which were his lands in the territorie of Athens Whereunto when Alcibiades answered that they were not described nor set downe there How is it then quoth this wise man that thou braggest of that thing which is no part of the world One meane which Lycurgus vsed and which helped him much in the reforming of the Lacedemonian estate was the disanulling of all gold and siluer coine the appointing of iron money onely to be currant a pound waight whereof was woorth but sixe pence For by this meanes he banished from among them the desire of riches which are no lesse cause of the ouerthrow of Common-wealths than of priuate men This mooued Plato to say that he would not haue the princes and gouernors of his Common-wealth nor his menne of warre and souldiours to deale at all with gold and siluer but that they should haue allowed them out of the common treasurie whatsoeuer was necessary for them For as long gownes hinder the body so do much riches the soule Therfore if we desire to liue happily in tranquillitie and rest of soule and with ioy of spirit let vs learne after the example of so many great men to withdraw our affections wholy from the desire of worldly riches not taking delight pleasure as Diogenes said in that which shall perish and is not able to make a man better but oftentimes woorse Let vs further know that according to the Scripture no man can serue God and riches togither but that all they which desire them greedily fall into temptations and snares and into many foolish and noisome lustes which drowne men in perdition whereof we haue eye-witnesses daily before vs. This appeereth in that example which the self same word noteth vnto vs of the rich man that abounded in all things so that he willed his soule to take hir ease and to make good cheere bicause she had so much goods layd vp for many yeeres and yet the same night he was to pay tribute vnto nature to his ouerthrow and confusion Being therefore instructed by the spirite of wisedome let vs treasure vp in Iesus Christ the permanent Riches of wisedome pietie and iustice which of themselues are sufficient through his grace to make vs liue with him for euer Of Pouertie Chap. 34. ACHITOB NOw that we haue seen the nature of riches with the most commō effects which flow from them and seeing the chief principall cause that leadeth men so earnestly to desire them is the feare of falling into pouertie which through error of iudgement they account a very great euill I am of opinion that we are to enter into a particular consideration thereof to the end that such a false perswasion may neuer deceiue vs nor cause vs to go astray out of the right pathe of Vertue ASER. Pouertie said Diogenes is a helpe to Philosophy and is learned of it selfe For that which Philosophie seeketh to make vs know by words pouertie perswadeth vs in the things themselues AMANA Rich men stand in need of many precepts as that they liue thriftily and soberly that they exercise their bodies that they delight not too much in the decking of them and infinite others which pouertie of hir selfe teacheth vs. But let vs heare ARAM discourse more at large of that which is here propounded vnto vs. ARAM. If we consider how our common mother the earth being prodigall in giuing vnto vs all things necessarie for the life of man hath notwithstanding cast all of vs naked out of hir bowels and must receiue vs so agayne into hir wombe I see no great reason we haue to cal some rich and others poore seeing the beginning being and end of the temporall life of all men are vnlike in nothing but that some during this litle moment of life haue that in abundance and superfluitie which others haue onely according to their necessitie But this is much more absurd and without all shew of reason that they whom we call poore according to the opinion of men should be accounted yea commonly take themselues to be lesse happy than rich men and as I may so say bastard children not legitimate bicause they are not equally and alike partakers of their mothers goods which are the wealth of the world for the hauing whereof we heare so many complaints and murmurings For first we see none no not the neediest and poorest that is except it be by some great strange mishap to be so vnprouided for that with any labour and pains taking which is the reward of sinne he is able to get so much as is necessary for the maintenance of his life namely food and raiment neither yet any that for want of these things howsoeuer oftentimes he suffer and abide much is constrained to giue vp the Ghost But further as touching the true eternall and incomparable goods of our common father their part and portion is nothing lesse thā that of the richest Yea many times they are rewarded and enriched aboue others in that beyng withdrawen from the care gouernment of many earthly things they feele themselues so much the more rauished with speciall and heauenly grace if they hinder it not in the meditation and contemplation of celestiall things from whence they may easily draw a great and an assured contentation in this life through a certaine hope that they shall enioy them perfectly bicause they are prepared for them in that blessed immortalitie of the second life For nothing is more certaine than this that as the Sunne is a great deale better seene in cleare and cleane water than in that which is troubled or in a miry and dirtie puddle so the brightnes that commeth from God shineth more in minds not subiected to worldlie goods than in them that are defiled and troubled with those earthlie affections which riches bring with them This is that which Iesus Christ himselfe hath taught speaking to him that demanded what he should do to haue eternall life If thouwilt be perfect saith he sell that which thou hast and giue it to the poore and thou shalt haue treasure in heauen adding besides that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdome of heauen If a father diuiding his substance among his children should leaue to one as to his eldest or best beloued the enioying of his principall mannor by inheritance and to the rest their mothers goods which are of much lesse value and that only for terme of life what folly were it to iudge that these last were more preferred and had better portions than the other And I pray you what comparison is there betweene the greatest worldlie and transitorie riches that can be and the permanent treasures of heauen seeing those cannot be compared but to a thing of nought than which they are weaker beeing moreouer accompanied with innumerable hurtfull euils as we haue alreadie shewed What happines and felicitie can wealth adde to rich men aboue the poorer
And who is not content to depart out of an olde ruinous house What pleasure haue wee in this world which draweth neere to an end euery day which selleth vnto vs so deere those pleasures that wee receiue therein What other thing is this life but a perpetual battell and a sharpe skirmish wherein we are one while hurt with enuie another while with ambition and by and by with some other vice besides the suddaine onsets giuen vpon our bodies by a thousand sorts of diseases and fluds of aduersities vpō our spirits Who than will not say with S. Paul I desire to be dissolued and to be with Christ Why do we daily pray that the kingdom of God should come if it be not for the desire which we ought to haue to see the fulfilling therof in the other life We haue a thousand testimonies in the scripture that the death of the body is a certaine way by which we passe into that true and eternal life and into our owne countrey Flesh and bloud saith Saint Paul cannot inherite the kingdom of God neither doth corruption inherite incorruption For this corruptible must put on incorruptiō and this mortali must put on immortalitie then shall bee fulfilled that which is written Death is swallowed vp in victory They that beleeue in Iesus Christ haue already ouercome death sin and hell And therefore contemning death they may say O death where is thy sting O graue where is thy victory The sting of death is sinne and the strength of sinne is the law but thanks be vnto God which hath giuen vs victory through our Lord Iesus Christ. He which hath raised vp the Lord Iesus shall raise vs vp also Our conuersation is in heauen from whence also we looke for the sauiour euen the Lord Iesus Christ who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like vnto his glorious body according to the working whereby he is able euen to subdue all things-vnto himselfe Ye are dead saith he to the Colossians and your life is hid with Iesus Christ in God When Christ which is our life shall appeere then shall ye also appeere with him in glory My brethren saith he to the Thessalonians I would not haue you ignorant concerning them which are a sleepe that ye sorow not euen as other which haue no hope For if we beleeue that Iesus is dead and is risen euen so them which sleepe in Iesus will God bring with him Iesus Christ saith he to the Hebrewes was partaker of flesh and bloud that is to say was truly man that he might destroy through death him that had the power of death that is the deuill And that he might deliuer all them who for feare of death were all their life time subiect to bondage God hath saued vs and called vs with an holy calling as he saith to Timothie not according to our works but according to his owne purpose and grace which was giuen to vs through Christ Iesus before the world was but is now made manifest by the appeering of our Sauiour Iesus Christ who hath abolished death hath brought life immortalitie vnto light through the Gospel I am sure saith Iob that my redeemer liueth and he shall stand the last on the earth And though after my skin worms destroy this body yet shall I see God in my flesh Whom I my selfe shall see and mine eyes shall behold and none other for me Iesus Christ is our head and we are his members This head cannot be without his members neither can forsake them Where Christ is there shall we be also He that considereth diligently these places of Scripture and infinite others contained therein it cannot be but he should haue great ioy and comfort in his hart against all feare and horror of death And then comming to compare the miseries which neuer leaue this life with that vnspeakable happines and felicitie which eye hath not seene neyther eare hath heard neyther came into mans hart which God hath prepared in the second and eternall life for all faithfull beleeuers a christian will not onely passe ouer this mortall life with ease and without trouble but will euen contemne and make no account of it in respect of that which is immortall But to whome is death sweete if not to them that labour The poore hireling is well at ease when hee hath done his dayes woorke So death is alwayes sweete to the afflicted but to them that put their trust in wordly things the remembrance thereof is bitter Now then the children of God are not afrayd of death but as Cyprian writeth in an Epistle sent to the Martyrs of Christ hee that hath once ouercome death in his owne person doth daily ouercome him in his members so that we haue Iesus Christ not onely a beholder of our combates but also an assistant and fighter with vs. And by his grace abounding in the harts of the faithfull they are so much the more bent to meditate vpon the benefites of the future and eternall life as they see that they are inuironed with greater store of miseries in this fading and transitorie life Then comparing both togither they find nothing more easie than to finish sweetly their race and to value the one as litle as they account the other absolute in all felicitie Moreouer seeing heauen is our countrey what is the earth else but a passage in a strange land And bicause it is accursed vnto vs for sinne it is nothing else but the place of our banishment If our departure out of this world be an entrance to life what is this world but a sepulcher And to dwell heere what is it else but to be plunged in death If it be libertie to be deliuered out of this bodie what is this bodie but a prison And if it be our chiefe happines to enioie the presence of our God is it not a miserie not to enioie it Now vntill we go out of this world we shal be as it were separated from God Wherefore if this earthlie life be compared with the heauenlie no doubt but it may be contemned and accounted as it were doung True it is that we must not hate it but so far foorth as it keepeth vs in subiection to sinne And yet whilest we desire to see the ende of it we must not be carelesse to keepe our selues in it to the good pleasure of God that our longing may be far from all murmuring and impatiencie For our life is as a station wherein the Lord God hath placed vs that we should abide in it vntill he call vs backe againe Saint Paul indeed bewailed his estate bicause he was kept as it were bound in the prison of his body longer than he would groned with a burning desire vntill he was deliuered but withall to shew his obedience to the wil of God he protested that he was ready for both bicause he knew
mortall matter of as small continuance as a vessell of earth sinning without ceasing and endeuoring that that which is shut vp within it should please it Notwithstanding we ought not to neglect and contemne the woonderfull frame of this heauenly plant as Plato calleth it saying that the roote thereof is in the head drawing towards heauen seeing as in a little world we may behold therein the excellencie of the woonderful works of God and that in so great measure that the wisest and most eloquent men could neuer set them foorth sufficiently And if we cal to minde how by his almightie power he framed him at the first of a peece of earth we shall not neede to stand long heere to inquire and search out how he could be ingendred and fashioned in his mothers wombe how he receaued nourishment and life and lastly how he came into the light As for example how the sixe first daies after his conception he is nothing but milke the nine following blood twelue daies after flesh and howe in the eighteene next ensuing he is fashioned at what time the fruite beginneth to liue and to haue sence which is the fiue and fortieth day after he was conceaued These are secrets of nature which may seeme as incomprehensible and beyond the capacitie of man as his first creation For what greater maruell can there be than that of a little drop of mans seed there should be engendred bones sinewes vaines arteries similar and instrumentall partes skinne and flesh and that all these should be framed in that kinde figure and similitude which we daily see in men who are all created after that maner What neede we then to make an anatomy of all the chiefest partes of the body of man when as the consideration of the least of them which peraduenture may be found to be most necessarie will suffice to rauish vs with admiration What superfluous thing can be noted in the bodie What small parcell is there which the noblest part may want conueniently and which is not partaker of euerie euill disposition thereof What thing is there in the whole nature thereof which doth not satisfie that dutie verie profitably whereunto it is borne and appointed which mooueth not of it selfe which either doth suffereth or disposeth of it selfe otherwise than is most expedient and meet for it owne benefite and for the rest of the frame of man The progresse and growth thereof from day to day from houre to houre and that of all the parts together of this principall worke at one instant euen from the first houre of his being vntil his whole perfection are they not more heauenly than humane things What is more woonderfull vnder the cope of heauen than the coniunction and subiection of the naturall sences vnto the bodie I meane of the sight smelling hearing taste and touching whereby saith Plato the common sence which is as it were a generall receptacle conceaueth al outward things What an excellent propertie in man is it to voide from him a profitable superfluitie of his nourishment from whence the cause of the preseruation of mankinde proceedeth The articulate and distinct voice proper to him onely is it not woorthy of great maruell What greater secret of nature could rauish the minde of man more with admiration than amongst the infinite multitude of men in the world to consider the variety of their gestures and diuersity of their countenances that hauing al but one and the same forme yet not one almost resembleth another And when in so great varietie two are found resembling in all points one another as we read of some euen of sundry nations who haue been taken indifferently one for the other is it not a stranger matter How maruellous is it that all men hauing a toong wherewith they speake and sing yet we seldome see that the speaking and singing of one resembleth the speech and tune of another wherupon it commeth to passe that friends and familiars oftentimes acknowledge and vnderstand one another by their speech and voice before they see ech other Who will not admire this great secret in the hand of man that a hundred thousand writers may write the same thing with the same inke and like pen and that with three and twentie letters which haue each his owne figure and shape and yet the writings shall not resemble one another so but that euery writing may be knowne by his hand that wrote it Briefely what is there in the whole body of man that is not full of rare beautie This is sufficient for the matter in hand now let vs come to the soule which is much more noble and infused into the body by God the Creator without any vertue of the generatiue seed when as the parts of the body are alreadie framed and fashioned This alone can lead vs to the knowledge of God and of our selues or rather as Socrates said we shall neuer vnderstand perfectly what the soule is except we first know God and behold it in him as in a true glasse who onely can represent it vnto vs. Let vs then see what the soule is according to the sayings of the ancient Philosophers Thales Milesius one of the sages of Graecia who florished in Athens in the time of Achab king of Iuda was the first that defined the soule affirming it to be a nature alwaies moouing it selfe Pythagoras the light of his time and the first that tooke vnto himselfe the name of a Philosopher bicause all those who before him were addicted to the contemplation of the diuinity of the secrets of nature caused themselues to be called by the name of Mages and wisemen which he would not haue spoken of himselfe saying that this diuine and lofty title of Wise was proper to God onely and that it farre passed all humane ability I say this excellent man Pythagoras affirmed that the soule was a number moouing it selfe Plato saith that it is a spiritual substance moouing it selfe by harmonicall number Aristotle saith that the soule is the continuall act or moouing of a naturall and instrumentall bodie that may haue life Or else according to others it is the light of the substance and in perpetuall motion They diuiâ—e it likewise diuersely and make many parts therof The soule as Pythagoras said is compounded of vnderstanding knowledge opinion and sence from which things all knowledge and Arts proceed and of which man is called reasonable that is apt to discourse by reason Plato saith that there are three vertues in the soule belonging to knowledge and vnderstanding which for this cause are called cognitiue or knowing vertues namely reason vnderstanding and phantasie Vnto which three others are answerable appertaining to appetite namely Will whose office is to desire that which vnderstanding and reason propound vnto it Choler or Anger which followeth that that reason and phantasie offer vnto it and Concupiscence which apprehendeth whatsoeuer phantasie and
or execute the same but with a thousand perturbations which cause vs to want the rest and tranquillitie of our soules wherein all our happinesse and felicitie consisteth And therfore Seneca saith If he that wronged thee be weaker than thou forgiue him if he be mightier spare thy selfe For whosoeuer nourisheth his neighbors anger whosoeuer prouoketh incenseth him more when he seeth him vehement and importunate against him he committeth two faults First he hateth himselfe by procuring his owne trouble and griefe Secondly his brother bicause he maketh him sad and vexeth him Moreouer prudent men as Theophrastus saith ought to doe nothing in choler For that vnreasonable part of the soule being mooued foreseeth nothing wisely but being driuen forward with a contentious desire suffereth it selfe to be caried hither and thither as if it were drunken Also we must take great heed that we do not alwaies put in execution whatsoeuer we haue a mind vnto but onely that which moderate reason commandeth vs. Wherein we shal deserue the praise of true Magnanimity if I say we can command our selues and all vehemencie of choler which driueth men forward to be auenged on their enimies is an act that sauoureth more of a vile and abiect hart drawing neere to brutish fiercenes than of a noble mind which despiseth whatsoeuer is earthlie mortall and vading that it may thinke of nothing but of heauen and immortalitie This is that which the studie of our Philosophie teacheth vs euen as expert Phisitions knowe how to draw medicines apt for the preseruation of life out of serpents poisons other deadly and venemous things so we ought to draw from our enimies not their life which ought to be onely in the power of God and of his iustice but profit commoditie by their backbitings reproches and iniuries Which will easily be done if we make small account of their intent and consider narrowly the fact which they speake ill of to the end that if we be guiltie of that which they condemn in vs we may purge and correct our selues And if so be they harme vs wrongfully their impudencie will cause their reproches and iniuries to be turned back and sent against themselues togither with that shame and dammage which they thought to procure vnto vs wheras we shall be no lesse honest and vertuous men than before So that the best reuenge and most honorable victorie which we can carie away from our enimies will be to surpasse them in diligence bountie magnanimitie good-turnes and in all vertuous actions whereby they wil sooner perceiue and confesse them selues vanquished constrained to stop their mouth and to represse their toong than by any other force which we can oppose against them Then may we say that as he who enterprised to kill Prometheus the Thessalien gaue him so great a blowe with a sword vpon an apostume which put him in danger of death that by lancing it he saued his life contrary to his meaning so the iniurious speeches of our enimies vttred in wrath of ill will to hurt vs haue been the cause of curing many euils in vs whereof we made no account and of making vs much better than we were before But bicause iniurie seemeth so hard and vneasie to be tolerated by the imbecillitie of mans nature which is so soone offended and by the hart of man being full of reuenge let vs yet see whether we can find any remedie if not to cure that which is incurable at least wise to purge and to clense the Accidents of this euil Iniurie is offered either to the goods to the honour or to the person of a man As touching the first and last namely the spoiling of our goods and violence offred to our person what other reuenge either by the lawe of God or of man can we haue than to repulse force with force I meane when we are constrained thereunto or else by way of the prince his Iustice which is open to euery one If any haue robbed thee must thou become a thiefe or satisfie thy selfe by thine owne strength Much lesse oughtest thou to set thy selfe against him that is not faultie as many do If thou being the weaker art ouertaken hurt and wronged oughtest thou to vse new force violence and murder to reuenge thy selfe and to repaire thy iniurie receiued The sword is in the hands of the king and of the magistrate that representeth his person and it belongeth to him onely to vse it against them that trouble publike tranquillitie and ciuil societie to the end there should be no shew that any other either would or durst meddle with the soueraigntie whose greatnesse and preseruation consisteth in the administration of iustice Yea the lawes haue alwaies so abhorred violence and priuate force that they haue restored thieues and robbers into those places which they vniustly possessed if they had been driuen from them by violence But some man will say that these things ought in deed to be dulie considered of if Iustice were executed and had not forsaken the earth to dwell in heauen And how then canst thou execute it seeing thou art not called to do but to demand iustice Tarie and the iust Iudge wil returne double that which hath been vniustly taken from thee which thou hast suffered or which hath been denied thee euen then when thou shalt haue greater neede than now that thy daies are so short and then thou shalt liue for euer of that which thou hast reaped in this poore and miserable life Concerning honor the iniurie whereof we feare more than of the other let vs know that it cannot be hurt in a good man bicause vertue which is inuincible protecteth and defendeth it But now a daies we fetch it not so farre off For we will haue our honor tied to the vaine opinion of the world which reiecteth and contemneth those men as cowards and base-minded that haue but once put vp the least iniurie offered by another but honoreth as noble and courageous those that can lustilie kill their enimies This is the cause why many who would willingly forget an iniurie receiued dare not do it for loue of their friends as also bicause they see that it would rather be imputed vnto them as a tokē of a faint hart than of a desire to followe reason But let all these blood-suckers enclined to reuenge to murder couer their beastlie crueltie aswell as they can yet haue they no other reason to disguise it but this that it is a vsuall kind of behauiour now a daies amongest men to the ende they may be welcomed praised and fauoured of Kinges Princes and great Lords otherwise they must take a Coole and shut vp themselues in some cloister But they must needes affirme this withall that they had rather vndoe and condemne themselues with the multitude so they may haue worldlie honour than be saued with the small number of honest men except
youth if we obserue and vse these fower things Instruction Admonition Promise Praises and Threatnings We will comprehend all Instruction vnder sixe precepts The first shall be to shewe vnto children that they must worship God and honour him chiefly and aboue all things referring all their thoughts and deedes to the glorie of his name that it is he that hath created and preserueth all things that he suffereth no wickednes to passe vnpunished nor good worke vnrewarded but giueth eternall happines to good men and euerlasting paine and punishment to them that are euill Let them knowe that without his grace and fauour they can doe nothing no not so much as liue one moment and therefore that they must continually and before euery worke call vpon him and beware that they offend him not by neglecting his commandemēts which for this cause they must diligently learne The second instruction which I finde most necessarie for youth is to teach them not to glorie in earthlie and worldlie goods but to learne rather to despise them and to transport the loue of the bodie and of carnall goods which it desireth to the loue of the soule and of eternal goods which properly belong vnto them They must not make great account of the beautie of the bodie which hauing inclosed within it the soule that is defiled with vice and sinne is nothing else but a pretious and proud sepulcher vnder which is contained a stinking and putrified carrion They must not put their hope and confidence in riches but be perswaded that they are rich and happie if they be wise learned and vertuous And whilest their vnderstanding is good and in vigour and themselues haue time they must put all their strength to the obtaining of that which will be profitable vnto them in their olde age namely of knowledge and vertue which will procure vnto them honour safetie praise happines rest and tranquillitie in their life time and will in the ende guide them to eternall life to be made coheires of the kingdome of heauen with Iesus Christ Thirdly they must be taught to eschewe and flie from all such thinges which they see are hurtfull to others and learne to be wise by their dangers and perils Nowe that which marreth and hurteth others is disobedience lying pride infidelitie naughtines hazarding games whoredome drunkennes prodigalitie idlenes and euill companie Against the contagion of which vices no better preseruatiue can be had than to ingraue modestie in their hartes by the rule and measure whereof they may easily be directed to behaue themselues vertuously For this cause Plutarke sayth very elegantly that the foolish opinion and presumption which yoong men commonly conceiue of themselues ought rather to be emptied than the ayre wherewith bottles and Kiddes skinnes are puffed vp when any good thing is to be put into them Otherwise being full of the winde of ouer-weening they receiue none of that good instruction which men thinke to powre into them For the fourth precept of their instruction we will set downe these fower thinges which will stande them in great steede towards the attayning of a happie life Let them not be delicate or superfluous in anye thinge Let them bridle their toong and not be full of wordes nor vtter filthie and dishonest talke at anie tyme but be gratious and curteous in speaking to all men saluting euery one gladly and willingly giuing place in those things wherein the truth is not hurt Let them maister their choler by cutting off impatience as much as may be which is a singular vertue Lastly let them haue pure hands seeing manie great men by taking monie vniustly haue stilled all that honour which they had gathered togither all the former time of their life Fiftly the examples of good and bad men are to be laid before their eies through the reading and vnderstanding of histories that they may knowe that vertuous men haue beene well rewarded and the vitious receiued an euill and miserable ende For this cause we reade that the olde men of Rome vsed at feastes to singe the famous actes of their Ancestours before their youth For the sixt and last precept we say that it is needfull for youth to be vsed to labour and wearisomnes to keep them from idlenes and from falling into any dishonest pleasure We haue seene what exercises and pastimes are meete for them according to the opinion of the Ancients and at this daye we knowe howe to make choice of them as shall be meetest for the nobilitie Now to speake briefly of the other three generall precepts giuen by vs for the institution of youth Admonition is very necessarie for that age For although youth be well borne and brought vp yet hath it such actiue and vehement prouocations that it is easily brought to stumble Wherfore yoong men must be often admonished of their dutie and spoken vnto of honestie and of vertuous men bicause words mooue their minds The steps of their honest predecessors are to be laid before their eies to induce them to follow their paths And aboue all things the promise of that life which is eternally happie for those that perseuere in vprightnes and iustice is to be propounded vnto them O man well affected saith Horace go ioifully whither thy vertue leadeth thee and thou shalt reape great rewards for thy deserts O ye yoong men saith Plautus walke on in that way wherein vertue will direct you and ye shall be very well recompenced For he that hath vertue hath all thinges necessarie for him and wanteth nothing These are the promises which ought to be beaten into the harts of children adding further to them that are very yoong a promise to giue them what they will so that they learne well that which is taught them Last of all praises and threatnings must be added by commending children when we see them profit in vertue and honestie to encourage them to go forward and to do better better Glorie saith Ouid giueth no small strength to the mind and the desire and loue of praise causeth the hart to be resolute and readye to vndertake all things Quintilian would haue yong men praised when they profitte and are willing to learne as likewise they are to be threatned if they be slothfull and negligent in the obtaining of vertue and honestie and wil neither heare nor vnderstand nor yet put in practise those good admonitions that are giuen them And if they amend not with threatnings they must haue good discipline and correction vsed towards them and be chasticed with discretion To this purpose Plutark saith that the hope of reward and feare of punishment are as it were the two elements and foundation of vertue For hope maketh yoong men prompt and readie to vndertake all good and commendable things feare maketh them slowe in presuming to commit such things as are vile and full of reproch So that if
old man quoth he to learne I am goyng said he to Sextus the Philosopher to learne that which I know not Than Lucius lifting vp his hands towards heauen cried out O good God I see an emperour euen gray-headed carying his booke as if he were a child to heare a lecture and to be instructed thereby and yet most kings of the earth will not vouchsafe to looke vpon a booke at eighteene yeeres of age Solon had this sentence commonly in his mouth that he waxed old as he learned The same day and houre that he died being aboue 80. yeeres olde and hearing some of his friends disputing of a certain point of Philosophy he lift vp himself vpon his bed after his maner as wel as he could And being asked why he did so To the end quoth he that when I haue learned that whereof you dispute I might end my dayes so in deed he did For the disputation was no sooner ended but he died Socrates learned musick when he was very olde Terentius Varro and Marcus Portius Cato learned Greek when they were old Iulianus the great lawyer vsed to say whē he was very old that although he had one foot in the graue yet he was desirous to learne Alphonsus king of Arragon when he was 50. yeeres old learned the Latin toong and translated Titus Liuius out of Latine into Spanish The sixt and last age of man is called Old-age which according to Marcus Varro and other authors beginneth at 50. yeeres bicause at this age the naturall power and strength of man beginneth to decline and fade away Isidorus calleth this time Grauitie which he maketh to last vntill 70. yeeres and termeth the ouer-plus of age beyond that old-age But as neither the diuision of ages here set downe nor the termes wherein we haue enclosed them could agree to the ages of our first fathers either in the first or second age wherin they liued commonly as manie yeeres as we do moneths so considering the shortnesse of our days which the Psalmist limiteth within 80. yeeres at the most I think we are to folow the opiniō of Varro who calleth old-age whatsoeuer is aboue 50. yeeres In which age prudence is a very meet necessary ornament which those ancient men might attain vnto through long vse of life through knowledge and through experience Therfore it is their office to succour and helpe the yonger sort their friendes and the common-wealth by their prudence and counsell For this cause Romulus the first founder of the citie of Rome chose an hundred of the eldest in the citie by whose counsell he willed that it should be gouerned And of these old men called in Latin Senes came that word Senatus which is as much to say as an assembly or gathering togither of olde men whom we now call counsailors or Senators And albeit that men now a dayes greatly abuse those charges yet surely they properly belong to olde men to whome it appertaineth to gouerne townes to administer iustice and to be a paterne and example of honestie to the younger sort For then haue they no time to take their ease but as Cicero saith they must encrease the exercises of the soule as they diminish the labours of the bodie Let them remember that saying of the Lacedemonian who being asked why he suffred his beard to grow so long to the end quoth he that by looking vpon my white haire I should be put in mind not to do any act vnbeseeming this hoarie whitenesse In this age that sentence of Plato ought especially to be well thought vpon That yong men die very soone but that olde men cannot liue long To which effect Epaminondas sayd that vntil 30. yeeres it may be thus said to men Ye are welcome for vntill that time they seeme still to be comming into the world From 30. vntill 50. yeeres they must be saluted in this maner Ye are in a good hower bicause they are then to know what the world is And from 50. to the end a man must say vnto them Go in a good hower bicause then they go faire and softly taking their leaue of the world Olde age said Cato to an olde man that liued ill hath sufficient deformities of it self do not thou adde such as proceed from vice For it is not grisled haire nor a wrinckled visage that bringeth authoritie but a life that is honestly led and guided according to the best end of our being whereunto euery age is to be referred To such olde men saith Sophocles as haue their soules nourished with heauenly light old age is not grieuous and in such the desire of contemplation and knowledge encreaseth as much as the pleasures of their bodie decrease Therfore when we haue passed ouer the greatest part of our days to the profite of many if than through weaknes of extreme age we are constrained to leaue the managing of publike affaires it will be very great honour comfort and contentation of mind vnto vs to run the rest of our race quietly and peaceably in the studie of letters wherein delight is ioyned with honest contemplation The ende of the thirteenth daies worke THE FOVRTEENTH DAIES WORKE Of Policie and of sundry sortes of Gouernments Chap. 53. ASER. IF we are able to discern between the bodie the soul between this present transitorie life and the life to come which is eternall we will not thinke it strange that one part of mans building should be created to remaine free for euer and to be exempted frō the yoke of humane power acknowledging onely the spiritual iurisdiction and the other part to be in seruitude and to receiue commaundement from those humane and ciuill offices which are to be kept amongst men In the kingdome of God saith Paul there is neither Iew nor Graecian neither bond nor free neither Barbarian nor Scythian but Iesus Christ is all in all Stand fast in the libertie wherewith you are made free And by and by after he addeth Onely vse not your libertie as an occasion to the flesh but by loue serue one another And else-where he saith Let euery soule be subiect to the higher powers for there is no power but of God Whosoeuer therfore resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God Wherby it appeereth that they which thinke that the maintenance of ciuil policies are the worke of man only are greatly deceiued For we must of necessitie beleeue that it proceedeth from the counsel of God and from his eternall prouidence without which neither the round frame of the world nor cities townes could in any sort abide stedfast so that it is very necessary for their preseruation that certain lawes should be appointed according vnto which men may liue honestly iustly one with another As there are then two chief regiments gouernments in man of which one respecteth the soule and acknowledgeth no temporal
the Lord shal smite him or his day shall come to die or he shall descend into battel and perish The Lord keepe me from laying my hand vpon the Lords annointed This word is directed to vs all it ought to teach vs not to sift out the life of our soueraign prince but to content our selues with this knowledge that by the wil of God he is established set in an estate that is ful of an inuiolable maiestie Moreouer we read in Iosephus that the holiest men that euer were among the Hebrewes called Essaei that is to say true practisers of the lawe of God maintained this that soueraigne princes whatsoeuer they were ought to be inuiolable to their subiectes as they that were sacred and sent of God Neither is there any thing more vsuall in all the holy scriptures than the prohibition to kill or to seeke the life or honour not onely of the prince but also of inferiour magistrates although saith the scripture they be wicked And it is said in Exodus Thou shalt not raile vpon the iudges neither speake euill of the ruler of thy people Now if he that doth so is guiltie of treason both against the diuine and humane maiestie what punishment is sufficient for him that seeketh after their life According to mens lawes not onely that subiect is guiltie of high treason that hath killed his soueraigne prince but he also that attempted it that gaue counsell that consented to it that thought it Yea he that was neuer preuented nor taken in the maner in this point of the soueraigne the law accounteth him as condemned alreadie and iudgeth him culpable of death that thought once in times past to haue seazed vpon the life of his prince notwithstanding any repentance that folowed And truly there was a gentleman of Normandie who confessed to a Franciscan frier that he once minded to haue killed king Francis the first but repented him of that euill thought The frier gaue him absolution but yet afterward told the king thereof who sent the gentleman to the parliament of Paris there to be tried where he was by common consent condemned to die and after executed Amongst the Macedonians there was a law that condemned to death fiue of their next kinsfolks that were conuicted of conspiracie against their prince We see then the straight obligation wherby we are bound vnto our princes both by diuine and humane right Wherfore if it so fall out that we are cruelly vexed by a prince voyd of humanitie or els polled and burthened with exactions by one that is couetous or prodigall or despised and ill defended by a carelesse prince yea afflicted for true pietie by a sacrilegious and vnbeleeuing soueraigne or otherwise most vniustly and cruelly intreated first let vs call to mind our offences committed against God which vndoubtedly he correcteth by such scourges Secondly let vs thinke thus with our selues that it belongeth not to vs to remedie such euils being permitted onely to call vpon God for helpe in whose hands are the harts of kings and alterations of kingdoms It is God who as Dauid saith sitteth among the gods that shal iudge them at whose onely looke all those kings and iudges of the earth shall fall and be confounded who haue not kissed his sonne Iesus Christ but haue decreed vniust lawes to oppresse the poore in iudgement and to scatter the lawfull right of the weake that they may praie vpon the widowes and poll the orphans Thus let all people learne that it is their duetie aboue all things to beware of contemning or violating the authoritie of their superiours which ought to be full of maiestie vnto them seeing it is confirmed by God with so many sentences and testimonies yea although it be in the hands of most vnwoorthy persons who by their wickednes make it odious as much as in them lieth and contemptible Moreouer they must learne that they must obey their lawes and ordinances and take nothing in hand that is against the priuiledges and marks of soueraigntie Then shall we be most happy if we consecrate our soules to God only and dedicate our bodies liues and goods to the seruice of our prince The ende of the fourteenth daies worke THE FIFTEENTH DAIES WORKE Of a Monarchie or a Regall power Chap. 57. ASER. WHen we began yesterday to intreat of the sundry kinds of estates and gouernments that haue been in force amongst men and of the excellencie or deformitie of them we reserued to a further consideration the monarchie or kingly power vnder which we liue in France This forme of regiment by the common consent of the woorthiest philosophers and most excellent men hath been always taken for the best happiest and most assured common-wealth of all others as that wherein all the lawes of nature guide vs whether we looke to this little world which hath but one bodie and ouer al the members one only head of which the wil motion and sense depend or whether we take this great world which hath but one soueraigne God whether we cast vp our eyes to heauen we shall see but one sunne or looke but vpon these sociable creatures belowe we see that they cannot abide the rule of many amongst them But I leaue to you my Companions the discourse of this matter AMANA Among all creatures both with and without life we alwais find one that hath the preheminence aboue the rest of his kind Among al reasonable creatures Man among beasts the Lion is taken for chiefe among birds the Eagle among graine wheate among drinks wine among spices baulme among all mettals gold among al the elements the fire By which natural demonstrations we may iudge that the kingly and monarchicall gouernment draweth neerest to nature of all others ARAM. The principalitie of one alone is more conformable and more significant to represent the diuine ineffable principalitie of God who alone ruleth al things than the power of many ouer a politicall body Notwithstanding there hath been many notable men that haue iudged a monarchie not to be the best forme of gouernment that may be among men But it is your duetie ACHITOB to handle vs this matter ACHITOB. This controuersie hath always been very great among those that haue intreated of the formes of policies and gouernments of estates namely whether it be more agreeable to nature and more profitable for mankind to liue vnder the rule of one alone than of many neither side wanting arguments to prooue their opinion Now although it be but a vaine occupation for priuate men who haue no authoritie to ordain publike matters to dispute which is the best estate of policie and a greater point of rashnesse to determine therof simply seeing the chiefest thing consisteth in circumstances yet to content curious mindes and to make them more willing to beare that yoke vnto which both diuine humane nature and equitie hath subiected them I purpose here to waigh
with him in the Capitoll neere the Temple Whereupon hatred and rancor increasing openly amongst them infinite murders followed and many of the chiefest euen the Consuls were slaine the contempt of lawes and iudgements ensued and in the end open war armies troupes one against another with incredible thefts and cruelties At last Cornelius Sylla one of the seditious persons seeking to redresse one euil with another after these dissentions had continued about 50. yeeres made himself prince ouer the rest in many things taking vpon him the office of a Dictator who was woont in former time to be created in the greatest dangers of the common-wealth only for six moneths But Sylla was chosen perpetuall Dictator bicause necessitie so required as he said himselfe After he had practised much violence he continued in quietnes like a conquerour and was thereupon surnamed the Happie After his death seditions began a fresh and reuenging of those cruelties which he had committed vntil Caius Caesar laid hold of the Seignorie and principaltie hauing discomfited ouercome Pompey to whome he was before allied For when they twaine sought by their plat-formes and deuises to commaund all they could not abide one another within a while after Pompey being vnwilling to haue an equall and Caesar a superiour Afterward Brutus and Cassius beyng mooued with desire either of rule or of publike libertie slew Caesar whereupou the seditions grew greater than they were before and the triumuirate warre was opened against them which preuailing for a time was it selfe dissolued and brought to nothing For Octanius only of the three remained a peaceable possessor of the Romane Empire beyng happy in all things and feared of all men leauing heyres of his race to rule the Monarchie after him Augustus beyng dead the estate began vnder Tyberius his successour a voluptuous prince to decline by little and little from the periode of hir greatnesse vntill in the ende there remayned no more than that which we see inclosed within the limites of Germanie Alexanders Empire beyng the greatest that euer was vanished away as a fire of Towe through the diuision and disorder that was amongst his successoures The Empire of Constantinople through the part-takings of Princes is brought vnder the tyrannous and miserable power of an Ethnike and barbarous Turke We read in Iosephus that the kingdome of Iudaea became subiect and tributarie to the Romanes through the ciuill warres between Hircanus and Aristobulus who were brothers For Pompey being of Hircanus side tooke the citie of Hierusalem and led away Aristobulus and his children prisoners with him after the countrey had suffred infinite calamities by their domestical diuisions Which when Onias a holy man did wel foresee he with-drew himselfe into a secret place and would not take part either with the one or the other side And being taken by Hircanus his men they required him that as once he obtained raine by his prayers in the tyme of a drought so he would now curse Aristobulus and all those of his faction but he contrarywise lifting vp his hands to heauen vttred these wordes O God king of the whole world seeing these men among whom I stand are thy people and they that are assailed thy Priests I beseech thee humbly that thou wouldest harken neither to these men against the other nor to the other against these for which holy prayer he was stoned to death such was the poisoned rage of this people one against an other Was there euer any folly or rather fury like to that of the Guelphes and Gybellines in Italy of whome the one side held with the Pope and the other with the Emperour The Italians vpon no other occasion but only in fauour of these two names entred into so extreme a quarell throughout the whole countrey that greater crueltie could not be wrought between the Infidels and Christians than was committed amongst them This contention continueth yet insomuch that murders are euery where committed in the townes euen between naturall brethrē yea between the father and his sonnes without all regard either of bloud or parentage Their goods are spoyled their houses razed some banished others slain whilest euery one feareth least any reuenge should be layed vp in store for him or for some other of his side they kill many times litle infants whom the most barbarous men in the world would spare These two factions fought continually togither through mortall hatred so that they could not dwell togither in one citie but the stronger always draue out and expelled the other They knew one another by feathers by the fashion of their hose by cutting of bread slicing of orenges and by other markes which is a very pernicious thing and hath procured great destruction of people and ouerthrow of townes The Italians say that this fire was first kindled at Pistoya between two brethrē the one called Guelph and the other Gibellin who quarelling togither diuided the towne between them whereupon the Gibellins were driuen out This separation like to a contagious disease vpon no other occasion was spread ouer all Italy insomuch that afterward all that were at contention any where were diuided into Guelphs Gibellines The Germains thinke that these names came from thir countrey and language and that the emperor Frederike the second in whose time this diuision began called his friends Gibellines bicause he leaned vpon them as a house doth vpon two strong walles that keep it from falling and those that were against him of the faction of Pope Gregorie the ninth he called Guelphs that is to say Wolues What did England suffer by the deuision of the houses of Yorke and Lancaster that gaue the white and red Roses in their armes Which contention although it began when Henrie the 4. who was duke of Lancaster and earle of Darbie vsurped the kingdom vpon his cosin Richard the second whom he caused to be slaiue in prison after he had compelled him to resigne his kingly power and crowne of England yet it was hottest in the raigne of king Henry the 6. who succeeding his father and grandfather was at Paris crowned king of England and France Afterward fauouring the house of Lancaster against the house of Yorke they that held with the red Rose tooke armes against him so that in the end he was depriued of his estate and shut vp as prisoner in the Tower of Londō where he was after that put to death These factions and ciuill warres as Phillip Cominaeus writeth indured about 28. yeeres wherein there died at sundry battels and skirmishes aboue 80. persons of the bloud royall with the flower of the nobilitie of England besides an infinite nūber of the valiauntest men and best warriours among the people Many lordes were put in prison or banished leading the rest of their liues miserably in strange countreys the ancient pollicie of the kingdom corrupted iustice cōtemned and the Iland impouerished vntill
then we would knowe a good way how we shall neuer be vanquished we must not trust to our armour or force but alwaies call vpon God to direct our counsels for the best By this also we shall be perswaded to vse victorie mildly seeing it is the propertie of valiant men to be gentle and gratious ready to forgiue and to haue compassion of them that suffer and indure affliction There is no true victorie as Marcus Aurelius wrote to Popilion Captaine of the Parthians but that which carieth with it some clemencie so that a rigorous and cruell man may not in reason be called victorious And it is most true that to ouercome is humane but the action of pardoning is diuine As touching the sacking and ouerthrow of townes taken in warre carefull heede saith Cicero must be taken that nothing be done rashly or cruelly For it is the propertie of a noble hart to punish such onely as are most guiltie and the authors of euil and to saue the multitude Briefly to obserue in all thinges whatsoeuer is right and honest to be valiant and gentle to be an enimie to those that doe vniustly fauourable to the afflicted seuere to quarrellers and full of equitie to suppliants are those praise-woorthie qualities for which Alexander Iulius Casar Scipio Hannibal Cyrus and many other both Greeke and Romane Captaines are most commended who ought to be imitated in the arte of warre by all excellent men Of a happie Life Chap. 71. ARAM. WE haue hitherto discoursed my Companions of vertues vices for which the life of man is praised or dispraised in all Estats and conditions whereunto the varietie of maners and inclinations to sundry studies and works cal men and make them fit Wherin we haue chiefly followed the ends and bounds of honestie equitie propounded by Moral Philosophers from whence they draw particular duties and all actions of vertue vsing a very commendable and excellent order disposition Now seeing we are come to the end of the cause of our assemblie as we began it with the true Christian knowledge of the creation of man and of the end of his being vnknowne to so many great personages in the world who are lightened only with humane sciences which are but darkenes in regard of that heauenly light the eternal word of God that guideth the soules of the beleeuers I think that we ought also to end and breake vp this our meeting togither with the maner of a happie life and death according to those endes that are propounded vnto vs by the infallible rule of all vertue and truth which if they be not so subtilly set downe and disputed as the Philosophy of the Ancients is yet at the least they are without comparison better and more certaine Go to then let vs heare you discourse first of a happie life ACHITOB. Blessed are they saith the Prophet that dwell in the house of God and that euermore praise him hauing his waies in their harts He will giue them grace and glory and will with-hold no good thing from them that walke vprightly ASER. What happier life can we require than that which S. Iohn calleth eternal life namely to know one only true God Iesus Christ whō he hath sent But it belongeth to thee AMANA to feede our spirits with this excellent subiect AMANA Although the spirite of God teaching his iust and holy will by a doctrine that is simple and void of all vaine shew of wordes hath not alwaies obserued and kept so strictly such a certaine order and methode to prepare and to direct their liues that shall beleeue in him as the Philosophers did who affected the greatest shew outwardly that they could thereby to make manifest the sharpnes of their wit the greatnes of their humane vnderstanding yet may we easily gather out of this diuine doctrine which doth more deface all glittering shew and beauty of humane sciences than the Sun excelleth darkenes a most excellent order teaching vs to frame a happie life according to the mould paterne of true heauenly vertue This order consisteth of two parts the one imprinting in our harts the loue of iustice the other giuing vnto vs a certaine rule that will not suffer vs to wander hither thither nor to slip aside in the framing of our life Concerning the first point the Scripture is full of very good reasons to encline our harts to loue that Good which in deed is to be desired I meane perfect righteousnes With what foundation could it begin better than by admonishing vs to be sanctified bicause our God is holy Whereunto the reason is added that although we were gone astray as sheepe scattered dispersed in the Labyrinth of this world yet he hath gathered vs togither to ioine vs to himselfe When we heare mention made of the coniunction of god with vs we must remember that the bond thereof is holines and that we must direct our steps thither as to the end of our calling that we may be transformed into the true image of God which through sinne was defaced in the first man consequently in vs. Moreouer to mooue vs the more to embrace that only true God the spirit of God teacheth vs that as he hath reconciled vs vnto himselfe in his son Iesus Christ so he hath appointed him to be vnto vs an example and paterne vnto which wee must conforme our selues This heauenly worde also taketh occasion to exhort vs thereunto in infinite places drawing his reasons from all the benefits of God and from all the parts of our saluation As when it is saide That seeing God hath giuen himselfe to be our Father wee are to be accused of notable ingratitude if wee behaue not our selues as his children Seeing Iesus Christ hath clensed vs by the washing of his blood and hath communicated this purification vnto vs by baptisme there is no reason why we should defile our selues with new filthines Seeing he hath ioined ingrafted vs into his body we must carefully looke that we defile not our selues in any sort being members of his body Seeing he that is our Head is gone vp to heauen we must lay aside all earthly affections and aspire with all our hart to that heauenly life Seeing the holy Ghost hath consecrated vs to be the temples of God we must labour and striue that the glorie of God may be exalted in vs and beware that we receiue no pollution Seeing our soules and bodies are fore appointed to enioye that immortalitie of the kingdome of heauen and the incorruptible Crowne of God his glorie we must endeuour to keepe both the one and the other pure and vnspotted vntill the day of the Lord. Behold surely good grounds meete to frame and institute a happie life by and to mooue a Christian to bring foorth the effectes of such an excellent and woorthie title throught the loue