selfe to be thought culpable when they doe rebuke him if in his house he mainteyne seruauntes which openly are defamed In the palace of princes they ought not to suffer Ideotes fooles for the reâ—ames are not loast for that the princes are yong vncircumspect and vitious but for that their counsaylours are simple and malitious Wo wo be to the land where the lord is vitious the subiect sedicious the seruaunte couetous and the counsailour simple and malicious For thaÌ„ the common wealth perisheth when ignoraunce malice reigneth in the Prince and gouernour of the same These wordes passed betwene the noble knight Estilconus and the wise Philosopher Epimundus vpon the bringing vp of those .2 princes Archadius and Honorius And because that princes and prelates might see whiche now haue the charge to gouerne people how muche the auncientes dyd desire to haue sage men aboute them notwithstandynge that I haue spoken I will shewe you here some notable and auncient examples Howe Cresus king of Lydia was a great frende and louer of Sages Of a letter the same Cresus wrote to the Philosopher Anacharsis And of an other letter of the Philosophers answer agayne to the Kyng Chap. xlv IN the yeare of the creation of the worlde 4355. and in the thirde age Sardanapalus being kinge of the Assirians Ozias king of the Hebrues and Elchias being hygh byshop of the holy temple at that time when Rea the mother of Romulus lyued in the second yeare of the first Olimpiade the great and renowmed realme of Lydes had beginning as Plinie in the fyfte booke of the natural history saieth Lidia is in Asia Minor and first was called Meonia and afterwardes was called Lidia and now is called Morea This Realme of Lydes had many worthy cities that is to wete Ephese Colose Aclasomena and Phoreâ— The first kinge of Lydes was Ardisius a man of great courage and a Greeke borne and reygned .36 yeare The second was Aliaces who reygned 14. yers The third was Meleus and he reygned .12 yeares The fourth was Candale and reigned .4 yeares The fifte was Ginginus and reygned .5 yeares The syxte was Cerdus and reygned .6 yeares The .vii. was Sadiates and reygned .15 yeares The .viij. was Aliates he reygned .49 yeares and the .ix. was Cresus and reigned .15 yeares of this kyng Cresus Xenophon
For there was asmuch enuy betwene the Philosophers of Greece and the sages of Egipt as betwene the captaines of Rome and the captaines of Carthage This Ptolome was very wise and did desire greatly to be accompained with philosophers and after this he learned the letters of the Latynes Caldes and Hebrues For the which cause though the kinges named Ptolomei were .11 in nombre and all warrelyke men yet they put this for the chiefe and captaine of all not for the battayles which he wanne but for the sentences which he learned This king Ptolomeus had for his famyliar a philosopher called Estilpho Megarense who was so entierlye beloued of this prince that laying aside the gentlenes and benifites which he shewed him he dyd not only eate with the king at his table but oftentimes the king made him drincke of his owne cuppe And as the fauours which princes shew to their seruauntes are but as a watche to proue the malycious it chaunsed that when this king gaue the phylosopher to drincke that whyche remayned in his cuppe an Egiptian knight moued with enuye sayd vnto king Ptolome I thinke Lord how that thou art neuer satisfyed with drinking to leaue that whiche remayneth in the cuppe for the philosopher to drinke after the. To whom the king aunswered Thou sayst wel that the phylosopher Estilpho is neuer fylled with that which I do giue him For that which remayneth in my cuppe doth not profite him so much to drinke as the phylosophye which remayneth in hym should profite the if thou wouldest take it The king Antigonus was one of the moste renowmed seruauntes that kinge Alexander the great euer had who after his death enherited a great part of his empire For how much happie the king Alexander was in his lyfe so much he was vnhappie at the tyme of his death because he had no children whych might enherite his goodes and that he had such seruauntes as spoyled him of his renowme This king Antigonus was an vnthrift and excessiue in all vyces But for all that he loued greatly the Phylosophers which thing remayned vnto him from kinge Alexander whose palace was a scoole of all the good Phylosophers of the world Of this ensample they may se what great profite ensueth of bringing vp of them that be yonge for there is none that euer was so wicked or enclyned vnto euyl but that in longe contynuannce may profyte somewhat in his youth This kyng Antigonus loued ii philosophers greatly the which florished in that tyme that is to wete Amenedius Abio of which ii Abio was wel learned very poore For in that time no phylosopher durst openly read phylosophy if he were worth any thing in temporall goodes As Laertius sayth and as Pulio declareth it better in the booke of the rulers and noble men of the Greekes The scholes of the vniuersytie were so correct that the Phylosopher whych knew most had least goodes so that they did not glorifie of any thing els but to haue pouertye and to know much of philosophy The case was such that the philosopher Abio was sicke and with that sicknes he was so vexed that they might almost see the bones of his weake body The king Antigonus sēt to visite him by his owne sonne by whom he sent hym much money to he helpe him wyth all For he lyued in extreame pouerty as it behoued the professours of Philosophy Abio was sore sicke being aged and croked and though he had made himselfe so leaue with sicknes yet notwithstanding he burned always vpon the weeke of good life I meane that he had no lesse courage to dispise those giftes then the kinge Antigonus had nobles to send them This Philosopher not contented to haue despised these giftes in such sort said vnto the sonne of Antigonus who brought theym Tell king Antigonus that I giue him great thankes for the good enterteinment he gaue me always in my life and for the giftes he sendeth me now at my death For one frende can doo no more to an other thanne to offer him hys parsonne and to departe withe his proper goodes And tell the kynge thy father that I maruayle what he shoulde meane that I nowe beinge foure score yeres of age haue walked al my lyfe time naked in this world should now be laden with vestures money since I must passe so streight a goulfe in the sea to goe out of this world The Egiptians haue a custome to lighten the burden of their camels when they passe the desertes of Arabia which is much better then to ouercharge them I meane that he only passeth without trauayle the daungers of the lyfe which bannisheth from him the thought of temperal goods of this world Thirdly thou shalt say to the king thy father that from henceforth when any man will dye he do not succour nor healpe him with money gold nor riches but with good and ripe counsayle For gold wil make him leaue his lyfe with sorow and good counsail-will moue him to take his death with pacience The fift king of the Macedonians was called Archelaus who they say to be the grandfather of kinge Philip father of the great Alexander This kinge bosteth himselfe to descend from Menelaus king of the Grecians and principall captaine which was at the distruction of Troy This kyng Archelaus was a great frend to the sages and amongest others there was a Poete with him called Euripides who at that tyme had no lesse glory in his kind of Poetrie then Archelaus in his kingdome being kyng of Macedonia For now a days we esteme more the sages for the bookes which they wrote then we do exalt kynges for the realmes which they ruled or the battayles whych they ouercome The familiarity whych Euripides had wyth the kyng Archelaus was so streight and his credite wyth Archelaus was so great that in the Realme of Macedonie nothyng was done but first it was examined by the hands of this phylosopher And as the simple and ignoraunt would not naturally be subiecte to the sage it chaunsed that one nyght Euripides was talkyng a long time wyth the kyng declaring vnto hym the auncient hystoryes and when the poore Poete would depart to go home to his house hys enemyes espyed him and let hungrye dogges fly vpon hym the whych dyd not only teare hym in peces but eate hym euery morsell So that the intraylles of the dogges were the wofull graue of the myserable poete The king Archilaus being certifyed of this woful case immedyatly as sone as they told hym was so chafed that almost he was bereft of hys sences And here at merueile not at al. For gentle hartes do alter greatly when they are aduertysed of any sodayne myshappe As the loue whych the kyng had to Euripides in hys lyfe was much so lykewyse the sorow whych he felte at hys death was very great For he shed many teares from hys eyes he cut the heares of hys head he rounded his beard he chaunged the
conseruacion of their kinde In this case men deserue no lesse reproche then beastes merite prayse for after that the females by generacion are bigge they neuer agre that the males should accompany with theym Accordinge to the diuersitye of nacions so amonge themselues they differ the one from the other in lawes languages ceremonyes and customes but in the ende all agre in one thinge for that they inforce themselues to celebrate mariage As the scriptures teacheth vs Since the worlde was created there hath nothyng bene more auncient then the sacrament of mariage for that daye that man was formed the selfe same day he celebrated mariage with a woman in the terestrial paradise The auncient historiographers aswell Grekes as latins wrote many great thinges in the prayse of mariage but they could not say nor write so much as continuall experience doth shew vs. Therfore leauing the superfluous and taking the most necessary we saye that fyue commodyties folow the sage man who hath taken the yoke of matrimonye The first is the memory whych remayneth to the children as successours and heires of their fathers For as the phylosopher Pithagoras sayth when a father passeth out of this present lyfe and leaueth behind him a child being hys heire they cannot say vnto him that he dieth but that he waxeth yonge in his chyld since the chyld dooth inherite the fleshe the goodes and the memorye of the father Amonge the auncientes it was a common prouerbe that the taste of all tastes is bread the sauor of sauours is salte and the greatest loue of al loues is from the fathers to the children And though perchaunce we see the fathers shew some rigor to their children we ought not therfore to say that they hate them and dispise them for the tender loue of the father to the sonne is such that he cannot endure him to do any thing amysse or worthye of rebuke Not only men of reason and brute beastes but also the hedge and gardeine trees to their possibylitye procure to continewe their kind and it is plainly sene in that before the fruites and herbes were formed to be eaten the seades and kirnelles were made to be kept Men naturally desire honour in their lyfe and memory after their death Therfore I say that they come to honour by highe and noble and heroical facâ—es but the memorye is left by the good and legittimate children for the chyldren which are borne in adultery are begotten in sinne and with great care are nourished The second benefite of mariage is that they avoide adultery and it is no smal matter to auoide this vyce For the adulterers are not only taken in the christian relygion for offendours but also amongest the gentyles they are counted infamous The sage Solon in the lawes that he gaue to the Athenians comaunded vpon straighte preceptes that they should mary to auoide adulterye vpon paine that the chyld that should be borne in adulterye should be made the comon slaue of the city The Romaynes as men foreseinge all things ordeyned in the tables of their lawes that the children which were borne in adulterie should not be heires of the goodes of their fathers When the oratoure Eschines was bannished out of Athens as he came by the Rhodes he toke no such paines in any one thing as he did in perswadyng the Rhodians to mary and not to liue in adultery for amonge those barbarous matrimonye was not common but only amonge them which were officers of the common wealth Cicero in a famylyer epystell sayth that the great Romayne Marcus Porcio being gouernour in the common wealth neuer agred that an vncle of his shold be maister of the Romaine cheualry vnlesse he were maried which office was promysed him by the senate His name was Rufus a stout and valyaunt man in warre this notwithstandyng Marcus Porcio sayde that that praise which Rufus deserued for being valyaunt and hardy he lost againe for lyuing in adultery And that he would neuer graunt his voyce nor be in place where they commytted any charge in the warres to a man that had not a lawfull wife I say therfore that if the gentyles and infidels estemed mariage so much dyspised the dedes of that adulterers so greatly much more Christians should be in this case ware circumspect For the gentiles feared nothing but only infamy but the christiaÌ„s ought to feare both infamy also paine Since that of necessity mans sede must increase and that we se men suffer theym selues to be ouercome wyth the fleshe it weare muche better they should maintaine a househoulde and lyue vprightly wyth a wife then to wast their goodes and burden their conscyence with a concubyne For it is oft tymes seene that that whiche a gentleman consumeth abrode vppon an harlotte wythe shame woulde keape his wyfe and chyldren at home with honesty The third commodytie of mariage is the laudable and louing company the which is or ought to be betwene them that are maryed The auncient Philosophers defining what man was sayde that he was a creature the whych by nature was sociable communycable and risyble wherof it foloweth that the man being solitarye and close in his condicions can not be in his stomacke but enuyous We that are men loue the good inclinacion and do also commend the same in beastes for all that the sedicious man and the restye horse eate we thinke it euyl spent A sad man a sole man a man shut in and solytary what profite can he do to the people for if euery man should be locked vp in his house the common wealth should forthwith perish My intencion is to speake against the vacabondes which without taking vpon them any craft or facultie passe the age of forty or fifty yeares and woulde not nor wil not marie yet because they woulde be vicious all the dayes of their lyfe It is a great shame and conscyence to many men that neuer determine with them selues to take vpon them any estate neyther to be maryed chast secular or ecclesiastiall but as the corke vppon the water they swyme whether their sensualytie leadeth them One of the most lawdable holy compagnyes which is in this lyfe is the compagny of the man the woman inespeciallye if the woman be vertuous for the noble and vertuous wife withdraweth al the sorowes from the hart of her husband and accomplisheth his desires wherby he lyueth at rest When the wyfe is vertuous the husband wise we ought to beleue that betwene them two is the true loue for the one not being suspect with the other and hauing children in the myddest it is vnpossible but that they should lyue in concord For al that I haue red and sene I would say that if the man and the wife do lyue quyetly together a man may not only cal them good maried folkes but also holy personnes for to speake the truth the yoke of matrimony is so great that it cannot be accomplished without much
merite The contrary ought and may be saied of those whych are euill maried whom we wil not cal a compaigny of sayntes but rather a house of deuylles For the wife that hath an euil husbande may say she hath a deuyl in her house and the husband that hath an euil wife let him make accompt that he hath hel it selfe in his house For the euyl wyues are worse then the infernal furyes Because in hel ther are none tormented but the euil only but the euil woman tormeÌ„teth both the good and the euyl Concluding therfore this matter I say also and affirme that betwixt the busband and the wife which are wel maryed is the true and very loue and they only and no others may be called perfite and perpetuall frendes The other parentes and frendes if they do loue and praise vs in our presence they hate vs and dispise vs in our absence Yf they giue vs faire wordes they beare vs euill hartes finally they loue vs in our prosperitye and forsake vs in our aduersity but it is not so amongest the noble and vertuous maried personnes For they loue both within and without the house in prosperity and in aduersitie in pouertie and in riches in absence and in presence seing them selues mery and perceiuing them selues sad and if they do it not trulye they ought to doo it for when the husband is troubled in his foote the wyfe ought to be greued at her hart The fourth commodity of mariage is that the men and women maryed haue more aucthority and grauity then the others The lawes whych were made in old time in the fauour of mariage were many and diuerse For Chapharoneus in the lawes that he gaue to the Egiptians commaunded and ordeyned vpon greuous paynes that the man that was not maried should not haue any office of gouernment in the common wealth And he sayd furder that he that hath not learned to gouerne his house can euil gouerne a commoÌ„ wealth Accordyng to the lawes that he gaue to the Athenians he perswaded al those of the comon wealth to marie themselues voluntarily but to the heddes and captaines which gouerne the affaires of warre he commaunded to marye of necessity sayeng that to men which are lecherous God seldome giueth victories Licurgus the renowmed gouernour and geuer of the lawes of the Lacedemonians commaunded that al captaines of the armyes and the priestes of the Temples should be maried sayeng that the sacrifyces of maried men were more acceptable to the gods then those of any other As Plynie sayth in an epistle that he sent to Falconius his frende rebuking him for that he was not maried where he declareth that the Romaynes in old time had a law that the dictatoure and the Pretor the Censour and the Questor and al the knightes should of necessity be maried for the man that hath not a wife and children legittymate in his house cannot haue nor hold greate aucthority in the common wealth Plutarche in the booke that he made of the prayse of mariage sayth that the priestes of the Romaynes dyd not agre to them that were vnmaried to come and sytte downe in the Temples so that the yong maydens prayed without at the church dore and the yonge men prayed on their knees in the temple only the maried men were permitted to sitte or stande Plynie in an epistle that he wrote to Fabatus hys father in law sayth that the Emperour Augustus had a custome that he neuer suffered any yonge man in his presence to sitte nor permitted any man maried to tel his tale on foote Plutarche in the booke that he made in the prayse of women sayth that since the realme of Corinthe was peopled more with Bachelours then with maried men they ordeyned amongest theym that the man or woman that had not bene maried and also that had not kept chyldren and house if they lyued after a certaine age after their death shoulde not be buried ¶ The aucthoure folowing his purpose declareth that by meanes of maryage many mortal enemyes haue bene made good and parfite frendes Cap. iii. BY the sundry examples that we haue declared and by al that whych remayneth to declare a man may know wel enoughe of what excellency matrimony is not only for the charge of conscience but also for the thinges touching honour for to say the truth the men that in the common wealth are maried giue smal occasion to be sclaundered haue more cause to be honored We cannot denay but that matrimony is troublesome chargeable to them that be maried for two causes The one is in bringing vp their children and the other in suffering the importunityes of their mothers Yet in fiâ—e we caÌ„not deny but that the good vertuous wife is she that setteth a stay in the house and kepeth her husband in estimacion in the common wealth for in the publike affaires they giue more faith and credit vnto those that are charged with children then vnto others that are loden with yeres The fifth commodity that ensueth matrimony is the peace and reconciliacions that are made betwene the enemyes by meanes of mariage MeÌ„ in this age are so couetous so importune and malicious that there are very few but haue enemyes wherby groweth contencion and debate for by our weaknes we fall dayly into a thousande occasions of enimities and scarcely we can find one to bring vs againe into frendship CoÌ„sidering what men desire what thinges they procure and wherunto they aspire I meruaile not that they haue so few frendes but I much muse that they haue no moe enemyes For in thinges of weight they marke not who haue bene their frendes they consider not they are their neighbours neyther they regard that they are christians but their conscience layd a part and honesty set a side euery man seketh for himselfe and his owne affaires though it be to the preiudice of all his neighbours What frendship can ther be amongest proud men since the one wil go before and the other disdayneth to come behind What frendship can ther be amongest enuyous men â–ª since the one purchasseth and the other possesseth what loue can there be betwene two couetous men since the one dare not spend and the other is neuer satisfyed to hourd and heape vp For al that we can reade se go and trauaile and for al that we may do we shall neuer se nor here tell of men that haue lacked enemyes for eyther they be vycious or vertuous Yf they be euil and vycious they are alwayes hated of the good and if they be good and vertuous they are continually persecuted of the euill Many of the auncient philosophers spent a great part of their time lost much of their goodes to serche for remedies and meanes to reconcile them that were at debate contencion to make them by gentlenes good frends and louers Some said that it was good and profitable to forget the enimities for a time for many things
as one but men do tourne from vice to vertue from vertue to vice The good Emperour Marcus Aurelius did deuid the time by time so that though he had time for him selfe he had time lykewise to dispatche his owne and others affaires for the man that is willing in a small time dispatcheth much busynes the man which is necligent in a longe tyme doth lytel This was the order that the Emperour Marcus Aurelius toke in spendyng his time He slepte .7 houres in the nighte and one hower reasted hym selfe in the day In dyning and suppynge he consumed onely .2 howers and it was not for that he toke great pleasure to be longe in eatinge but bycause the philosophers whyche disputed before his presence were occasion to prolonge the time For in .17 yeares they neauer saw hym at meate but one or other redde vnto him some booke or elles the philosophers reasoned before hym philophye As he hadde manye realmes and prouinces so he appointed one hower for the affaires of Asia for Affryke one hower and for Europe another hower and for the conuersacion of his wife children and family he appointed other .2 howers of time he had another hower for extraordinary affaires as to here the complaintes of the greued the quarrelles of the poore the complaintes of the widowes and the robberies done to the orphanes For the mercifull prince geueth no lesse eare vnto the poore which for want can doe lytell then to the riche which for aboundance can do much He occupyed all the residew of the day and night to rede bokes write workes to make meter and in studyng of other antiquities to practyse with the sage and to dyspute with the philosophers and fynally he toke no tast of any thing so muche as he dyd to talke of science Vnlesse the cruell warres dyd let hym or suche lyke affaires troubled him ordynarily in winter he went to bed at .9 of the clocke and awaked at .4 and bycause he would not be idle he had alway a boke vnder his beddes hed and the residue of the day he bestowed in readyng The romans had an auncient custome to beare fyer before them that is to wete a torche lyghte in the daye and a lampe burnyng in the night in their chambers so that wakyng they burned waxe and fleapyng they hourned oyle And the cause why the Romans ordeyned that the oyle should be made of olyue and the waxe made of bees which was vsed to be borne before the princes was to the end they should remember that they ought to be as gentell and louing as the oyle of Olyue is swete and as profytable to the common wealth as the Bees are He did rise at .6 of the clocke and made him selfe ready openlye and with a gentle countenaunce he asked them that were about hym wherin they had spente all the nyght and declared vnto them then what he had dreamed what he had thought and what he had red when he was readye he washed his face with odiferous waters and loued veray wel swete sauoures For he had so quycke a sent that he was much offended when he passed by any stincking place In the mornyng he vsed to eate .2 morsels of a lectuary made of Sticades and dranke .3 sponefulls of maluesey or els two droppes of Aqua Vite bycause he had a colde stomacke for that he gaue hym selfe so muche to studye in tymes past We se it by experience that the greate studentes are persecuted more with sycknes then any others for in the swetenes of the scyence they knowe not how their lyfe consumeth If it were in the sommer season he went in the mornyng to recreate him selfe to the ryuer of Tiber and walked there a fote for .2 howers and in this place they talked with hym that had busines and trulye it was a great policie for wher as the Prince doeth not syt the sewtour alwayes abridgeth his talke And when the day began to wax hot he went to the hight capitol where al the Senate taried for him from thence he went to the Coliseo wher the imbassadours of the prouinces wer there remained a great part of the day afterwardes he went to the chappel of the vestal virgines ther he hard euery nation by it selfe accordyng to the order which was prescribed He dyd eate but one meale in the daye it was veray late but he did eate wel not of many diuers sortes of meates but of fewe and good For the aboundaunce of diuerse and straunge meates breadeth sondry dysseases They sawe him once a weke go thoroughe Rome and if he wente anye more it was a wonder at the whyche tyme he was alwayes without companie both of his owne and also of straungers to thentente all poore men myghte talke with him of their busines or complaine of his officers for it is vnpossible to reforme the common wealthe if he which ought to remedy it be not informed of the iniuryes done in the same He was so gentle in conuersacion so pleasaunt in wordes so noble amongest the great so equall with the least so reasonable in that he dyd aske so persyte in that he dyd worke so patiēt in iniuries so thankefull of benefittes so good to the good and so seuere to the euill that all loued him for beyng good and all the euill feared him for being iuste A man oughte not lytell to esteme the loue that the people bare to this so good a Prince and noble Emperour forsomuch as the Romans haue bene thus that for the felicitye of their estate they offered to their gods greater sacryfyce then they dyd in any other prouinces And Sextus Cheronensis sayeth that the Romains offered more sacrifyces to the gods because they should lengthen the lyfe of the Emperour then they dyd offer for the profyte of the common wealthe Trulye their reason was good for the Prynce that leadeth a good lyfe is the harte of the common wealthe But I doe not maruaile that the Emperour was so well wylled and beloued of the Romayn empire for he had neuer porter to hys chamber but the .2 howers which he remained with his wyfe Faustine Al this beyng past the good Emperour went into his house into the secretest place he had accordyng to the councel of Lucius Seneca they key whereof he alone had in his custodye and neuer trusted any man therwith vntyll the hower of hys death and then he gaue it to an old auncient man called Pompeianus sayeng vnto hym these wordes Thou knowest ryght wel Pompeianus that thou beyng base I exalted the to honor Thou beyng poore I gaue the riches Thou being persecuted I drewe the to my pallas I beyng absente committed my hole honoure to thy trust thou beyng old I maryed the with my doughter and doe presently gyue the this key Behold that in geuing the it I giue the my harte lyfe For I will thou know that death greueth me not so much nor the losse of my
in dede that youre tonges are none other but the stynges of serpentes for ye doe condempne the good men and defame the Roman women And thynke not yf you speake euill of other women to excuse your owne for the man that by his tonge dyshonereth straunge women doeth not so much iuel as he doeth by defamyng his owne wyfe by suspytion For the husbande that suspectith hys wyfe geueth all men licence to accompt her for noughte Sythe we women goe lytell oute of the house we trauayle not farre and sithe we see fewe thinges thoughe we woulde we cannot be euill tonged but you menne heare muche you see muche you know muche you wander abrode muche and continually you murmure All the euill that we selye women can do is to listen to our frendes when they are vexed to chide oure seruauntes when they are necligent to enuye our neighbours if they be faier and to cursse those that doeth vs iniurye finallye thoughe wee speake euill we cannot murmure but at those that dwelleth in the same streate where wee dwell But you menne defame youre wyues by suspition you dyshonoure youre neyghbours in youre wordes you speake agaynste straungers wyth crueltye you neyther keape faythe nor promyse to youre wyues you shewe youre selues extreme agaynste youre enemyes you murmoure bothe at those that bee presente and also at them that be absente finally on the one parte you are so doble and on the other parte you are so vnthankefull that to those whom you desire you make faire promyses those whose bodyes you haue enioyed you littel esteame I confesse that the woman is not so good as she oughte to be and that it is necessarye that she should be kepte in the house and so she shall leade a good lyfe and beyng of good lyfe she shall haue good renowme and hauing good renowme she shal be wel willed but if perchaunce any of those do want in her yet for all that she oughte not to be reiected of her husbande For the frailenes that menne finde in women is but litell but the euils that women tast in men is veraye great I haue talked lenger then I thought and haue sayed more boldly then I ought but pardon me my lord for mine intentioÌ„ was not to vexe the but to perswade the. For in the end he is a foole that taketh that for iniury whiche passeth betwene the man and the wyfe in secreat I sticke alwayes to my first poynt and if it neade once againe I require the that thou wilte geue me the key of thy studye if thou do otherwise as thou mayst thou shalt do such a thyng as thou oughtest not to doe I am not angry so much for that thou doest as for the occasioÌ„ thou geuest me Therefore to auoyde the peril of my deliuery and to take from me all susspition I praye the my lorde deliuer me the key of thy study for otherwise I cannot be perswaded in my harte but that you haue a woman locked in your study For men that in their youth haue bene vnconstant thoughe the apparell that they haue be not worne yet notwitstandynge they desire to haue new Therfore once againe to preserue me from perill in my deliuery and to lyghten my hart of this thought it shal be well done that you let me enter into your studie The aunswere of the Emperour to Faustine concerning her demaunde of the key of the studdie Chap. xv THe Emperour hearing the wordes of Faustine and seyng that she spake them so ernestly that she bathed her wofull wordes with bitter teares determined also to aunswere her as ernestlye and sayd vnto her these wordes Wife Faustine thou hast told me all that thou wouldest and I haue heard al thy complaint Therfore I desire the now to haue asmuch pacience to here my aunswer as I haue had paine to heare thy demaunde And prepare thy eares to here my wordes as I haue listned mine to heare thy folly For in like matter when the tong doth applie it selfe to speake any word the eares ought immediatly to prepare them to heare it for to make aunswere For this is most sure that he that speaketh what he would shall here what he would not Before I tell the what thou arte and what thou oughtest to be I will first tel what I am and what I ought to be For I wil thou vnderstaÌ„d Faustine that I am so euil that that the which mine enemyes doth report of me is but a trifle in respect of that which my familiers frendes woulde say if they knew me To the end the prince be good he ought not to be couetous of tributes neither proud in commaundementes nor vnthanckefull of seruices nor to be forgetfull of the temples he ought not to be deaffe to here griefes coÌ„plaints quarells nor cruel to orphanes nor yet necligeÌ„t in affaires And the man that shall want these vices shall be both beloued of men fauoured of the gods I confesse first of all that I haue bene couetous For in dede those which with troubles annoy princes lest with money serue them most are of all other men beloued best Secondarily I confesse that I am proude For there is no prince at thys day in the world so brought vnder but when fortune is most lowest he hath hys harte very haughtie Thirdly I confesse that I am vnthankful for amongest vs that are princes the seruices that they doe vnto vs are greate and the rewardes that we geue vnto them are litell Forthly I do confesse that I am an euill founder of temples or amoÌ„ngest vs princes we do not sacrifice vnto the gods very oft vnlesse it be when wee see our selues to be inuironned with enemies Fiftly I confesse that I am necligent to heare the plaintes of the oppressed for flatterers haue towardes their princes more easy audience by their flattery then the poore pleadyng to declare their complaintes by truth Sixtly I confesse that I am carelesse for the orphanes for in the courtes and pallaces of princes the riche and mightie are most familiar but the miserable and poore orphanes are scarcely hearde Seuenthly I confesse that I am necligent in dispatching poore mens causes for princes ofte times not prouidyng in time for their affaires many and great perilles ensueth to their Realmes Mark here Faustyne how I haue told the what according to reason I ought to be what accordyng to the sensualitie I am and meruayle not thoughe I confesse mine errour For the man that acknowlegeth his faulte gyueth hope of amendement Let vs now come to talke of the and by that I haue spoken of me thou maiest iudge of thy selfe For we men are so euill coÌ„ditioned that we behold the vttermost the offences of an other but we wil not heare the faultes of our selues It is a true thing my wife Faustine that when a woman is mery she always speaketh more with her â—ong then she knoweth in her harte For women light of tong
the immortall Gods I swere vnto the that I had rather haue bene maried with a Moore of Calde that is so foule then beinge maried as I am with a Romaine being very faier for she is not soo faire and white as my life is wofull and blacke Thou knowest well Faustine that when Drusio spake these wordes I did wype the teares from his eyes and I gaue him a worde in his eare that he should procede no further in this matter for such women ought to be chastened in secrete and afterwardes to be honoured openly O thou art infortunate Faustine and the Gods haue euill deuided with the geuing the bewtye and riches to vndoe thy selfe and denayeng thee the best whiche is wisedome and good condicions to kepe thy honour Oh what euyl lucke commeth vnto a man when God sendeth him a fayer doughter vnlesse furthermore the gods do permyt that she be sage and honest for the woman which is yong folyshe and faier distroyeth the common wealth and defameth al her parentage I say vnto the againe Faustine that the Gods were very cruel against thee since they swallowe the vp by the goulfes wher all the euil perisheth and toke from the all the sayles and owers whereby the good do escape I remained xxxviii yeres vnmaried and these vi yeres only which I haue bene maried me thinketh I haue passed vi hundreth yeres of my life for nothing can be called a tormente but the euyl that man doth suffer that is euyl maried I wil ensuer the of one thinge Faustine that if I had knowen before which now I know and that I had felte that whiche now I fele though the gods had commaunded me and the emperour Adrian my Lord desired me I had not chaunged my pouertie for thy riches neither my rest for thy Empyre but since it is fallen to thine and myne euyl fortune I am contented to speake lytel and to suffer much I haue so muche dissembled with the Faustine that I can no more but I confesse vnto the that no husband doth suffer his wife so much but that he is bound to suffer her more considering that he is a man that she is a woman For the man which willingly goeth into the briers must thinke before to endure the prickes The woman is to bold that doth contend with her husband but the husband is more foole which openly quarrelleth with his wife For if she be good he ought to fauour her to the end she may be better if she be vnhappie he oughte to suffer her to th end she be not worse Trulye when the woman thinketh that her husband taketh her for euil it is a great occasion to make her to be worse for women are so ambitious that those which comonly are euyl wil make vs beleue that they are better then others Beleue me Faustine that if the feare of the gods the infamy of the person and the speach of men do not refraine the woman al the chastisements of the world wil not make her refraine from vyce for all things suffereth chastisemente and correction the woman only except the which must be wonne by intreaty The hart of the man is very noble and that of the woman very delycate bycause for a lytle good he wil geue a great reward and for a great offence he wil geue no punishment Before the wise man marieth let him beware what he doth and when he shall determine to take the companye of a woman he ought to be lyke vnto him that entereth into the warre that determineth with himselfe to suffer al that may happen be it good or euil I do not cal that life a warre without a cause which the euyll maried man leadeth in his house for women do more hurt with their tongues then the enemyes do with their swordes It is a great simplycitie for a wise man to make accompt or esteme the simplycitie of his wife at euery time for if they would marke and take hede to that which their wife doth or sayth I let them know that they shal neuer come to an ende O Faustine if the Romaine woman would alwayes one thing that they would procure one thing that they would be resolued in one thing though it were to our great charges we would haue pleasure to condiscend vnto their desires but what shal we do sinse that which now pleaseth you a while after dipleaseth you that which you aske for in the morning ye wil not haue at none that which you enioye at none days do trouble you in the night that which in the night you loue ye care not for in the morninge that which yesterday ye greatly estemed to day ye asmuch despise If ye desired to see a thing the last yeare this yere ye wil not heare talke of it that which before made you to reioyce doth nowe make you to be sad that which ye were wont and ought to lament at the selfe same thinge a man seeth you laughe Finally ye women are as children which are appeased with an aple and casteth the golde to the earthe not wayeng it I haue dyuers times thought with my selfe if I could say or write any good rule in keping the which I might teach men to be quiet in their house And by my counte I find hauing experimented it also with the Faustine that it is vnpossible to geue a rule to maried men and if a man could geue them they should scarcely profite therwith sinse their wiues lyue without rule But notwithstanding that I wil declare some rules how the maried folkes shold kepe themselues in their houses and how they shall if they lyst auoide strifes and debates betwene them For the husbandes and the wiues hauyng warres together it is impossible there should be peace in the common wealth And thoughe this present writynge hath not profited me vnluckey and vnfortunate man yet it may profite others which haue good wyues For oft times the medycen whiche profiteth not for the tender eyes suffiseth to heale the hard heales I know wel Faustine that for that I haue sayd and for that I wil say vnto the thou and others such like shall greatly enuye me Ye will marke the words that I speake more then the intencion that I meane but I protest before the Gods that in this case my end is for none other intent but to aduertise the good wherof there are a great manye and to punyshe the euyl whych are many moe And though perchaunce neyther the one nor the other wil beleue that my intencion in speaking these thinges was good yet therfore I wyl not cease to know the good from the euyl and to choose the euil from the good For in my fantasy the good wife is as the feasaunt whose feathers we lytle esteame and regard much the bodye but the euyll woman is as the Marterne whose skynne we greatly esteme and vtterly despise the fleshe I wil therfore declare the rules wherby the husbands may liue in peace
woordes What thing is more pleasaunt to the father then to see them and to the mother to agree to it when the chyldren doe sucke they plucke forth the brestes with the one hande and with the other they plucke their heere and further they beate their feete together and with their wanton eies they caste on their parentes a thousande louyng lookes what is it to see them when they are vexed and angry how they wyll not be taken of the fathers howe they stryke their mother they caste awaye things of golde and immediatly they are appeased with a litle apple or russhe what a thing is it to see the innocentes howe they aunswer when a man asketh them what follies they speake when they speake to them how they play with the dogges and runne after the cattes how they dresse them in wallowing in the dust how they make houses of earth in the streates how they weape after the birdes when they see them flie away Al the which thinges are not to the eies of the fathers and mothers but as Nitingales to sing and as bread and meate to eate The mothers peraduenture will saye that they will not bringe vp their children because when they are younge they are troublesome but that after they shoulde be nourished and brought vp they would be glad To this I answere them that the mothers shal not denay me but that some of these things must neades meate in their children that when they be old they shal be either proud enuious couetous or negligent that they shal be lecherous or els theues that they shal be blasphemours or els glottons that they shal be rebelles or fooles and disobedient vnto their fathers I beleue that at this daie there are many mothers in the worlde which did hope to be honoured serued with the children which they had brought vp and afterwarde perceiuing their maners would willinglye forgo the pleasures whiche they hoped for so that they might also be deliuered frō the troubles which through their euill demeanours are like to ensue For that time which the parentes hoped to passe with their childrē in pleasures they consume seing their vnthrifty life in sorowfull sighes I councel admonishe humbly require princesses great ladies to nourishe enioy their children when they are young and tender for after that they are great a man shal bring them newes euery day of diuerse sortes and maners they vse for as much as the one shal say that her sonne is in pryson another shal say that he is sore wounded another that he is hid others that he hathe plaied his cloke others that he is sclaundered with a cōmon harlot another that he stealeth his goodes from him another that his enemies do seke him another that he accompanieth with vnthriftes and finally they are so sturdy vnhappy and so farre from that which is good that oftentimes the fathers would reioyce to see them die rather then to see thē liue so euill a life Me thinketh that the knot of loue betwene the mother and the childe is so great that not onely she ought not to suffer them to be nourished out of the house one whole yere but also she ought not to suffer thē to be out of her presence one only day For in seing him she seeth that which is borne of her intrails she seeth that which she hath with so great paines deliuered she seeth hym who ought to inherite all her goodes she seeth him in who the memory of their auncestours remaineth and she seeth him who after her death ought to haue the charge of her affayres and busines Concludynge therefore that whiche aboue is spoken I saye that whiche the greate Plutarche saied from whom I haue drawen the moste parte of this chapter that the mother to be a good mother ought to haue kepe her chylde in her armes to nourishe him and afterwardes when he shal be great she ought to haue him in her harte to helpe him For we see oftentymes great euils ensewe to the mother and to the chylde because she did not bringe hym vp her selfe and to put hym to nouryshe to a straunge breaste there commeth neither honour nor profite ¶ That princesses and great Ladies ought to be very circumspecte in chosinge their nources Of seuen properties whiche a good nource should haue Chap. xx THose whiche ordeined lawes for the people to lyue were these Promotheus whiche gaue lawes to the Egiptians Solon Solmon to the Grekes Moyses to the Iewes Licurgus to the Lacedemonians and Numa Pompilius to the Romaines for before these princes came their people were not gouerned by written lawes but by good auncient customes The intention of those excellent princes was not to geue lawes to their predecessours for they were now dead neither they gaue them onely for those which lyued in their tyme being wicked but also for those which were to come whom they did presuppose would not be good For the more the worlde increaseth in yeares so muche the more it is loden with vices By this that I haue spoken I meane that if the princesses and great ladies euery one of them woulde nourishe their owne childe I neade not to geue them counsell But since I suppose that the women which shal be deliuered hereafter wil be as proude and vaine glorious as those whiche were in times past we will not let to declare here some lawes and aduises how the ladie ought to behaue her self with her nource and howe the nource ought to contente her selfe with the creature For it is but iuste that if the mother be cruell and hardy to forsake the creature that she be sage pitiefull and aduised to choose her nource If a man finde great treasoure and afterward care not how to kepe it but doth commit it into the handes of suspected persons truely we would call hym a foole For that which naturally is beloued is alwayes of al best kept The woman oughte more wysely kepe the treasure of her owne body then the treasure of all the earth if she had it And the mother which doth the contrary and that committeth her child to the custody of a straunge nource not to her whom she thinketh best but whom she findeth best cheape we will not call her a foolishe beaste for the name is to vnseamely but we will call her a sotte which is somewhat more honester One of the things that doth make vs moste beleue that the ende of the world is at hande is to see the litle loue which the mother doth beare to the child being young and to see the wante of loue which the childe hath to his mother beinge aged That whiche the childe doth to the father and the mother is the iust iudgement of God that euen as the father would not nourishe the childe in his house being younge so likewise that the sonne should not suffer the father in his house he beinge olde Retourning therefore to the matter that sith the woman
the negligence of the fathers in bringing vp their childrē Sextus Cheronensis in the second boke of the sainges of the Philosophers declareth that a citezen of Athens sayed on daye to Dyogenes the Phylosopher these wordes Tel me Diogenes what shall I doe to be in the fauour of the gods and not in the hatred of men for oft tymes amonges you Philosophers I haue hard saye that there is great difference betwene that that the Goddes wil and that which men loue Diogenes aunswered Thou speakest more then thoughtest to speake that the gods will one thinge and men another for the gods are but as a center of mercy and men are but as a denne of malice if thou wilte inioye rest in thy dayes and keape thy lyfe pure and cleane thou must obserue these thre thinges The first honour thy gods deuoutly For the man which doeth not serue and honour the gods in all his enterprises he shal be vnfortunate The second be very diligent to bring vp thy children well For the man hath no enemy so troublesome as his owne son if he be not wel brought vp The third thyng be thankefull to thy good benefactours and frendes For the Oracle of Apollo sayeth that the man who is vnthankefull of all the worlde shal be abhorred And I tell the further my frend that of these thre thinges the most profitable though it be more troblesome is for a manne to teache and bring vp his children well This therefore was the aunswere that the Philosopher Diogenes made to the demaunde of the Cytezen It is great pytie and griefe to see a yonge child how the bloud doth stirre him to se how the fleshe doth prouoke him to accomplishe his desire to se sensualyte go before and he himselfe to come behinde to se the malicious world to watche him to se howe the deuill doth tempt him to se how vyces bynde him and in all that whych is spoken to se how the father is negligent as if he had no children wher as in deed the old man by the few vertues that he hath had in his youth may easely know the infirmites and vices wherewith his sonne is compassed If the expert had neuer ben ignoraunt if the fathers had neuer ben children if the vertuous had neuer ben vicious if the fyne wittes had neuer ben deceiued it were no meruaile if the Fathers were negligent in teachyng their children For the lytell experience excuseth men of great offences but synce thou arte a father and that fyrst thou were a sonne synce thou arte old and hast ben yong and besides al this synce that pride hath enflamed the lechery hath burned the wrath hath wounded the negligēce hath hindred the couetousnes hath blinded the and glotonie surfeted the tell me cruell father since so manye vices haue reigned in the why hast thou not an eye to thy childe whom of thy owne bloud thou hast begotten And if thou doest it not bycause he is thy childe thou oughtest to do it bycause he is thy nearest For it is vnpossible that the child whych with many vyces is assaulted and not succoured but in the end he should be infamed and to the dishonour of the father most wickedly ouercome It is vnpossible to kepe flesh well fauored vnlesse it be first salted It is vnpossible that the fishe should liue without water It is vnpossible but that the Rose should wyther whiche is of the thorne ouergrowen So like it is vnpossible that the fathers should haue any comforte of their chyldren in their age vnlesse they haue instructed them in vertue in their youth And to speake further in this matter I saye that in the Christian catholike religion where in dede there is good doctrine ther alwayes is supposed to be a good conscience Amongest the wryters it is a thinge well knowen howe Eschines the philosopher was banished from Athens and with all his family came to dwell at Rhodes The occasion was because that he and the philosopher Demosthenes were in great contention in the common wealth Wherefore the Athenians determined to banish the one and to keape the other with them And truly they dyd well for of the contentions and debates of sages warres most commonly aryse amongest the people This philosopher Eschines being at Rhodes banished amongest others made a solempne oration wherein he greatly reproueth the Rhodians that they were so negligente in brynging vp their children saiyng vnto them these wordes I let you vnderstande Lordes of Rhodes that your predecessours aduaunced them selues to discende and to take their beginning of the Lides the whiche aboue all other nations were curious and diligent to bring vp their children and hereof came a lawe that was among them which sayed We ordeine and commaunde that if a father haue many chyldren that the moste vertuous should enherite the goods and riches and if there were but one vertuous that he alone should inherite the whole And if perchaūce the children were vitious that then al should be depriued from the heritage For the goods gotten with trauaile of vertuous fathers ought not by reason to be inherited with vitious children These were the wordes that the philosopher spake to the Senate of the Rhodes and because he sayde in that Oration many other thinges whiche touche not our matter I wyll in this place omitte them For among excellent wryters the wryting loseth muche authoritie when the authour from his purpose digresseth into an other matter To saye the truthe I doe not maruayle that the children of princes and great lordes be adulterers and belly gods for that on the one parte youth is the mother of Idlenes and on the other litle experience is the cause of great offences And furthermore the fathers being once dead the children enherite their goodes as quietly being loden with vices as if in dede they were with all vertues endued If the younge children did knowe for a certaine that the lawes of the Lydes should be obserued that is to witte that they shoulde not enherite vnlesse they be vertuous it is vnpossible but that they would leade a good life and not in this wyse to runne at large in the worlde For they doe absteine more from doing euill fearyng to lose that whiche they doe possesse then for any loue to doe that whiche they ought I doe not denaye but according as the natures of the fathers is dyuers so the inclinations of the chyldren are variable For so muche as some folowyng their good inclination are good others not resisting euil sensualities are euill But yet in this matter I saye that it lieth muche in the father that doeth brynge them vp when as yet they are younge so that the euill whiche nature gaue by good bryngyng vp is refrayned For oftetymes the good custome doeth ouercome all euill inclination Princes and great lordes that wylbe diligent in the instruction of their chyldren ought to enforme their maisters and tutors that shall teache theim to what vyces and
examples whiche they geue then in the faulte and offence that they committe All the aunciente wryters affirme that the triumphant Rome neuer began to decay vntil the Senate was replenished with sage serpentes and destitute of simple doues For in the ende there is nothing that soner destroyeth princes then thinking to haue about them wyse men that should counsell them when in dede they are malitious that seke to deceiue them What a thing was in olde time to see the pollicie of Rome before that Sylla and Marius did alter it before that Catilina and Catullus did trouble it before that Iulius Caesar and Pompeius sclaundered it before that Augustus and Marcus Antonius destroyed it before that Tiberius and Caligula did defame it and before that Nero and Domician did corrupt it For the most parte of these though they were valiaunt wan many Realmes yet notwithstanding the vices whiche they brought vs were more then the Realmes they wanne vs. And the worst of all is that al our kingdomes are loste and our vices abide still If Liuius and the other historiographers doe not deceiue vs in olde time they might haue sene in the sacret Senate some Romaines so auncient with heere 's so honorable others so expert mē others aged so modest that it was a wonder to see the maiestie they did represente and a comforte to heare that which they sayde I speake not that without teares whiche I wyll saye that in steade of these auncient aged personnes there sprange vp other younge bablers the whiche are suche and so manye that all the common wealth is altered and Rome her selfe sclaundered For that lande is cursed and with muche miserie compassed where the gouernaunce of the young is so euil that al wyshe for the reuiuing of the dead If we credite that which the auncientes wrote we cannot denay but that Rome was the mother of all good woorke as the auncient Grece was the beginner of al sciences So that the effect of the Grekes was to speake the glory of the Romaynes was to worke But nowe through our woful◠destenies it is all contrary for Grece hath banished from it all the speakers to Rome and Rome hath banished from it all the sages to Grece And if it be so as it is in dede I had rather be banished to Grece with the sages then to take parte with Rome among the fooles By the faithe of a Christian I sweare vnto you my frendes that I being young sawe an Oratour in Rome which was brought vp in the pallace of Adrian my Lorde whose name was Aristonocus of his body he was of meane stature leane of face also he was of an vnknowen countrey but he had such a pleasaunt tongue that though he had made an oration in the senate of three houres long there was no mā but willingly was desirous to heare him For in the old time if he that made an Oration in the Senate were eloquent in his speache he was heard no lesse then if God Apollo had spoken him selfe This philosopher Aristonocus was on the one parte so gentle in his speache and on the other parte so disolute in his life that he neuer spake worde to the Senate but it deserued eternall memory and out of that place they neuer sawe him do good worke but it merited greuous punishement As I haue sayed though in that tyme I was young yet I remember that to see this philosopher so loste all the people did pitie and the worste of all was that they neuer hoped of his amendement since daily more and more he loste his honour For there is no man that by his eloquence may haue suche renowme but in the ende he may lose it againe by his euil lyfe Now I aske you my frends sithe you are in the reputation of sages which was better or to saye better whiche had bene lesse enuied that this philosopher had bene a simple man and of good life then to be as he was a man of high eloquence and of euill condition It was vnpossible if he had once heard of me that whiche many times I haue hearde say of him that he had not counsayled me yea and futher to doe it he had constrained me rather to chose the graue then to lyue in Rome with infamy For he is vnworthy to lyue amongest men whose wordes of all are approued and his workes of all condemned The firste dictatour in Rome was Largius and the first lordes of the knightes was Spurius And from the tyme of the first dictatour vntill the time of Silla and Iulius whiche were the first tyrauntes were foure hundred and fiftie yeares In the whiche space we neuer redde that any Philosopher spake any vayne wordes nor yet committed any sclaunderous deades And if Rome had done any otherwyse it had bene vnworthy of suche prayse and estimation as it had for it is vnpossible that the people be well gouerned if the Sages whiche gouerne them are in their liues dissolute I protest to the immortall Gods sweare by the faithe of a Christian that when I consider that whiche at this present with myne eyes I see I can not but sighe for that that is past and wepe for that which is present That is to wete to see then howe the armies fought to see howe the younge men trauayled to be good to see howe well princes gouerned to se the obedience of the people and aboue all it was a merueilous thing to see the libertie and fauour whych the Sages had and the subiection and small estimation that the simple were in And nowe by our euil fortune we see the contrary in our woful time so that I cannot tell whither first I should bewaile the vertues and noblenes of them that are past or the vices infamies of these whych are present For we neauer ought to cease from praysinge the goodnes of the good nor to cease from reprouyng the wyckednes of the euill O that I had bene in that glorious worlde to se so honorable and auncient sages to gouerne in pleasure and for the contrary what grefe pytye shame and dishonor is it to se now so many dissolute sages and so many yong and busy heades the whych as I haue sayd doe destroye all Rome and slaunder all Italy and dishonor them selues For the want of vertue whyche in them aboundeth endomageth the comon wealth and the other vyces wherewith they are replenished corrupteth the people in such sorte that the weale publyke is more dyshonored through the dissolute life of them then it is anoyed by the weapons of their enemies I say agayn and repete my frendes that the prosperity of Rome endured .400 and .xv. yeres in the whych time there was a great maiestie of workes and a marueilous simplicity of wordes aboue all that the best that it had was that it was rich of the good and vertuous men and poore of euill and vitious loyterers For in the end that citie cannot
and that whereby he should profyte as I thynke is that he should eate Beares Lyons in his lyfe as now he shal be eatē of wormes after his death All the Poets that inuented fictions all the Oratours which made Orations al the Philosophers which wrote bookes al the sages which left vs their doctrynes and all the Princes which instituted lawes ment nothing els but to perswade vs to think how briefe vnprofitable this lyfe ys howe necessary a thing iustice is therein For the filth corrupcion which the body hath without the soule the selfe same hath the common welth wythout iustice We cannot deny but that the Romaynes haue bene proude enuyous aduouterers shamelesse ambicious but yet with all these faultes they haue bene great obseruers of iustice So that if god gaue the so many tryumphes beyng loden and enuironned with so manye vices it was not for the vertues they had but for the great iustice which they did administer Plinie in hys second booke saieth that Democritus affirmed there were two gods which gouerned the vniuersall worlde that is to wete Rewarde and Punishement Whereby we may gather that nothing is more necessary then true and right iustice For the one rewardeth the good the other leaueth not vnpunished the euill Saint Austyne in the fyrst booke De ciuitare dei sayeth these words Iustyce taken awaye what are realmes but dennes of theues truely he had great reason For if there were no whips for vacabondes gags for blasphemers fynes for periury fyre for heretiques sworde for murderers galouse for theues nor prison for rebelles we may boldly affirme that there woulde not be so manye beastes on the mountaines as there woulde be theues in the cōmon wealth In many thinges or in the greatest parte of the common welth we see that bread wyne corne fyshe woll and other thinges necessary for the lyfe of the people wanteth but we neuer sawe but malicious menne in euerye place dyd abounde Therefore I sweare vnto you that it were a good bargayne to chaunge all the wycked menne in the common wealth for one onlye poore sheepe in the sylde In the comon wealth we see naught els but whippyng dayly beheddyng slayinge drownyng and hanginge but notwithstandyng this the wicked whiche remayne styll are so many in nomber that if all those shoulde be hanged that deserue it by iustyce a man could not fynd hangmen sufficient nor gallowses to hange them vppon Admitte according to the varietie of realmes prouinces that dyuers lawes and customes haue bene instituted therein Yet for a truth there was neuer nor neuer shal be found any nation or common wealthe in the worlde so barbarous but hath bene founded of iustice For to affirme that menne can bee preserued wythout iustice is as muche as to saye the fishe can liue wythout water Howe is it possible that a common wealth may liue without iustice sith without her cannot bee ruled one onelye personae Plinie in an epistle saieth that he him selfe hauinge the charge of a prouince in Affrike demaunded an olde man and in gouernement experte what he myght doe to administer iustice well the aged manne aunswered Doe iustice of thy selfe yf thou wilt be a minister thereof For the good iudge wyth the ryght yarde of hys owne lyfe ought to measure the whole state of the common wealth And he sayde further if thou wylt be right wyth menne and clean before god beware of presumpcion in thyne offyce For the proude and presumptuous iudges often tymes doe contrary in their wordes and also exceade in theire deedes Plinie also saieth that he profited more with the counsayle thys olde man gaue hym then wyth all that euer he had reade in his bookes O to howe muche is he bounde that hath taken vppon him to administer iustice For if such one be an vpright man hee accomplisheth that whereunto he is bounde but if suche one of hym selfe bee vniuste iustlye of god he ought to bee punished and lykewyse of menne to bee accused When prynces commaund their seruaunts or subiectes any thing that they cannot accomplish them in such sorte as they had charge to do then he ought to haue them excused those excepted whiche gouerne realmes prouinces For no man leaueth to administer iustice but for want of knowledge or experience or els through aboundaunce of affection or malice If a captaine lose a battaile he may excuse hym self saying his men were fled when they shoulde haue assaulted their enemies A poast may excuse hi self for that the waters we◠so high A hunter may say the beast is escaped another way others such like but a gouernour of a common wealth what excuse can he haue that he dothe not iustice Conscience ought to burden hym also he ought to be ashamed to take vpon him the charge of any thing if he doute to bring it to effecte for the shamefast faces haute courages either ought to put that in execution which they take vpon them or els they ought to shew a lawful cause why it tooke no effect Let vs know first what iustice is then we shall knowe what is mete for the administracion therof The office of a good iudge is to defend the common welth to help the innocent to ayde the simple to correcte the offender to honour the vertuous to help the orphanes to do forthe poore to bridel the ambicious finallye by iustice he ought to geue eche one his owne to dispossesse those which hold any thing wrongfully of others When a prince commaundeth any man to take the charge of iustice such one doth not seeke it of him selfe if perchaunce afterwardes he did not in all points vprightly in the administracion therof he might haue some excuse saying that though he hath accepted it it was not with minde because he woulde erre but because with good will he would obey What shall we saye of manye which without shame without knowlege without experience without conscience do procure the office of iustice O if princes knew what they geue whē they geue the charge to any to gouerne the common wealth I sweare vnto you that they were better to giue them goods to fynd them for .20 yeres then for to trust them wyth the charge of iustice .20 daies What a thing is it to see some men shamelesse dishonest great talkers gluttons ambitious couetous the whiche wythout anye reasonable cause aucthority or knowledge demaunde of prynces an office of iustice as if by iustice they dyd demaund their own Would to god the geuer would haue an eye to those whych in this wyse do demaunde But what shal we say of those that doe sollicite thē procure thē importune them beseche them more then that euen as wythout shame they do demaund it so wythout conscience lykewyse they buy it There remayneth in this case more as yet that is that if those cursed men do not attayne to that whych they demaunde
if those hauing no conscience doe not geue it then they blaspheme complayne of those whych are in fauour with princes as yf they had done them greate iniurye O what trouble is it to good men to accomplishe the desyre of the euill For the couetous and ambicious persons doe but desyre that the good men had the lyke payne in geuyng that they haue in demaunding Many tymes I haue thought with my selfe wherin so many damages of the common wealth should consist such disobedience such contrarieties and so many theftes and in the ende I fynde that all or the most part procede in that that they prouyde for ministers of iustice not for conscience sake but for couetousnes onely Admyt that it appertayne to all to desyre and procure iustice yet to none it appertaineth so muche to procure and defend it as to the royall personne whiche the subiectes ought some tyme to feare but princes are bound to minister it equally to all It is a great matter that princes be pure in lyfe and that theire houses be well ordered to the end that their iustice be of credyte and auctoritie For he which of him selfe is vniust geueth no hope that an other at hys handes shoulde haue iustice He whiche cannot gouerne his owne house can euill gouerne the whole common wealth These princes which are true in theire wordes cleane in theire lyues iust in theire woorkes though some tyme they erre in the administratiō of the cōmon welth all excuse them sayeng that they erre not thorough the malyce of them selues but rather thorough the euill counsayle of others So that all which the good prince doth they commende and all the euill that chaunceth they excuse Plutarche in the seconde booke of hys common wealth sayeth that herein some princes differ from others For the euyll prince is onely obeyed but the good prince is obeyed feared and loued And more ouer he that is good maketh heauy thinges light with his goodnes and the tyraunt that is euyll maketh thinges whiche are light to be very heauy through his naughtynes Happy is the Prince whiche is obeyed but muche more happy he which is obeyed feared and loued For the body is weary often tymes to obeye but the harte is neuer constrained to loue Titus the Emperour was once demaūded of these 2. thinges that is to wete whether to rewarde the good or to punish the euill were for a prince more naturall He answered As naturall as bothe the right and left arme is in a man so necessary is reward punyshement in a prince But as we helpe our selues more with the right arme then with the lefte so the prince ought more to endeuour him selfe to rewarde then to punishe For punishemement ought to be by the handes of a straunger but reward ought to be wyth hys owne proper handes When we perswade princes to be iuste and that they doe iustice it is not to be vnderstanded that they should behead murtherers bannishe rebelles and sedicious persones hange theues and burye felons aliue For suche or other lyke thinges rather appertaine to bloudy hangemen then to pitiefull kings All the profite of iustice is in that the prince be honest of person carefull for hys housholde zelous of the common wealth and not large of his conscience For princes ought not to bee commended for murderyng many cruelly but for refourmyng the common wealth louyngly Plutarche in the comfortable oration that he wrote to Appoloni speakynge of the lawes whiche Promotheus gaue to the Egiptians amongest the residue he resited these three that followe We ordeine and commaund that princes laye not handes on others for any crymes or offences done vnto hym selfe For princes ought not to vse their handes to reuenge theire owne iniuries but rather by iustice to defende other that be iniuried We ordeine and commaund that all tymes when they shal be in their common wealth and not in warres they shal not weare weapons defensiue and muche lesse offensiue For good princes neither ought to be hastye to the end they may kill nor yet to haue vyces whereby they may be killed We ordeine cōmaund that the prince do not onely not kill with his hāds but also that he do not see them do iustice with his eyes For howe muche noble and woorthy a thing it is before the presence of a prince that all shoulde receiue honour so sclaunderous a thing it is that anye in his presence should loase their lyues ¶ The way that princes ought to vse in chosing theire iudges and officers in their countreys Cap. ii SParthianus in the lyues that he wrote of .30 tyrauntes saide that Ciriacus the tyraunt had a memoriall made of certeine of the Senatours whome he woulde haue killed and when the thinge was discouered they slewe him They founde in the handes of an other tiraunt named Regilius after he was deade a memoriall of those whiche with his owne handes he had depriued of their lyues wherefore they afterwarde depriued him of his buriall O how many iudges are there in this worlde that do asmuch auaunce them selues of those whom they haue caused to be whipt to be slaine to be beheaded to be hāged quartered slaine as others do which haue redemed many captyues or haue maryed many orphanes Those iudges which according to the order of lawes customes and iurisdiccions doe punishe the euill I doe well allowe but to reioyce and auaunce them selues of them whome they haue condemned I vtterly abhorre For the vertuous and christian iudge ought rather to shed teares in the churches then by affection to shed bloude of men in the seate of iudgement And for the confirmacion of that whiche I haue sayde I affirme that the good iudge and gouernour of the common wealth ought not to beare in mynde the murthers and slaughters done by others but to recorde the iniuries whiche they haue done them selues For in other mens offences we ought to be silent and for our owne iniquities we ought to be penitent Iudges execute some punishementes whiche menne disallowe and god doth approue an other tyme god condemneth thē though the world do allowe them therefore the surest thing for suche iudges is not to reioise of their brethren whom they haue corrected but what they them selues for their owne offences haue deserued In iudging others by false witnes the iudges manye tymes against theire wils doe erre but in theire owne matters they can neuer erre vnlesse they will since the offences whiche we committe are alwaies certaine Therefore it greueth mee that there bee some so euill whiche beinge accused before god woulde excuse them selues before menne yet theire owne brethren with false witnesses they dare condempne Greate care ought princes to haue to examine them whome they will make iudges and gouernoures For the iudge whyche daylye maketh not an accoumpte with his conscience in secrete shall commit euerye houre a thousande euylles in the common wealth O poore and miserable common
wealthe where the gouernours and iudges thereof doe not cast theire eyes but vnto them whâ—e they ought to chastise where they doe not thynke in theire harte but howe they maye enryche theire coffers where they doe not occupye theire handes but to take brybes and doe not passe the tyme but in bankettes And I sayde not wythout a cause bankettes For there are manye iudges whyche imploye they re studye more to geate frindes to mayntayne theire state proudlye then for to read bookes to iudge mennes causes vprightly The iudge which neuer readeth the iudge whiche neuer studieth the iudge whiche neuer openeth boke the iudge which is neuer in his house the iudge which day night robbeth howe is it possible that he execute one true iustice There can bee no greater feare in a man nor sclaunder more greate in the common welth then when the iudge who ought to iudge and chastise the offences of others is alwaies ouerwhelmed with vices him selfe The iudge which presumeth to be good and wil be good and desireth to be good a manne shoulde finde him no where vnlesse he be studying in his house or sitting in the place of iustice Let not princes trust vppon this when they prouyde iudges and gouernours for to iudge saieng that if they fynde any euill they wil soone cut him of for suche are so euil that if they want to meanes to get to those offices they shal want no cautils nor corrupt frindes to suborne them therein When princes great lordes shall finde anye iudge euill I counsaile them to auoide him immediatlye or that they shewe them selues not contented with his dooinges for suche one shal forthwith enforce him selfe to doe iustice with intencion that those of the common wealth myght desire him to be theire iudge Although my penne doth reproue these Iudges whiche are negligent and carelesse the whiche neither by knowledge can iudge nor with stoutnes punishe The iudges whiche iudge and gouerne ought not to be with all so familiar that all dare take vppon them to aske him for in this case if some commend his gentle coÌ„uersacion others will blame his parciall iustice I counsaile admonishe and require Princes that they content them selues not only to be true pitifull honeste and vertuous nor yet to be iuste but that it is as well necessarie they be obseruers of iustice For let them knowe that there is great difference betwene him that is iust and an other that doth minister iustice for to the prince that is good commeth honour to his parsonne but from him that ministreth iustice commeth profite to his common wealth Peraduenture it is no wonder to see the Prince that will tell no lye and to see his ministers not to speak one truthe peraduenture I do not thinke my self sclaundered to se the prince temperate in eatinge and to see all his seruauntes distempered bothe wythe eating and drinkinge peraduenture and it is no cause to muse vppon to see the princes chaste and honeste and to see theire seruauntes in fleshe filthye and dissolute peraduenture it is no cause to meruaile to see the prince iuste and to loue iustice and that verye fewe of hys ministers doe minister it The ende why all these thinges are spoken is to aduertise Princes that they bee not so carefull to bee chaste sober true and iust but that they know whether theire gouernoures and iudges are corrupted couetous gredy vnshame faste lyers or brybers For if it toucheth vs much that oure Princes be good so much more it toucheth vs that the ministers be not euil One of the things wherein princes ought to prouyde with their iudges and gouernours is that by no meanes they suffer theire lawes and auncient customes to bee broken in theire common wealthe and that in theire steedes straunge customes bee not introduced For the comminaltye is so variable in that they saye and so light in that they aske that they woulde daylye see a newe kinge and hourely chaunge a newe lawe Plinie in an epistle that he writeth to Escario saieth Optime apud Persas capitalem per legem fuit prohibitum nouos aut peregrinos mores inducere As if he spake more plainelye Amongest the Perses it was a lawe inuiolable that no man shoulde bringe into the common wealth anye straunge custome for suche an offence they shoulde paye none other raunsome but the losse of theire heades As menne dayly doe diminishe in vertue vnlesse by force they bee witholden and augment in vanitie so they woulde inuent newe deuyses and straunge customes wherewith men shoulde be decayed and the common wealthe destroyed For straunge meates doe alter mennes stomackes When those of Creta were vngentlye vsed of the Rhodiens they did not praye to theire godes to sende them pestylence warre famin or sedition amonge theire enemies but that they woulde suffer some euil maners to bee brought in amongest theire people Let not those thinke that shall reade this that it was a small curse those of Creta desired and that it was a small reuenge whiche God gaue them of theire enemyes if he gaue them that whiche they dyd requyre For from warres famin and pestylence some maye escape but with the newe and straunge deuyses we see all perishe Of manye thinges the Historians doe reproue the Emperour Sergius Galba and for one alone they doe praise him whiche is that he neuer consented that in Rome anye newe lawe shoulde bee made nor anye olde custome broken And hee commaunded that those shoulde bee greuouslye punished whiche brought in anye newe lawe and hee rewarded those whiche put hym in mynde of anye olde custome the whiche he commaunded to bee obserued It is a mockerye yea better to saye a sclaunder to see that some younge iudges will doe that of the common wealthe whiche a Taylour dothe of a gowne that is to saye to tourne hym within and without before and behynde whiche they ought not to doe nor the people to consent thereunto For the Prince dothe not sende them to make lawes nor to bringe in newe orders but to the ende that they doe onelye preserue the common wealthe in theire good customes Princes ought also to take greate care that vnto lyttle and greate riche and poore they minister equall iustice sithe there is no dyuyne nor humayne lawe that geueth them power and aucthoritie to corrupt it for if a Prince cannot wythout reason dispose his owne goods much lesse he can make lawes and sell iustice We doe not denye a Prince but that he is lorde of beastes of fysh of byrdes of mynes of mountaines of seruaunts and of fyeldes finallye that hee is lorde of the sea and lande but therefore we will not graunt hym that he is lorde of iustice For there is none other true Lorde of iustice but God whiche is the selfe same iustice When a Prince dyeth and maketh his will hee saieth I leaue all my realmes seignories to the prince my sonne and legittimate heire and doe leaue vnto
prince ordeyned hys lyfe in suche sorte that in his absence thinges touchinge the warre were well prouided and in hys presence was nothynge but matters of knowledge argued It chaunsed one daye as Marcus Aurelius was enuironed with Senatours Philosophers phisitions and other sage men a question was moued among them howe greatly Rome was chaunged not onelye in buyldinges whyche almoste were vtterlye decayed but also in maners whiche were wholly corrupted the cause of all thys euill grewe for that Rome was full of flatterers and destitute of those whiche durste saye the trueth These and suche other lyke words heard the emperour toke vp his hand and blessed him and declared vnto them a notable example sayeng In the first yere that I was coÌ„sull there came a poore villayne from the riuer of Danubye to aske iustice of the Senate agaynst a Censour whyche dyd sore oppresse the people and in dede he dyd so well propounde hys complaint and declare the follye and iniuryes whych the iudges dyd in hys countrey that I doubt whether Marcus Cicero could vtter it better wyth hys tonge or the renowmed Homer haue written it more eloquently with his penne This villayne had a small face great lippes hollow eyes hys colour burnte curled heare bareheaded hys shoes of a Porpige skynne hys coate of gotes skynne hys girdell of bull russhes a longe bearde and thicke hys eye breyes couered hys eyes the stomacke the neck couered wyth skynnes heared as a beare and a clubbe in hys hand Without doubt when I sawe him enter into the Senate I imagined it had beene a beast in fourme of a man and after I hearde that whyche he sayde I iudged hym to be a God if there are Gods amongest menne For if it was a fearfull thyng to beholde hys personne it was no lesse monstrous to heare his wordes At that tyme there was greate prease at the dore of the Senate of manye and dyuers personnes for to solicite the affaires of theire prouinces yet notwithstanding this villayne spake before the others for twoe causes The one for that men were desyrous to heare what so monstrous a man woulde say the other because the Senatours had this custome that the complayntes of the poore should be hearde before the requestes of the riche Wherfore this villayne afterwardes in the middest of the Senate began to tel his tale and the cause of hys comminge thither in the whiche he shewed him selfe no lesse bolde in woordes then he was in his attyre straunge and saide vnto them in thys sorte O fathers conscripte and happy people I Mileno a ploughman dwelling nere vnto the ryuer of Danube doe salute you worthye Senatours of Rome which are conuented here in this Senate I besech the immortal gods my tong this day so to gouerne that I may say that which is coÌ„uenient for my countrey and that they helpe you others to gouerne well the common wealth For wythout the healpe of God we can neither learne the good nor auoid the euill The fatale destines permittinge it and our wrathefull Gods forsakinge vs our mishappe was suche to ye others fortune shewed her self so fauourable that the proud captaines of Rome byforce of armes toke our countrey of Germany And I saye not without a cause that at that tyme the gods were displeased with vs for if we Germaines had appeased our Gods ye Romaynes might well haue excused your selues for ouercomminge of vs. Greate is youre glorye O Romaynes for the victories ye haue had and tryumphes whiche of manye realmes ye haue conquered but notwithstanding greater shall your infamy be in the worlde to come for the cruelties whiche you haue committed For I let you knowe yf you do not knowe it that when the wicked went before the triumphing chariots sayeng lyue lyue inuincyble Rome on the other syde the poore captyues went sayeng in theire hartes iustice iustice My predecessours enhabited by the ryuer of Danubye for when the drye earth annoyed them they came to recreate them selues in the freshe water and if perchaunce the vnconstant water dyd annoy them then they woulde returne againe to the mayne lande And as the appetites and condicions of men are variable so there is a tyme to flye from the lande to refreshe our selues by the water And tyme also when we are annoyed with the water to retourne agayne to the lande But howe shall I speake Romaynes that whyche I woulde speake your couetousenes of taking other mennes goods hath bene so extreme your pryde of commaunding straunge countreis hath bene so disordinate that neither the sea can suffise you in the depenes thereof neyther the lande assure vs in the fieldes of the same O how great comforte it is for the troubled men to think and be assured that there are iust gods the which will do iustice on the vniust For if the oppressed menne thought them selues not assured that the gods would wreke their iniury of theire enemies they with their owne handes woulde destroy them selues The ende why I speake this is for so much as I hope in the iust gods that as you others with out reason haue cast vs out of our houses so by reason shal others come after vs and cast you others out of Italy Rome bothe There in my countrey of Germany we take it for a rule vnfallyble that he whiche by force taketh the good of another by reason ought to lose his owne proper right And I hope in the gods that that which we haue for a prouerb in Germany you shal haue for experience here in Rome By the grosse woordes I speake by the strange apparell which I weare you may well immagine that I am some rude vâ—â—laine or barbarous borne but yet notwithstandinge I want not reason to know who is iust and righteous in holdyng his owne and who is a tyraunt in possessing of others For the rude menne of my profession though in good stile they cannot declare that whiche they would vtter yet notwithstandinge that we are not ignoraunt of that whiche ought to bee allowed for good nor whiche ought to bee condemned for euill I woulde saye therfore in this case that that which the euyll with all their tiranny haue gathered in many daies the gods shall take from them in one houre and contrarywyse all that which the good shall lose in many yeres the gods will cestore it them in one minute For speaking the trueth the euill to prosper in ryches is not for that the gods will it but that they doe suffer it and though at this houre we complaine disseÌ„bling we suffer much but the tyme shal come that will paye for all Beliue me in one thing O Romaynes and doubt not therin that of the vnlawfull gaine of the fathers foloweth after the iust vndoing of their children Manye often tymes doe marueile in my countrey what the cause is that the gods doe not take from the wicked that which they winne immediatlye as soone as
mye letter wherewithe thou mayest comfort thy sorowfull harte I saye no more to thee in this case but that thoroughe the gods thou maiest haue contentacion of all that thou enioyest healthe of thy person and comfort of thy frindes the bodely euels the cruel enemies the perilous destenies be farre from me Marke In the behalfe of thy wife Rufa I haue saluted my wyfe Faustyne she and I both haue receiued with ioye thy salutaciōs and withe thankes we sent them you agayne I desire to see thy person here in Italye and wyshe my feuer quartene there with thee in Scicile ¶ An exhortacion of the autcour to Princes and noble men to embrace peace and to eschewe the occasions of warre Cap. xij OCtauian Augustus seconde Emperour of Rome is commended of all for that he was so good of his persone so welbeloued in al the Romayne Empire Suetonius Tranquillus saieth that whē any man dyed in Rome in his time they gaue greate thankes to the gods for that they toke theire life from them before theire Prince knewe what deathe ment And not contēted onely with this but in their testaments they commaunded their heires children that yearely they should offer great sacrifices of their propre goodes in al the temples of Rome to the end the goddes shoulde prolong the daies of theire prince That time in deede myghte be called the golden age and the blessed land where the prince loued so well his subiectes and the subiectes so muche obeyed their prince For seldome times it happeneth that one will bee content with the seruices of all neyther that all wil be satisfyed withe the gouernement of one The Romaines for none other cause wished for that good prince more thē for thē selues life but because he kepte the cōmon wealth in peace The vertue of this prince deserued muche praise and the good will of the people merited no lesse commendation he for deseruinge it to them and theye for geuinge it to him For to saye the truethe there are fewe in nomber that so hartely loue others that for their sakes will hate them selues There is no mā so humble but in thinges of honour will be content to goe beefore saue onelye in deathe where hee can be content to come behinde And this semethe to bee verye cleare in that that nowe dyethe the father nowe the mother nowe the husbande nowe the wyfe nowe the sonne and nowe his neigheboure in the ende euerye man is content withe the deathe of an other so that he with his owne life maye escape him selfe A prince whiche is gentle pacient stout sober pure honest and true truelye hee of righte oughte to be commended but aboue all and more then all the prince whiche keepeth his common wealthe in peace hathe greate wronge if hee be not of all beloued What good can the common wealthe haue wherein there is warre and discencion Let euery man saye what hee will wytheoute peace noe man can enioye hys owne noe man can eate wytheoute feare noe man sleapeth in good reste noe man goethe safe by the waye noe man trustethe his neighboure finallye I saye that where there is noe peace there we are threatened daylye withe deathe and euerye houre in feare of oure lyfe It is good the prince doe scoure the realme of theeues for there is nothynge more vniuste thenne that whyche the poore wythe toyle and laboure doe gette shoulde wyth vacabondes in idlenesse bee wasted It is good the prince do weede the realme of blasphemers for it is an euidente token that those whiche dare blaspheme the kynge of heauen will not let to speake euill of the princes of the earthe It is good the prynce dooe cleare the common wealthe of vacaboundes and players for playe is so euill a mote that it eatethe the newe gowne and consumethe the drye woode It is good that the prynce doe forbydde his subiectes of prodigall bankettes and superfluous apparell for where men spende muche in thynges superfluous it chaunseth afterwardes that they want of their necessaries But I aske nowe what auailethe it a prynce to banishe al vices from his common wealthe if otherwise he keepeth it in warre The end whye prynces are prynces is to folowe the good and to eschewe the euill What shall we saye therefore sins that in the time of warre prynces cannot refourme vyces nor correcte the vycyous O yf Prynces and noble men knewe what domage theye doe to theire countreye the daye that they take vppon them warre I thinke and also affyrme that theye woulde not onelye not beginne it nor yet anye pryuate persone durste scarsely remember it And hee that dothe counsaile the prynce the contrarye oughte by reason to be iudged to the common wealthe an ennemy Those whiche counsayle prynces to seke peace to loue peace to keepe peace wythout doubte they haue wronge yf they be not hearde yf they be not beeloued and yf they be not credited For the counsailer whyche for a lyghte occasyon counsayleth hys prince to begynne warre I say that vnto hym eyther color surmountethe or els good conscience wanteth It chaunsethe oftentymes that the prynce is vexed and troubled beecause one certyfyethe hym that a prouynce is rebelled or some other prince hathe inuaded his countrey and as the matter requirethe the counsaile is assembled There are some to rashe counsailours whyche immediatelye iudge peace to be broken as lyghtlye as others doe desire that warres shoulde not begynne Whan a prynce in suche a case asketh counsayle they oughte forthewithe not to aunswere hym sodaynely for thinges touchinge the warres oughte withe greate wysedome firste to be considered and then withe as muche aduisement to be determined Kynge Dauid neuer toke warre in hande thoughe he weare verye wyse but fyrste he counsayled withe Godde The good Iudas Machabee neuer ētred into battaile but firste he made his prayer vnto almightye godde The Greekes and Romaynes durste neuer make warre againste theire enemies but first they would do sacrifice to the goddes and consulte also withe their Oracles The matters of iustice the recreacions of hys persone the reward of the good the punishment of the euill and the deuydynge of rewardes a Prince maye communicate wythe anye pryuate man but all matters of warre he oughte fyrste to counsayle withe God For the prynce shall neuer haue perfyte vyctorye ouer his enemies vnlesse he firste committe the quarell thereof vnto Godde Those whiche counsaile princes whyther it bee in matters of warre or in the affaires of peace oughte allwayes to remember thys sentence that theye geeue hym suche counsayles allwayes when hee ys whole in hys chamber as theye woulde if theye sawe hym at the poynte of deathe verye sycke For at that instaunte noe manne dare speake with flatterye nor burden hys conscience thoroughe bryberye Whenne theye entreate of warre theye whyche moue it oughte to considre that if it came not well to passe all the blame shall bee imputed to they re coūsaile And if that
that is hurtful for them For wee see this that the sheepe flyeth the wolf the catt flyeth the dog the ratt flyeth the catt and the chicken the kyte so that the beasts in opening the eyes doo immediatly know the frends whō they ought to folow and the enemies whom they ought to fly To the miserable man was vtterly denyed this so great priuilege For in the world there hath been many beastly men who hath not onely attained that which they ought to know whiles they lyued but also euen as like beasts they passed their daies in this life so they were infamed at the tyme of their death O miserable creatures that wee are which lyue in this wicked world for wee know not what is hurtfull for vs what wee ought to eat from what wee ought to abstain nor yet whom wee shoold hate wee doo not agree with those whom wee ought to loue wee know not in whom to put our trust from whom wee ought to fly nor what it is wee ought too choose nor yet what wee ought to forsake Finally I say that when wee think oft times to enter into a sure hauen within .3 steps afterward wee fall headlong into the deepe sea Wee ought also to consider that both to wild and tame beasts nature hath geeuen armes or weapons to defend them selues and to assault their enemies as it appeareth for that to birds shee hath geeuen wings to the harts swiftfeete to the Elephants tushes to the serpents scales to the Eagle tallons to the Faucon a beake to the lyons teeth to the bulles hornes and to the bears pawes Finally I say that shee hath geeuen to the Foxes subtilty to know how to hyde them selues in the earth and to the fishes lyttle finnes how to swim in the water Admit that the wretched men haue few enemies yet in this they are none otherwise priuileged then the beasts for wee see without teares it cannot bee told that the beasts which for the seruice of men were created with the self same beastes men are now adays troubled and offended And to the end it seeme not wee should talk of pleasure let euery man think with him self what it is that wee suffer with the beasts of this life For the Lyons do fear vs the wolfes deuoure our sheepe the dogges doo bite vs the cattes scratche vs the Bear doth tear vs the serpents poysō vs the Bulles hurt vs with their horns the birds do ouerfly vs the ratts doo trouble vs the spiders do annoy vs and the woorst of all is that a litel flye sucketh our blood in the day the poore flea doth let vs from slepe in the night O poore and miserable mā who for to sustein this wretched life is enforced to begge al things that hee needeth of the beastes For the beasts do geeue him wool the beast do draw him water the beasts do cary him him from place to place the beasts do plough the land and carieth the corn into their barnes Finally I saye that if the mā receiue any good he hath not wherwith to make recompēce if they doo him any euill he hath nought but the tong to reuenge Wee must note also that though a man lode a best with stripes beate her driue her by the foule wayes though he taketh her meat from her yea though her yonglings dye yet for none of all these things shee is sad or sorowfull and much lesse doth weepe though shee should weepe shee cannot For beasts little esteame their life much lesse feare death It is not so of the vnhappy and wretched mā which can not but bewayle the vnthankfullnes of their frends the death of their children the want which they haue of necessityes the case of aduersitie which doo succede theim the false witnes which is brought against theym and a thousād calamities whice doo torment their harts Fynally I say that the greatest cōfort that men haue in this life is to make a riuer of water with the teares of their eyes Let vs inquire of princes and great lords what they can doo whē they are borne whether they can speak as oratours if they can ronne as postes if they can gouerne them selues as kinges if they can fyght as men of warre if they can labor as laborers if they can woork as the masons if they knew to teach as maisters these litell children would aunswer that they are not onely ignoraunt of all that wee demaund of them but also that they can not vnderstād it Let vs retourne to ask them what is that they know since they know nothing of that wee haue demaunded them they wil aunswer that they can doo none other thing but weepe at their byrth and sorow at their death Though al those which sayle in this so perillous sea doo reioyce and take pleasure and seeme too sleap soundly yet at the last there cometh the winde of aduersity which maketh them al to know their foly For if I bee not deceyued and if I know any thing of this world those which I haue seene at the time of their birth take shipp weeping I doubt whether they will take land in the graue laughing O vnhappy life I shoold say rather death which the mortalls take for life wherein afterwards wee must cōsume a great time to learn all arts sciences and offices and yet notwithstanding that whereof wee are ignorante is more thē that which wee know Wee forget the greatest part saue only that of weeping which no man needeth to learn for wee are borne and liue weeping and vntill this present wee haue seene none dye inioy Wee must note also that the beasts doo lyue and dye with the inclinations where with they were borne that is to weete that the wolfe foloweth the sheepe and not the birds the hounds follow the hares and not the ratts the sparrow flyeth at the birds and not at the fish the spider eateth the flyes and not the herbs Finally I say that if wee let the beast search hys meat quietly wee shall not see hym geeuen to any other thing The contrary of al this happeneth to men the which though nature hath created feeble yet Gods intētiō was not they should bee malitious but I am sory since they cannot auoyde debilyty that they turne it into malice The presumption which they haue to bee good they turne to pryde and the desire they haue to bee innocent they tourne into enuy The fury which they should take against malice they turne into anger and the liberality they ought to haue with thee good they conuerte into auaryce The necessity they haue to eat they turne into gluttony and the care they ought to haue of their conscience they turne into neglygence Finally I say that the more strength beasts haue the more they serue and the lesse men are worth somuch the more thanks haue they of god The innocency of the brute beast consydered and the malice of the malitious man marked without comparison the
children bee sick the death of their husbands then is renued imagining that it wil happen so vnto them as it hath doon vnto others And to say the trueth it is not maruel yf they doo fear For the vyne is in greater peril when it is budded then when the grapes are rype Other troubles oftentymes encrease to the poore widows the which amongst others this is not the least that is to weete the lytle regard of the frends of her husband and the vnthankfulnes of those which haue been brought vp wyth him The which since hee was layd in his graue neuer entred into the gates of his house but to demaund recompence of their old seruices and to renew and beegin new suits I woold haue declared or to say better breefly touched the trauels of wydows to perswade princes that they remedy them and to admonish iudges to heare them and to desire all vertuous men to comfort them For the woork of it self is so godly that hee deserueth more whych remedyeth the troubles of one only then I which write their miseries all together ¶ Of a letter whych the Emperor Marcus Aurelius wrote to a Romayn Lady named Lauinia comforting her for the death of her husband Cap. xxxvii MArcus of mount Celio Emperor of Rome cheef consull tribune of the people high Bishop appointed against the Daces wisheth health and comfort to thee Lauinia noble and woorthy Romayn matron the late wyfe of the good Claudinus According to that thy person deserueth to that which vnto thy husband I ought I think well that thou wilt suspect that I way thee litle for that vnto thy great sorows complaints lamentacions are now aryued my negligent consolaciōs When I remēber thy merits which can not fail imagin that the wilt remember my good will wherwith always I haue desired to serue thee I am assured that if thy suspitiō accuse mee thy vertu and wisedome will defend mee For speaking the trueth though I am the last to comfort thee yet I was the first to feele thy sorows As ignoraunce is the cruell scourge of vertues and spurre to all vyces so it chaunceth oft times that ouer much knowlege putteth wise men in doubt sclaundereth the innocent For asmuch as wee see by experience the most presumptuous in wisedome are those which fall into most perilous vices Wee fynd the latins much better with the ignoraunce of vyces then the Greekes with the knowledge of vertues And the reason hereof is for that of things which wee are ignorant wee haue no payn to attayn vnto them and lesse grief also to lose them My intention to tell thee this was because I knew that which I woold not haue known and haue hard that which I woold not haue hard that is to weete that the days and troubles of Claudinus thy husband are ended now thy sorows Lauinia his wife doo begin It is now a good whyle that I haue known of the death of the good Claudinus my frend thy husband though I did dissemble it And by the god Mars I swere vnto thee that it was not for that I woold not beewayl him but because I woold not discōfort thee For it were extreme cruelty that shee which was so comfortlesse sorowful for the absence of so long time shoold bee killed with my hand through the knowledge of the death of her so desired husband It were to vnkynd vnseemly a thing that shee of whom I haue receiued so many good woorks shoold receiue of mee so euil news The auncients of Carthage held for an inuiolable law that if the father did tel 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 woful lamentable death that hee shoold bee cast into the prison among them which were condemned to dye It seemed to those of Carthage that hee which sayd vnto an other that his brother kinsman or frend was dead immediatly they shoold kil him or hee ought to dye or at the least hee shoold neuer bee seene in his presence If in this case the law of the Carthagians was iust then I ought to bee excused though I haue not told thee this heauy news For as oft as wee see him who hath brought vs any euill tydings our sorows by his sight is renued agayn Since Claudinus thy husband dyed I haue not had one hower of rest for to passe thy tyme away for feare lest such woful sorowful news shoold come to thy knowlege But now that I know thou knowst it I feele double payn For now I feele his death my care and thy want of consolation the domage by his death shal folow to the romayn Empire Thou hast lost a noble Romayn valyant in blood moderat in prosperityes pacient in aduersities coragious in dangers diligent in affaires wyse in counsels faithful to his frends subtill ware of his enemies a louer of the common wealth very honest in his person aboue all whereof I haue most enuy is that hee neuer offended man in his life nor hurt any with his tong Wee fynd seldom times so many vertues assembled in one man For saying the trueth if a man did narowly examin the vyces of many which presume to bee very vertuous I swere that hee shoold fynd more to reproue then to praise Since thou hast lost so good a husband I so faithful a frend wee are bound thou to beewayl so great a losse I to sigh for so good a cōpanion And this I doo not desire for Claudine who now resteth among the gods but for vs others which remayn in danger of so many euils For the dead doo rest as in the sure hauen wee others doo saile as yet in raging sea O thou heauy hart how doo I see thee beetweene the bell the clappers that is to weete that thou wantest the company of the good art enuironed with the flock of euil For the which occasion I doubt often times whether I may first bewaill the euil which liue or the good which are dead beecause in the end the euill men doo offend vs more which wee fynd then dooth the good men which wee lose It is a great pity to see the good vertuous men dye but I take it to bee more sorow to see the euill vicious men liue As the diuine Plato saith the gods to kill the good which serue them to geeue long life to the euill which offend them is a mistery so profound that dayly wee doo lament it and yet wee can neuer attayn to the secrets therof Tell mee I pray thee Lauinia knowst thou not now that the gods are so merciful with whom wee go when wee dye that men are so wicked with whom wee bee whiles wee liue that as the euill were born to dye so the good dye to lyue for the good man though hee
and cold of the ayre that is whot and moyst of fyre that is dry and whot So that taking the world in this sort there is no reason why wee shoold complayn and lament of it since that without him wee cannot lyue corporally When the paynter of the world came into the world it is not to bee beeleeued that hee reproued the water which bare hym when hee went vppon it nor the ayre that ceased to blow in the sea nor the earth that trembled at his death nor the light which seased to lyght nor the stones which brake in sonder nor the fish whych suffred them selues to bee taken nor the trees which suffered them selues to bee drye nor the monuments that suffered them selues to bee opened For the creature knowledged in his creator omnipotency and the creator founded in the creature due obedience Oftentymes and of many parsons wee heere say o wofull world o miserable world o subtyl world o world vnstable and vnconstant And therfore it is reason wee know what the world is whereof the world is from whence this world is wherof this world is made and who is lord of thys world since in it all things are vnstable all things are miserable all disceitfull and all things are malicious which can not bee vnderstanded of this materiall world For in the fyre in the ayre in the earth and in the water in the lyght in the planets in the stones and in the trees there are no sorows there are no miseries there are no disceit nor yet any malyce The world wherein wee are born where wee lyue where wee dye differeth much from the world wherof wee doo complayn for the world agaynst whom wee fight suffreth vs not to bee in quiet one hour in the day To declare therfore my entencion this wicked world is no other thing but the euill lyfe of the worldlings where the earth is the desire the fire the couetice the water the inconstancy the ayre the folly the stones are the pride the flowers of the trees the thoughts the deepe sea the hart Fynally I say that the sonne of this world is the prosperity and the moone is the continuall chaunge The prince of this so euill a world is the deuill of whom Iesus Christ sayd The prince of this world shall now bee cast out and thys the redeemer of the world sayeth For hee called the worldlings and their worldly lyues the world For since they bee seruaunts of sinne of necessity they must bee subiects of the deuyll The pryde the auaryce the enuy the blasphemy the pleasures the lechery the neglygence the glottony the yre the malyce the vanity and the folly This is the world agaynst whych wee fight al our lyfe and where the good are princes of vyces and the vyces are lords of the vicious Let vs compare the trauels which wee suffer of the elements wyth those whych wee endure of the vyces and wee shall see that lyttle is the perill wee haue on the sea and the land in respect of that which encreaseth of our euyll lyfe Is not hee in more daunger that falleth through malyce into pryde then hee which by chaunce falleth from a high rock Is not hee who wyth enuy is persecuted in more daunger than hee that with a stone is wounded Are not they in more perill that liue among vicious men than others that liue among bruit and cruell beasts Doo not those which are tormented with the fire of couetousnes suffer greater daunger then those which lyue vnder the mount Ethna Fynally I say that they bee in greater perils whych with hygh immaginations are blynded then the trees which with the importunat wyndes are shaken And afterwards this world is our cruell enemy it is a deceitfull frend it is that which always keepeth vs in trauell it is that which taketh from vs our rest it is that that robbeth vs of our treasor it is that which maketh him self to bee feared of the good that which is greatly beeloued of the euill It is that which of the goods of other is prodigall and of his own very miserable Hee is the inuenter of all vyces and the scourge of all vertues It is hee which entertaineth al his in flattery and fair speech This is hee which bringeth men to dissention that robbeth the renowm of those that bee dead and putteth to sack the good name of those that bee aliue Fynally I say that this cursed world is hee which to all ought to render accompt and of whom none dare ask accompt O vanity of vanity where all walk in vanity where all think vanity where all cleue to vanity where all seemeth vanity and yet this is lyttle to seeme vanity but that in dede it is vanity For as false witnes shoold hee bere that woold say that in this world ther is any thing assured healthfull and true as hee that woold say that in heauen there is any vnconstant variable or false thing Let therfore vayn princes see how vayn their thoughts bee and let vs desire a vayn prince to tell vs how hee hath gouerned him wyth the vanities of the world For if hee beeleeue not that whych my penne wryteth let him beeleeue that whych hys parson prooueth The woords written in the book of Ecclesiastes are such I Dauids sonne that swaies the kingly seat with hungry thurst haue throwen amid my brest A vayn desire to proue what pleasures great In flying life haue stable foot to rest To tast the sweet that might suffise my will with rayned course to shunne the deeper way whose streams of his delight shoold so distill as might content my restles though to stay For lo queene follies imps through vayn beelief So proudly shape their serch of tickle retch that though desert auailes the waue of grief to science toppe their claimming will doth stretch And so to draw some nice delighting end Of fansies toyl that feasted thus my thought I largely wayed my wasted bounds to bend to swelling realms as wisedoms dyall wrought I ryall courts haue reached from the soyl to serue lodge my huge attending trayn Ech pleasant house that might bee heapt with toy◠I reared vp to weeld my wanton rayn I causd to plant the long vnused vynes to smooth my tast with treasure of the grape I sipped haue the sweete in flaming wynes old rust of care by hidd delight to skape Fresh arbors I had closed to the skies A shrouded space to vse my fickle feete rich gardeins I had dasing still myne eyes A pleasant plot when dainty food was meet High shaking trees by art I stroue to sett to fraight desire with fruit of leeking tast VVhen broyling flame of sommers sunne did hett the blossomd bows his shooting beams did wast From rocky hills I forced to bee brought Cold siluer springs to bayne my fruitful ground Large thrown out ponds I labord to bee wrought where nūbers huge of swimming fish were found Great compast parkes I gloried long to plant
eyther to iesters minstrels parasites flaterers loiterers or fooles First mee seemeth that a man ought not to think that fooles are capable to geeue counsayle since they haue it not for them selues for it should bee great foly to vse men as sages which of their owne will haue made them selues fooles The second mee seemeth that it is a vaine thinge to think that the iesters should serue as seruants for these vnhappy people to fly trauayle onely haue taken vpon them this office so sclaunderous Thirdly it semeth to bee a shamefast thing and of great inconuenyence that any noble and sage man should determine to haue any flatterer or iester for his famylyar frend for such ought not nor cannot bee counted among the true frends since they loue vs not for the vertue wee possesse but for the goods which wee haue Fourthly mee thinketh it a vayne thing to think that vnder the colour of pouerty it should bee iust to geeue meat to iesters or loyterers for wee cannot say the such are poore for that they want ryches but that folly aboundeth in them Since therefore a man is defamed to haue such iesters flatterers and loyterers for frends and that for beeing seruants they are vnhable and with out witt to ask them counsayle mee thynketh it is a great folly to spend hys goods on such loyterers For as their intencions to the gods onely are manifest and to men secret so their is nothing wherin the good doo approue and manyfest their intencions to bee good or euyl more then in the woordes which they speake in the companies which they keepe ¶ Marcus Aurelius goeth forward with his letter and declareth how hee found the sepulchres of many learned Philosophers in Helespont whereunto hee sent all these loyterers Cap. xlvi I will thou know Lambert that thy Ile is consecrated with the bones of many excellent men the which were banyshed by sundry tirannous Princes of Rome The auncients greatly commend that I le beecause there are therein stones caled Amatistes tame deere faire womeÌ„ familiar wolfes swift dogges of foote and pleasaunt fountaines Yet notwithstanding I will not cease to commend these things which reioyce those that bee presente and also comfort those that bee to come For I esteeme more the bones which the earth doo couer then the riches which groweth theron If thou hast not lost the sence of smelling as that I le doth sauoure vnto mee of sages so doth Rome stynk of fooles For for the time it is lesse payne to endure the stink of the beast then to heare the woordes of a foole When the warres of Asia were ended I returned home by that yle wherin I visited al the lyuing people and al the graues of the dead philosophers And for a trueth I tel thee Lambert the that iourney was veri trublesome vnto mee for here in my person endured much payne on the land I suffered dyuers daungers and on the sea I saw my selfe in sondry perils In the city of Corinthe where thou art resident at this present in the middest of the market place thou shalt finde the graue of the philosopher Panimio to whom the streight frendship auayled litel which hee had with Ouide but the enmity greatly endomaged him which hee had with Augustus the emperor Two miles from Theadfonte at the foote of the mountains Arpines thou shalt finde the graue of the famous orator Armeno who was by the coÌ„sul Scilla vniustly banished And of troth as here was much blood lost beecause Scilla should not enter into Rome so there were not few tears shed in Italye for the banishment of this philosopher In the gate of Argonata hard by the water in the top of a high rock thou shalt finde the bones of Celliodorus the Philosopher who obserued all the auncient laws and was a great enemy of those which brought in new customes and statutes This good Philosopher was banyshed in the prosperitye fury of the Marians nor for the euils they found in him but for the vyces hee reproued in them In the fyldes Heliny there was a great tomb within the which were the bones of Selleno the philosopher who was aswel learned in the .vii. lyberall artes as if hee himselfe had first inuented them And hee was banished by the Emperor Nero for beecause hee perswaded this cruel Emperor to bee merciful pyteful In the same fyeldes Heliny out of the woods towards the west part thou shalt find the graue of the philosopher Vulturnê° a man in Astrology profoundly learned which litle auayled him in his banishmeÌ„t For hee was banished by Marcus Antonius not for that Marcus Antonius would haue banished hym for hee was not offended by him but beecause his loue Cleopatra hated him as her mortal enemy For women of an euyll lyfe reuenge commonly their angry harts with the death of their especiall frends Diuers other tombs in that I le I saw the names wherof though in writing I haue them yet at this present I cannot cal them to memory Wel by the faith of an honest maÌ„ I swere vnto thee that thou shalt fynde al true which I haue told thee Now I tell thee Lambert that I visiting those graues their disciples did not beare them greater obedience when they were alyue then I dyd reuerence now they are dead And it is true also that in all that time my eyes were as much wet with water as their bones were couered with earth These philosophers were not banyshed for myscheues by their persons committed nor for sclaunders they had doon in the common wealths but beecause the deeds of our fathers deserued that they shoold bee taken from their company and wee their chyldren were not woorthy to haue the bones of so famous and renowmed sages in our custody I cannot tell if the enuy I haue to that I le bee greater or the pyty I haue of this miserable Rome for the one is immortall by the graues of the dead and the other is defamed with the lyfe of the lyuing I desire thee hartely as a frend and doo commaund thee as a seruaunt that thou keepe the pryuyleges which I geeue to that I le without breakyng any one For it is very iust that such cyties peopled with such dead should bee priuileged of the lyuing By this Centurion thou shalt know al things which are chaunced amongst the prisoners For if I should wryte al the whole matter vnto thee as it was doon I eÌ„sure thee vnto mee it would bee much paine to write it to thee great trouble to rede it It suffyceth presently to say that the day of the great solempnitie of the mother Berecinthe a sclaunderer arose in Rome by the occasion of these iesters scoffers and loyterers and by the fayth of a good man I sweare vnto thee that the blood which was shed through the places surmounted the wine which was drunk at the feast And think not that which I say to bee lytel that the blood which
aduise ought wel to bee assured that in al or the most part hee shall erre O my lord Mark sith thou art sage liuely of spirit of great experience and auncient didst not thou think that as thou hadst buried many so like wise some should burie thee What imaginacions were thine to think that seeing the end of their days others should not see the end of thy yeares Since thou diest rych honourably accompanied old and aboue all seeing thou diest in the seruice of the common wealth why fearest thou to enter into thy graue Thou hast always beene a frend as much to know things past as those which were hid and kept secret Sins thou hast proued what honors and dishonors doo deserue ryches and pouerty prosperity and aduersity ioy and sorow loue and feare vices pleasures mee seemeth that nothing remayneth to know but that it is necessarye to know what death is And also I sweare vnto thee most noble lord that thow shalt learn more in one hour what death is then in a hundreth years what life meaneth Since thou art good and presumest to bee good and hast lyued as good is it not better that thow dye goe with so many good then that thow scape and liue amongst so many euill That thou feelest death I maruell nothing at all for thou art a man but I doo maruail that thou dissemblest it not since thou art discrete Many things doo the sage men feele which inwardly doo oppresse their hart but outwardly they dissemble them for the more honor If all the poyson which in the sorowfull hart is wrapped were in small peeces in the feeble flesh scattered then the walles woold not suffice to rubbe neither the nayles to scratch vs. What other thing is death but a trap or doore where with to shut the shop wherein all the miseries of this wofull lyfe are vendible What wrong or preiudice doo the gods vnto vs whē they cal vs beefore them but from an old decaied house to chaunge vs to a new builded pallace And what other thing is the graue but a strong fort wherein wee shut our selues from the assaults of lyfe broyles of fortune Truely wee ought to bee more desirous of that wee fynd in death then of that wee leaue in lyfe If Helia Fabricia thy wife doo greeue thee for that thou leauest her yong doo not care For shee presently hath litle care of the perill wherein thy lyfe dependeth And in the end when shee shall know of thy death shee will bee nothing greued Trouble not thy self for that shee is left widow For yong women as shee is which are maried with old men as thou when their husbands dye they haue their eies on that they can robbe and their harts on them whom they desire to mary And speaking with due respect when with their eies they outwardly seeme most for to beewaile then with their harts inwardly doo they most reioyce Deceyue not thy self in thinking that the empresse thy wife is yong and that shee shal fynd none other Emperor with whom agayn shee may mary For such and the like will chaunge the cloth of gold for gownes of skynnes I mean that they woold rather the yong shepeheard in the field then the old emperour in his royall pallace If thou takest sorow for the children whom thou leauest I know not why thou shooldst do so For truely yf it greeue thee now for that thou dyest they are more displeased for that thow lyuest The sonne that desireth not the death of his father may bee counted the onely Phenix of this world for if the father bee poore he wisheth him dead for that hee is not maintained if hee bee rich hee desireth his death to enherit the sooner Sins therefore it is true as in deede it is it seemeth not wisedome that they sing thou weepe If it greue thee to leaue these goodly pallaces these sūptuous buildings deceiue not thy self therein For by the god Iupiter I sweare vnto thee that since that death dooth finish thee at the end of .lxii. yeares tyme shal consume these sūptuous buildings in lesse then xl If it greeue thee to forsake the cōpany of thy frends neighbors for them also take as litle thought sins for thee they wil 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 buryed but of their frends neighbors they are forgotten If thou takest great thought for that thou wilt not dye as the other emperors of Rome are dead mee seemeth that thou oughtst allso to cast this sorow from thee For thou knowst ryght wel that Rome hath accustomed to bee so vnthankful to those which serue her that the great Scipio also woold not bee buryed therein If it greeue thee to dye to leaue so great a seignory as to leaue the empire I can not think that such vanity bee in thy head For temperat reposed men when they escape from semblable offices do not think that they lose honor but that they bee free of a troblesome charge Therefore if none of al these things moue thee to desire lyfe what should let thee that through thy gates enter not death it greeueth men to dye for one of these two things eyther for the loue of those they leaue beehynd them or for the feare of that they hope Sins therefore there is nothing in this lyfe worthy of loue nor any things in death why wee shoold feare why doo mē feare to dye According to the heauy sighs thou fetchest the bitter tears thou she dest according also to the great payn thou shewest for my part I think that the thing in thy thought most forgotten was that the gods shoold cōmaund thee to pay this debt For admit that al think that their life shal end yet no man thinketh that death wil come so soone For that men think neuer to dye they neuer beeginne their faults to amend so that both life fault haue end in the graue togethers Knowst not thou most noble prince that after the long night cōmeth the moist morning Doost thou not know that after the moyst morning there commeth that cleere sunne Knowst not thou that after the cleare sunne cōmeth the cloudy element Doost thou not know that after the dark myst there commeth extream heat And that after the heat cometh the horrible thunders after the thunders the sodeyn lightnings that after the perilous lightnings commeth the terrible hayle Fynally I say that after the tempesteous troublesome time commonly commeth cleare faire weather The order that time hath to make him self cruel gentill the self same ought men to haue to liue dye For after the infancy cōmeth chyldhod after chyldhod commeth youth after youth cōmeth age after age cōmeth the fearfull death Finally after the fearful death cōmeth the sure life Oftentimes I haue read of thee not seldome hard that
aduertise thee my sonne that when thou takst counsayle thou beehold with thy eyes the inconuenience as wel as the remedyes which they shal offer vnto thee For the true coūsaile consisteth not to tel what they ought to doo but to declare what therof is like to succeede When that shalt enter prise my sonne great weighty affayres asmuch oughtst thou to regard the litle damages for to cut thē of in time as the great mishaps to remedy them For oftentymes it chaunceth that for the negligēce of taking vp a gutter the whole house falleth to the ground Notwithstanding I tell thee thou take counsayl I meane not that thou oughtst to bee so curious as for euery trifle to cal thy coūsayle For there are many things of such quality that they would bee immediatly put in execution they doo endomage thēselues attending for coūsayle That which by thine owne aucthority thou maist dispatch with out the domage of the common wealth referre it to no other person here in thou shalt bee iust shalt doo iustice confourmable For considering that thy seruice dependeth onely of them the reward which they ought to haue ought to depēd onely on thee I remember that when Marius the Cōsul came from the warres of Numidia hee deuided all the treasour hee brought amongst his souldyers not putting one iewell into the common treasour And when heere of hee was accused for that hee had not demaūded licence of the senat hee aunswered them It is not iust I take counsayle with others for to geeue recompēce to those which haue not taken the opinions of others to serue mee Thou shalt fynde my sonne a kinde of mē which are very hard of money and exceeding prodigall of counsaile There are also dyuers lenders which without demaūding them doo offer to giue it With such lyke men thou shalt haue this counsaile neuer looke thou for good coūsaile at that man whose counsaile tendeth to the preiudice of another For hee offreth woords to thy seruice trauaileth thy busines to his owne profyt As the gods gaue mee long life of these things haue I had great experience wherin I let thee know that for the space of .xv yeares I was consull Senator Censor Pretor Questor Edil Tribune after al this I haue been .18 yeares emperor of Rome wherin al those which haue spoken most against mee touched the profit or damage of another The chief intencion of those which folow the courts of Princes are to procure to augment their houses And if they cannot com to that they seeke to dimynish the of another not for that any profit should folow vnto them therof bee it neuer so litle but beecause mans malyce is of such condicion that it esteemeth the profit of another his own domage 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 gyfts rewards which they hope to haue of hym And this seemeth to bee true for the day that Princes shal cease to geeue thē the self same day beegyn they to hate hym So that such seruaunts wee cannot call frends of our persons but couetous of our goods That thou loue my sonne the one aboue the other thou mayst ryght well but I aduertyse thee that thou nor they doo make any semblaunce in such sort that al doo know it For if thou doost otherwyse they wil murmure at thee wyll all persecute thee Hee incurreth into no smal peryll nor hath no lytle trouble which is aboue al of the Prince beeloued of the people hated For then hee is hated persecuted of all And yet more domage ensueth vnto him of the enmyty of al then dooth of the loue of the prince alone For sometimes the gods permitting it and his beehauiour deseruing it the Prince dooth cease to loue him therewith his enemyes beegyn to persecute hym From the tyme I knew what meaned to gouerne a cōmon weale I haue always determined neuer to keepe man in my house one day after I know him to bee an enemy to the common wealth In the yeare of the foundacion of Rome 649. Lucius Lucullus the Senator going to the warres agaynst Mithridate by chaūce found a tablet of copper in the city called Triganie the which was at the gate of the kyng of that prouynce And on that same was engrauen certayne Caldean letters the which in effect sayed these wordes The prince is not sage who wyll put in hazard the state of his common wealth for the onely commoditye of one alone For the seruyce of one cannot auayle against the loue of al. The prince is not sage the for to enrich one alone seeketh to empouerish all For it is a thing vntollerable that the one doo labour the fyelds and the other doo gather the fruit The Prince is not iust which wil satisfy the couetousnes of one more then the seruice of all for there is meane to pay the seruices of the good and there is no ryches to satisfy the couetousnes of the euyl The Prince is a foole that despyseth the counsaile of all and trusteth in the opinyon of one For though there bee in a great shippe but one Pilot yet it needeth manye Marryners Bold is the Prince which to loue one onely wylbee hated of al for noble Princes ought to think it much profyt to bee beeloued and much more displeasure to bee hated These were the woords which were wrytten in that tablet worthy of eternal memory And I wil tel thee further in this case that Lucullus the Senator sent on the one part the tablet of copper where these woords were and on the other part the coffers where in hee had brought the ryches to the end the senat should choose one and leaue the other The senate despysing the riches and treasours choose the tablet of counsayles ¶ The Emperor foloweth his matter and exhorteth his sonne vnto certain particuler things woorthy to bee engraued in the harts of men Cap. lvi VNtil now I haue spoken as a father to his sonne that which toucheth thy profit Now I will tel thee what thou shalt doo 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 shal bee of thee esteemed after my death doo not resēble many children which after their fathers haue closed their eyes doo remember them no more For in such case though in deed the fathers bee dead buried yet they are alwayes liuing to cōplaine to the Gods of their children Though it seemeth not to bee sclaunderous yet it is more perilus to contend with the dead then to iniure the lyuing And the reason is for that the lyuing may reuenge are for to aunswere but the dead cannot make aunswer much lesse they can bee reuenged And in such case the Gods doo take their cause in protection some times they execute such
Alexander emperoure hauing warre with the people of that Isle made a strong castle ¶ Of that whiche chaunced vnto Antigonus a citezen of Rome in the time of Marcus Aurelius Cap. ii AT the same time when this woful chaunce happened in the Isle there dwelled a Romaine in the same citie called Antigonus a man of a noble bloud and wel stroken in age who with his wife and doughter were banished two yeares before from Rome The cause of his banishment was this There was an olde laudable custome in Rome instituted by Quintus Cincinatus the dictatour that two of the most auncient senatours should â—o with the censour newly created in the moneth of December to visite al Rome and to examine seuerally euery Romain declaring vnto him the .xii. tables also the particular decrees of the senate demaunding of theim if they knewe any man that had not obserued these lawes and if they did they should enfourme the senate thereof And so euery man should receiue condigne punishment according to his offence But thei neuer punished before they warned for they vsed the one yeare to admonishe them of their faultes and the next yeare if they dyd not amende to punyshe theim or elles to banyshe theim These were the wordes of the lawe in the fift table and thyrde chapter The sacret senate doth ordeyne the happy people do consent the auncient colonies doe allowe that if men as men in one yeare doe trespasse that men as men for that yeare doe wynke at them but if they as euill men doe not amende that then the good as good doe punishe them Moreouer the lawe sayde the first faultes are dissembled withall because they are committed through weake ignoraunce but the second shal be punished because they proceade of negligence and malice This inquiry was made in the moneth of December because in the moneth of Ianuary folowynge the officers of Rome were elected And it was reason the good from the euill should be knowen to th entent they might knowe who merited to haue them who deserued to go without them The chiefe cause why this Antigonus his wife and his doughter were banished was this It was ordeined by the eleuenth emperour of Rome Augustus that no man should be so hardy as to pisse nere the dores of any temple And Caligula the fourth emperour coÌ„maunded that no womaÌ„ should geue or sel any letters of witchecrafts to hange about the peoples neckes to deliuer them from the feuer quartaine And Cato the censour made a lawe that neither young maÌ„ nor mayde should talke togethers at the conduictes where they vsed to fetche water nor at the ryuer where they washed their clothes nor at the bakehouse where they baked their bread because al the wanton youth of Rome ordinarely haunted one of these two places It chaunced when the censours and consulles visited the warde of mounte Celio Antigonus who dwelled thereby was accused to haue pissed against the walles of the temple of Mars and his wife likewyse was complained of for selling wrytinges to cure the feuers and his doughter was noted for one that commonly haunted the conduictes riuers and bakehouses to talke with younge men the whiche in those daies was a great shame to maydes of Rome The censours therefore seinge the euill president whiche they founde in the house of Antigonus at that tyme registred also before and that he had bene gently thereof admonished banished him into the Isle of Scicilly for as long time as it should please the senate And lyke as in sumptuous and goodly buyldinges one stone falleth not without shakyng of an other so it chaunceth likewyse to men For commonly one mischaunce commeth not alone but that another immediatly foloweth I speake it for this purpose for that Antigonus was not onely depriued of his honoure goodes and countrey but also by an earth quake his house fel down to the ground slewe his dearest beloued doughter Whyles both these great mischaunces happened I meane of the monstre of Scicily and of the banishement of Antigonus from Rome Marke the emperour was in the warres againste the Argonautes where he receiued a letter from Antigonus of his banishemente whereof the emperoure was marueylous sory as it appeareth by the aunswere whiche he sent to comforte him ¶ Howe Marcus Aurelius sought the wealth of his people and howe his people loued him Cap. iii. IN the seconde yeare that Marke was elected emperour the .xlv. of his age when he retourned from the conquest of the Germaines the Argonautes from whence he brought great ryches and treasures to the Romaine empire he to reste him selfe and to appointe his men lay at Salon vntil such time as the Romaines had prepared all thinges conuenient for suche a glorious triumphe There was one thing done whiche neuer was sene in Rome for that same day of his triumphe his sonne Comodus by the assent of the whole people of Rome was chosen emperour after the death of his father He was not chosen at the request of his father for he was against it saiyng that the empire ought not to be geuen for the merites of those whiche are dead but he should be chosen for his own good workes being aliue This emperour said oftentimes that then Rome should be vndone when the election shal be takeÌ„ from the senate when the emperour shal enherite the empire by patrimony Now to come to our matter themperour being at Salon trauayled much to bring his men into Rome in good order and Rome was more careful for to receiue him triumphantly as it appertained to such a great conqueste He was marueilously wel beloued of al the empire and he alwayes studied the wealthe of his people and they were alwayes most faithful in his seruices So that sundry times there was a question moued in the senate whiche of these two thinges was better beloued Either the emperour of his people or the people of their emperour So that one day they appointed two iudges in this case the one was the Embassadour of the Parthes and the other was the Embassadour of the Rhodes and the information was geuen on bothe partes in writing The emperour alleaged the great profite that he had done to the common wealth and the many euils which he had deliuered it from On the other part the senatours declared the good dedes they had done in his absence and the great loue they bare him alwayes in his presence So likewyse the emperour an other day moued an other question to the senate affirming that it was more glory for him to haue such subiectes then for them to haue such an emperour The senate denied it affirming that the coÌ„fort was greater that they had of him then that which he could haue of them And in this wise the emperour gaue the glory to his people and the people gaue the glory to their emperour Thus merily this matter was reasoned of againe It was a pleasaunt thing to heare the reasons
Gods wyll that the heire and heritage should perishe Marke what I saye I had two sonnes Comodus and the prince Verissimus the yonger is dead that was greatest in vertue Alway I imagined that whyle the good liued I should be poore and nowe that the euill remayneth I thinke to be riche I will tell thee the cause the Gods are so pitifull that to a poore father they neuer geue euill childe and to a ryche father they neuer geue a good childe And as in all prosperitie there chaunceth alwayes some sinister fortune either sone or late so therewith fortune doth arme and apparell vs wherein she seeth we shall fall to our greatest hurte And therefore the Gods permit that the couetous fathers in gathering with greate trauayle should die with that hurte to leaue their ryches to their vicious children I wepe as muche for my childe that the Gods haue left me as for him that they haue taken from me For the small estimation of him that lyueth maketh immortall memory of him that is dead The ill rest and conuersation of them that liue cause vs to sighe for the company of them that be dead The ill is alway desired for his ilnesse to be dead and the good alwaye meriteth to haue his death bewayled I saye my frende Catullus I thought to haue lost wy wytte when I sawe my sonne Verissimus die but I tooke comforte againe for either he of me or I of him must see the ende considering that the Gods did but lende him to me and gaue him not and howe they be inheritours I to haue the vse of the fruite For all thinges is measured by the iust wyll of the Gods and not by our inordinate wylles and appetites I thinke when they toke away from me my childe I restored him to another and not that they haue taken myne But sithe it is the wyll of the Gods to geue rest to the good childe and hurte the father because he is euill I yelde thankes to theim for the season that they haue suffered me to enioye his life and for the pacience that I haue taken for his death I desire them to mitigate therewith the chasticement of their yre And I desire sith they haue taken away the lyfe from this childe to plante good customes in the prince myne other sonne I knowe what heauinesse thou haste taken in Rome for my sorow I praye the Gods to sende thee ioy of thy children and that I may rewarde thee with some good pleasure for that thou hast wept for my payne My wyfe Faustine saluteth thee and truly thou wouldest haue had compassion to see her for she wepeth with her eies and sigheth with her harte and with her handes hurteth her selfe and curseth with her tongue She eateth nothing on the daye nor sleapeth in the night She loueth darkenes and abhorreth light and thereof I haue no marueyle for it is reason that for that was nourished in her entrayles she should fele sorowe at her hart And the loue of the mother is so strong that though her childe be dead and layed in graue yet alwayes she hath him quicke in her harte It is a general rule that the persone that is entierly beloued causeth euer great griefe at his death And as for me I passe the life right sorowfully though I shew a ioyfull face yet I want mirth at my harte And among wyse men being sorowful and shewing their faces mercy is none other thing but burying the quicke hauing no sepulture And I sweare by the Gods immortall I feele muche more than I haue saide And diuers times me thinke I should fall downe because I dare not wepe with myne eyes yet I fele it inwardly in my harte I would fayne common with thee in diuers thinges Come I praye thee to Briette to the entent that we may speake together And sithe it hath pleased the Gods to take my chylde fro me that I loued so well I would counsayle with thee that arte my louing frende But few dayes passed there came thither an Embassadour fro the Rhodes to whom I gaue the moste parte of my horses and fro the farthest parte of Spayne there were brought me eight of the which I send the foure I would they were such as might please ye. The gods be thy saulfegard send me my wife som coÌ„fort Marcus Aurelius right sorowfull hath written this with his owne hande ¶ A letter sent by Marcus Aurelius Emperour to Catullus Censoâ—ius of the newes which at that time were at Rome Cap. ix MArcus the new Censore to thee Catullus now aged sendeth salutations There are ten daies paste that in the temple of God Ianus I receiued thy letter And I take that same God to witnes that I had rather haue sene thy persone Thou desirest that my letters may be longe but the sshortnes of tyme maketh me to aunswere thee more briefly than I would Thou wyllest me to geue thee knowledge of the newes here Therto I anwere that it were better to demaunde if there were any thing remayning here in Rome or Italy that is olde For nowe by our euill destinies all that is good and olde is ended and newe thinges which be euil nowe begynne The Emperour the Consull the Tribune the Senatours the Ediles the Flamines the Pretours the Centurions all thinges be newe saue the veretues which be old We passe the time in making newe officers in deuisinge newe counsailes in raysing newe subsidies In suche wyse that there hath bene now mo nouelties within these foure yeres theÌ„ in time passed in .400 yeres We now assemble together .300 to couÌ„sel in the capitol and there we bragge and boste sweare and promise that we will exalte the vertuous and subdue the vitious fauour the right and not winke at the wrong punishe the euil and rewarde the good repayre olde and edefie new plucke vices vp by the rootes and to plant vertues to amend the olde and folow the good reproue tyrauntes and assist the poore and when that we are gone from thence they that spake beste wordes are often taken with the worst dedes Oh wicked Rome that now a daies hath such senatours which in sayinge we wil doe we wil doe passe their life and so euery man seking his owne profite forgetteth the weale publyke Oftentimes I am in the senate to behold others as they regard me I maruaile much to heare the eloquence of their wordes the zeale of iustice and the iustification of their persons and after that I come thence I am ashamed to see their secret extortions their damnable thoughtes and their il workes And yet ther is an other thing of more marueile not to be suffered that such persones as are most defamed and vse most wicked vices with their most damnable incencioÌ„s make their auowes to doe moste extreame iustice It is an infallible rule and of humain malice most vsed that he that is most hardy to coÌ„mit greatest crimes is most cruel to
wynne as your fathers did All their exercyse was in goodnes and ye that are their chyldren passe all your tyme in ceremonies I saye this ye Romaines because ye haue almoste killed me with laughing at you to see how ye doe all as muche your diligence to leaue your armure without the gate of the Senate as your predecessours did take to them to defende the Empire What profite is it to you to leaue of these armours which hurte the bodies and to put on them those which slea al the world What profiteth it to the careful suiter that the senatour entreth vnarmed into the senate without sweard or dagger his hart entreth into the senate armed with malice O Romains I wil ye know that in our ysle we esteme you not as armed captaines but as malicious senatours You feare vs not with sharpe grounden swoordes and daggers but with hard hartes venemous tongues If ye should in the senate put on harneis therwith take away your liues it were but a small losse seing that ye susteine not the innocentes nor dispatche not the businesse of suiters I can not suffer it I can not tell in what state ye stande here at Rome for in our isle we take armoure from fooles whether your armoures are taken away as from fooles or mad folkes I wot not If it be done for ambitiousnes it cometh not of Romaines but of tyrauntes that wranglers and ireful folke should be iudges ouer the peacible the ambicions ouer the meke the malicious ouer the simple If it be done because ye be fooles it is not in the lawes of the gods that three hundred fooles should gouerne three hundred thousand wise men It is a long season that I haue taried for mine aunswere and licence by your delaies I am nowe farther of then I was the first day We bring oyle hony saffron wood and timber salte siluer And sold out of our ysle into Rome ye wyl that we go els where to seke iustice Ye wil haue one lawe to gather your rentes and another to determine our iustice Ye wyl that we pay our tributes in one day ye wil not discharge one of our errandes in a whole yeare I require you Romaines determine your selues to take away our liues and so we shall ende or els heare our cōplaintes to the entent that we may serue you For in another maner it may be that ye know by hearing with your eares which peraduēture ye would not see with your eyes And if ye thinke my wordes be out of measure so that ye wyl remedy my countrey I set not by my lyfe And thus I make an ende Verely frende Catullus these be the woordes that he spake to the senate which I gate in wryting I say of trouth that the hardinesse that the Romaines were wont to haue in other countreis the same as now straungers haue in Rome There were that saide that this Embassadour should be punished but God forbid that for sayinge trouth in my presence he shoulde haue bene corrected It is enough to much to to suffer these euils though we slea not and persecute those that aduertise and warne vs of them The shepe are not in sucrtie of the wolfe but if the shepehearde haue his dogge with him I meane dogges ought not to leaue barkinge for to awake the shepeherdes There is no God commaundeth nor lawe counsayleth nor cōmon wealth suffereth that they whiche are committed to chastice lyers should hange them that saye trouthe And sithe the senatours shewe them selues men in their liuing and sometime more humaine than other that be Sclaues who els should deliuer theim from chasticement Oh Rome and no Rome hauing nothing but the name of Rome where is nowe become the noblenesse of thy triumphes the glory of thy children the rectitude of thy iustice and the honour of thy temples For as now they chastice him more that murmureth against one only senatour thā thei do them that blaspheme al the gods at once For it greueth me more to se a senatour or cēsore to be worst of al other than it displeaseth me that it should be said that he is the best of all other For of a trouth I saye to thee my frende Catullus that as nowe we nede not to seke to the Gods in the temples for the Senatours are made gods in our handes There is difference betwene them that be immortall and they that be mortall For the Gods neuer doe thing that is euill and the Senatours doe neuer any thinge well The Gods neuer lye and they neuer saye trouthe The gods pardon often and they neuer forgeue The gods are content to be honoured fiue times in the yeare and the Senatours would be honoured ten times a daye What wilt thou that I saye more but what so euer the Gods doe they ought to be praysed and the Senatours in all their workes deserue to be reproued Finally I conclude that the Gods are constant in euery thing and erre and faile in nothing and the Senatours assure nothing but erre in all thing Onely in one thing the Senatours are not of reason to be chasticed and that is when they intende not to amende their faultes they will not suffer the Oratours to wast their time to shewe them the trouth Be it as may be I am of the opinion that what man or woman withdraweth their eares from hearing of trouth impossible it is for them to applie their hartes to loue any vertues be it Censore that iudgeth or Senanatour that ordeineth or Emperour that commaundeth or Consul that executeth or Oratour that preacheth No mortall man take he neuer so good heede to his workes nor reason so well in his desires but that he deserueth some chasticement for some cause or counsayle in his doinges And sithe I haue written to thee thus of others I wyl somewhat speake of my selfe because of the words of thy letter I haue gathered that thou desirest to know of my persone Knowe thou for certaine that in the kalendes of Ianuary I was made Censore in the senate the which office I desired not nor I haue not deserued it The opinion of al wyse men is that no man without he lack witte or surmounteth in folly wil gladly take on him the burdein charges of other men A greater case it is for a shamefast man to take on him an office to please euery man for he must shewe a countenaunce outwarde contrary to that he thinketh inward Thou wilt say that the good are ordeined to take the charge of offices O vnhappy Rome that hath willed to take me in such wyse as to be the best in it Greuous pestilence ought to come for thē that be good sithe I am scaped as good amonge the euill I haue accepted this office not for that I had nede thereof but to fulfil the cōmaundement of Antonius my graundfather Haue no marueile of any thing that I do but of that I leaue to be done