hee put them out of his house he himself did write in the third booke and the first Chapter vnder the title Adstultos Pedagogos And sayde that he saide vnto them these and such other like words CHAP. XXXVI Of the words which Marcus Aurelius spake to fiue of the foureteene Masters which he had chosen for the Education of his sonne and how hee sent them from his Pallace for that they behaued themselues lightly at the feast of God Genius FRiendes my will was not to foresee that which cannot bee excused nor I will not command you that which I ought not to commaund but I desire that the Gods of their grace doe remaine with me and that with you the same iust gods may goe and that likewise from mee and from you the vnluckie and vnfortunat chances may be withdrawn For the vnluckie man were better to be with the dead then remaine here with the liuing Since that now I had receyued you and with great diligence sought you to the end you should bee tutors to my Sonne the Prince Comodus I protest to the immortall Gods that I am sorry and that of your shame I am ashamed and that of your paine the greatest part is mine And it can be no otherwise for in the world there should be no friendshippe so straight that a man therefore should put his good name in danger The Sages that I haue sought were not prouided onely to learne the Prince Comodus but also to reform all those that liued euill in my Pallace And now I see the contrary for where I thought the fooles should haue beene made wise I see that those that were wise are become fooles Know you not that the fine golde defendeth his purenes among the burning coales that the man endued with wisdome sheweth himselfe wise yea in the middest of many fooles for truly as the golde in the fire is proued so among the lightnes of fooles is the wisedome of the wise discerned Doe not you know that the Sage is not knowne among the Sages nor the foole among the fooles but among fooles wise men do shine and that among the sages fooles are darkned for there the wise sheweth his wisedome and the foole sheweth his folly Doe not you know that in the sore wounds the Surgian sheweth his cunning and that in the dangerous diseases the Physitian sheweth his science And that in the doubtfull battels the Captain sheweth his stoutenesse and that in the boysterous stormes the Master sheweth his experience So in like maner the Sage man in the place where there is great ioy and solace of people ought to shew his wisedom and discretion Do not you know that of a moderate witte there proceedeth a cleare vnderstanding a sharpe memory a graue person a quiet minde a good name and aboue all a temperate tongue for he onely ought to be called wise who is discreete in his workes and resolute in his words Do not you know that it little auayleth to haue the tongue expert the memory liuely the vnderstanding cleare to haue great science to haue profound eloquence a sweet style and ample experience if with all these things you bee as masters and in your workes as wicked men certainly it is a great dishonour to a vertuous Emperor that he should haue for masters of yong Princes those which are Schollers of vaine iuglers Do not you know that if all the men of this world are bound to leade a good life that those which presume to haue science are much more bound then others are which by their eloquence presume to confound the world For it is a rule certaine That alwayes euill workes take away the credite from good words And to the end it seeme not vnto you that I speake of fauour I will here bring into your memory an ancient Law of Rome the which was made in the time of Cinna which said Wee ordaine and commaund that more grieuous punishment be giuen vnto the Sage for one folly only committed by him openly then to the simple man for a greater offence committed secretly O iust and very iust law O iust and happy Romanes I say vnto all those that together did finde and ordayne the Law for the simple man slayeth but one man with his sword of wrath but the sage man killeth many by the euill example of his life For according to the saying of the diuine Plato The Princes and Sage men sinne more by the euill examples which they giue then in the fault and offence they commit All the ancient Writers affirme that the triumphant Rome neuer beganne to decay vntill the Senate was replenished with sage serpents and destitute of simple doues for in the ende there is nothing that sooner destroyeth Princes then thinking to haue about them wise men that shold counsell them when indeed they are malitious that seeke to deceiue them What a thing it was in olde time to see the policie of Rome before that Silla and Marius did alter it before that Catilina and Catullus did troble it before that Iulius Caesar and Pompeius slaundered it before that Augustus and Marcus Antonius destroyed it before that Tiberius and Caligula did defame it and before that Nero and Domitian did corrupt it For the moste parte of these although they were valiant and wanne many Realmes yet notwithstanding the vices which they brought vs were more then the Realms they wanne vs. And the worste of all is that all our Kingdomes are lost and our vices abide still If Liuius and the other Hystoriographers doe not deceyue vs in olde time they might haue seene in the sacred Senate some Romaines so auncient with hayres so honorable others so experte men others aged so modest that it was a wonder to see the majesty they did represent and a comforte to heare that which they sayde I speake not that without teares which I will say that instead of those graue auncient aged persons there sprang vppe other young bablers the which are such and so manie that all the Common-wealth is altered and Rome her selfe slaundered For that Land is cursed and with much miserie compassed where the gouernaunce of the young is so euill that all wish for the reuiuing of the dead If wee credite that which the auncients wrote wee cannot denye but that Rome was the mother of all good workes as the auncient Greece was the beginner of all sciences So that the effect of the Greekes was to speake and the glorie of the Romaines was to worke But now through our wofull destinies it is all contrary For Greece hath banished from it all the speakers to Rome and Rome hath banished from it all the Sages to Greece And if it be so as it is indeed I had rather be banished to Greece with the Sages then to take part with Rome among the fooles By the faith of a Christian I sweare vnto you my friendes that I beeing young saw an Oratour in Rome which
the Sunne shineth hotest and at the beginning there was found one Woman with one birde called the Phenix which birde was created on the Water and the woman engendered by the great heat of the Sunne and of the powder of trees in this wise There was a tree sore eaten with wormes and vpon a time a blast of Lightning set it on fire and burnt it so as among the ashes of that rotten tree the first woman was made and found Although I bee a Romane Philosopher yet can I not disallow the opinion of the Greeke Philosopher Of a truth ' ye amorous Dames you haue your tongues of the nature of fire and your conditions like the powder of a rotten tree According to the diuersity of Beasts so Nature hath in diuers parts of the body placed their strength as the Eagle in her byll the Vnicorne in the horne the Serpent in the tayle the Bull in the head the Beare in his pawes the horse in the breast the dog in the teeth the Bore in the tuske the Doues in the winges and the women in their tongues For of a truth the flight of their loue is not so high as the fantasie of your foolishnesse is vaine the catte scratcheth not so sore with her nayles as yee doe scratch the foolish men with your importunities The dogge hurteth him not so much that hee runneth after as ye do the sorrowful Louer that serueth you the life of him is not in so much danger that catcheth the Bul by the horns as is the fame of him that falleth into your hands To conclude the Serpent hath not so much poyson in his tayle as ye haue in your tongues I accept the Romane Ladies apart for there are many very noble whose liues are not touched with complaint nor good fames had in suspect Of such neyther my Letter speaketh ought nor my penne writeth but of those women I speake that bee such as all the venemous beasts in the world haue not so much poison in their bodies as one of those haue in their tongues And sith the Gods haue commaunded and our fate doth permit that the life of men cannot passe without women I aduise the youth and beseech the aged I wake the wise and instruct the simple to shunne women of euill name more then the common pestilence Reading the auncient Lawes of Plato I finde written this We command that all women openly defamed bee openly banished the City to the entent that others seeing the sinne punished may abhorre the same for feare to fall in the like paine The same Law sayde further Wee commaund that they pardon a woman for all her faults shee committeth boldly in case yee see amendment likewise in her but wee will that no fault bee pardoned committed by the tong For actuall sinne done is the frailety of nature the tongue onely of malice O diuine Plato Master and measure of all knowledge and science and prince of all philosophers when thou in the golden world madest such Lawes In which time there was such scarcitie of those women which were euill and so great plentie of them that were good In this case what should wee doe now in Rome where there bee so many euill openly and none good in secret Women ought naturally to bee shamefast in their face temperate in their words wise of wit sober in their going honest in their conuersation pittifull in their correction warie in their liuing auoyding companies faithfull in their promises constant in their loue Finally shee that will be counted honest let her not trust to the wisedome of the worldly-pretended-Worldly-pretended-wise nor commit her Fame vnto the wanton youth Let euery wise woman take heede what hee is that promiseth her ought For after the flames of Venus be set on fire and Cupid shotte his arrowes the Rich offereth all that hee hath and the poore all that hee may The wise man will euer be her friend and the simple-man for euer her seruant The wise man wil lose his life for her and the simple will accept his death for her The old men say they will be friends to their friends and the yong men will say he wil be enemy to theyr enemyes The aged promising to pay her debts the other to reuenge her jniuries Finally the one because to hide their pouerty and the other to publish their beautie leade these fooles losing their liues and bringing their fame to ende I will leaue to speake of the good Women for I minde not to charge them with ought I aske you amorous Ladyes if Plato was amongst you when ye made a play of my life and drewe my picture about Rome No surely for that I see in your acte now I doe suspect that to be true which hath been saide of others for there are fewe in Rome that execute the paines of Platoes Law One thing yee cannot denie if I were the worst of all men at the last ye see the end of my transgressing but this you cannot denie that she which is least euill of all you the naughtines of her life I could not sufficiently set out in my life It is great perill to wise women to be neighboured with fooles it is great perill to the shamefast to bee with the shameles it is great perill to the chast to be with the adulterers great perill it is for the honourable to be with the defamed For there is no slaundered woman but thinketh euery one defamed or at the least is desirous to haue them so procureth to haue them slaundered or saith they bee infamed And in the end to hide their infamie they slaunder all the good It is long sith I knewe you amorous Ladyes and you mee If I speake I speake if you knowe I knowe If yee holde your peace I am still if ye speake openly I will not talke in secrete Thou knowest well Auilina thou diddest compasse the ieast of mee that Eumedes solde Calues deâ—rer in the Butchery then thou diddest innocent Virgines in thy house And thou Toringa knowest well that before mee thou couldest not recount all thy Louers on thy fingers but diddest desire to haue a bushell of peason Thou knowest well Lyuia Fuluia when thou wert thou knowest with whom at Bretus we made agreement with thy husband thou tookest him aside and sayedst Vnles I may lye out of my house one Night in a weeke thou shalt not lie quietly in thy house Thou knowest well Rotoria that in thy youth thou werte two yeares on the Sea and diddest compound with the pirate that no woman shold serue the 100. soldiers but thou alone in a gally Thou knowest right wel Enna Curtia that when the Censor came to take thee hee found v. mens apparrell the which thou warest in the night season and but one womans attire wherewith thou wert clothed in the dayetime Thou knowest well Pesilana Fabricia that Alluines Metelles and thou beeing married demaunded openly what thou haddest gotten in his house with thy friendes in secret Thou
whereby the good were fauoured and also institutions of grieuous paines wherewith the wicked were punished Although truely I had rather and it were better that the good should loue reason then feare the law I speake of those which leaue to doe euill workes for feare onely of falling into the punishments appoynted for euill doers For although men approue that which they do for the present yet God condemaeth that which they desire Seneca in an epistle hee wrote vnto his friende Lucille saide these wordes Thou writest vnto mee Lucille that those of Scicile haue carryed a great quantitie of Corne into Spaine and into Affrike the which was forbidden by a Romaine law and therefore they haue deserued most grieuous punishment Now because thou art vertuous Thou mayest teache mee to doe well and I that am olde will teach thee to say well and this is because that amongst wise and vertuous men it is enough to say that the Law commaundeth appoynteth and suffereth this thing but in as much as it is agreeing with reason For the crowne of the good is reason and the scourge of the wicked is the law The fourth thing that commonly through the worlde amongst all men was accepted was the Barbers And let no man take this thing in mockery For if they doe reade Plinie in the 59. chapter and the seuenth booke there they shall finde for a Trueth that in those former times the Romaines were in Rome 454. yeares without eyther powling or shauing the hâ—ires off the bearde of anie man Marcus Varro said that Publius 〈◊〉 was the first that brought the barbers from Scicilie to Rome But admit it were so or otherwise yet notwithstanding there was a great contention among the Romaines For they sayd they thought it a rash thing for a man to commit his life vnto the curtesie of another Dyonisius the Syracusian neuer trusted his Beard with any barbor but when his Daughters were very little they clipped his beard with sisers but after they became great hee would not put his trust in them to trimme his beard but hee himselfe did burne it with the shales of nuttes This Dyonisius Syracusan was demaunded why hee would not trust any Barbours with his beard He aunswered Because I know that there bee some which will giue more to the Barbor to take away my life then I will giue to trimme my beard Plinie in the seuenth booke sayeth that the great Scipio called Affrican and the Emperour Augustus were the first that caused them in Rome to shaue their beards And I thinke the end why Plinie spake these things was to exalt these two Princes which had as great courage to suffer the rasours to touch their throats as the one for to fight against Hanniball in Affricke and the other against Sextus Pompeius in Scicilie The fifte thing which commonly throgh the world was accepted were the Dyalls and clockes which the Romains wanted a long time For as Plinie and Marcus Varro say the Romaines were without clockes in Rome for the space of 595. yeares The curious Hystoriographers declare three manner of dyalls that were in old time that is to say Dyalls of the houres Dyalls of the Sunne and Dyalls of the Water The dyall of the Sunne Aneximenides Millesius inuented who was great Animandraes scholler The dyall of the water Scipio Nasica inuented the dyall of houres one of the Schollers of Thales the phylosopher inuented Now of all these Antiquities which were brought into Rome none of them were so acceptable to the Romaines as the Dyalls were whereby they measured the day by the houre For before they could not say we will rise at seuen of the clocke wee will dine at ten we will see one the other at twelue at one wee will doe that wee ought to doe But before they sayde after the Sunne is vp wee wil doe such a thing and before it goe downe wee will do that wee ought to doe The occasion of declaring vnto you these fiue antiquities in this preamble was to no other entent but to call my Booke the Diall of Princes The name of the Booke beeing new as it is may make the learning that is therin greatly to be esteemed God forbid that I should bee so bolde to say they haue been so long time in Spaine without dayes of learning as they were in Rome without the Diall of the Sunne the water and of the houres For that in Spaine haue beene alwaies men well learned in Sciences and very expert in the warres By great reason and of greater occasion the Princes ought to bee commended the knights the people their wits and the fertility of their Countrey but yet to all these goodnesse I haue seen many vnlearned bookes in Spaine which as broken Dials deserue to bee cast into the fire to bee forged anew I doe not speake it without a cause that many bookes deserue to bee broken and burnt For there are so many that without shame and honesty doe set forth bookes of loue of the world at this day as boldlie as if they taught them to despise and speake euill of the world It is pitty to see how many dayes and nights be consumed in reading vaine bookes that is to say Orson and Valentine the Court of Venus and the foure sonnes of Amon and diuers other vaine bookes by whose doctrine I dare boldly say they passe not the time but in perdition for they learne not how they ought to flye vice but rather what way they may with more pleasure embrace it This Diall of Princes is not of sand nor of the Sunne nor of the houres nor of the water but it is the Diall of Life For the other Dials serue to know what houre it is in the night and what houre it is of the day but this sheweth and teacheth vs how wee ought to occupie our minds and how to order our life The property of other Dials is to order things publike but the Nature of this dyal of Princes is to teach vs how to occupie our selues euerie houre and how to amend our life euery moment It little auaileth to keepe the dyalls well and to see thy Subiects dissolutely without any order to range in routes and dayly rayse debate and contention among themselues The End of the generall Prologue THE AVTHOVRS PROLOGVE SPEAKETH PARTICVLARLIE of the Booke called MARCVS AVRELIVS which he translated and dedicated to the Emperour CHARLES the fift THe greatest vanity that I finde in the world is that vaine men are not onely content to be vaine in their life but also procure to leaue a memory of their vanity after their death For it is so thought good vnto vaine and light men which serue the world in vain works that at the houre of death when they perceyue they can do no more and that they can no longer preuaile they offer themselues vnto death which now they see approch vpon them Many of the World are so fleshed in the World that
neyther our memory can comprehend and much lesse our tongue can declare it That which Princes and all other Faithful ought to belieue of GOD is that they ought to know God to bee Almightie and incomparable a God immortall incorruptible immoueable great Omnipotent a perfect and sempiternall GOD For all mans power is nothing in respect of his diuine Maiestie I say that our LORD GOD is the onely High God that if the creature hath any good it is but a mean good For a man comparing well the good which hee possesseth to the miserie and calamity which persecuteth him without doubt the euil which followeth after is greater then the good which accompanyeth him Also our GOD is immortall and eternall which like as he had no beginning so shall hee neuer haue ending And the contrarie is to the miserable man which if some see him borne other see him die For the byrth of the children is but a memory of the graue to the aged And GOD only is incorruptible the which in his Beeing hath no other corruption nor diminution but all mortall men suffer corruption in their soules through Vice and in their bodies through wormes for in the end no mā is priuiledged but that his body is subiect to corruption and his soule to be saued or damned Also GOD is no changeling and in this case though hee changeth his worke yet hee changeth not his Eternall counsell But in men it is all contrarie For they oftentimes beginne their busines with grauitie and afterward change their counsell at a better time and leaue it lightly I haue now shewed you that God onely is incomprehensible the Maiestie of whom can not be attained nor his Wisedome vnderstanded which thing is aboue mans intelligence For there is no man so sage nor profound but that an other in an other time is as sage and profound as he Also GOD onely is Omnipotent For that he hath power not onely ouer the liuing but also ouer the dead not only ouer the good but also ouer the euil For the man which doth not feele his mercie to giue him glory he will make him feele his wrath in giuing him paine Oh ye Princes of this world truely it is both iust and necessarie that you acknowledge subiection vnto the Prince of Heauen and Earth which in the end although yee be great and thinke your selues to be much worth although that you haue much and can do much yet in respect of that Supreame Prince you are nothing worth neither can you doe any thing For there is no Prince in the world this day but can doe lesse then he would would more thē he hath Since all that wee haue spoken of before is true let Princes great Lords see how consonāt it is to reason that sith all the creatures were not created but by one Why then doe they not honour ONE aboue all For as a Prince will not suffer that an other be called King in his Realme so likewise GOD will not permit that any other should be honoured in this world but he onely The Father did a great benefite to vs for to create vs without the desire of any man and also the Sonne to redeeme and buy vs without the help of any man and aboue all the holie Ghost to make vs Christians without the deserts of any man For all the good deeds and seruices which we are able to doe are not sufficient to requite the least benefit that he shewed vnto vs. Princes ought greatly to esteem such a gift that God hath created thē men not beasts and much more they should esteeme that they are made Lords and not seruants but most of all they ought to reioyce that God hath made them Christians and not Gentils nor Moores For it profiteth them little to haue scepters and Realms to condemne if they shall not acknowledge the holy Church without the which no man may or can bee saued Oh diuine Bountie how many Paynims had bin better peraduenture then I if thou hadst chosen them for the Church and if thou hadst made me a Paynime I had bene worse then they Thou leauest them which haue serued thee and hast chosen me a sinner which offend thee Oh Lord God thou knowest what thou doest and where thou art but I know not what I doe nor what I speake For wee are bound to prayse the workes of God haue not licence to call them back Those Emperours and Painim Kings which haue been good as there hath been manie so much lesse they haue to answere for that in time of charge they were not called And likewise the contrarie to the wicked Christian Princes the more goodnes they haue receyued without measure so much the more torments shal be giuē them in eternall fire For according to the ingratitude which they haue shewed for the benefites by them receyued in this world so shall the bitternesse of theyr paines bee which they shall receyue in Hell Princes are much bound to doe wel because they were created of God reasonable men but they are much more bound because they be Christians more then others boūd because they were made mightie and placed in so high estate For the greatest power is not for a Prince to haue and possesse much but to profite much They doe not require of a little and weake Tree much but that hee beare his Fruit in due time For a great and high tree is bound to giue wood to heate them that be a colde shadow to refresh the weary trauellours fruit to comfort the needie also it ought to defend it selfe from all importunate windes For the vertuous Prince ought to bee a shadow and resting place where the good may couer themselues beeing weary The Church doth moue vs to doe many things and our conscience willeth vs to obserue more But if the Princes will promise me they will doe two things onely that is to say that they wil be faithfull in the law of God whom they honour and that they wil not vse tyrannie against their people whom they gouerne From henceforth I promise them the glory felicity which they desire For that prince only dieth in safegard which dieth in the loue of our SAVIOVR IESVS CHRIST and hath liued in the loue of his neighbour Princes and great Lords which presume to bee good Christians should watche greatly that all things might be done to the Seruice of GOD begunne in God followed in God and ended in God And if they wil watch in this I let them knowe that as touching the Exaltation of Faith they should watch so much that all should know that for the defence of the same they are readie to dye For if the Prince belieue that there is paine for the euill and rewarde for the good in an other life it is impossible but that hee amend his life and gouerne well his Common-wealth Thinke this for a surety that where the Princes feares not
places are Arbours and Gardeins to wofull and heauie hearts A slaue hath nothing to care for but himselfe alone but you that be princes haue to satisfie and please all men For the Prince should haue a time for himselfe and also for those which are about him The diuine Plato said well that hee that should haue the least parte of a Prince and belonging to a Prince ought to be the Prince himselfe For to that ende the Prince should bee all his owne he ought to haue no part in himselfe Though a slaue work trauel in the day yet he sleepes without care in the night but you Princes passe the time in hearing importunate suites and the nights in fetching innumerable sighs Finally I say that in a slaue be it well or be it euill all his paine is finished in one yeare or is ended at his death but what shall a wofull Prince doe when he dyeth If he were good there is but a short memory of his goodnesse and if hee hath beene euill his infamy shall neuer haue end I haue spoken these things to the end that great and small Lords and seruants should confesse and acknowledge the true Seigniory to be onely vnto him who for to make vs Lords aboue became a seruant heere beneath CHAP. XXX When the Tyrants beganne to ratgne and vpon what occasion commaunding and obeying first begann And how the authority which the Prince hath is by the ordinance of God CEasing to speake any further of the Poeticall Histories and auncient faynings and speaking the truth according to the diuine Histories the first that did liue in this World was our Father Adam who did eate of the fruite forbidden and that not so much for to trespasse the commaundement of one as for not to displease his wife Eue For many now a dayes had rather suffer theyr conscience a long time to bee infected then one onely day to see theyr wiues displeased The first homicide of the worlde was Caine The first that dyed in the World was Abel The first that had two wiues in the World was Lamech The first City of the World was by Enoch built in the fields of Edon The first Musition was Tubalcaim The first which sayled in the World was Noe The first Tyrant of the World was Nembroth The first Priest was Melcrisedech The first King of the World was Anraphel The first Duke was Moyses The first which was called Emperour in the World was Iulius Caesar For vntill this time they which gouerned were called Consuls Censors and Dictators And from Iulius Caesars hitherto haue beene called Emperours The first battell that was giuen in the world as wee reade was in the wilde valleyes which now they call the dead and salt sea For a great part of that that then was the maine land is novv the dead sea The holy Scriptures cannot deceyue vs for it is full of all truth and by them it is declared that eighteene hundred yeares after the World beganne there was no battell assembled nor company that met to fight in the field for at that time when they had no ambition nor couetousnesse they knew not what battell meant It is reason therefore that in this writing we declare the cause why the first battell was fought in the world to the end Princes may thereof bee aduertised and the curious Reader remaine therein satisfied The manner was this that Bassa being King of Sodome Bersa King of Gomorrhe Senaab King of Adamee Semebar King of Seboime and Vale King of Segor were all fiue Tributaries to Chodor Lanmor King of the Elamites which fiue Kings conspired against him because they would pay him no tribute and because that they would acknowledge no homage vnto him For the realmes paying tribute haue alwayes rebelled and sowed sedition This rebellion was in the 13 yeare of the raigne of Chodor Laomor King of the Elamites and immediately the yeare following Anraphel king of Sernaar Arioch king of Ponte and Aradal King of the Allotali ioyned with Chodor Laomor All which together beganne to make warres to destroy Cities and Countries vpon their enemies For the olde malice of the warre is That where they cannot haue their enemies which are in the fault they put to sacke and destroy those which are innocent and guiltlesse So the one assaulting and the other desending in the end all come to the field they gaue battell as two enemies and the greatest part was ouercome of the fewest and the fewest remayned victorious ouer the greatest which thing God would suffer in the first battell of the world to the end Princes might take example that all the mishappes of the Warres come not but because they are begun of an vniust occasion If Chodor Laomor had helde himselfe contented as his Predecessors did and that hee had not conquered Realmes in making them subiect and had not caused them to pay tribute neyther they vnto him would haue denyed reason nor hee with them would haue waged battell For thorow the couetousnesse of the one and the ambition of the other enmities grew betweene the people This considered which wee haue spoken of Sygnorie and of those which came into contentions for signories Let vs now see from whence the first originall of seruitude came and the names of seruantes and Lordes which were in the old time and whether seruitude was by the discorde of vertuous men first brought into the World or else inuented by the ambition of tyrants for when the one commaundeth and the other obeyeth it is one of the nouelties of the world as the holy Scripture declareth vnto vs in this manner The holy Patriarch Noah had three sons which were Sam Ham and Iaphet and the second sonne which was Ham begot Cusn and this Cusn begotte Nimrod Nimrod made himselfe a Hunter of wilde beasts in the woodes and mountaines Hee was the first that beganne to play the Tyrant amongst men enforcing their persons and taking their goods and the Scripture called him Oppressor hominum which is to say an Oppressor of men For men of euill life alwaies commit much euill in a Common-wealth He taught the Chaldeans to honor the fire hee was the first that presumed to be an absolute Lord and the first that euer required of men homage and seruice This cursed tyrant ended his life in the golden World wherein all things were in common with the Common-wealth For the Auncients vsed their goods in common but their wils onely they reserued to themselues They ought not so thinke in a light matter for his persō to haue been a tyrant but they ought to think it a greater matter to haue beene a rebel in a Common-wealth much more they ought to esteeme it as an euill matter in him which hath beene as hee was a disturber of the good customes of his country but the most vniust of all is to leaue behind him any euil custom brought into the common wealth for if hee deserue great
discend of the Linage of the Troyans and therefore when king Eneas and prince Turnus had great Warres betweene them which of them should haue the Princesse Lauinia in Marriage the which at that time was onely heyre of Italie king Euander ayded Eneas not only with goods but also sending him his owne Sonne in person For the friendes ought for their true friendes willingly to shead their bloud and in their behalfe without demaunding they ought also to spend their goods This King Euander had a Wife so well learned that that which the Greekes sayde of her seemeth to bee fables That is to say of her eloquence and wisedome for they say that if that which this woman wrote of the warres of Troy had not been through enuie cast into the fire the name of Homer had at this day remayned obscure The reason hereof is because that woman was in the time of the destruction of Troy and wrote as a witnesse of sight But Homer wrote after the destruction of Troy as one affectioned vnto the Prince Achilles as a friend of the Greekes and enemie of the Troians And truely when a Writer is affectioned to any person his writing of force must be suspected The wife of this King Euander was called by her name Nicostrata albeit others called her Carmenta for the eloquence shee had in her verses For they say that she made as easily in meeter as others doe in prose The Historiographers of the Gentiles say that shee prophefied the destruction of Troy fifteen years before She tolde the comming of Aeneas into Italy and spake of the warres that should be before the marriage of Lauinia and said how Ascanius the sonne of Enea should builde Alba longa She sayde further that of the Latine Kings should descende the Romaines and that the reuenge which Rome should take of Greece should bee greater then that which Greece did take of Troy And shee sayde also that the greatest Warre which Rome should haue should be against the Princes of Affricke and that in the end Rome should triumph ouer all the Realmes of the earth and finally a nation vnknowne should triumph for euer in Rome As Eusesebius Caesarten saith The Routaines kept these writings in as great estimation in the high capitoll as the Christians kept their faith vnto GOD. King Darius after he was vanquished in the first Battell by King Alexander the great before he was in the second battel vtterly destroyed trauelled and sought many wayes and means to the ende he might be friend vnto Alexander And in very deede King Darius was sage to seeke it but not so happie to obtain it For to Princes the peace is more worth that is honest then is the victorie which is bloudie Betwixt these two so stoute Princes Truce was made for three moneths and in the meane time the Priests of the Chaldeans treated peace with these conditions that the great Alexander should marry the daughter of king Darius and that Darius should giue her a great quantity of gold and besides this that he should endow her with the third part of his realme And truely these meanes were good For among Princes there is nothing that sooner pacifieth olde iniuries then to make betweene them newe Mariages King Alexander excused himselfe of this marriage saying that hee was but xxiiij yeares of age and that hee was too young to bee marryed because amongst the Macedonians there was a custom that the woman could not be marryed vntill xxv yeares of age nor the man vntill xxx The Daughter of King Darius was faire rich and noble but the best she wanted for she was not wise And this was the cause why K Alexander refused her for his wife for in those dayes women were not marryed because they were rich but beloued because they were wise And finally the woman that had studyed best came commonly to the highest Marriage Antonius Rusticus and Quintus Seuerus say that the great Alexander after he had forsaken the daughter of king Darius marryed a wife which was a poore woman and deformed called Barsina which indeede was neyther with riches nor beautie endued but without doubt in the Greeke and Latine tongue most excellently learned And when the Princes of Macedonie would haue withdrawn him from that marriage asking him why hee esteemed the rich lesse then the poore he aunswered thus I see my Friends in Marriage it suffiseth the husband to bee rich and the woman wise For the Office of the husband is to winne that which is lost and the Office of the wife is to keepe safe that which is wonne Strabo de situ Orbis saith that the fifte Queene of Lides was Mirthas the which of her bodie was so little that shee seemed to bee a Dwarffe and in quicknes of wit so high that they called her a giant For the man that hath a stout stomack and a little body may well be called a giaunt and hee that hath a great body and a cowards hart may iustly be named a Dwarffe For that this excellent Queen Mirtha was such a wise wife when she was marryed and afterwards also a widowe very honest and aboue all things in Phylosophie excellently learned The Lides counted this Queen Mirtha amongst the seuen Kings of the which they vaunted themselues to be gouerned as of glorious Princes For the Auncients gaue as much glorie to Women learned in Letters as vnto the valiant and stoute men expert in Armes Cornificius the Poete as Laertius saieth had a sister called Cornificia the which in Greeke Latin letters was not onely learned but also in making Metre and Epigrames very expert They write that of this Woman which of few men the like hath been heard That is to say that she made verses and Epigrams better at the first sight then her brother did with much study And it is not too much incredible to put any doubt in that that is spoken for the penne hath more swiftnesse of the liuely spirit then the tongue hath of the small vnderstanding This Poet Cornificius was resident a long time in Rome and was alwayes poore and voide of all fauour thogh indeede hee was better learned then others which were in greater estimation the which thing dayly chaunceth in the Court of Princes For there is no difference whether they bee fooles or wise but whether they be acceptable to the Princes Aristotle sayeth Vbi multum de intellectu ibi parum de fortuna Meaning thereby that men which of memory and vnderstanding are most rich of the goods of this world are commonly most poore This Poet Cornificius therefore going through Rome little set by of any by chaunce a Romane named Calphurnius to scoffe at him sayd Tell me Cornificius hast thou had any fortunate day since thou wert borne for in these twenty yeers that I haue known thee I neuer saw thee in fauour and if I bee not deceyued it is fifteene yeeres since I knew thee haue
thinke thou wilt do so For by the faith of a good man I sweare vnto thee that my heart neither suspected iâ— nor yet the aucthority of so graue a Romane doth demand it for to thee onely the fault should remaine and to me the wonder Heartily I commend vnto thee thy honesty which to thy selfe thou oughtest and the care which behooueth so worthy and notable a widow For if thou art tormented with the absence of the dead thou oughtest to comfort thee with the reputation of the liuing At this present I will say no more to thee but that thy renowne among the present be such and that they speake of thee so in absence that to the euill thou giue the bridell to be silent and to the good spurres to come and sefue thee For the widow of euill renowne ought to be buried quicke Other things to write to thee I haue none Secret matters are dangerous to trust considering that thy heart is not presently disposed to heare newes It is reason thou know that I with thy parents and friends haue spoken to the Senate which haue giuen the office that thy husband had in Constantinople to thy sonne And truly thou oughtest no lesse to reioyce of that which they haue said of thee then for that they haue giuen him For they say though thy husband had neuer beene Citizen of Rome yet they ought to haue giuen more than this onely for thy honest behauiour My wife Faustine saluteth thee and I will say I neuer saw her weepe for any thing in the world so much as shee hath wept for thy mishap For shee felt thy losse which was very great and my sorrow which was not little I send thee foure thousand sexterces in money supposing that thou hast wherewith to occupy them as well for thy necessaries as to discharge thy debts For the complaints demaunds and processes which they minister to the Romane Matrons are greater then are the goods that their husbands doe leaue them The gods which haue giuen rest to thy husband O Claudine giue also comfort to thee his wife Lauinia Marcus of mount Celio with his owne hand CHAP. XXXIX That Princes and Noble men ought to despise the world for that there is nothing in the world but plaine deceit PLato Aristotle Pythagoras Empedocles Democrates Seleucus Epicurus Diogenes Thales and Methrodorus had among them so great contention to describe the world his beginning and propertie that in maintaining euery one his opinion they made greater wars with their pens then their enemies haue done with their lances Pythagoras sayde that that which wee call the World is one thing and that which wee call the vniuersall is an other the Philosopher Thales said that there was no more but one World and to the contrarie Methrodorus the Astronomer affirmed there were infinit worlds Diogenes sayd that the world was euerlasting Seleucus sayd that it was not true but that it had an ende Aristotle seemed to say that the world was eternall But Plato sayde clearely that the world hath had beginning and shall also haue ending Epicurus sayd that it was round as a ball Empedocles saide that it was not as a bowle but as an egge Chilo the Philosopher in the high Mount Olimpus disputed that the world was as men are that is to say that hee had an intellectable and sensible soule Socrates in his Schoole sayeth and in his doctrine wrote that after 37 thousand yeares all things should returne as they had beene before That is to say that he himselfe should bee borne anew and should be nourished and should reade in Athens And Dennis the Tytant should returne to play the Tyrant in Syracuse Iulius Caesar to rule Rome Hannibal to conquer Italy and Scipio to make warre against Carthage Alexander to fight against King Darius and so foorth in all others past In such and other vaine questions and speculstions the auncient Philosophers consumed many yeares They in writing many bookes haue troubled their spirites consumed long time trauelled many Countryes and suffered innumerable dangers and in the end they haue set forth few truthes and many lyes For the least part of that they knew not was much greater then all that which they euer knew When I tooke my penne in my hand to write the vanity of the world my intention was not to reproue this material world the which of the four Elements is compounded that is to say of the earth that is cold and drie of the water that is moist and cold of the ayre that is hote and moist of fire that is drie and hote so that taking the world in this sort there is no reason why we should complaine and lament of it since that without him we cannot liue corporally When the Painter of the world came into the world it is not to be beleeued that he reproued the water which bare him when hee went vpon it nor the ayre that ceased to blow in the sea nor the earth that trembled at his death nor the light which ceased to light nor the stones which brake in sunder nor the fish which suffered themselues to bee taken not the trees which suffered themselues to be drie nor the monuments that suffered themselues to bee opened For the creature acknowledged in his Creator omnipotency and the Creator founded in the creature due obedience Oftentimes and of many persons wee heare say O woefull world O miserable world O subtill world O world vnstable and vnconstant And therefore it is reason wee know what the world is whereof the world is from whence this world is whereof this world is made and who is lord of this world since in it all things are vnstable all things are miserable all things deceitfull all things are malicious which cannot be vnderstood of this materiall worlde For in the fire in the aire in the earth and in the water in the light in the Planets in the stones and in the Trees there are no sorrowes there are no miseryes there are no deceytes nor yet any malice The world wherein wee are borne where we liue and where we die differeth much from the world whereof we doe complaine for the world against whom wee fight suffereth vs not to be in quyet one howre in the day To declare therefore my intention this wicked World is no other thing but the euill life of the Worldlings the Earth is the desire the fire the couetise the water the inconstancie the ayre the folly the stones are the pride the flowers of the Trees the thoughts the deepe Sea the heart Finally I say that the Sunne of this world is the prosperity and the moon is the continuall change The Prince of this so euill a world is the diuell of whom IESVS CHRIST laid The prince of this world shall now be cast out and this the Redeemer of the World sayeth For he called the worldlings and their worldly liues the world For since they be seruants of sinne of
necessity they must be subiects to the diuell The pride the auarice the enuie the blasphemie the pleasures the leachery the negligēce the gluttony the ire the malice the vanity the follie This is the worlde against which wee fight all our life and there the good are princes of vices and the vices are Lordes of the vicious Let vs compare the trauels which we suffer of the Elements with those which wee endure of the vices and wee shall see that little is the perill wee haue on the sea and the land in respect of that which encreaseth our euill life Is not he in more danger that falleth throgh malice into pride then hee which by chaunce falleth from a high rocke Is not hee who with enuie is persecuted in more danger then he that with a stone is wounded Are not they in more perill that liue among vitious men then others that liue among brute and cruell beasts Doe not those which are tormented with the fire of couetousnes suffer greater danger thē those which liue vnder the mount Ethna Finally I say that they be in greater perils which with high imaginations are blinded thē the trees which with the importunate winds are shaken And afterwards this world is our cruell enemy it is a deceitfull friend it is that which alwayes keepeth vs in trauell it is that which taketh from vs our rest it is that that robbeth vs of our treasure it is that which maketh himselfe to bee feared of the good and that which is greatly beloued of the euill It is that which of the goods of other is prodigall and of his own very miserable Hee is the inuentor of all vices the scourge of all vertues It is hee which entertaineth all his in flatterie and sayre speech This is hee which bringeth men to dissention that robbeth the renowme of those that bee dead and putteth to sacke the good name of those that bee aliue Finally I say that this cursed World is hee which to all ought to render account and of whom none dare aske account Oh vanitie of vanities where all walke in vanitie where all thinke vanitie where all cleaue to vanitie where all seemeth vanity and yet this is little to seeme vanitie but that indeede it is vanitie For as false witnesse should he beare that would say That in this Worlde there is any thing Assured Healthfull and True as hee that would say that in Heauen there is any vnconstant variable or false thing Let therefore vaine Princes see how vaine their thoughts bee and let vs desire a vaine Prince to tell vs how he hath gouerned with him the vanityes of the world For if hee belieue not that which my pen writeth let him be leeue that which his person proueth The words written in the booke of Ecclesiastes are such I Dauids Sonne that swayes the Kingly seate With hungrie thyrst haue throwne amid my brest A vaine desire to proue what pleasures great In fleeting Lise haue stable foote to rest To taste the sweete that might suffise my will With rayned course to shunne the deeper way Whose streames of high delight should so distill As might content my restlesse thoughts to stay For loe Queene Follyes Impes through vaine beleefe So proudly shape their search of tickle reatch That though desert auayles the waue of griefe To Science toppe their clymbing will doth stretch And so to drawe some nice delighting ende Of Fancyes toyle that feasted thus my thought I largely waighed my wasted boundes to bende To swelling Realmes as Wisedomes Dyall wrought I Royall Courtes haue reached from the soyle To serue to lodge my huge attending traine Each pleasaunt house that might be heapt with toyle I reared vp to weelde my wanton rayne I causde to plante the long vnused vines To smooth my taste with treasure of the Grape I sipped haue the sweete inflaming Wines Olde rust of care by hidde delight to scape Fresh Arbours I had closed to the skyes A shrowded space to vse my fickle Feete Rich Gardeins I had dazling still mine Eyes A pleasaunt plot when dayntie Foode was meete High shaking-trees by Arte I stroue to sette To fraight desire with Fruits of liking taste When boyling flame of Summers-Sunne did heate The blossom'de Boughes his shooting beames did waste From Rocky hilles I forced to be brought Colde siluer Springs to bayne my fruitfull grounde Large throwne-out Ponds I laboured to be wrought Where numbers huge of swimming Fish were found Great compast Parkes I gloryed long to plant And wylde Forrests where swarmed Heards of Deere Thousands of Sheepe ne Cattell could not want With new encrease to store the wasted yeere Whole rowtes I kept of seruile wights to serue Defaultes of Princely Courtes with yrke some toyle Whose skilfull hand from cunning could not swarue Their sway was most to decke my dayntie soyle The learned weights of Musickes curious art I trayned vp to please mee with their play Whose sugred tunes so sayled to my heart As flowing griefe agreed to eble away The tender Maydes whose stalke of growing yeares Yet reached not to age his second rayne Whose royall am s were swallowed in no cares But burnt by loue as Beautyes lotte doth gaine Loe I enioyde to feede my dulled spirite With strained voyce of sweete alluring song But yet to mount the Stage of more delight I ioyed to see theyr comely Daunces long The hilles of massie Golde that I vp heapt So hugie were by hoord of long excesse That clottered clay with prouder price was kept In sundry Realmes when ruthfull neede did presse In some I say my bodyes rowling guyde Did gaze for nought but subiect lay to sight My iudge of sounds wisht nothing to abyde But was instild to kindle more delight The clother of my corps yet neuer felt That pleasde him ought but aye it toucht againe My sicher of sauours if ought be smelt That might content his would was neuer vaine The greedy sighes of my deuoured brest Trauelled in thought to conquere no delight But yeelded streight as wyer to the wrest To office such as wanton will be hight But when the doore of by abused eyen Where hoysed vp with lookes and lookes againe And that my eager hands did aye encline To touch the sweete that season still their paine When wanton tast was fed with each conceyt That strange deuise brought forth from flowing wit When restlesse will was ballast with the weight Of princely reach that did my compasse fit I saw by search the sory vnstable bloome The blasted fruit the flitting still delight The fickle ioy the oft abused doome The slipper stay the short contented sight Of such as set their heauen of singing life In pleasures lappe that laugh at their abuse Whose froward wheele with frowning turne is ryse To drowne their blisse that blindely slept with vse For loe the course of my delighting yeares That was embraste in armes of Fancies past When wisedomes Sunne through follies clowds appeares Doth
in his flatteries since wee doe know that one day we shall see our selues depriued thereof and that which is more he vseth such craft and subtilty with the one and with the other that in olde men whome reason would should not be vicious hee the more to torment their persons hath kindled a greater fire in their hearts so that this malicious world putteth into olde riches a new couetousnesse and in the aged engendreth cruell auarice and that in that time when it is out of time Wee ought greatly to consider how by the world we are deceiued but much more we ought to take heede that we be not by it destroyed For whereas we thinke to be in open liberty hee keepeth vs secret in prison Wee thinke we are whole and he giueth vs sicknesse Wee thinke wee haue all things yet we haue nothing Wee thinke that for many yeares long shall be our life when that at euery corner we are assaulted of death We thinke that it counteth vs for men that bee wise when hee keepeth vs bound like vnto fooles Wee thinke that it encreaseth our good when that in deede it burdeneth our conscience Finally I say that by the way where we thinke to continue our renowne and life we loose without recouery both life and fame O filthy world that when thou doest receiue vs thou dost cast vs off when thou dost assemble vs thou dost seperate vs when thou seemest to reioyce vs thou makest vs sad when thou pleasest vs how thou displeasest vs when thou exaltest vs how thou humblest vs and when thou doest chastise vs how thou reioycest Finally I say that thou hast thy drinkes so impoysoned that wee are without thee with thee and hauing the thiefe within the house wee goe out of the dores to seeke him Though men be diuers in gestures yet much more are they variable in their appetites And sith the world hath experience of so many yeares it hath appetites prepared for all kinde of people For the presumptuous he procureth honours to the auaricious he procureth riches and to those which are gluttons hee presenteth diuers meates The fleshly he blindeth with women and the negligent he letteth rest and the end why he doth all these things is that after he hath fed them as flesh he casteth vpon them the nets of all vices Note Princes and great Lords note noble men though a Prince doe see himselfe Lord of all the world hee ought to thinke that of no value is the seignory vnlesse he himselfe be vertuous For little it profiteth that he be Lord of the vicious which is himselfe the seruant of all vices Many say that the world doth beguile them and other say that they haue no power against the world To whom we may answere That if at the first temptations wee would haue resisted the world it is vnpossible that so oftentimes it durst assault vs. For of our small resistance commeth his so great audacity I cannot tell if I shall dissemble I shall hold my peace or whether I shall say that I would say since it greeueth my heart so much onely to thinke of it For I feele my eyes readier to lament it then my fingers able to write it It is so that euery man suffereth himselfe to be gouerned so of the world as if God were not in heauen and he had not promised to bee a good Christian here in earth For all that he will wee will that which he followeth wee follow and that which hee chooseth wee choose And that which is greatest sorrow of all if wee doe refraine our selues from aduersity it is not for that of our owne nature wee would cease from it but because the world will not command vs to doe it Little is that which I haue spoken in respect of that I will speake which is that the world hath made vs now so ready to his law that from one houre to another it changeth the whole state of this life So that to day he maketh vs hate that which yesterday we loued he maketh vs complaine of that which we commended hee maketh vs to bee ofended now with that which before we did desire hee maketh vs to haue mortall enemies of those which before were our speciall friends Finally I say that the world maketh vs to loue that in our life which afterwards wee bewaile at the houre of death If the world did giue vnto his minions any perfect and accomplished thing it were somewhat that for a time a man should remaine in the seruice of his house But since that in the world all things are granted not during life but as lending which ought to bee rendred the day following I know not what man is so very a foole that in the world doth hope for any perpetuall thing For all that he giueth hee giueth with such condition that they shall render it vnto him when hee shall demaund it and not at the discretion of him that doth possesse it Peraduenture the world can giue vs perpetuall life I say certainly no. For in the sweetest time of all our life then sodainly we are assaulted of cruell death Peraduenture the world can giue vs temporal goods in aboundance I say certainly no. For no man at any time had so much riches but that which hee wanted was more then that hee possessed Peraduenture the world can giue vs perpetuall ioy I say certainly no. For exempting those dayes which wee haue to lament and also the houres which we haue to sight there remaineth not for vs one moment to laugh Peraduenture he can giue vs perpetuall health I say certainly no. For to men of long life without comparison the diseases are more which they suffer then the yeares are which they liue Peraduenture the world can giue vs perpetuall rest I say certainly no. For if the dayes be fewe wherein we see the elements without cloudes fewer are the houres which wee feele our hearts without cares Therefore since that in this miserable world there is no health perpetuall nor life perpetuall nor riches perpetuall nor ioy perpetuall I would knowe what it is that the worldlings would of the world since they know that it hath no good thing to giue them but onely by lending or by vsurie If it be vsurie there is no gaine of money but rather returne with restitution of vices O children of vanity O maisters of lightnesse since it is so that ye now determine to followe and serue the world looke not of the world to haue any thing but things of the world In it is nothing but pride enuie leacherie hate ire blasphemy auarice and folly And if ye aske if he haue in his gouernance any vertuous thing hee will answere you that hee doth neuer sell such merchandize in his shop Let no man thinke that the world can giue vs that which it hath nor for it selfe And if wee will chaunge any thing with it and it with vs hee is so subtill to sell
Realme to haue so worthie a King Amongst other Lawes for women hee enacted one worthy of high commendations the wich commaunded that the Father which dyed should giue nothing to his daughter and an other that neyther liuing nor dying hee should giue any Money to marrie her withall to the intent that none should take her for her goods but only for her vertues and not for her beautie but for her good qualities whereas now some are forsaken because they be poore so then they abode vnmarryed because they were vicious Oh Time worthie to bee desired when maydens hoped not to be marryed with their Fathers goods but by the vertuous works of their owne persons this was the time called The golden Worlde when neither the daughter feared to be disinerited by the father in his life nor the Father to dye sorrowfull for leauing her without dowrie at his death Oh Rome treble accursed bee hee that first brought Gold into thy house and cursed be he that first beganne to hoord vp treasures Who hath made Rome to be so rich of Treasures and so poor of vertues who hath caused noble-men to marry the Plebeyans and to leaue the daughters of Senatours vnmaried what hath made that the rich mans Daughter is demaunded vnwilling and the daughter of a poor man none will desire What hath caused that One marryeth a Foole with 500. marks rather then a wise woman with ten thousand vertues then I will not say that in this case the flesh vanquished the flesh but I say that vanitie is ouercome of malice For a couetous person will now-adayes rather take a wife that is rich and foule then one that is poore and faire Oh vnhappy woman that bringeth forth children and more vnhappie be the daughters that are born the which to take in marriage no man desireth neyther for the bloud of their predecessors nor the fauor of their friends nor the worthinesse of their persons nor the puritie of their liues Oh wicked world where the daughter of a Good-man without money shal haue no mariage but it was not wont to bee so For in the olde time when they treated of Marriages first they spake of the persons and afterward of the goods not as they do at this present in this vnhappie time For now they speak first of the goods and last of all of the persons In the said Golden-world first they spake of the vertues that the person was endued with and when they were marryed as it were in sporte they would speake of the Goods When Camillus triumphed ouer the Gaules he had then but one sonne and he was such a one that his deserts merited great praise and for the renowm of his Father diuers Kings desired to haue him to their sonnes and diuers Senators desired to haue him to their sonnes in law This yong man being of the age of thirty years and the Father at 60. was importunately styrred by his naturall friendes and desires of strange kings for to marie him but alwayes the olde Camille withstood the counsell of his friends and the importunitie of the straungers When it was demaunded why he determined not vpon some Marriage for his sonne sith thereby should ensue the quyet life of the man and the ioy and comforte of himselfe in his age He aunswered them thus I will not marry my Sonne because some offer mee rich daughters some noble of lynage some young and some fayre But there is none hath sayde to mee I giue you my vertuous daughter Certainely Gamille merited triumph for that hee did and deserued eternall memory for that he said I spake to you Faustine all these wordes because I see you leade your daughter to Theaters and playes and bring her into the capitol you put her to the keeping of the Sword players you suffer her to see the Tumblers and yet doe not remember that shee is young and you not too aged you goe into the streetes without licence and sport you by the riuers I find no villany therein nor thinke that your daughter is euill but I say it because you giue occasion that she should not bee good Beware beware Faustine neuer trust to the race of flesh of young people nor haue no confidence in old folkes for there is no better way then to flye the occasion of all things For this intent the virgins vestals are closed vp betweene the walles to eschew the occasions of open places not to bee more light and foolish but to bee more sad and vertuous flying occasions The young shall not say I am young and vertuous nor the olde shall not say I am olde and broken for of necessity the drie flaxe will burne in the fire and the greene flagge smoke in the flame I say though a man be a Diamond set among men yet of necessity hee ought to bee quicke and to melte as waxe in the heate among Women Wee cannot deny that though the Wood bee taken from the fire and the imbers quenched yet neverthelesse the stones oftentimes remaine hote In likewise the flesh though it bee chastised with hote and drie diseases consumed by many yeares with trauell yet concupiscence abideth still in the bones What neede is it to blaze the vertues and deny our Naturalities certainely there is not so olde a horse but if hee see a Mare will neigh once or twice there is no man so young nor old but let him see fayre young Damsels eyther hee will giue a sigh or a wish In all voluntary things I deny not but that one may bee vertuous but in naturall thinges I confesse euery man to be weake when you take the wood from the fire it leaueth burning when Sommer commeth the colde winter ceaseth when the sea is calme the waues leaue their vehement motions when the Sunne is set it lightneth not the World I will say then and not before the flesh wil cease to trouble vs when it is layde in the graue of the flesh wee are borne in the flesh wee liue and in the flesh wee shall dye and therby it followeth that our good life shall sooner end then our fleshlie desires forsake vs oftentime some wholesome flesh corrupteth in an euil Vessell and good wine sometimes sauoureth of the foist I say though that the Workes of our life bee vertuous yet shall wee feele the stench of the weake flesh I spake this Faustine sith that age cannot resist those hote apetites how can the tender members of youth resist them vnlesse you that are the Mother goe the right way how should the Daughter that followeth you find it The Romane Matrones if that they will bring vppe their Daughters well ought for to keepe and obserue these Rules when they doe see that they would wander abroade that they breake their legges and if that they should bee gazing then put out their eyes and if they will listen stop their eares if they will giue or take cut off their hands if they dare speake sowe vp their mouthes