of Athens no vycious man could enter nor idle word be spoken neither they dyd consent that any ignoraunt philosopher should come in to read there As by chaunce many phylosophers were come from the mout Olimpus amongest the residue ther was one came to se the phylosophers of Athens who was natife of Thebes a man as afterwards he declared him selfe in mortal natural Phylosophy very wel learned and since he desired to remayne in Athens he was examined and of many and dyuers thyngs demaunded And amongest the others these folowing were some of them Firste they asked him what causeth women to be so frowarde since it is true that nature made them shamefast and created them simple the Philosopher aunswered A Woman is not frowarde but bycause she hath to much her wil and wanteth shame Secondarily they asked him why yong men are vndone he aunswered bycause time aboundeth them for to do euil and maysters wanteth to enforce them to do good Thirdly they asked him why are wise men deceyued aswel as the simple he aunswered The wise man is neuer deceyued but by him that vseth faire words and hath euil condicions Forthly they asked him of whom mē ought most to beware he aunswered That ther is to a man no greater enemye then he which seeth that thing in the which he desireth to haue in him selfe Fifthly they asked him why many princes beginne wel and end euil he aunswered princes begin wel bycause their nature is good they end euil bycause no man doth gaine say them Sixtly they asked him why do princes comit such follyes he aunswered Bicause flatterers aboundeth that deceiue them true men wanteth which should serue them Seuenthly they asked him why the auncients were so sage men at thys present so simple he aunswered Bycause the auncients did not procure but to know they present do not trauaile but for to haue Eightly they asked him why so many vyces were nourished in the pallace of princes he aunswered Bycause pleasures abound and councel wanteth The ninth they asked him why the most part of mē liued without rest few without paine he aunswered No man is more without suffereth more paine thē he which dieth for the goods of another litle estemeth his owne The tenth they asked him wherby they myght know the common wealth to be vndone he aunswered There is no comon wealth vndone but where the yong are light and the old vicious The xi they asked him wherwith the comon wealth is mainteyned he aunswered The common wealth cannot decay wher iustice remayneth for the poore punishment for the tiraunts weight and measure plentiful chefely if ther be good doctrine for the yong lytle couetousnes in the old Affro the historiographers declareth this in the x boke De rebus attheniensium Truly in my opinion the words of this philosopher were few but the sentences were many And for none other cause I dyd bring in this history but to profite me of the last word wherin for aunswere he saith that al the profite of the commō wealth consisteth in that ther be princes that restrayne the auarice of the aged that there be maisters to teach the youthful We se by experience that if the brute beasts were not tied the corne seedes compassed with hedges or ditches a man should neuer gather the fruite when they are ripe I meane that strife debate wil rise continually amonge the people if the yonge men haue not good fathers to correct them wise maisters to teach them We cānot deny but though the knife be made of fyne steele yet sometimes it hath nede to be whet so in lyke maner the yong man during the time of his youth though he do not deserue it yet from time to time he ought to be corrected O princes great lords I know not of whom you take councell when your sonne is borne to prouyde him of a maister gouernour whom you chose not as the most vertuous but as the most richest not as the most sagest but as the most vile euil taught Finally you do not trust him wyth your children that best deserueth it but that most procureth it Againe I say O princes great lords why do you not wtdraw your childrē from their hands which haue their eyes more to their owne profite thē their harts vnto your seruice For such to enrich themselues do bring vp princes vyciously Let not princes thinke that it is a trifle to know how to find chose a good master the lord which herein doth not employ his dyligence is worthy of great rebuke And because they shal not pretend ignoraunce let them beware of that man whose life is suspicious and extreame couetous In my opinion in the palace of princes the office of tutorship ought not to begeuen as other comon offices that is to wete by requestes or money by priuyties or importunities eyther els for recompence of seruices for it foloweth not though a man hath ben imbassadour in straunge realmes or captaine of great armies in warre or that he hath possessed in the roial palace offices of honour or of estemaciō that therfore he should be able to teach or bring vp their children For to be a good captayne sufficeth only to be hardy and fortunate but for to be a tutour and gouernour of princes he ought to be both sage and vertuous ¶ Of the ii children of Marcus Aurelius the Emperour of the which the best beloued dyed And of the maisters he prouided for the other named Comodus ▪ Chap. xxxv MArcus Aurelius the xvii Emperour of Rome in that time that he was maried with Faustine only doughter of the Emperour Antonius Pius had only ii sonnes wherof the eldest was Comodus and the second Verissimus Of these ii chyldren the heyre was Comodus who was so wycked in the 13 yeres he gouerned the empire that he semed rather the disciple of Nero the cruel then to descend by the mothers syde from Anthonius the mercifull or sonne of Marcus Aurelius This wicked chyld Comodus was so light in speach so dishonest in parson so cruel with his people that oft tymes he being aliue they layed wagers that ther was not one vertue in him to be found nor any one vyce in him that wanted On the contrary part the second sonne named Verissimus was comely of gesture proper of personne in witte verye temperate the most of al was that by his good conuersacion of al he was beloued For the faire and vertuous princes by theyr beauty draweth vnto them mens eyes by their good conuersacion they winne their harts The child Verissimus was the hope of the comon people the glory of his aged father so that the Emperour determined that this chyld Verissimus shold be heyre of the Empire and that the prince Comodus should be disherited Wherat no man ought to maruaile for it is but iust since the child
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
lyeth truly I thinke none O vnkind mothers my penne had almost called you cruel stepmothers since you lay vp in your hart the cursed mouâ—ke of the ground and sende out of your houses that which sprang of your bloud And if women shold say vnto me that they are weake feable tender that now they haue found a good nourse to this I aunswere that the nourse hath smal loue to the child which she nourisheth when she seeth the vngentlenes of the mother that bare it For truly she alone doth norishe the child with loue that heretofore hath borne it with paine The second reason is that it is a thing very iust that women should nourishe their children to the end they may be lyke vnto their conditions For otherwise they are no children but are enemyes for the child that doth not reuerence his mother that bare him can not enioye a prosperous life Synce the intention of the parentes in bringing vp their children is for none other purpose but to be serued of them when they are old they shal vnderstande that for this purpose ther is nothing more necessary then the milke of the proper mother for wher the child sucketh the milke of a straunger it is vnlikely that it should haue the condicions of the mother If a kidde sucke a shepe they shal perceiue it shal haue the wolle more faire the nature more gentle then if he had sucked a Goate which hath the wolle more hard of nature is more wild wherin the prouerbe is verefied not from whence thou commest but wherof thou feedest It auayleth a man much to haue a good inclinacion but it helpeth him much more from his infancye to be wel taught For in the end we profite more with the customes wherwith we lyue then we do by nature from whence we came The third reason is that women ought to nourish their owne children because they shold be hole mothers not vnperfect for the woman is counted but halfe a mother that beareth it likewise halfe a mother that nourisheth it but she is the hole mother that both beareth it nourisheth it After the duetie considered vnto the father that hath created vs vnto the sonne that hath redeamed vs me thinketh next we owe the greatest duty vnto the mother that hath borne vs in her body and much more it is that we should beare vnto her if she had nourished vs with her owne breastes For when the good child shall behold his mother he ought more to loue her bycause she nourished hym wyth her mylke thenne bycause she hath borne hym in her body ¶ The Aucthour stil perswadeth women to giue their owne children sucke Cap. xix IN the yere of the foundacion of Rome fiue hundred two After the obstinate cruel warre betwene Rome Carthage where the renowmed captaines wer Hannibal for the Carthagians Scipio for the Romaines sone after that warre followed the warre of Macedonie against kinge Philip The which when it was ended that of Siria began against Antiochus king of Siria For in .630 yeres the Romanes had alwaies continuall warres in Asia in Affricke or in Europe The noble Romanes sent the consul Cornelius Scipio brother to the great Scipio the Affrican for captaine of that warre And after many battayles fortune shewed her force in a Citie called Sepila the which is in Asia the great where king Antiochus was ouercome and all his realme discomfited for trees that haue their rootes plucked vppe must nedes within short time lose their fruites After that kinge Antiochus was ouercome his land spoiled Cornelius Scipio came vnto Rome triumphinge for the victorie that he had of Asia so that as his brother for the victorie that he had of Affrica was called Affricane so he was called Scipio the Asian because he vanquished Asia The captaines of Rome loued honour so much that they would no other reward nor recompence of their trauaile but that they shoulde geue them the renowme of the realme which they had ouercome Truly they had reason for the noble hartes ought lytle to esteme the increase of their riches ought greatly to esteme the perpetuite of their good name As Sextus Cheronensis saithe in his third booke De ambigua iusticia that Cornelius Scipio had a long time the gouerment of the people forasmuch as he was consul censour and Dictatour of Rome for he was not onely hardy and couragious but also he was sage and wise which thinge ought greatly to be esteamed in a man For Aristotle doth not determine it which of these two is most excelleÌ„t eyther stoutnes to fight in the warres or policye to rule in peace Scipio therfore being Dictatour which was an office then as the Emperour is now it chaunced that the x. captaines which had bene with him in the warres violently fought to haue entred into the Monastery of the virgines vestalles wherfore the Dictatour commaunded their heades to be cut of For the Romaines punished more cruelly those that only required the virgins vestalls then those that forced the maried matrones Cornelius Scipio was besought of many in Rome that he would moderate chaunge his so cruel sentence And he which most in this case did importune him was his brother Scipio the Affrican whose praier was not accepted how be it in the end they sayde the captaines wer pardoned by the request of a sister of the said Dictatour Scipio the Affrican And bycause he blamed his brother Scipio that he had done more for the doughter of his nourse then for the sonne of his proper mother he aunswered I let the wete brother that I take her more for my mother that brought me vp and did not beare me then she which hath borne me and in my infancye hath forsaken me And since I haue had her for my true mother it is but reasonne that I haue thys for my deare and welbeloued sister These were the woordes which passed betwene these two brethren I haue diligently red in holy and prophane wrytinges that many tirauntes haue caused their owne mothers to be killed whiche bare them but I could neuer find that they haue done any discurtesye or disobedience to the nourses whyche gaue them milke For the cruell tirauntes doo thirste after the bloude of others but they feare theym whose milke they sucke The fourthe reasonne that byndethe womenne to nourishe their children is to kepe them in more obedience for if the fathers liue long time they must of force come into the handes of their children And let not olde fathers make their accompts saying that during the time that they shall haue the gouernement of the house their children shal be kepte in obedience for in so doing they might abuse them selues For yong men in their youth fele not the trauayles of this life nor knowe not as yet what it meaneth to make prouision for householde For to the stomacke that is ful and cloyed with eating al meates
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
chose the good for lack of force cannot resiste the euil which is the cause that noble mens children ofttimes cōmit sondrye heynous offences For it is an infallible rule that the more a mā geueth him selfe to pleasures the more he is entangled in vices It is a thing worthy to be noted and woful to see how politike we be to augmente thinges of honour how bolde we be to enterprise them how fortunate to compas them how diligent to kepe them how circumspect to susteine them and afterwarde what pitie is it to see how vnfortunate we are to lose all that whiche so longe time we haue searched for kept and possessed And that which is moste to be lamented in this case is that the goodes and honour are not lost for wante of diligence trauaile of the father but for the aboundaunce of pleasures and vices of the sonne Finallye let the riche man knowe that that which he hath wonne in labour and toyle waking his sonne being euill brought vp shall consume in pleasures sleaping One of the greatest vanities that reigneth at this day among the children of vanitie is that the father can not shew vnto his sonne the loue which he beareth him but in suffering him to be brought vp in the pleasures and vanities of this life Truly he that is such a one ought not to be called a pitifull father but a cruel stepfather for no man wil denie me this but that where there is youth libertie pleasure and money there will all the vices of this world be resident Lycurgus the great king geuer of lawes and sage philosopher ordeined to the Lacedemonians that all the children whiche were borne in cities good townes should be sent to bringe vp in villages till they were .xxv. yeares of age As Liuius saith that the Lygures were which in olde time were confederate with those of Capua and great enemies to the people of Rome They had a lawe amongest them that none should take wages in the warres vnlesse he had bene brought vp in the fieldes or that he had bene a heard man in the mountaines so that through one of these twoo wayes their flesh was hardned their ioyntes accustomed to suffer the heate and the colde and their bodies more mete to endure the trauayles of the warres In the yeare of the foundation of Rome a hundred and fourty the Romaines made cruell warres with the Lygures against whome was sent Gneus Fabritius of the which in the ende he triumphed and the day folowyng this triumphe he spake vnto the Senate these wordes Worthy Senatours I haue bene these fiue yeares against the Ligures and by the immortall gods I swere vnto you that in al this time there passed not one weke but we had either battaile or some perilous skermiche And that whiche a man oughte moste to marueile at is that I neuer perceiued any feare or cowardlynes to be in those barbarous people whereby they were constrained to demaunde peace of the people of Rome These Lygures pursued with suche fearcenes the warres that oftetimes they toke awaye from vs all hope to winne the victory for betwene armies the great might of the one doth put alwayes the others in feare And I wyll tell you fathers conscript their brynging vp to the ende the Romaine youth should take hereby example When they are young they are put to be shepeheardes because they should accustome their fleshe in the mountaines to endure trauaile by the whiche custome they are so much maisters of them selues the countrey being alwayes ful of snowe Ise in the wynter also noisome through the extreame heate in the Sōmer that I sweare by the god Apollo in al this time of fiue yeres of those we haue not sene one prease to the fire in the winter nor couet the shadow in the sommer Do not ye thinke worthy Senatours that I was willing to declare vnto you these thinges in the Senate for any desire I haue that you should esteame any thing the more my triumphe but I doe tell it you to this ende that you may haue an eie and take heade to your men of warre to the ende they may alwayes be occupied and that you suffer them not to be idle For it is more perilous for the Romaine armies to be ouercome with vices then to be disconfited with their enemies And to talke of these matters more at large me thinketh they should prouide commaunde that riche men should not be so hardy to bring vp their children to delicatly for in the ende it is vnpossible that the delicate persone should winne with his handes the honour of many victories That which moued me to saye so muche as I haue sayed worthy Senatours is to the end you may know that the Ligures were not ouercome by the power of Rome but because fortune was against them And since in nothing fortune sheweth her selfe so variable as in the thinges of warre me thinketh that though the Ligures are nowe vanquished ouercome yet notwithstanding you ought to entertaine them in loue to take them for your confederates For it is not good councell to hazarde that into the handes of fortune which a man may compasse by frendship The authour of this whiche is spoken is called Iunius Pratus in the booke of the concorde of Realmes and he saith in that place that this captaine Gneus Fabritius was counted no lesse sage for that he spake then esteamed valiaunte for that he did In the olde time those of the Iles Balleares whiche nowe are called Maiorque and Minorque though they were not counted wyse yet at the least in bringing vp their children they shewed them selues not negligent Because they were brought vp in hardnes in their youth and could not endure all painefull exercises of the warres Those of Carthage gaue fiue prisoners of Rome for one sclaue of Maiorque Diodorus Siculus saith in those Iles the mother did not geue the children bread with their own handes but they did put it on an high pole so that they might see the bread with their eies but they could not reache it with their handes Wherefore when they woulde eate they should firste with hurling of stones or slinges winne it or elles faste Though the worke were of children yet the inuention came of a high wyt And hereof it came that the Balleares were esteamed for valiaunt mē as well in wrastling as in slinges for to hurle for they did hurle with a slinge to hit a white as the Lygures shoote nowe in a crosse bowe to hitte the prick Those of great Britayne whiche nowe we call Englande amongest all the Barbarous were men most barbarous but you ought to knowe that within the space of fewe yeares the Romaines were vanquished of them many tymes For tyme in all thinges bringeth such chaunge alteration that those which once we knew great lordes within a while after we haue sene them sclaues Herodian in his hystory of Seuerus
I doe appeale thee if thou hast dreamed that thou hast wrytten I saye beleue not in dreames and if thou wylt not it shoulde auayle to glorifie me as a frende yet thou mightest wryte it aduertising and repreuing me as the father to the sonne younge vertuous persones are bounde to honour auncient wyse men and no lesse olde wyse men ought to endoctrine the younge people and very young as I am A iust thing it is that the new forces of youth supplie and serue them that are worne by age For their longe experience instructeth our tender age and naturall ignoraunce Youthe is euill applied when it aboundeth in force of the body wanteth the vertues of the mind and age is honoured wherein the force dieth outwarde whereby vertues quickeneth the more inwarde We may see the tree when the fruite is gathered the leaues fall and when flowers drie then more grene and perfecte are the rootes I meane that when the first season of youth is passed whiche is the Sommer time then commeth age called Wynter and purifieth the fruite of the fleshe and the leaues of fauour fal the flowers of delite wither and the vynes of hope drye outwarde then it is ryght that much better are the rootes of good workes within They that be olde and auncient ought to prayse their good workes rather then their white heares For honoure ought to be geuen for the good life and not for the whyte head Glorious is that common wealth and fortunate is that prince that is lord of young men to trauaile and auncient persones to councell As to regarde the sustaininge of the naturalitie of the lyfe in likewyse ought to be considered the policy of gouernaunce the whiche is that al the fruites come nor drye not al at once but when one beginneth another faileth And in this maner ye that be auncient teaching vs and we be obedient as olde fathers and young pullettes being in the neste of the Senate Of some their fethers fallinge and other younge fethered and where as the olde fathers can not flie their trauayles are mainteined by their tender children Frende Catullus I purposed not to wryte one lyne this yeare because my penne was troubled with thy slouthe but the weakenes of my spirite and the great peril of myne offices alwayes called on me to demaunde thy councell This priuiledge the olde wyse men holde in their houses where they dwell They are alwayes lordes ouer them that be simple and are sclaues to them that be wyse I thinke thou hast forgotten me thinking that sithe the death of my dere sonne Verissimus the time hath bene so long that I should forget it Thou hast occasion to thinke so for many thinges are cured in time which reason can not helpe But in this case I can not tell which is the greatest thy trūpery or my dolour I sweare to thee by the gods immortall that the hungry wormes are not so puissaunt in the entrales of the vnhappy chylde as the bitter sorowes are in the heauy hart of the wofull father And it is no comparison for the sonne is dead but one tyme and the heauy father dieth euery momente What wylt thou more that I should saye But that one ought to haue enuy of his death and compassion of my lyfe because in dyeng he lyueth and in the lyuing I dye In the mischaunces of lyfe and in the great vnconstancie of fortune whereas her gyles profiteth but litle and her strengthe lesse I thinke the best remedy is to fele it as a man and dissimule it as discrete and wyse If all things as they be felt at heart should be shewed outward with the tongue I thynke that the wyndes shoulde breake the hearte with syghinges and water all the earth with weping O if the corporal eyes sawe the sorowe of the heart I sweare to thee they should see more of a drop of bloud sweatinge within then all the wepyng that appeareth without There is no comparyson of the great dolours of the body to the least greife of the mynde For all trauayle of the body men may finde some remedy but if the heauy heart speake it is not heard if it wepe it is not sene if it complaine it is not beleued What shal the poore harte doe Abhorre the lyfe wherwith it dieth and desire death wherwith it liueth The highe vertues among noble vertuous people consiste not all onely to suffer the passions of the body but also to dissimule them of the soule They be suche that alter the humours and shewe it not outward they brynge a feuer without altering of the poulce they alter the stomacke they make vs to knele to the earth to suffer the water vp to the mouthe and to take death without leauing of the lyfe and finally they length our life to the intente that we should haue no more trauayle and denieth vs our graue to the intent that we should not reste But considering as I am troubled with sorowes so am I voyde of consolations for when I haue either desire of the one or werynes of the other I vse alwayes this remedy to dissimule with the tongue to wepe with the eyes and to fele it with my heart I passe my lyfe as he that hoped to lese all that he hath neuer to recouer that that is loste I saye this though ye see me not nowe make funeral wepinges and waylinges as I did at the death of my sonne yet thinke not but it doeth bren my heart so that with the great heate inward is consumed the humiditie of the eyes for it brenneth al my spirites within Thou mayest knowe what an honorable father suffereth to lese a good childe in all thinges the gods be liberal except in geuing vs vertuous children Where there is aboūdaunce of great estates there is greatest scarsitie of good inheritours It is a dolefull thing to heare and greater pitie to see howe these fathers clime to haue rychesse and to see their children descende to haue viciousnes To see the fathers honoure their children and the children to infame their fathers yea and the fathers to geue reste to the chyldren and the chyldren to geue trouble to their fathers yea and sometyme the fathers die for sorowe that their children die so sone and we see their childrē wepe because their fathers die so late What should I saye more but that the honoure and ryches that the fathers haue procured with great thought the chyldren consume with litle care I am certayne of one thing that the fathers may gather ryches with strengthe and crafte to susteyne their children but the Gods wyll not haue durable that that is begonne with euyll intention as that is whiche is wonne to the preiudice of other and possessed with an euyll heyre And though the heauy destinies of the father permit that the ryches be lefte to their children to serue them in all their vyces for their pastime at last yet according to their merites the
nor adulterer but Tarquine the proude onely for that he was euill cōdicioned By the faith of a good man I sweare vnto you Fathers cōscript that if the miserable Tarquine had bene beloued in Rome he had neuer bene depriued of the Realme for committing adultery with Lucretia for in the end if euery light offence which in youth is committed should be punished within short space there should be no common wealth All these euils both before and after Tarquine were committed by the auncientes in the Romaine empire whiche were suche as these of this young and lighte prince and were nothing in comparison vnto thee For truly cōsidering the youth of the one and the experience of the other the greatest offence of the younge is but a counterfaite to the least that the olde committeth Iulius Caesar last dictatour and firste Emperour of Rome being a thing commendable bothe to Senatours to salute the Emperour on their knees and to the Emperour to rise againste them and resalute eche one according to his order because of presumption and that he woulde not obserue this ceremonie with .xxiii. woundes they dispatched him of his life Tiberius was an Emperour whom they blame for drunkennes and Caligula was an Emperour also whom they accuse of inceste with his sisters Nero was an Emperour who for that he slewe his mother and his maister Seneca hath for euer bene named cruell Sergius Galba was a deuouring and gluttonous Emperour for that he caused for one onely banket seuen thousand byrdes to be kylled Domitian was an Emperour who was greatly noted of all euils For all euils whiche in many were scattered in him alone were founde All these miserable princes in the ende were betraied hanged and beheaded And I sweare vnto ye fathers conscript that they died not for their vices but because they were proude and euill conditioned For finally the prince for one vice only cannot muche endomage the people but for being to haulty and presumptuous of euill conditions he may destroy a common wealth Let princes and great lordes be assured that if they geue many occasions of euill will afterwardes one only suffiseth to stirre their subiects to destroy them For if the lord shew not his hatred it is for that he will not but if the subiecte doe not reuenge it is for that he cannot Beleue me fathers conscripte and sacred Senate that euen as the Phisitians with a litle triacle purge manye euyll humours of the bodye soo the sage Prynces wyth verye lyttle beneuolence drawe out of their subiectes muche fylthines of harte diuerting their ill willes into true and faithfull loue And because the members should be agreable with the head in myne opinion it behoueth the people to obey the commaundement of the prince and to honour and reuerence his person and the good prince to be iuste and equall to all in generally and gentle in conuersation with euery one O happy common wealth wherein the prince findeth obedience in the people and the people in like maner loue in the prince For of the loue of the Lorde springeth obedience in the subiecte and of the obediēce of the subiectes springeth loue in the Lorde The Emperour in Rome is as the spyder in the middest of her cobwebbe the which being touched with the needels pointe by one of the threedes of the same be it neuer so litle immediatly the spider feeleth it I meane that all the workes whiche the Emperour doth in Rome are immediatly published through out all the countrey For in fine since princes are the myrrour of all they cannot well cloake their vices I see fathers conscripte that I haue bene iudged here of worldly malice because I accompanied the captiues in procession and also because I suffred my selfe to be touched with them to the ende they might enioye the priuiledge of their libertie and in this case I render most humble thankes to the immortall gods because they made me a mercifull Emperour to set those at libertie that were in prysone and that they made me not a cruel tyraunt to set those in pryson whiche were at libertie For the prouerbe saieth that with one beane a man may take two pigeons euen so chaunsed the lyke herein yesterdaie For the benefite was done for those miserable captiues but the example of humanitie was shewed to all straunge nations And knowe ye not that whē the prince vnloseth the irons from the feete of the captiues he byndeth the hartes landes and goodes of his subiectes concluding therfore I saye that to princes it were more safetie and to the common wealthe more profite to be serued in their palaces by free hartes with loue then by subiectes whiche are kept vnder by feare ¶ Of a letter the emperour Marcus Aurelius sent to his frende Pulio declaring the opinion of certaine philosophers concerning the felicitie of man Cap. xl MArcus Aurelius Emperour of Rome tribune of the people high byshop seconde consull and monarche of all the Romaine empire wysheth to the Pulio his olde frende health to thy persone and prosperitie againste thy euill fortune The letter that thou wrotest vnto me from Capua I receyued here at Bethinia and if thou diddest wryte it with a good hart I did read it with willing eyes whereof thou oughtest somewhat to content thee For it is an auncient saying of Homere that that whiche is well vewed with the eyes is tenderly beloued of the harte I protest vnto thee by the faithe of the immortall gods that I doe not wryte vnto thee as a Romaine emperour that is to saye from the lorde to the seruaunt for in this sorte I should wryte vnto thee briefe and touching the purpose which thing ought not to be done to the peculier frende For the letters of graue men should neuer beginne the letters of vs frendes should neuer ende I wryte vnto thee my frende Pulio as to a priuate frende to an olde companion of mine and as to him whiche is a faithfull secretary of my desyres and in whose company I was neuer displeased in whose mouth I neuer founde lie and in whose promise there was neuer breache made And the thing being thus I should commit treason in the lawe of frendship if I kept secret from thee any of my inward conceites For all the griefes whiche lie buried in the woful harte ought not to be communicate but with a faithful frende Doest thou thinke Pulio that the Romaine emperour hath litle trauaile to wryte vnto thee as Emperour to speake as Emperoure to walke as Emperoure and to eate as emperour and finally to be as emperour in deede certes I doe not meruaile hereat For truly the life of the vertuous emperour is but a dial which ordereth or disordereth the comon wealth and that wherof I marueile is of the foly of Rome vanitie of the common wealth For as much as all saye that the prince if he wil seme graue be well estemed of the people ought to goe softly to
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
how to punishe the folyshe captaines and suffereth to be commaunded and gouerned by sage phylosophers Ye know right wel that al our warre hath not bene but only for the possessions of cityes and lymites of the riuer Milina Wherfore by this letter we declare vnto you and by the immortal Gods we sweare that we do renownce vnto you al our right on such condicion that you do leaue vs Heuxinus your embassadour philosopher The great Athens desyreth rather a phylosopher for her scholes then a hole prouince of your realmes And do not you other Lacedemonians thinke that that which we of Athens do is light or foolishe that is to wete that we desire rather one man to rule then to haue a whole prouynce whereby we may commaunde many For this philosopher shal teach vs to lyue wel and that land gaue vs occasion to dye euil and syth we now of your old enemies do become your true frends we wyl not onlye geue you perpetual peace but also counsayle for to keape it For the medycine which preserueth health is of greater excellencye then is the purgacion which healeth the disease Let the counsaile therfore be suche that as ye wyll the yonge men do exercise theym selues in weapons that so ye do watche and se that your children in time do learne good letters For euen as the warre by the cruell sword is followed so likewise by pleasaunt wordes peace is obteyned Thinke not ye Lacedemonians that without a cause we do perswade you that you put youre children to learne when as yet they are but yong and tender and that ye do not suffer them to ronne to vyces For on the one part wise men shall want to counsaile and on the other fooles shal abound to make debate We Athenians in lyke maner will not that ye Lacedemonians do thinke that we be frendes to bablers For our father Socrates ordeyned that the first lesson which should be geuen to the scholer of the vnyuersity should be that by no meanes he shold speake any word for the space of ii yeares for it is vnpossible that any man should be wise in speaking vnlesse he haue pacience to be sylente We thinke if you thinke it good that the phylosopher Heuxinus shal remaine in our Senate and thinke you if we profite by his presence that ye may be assured yee others shal not receyue any domage by the counsayles he shal geue vs. For in Athens it is an auncient law that the senate cannot take vpon them warres but that by the Philosophers first it must be examined whither it be iust or not We write none other thinge but that we beseche the immortal Gods that they be with you and that it please theym to contynewe vs in this perpetual peace For that only is perpetual which by the gods is confirmed ¶ That nurces which giue sucke to the children of Princes ought to be discret and sage women Chap. xxvii THE pilgrimes which trauaile through vnknowen contries straung mountaynes with great desire to go forward and not to erre do not only aske the way which they haue to go but also do importune those whom they mete to point them the way with theyr finger For it is a greuous thing to trauaile doubtfully in feare and suspicion By this comparison I meane that since I haue much perswaded that the fathers do learne teach their childrē to speake wel it is but reason that they do seke them some good maisters For the counsaile hath no authoritie if he which geueth it seketh not spedely to execute the same It is much for a man to be of a good nature or els to be of an euil inclinacion to be rude in vnderstanding or els to be lyuely in spirite and this not only for that a man ought to do but also for that he ought to say For it is no smal thing but a great good benefite whē the man is of a good nature of a good vnderstanding and of a cleare iudgemēt This notwithstandyng I say that al the good and cleare iudgements are not alwayes eloquent nor al the eloquentest of liuely spirites and vnderstanding We se many men which of a smal mater can make much for the contrary we se many men which haue great knowledge yet no meanes to vtter it So that nature hath geuen them highe vnderstanding through negligence of bringinge vp it is hidde Oftentimes I do meruaile that the soule of the babe when it is borne for th one parte is of no lesse excellencye then the soule of the old man when he dyeth And on the other side I muse at the babe which hath the members so tender wherwith the soule dooth worke his operacyons that they lytle seme to participate with reasonable creatures For wher the soule doth not shew her selfe mistres it wanteth lytle but that the man remaineth a beast It is a wonder to se the children that as yet beinge .ii. yeares of age they lyft their feete for to go they hold themselues by the walles for faulyng they wil open their eyes to know and they fourme a defused voice to speake so that in that age a creature is none otherwise then a tre at the first spring For the tree .ii. moneths being past beareth leaues immediatly and the child after ii yeres beginneth to frame his words This thing is spoken for that the Fathers which are wise should beginne to teache their children at that age For at that time the vynes beare grapes and other trees their fruite For the perilles of this lyfe are such that if it were possible the father before he see his sonne borne ought to admonishe them how he shold liue In mine opinion as they conuey the water about to turne the mille so from the tender youth of the infant they ought to shew and teach him to be eloquent affable For truly the child learneth distinctly to pronounce his words when he doth sucke the milke of his nource We cannot deny but that the children being but ii or iii. yeres old it is to sone to giue them maisters or correcters For at that age a nourse to make them cleane is more necessarie then a maister for to correct their speache On the one part the children are very tender for to learne to speake wel and on the other part it is necessarie that when they are very yong and lytle they shold be taught and learned I am of that opinion that princesses and great Ladyes should take such nources to giue their children sucke that they should be sound to giue them their milke and sage for to teache them to speake For in so yong and tender age they do not suffer but that she which giueth them sucke doth teache them to speake the firste wordes As Sextus Cheronensis in the Booke of the diuersityes of the Languages saythe The Toscans were the firste whiche called the natural tongue of the contrey the mother tongue which is to
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
to moch aboundaunce and libertie of youth is no other but a prophesie manifest token of disobedience in age I knowe not why princes and great lordes do toile and oppresse so much and scratche to leaue their children great estates and on the other syde we see that in teachyng them they are and shew theim selues to negligent for princes great lordes ought to make account that all that whych they leaue of their substaunce to a wicked heyre is vtterly lost The wise men and those which in their coÌ„sciences are vpright and of their honours carefull oughte to be very diligent to bring vp their children chiefly that they consyder whether they be mete to inherite their estates And if perchaunce the fathers se that their children be more giueÌ„ to follie then to noblenes and wysdome then should I be ashamed to se a father that is wise trauaile al the dayes of his life to leaue much substaunce to an euill brought vp child after his death It is a griefe to declare and a monstrous thyng to se the cares whych the fathers take to gather ryches and the diligence that children haue to spende them And in this case I saye the sonne is fortunate for that he doeth inherite and the Father a foole for that he doth bequeth In my opinion Fathers ar bound to enstructe theyr Children well for two causes the one for that they are nearest to them and also bycause they ought to be theyr heyres For truely with great greyfe and sorow I suppose he doth take his death which leaueth to a foole or an vnthrifte the toile of all his life Hyzearcus the Greeke hystorien in the booke of his antiquities and Sabellyquus in his generall history sayeth that a father and a sonne came to complaine to the famous phylosopher and auncient Solon Solinon the sonne complayned of the father and the father of the sonne First the son informed the quarel to the Phylosopher sayeng these wordes I complayne of my father bycause he beyng ryche hath dysheryted me and made me poore and in my steade hath adopted another heyre the whyche thyng my father oughte not nor cannot doe For sence he gaue me so frayle flesh it is reason he geue me hys goods to maintayne my feblenes To these wordes aunswered the father I complayne of my sonne bycause he hathe not bene as a gentle sonne but rather as a cruell enemye for in all thynges since he was borne he hath bene disobedient to my will wherfore I thought it good to dysheryte hym before my death I woulde I weâ—e quite of all my substaunce so that the goddes hadde quyte hym of hys lyfe for the earthe is very cruell that swalloweth not the chyld alyue whyche to hys father is dysobedyent In that he sayeth I haue adopted another chyld for myne heyre I confesse it is true and for somuche as he sayeth that I haue dysinheryted hym and abiected hym from my herytage he beynge begotten of my owne bodye hereunto I aunswere That I haue not disinheryted my sonne but I haue disinheryted his pleasure tothentent he shal not enioy my trauaile for there can be nothing more vniust then that the yonge and vitious sonne should take his pleasure of the swette and droppes of the aged father The sonne replyed to his father and sayd I confesse I haue offended my father and also I confesse that I haue lyued in pleasures yet if I maye speake the trueth thoughe I were disobedient and euill my father oughte to beare the blame and if for this cause he doeth dysherite me I thynke he doth me great iniurye For the father that enstructed not hys sonne in vertue in hys youthe wrongfullye dysheryteth hym though he be disobedient in hys age The father agayne replyeth and saieth It is true my sonne that I brought the vp to wantonly in thy youth but thou knowest well that I haue taughte the sondrye tymes and besydes that I dyd correcte the when thou camest to some discretion And if in thy youth I dyd not instructe the in learnyng it was for that thou in thy tender age dydest wante vnderstandyng but after that thou haddest age to vnderstand discrecion to receiue and strength to exercyse it I began to punyshe the to teache the and to instructe the. For where no vnderstandyng is in the chyld there in vaine they teache doctrine Sence thou arte old quoth the sonne and I yong sence thou arte my father and I thy sonne for that thou hast whyte heres of thy bearde and I none at all it is but reason that thou be beleued I condemned For in this world we se oftetimes that the smal aucthoryty of the parson maketh hym to lose hys great iustyce I grauÌ„t the my father that when I was a childe thou dydst cause me to learne to reade but thou wylte not denye that if I dyd coÌ„mit any faulte thou wouldest neauer agree I should be punyshed And hereof it came that thou sufferyng me to doe what I woulde in my youth haue bene dysobedient to the euer since in my age And I saye to the further that if in this case I haue offended trulye me thinketh thou canst not be excused for the fathers in the youthe of their children oughte not onely to teache them to dispute of vertues and what vertue is but they ought to inforce them to be vertuous in dede For it is a good token when youth before they know vyces hath bene accustomed to practice vertues Both parties thou diligentlie hard the good Philosopher Solon Solinon spake these wordes I geue iudgement that the father of thys child be not buried after hys death and I commaunde that the sonne bycause in hys youth he hath not obeyed his father who is olde should be dysinheryted whiles the father lyueth from all hys substaunce on suche condition that after hys death hys sonnes should inheryte the heritage and so returne to the heires of the sonne and line of the father For it were vniust that the innocencie of the sonne should be condempned for the offence of the father I doe commaunde also that all the goods be committed vnto some faithful parson to th end they may geue the father meate and drinke durynge hys lyfe and to make a graue for the sonne after hys death I haue not with out a cause geuen suche iudgement the which comprehendeth lyfe and death for the Gods wyll not that for one pleasure the punyshement be double but that we chastyse and punyshe the one in the lyfe takynge from hym hys honour and goods and that we punyshe others after there death takyng from them memorye and buriall Truly the sentence which the Philosopher gaue was graue and would to God we had him for a iudge of this world presentlye for I sweare that he should finde many children now a dayes for to disheryte and mo fathers to punishe For I cannot tell which is greater the shame of the children to disobey their fathers or
only they are made euil This worthy woman kepyng alwaies such a faythful gard of her chyld that no flatterers should enter in to flatter him nor malicious to tel hym lyes bychaunce on a day a Romaine sayd vnto her these words I thinke it not mete most excellente princesse that thou shoulde be so dyligente aboute thy sonne to forget the affaires of the common wealth for prynces ought not to be kept so close that it is more easye to obtaine a sute at the gods then to speake one word with the prince To this the Empresse Mamea aunswered and said They which haue charge to gouerne those that do gouerne withoute comparison oughte to feare more the vyces of the kinge thenne the ennemyes of the Realme For the ennemyes are destroyed in a battaile but vyces remayne durynge the life and in the end enemyes do not destroy but the possessions of the land but the vycious prince destroyeth the good maners of the comon wealth These wordes were spoken of this worthye Romaine By the histories which I haue declared and by those which I omitte to recite al verteous men may know how much it profiteth them to bring vp their children in trauailes or to bring them vp in pleasures But now I ymagine that those which shall read this will praise that which is wel writen and also I trust they wil not giue their children so much their owne willes For men that read much worke litle are as belles the which do sound to cal others and they theim selues neuer enter into the church If the fathers did not esteame the seruice they do vnto God their owne honour nor the profite of their owne children yet to preserue them from disseases they ought to bring them vp in vertue withdraw them from vices For truly the children which haue bene brought vp daintely shal alwayes be diseased and sikely What a thinge is it to se the sonne of a labourer the cote without pointes the shyrte tottered and torne their feete bare their head without a cappe the body withoute a girdle in sommer without a hat in winter without a cloke in the day ploughing in the night driuing his herd eating bread of Rye or Otes lyeng on the earth or els on the strawe and in this trauaile to se this yong man so holy vertuous that euery man desireth and wisheth that he had such a sonne The contrarie commeth of noble mens sonnes the which we se are nourished brought vp betwene two fine holland sheetes layed in a costly cradel made after the new fashion they giue the nourse what she wil desire if perchaunce the child be sicke they chaunge his nource or els they appoint him a diet The father and the mother slepe neither night nor daye all the house watcheth they let him eate nothing but the broth of chyckins they kepe hym diligentely that he fal not downe the stayres the child asketh nothing but it is geuen him immediatly Finally they spend their time in seruyng them they waste their riches in geuyng them their delights they occupie their eyes but to behold them they imploye not their harts but to loue them But I sweare that those fathers whiche on this wise do spend their riches to pomper theim shal one day water their eyes to bewaile theym What it is to se the wast that a vaine man maketh in bringinge vp his child specially if he be a man sumwhat aged that at his desire hath a child borne He spendeth so muche goodes in bringing his vp wantonly whyles he is yong that oft times he wanteth to mary him when he commeth to age And that which worst of al is that that which he spendeth and employeth he thynketh it wel bestowed and thinketh that to much that he geueth for gods sake Though the fathers are very large in spendinge the mothers very curious and the norces ful of pleasures and the seruauntes very dilygente and attentiue yet it foloweth not that the children should be more hole then others For the more they are attented the more they be disseased the more they eate the more they are weake the more they reioyce the worse they prosper the more they wast and spend soo muche lesse they profite And all this is not without the secret permission of God For God wil not that the cloutes of children be of greater value then the garments of the poore God without a greate misterie toke not in hande the custodye of the poore and doth not suffer that the children of the rich men should prosper For the good bringeth vp his children without the preiudyce of the rich and to the profit of the comon wealth but the rich bringeth vp his children wyth the swet of the poore and to the domage of the common wealth Therfore if this thyng be true as it is it is but reason that the wolfe whych deuoureth vs do dye and the shepe which clotheth vs do lyue The fathers oft times for tendernes wyl not teach nor bryng vp their children in doctrine sayeng that as yet he is to yong and that there remayneth time enough for to be learned and that they haue leysure enough to be taught and further for the more excuse of their error they affirme that when the chyld in his youth is chastned he ronneth in daunger of his health But the euil respect which the fathers hath to their chyldren God suffereth afterwards that they come to be so slaunderous to the common wealth so infamous to their parents so disobedient to their fathers so euyl in their condicions so vnaduised and light in their behauiour so vnmeate for knowledge so vncorrigible for disciplyne so inclined to lies so enuyeng the truth that their fathers would not only haue punished them with sharpe correction but also they woulde reioyce to haue them buryed with bytter teares An other thyng ther is in this matter worthy to be noted and much more worthyer to be commended that is that the Fathers and mothers vnder the couller that their chyldren should be somewhat gracious they learne them to speake to bable to be great mockers and scoffers the which thing afterwards redoundeth to the great infamye and dishonour of the Father to the great peril of the sonne and to the greatest griefe and displeasure of the mother For the child which is brought vp wantonly without doctrine in his youth of necessity must be a foole when he is old If this which I haue sayd be euil this which I wil say is worse that the Fathers and mothers the gouernours or nources do teach them to speake dishonest things the which are not lawful and therfore ought not to be suffered to be spoken in that tender age nor the grauitie of the auncients ought not to lysten vnto them For there are no men vnlesse they be shamelesse that wil permit their children to be great bablers Those which haue the charge to gouerne good mens children ought to be very
And the cause whye I was willing ther should be none in the common wealth was for that ther was not riches in Rome sufficient to acquite the desarts of the Romaine chiualry And if you esteme an honorable office to be a Tribune Millitaire since you cānot al haue it me thinketh you shold al want it For amonge the noble men Plebeians it is not mete that one alone should enioy that which many haue deserued This history Sabellicus declareth allegeth Pulio for his aucthor reciteth that for this good worke that Camillus did in Rome that is to wete to set the great the smal at one he was aswel beloued of that romaines as he was feared of the enemies And not without a iust cause for in my opinyon it is a greater vertue to pacify his owne then to robbe straungers As touching the office of this Tribune wherupon this great cōtencion rose in Rome I cānot tel which was greater the folish rashnes of the knights to procure it or the wisedom of Camillus to abbolish it For to say the truthe the arte of cheualrie was inuented more to defend the common wealth then to byde at home haue the charge of iustice For to the good knight it semeth better to be loden with weapōs to resist enemyes then to be enuyroned with bokes to determyne causes Returning therfore to that whych the people sayd against the souldiors it was ordayned by the consent of al that in Rome an office should be erected and that he which should haue it should haue the charge to go through Rome to se what they were in Rome that did not instruct their children in good doctrine and if perchaunce he found any neighbours child that was euyl taught he chastised and banished the father And truly that punishment was very iust for the father deserueth more punyshment for that he doth therunto consent then the child deserueth more the offences which he doth comit When Rome was Rome that of al the world the common wealth therof was comended they chose for an officer therin the most auncient vertuous Romaine who was called the general vysiter of the childrē of Rome it semeth to be true for somuch as he whych had this office one yere hoped to be consul dictatour or censor the next As it appeareth by Marcus Porcio who desired to be corrector of the childrē afterwards succeded to be censor of the Romaine people For the Romaynes dyd not offer the office of iustice to any man vnlesse he had had experience of al offices Patricius Senensis in the booke of the common wealth saith that before the warres were betwene Carthage Rome the comon wealth of Carthage was very wel gouerned as it be semed such a noble citie but it is an auncient preuiledge of the warre that it kylleth the persones consumeth the goods aboue al engendreth a new passion miserie in the end destroyeth al good aunciente customes The Carthagians therefore had a custome that the chyldren and especially those which were of honest men should be put in the temples from iii. yeres tyl .xii. so from .xii. til xx they learned crafts sciences occupacions and from .xx. vntil .xxv. they instructed them in the feates of warre at the end of xxx yeres they gaue themselues to mariage ▪ For amōgest them it was a law inuiolable that no man shold mary vntil he were xxx yeres of age the women xxv And after that they were maried the moneth folowing they ought to present themselues before the Senate ther to chose what kind of estate they would take vpon them to liue in and what their minds most desired that is to wete if they would serue in the Temples folow the warre or trauayle the seas or get their lyuing by land or follow their occupacion which they had learned And loke what estate or office that day they chose the same they kept occupyed during their lyfe truly the law was very good bycause such chaunge of estates offices in the world are occasion that presently so many come to destruction Al the excellent and auncient Princes had many great philosophers for their masters this seameth to be true by this that kyng Darius had Lichanius the phylosopher for his mayster The greate Alexander had Aristotel the phylosopher for hys master Kinge Artaxerces had Pindarus the phylosopher for his mayster The aduenturous and hardye captayne of the Athenians Palemo had Xenocrates the Phylosopher for his maister Xemiades only kyng of the Corinthians had Chilo the phylosopher for hys mayster and tutour to hys chyldren Epamynundes prince of the Thebaines had for his maister and councelloure Maruchus the Phylosopher Vlisses the Greke as Homere sayth had for his mayster and companyon in hys trauayles Catinus the phylosopher Pirrus whyche was kynge of the Epirotes and greate defendoure of the Tharentines had for hys maister and chronicler Arthemius the phylosopher Of whom Cicero speaketh ad atticum that his sword was sharper to fighte then his penne ready to write The great kyng Ptholomeus Philadelphus was not onely scholer of the most singuler Phylosophers of Grece but also after he was king he sent for 72. phylosophers wych were Hebrues Cirus kyng of the Persians that destroyed the great Babylon had for his mayster Pristicus the Phylosopher Traian the Emperour had Plutarche for hys mayster who dyd not only teach hym in hys youth but also wrote him a booke how he ought to gouerne hym selfe his common wealth By these few examples which I haue expressed and by many other whych I omit Princes at this present may se how carefull princes were in tymes past to geue their chyldren wyse and learned men O prynces and great lordes synce you that are at thys present do presume and take vppon you that whyche your forefathers dyd I would that now you would consyder who brought them to so high estate and who leaueth of them eternal memory For wythout doubt noble men neuer wanne renowme for the pleasures they had in vyces but for the trauailes they had in vertues Againe I say that princes in tymes past were not famous for theyr stoutnes and apt dysposicion of theyr bodyes neyther for discent of hygh and noble lynage nor yet for the possession of many realmes or heaping vp of great treasours but they wanne obtayned immortal renowme for that their fathers in theyr youth put them vnder the tuiciō of wise and learned tutours whych taught them good doctrine when they were of age gaue them good counsaylers to gouerne the common wealth Laertius in the lyfe of the phylosophers Boccase in the boke of the lynage of gods say That among the phylosophers of Athens there was a custome that no straung phylosopher should reade in their scholes before he weare first examyned in natural and moral phylosophy for amonge the Grekes it was an auncyent prouerbe that in the schole
doth not amend hys lyfe that the father do disinherit him When good wil doth want and vicious pleasures abounde the children oft times by peruerse fortune come to nought So this Marcus Aurelius being .52 yeres old by chaunce this chylde Verissimus which was the glory of Rome the hope of the father at that gate of Hostia of a sodayne sicknes dyed The death of whom was as vniuersallye lamented as his lyfe of al men was desired It was a pitiful thynge to see how wofully the father toke the death of his intierly beloued son no lesse lamētable to behold how the senat toke the death of their prince beinge the heire For the aged father for sorow did not go to the Senate and the senat for few daies enclosed themselues in the high Capitol And let no man meruaile though the death of this yong prince was so taken through Rome For if men knew what they lose when they lose a vertuous Prince they would neuer cease to bewaile and lament hys death When a knight a gentleman a squyre an offycer or when any of the people dyeth ther dyeth but one but when a prince dieth which was good for all and that he lyued to the profit of al then they ought to make account that al do dye they ought al greatly to lament it For oft times it chaunseth that after ii or iii. good Princes a foule flocke of tyraunts succedeth Therfore Marcus Aurelius the Emperour as a man of great vnderstanding and of a princely parsonne though the inward sorow from the rootes of the hart could not be plucked yet he determined to dissemble outwardly and to burie his greues inwardly For to say the truth none ought for any thing to shew extreame sorow vnlesse it be that he hath lost his honour or that his conscience is burdened The good prince as one that hath his vineyard frosen wherin was al hys hope contented with him selfe with that whych remaineth his so derely beloued sonne being dead comaunded the prince Comodus to be brought into his pallace being his only heyre Iulius Capitolinus whych was one of those that wrote of the tyme of Marcus Aurelius sayd vpon this matter that when the father saw the disordinate fraylenes and lightnes and also the litle shame whych the prince Comodus his sonne brought with him the aged man began to weape and shed teares from his eyes And it was bycause the symplenes and vertues of his deare beloued sonne Verissimus came into hys mynd Though this Emperour Marcus for the death of hys sonne was very sorowful yet notwithstanding this he prouided how his other sonne Comodus should be gouerned this before that eyther of age or body he wer greater For we cānot deny but when Princes are mē they wil be such as in their youth they haue bene brought vp The good father therfore knowing that the euil inclinacions of his sonne should do him domage the empire in like maner he sent throughout al Italy for the most sagest expert men to be gouernours Tutors of Comodus the prince He made them seke for the most profoundest in learning the most renowmed of good fame the most vertuous in dedes and the most depest in vnderstandyng for as the dust is not swept with fyne cloth but with dry bromes so the lightnes follies of yong mē are not remedied but by the hard disciplyne of the aged Thys commaundement being published and proclaimed in Rome the bruit scattered through Italye there came and ranne thither dyuerse kinde of sages whom he commaunded to be examyned He being informed of the bloud of thier predicessours of the age of their persones of the gouernment of their houses of the spendyng of their goodes of their credit amongest their neighbours of the sciences they knew aboue al they were no lesse examined of the purenes of their lyues then of the grauitie of their personnes for ther are many men whych are graue in open wordes very light in secret works Speakyng therfore more particularly he commaunded they should examyne the Astronomers of Astronomy the phylosophers in philosophie the musitines in musike the Orators in oracions And so forth of other sciences in order wherin euery one sayd he was instructed The good emperour was not so contented to do this once but sondry times not al in one day but in many not only by an other man but also by him selfe Finally they were al examyned as if they had bene al one and that the same one shold haue remayned bene kept for al to be only master tutor of the young child and prince Comodus To acquire a perfect knowledge and to be sure not to erre in choyce of thinges in my opinion is not onely required experience of him selfe and a cleare vnderstanding but also the aduyse of an other For the knowledge of thinges wholly together is easy but the choyce of them particularly is harde This thing is spoken because the good Emperour sent and commaunded to chose gouernours and maisters of his children Of many he choose fewe and of fewe the most wysest of the most wysest the most expert of the most expert the best learned of the best learned the most temperate of the most temperate the most auncient and of the most auncient the moste noble Certainely such election is worthy prayse because they be true maisters and teachers of princes which are noble of bloud auncient in yeares honeste in life men of litle folly and of great experience According to the seuen liberal sciences two maisters of euery one were chosen so that the prince was but one and the others were .xiiii. but this notwithstanding the workes of this prince Comodus were contrary to the expectation of his father Marcus Aurelius because the intention of the good father was to teache his sonne all sciences and the study of the sonne was to learne all vices At the bruite of so great a thing as this was that the Emperour sought to prouide tutors for the prince Comodus and that they should not be those which were best fauoured but those whiche were found the most wysest in shorte space there came so many philosophers to Rome as if the deuine Plato had bene reuiued againe in Grece Let vs not marueile at all if the sages desired the acquaintaunce familiaritie of this good Emperour For in the ende there is no man so sage nor so vertuous in this life but sometime wyll seke after the fauours of the world Since there were many sages and that of those he chose but fourtene It was necessary he should honestly and wisely dispatche and geue the others leaue as did behoue him And herein the good emperour shewed him selfe so wyse that shewing to some a mery coūtenaunce to others speaking gently and to others by a certaine hope to others by giftes presentes al the good company of the sages departed the good emperour dispatched them not
and more profyte of the scoller he maye be soner vertuous then vitious For there is more courage required in one to be euil then strenght in another for to be good Also the maisters commenly haue another euill property worse then this whyche is they beare with their scollers in some secreat vices when they are yong from the whiche they cannot be withdrawen afterwarde when they are olde For it chaunceth oftetimes that the good inclination is ouercome by the euill custome and certainly the maisters whych in such a case should be apprehended ought to be punished as traitors pariured For to the mayster it is greater treason to leaue his disciple amongest vices then to delyuer a forte into the handes of the enemyes And let no man maruaill if I call such a mayster a treator for the one yeldeth the forte whych is but of stones builded but the other aduentureth hys sonne who is of his proper body begotten The cause of al this euill is that as the children of Princes ought to enherite realmes and the children of greate lordes hope to inherite the great estates so the maisters are more couetous then vertuous For they suffer their puples to runne at their own willes whē they be yong to thend to winne their hartes when they shal be olde so that the extreame couetousnes of the maisters now a dayes is suche that it causeth goodmens sonnes commonly to be euil and vitious O tutors of princes and maisters of great lordes I do admonyshe you and besides that I counsell you that your couetousnes deceiue you not thynkynge that you shal be better estemed for being clokers of vices then louers of vertues For there is none old nor yong so wicked but knoweth that good is better then euill And further I say to you in this case that oftetimes God permitteth when those that wer children become old their eyes to be opened wherby they know the harme that you haue done them in suffering them to be vitious in thier youth at what tyme your dutye had bene to haue corrected their vices You thought by your goods to be honored for your flattery but you find the contrary that you are despised worthely For it is the iust iudgement of god that he that committeth euill shall not escape without punyshment and he that consealeth the euill committed shal not liue vndefamed Diadumeus the Historiographer in the lyfe of Seuerus the .xxi. Emperour de clareth that Apuleius Rufynus who hadde ben consull twise and at that tyme was also tribune of the people a man who was very aged and likewise of greate aucthoritie thoroughe oute Rome came one daye to the Emperour Seuerus and sayed vnto him in this sorte Moste inuicte Prince alwayes Augustus know that I had .ii. children the whiche I committed to a mayster to bring vp and by chaunce the eldest increasinge in yeares and diminishing in vertues fell in loue with a Romaine ladye the which loue came to late to my knowledge for to such vnfortunat men as I am the disease is alwayes past remedy before the daunger thereof commeth to our knowledge The greatest grefe that herein I fele is that his mayster knew and consealed the euill and was not onely not a meanes to remedye it but also was the chefe worker of the adultery betwene them to be committed And my sonne made hym an oblygation wherin he bounde hym selfe if he woulde bryng hym that romaine lady he would geue hym after my death the house and herytages whych I haue in the gate Salaria and yet herwith not contented but he and my sonne together robbed me of much money For loue is costlye to hym that maynteineth it and alwayes the loues of the children are chargefull to the fathers Iudge you now therefore noble Prince thys so heinous and slaunderous cause for it is to muche presumption of the subiecte to reuenge any iniury knowyng that the lorde hym selfe will reuenge all wronges When the Emperour Seuerus hadde vnderstode this so heynous a case as one that was both in name and dede seuere commaunded good inquisition of the matter to be hadde and that before his presence the shoulde cause to appeare the father the sonne and the mayster to the ende eche one should alledge for his owne right for in Rome none could be condemned for anye offence vnlesse the plainetife had first declared the faulte before hys presence and that the accused shold haue no tyme to make hys excuse The trueth then knowen and the offenders confessyng the offences the Emperour Seuerus gaue iudgement thus I commaunde that this mayster be caste alyue amonge the beastes of the parke Palatine For it is but mete that beastes deuoure hym whyche teacheth others to lyue lyke beastes Also I doe commaunde that the sonne be vtterly dysinheryted of all the goodes of hys father and banyshed into the Iles Balleares and Maiorques For the chylde whiche from hys youth is vitious oughte iustlye to be banyshed the countrey and dysherited of hys fathers goods This therfore of the maister and of the sonne was done by the complaint of Apuleius Rufinus O howe vnconstant fortune is and howe oft not thynkyng of it the threde of lyfe doth breake I saye it bicause if this maister had not bene couetous the father hadde not bene depriued of his sonne the childe hadde not bene banished the mother had not bene defamed the common weale had not bene slaundered the master of wylde beastes hadde not bene deuoured neyther the Emperour hadde bene so cruell agaynst them nor yet their names in Hystories to their infamies hadde alwayes continued I doe not speake thys without a cause to declare by writyng that whyche the euyll do in the world For wyse menne ought more to feare the infamye of the litle penne then the slaunder of the bablyng tongue For in the ende the wicked tongue can not defame but the lyuynge but the litle penne doth defame them that are that were and the shal be To conclude thys my mynde is that the mayster shoulde endeuour hym selfe that hys scooller shoulde be vertuous and that he doe not dispayre though immediately for hys paines he be not rewarded For thoughe he be not of the creature let hym be assured that he shal be of the creatour For God is so mercyefull that he ofte tymes takynge pitie of the swette of those that be good chastneth the vnthankfull and taketh vpon him to require their seruices Of the determination of the Emperour when he committed his childe to the tutours whyche he had prouided for his education Chapter xxxviii CInna the Hystorien in the first booke of the times of Comodus declareth that Marcus Aurelius the Emperour chose .xiiii. masters learned and wise men to teache hys sonne Comodus of the whyche he refused fyue not for that they were not wyse but for that they were not honeste And so he kepte these nyne onely whyche were both learned in the sciences and also experte in bringyng vp the chyldren of
enryched by his famous acts Saul was king of Israell taken for a god was anointed of Samuell his father a poor husbādman of the countrey hee frō his youth brought vp in that trade to hold the plough yet when hee was king hee neuer disdeined to plough his ground to sow his otes and to dryue hys beastes now to pasture them home again So that the good king did glory this day to hold the plough and to morow to fyght with his swoord When fortune therefore sheweth her self enemy to any and that from great dignity and high cal shee ouerthroweth him and bringeth him to low and mean estate it is then that hee hath good cause to complain of fortunes cruelty and to bewail his wretched happ ashamed to see his lothsom misery But when shee woorketh contrarily and from mean estate brings him to great honor credit that must needes bee great honor and glory to him Therefore I say let them beware beware that bear rule and aucthority in the court that they bee not proud glorious and high mynded neither otherwise detected of any kynd of vyce though the bee neuer so much in fauor and estimation Sith fortune sheweth most her spight against the proud and disdainfull hart rather then to the hūble and meeke To stopp the enemies mouth there can bee found no better means then for the derlyng of the court not to bee too proud and presumptuous since no man is found so mad or foolish in the same as once to dare to say I accuse this man because hee is in fauor and estimation but hee may boldly doo it when hee seeth in deede that hee is a proud glorious foole If wee see the fauored of the court offended one with the other wee will say it is but heat if wee see him eat to much wee will say it is but of a good stomack If hee ryse late wee will excuse him and say it was late ere hee went to bedd and that hee was wery with watching If hee play oft wee wil say hee dooth it for pastime yf hee bee careful in keeping that hee hath together that hee is wise and pollytike if hee speak much that hee is a pleasant man geeuen to bee mery yf hee speak litle that hee is wise and modest yf hee spēd much that hee is liberal and bountiful but if hee bee glorious proud what shal a man say on him with what honest mean can wee excuse him Surely let others looke For I know not Truely for all other faults and errors of men they may honestly bee excused saue only that of pryde For though many tymes wee commit other offences it is but through frailty but if wee offend in pryde it commeth of a great folly want of discretion And for the contrary the lowly curteous condition of the courtier doo not only depresse resist the detractions and murmurings of their enemies but dooth inforce them against their willes to say wel of thē For god dooth suffer many times that the peruerse nature condition of one is subdued ouercome by the good gentle vsage of an other Therefore the beloued of court shoold take great heede that they shew not them selues proud in their woords much lesse in their ceremonies which they vse in the court as in going vp the stairs in entring in at the doores in taking the stoole to sitt down also in putting of his cap. And though perhaps hee that shall read these our aduertisments will thynk them rather precepts for children then for men yet I will aunswer him neuertheles that they are very necessary for those that are in fauor in the court and for all other courtiers without the vse of which hee may happely noorish a venemous Serpent in his brest And therefore not without great reason wee haue spoken that wee haue that of too little heede taking sometymes there may folow great trouble to the fauored courtier For many tymes they murmure more against him in not putting of his capp when hee is curteously saluted then they doo if they deny their fauor when they are requested If one courtier leaue to doo curtesie to an other they say hee dooth yt not for that hee beareth him yll will but for want of bringing vpp But if hee bee great with the king then they say it is not for want of good maner but for that hee is too proud To say truely it is an vnhappy life the life of the beloued in the court sith they attribute all their faults and errors to folly although they committed them rather through negligence and want of foresight then of pretensed malyce or yll will as it is taken and thought Gneus Flaccus a noble Romayn going in company with other Romains to visit a sick man and comming also an other romain to see the same sick person lykewise and being no place commodious in the chaumber wher the last might sit down neither any stoole left to sitt down vppon they say hee rose of on his stoole and gaue him place that came last The which humanity and curtesy was afterwards published among al the Romains and after also greatly praysed of the wryters And the Romains also beeing very true graue curious and woorthy of great faith and credit in all that they wrote it is to bee credited that that act of curtesy was much noted and esteemed sith they woold wryte it in the most noble and heroycall acts of their common weale When the fauored courtier is accompanied with knights and gentlemen of the court that brings him to the court and it happen any to goe vp the degrees before him hee shoold not passe for that much lesse shew any token that hee made any rekening of it For to say troth it is no great matter for him to goe vp beefore him on the degrees of stone sith hee went beefore all on the degrees of fauor What matter is it to the fauored or officer of the court to see an other enter in at the staier doore beefore him if afterwards when they shall come where the king is hee shall goe into the priuy chamber as one that in deede is in fauor and beloued and the other shal stand wythout like a sheep And to conclude I say if I were in the nomber of those that are thus belyked and fauored of the king I woold in the kings chamber vse my fauor and credit and abrod all curtesy and ciuility ¶ That it is not fitt for courtiers to bee too couetous if they mean to keepe them selues out of many troubles and daungers Cap. xiiii AVlus Gelius and Plinie render true testimony in their writings that the honesty of the Romains was so great in their eating and their modesty in their mainteining of them selues such that they did not suffer any romain citezen to haue any moe houses then one to dwell in nor but one gown to put on his back one horse to ryde