couer then the riches which groweth thereon If thou hast not lost the sence of smelling as that Isle doth sauour vnto mee of Sages so doth Rome stinke of fooles For for the time it is lesse paine to endure the stinke of the beast then to heare the words of a foole When the wars of Asia were ended I returned home by that Isle wherein I visited all the liuing people and all the graues of the dead Phylosophers And for a truth I tell thee Lambert that that iourney was very troublesome vnto mee for herein my person endured much paine on the land I suffered diuers daungers and on the Sea I saw my selfe in sundrie perills In the citie of Corinthe where thou art resident at this present in the middest of the Market-place thou shalt find the graue of the phylosopher Panimio to whome the straight friendship auayled little which he had with Ouide but the enmitie greatly endammaged him which hee had with Augustus the Emperour Two myles from Theadfonte at the foote of the mountaines Arpines thou shalt finde the graue of the famous Oratour Armeno who was by the Consul Scylla vniustly banished And of trueth as heere was much bloud lost because Scylla should not enter into Rome so there were not fewe teares shedde in Italie for the banishment of this learned Phylosopher In the gate of Argonauta harde by the water on the top of a high Rocke thou shalt finde the bones of Celliodorus the philosopher who obserued all the auncient lawes and was a great enemy of those which brought in new customes and statutes This good Phylosopher was banished in the prosperity and furie of the Marians not for the euils they found in him but for the vices hee reproued in them In the fields Heliny there was a great tombe within the which were the bones of Selleno the phylosopher who was as well learned in the vii Liberall-arts as if hee himselfe had first inuented them And hee was banished by the Emperour Nero for because he perswaded this cruell Emperour to bee mercifull and pittifull In the fieldes Helini out of the Woods towardes the west parte thou shalt finde the graue of the phylosopher Vulturnus a man in Astrologie profoundly learned which little auayled him in the time of his banishment For hee was banished by Marcus Antonius not for that Marcus Antonius would haue banished him for hee was not offended by him but because his loue Qu. Cleopatra hated him as her mortall enemie For Women of an euill life doe commonly reuenge their angrie hearts with the death of their especiall friends Diuers other Tombes in that isle I saw the names whereof though in wryting I haue them yet at this present I cannot call them to memorie Well by the faith of an honest man I sweare vnto thee that thou shalt finde all true which I haue tolde thee Now I tell thee Lambert that I visiting those graues theyr Disciples did not beare them greater obedience when thee were aliue then I did reuerence now they are dead And it is true also that in al that time mine eyes were as much wet with teares as their bones were couered with earth These worthy and learned Phylosophers were not banished for any mischiefes by their persons committed nor for any slaunders they had done in the common-wealths but because the deeds of our fathers deserued that they should be taken from their companie and we their children were not worthie to haue the bones of such famous and renowmed Sages in our custodie I cannot tell if the enuie I haue to that isle bee greater or the pittie I haue of this miserable Rome for the one is immortall by the graues of the dead and the other is defamed with the bad life of the liuing I desire thee hartily as a friend and doe commaund thee as a seruant that thou keepe the Priuiledges which I gaue to that Isle without breaking any one For it is very iust that such cities peopled with such dead should be priuiledged of the liuing By this Centurion thou shalt knowe all things which are chaunced amongst the prisoners For if I should wryte vnto thee all the whole matter as it was done I ensure thee vnto mee it would be much paine to wryte it and vnto thee great trouble to read it It suffiseth presently to say that the day of the great solemnitie of the Mother Berecynthia a slaunder arose in Rome by the occasion of these Iesters Scoffers Loyterers and by the faith of a good man I sweare vnto thee that the bloud which was shead through the places surmoūted the wine which was drunk at the Feast And thinke not that which I say to be little that the bloud which was shedde surmounted the wine that was drunke For as thou now knowest the Cittizens are come to so great follie that he which was on that day most drunk they sayde that hee had offered vnto the Gods greatest sacrifices I am yet afrayde to remember the crueltyes which that day I saw with mine owne eyes But I am much more ashamed of that which they talke of vs in straunge Realmes For the Noble and worthie hearts doe not account it so much to receyue a great wound as to take it of a cowardly man There is great difference betweene the Nettes wherewith they vse to take Byrdes and no lesse is there betweene the hookes wherewith they take Fish I meane that the knife which cutteth the Flesh differeth much from the knife which hurteth the heart For the hurts of the bodie with Surgeons helpe may bee healed but the Gods onely are the physitions of the perills of the heart I behelde and saw Rome which was neuer vanquyshed by valiaunt men at that day ouercome by loyterers Rome which could neuer bee won by those of Carthage is now wonne by Iesters Players and Vacabonds Rome which triumphed of all the Realmes is now vanquished of the loyterers Iesters and idle persons Finally wee saw that Rome which in times past gaue lawes to the barbarous is now become the slaue of fooles In this case I haue beene so troubled that I cannot tell what to say and lesse what I write vnto thee One thing comforteth me that since Rome and her Romanes doe not reioyce themselues but with fooles that shee and her children be not punished but by the hands of fooles I thinke not that in this case the Gods do any wrong if Rome which laughed thorough mockery at the players doe weepe one day with the loyterers in good earnest Thou mightst demaund me Lambert since wee other Princes are bound to maintaine equall iustice with all wherefore wee doe dissemble many offences which others haue done in earnest and yet wee will not pardon those Iesters since al that they haue inuented was for mirth and pastime I promise thee though their offences were great indeed yet I doe not banish thē so much for the bloud they haue shed as for the good
That thou leauing thy Office of Pretorship in the ware by Lande hast taken vpon thee the traffique of a Marchaunt by sea so that those which in Rome knew thee a knight doe see thee now in Capua a Marchaunt My pen indyting this my letter for a time stood in suspence for no other cause but onely to see what thing in thee first I might best blame either the noble office which thou didst forsake or the vile and base estate which thou hast chosen And though thou be so much bereaued of thy sences yet call to minde thy auncient predecessours which died in the warres onely to leaue theyr children and nephews armed knights and that thou presently seekest to loose thy libertie throgh thy couetousnes which they wan by their valiantnes I thinke I am not deceyued that if thy predecessors were reuiued as they were ambicious of honour so would they bee greedy to eate thee in morsels sinues bones all For the childrē which vniustly take honour from their Fathers of reason ought to loose their liues The Castles Townes houses mountaines woods beastes Iewells and siluer which our predecessors haue left vs in the end by long continuance do perish and that which causeth vs to haue perpetuall memorie of them is the good renowme of theyr life And therefore if this bee true it is a great shame for their parentes to haue such children in whome the renowme of their predecessours doth end In the flourishing time of Cicero the Orator when by his counsel the whole Common-wealth was gouerned hee being then of power both in knowledge and of money Salust saide vnto him in his Inuectiue that hee was of base stocke wherevnto hee aunswered Great cause haue I to render thankes vnto the Gods that I am not as thou art by whō thy high Linage is ended but my poore stocke by me doth now begin to rise It is great pittie to see how many good noble and valiaunt men are dead but it is more griefe to see presently their children vicious vnthrifts So that there remaineth as much memory of their infamy as ther doth of the others honesty Thou makest me ashamed that thou hast forsaken to conquere the enemyes as a Romane knight and that thou arte become a marchant as a poore Plebeian Thou makest mee to muse a little my friende Cincinnatus that thou wilt harme thy familiars and suffer straungers to liue in peace Thou seekest to procure death to those which giue vs life and to deliuer from death those which take our life To Rebells thou giuest rest and to the peace-makers thou giuest anoyance To those which take from vs our owne thou wilt giue and to those which giueth vs of theirs thou wilt take Thou condemnest the innocents and the condemned thou wilt deliuer A defender of thy countrey thou wilt not bee but a tyraunt of thy Common-wealth To all these things aduentureth he which leaueth weapons and falleth to Marchandise With my self oft times I haue mused what occasion should mooue thee to forsake Chiualrie wherein thou hadst such honour and to take in hand marchaundise where of followeth such in famie I say that it is as much shame for thee to haue gone from the warres as it is honor for those which are born to office in the common-wealth My friend Cincinnatus my end tendeth not to condemne marchaundise nor marchaunts nor to speake euill of those which trafficke by the trade of buying and selling For as without the valiant knights warres cannot bee atchieued so likewise without the diligent marchants the commonwealth cannot be maintained I cannot imagine for what other cause thou shouldest forsake the warres and trafficque marchandise vnlesse it were because thou now being old and wantest force to assault men openly in the straytes shouldst with more ease sitting in thy chayre robbe secretly in the market-place O poore Cincinnatus sithens thou buiest cheap sellest deare promisest much performest little thou buiest by one measure and sellest by another thou watchest that none deceyue thee and playest therein as other marchants accustome And to conclude I sweare that the measure wherewith the Gods shall measure thy life shall bee much iuster then that of thy merites Thou hast taken on thee an office wherewith the which they companions in many daies haue robbed thou in one houre by deceit dost get and afterwards the time shall come when all the goods which thou hast gotten both by truth and falshood shall bee lost not onely in an houre which is long but in a moment which is but short Whether wee giue much we haue much we may do much or we liue much yet in the end the gods are so iust that all the euill we do cōmit shall be punished and for all the good wee worke we shall be rewarded so that the Gods oftentimes permit that one alone shall scourge many and afterwards the long time punisheth all CHAP. XXVII The Emperour concludeth his letter and perswadeth his friend Cincinnatus to despise the vanities of the world and sheweth though a man bee neuer so wise yet he shall haue need of another mans counsell IF I knew thy wisedome esteemed the world and the vanities thereof so much as the worlde doth possesse thee and thy dayes as by thy white hairs most manifestly doth appeare I need not to take the pains to perswade thee nor thou shouldest bee annoied in hearing me Notwithstanding thou beeing at the gate of great care reason would that some should take the clapper to knocke threeat with some good counsell for though the rasor be sharpe it needeth sometimes to be whet I meane though mans vnderstanding bee neuer so cleare yet from time to time it needeth counsell Vertuous men oft times doe erre not because they would fall but for that the things are so euill of disgestion that the vertue they haue sufficeth not to tell them what thing is necessary for their profit For the which cause it is necessary that his will bee brideled his wit fyned his opinion changed his memory sharpened and aboue all now and then that hee forsake his owne aduise and cleaue vnto the counsell of an other Men which couet to make high sumptuous faire and large buildings haue great care that the foundation thereof bee surely layed for where the foundations are not sure there the whole buildings are in great danger The manners and conditions of this world that is to say the prosperous estates whereupon the children of vanity are set are founded of quicke-sand in that sort that bee they neuer so valiant prosperous and mighty a little blast of winde doth stirre them a little heat of prosperity doth open thē a shower of aduersity doth wet thē and vnawares death striketh them all flat to the ground Men seeing they cannot bee perpetuall do procure to continue themselues in raising vp proud buildings leauing to theyr children great estates wherein I count them fooles no lesse then in things superfluous
euen as they thought it good to fixe the feuer in my bones I would not leaue thee without comfort nor giue place to the feuer to returne againe Oh how great is our pride and the misery of mans life I speake this because I do presume to take many Realmes from other yet I haue not the power to plucke the feuer out of my owne bones Tell mee I pray thee Mercurius what profite is it to vs to desire much to procure much to attaine much and to presume much since our dayes are so briefe and our persons so frayle It is long time since we haue been bound together in friendshipp and many yeeres haue passed since we haue knowne the one the other and the day that thy friendship trusted my faith immediately my faith was bound that thy euils should be mine and my goods thine for as the diuine Plato sayde that onely is true friendship where the bodies are 2. and the wils but one I count that suspitious frendshippe where the hearts are so diuided as the wils are feuered for there are diuers in Rome great friends in words which dwell but x. house a sunder haue their hearts ten thousand miles distant When thou wentst from Rome and I came from Samia thou knowest the agreement which we made in Capua whereof I trust thou wilt not deceiue me now but that I am another thou here and that thou shouldest be another I there so that my absence with thy presence and thy presence with mine absence bee alwayes together By relation of thy messenger I vnder stood that thou hast lost much goods but as by thy letter I was enformed the anguish of thy person was much greater As we vnderstand here thou didst send a shippe laden with marchandize to Greece and the Mariners and Factors desiring more to profite by their wisedome then to accomplish thy couetousnesse did cast the marchandize into the sea and onely they trauelled to saue their persons In deede in so straight and perillous a case thou hast no reason to accuse them nor yet they are bound to satisfie thee for no man can cōmit greater folly then for the goods of others to hazard his owne proper life Pardon mee Mercury I pray thee for that I haue spoken and also for that I will say which is that for so much as the Mariners and Factors were not thy children nor thy Kinsemen nor thy friends so that thy marchandize might haue come to the hauen safe thou hast little passed if they had all been drowned in the deepe gulfe of the sea Further I say though I would not say it and thou much lesse heare it that according to the litle care which you other couetous men haue of the children and Factors of others and according to the disordinate loue which you haue to your proper goods whereas thou weepest bitterly for the losse of thy goods though thou hadst seene all the Mariners drowned thou wouldest not haue shedde one teare For Romane marchants weepe rather for ten crownes lost which they cannot recouer then for ten men dying the which tenne crownes would haue saued Mee thinketh it is neyther iust nor honest that thou doe that which they tell mee thou doest to complain of thy Factors and accuse thy Mariners onely to recouer of the poore men by land that which the fishe haue in their possession in the sea For as thou knowest no man is bound to chaunge health life nor the renowme of their persons for the recouery of goods Alas What pittie haue I on thee Mercurie in that the shippe was loaden with thy marchandise and the worst of all is that according to my vnderstanding and thy feeling the Pyrates haue not caste such farthells into the Sea as thoughts haue burdened and oppressed thy heart I neuer saw man of such condition as thou art for that thou seest the ship vntill such time as they cast the marchandise ouer the boord could not sayle safely and yet thou doest lode thy selfe with riches to goe to thy graue O grieuous and cursed riches with the which neyther in the deepe Seas neither yet in the maine land our persons are in safeguarde Knowing thy property I would rather bind my selfe to seeke thy Leade and tinne then thy heart so wounded For in the ende thy leade is together in some place in the bottome of the Sea but thy couetousnesse is seattered through all the whole Earth If perhaps thou shouldst dye and the Surgions with the sharpe rasours should open thy stomacke I sweare vnto thee by the Mother Berecynthia which is the mother of all the Gods of Rome that they should rather finde thy heart drowned with the lead then in life with thy bodie Now thou canst not be sicke of the Feuer tertain as I am for the heat within thy body and the pain in thy head would cause thee to haue a double quartaine and of such disease thou canst not bee healed on thy bed but in the ship not on land but on the sea not with phisitions but with pirats For the physitions would carry away the money and the pirats would shew thee where thy leade fell Trouble not thy selfe so much Mercury for though thou hast not thy lead with thee in the land it hath thee with it in the sea and thou oughtst inough to comfort thy selfe for whereas before thou hadst it in thy coffers thou hast it presently in thy intrailes For there thy life is drowned where thy leade is cast O Mercury now thou knowest that the day that thou didst recommende thy goods to the vnknown rocks and thy shippe to the raging Seas and thy outragious Auarice vnto the furious windes how much that thy factors went desiring thy profit and gaine so much the more thou mightest haue bin assured of thy losse If thou hadst had this consideration and hadst vsed this diligence thy desire had bin drowned thy goods escaped For men that dare aduenture theyr goods on the Seas they ought not to be heauy for that is lost but they ought to reioice for that that is escaped Socrates the auncient and great philosopher determined to teach vs not by words but by workes in what estimation a man ought to haue the goods of this world for he cast into the Sea not lead but golde not little but much not of another mans but of his owne not by force but willingly not by fortune but by wisedome Finally in this worthy fact hee shewed so great courage that no couetous man but would haue reioiced to haue found so much on the land as this phylosopher did delight to haue cast into the Sea That which Socrates did was much but greater ought we to esteeme that he said which was this Oh yee deceytfull goods I will drowne you rather then you should drowne mee Since Socrates feared and drowned his owne proper goods why doe not the couetousfeare to robbe the goods of other This wise philosopher
commaund much hauing respite to liue but little mee thinketh it were a great folly and lacke of wisdome Presumptuous and ambitious men which measure their works not with the few dayes they haue to liue but with the arogant and haughty thoughts they haue to command They leade their life in trauell and take their death with sorrow And the remedy hereof is that if the wise man cannot obtaine that which hee would hee should content himselfe with that which hee may I let thee to know Alexander that the perfection of men is not to see much to heare much to knowe much to procure much to come to much to trauell much to possesse much and to bee able to do much but it is to bee in the fauour of the Gods Finally I tell thee that that man is perfect who in his owne opinion deserueth not that hee hath and in the opinion of another deserueth much more then that hee possesseth Wee are of this opinion amongst vs that hee is vnworthy to haue honour who by such infamous meanes searcheth for it And therefore thou Alexander deseruest to be slaue vnto many because thou thinkest to deserue the signory ouer all By the immortall Gods I sweare I cannot imagine the great mischiefe which entred into thy brest so vnrighteously to kill King Darius whose vassall and friend thou wast onely because thou wouldest possesse the Empire of the whole World For truly seruitude in peace is more worth then Signiory in warre And hee that shall speake against that I haue spoken I say he is sicke and hath lost his taste CHAP. XXXIIII The sage Garamante continueth his Oration shewing that perpetuitie of life cannot be bought with any worldly treasure Among other notable matters hee maketh mention of the seuen lawes which they obserued THou wilt not deny me Alexander but that thou werte more healthfull when thou wast King of Macedoâ—â—â— then thou art now being Lord of all the earth for the excessiue trauell bringeth men out of all order Thou wilt not deny me Alexander that the more thou gettest the more thou desirest for the heart which with couetousnesse is set on fire cannot with wood and bowes of riches but with the earth of the graue be satisfied and quenched Thou wilt not deny me Alexander but the aboundance that thou thy selfe hast seemeth vnto thee litle and the little which an other man possesseth seemeth vnto thee much For the Gods to the ambitious and couetous harts gaue this for penance that neyther with inough nor with too much they should content them selues Thou wilt not denie mee Alexander if in deed thy heart bee couetous that first the pleasures of life shall end before thy couetousnesse for where vices haue had power long time in the heart there death onely and none other hath authority to plucke vp the rootes Thou wilt not deny mee Alexander that though thou hast more then all yet thou enioyest least of any for the Prince that possesseth much is alwayes occupied in defending it but the Prince that hath little hath Time and leasure in quiet to enioy it Thou wilt not deny me Alexander though thou callest thy self Lord of all yet thou hast but onely the name thereof and others thy seruants and subiects haue all the profites for the greedy and couetous hearts doe trauel and toyle to get and in wasting that which they haue gotten they pine away And finally Alexander thou wilt not deny me that all that which thou hast in the long conquest gotten is little and that which of thy wisedom and quietnes thou hast lost is much For the Realms which thou hast gotten are innumerable but the cares sighes and thoughts which thou hast heaped vpon thy heart are innumerable I let thee know one thing that you Princes are poorer then the poore Subiects for hee is not rich that hath more then hee deserueth but he that desireth to haue lesse then possesseth And that therefore Princes you haue nothing For though you abound in great Treasurs yet notwithstanding you are poore of good desire Now Alexander let vs come to the poynt and cast account and let vs see vs see to what ende thy Conquest will come Either thou art a man or thou art a god And if thou bee anie of the gods commaunde or cause that wee be immortall and if thou canst doe any such thing then take vs and our goods withall For perpetuity of the life can by no riches be bought O Alexander I let thee vnderstand that therefore wee seeke not to make warre with thee For we see that both from thee and also from vs death will shortly take away the life For hee is a very simple man that thinketh alwayes to remaine in another mans house as in his owne It thou Alexander couldst giue vs as God euerlasting life eache man would trauell to defend his owne house But sith we know we shall dye shortly we care little whether to thee or any other our goods and riches remaine For if it be follie to dwell in an other mans house as his owne it is a greater follie to him that loseth his life in taking thought and lamenting for his goods Presuppose that thou art not god but a man I coniure thee then by the immortall gods and doe require thee that thou liue as a man behaue thy selfe as a man and couet no more then an other man neyther desire more nor lesse then a man for in the ende thou shalt dye as another man and shalt be buryed as another man and thou shalt bee throwne into the graue and then there shal be no more memorie of thee I tolde thee before that it greeued mee to see thee so hardy and couragious so apt and so young and now it grieueth mee to see thee so deceyued with the world and that which I perceyue of thee is that then thou shalt know thy folly when thou shalt not be able to finde any remedy For the proude Young man before hee feeleth the wound hath alreadie the ointment You which are Grecians call vs Barbarous because wee enhabite the mountaines But as touching this I say that we reioice to be barbarous in our speech and Greekes in our doings and not as you which haue the Grecian tong and doe barbarous workes For hee that doth well and speaketh rudely is no barbarous man but he which hath the tongue good and the life euill Sith I haue begun to that end nothing remaine vnspoken I will aduertise thee of our laws and life and maruell not to heare it but desire to obserue and keepe it for infinite are they which extoll vertuous workes but few are they which obserue the same I let thee know Alexander that wee haue short life wee are few people wee haue little lands wee haue little goods wee haue no couetousnes we haue few lawes we haue few houses and we haue few friends and aboue all we haue no enemies for a Wise man
yee heare our oppressions yet thereby you lose not your pastime but wee others can neuer drye the teares of our eyes nor ceale to bewayle our infinit misfortunes CHAP. V. The Villaine concludeth his Oration against the Iudges which minister not iustice and declareth how preiudiciall such wicked men are vnto the publike weale YEe would thinke I haue sayde that I can say but certainly it is not so For there remaineth many thinges to speake which to heare yee will bee astonied yet be ye assured that to speake them I will not bee afrayde sith you others in doing them are not ashamed For open offence deserueth not secret correction I maruell much at yee Romaines what yee meant to send vs as you did such ignorant Iudges the which by the immortall God I swear can neyther declare vs your Lawes and much lesse they can vnderstand ours And the cause of all this euill is that yee sent not those which be best able to minister to vs iustice in Germany but those which haue best friendes with you in Rome presuppose that to those of the Senate yee giue the office of Censor-ship more for importunity then for ability It is little that I can say heere in respect they dare do there That which yee commaund them here I know not but of the which they doe there I am not ignorant which is Your Iudges take al bribes that are brought vnto them openly and they powle and shaue as much as they can secretly They grieuously punish the offences of the poore and dissemble with the faults of the rich they consent to many euils to haue occasion to commit greater thefts they forget the gouernment of the people to take theyr pleasure in vice And beeing there to mittigate sclaunders they are those which are moste sclaunderous and without goods it auayleth to man to aske iustice And finally vnder the colour that they be Iudges of Rome they feare not to rob all the land of Germanie What meaneth this yee Romanes shall your pride neuer haue end in cōmāding nor your couetise in robbing Say vnto vs what ye will in words but oppresse vs not so in deeds If you do it for our children loade them with yrons make them slaues For ye cannot charge them with more then they are able to carry but of commandements and tributs ye giue vs more thē wee are eyther able to carrie or suffer If you do it for our goods go thither and take them all For in our countrey we doe not vse as ye Romanes doe nor haue such conditions as ye haue here in Rome For yee desire to liue poore that ye may die rich If ye say that we will rebell I maruell what yee should meane to thinke so sith yee haue spoyled vs robbed vs and handled vs yll Assure me ye Romaines that ye wil not vnpeople vs and I will assure you we will not rebell If our seruice doe not content yee strike off our heads as to the euil men For to tell ye the truth the knife shall not be so fearfull to our neckes as your tyrannies be abhorred in our hearts Doe ye know what you haue done ye Romains yee haue caused vs of that miserable realme to sweare neither to dwell with our wiues and to sley our owne children rather then to leaue them in the handes of so wicked and cruell tirants as yee be As desperate men we haue determined to suffer endure the beastly motiōs of the flesh during the time we haue to liue to the ende wee will not get our wiues with child For we had rather liue chast 20 or 30. yeares then to leaue our childrē perpetuall slaues If it be true that the children must endure that which the miserable fathers doe suffer It is not onely good to sley them but also it should bee better not to agree they shold be borne Ye ought not to doe this Romanes for the lād taken by force ought the better to bee gouerned to the intent that the miserable captiues seing iustice duly administred presently should thereby forget the tyrannie passed content themselues with per petuall seruitude And sith it is true that we are come to complaine of the oppressions which your Officers doe here vpon the riuer of Danuby peradnenture yee which are of the Senate will heare vs and thogh you are now determined to heare vs yet you are slow to remedy vs so that before ye began to reforme an euil custome the whole common-wealth is already vndone I will tell you of some things therof to thintent you may know thē and then to reforme them If there come a right poore man to demaund Iustice hauing no money to giue nor wine to present nor Oyle to promise not friends to helpe him nor reuenues to succour him and maintaine him in expences after he hath complayned they satisfie him with words saying vnto him that speedily hee shall haue Iustice What will you I should say but that in the meane time they make him spend that little which he hath and giue him nothing though hee demaund much they giue him vaine hope and they make him waste the best of his life euery one of them doth promise him fauour and afterwards they all lay hands vpon him to oppresse him The most of them say his right is good and afterwards they giue sentence against him so that the miserable person that came to complaine of one returneth home complaining of all cursing his cruell destinies and crying out to the iust and mercifull Gods for reuengement It chanceth also that oft times there commeth to complaine heere in the Senate some flattering man more for malice then by reason of right or iustice and yee Senatours crediting his double wordes and his fained teares immediately ordaine a Censor to goe and giue audience on their complaints who being gone and returned yee seeke more to remedie and giue eare to the complaints of the iudge then to the slanders which were among the people I will declare vnto you my selfe O ye Romanes and thereby you shall see how they passe their life in my country I liue by gathering akorns in the winter and reaping corn in the sommer sometime I fish as well of necessity as of pleasure so that I passe almost all my life alone in the fields or mountaines And if you know not why heare me and I will shew you I see such tiranny in your iudges and such robberies as they commit amōg the poore people and there are such dissentions in the realme such iniuries committed therein the poor cōmon wealth is so spoyled there are so few that haue desire to do good and also there are so few that hope for remedy in the Senate that I am determined as most vnhappy to banish my selfe out of mine own house and to separate my selfe from my sweete company to the end my eyes should not behold so miserable a change for I had rather wander solitary in the
and not once but an hundreth times treble happie is hee that will haue commiseration remembring the poore afflicted and oppressed and open his hande to comforte and relieue them and doeth not shutte his coffers from helping them vnto him I assure and promise that at the streight day of iudgement the proces of his life shall be iudged with mercie and pittie CHAP. XXXVI ¶ That the troubles griefes and sorrowes of Widdowes are much greater then those of Widowers wherefore Princes and Noble-men ought to haue more compassion vpon the Women then on men IT is great pity to see a Noble and vertuous man sorrowful alone and a widower if especially he liued contented when he was married For if hee will not marrie he hath lost his sweete companie and if he thinke to marrie another let him be assured hee shall scarcely agree with his seconde wife There is much sorow in that house where the woman that gouerned it is dead For immediately the Husband forsaketh himselfe the childrē do lose their obedience the seruants become negligent the hand-maydes become wanton the Friends are forgotten the house decayeth the goods waste the apparell is lost And finally in the widdowers house there are many to robbe and few to labour Both heauy and lamentable are the thoughtes of the widdower For if hee thinketh to marry it grieueth him to giue his children a stepmother If he cannot be marryed hee feeleth greater paine seeing him all the day to remaine alone so that the poore miserable man sigheth for his Wife hee hath lost and weepeth for her whome he desireth to haue Admit that this bee true there is great difference frō the cares and sorrows of womē to that of men A thing very cleare for so much as the widdower lawfully may go out of his house hee may go to the fields he may talke with his Neighbours hee may be occupyed with his friendes hee may follow his sutes and also he may be conuersant and refresh himselfe in honest places For commonly men are not so sorrowfull in taking the death of their wiues as the wiues are in taking the death of their Husbands All this is not spoken in the disfauour of wise and sage men whom we see make small streams with the teares of their eyes for the death of their wiues But for many other vaine and lightmen which the 9. dayes of the Funerall past a man doth see without any shame to goe throughout their streets beholding the ladies and Dam sells which are in the windowes Truely the wofull women which are honest vse not such lightnesse For whiles they are widdows it is not lawfull for them to wander abrode to go out of their houses nor to speake with strangers nor practise with her owne nor bee conuersaunt with her Neighbours nor plead with their creditors but agreable to their woefull estate to hyde and withdraw themselues within their houses and to lock themselues into their owne Chambers and they thinke it their dutyes to water theyr plants with teares and importune the Heauens with sobs and sighes Oh how wofull O how grieuous O how sorrowfull is the state of Widdows For somuch as if a Widdow goe out of her house they take her for dishonest If shee will not come out of her house she loseth her goods If she laugh a litle they count her light If shee laugh not they count her an hypocrite If she go to the Church they note her for a gadder If she go not to the Church they say she is vnthankfull to her late husband If she go ill apparelled they account her a niggard If she go cleanly handsom they say now she wold haue a new husband If she doe maintaine herselfe honestly they note her for presūptuous If she keepe company immediately they suspect her house Finally I say that the poore miserable Widdowes shall finde a thousand which iudge their liues and they haue not one that will remedie their paine Much looseth that Woman which loseth her Mother which hath borne her or her Sisters which shee loueth or the friends which she knoweth or the goods which she hath heaped vp But I say and affirme that there is no greater losse in the worlde vnto a woman then the losse of a good Husband For in other losses there is but one onely losse but in that of the Husband all are lost together After that the wife doth see her louing Husband in the graue I woulde aske her What good could remaine with her in her house Since wee know that if her husband were good hee was the Hauen of all her Troubles the remedie of all her necessities the inuētor of all her pleasurs the true loue of her heart the true lord of her person and idoll whom she honored Finally hee was the onely faithfull steward of her house and the good father of all her children and familie Whether Familie remaineth or not whether children remaineth or not in the one and in the other trouble and vexation remayneth most assuredly to the poore Widdow If perchaunce shee remaine poore haue no goods let euery man imagine what her life can bee For the poor miserable and vnhappy woman eyther will aduenture her person to get or will loose her honestie to demaunde An honest woman a Noble and worthy woman a delicate woman a sweete woman a woman of renowme a woman that ought to haue care to maintaine Children and familie ought to haue great reason to be full of anguish sorrow to see that if she will maintaine her selfe with the Needle shee shall not haue sufficiently to finde her bread and water If she gaine with her bodie shee looseth her soule If shee must demaund of others shee is ashamed If shee fulfill the testament of her Husband she must sell her Gownes If shee will not pay his debtes they cause her to bee brought before the iudges As women naturally are tender what heart will suffer them to endure such inconueniences and what Eyes can abstayne to shed infinite teares If perchaunce goods do remaine to the miserable widdow she hath no little care to keepe them She is at great charges and expences to sustaine and maintaine her selfe in long suite about her lands much trouble to augment them and in the end much sorrowe to depart from them For all her children and heyres doe occupie themselues more to bethinke them how they might inherit then in what sort they ought to serue her When I came vnto this passage a great while I kept my penne in suspence to see whither I ought to teach this matter or no that is to say that oftentimes the poore Widdowes put openly the demaund of their goods and the Iudges doe secretly demaund the possession of their person So that first they doe iniurie to her honor before they do minister iustice to her demaunds Though perchaunce shee hath no childe yet therefore shee remaineth not without any comfort and for that the parents
so straunge a Monster amongst the Romaine people Thou oughtst not therefore to maruell Panutius at the nouelties which thou hast seene in mee For in these three dayes that I haue been troubled in my minde and altered in my vnderstanding all these things are offered vnto me and from the bottome of my hart I haue digested them For the carefull men are not blinded but with their owne imaginations All these euill conditions which these Princes had scattred amongst them of whom I haue spoken doe meete together in my Sonne Commodus For if they were young he is young if they were rich hee is rich if they were free he is free if they were bold he is bolde if they were wilde he is wilde if they were euill certainely I doe not thinke that hee is good For wee see manie young Princes which haue beene well brought vp and well taught yet when they haue inherited and come to their Lands they become immediately vicious and dissolute What hope haue wee of those which from their infancie are dissolute and euill enclined Of good wine I haue made oft times strong vivineger but of pure vineger I haue neuer seene good wine This childe keepeth mee betweene the sailes of Feare and the Ancker of hope hoping he shall be good since I haue taught him well and fearing he shall be euill because his mother Faustine hath nourished him euill And that which is the worst that the yong childe of his owne nature is inclined to all euill I am moued to say thus much for that I see his naturall inclination increase and that which was taught him diminish For the which occasion I doubt that after my death my sonne shall returne to that wherin his mother hath nourished him and not to that wherein I haue taught him O how happy had I beene if neuer I had had childe or not to be bounde to leaue him the Empire For I would chuse then among the children of the good Fathers would not be bound to such a one whom the gods haue giuen me One thing I aske thee Panutius whom wouldest thou call most fortunate Vespatian which was naturall father of Domitius or Nerua the adopted father of the good Traiane both those two Vespatian and Nerua were good Princes but of children Domitian was the head of all mischiefe and Traiane was the mirrour of all goodnesse So that Vespatian in that he had children was vnhappy and Nerua in that hee had none was most fortunate One thing I will tell thee Panutius the which by thee considered thou wilt little esteeme life and shalt lose the feare of death I haue liued threescore and two yeares wherein I haue read much hard much seene desired attained possessed suffered and I haue much reioyced my selfe And in the end of all this I see my selfe now to die and I must want my pleasures and my selfe also Of all that I haue had possessed attained and whereof I haue enioied I haue only two things to say paine for that I haue offended the gods and sorrow for the time which I haue wasted in vices There is great difference between the rich and the poore in death and more in life For the poore dieth to iust but if the rich die it is to their treat paine So that the gods take from the one that which he had and putteth the other in possession of that he desired Great care hath the heart to seeke the goods and they passe great troubles to heape vp them together and great diligence must bee had in keeping them and also much wit to encrease them but without comparison it is greater griefe to depart from them O what paine intollerable and griefe it is to the wise man seeing himselfe at the point of death to leaue the sweet of his family the maiestie of his Empire the honour of his present the loue of his friends the payments of his debts the deserts of his seruants and the memory of his predecessors in the power of so euill a childe the which neither deserueth it nor yet will deserue it In the ninth Table of our auncient Lawes are written these words Wee ordaine and commaund that the father which shall be good according to the opinion of all may disherite his sonne who according to the opinion of all is euill The Law said further The childe which hath disobeyed his father robbed any holy Temple iniuried any widdow fled from any battle and committed any treason to a straunger that hee should bee banished from Rome and dsinherited from his fathers goods Truly the law was good thogh by our offences it bee forgotten If my breath faile mee not as it doth faile me for of troth I am greatly pained I would declare vnto thee how many Parthes Medians Egyptians Assirians Caldeans Indians Hebrewes Greekes and Romaines haue left their children poore beeing able to haue left them rich for no other cause but for that they were vitious And to the contrary other beeing poore haue left them rich for that they were vertuous By the immortall gods I sweare vnto thee that when they came from the warre of Parthia and triumphed in Rome and confirmed the Empire to my sonne if then the Senate had not withstood mee I had left Commodus my sonne poore with his vices wold haue made heir of all my Realmes some vertuous man I let thee know Panutius that fiue things oppresse my heart sore to the which I wold rather see remedy my selfe then to command other to remedie it The first for that in my life time I cannot determine the processes that the vertuous widdow Drusia hath with the Senate Because since she is poore and deformed there is no man that will giue her iustice The second because I die not in Rome And this for none other cause thē that which the sound of the trumpet should bee proclaimed that all those which haue any quarrel or debt against me and my family should come thither to be paid or satisfied of their debts and demands The third that as I made foure tyrants to bee put to execution which committed tiranny in Asia and Italy so it greeued mee that I haue not also punished certaine pirates which roued on the seas The fourth for that I haue not caused the temple to bee finished which I did beginne for all the gods For I might haue sayde vnto them after my death that since for all them I haue made one house it were not much that any of them shuld receiue one into his which passe this life in the fauour of the gods and without the hatred of men For dying after this sort men shall susteine our honours and the gods shall prouide for our soules The fifth for that I leaue in life for my onely heire Commodus the Prince yet not so much for the destruction which shall come to my house as for the great dammage which shall succeed in the commonwealth For the true
but thy good report and courteous acceptance hereof Which doing thou shalt make me double bound to thee First to be thankefull for thy good will Secondly to bee considerate how hereafter I take vpon mee so great a charge Thirdly thou shalt encourage mee to encrease my talent Fourthly and lastly most freely to bestow the encrease thereof on thee and for the benefite of my Country and Common-wealth whereunto duety bindeth mee Obseruing the sage and prudent saying of the renowmed Oratour and famour Cicero with which I end and there to leaue thee Non nobis solum natisumus ortusque nostri partem patria vendicat partem parentes partem amici In defence and preseruation whereof good Reader wee ought not alone to imploy our whole wits and able sences but necessity enforcing vs to sacrifice our selues also for benefite thereof Thine that accepteth me T. N. THE PROLOGVE OF THIS PRESENT WORKE SHEWeth what one true friend ought to doe for an other Addressed to the Right Honourable the Lord Fraunces Cenos great Commaunder of LYON THe famous Philosopher Plato besought of all his Disciples to tell them why he iournyed so oft frō Athens to Scicile being the way hee trauelled indeed very long and the sea he passed very dangerous answered them thus The cause that moues mee to goe from Athens to Scicile is onely to see Phocion a man iust in all that he doth and wise in all that hee speaketh and because he is my very friend and enemy of Denys I go also willingly to him to ayde him in that I may and to counsell him in all that I know and tolde them further I let you vnderstand my Disciples that a good Philosopher to visite and helpe his friend and to accompany with a good man should thinke the iourney short and no whit painefull though he should sulke the whole seas and pace the compasse of the earth Appolonius Thianeus departed from Rome went through all Asia sailed ouer the great floud Nile endured the bitter colde of Mount Caucasus suffered the parching heate of the mountaines Riphei passed the land of Nassagera entred into the great India and this long pilgrimage tooke hee vpon him in no other respect but to see Hyarcus the Philosopher his great old friend Agesilaus also among the Greekes accounted a worthy Captaine vnderstanding that the King Hicarius had another Captaine his very friende Captiue leauing all his owne affayres apart trauelling through diuers Countries went to the place whete hee was and arriued there presented himselfe vnto the King and sayde thus vnto him I humbly beseech thee O puissant King that thou vouchsafe to pardon Minotus my sole and onely friend and thy subiect now for what thou shalt doe to him make thy account thou hast done it to me For in deed thou canst neuer alone punish his body but thou shalt therewith also crucifie my heart King Herod after Augustus had ouercome Marke Antonie came to Rome and laying his Crowne at the Emperiall foote with stout courage spake these words vnto him Know thou mighty Augustus if thou knowest it not that if Marke Antony had beleeued mee and not his accursed loue Cleopatra thou shouldest then haue proued how bitter an enemy I would haue beene to thee and hee haue found how true a friend I was and yet am to him But hee as a man rather giuen ouer to the rule of a womans will then guided by reasons skill tooke of me but money onely and of Cleopatra coonsell And proceeding further sayde Loe here my kingdome my person and royal crowne layde at thy princely feet all which I freely offer to thee to dispose of at thy will and pleasure pleasing thee so to accept it but yet with this condition Inuict Augustus that thou commaund mee not to heare nor speake ill of Marke Antony my Lord and friend yea although he were now dead For know thou sacred Prince that true friendes neyther for death ought to bee had in obliuion nor for absence to be forsaken Iulius Caesar last Dictator and first Emperour of Rome did so entirely loue Cornelins Fabatus the Consull that trauelling together through the Alpes of France and beeing benighted farre from any towne or harbor saue that only of a hollow caue which happily they lighted on And Cornelius the Consull euen then not well at ease Iulius Caesar left him the whole caue to the end he might bee more at rest and he himselfe lay abroad in the cold and snow By these godly examples we haue recited and by diuers others wee could recite may bee considered what faithfull friendshippe ought to be betwixt true and perfect friendes into how many dangers one friend ought to put himselfe for another for it is not enough that one friend be sory for the troubles of another but hee is bound if neede were to goe and dye ioyfully with him He onely deseruedly may bee counted a true friend that vnasked and before hee bee called goeth with his goods and person to helpe and relieue his friend But in this our yron age alas there is no such kinde of amity as that wee haue spoken of More then this that there is no friend will part with any thing of his to releeue his friend much lesse that taketh care to fauour him in his troubles but if there be any such that will helpe his friend it is euen then when time serueth rather to pitty and lament him then to ayde or succour him It is a thing worth the knowledge that to make a true and perpetuall friendshippe we may not offer to many persons but according to Seneca his saying who saith My friend Lucillus I counsell thee that thou be a true friend to one alone and enemy to none for numbers of friends brings great incumbrance which seemeth somewhat to diminish friendship For who that considereth the liberty of the heart it is vnpossible that one should frame and agree with the conditions of many much lesse that many should content them with the desires and affections of one Tully and Salust were two famous Orators amongst the Romanes and great enemies betweene themselues and during this emulation betweene them Tully had purchased all the Senators friendshippe and Salust onely had no other friend in all Rome but Marke Antony alone And so these two great Orators beeing one day at words together Tully in great anger sayde to Salust What force or power art thou of or what euill canst thou doe or attempte against mee sith thou knowest that in all Rome thou hast but one onely friend Marke Antony and I no enemie but one and that is he To whom Salust answered Thou gloriest O Tully that thou hast no moe but one onely enemy and afterwards iests at mee that I haue no more Friends but onely me but I hope in the immortall Gods that this onely Enemie thou hast shall bee able enough vtterly to vndoe thee and this my sole Friend that I haue shall bee
wee now at this present doe also aduise them to take heede that they doe not accept and take all that is offered and presented although they may lawfully doe it For if hee be not wise in commaunding and moderate in taking a day might come that hee should see himselfe in such extremity that he should be inforced to call his Friends not to counsell him but rather to helpe and succour him It is true that it is a naturall thing for a Courtyer that hath twenty crowns in his purse to desire suddenly to multiplie it to an 100. from a 100. to 200. from 200. to a 1000. from a thousand to 2000. and from 2000 to an hundred thousand So that this poore wretched creature is so blinded in couetousnes that hee knoweth not nor feeleth not that as this Auarice continually increaseth and augmenteth in him so his life daily diminisheth and decreaseth besides that that euery man mocks and scorns him that thinketh The true contentation consisteth in commanding of Money and in the facultie of possessing much riches For to say truly it is not so but rather disordinate riches troubleth and grieueth the true contentation of men and awaketh in them daily a more appetite of Couetousnes We haue seen many Courtiers rich and beloued but none indeede that euer was contented or wearyed with commaunding but rather his life should faile him then Couetousnes Oh how many haue I seene in the Court whose legges nor feete haue bin able to carry them nor their bodie strong enough to stand alone nor their hands able to write nor their sight hath serued them to see to reade nor their teeth for to speake nor their iawes to eate nor their eares to heare nor their memory to trauell in any suite or matter yet haue not their tongue fayled them to require presents and giftes of the Prince neyther deepe and fine wit to practise in Court for his most auaile and vantage So incurable is the disease and plague of auarice that hee that is sicke of that infirmity can not bee healed neyther with pouerty nor yet bee remedied with riches Since this contagious maladie and apparant daunger is now so commonly knowne and that it is crepte into Courtiers and such as are in high fauour and great authoritie by reason of this vile sinne of auarice I would counsell him rather to apply himselfe to bee well thought of and esteemed then to endeauour to haue enough Also Queene Semiramis was wife to king Belius and mother of king Ninus and although by nature shee was made a woman yet had shee a heart neuer otherwise but valiant and Noble For after shee was widdow shee made her selfe Lord by force of armes of the great India and conquered all Asia and in her life time caused a goodly tombe to bee made where she would lye after her death and about the which she caused to bee grauen in golden Letters these words Who longs to swell with masse of shining golde And craue to catch such wealth as fewe possesse This stately Tombe let him in hast vnfolde Where endlesse heapes of hatefull coyne do rest Many dayes and kinges raignes past before any durst open this Sepulchre vntill the comming of the great Cyrus who commaunded it to be opened And being reported to him by those that had the charge to seeke the treasure that they had sought to the bottomlesse pit and Worldes end but treasure they could find none nor any other thing saue a stone wher in were grauen these words Ah haplesse Knight whose high distracted mind By follies play abused was so much That secret tombes the carcasse could none binde But thou wouldst reaue them vp for to be rich Plutarch and also Herodotus which haue both written this history of Semiramis doe shew and affirme that Queen Semiramis got great honour by this iest and King Cyrus great shame and dishonour If Courtiers that are rich thinke and beleeue that for that they haue money inough and at their will that therefore they should be farre from all troubles and miseries they are deceyned For if the poore soule toyle and hale his body to get him onely that he needeth much more dooth the rich man torment and burne his heart till hee be resolued which way to spende that superfluitie he hath Iesu what a thing is it to see a rich man how bee tormenteth himselfe night and day imagining and deuising with himselfe whether hee shall with the mony that is left buy leases milles or houser anuities vines or cloth lands tenemēts or pastures or some thing in see or whether he shal enrich his sonne with the thirds or fifts and after all these vaine thoughts Gods will is for to strike him with death suddenly not onely before he hath determined how hee should lay out or spend this money but also before he hath made his will I haue many times tolde it to my friends yea and preached it to them in the Pulpit and written it also in my bookes that it is farre greater trouble to spend the goods of this world well and as they ought to be spent then it is to get them For they are gotten with swette and spent with cares Hee that hath no more then hee needeth it is hee that knoweth well how to parte from them and to spend them but he that hath aboundance and more then needfull doth neuer resolue what hee should doe Whereof followeth many times that those which in his life time were enemies to him shall happen to bee heyres after his death of all the goods and money he hath It is a most sure and certaine custome among mortall men that commonly those that are rich while they are aliue spend more money vainely in thinges they would not and that they haue no pleasure in and wherein they would lest lay it out and after their death they leaue the most part of their inheritance to those whom they loued least for it hapneth many times that the sonne which hee loueth worst enheriteth his goods that sonne which hee loued best and made most of remaineth poore Therfore continuing still our matter I say that I know not the cause why the fauoured of the Court desire to bee so rich couetous and insatiable sith they alone haue to gette the goods where afterwardes to spende them they haue need of the counsell and aduise of many Let not those also that are in fauour with the Prince make too great a shew openly of their riches but if they haue aboundance let them keepe it secret For if their lurking enemies know not what they haue the worst they can doe they can but murmur but if they see it once they will neuer leaue till they haue accused him To see a Courtier builde sumptuous houses to furnish them with wonderfull and rich hangings to vse excesse and prodigality in their meates to haue their cupbordes maruellously decked with cups and pots of golde and siluer to
Athens hee being not of the age of eightie fiue yeares asked what that old man was and it was answered him that it was one of the Philosophers of Greece who followed vertue and serched to know wherein true Philosophie consisted Whereupon he answered If Xenocrates the Philosopher tell mee that hee being now eightie fiue yeares old goeth to seek vertue in this age I would thou shouldest also tell me what time hee should haue left him to bee vertuous And hee sayde moreouer in those yeares that this Philosopher is of it were more reason we should see him doe vertuous things then at this age to goe and seeke it Truely we may say the very like of our new Courtier that Eudonius sayde of Xenocrates the Philosopher the which if hee did looke for other threescore yeares or threescore and ten to be good what time should remaine for him to proue and shew that goodnesse It is no maruell at all that the olde Courtiers forget their Natiue Countrey and bringing vp their Fathers that begate them their friendes that shewed them fauour and the seruants that serued them but at that I doe not onely wonder at them but also it giueth mee cause to suspect them is that I see they forget themselues So that they neuer know nor consider that they haue to doe till they come afterwardes to be that they would not be If the Courtiers which in Princes Courts haue beene rich noble and in authority would counsell with me or at least beleeue my writing they shold depart from thence in time to haue a long time to consider before of death least death vnawares and suddenly came to take execution of their liues O happy and thrice happy may we call the esteemed Courtier whom God hath giuen so much witte and knowledge to that of himselfe hee do depart from the Court before fortune hath once touched him with dishonour or laid her cruell handes vpon him For I neuer saw Courtier but in the end did complain of the Court and of their ill life that they ledde in Court And yet did I neuer know any person that would leaue it for any scruple of consciēce he had to remain there but peraduenture if any did depart from the court it was for some of these respects or altogether that is to say Eyther that his fauour and credite diminished or that his money fayled him or that some hath done him wrong in the court or that hee was driuen from the court or that he was denyed fauour or that his side faction he helde with had a fall or for that hee was sicke for to gette his health hee went into the Countrey So that they may say hee rather went angrie and displeased with himselfe then hee did to lament his sins If you aske priuately euery Courtier you shall finde none but will say he is discontented with the Court eyther because he is poore or afflicted enuied or ill willed or out of fauour and hee will sweare and resweare againe that he desireth nothing more in the World then to be dismissed of this Courtiers trauell and painefull Life But if afterwards perchance a little winde of fauour be but stirring in the Entrey of his chamber dore it will sodenly blow away all the good and former thoughts from his mind And yet that which makes mee to wonder more at these vnconstant Courtiers and vnstable braines is that I see many build goodly stately houses in their countrey and yet they neyther dwell in them nor keepe hospitality there They graffe and set trees plant fruites and make good Gardens and Orchards and yet neuer goe to enioye them they purchase great Landes and possessions and neuer goe to see them And they haue offices and dignities giuen them in their Countryes but they neuer goe for to exercise them There they haue their friends and parents and yet they neuer goe for to talke with them So they had rather be slaues and drudges in the court then lords rulers in their own countrey we may iustly say that many courtiers are poore in riches strangers in their owne houses and Pilgrimes in their Countrey and banished from all their kindreds So that if wee see the most part of these Courtiers backbite murmure complaine and abhorre these vices they see daily committed in Court I dare assure you that this discontentation and dislyking proceeds not only of those vices and errors then see committed as of the spight and enuie they haue daylie to see their Enemyes growe in fauour and credite with the Prince For they passe little of the vices of Court so they may be in fauour as others are Plutarch in his book De exilio sheweth that there was a Law amongst the Thebanes that after a man was fiftie yeares of age if he fell sicke he should not bee holpen with Physitians For they say that after a man is once arriued vnto that age he should desire to liue no longer but rather to hasten to his iourneys ende By these examples wee may know that infancie is till vii yeares Childhood to xiiii yeares Youth to xxv yeares manhood till xl and Age to three-score-yeares But once passed three-score me thinks it is rather time to make cleane the nettes and to content thēselues with the Fish they haue till now then to go about to put their nets in order againe to fish any more I grant that in the Courts of princes all may be saued yet no man can deny mee but that in princes Courts there are mo occasions to be damned then saued For as Cato the Censor saith The apt occasions bring men a desire to do yll though they be good of themselues And although some do take vpon them and determine to leade a godly and holie life or that they shew themselus ' great hypocrites yet am I assured notwithstanding that they cannot keepe their tongue frō murmuring nor their hart from enuying And the cause hereof proceedeth for that ther are very few that follow the Court long but onely to enter into credit and afterwards to vaxe rich and growe in great authoritie Which cannot bee without bearing a little secret hate and enuy against those that doe passe them in this fauour and authority and without suspect and feare of others which in 〈◊〉 are their equals and companions It were a good counsell for those that haue 〈◊〉 the Court or Princes till they be 〈◊〉 old and gray headed that they should determine and liue the rest of their yeares as good Christians and not to passe them as Courtiers so that though they haue giuen the world a meale yet they should in the end giue the brain to Iesus Christ I know euery man desireth to liue in Princes Courts and yet they promise they will not dye in Court And since it is so mee thinkes it is a great folly and presumption for such men to desire to liue long in such state where they would not dye for all the
from Spaine and to treate of accord of peace When hee came to Rome he proued before the Senate that sith hee entred into Italy he had bin ten times robbed of his goods and whiles he was at Rome he had seene one of them that robbed him hang vpanother that had defended him Hee seing so euill a deed and how the theefe was saued without iustice as a desperate man tooke a cole and wrote vpon the gybet as followeth O gybet thou art planted among theeues nourished among theeues squared of theeues wrought of theeues and hanged full of Innocents with innocents The originall of these wordes are in the history of Liuius where the whole Decade was written with blacke inke and these words with redde vermelion I cannot tell what other newes I should send thee but that euery thing is so new and so tender and it ioyned with so euill sement that I feare mee all will fall suddenly to the ground I tell thee that some are suddenly risen within Rome vnto honour whose fal I dare rather assure then life For all buildinges hastily made cannot bee sure The longer a tree is kept in his kinde the longer it will bee ere it bee olde The trees whose fruite wee eate in Summer doe warme vs in Winter Oh how many haue wee seene wherof we haue maruelled of their rising and beene abashed at their falles They haue growne as a whole peece and suddenly wasted as a skumme Their felicity hath beene but a short moment and their infortune as a long life Finally they haue made a mille and layde on the stones of increase and after a little grinding left it vnoccupied all the yeare after Thou knowest well my friend Catullus that wee haue seene Cincius Fuluius in one yeare made Consull and his children Tribunes his wife a Matrone for young maydens and besides that made keeper of the Capitoll and after that not in one yeare but the same day we saw Cincius beheaded in the place his children drowned in Tiber his Wife banished from Rome his house razed down to the ground and all his goods confiscated to the common Treasury This rigorous example wee haue not read in any booke to take a copie of it but wee haue seene it with our eyes to keepe it in our minds As the Nations of people are variable so are the conditions of men diuers And mee thinketh this is true seeing that some loue some hate and that some seeke some eschew and that some set little by other make much store In such wise that all cannot bee content with one thing nor some with all things cannot be satisfied Let euery man chuse as him list embrace the world when hee will I had rather mount a soft pace to the falling and if I cannot come thereto I will abide by the way rather then with the sweat to mount hastily and then to tumble downe headlong In this case sith mens hearts vnderstand it we neede not to write further with pennes And of this matter marke not the little that I doe say but the great deale that I will say And sith I haue begunne and that thou art in strange lands I will write thee all the newes from hence This yeare the 25. day of May there came an Ambassadour out of Asia saying hee was of the Isle of Cetin a Baron right proper of body ruddy of aspect and hardy of courage Hee considered being at Rome thogh the Summers dayes were long yet Winter would draw on and then would it bee daungerous sayling into this isle and saw that his busines was not dispatched On a day beeing at the gate of the Senate seeing all the Senators enter into the Capitoll without any armour vpon them he as a man of good spirite and zelator of his Country in the presence of vs all sayd these words O Fathers Conscript O happie people I am come from a straunge countrey to Rome only to see Rome and I haue found Rome without Rome The walles wherewith it is inclosed hath not brought mee hither but the fame of them that gouerne it I am not come to see the Treasury wherein is the treasure of all Realmes but I am come to see the sacred Senat out of the which issueth counsell for al men I came not to see it because yee vanquish other but because I thought you more vertuous then all other I dare well say one thing except the gods make me blinde and trouble my vnderstanding yee bee not Romanes of Rome nor this is not Rome of the Romanes your predecessors Wee haue heard in our Isle that diuers realmes haue beene wonne by the valiantnes of one and conserued by the wisedome of all the Senate and at this houre you are more likely to lose then to winne as your Fathers did Al their exercise was in goodnes and yee that are their children passe all your time in Ceremonies I say this yee Romanes because you haue almost killed me with laughing at you to see how you doe all as much your diligence to leaue your armour without the gate of the Senate as your predecessors did take to them to defend the Empire What profite is it to you to leaue off these Armours which hurt the bodies and to put on them those which kill all the World What profiteth it to the carefull Suiter that the Senator entreth vnarmed into the Senat without sword or dagger and his hart entreth into the Senate armed with malice O Romanes I will that you know that in our Isle wee esteeme you not as armed Captaines but as malitious Senators You feare vs not with sharpe golden swords and daggers but with hard hearts and venemous tongues If yee should in the Senate put on harnesse and therewith take away our liues it were but a smal losse seing that you sustaine not the Innocents nor dispatch not the businesse of suiters I cannot suffer it I cannot tell in what state yee stand here at Rome for in our Isle we take armour from fooles whether your Armours are taken away as from fooles or mad folks I know not if it bee done for ambitiousnesse it commeth not of Romanes but of Tirants that wranglers and irefull folke should be iudges ouer the peaceable and the ambitious ouer the meeke the malitious ouer the simple if it be done because you are fooles it is not in the Lawes of the gods that three hundred fooles should gouerne three hundred thousand wise men It is a long season that I haue tarried for mine answere and licence and by your delayes I am now further off then I was the first day Wee bring oyle honey saffron wood and timber salte siluer and solde out of our Isle into Rome and yee will that wee goe else where for to seeke iustice Yee will haue one Law to gather your rents and another to determine your iustice yee will that wee pay our tributes in one day and yee will not discharge one of our errands in a