can be accomplished worthely and with commendation I wyll bring forth the example of one by whiche all other whiche haue any charge and are in aucthoritie may iudge what inconueniences doo happen by hauing troubled mindes It is thought that the whole glorie of a battayle consisteth in the pollicie of a captaine For if true it be which Ephicrates wryt An armie is as it were a lyuing creature whose head is the captaine whose breast are the well placed souldiors his hands are footemen and his legges horsemen then must it needes followe that as in a bodie the head being troubled the members can not fulfyll their duties so a captaine being in mind troubled it must needes followe that the whole armie be in great daunger Therefore it is most necessarie that a captaine be voyde of a troubled minde neither must he omit any thing which belongeth vnto his office as to comfort the fearefull to cheerishe the faithfull to talke familiarly with his inferiours to his foes to seeme terrible but amiable to his friendes to 〈◊〉 conuenticles and to doo all thinges openly without suspition of double dealing to giue attention vnto messengers to entertaine ambassadors curteously be their newes neuer so vnpleasaunt Tygranes though ambitiously he would be called king of kinges yet was he of so troubled a minde as any strange newes would straight coole his hautynesse â—s it appeared For on a tyme when as the Romanes by ambassadors had sent him theyr mindes plainly it so troubled him that he coulde not abyde the sight of the messengers but caused them against all ryght and lawe of armes cruelly to be put to death which made him not onely to be more assaulted of his enemies but also to be dispised of his owne subiects and caused him to come into seruitude and subiection As Tygranes for his vnquietnesse and cruelty is brought for an example to be shunned so Darius constancie is worthy to be followed It is reported of him that whatsoeuer happened he tooke it quietly and was neuer in minde troubled for the same And in deede it is no small consolation to a man when any euyl is comming quickly and with speede to haue intelligence thereof espetially to a wyse man which can with a patient minde beare all mysfortunes ¶ Of Fearefulnesse Chap. 23. THe last part of Feare is Fearefulnesse which according to the interpretation of M. Varro is when the mind being moued doeth as it were forsake the body and is sent abroade Some saie it hath his appellation from that heate whiche commeth into our faces by the sense and perceiuing of feareful things Cicero wryteth that this fearfulnesse is a continuall feare And hereof it commeth that he is called fearefull which standeth in feare of euery small thing and as we say in our tongue which feareth his owne shaddowe which neuer sleepeth securely neuer resteth quietly which is inconstant and seemeth nowe to be cruel and a threater nowe gentle and quiet nowe bolde and couragious by and by weake and effeminate The most fearefull of all men as Herodotus wryteth are the Garamantines for they are afraide of euery thing and can abide the sight of none though they haue weapons yet doo they not vse them for they are afraide for to hurte and when they are hurt they wyll not for very cowardnesse resist Two sortes of men are aboue all others subiect vnto Fearefulnesse both which are malefactors and wicked persons as those whome theyr consciences wyll not suffer to be at quiet but continually obiect vnto their senses most horrible sights of strange things which wyl at no tyme suffer them to be at reast but continually assault them and seeme to take vengance for theyr transgressing And the other be sick and impotent persons which by the weakenesse of theyr braine in sleepe are much troubled with visions Examples of the first we haue many as Orestes which because of his matricide was cruelly tormented with his mothers furies And Nero lykewise for the lyke offence could neuer be quiet but the ghost of his mother whome most wickedly be had murthered seemed euery foote for to terrefie him and with scourge whip seuerely to punish him for his so hainous offence Lykewise Caesar Caligula another tyraunt â—o was terrefied with straunge sights and ougly shewes at no tyme he slept one night quietly and in rest But as before I sayde This kinde of Feare neyther troubleth or very seldome one vertuously bent and of good conuersation By which opinion Theodorus Byzantius being led affirmed that no wise men were molested with such apparitions in the night but onely boyes women weake or wicked folkes whose mindes being sore occupied by some strange stronge imagination suppose to see that which indede they doo not but are merely deluded by their owne conceipte Examples of the latter maye be Vitellius Caesar. Who by excesse in banquetting falling into sicknesse and being a sleepe there appeared before him a tall and goodly yong man to be lyfted in his presence into heauen by which he coniectured that after his death he shoulde liue in penurie But true was that vision of the picture of Fortune of Tusculane whiche appeared vnto Galba lamenting that he had offred and consecrated the money which she had geuen him a lyttle before vnto Venus and therefore with bitter words she threatned to take it from him againe for within short space afterwarde by the souldâ—ors of Otho he was murthered Lykewise vnto Tiberius Caesar there appeared in a vision in the night the image of Apollo which saide vnto him that notwithstanding he had purposed to set vp and erect his image in a Temple which he had new builded at Syracusas yet he woulde not haue it so and therefore he came to admonishe him for the aduoyding of a greater inconuenience not to place the same according vnto his former determination It often falleth out that dreames and apparitions in the night proue true when they appeare vnto men of confirmed wits and whose delyght is in contemplation and studie of celestiall matters And thereof commeth diuinations and forewarnings of thinges good or euyll Lykewise Kinges and Princes those which are in highest aucthoritie seeme to haue a certaine familiarity with God which by dreames and visions in the night signifieth vnto them wayes how to profite themselues and theyr subiectes and to auoyde dangers imminent and at hande As we sée Agamemnon whome Homer maketh mention of to declare at large the whole order of theyr warre which was tolde him in his sleepe To which Nestor gaue credite and sayd That touching things pertayning to the profite of a common weale â–ª a Kinges wordes were to be followed if in his sléepe he were told them Ptolomie the brother of Alexander the great hauing by a poysoned shaft receiued his deadly wound and being dead it is written that Alexander his brother sate
Philosophers is that which maketh to our matter although the two latter come very nigh For that infinite and endlesse nature may seeme the bestower of all goods and goodnesse so in déede largely as we saye all goodnesse to spring procede from God it is For al things are the goodes of this endlesse euerlasting and incomprehensible nature but commonly with the rude multitude to speke Nature in this place is vnderstoode a particular nature a naturall thing and yet not euery thing but endued with sence yet not beasts but reasonable creatures The goodes of this nature which this natural man is adorned with all are many as those which I haue spoken of before externall and those which I shall haue occasion to manifest hereafter all good qualites of the minde but in this place the goodes of Nature be vnderstoode all such thinges as are in the boddie of man not penetrating into the moste internall parte and minde of him Aristotle deuides all goodnesse into two sortes and calles them eyther external or internall externall he sayth are those which we haue spoken of alreaddy the goodes of Fortune internall the goodes of the minde and of the bodie or nature These laste goodes are these Health Strength Beutie Bignesse Without eyther of these one can not be accompted happie in this life For first let a man be for his substance welthie for honor princely naye let him be for his rare wonderful vertues glorious and if you wyl peereles yet if he be troubled with a quotidian feuer or tormented with some greuous disease I praye you is not his case miserable What a blessednesse it is to haue health I refer mée to those which eyther are or haue bene afflicted with disseases The cause of a thing bringes knowledge None can better tell what it is to possesse riches then h◠which is pinched with pouertie and none can better reporte the benefite of libertie then he which is in thraldome By sowre thinges we knowe what are sweete And in aduersitie we wishe againe to be in prosperitie It is sayde that a poore laboring man hauing helth is happier then a King in sicknesse The reasons are because the one kéepeth vs as it were in prisō that we may not stirre the other geueth vs libertie to goe about our businesse one troubleth the minde and takes away vnderstanding the other confirmeth the wit and makes vs readdie to all good exercises briefly the one bringeth all things backwarde by the other all thinges prosper and come forewarde Although it be sayde that sicknesse is necessary to bring a man to the mindfulnesse of him selfe when as health hath brought forgetfulnesse which hath bine confirmed by many examples as of Hieron a king of Sicilia which then began to fauor good literature when he was pinched with sicknesse of Ptolomie the seconde which proued excellently well seene in all humane learning when he had bene plaged with great sicknesse of Straton which neuer woulde practise any commendable thing before he had bene greuously afflicted with contagious diseases and Plato is reported neuer to haue fauored Philosophie before sicknesse made him to knowe him selfe which though they are noted of a nomber to haue proued famous by reason of sicknesse yet for one of them a thousande maye be recited which in their health haue accomplished that which sicknesse could neuer cause thē to enterprise For what doth more consume the liuely blood in man what doth more extinguish the naturall heate which is the cause of life and promptnesse to euery good exercise then doth melancholike passions wherwith sicke folkes are assaulted So that lesse able they are to goodnesse then then at any tyme Although sometyme it falles out as in those which I haue recited that they haue come from vngratiousnesse to goodnesse and from wickednesse to vertue by reason of the affliction of the boddie yet better he may if he be endued with reason and grace bende him selfe to a good conuersation in health then troubled with sicknesse And with Lactantius I saye that necessarie it is for him that is insolent to bée brought to the acknowledginge of him selfe by sicknesse or other miserie but for a wyse man not so Which if it were not to what end should so many euen of the wysest seeke so many meanes and so learned counsayle eyther to preuent sicknesse when they are proane therevnto or be cured when they are diseased Whervnto should such great heede ▪ eyther of misdiet or distempering of the boddy serue Why doth not euerie man eyther ingurgitate him selfe that he breake euen his hart vaines with swylling and good cheere or passe all modestie in all his exercises if sicknesse be so commodious But the lerned counsaile and those which haue bene sicke doo crie Principiis obsta Preuent a disease and when sicknesse is a growing in tyme cut it of So that if theyr counsayle be to be regarded who both know feele the discommodities of an afflicted bodie we ought to iudge thē in no smal happinesse which are free from all disquietnesse of bodie minde Croton that citie was so commended for the healthfulnesse of the place where she is situated that of her came this adage more healthfull then Croton This healthfulnesse of place caused the Athenians to excell the other Grecians in excellencie of wit. The Aegyptians were the most profounde in all knowledge that euer were and no other reason is geuen but because they dwelled in a most healthfull countrey of all others The first precept which those geue that write of building is to chuse a good and healthful place free from corrupte and noisome ayres Were it my minde to make any long large discourse of this matter I woulde prescribe rules concerning the kéeping of health when we haue it but I leaue the same those which are desirous of it maye bestowe their labour very well in perusing of Plutarch Marsilius Ficinus and others if they vnderstande the Latin tongue which haue written at large and learnedly thereof Another of the goodes of Nature is the strength of bodie A thing verie good in tyme and place Vincentius a studious and very learned man makes three kindes of stoute and valiant men stoute in knowledge stoute in bodie stoute in minde Those he calleth stoute in knowledge which notwithstanding they haue not that couragiousnesse of minde which valiant men should be endued withall yet through a certayne shame of neglecting their duetie they take harte of grace and compell theyr boddie to take that in hande which appertayneth to the profite and commoditie thereof Stoute in boddie are such to whome nature hath geuen bones and strength easely to ouercome many labors and they are of thrée sortes For some of them can doo many thinges but wyll not some can and wyll others wyll doo more then they can The same Vincentius calleth
posterities It were a long and a very great laboure to recite the triumphes in number many in sight straunge for cost sumptuous appointed to valiant and victorious Captains Nay some haue stood in such admiration of them that they haue thought them worthy not only suche honor as we haue recited but also immortalitie And therfore the Athenians Castor and Pollux Thebans Hercules Indians Bacchus only for their noble hartê and stout courage are numbred among the Gods and so called them and also did appoint alters and sacryficed vnto them euen as if they had been borne of immortall séed because they shewed them selues vigilaÌ„t in seeing to them selues valiant in defence of their Contries victorious in subduing their foes and vertuous in al their dooings But we hauing somwhat offended in praysing a thing before we expressed by definitioÌ„ what it was I wil now define what is Fortitude Many are the definitions Socrates said it was a knewledge instructing a man how with commendation to aduenture daungerous troublesome and fearful things and in the taking of them in hand to be nothing terrified Chrisippus gaue two definitions therof and said that Fortitude was either a science teaching how to suffer things or it was a vertue of the minde obeying vnto reason without all fear either in patieÌ„t bering or adueÌ„turing any thing The Platonists define it in this maner and say that Fortitude is a kéeping of a stable iudgement in repelling those things which séeme fearfull and terrible in mens eyes Aristotle in a certain place calleth it a meane betwéene feare and holdenes and therfore he sayeth it may séeme to be a knowledge of dreadful things whiche may terrifie a man without this knowledge In a nother place he calles it a vertue by which many and meruailous things are doone not rashly without discretion but according to lawes as far foorth as they will permit Cicero defines Fortitude to be an affection of the minde in labours troubles and torments frée from feare at all times All which definitions wil nothing els but that Fortitude shal be a vertue of the minde adueÌ„turing nothing rashly with out consideration neither fearing any thing in a good cause whether it be death or any thing els séeme it neuer so terrible By which it appéereth that Fortitude consists betwéen two extremities fear and folishboldenes which doo either make a man to doo that which he should not or not to doo that whiche he should For feare wil not let a man doo what he should a good occasion béeing offered and by boldenes he passeth the bounds of the law and in a hed for no occasion or very little will slay God almightie Wel this Fortitude this vertue boldenes frée from foolish and childish fear hath many partes and without any of them none can truely be named a valiaunt man which are in number eight are these Magnanimitie Trust Securitie Magnificence Constancie Suffering Stabilitie Patience whose properties shal be declared ¶ Of Magnanimitie Cap. 28. MAgnanimitie is a certain excellencie of the minde placing before her eyes at all times vertue and honor and to the attaining of them bends all her cogitations and studyes which exposition sheweth that none can truly be Magnanimus but he whiche is an honest good man and only by vertue desireth to coÌ„e to honor and estemation Whiche M. Marcellus of whoÌ„e before I made mention declared by the erecting of the temple of honor vnto which none could haue entraunce except first he came through Vertues Temple Now the better to knowe this fellowe it is good to consider the partes of which Magnanimitie dependê and what be the properties of this Magnanimus First his nature is in a good cause and for the looue of vertue only without hope or desire of recompence to doo euery thing He is delighted in a good conscience and therefore if he be in aduersitie he mourneth not in prospe ritie he insulteth not and in troubles he pyneth not away Besides the excellencie of the minde he stands in admiration of nothing neither dooth he thinck any thing to hard to be brought to passe thorowe that stomack whiche vertue hath brought vnto him he is constant but in a good cause neither will he go about any thing but that which is honest and wil bring him credit He is no hipocrite nor flatterer he cannot abide to curry any mans fauour and he wil tel the troth at all times boldely without fear And to be found with a false tale it gréeues him at the hart Such a one was Romain Atticus for he would neither tell a lye nor could abide to hear a lye at any maÌ„s mouth He caÌ„not abide to dissemble with any man but is open vnto al that euery man may testifie what he is And therfore if he hate a man he shall knowe it if he looue one he cannot keep it secret He wil not speak one thing and think another He cannot be likened vnto those pictures of Alcibiades fair without and filthy within He wil not be compared to the mermaidê â–ª which sing swéetly but for a pray He is righteous in his dooings If any offend wilfully and of set purpose he wil not fauoure but punish seuerely if any by compulsion through feare violate the lawes he sets th' example of Caesar before his eyes and is to nothing more redy then to mercifulnes All his care is to be good vnto all men and he thinks it a shame for him if any excel him in liberalitie And therfore he neuerlets out of his minde that senteÌ„ce of King Anaxilaus which béeing on a time asked what was the best propertie in a King answered to let none excel him in Liberalitie He is alwaies more willing to giue then to receiue a benefit for he is ashamed by a benefit to be bound vnto any man as he whose care is to passe all men in well dooing for he thinks him to be a conqueror which bestoweth a good turn him whiche receiueth he numbreth among them which are vaÌ„quished If he receiue any thing he is neuer wel vntil he haue requited the same with greter measure He is easely intreated either to run or ride to pleasure his freend If any man sue vnto hiÌ„ he is not strauÌ„ge or wil not he with in but spéedyly satisfie their demaunds He thinks he should not be desired vnto any thing neither dooth hee looue to request a thiÌ„g at any bodies haÌ„d He knowes well inough that to beg a thing at a freÌ„dê haÌ„d is to bye it neither dooth he forget the senteÌ„ce of Euripides that it is no smal gréef to a good nature to try his freÌ„d And therfore he is more prepared to bestowe then his fréend is to beg considering with the rest this of Seneca that how much the longer we are in pleasuring so much we loose of good wil. In exacting a dutie he is