take to their custody we are bouÌ„d to defend it is not lawfull for vs to diminish their credite Suppose that this my worke were not so profound as it might be of this matter nor with such eloqueÌ„ce set out as many other bokes are yet I dare be bolde to say that the prince shal take more profit by reading of this worke than Nero did by his loue Pompeia For in the end by reading and studieng good bookes men tourne become sage and wise and by keping il company they are counted fooles vitious My meaning is not nor I am not so importunat and vnreasonable to perswade princes that they should so fauour my doctrine the it should be in like estimacion now in these partes as the amber was there in Rome But that which only I require demaund is that the time which Nero speÌ„t in singing telling the héere 's of his loue Pompeia should now be employed to redresse the wrongs faultes of the common wealth For the noble worthy prince ought to employ the least part of the day in the recreation of his person After he hath giueÌ„ audience to his counsaylours to the embassadours to the great Lordes prelates to the riche and poore to his owne countrey men and straungers after that he be come into his priuy chamber then my desire is that he would reade this treatise or some other better than this for in princes chambers oftentimes those of the priuie chaÌ„ber and other their familiares loase great time in reciting vayne and trifling maters and of small profit the which might better be spent in reading some good booke In al worldly affaires that we do in al our bookes which we compile it is a greate matter to be fortunate For to a man that fortune doth not fauour diligence without doute can little auaile Admitte that fortune were against me in that this my worke should be acceptable vnto your maiestie without comparison it should be a great grief dishonor vnto me to tel you what should be good to reade for your pastime if on thother parte you woulde not profite by mine aduise For my mind was not only to make this booke to the end princes should reade it for a pastime but to that end in recreating theÌ„ selues somtimes they mought thereby also take profit Aulus Gellius in the. 12. chapter of his thirde booke entituled De nocte attica said that amongs al the schollers which the diuine Plato had one was named Demosthenes a man amongest the Gréekes moste highly estemed of the Romaynes greatly desired Because he was in his liuing seuere and in his tonge and doctrine a very saâ—ire If Demosthenes had come in the time of Phalaris the tiraunt whan Grecia was peopled with tirau tes and that he had not bene in Platoes tyme when it was replenished with Philosophers truelye Demosthenes had bene as cleare a lanterne in Asia as Cicero the greate was in Europe Greate good happe hath a notable man to be borne in one age more then in any other I meane that if a valiaunt Knight come in the tyme of a couragious and stout prince such one truly shal be estemed and set in great authoritie But if he come in the time of an other effeminate and couetous prince he shall not be regarded at al. For he wil rather esteme one that wil augment his treasour at home than him that can vanquishe his enemies in battayle abrode So likewise it chaunseth to wise and vertuous men which if they come in the time of vertuous and learned princes are estemed and honoured But if they come in tyme of vayne and vitious princes they make small accounte of them For it is an auncient custome amonge vanities children not to honor him which to the common wealth is most profitable but him whiche to the prince is most acceptable The ende why this is spoken Most pusant Prince is because the twoo renoumed philosophers were in Grece both at one time and because the diuine philosopher Plato was so much estemed and made of they did not greatly esteme the philosopher Demosthenes For the emineÌ„t and high renoume of one alone diminisheth the fame estimacion amoÌ„g the people of many Although Demosthenes was such a one in dede as we haue sayd that is to witte eloquent of tonge ready of memory sharpe and quicke of witte in liuing seuere sure and profitable in geuing of counsaile in renoume excellent in yeres very auncient and in philosophie a man right wel learned Yet he refused not to goe to the scholes of Plato to heare morall philosophie He that shall reade this thinge or heare it ought not to merueile but to folow it and to profit likewise in the same that is to vnderstande that one philosopher learned of an other and one wise maÌ„ suffered him selfe to be taught of an other For knowledge is of such a qualitie that the more a man knoweth dayly there encreaseth in him a desire to knowe more All thinges of this life after they haue bene tasted and possessed cloyeth a man wearieth and troubleth him true science onely excepted which neuer doth cloy weary nor troble them And if it happen we wery any it is but the eyes which are weried with lokinge and reading and not the spirite with féeling and tastinge Many Lordes and my familiar friendes doe aske me how it is possible I shoulde liue with so much study And I also demaunde of them how it is possible they should liue in such continuall idelnes For considering the prouocacion and assaultes of the flesh the daungers of the world the temptacions of the deuil the treasons of enemies importunities of friendes what hart can suffer so great and continual trauaile but onely in reading comforting him selfe in bookes Truely a man ought to haue more compassion of a simple ignoraunte man than of a poore man For there is no greater pouerty vnto a man than to lacke wisdome whereby he should know how to gouerne him selfe Therefore folowinge our matter the case was such one day Demosthenes going to the schole of Plato sawe in the market place of Athens a greate assembly of people which were hearing a philosopher newely come vnto that place he spake not this without a cause that there was a greate companye of people assembled For that naturallye the common people are desirous to heare new and straunge things Demosthenes asked what philosopher he was after whome so many people went and when it was aunswered him that it was Calistratus the philosopher a man which in eloquence was very swéete and pleasaunt he determined to staie and heare him to th ende he woulde knowe whither it were true or vayne that the people tolde hym For oftentymes it happeneth that amonge the people some gette them selues greate fame more by fauour than by good learninge The difference betwixte the diuine Philosopher Plato and Calistratus was in that Plato was exceadinglye well
abstinence from meates when I desired to eate what watching in the night whan I would haue slept what cares I haue suffred in steed of rest that I might haue enioyed let other proue if me they wyl not credite The intencion of my painful trauailes I offer to the deuine maiestie vpon my knees to youre highnesse noble prince I presente thys my worke and humbly beseche god that the doctrine of this booke may be as profitable vnto you and the common wealth in your lyfe as it hath ben to me tedious hinderaunce to my health I haue thought it good to offer to your maiestye the effect of my laboures thoughe you peraduenture wyl lytle regard my paines for the requyting of my trauayle and reward of my good wyl I requyre nought els of your highnes but that the rudenesse of my vnderstanding the basenes of my stile the smalnes of my eloquence the euil order of my sentences the vanitie of my words be no occasion why so excellent and goodly a worke shold be lytle regarded For it is not reason that a good horse should be the lesse estemed for that the ryder knoweth not how to make hym ronne hys carrier I haue done what I could doe doe you now that you ought to doe in gyuynge to this present worke grauytye and to me the interpretor thereof aucthority I saye no more but humbly besech god to mayntayne your estimacion and power in earth and that you maye afterwarde enioye the fruicion of hys deuyne presence in heauen The Argumente of the booke called the Diall of Princes VVherein the aucthour declareth hys intencion and maner of proceadinge ARchimenedes the great and famous philosopher to whom Marcus Marcellus for his knowledge sake graunted life and after vsing Nygromancie deserued death being demaunded what time was sayd that time was the inuentor of al noueltyes and a Regestre certaine of antiquities whiche seeth of it selfe the beginning the middest and the ending of al things And finally time is he that endeth al. No man can deny but the diffinition of thys Philosopher is true for if tyme could speake he would certifye vs of sundry things wherin we doubt and declare them as a witnes of sight Admyt al things perishe and haue an ende yet one thing is exempted and neuer hath end which is truth that amongest al things is priuileged in such wise that she triumpheth of time and not tyme of her For accordyng to the dyuine sayeng it shal be more easy to se heauen and earth to fal then once truth to perish There is nothing so entyer but may be diminished nothynge so healthful but may be diseased nothing so strong but may be broken neyther any thing so wel kept but may be corrupted And finally I say there is nothing but by time is ruled and gouerned saue only truth which is subiect to none The fruits of the spring time haue no force to giue sustenaunce nor perfait swetenes to giue any sauour but after that the sommer is past and haruest commeth they rype and then all that we eate nourisheth more and gyueth a better tast I meane by this when the world beganne to haue wyse men the more Philosophers were estemed for their good maners the more they deserued to be reproued for their euyl vnderstandyng Plato in his second booke of the comon wealthe sayd that the auncient Phylosophers aswell Grekes as Egiptians Caldees which firste beganne to beholde the starres of heauen and ascended to the toppe of the mount Olimpus to vew the influences and mocions of the planets on the earthe deserued rather pardon of their ignoraunce then prayse for their knowledge Plato sayde further that the Phylosophers which were before vs were the first that gaue themselues to searche out the truth of the Elements in the heauen and the first whych sowed errors in things natural of the earth Homere in his Iliade agreyng wyth Plato saith I condemne al that the auncient Phylosophers knew but I greatly commend theym for that they desired to know Certes Homere sayd wel and Plato sayd not amysse for if amongest the first Philosophers this ignoraunce had not raygned there had not bene such contrary sectes in euery schoole He that hath redde not the bookes which are lost but the opinions whych the auncient phylosophers had wyl graunt me thoughe the knowledge were one yet their sectes were dyuers that is to say Cinici Stoici Academici Platonici and Epicurei whych were as variable the one from the other in their opinions as they were repugnaunt in their condicions I wyll not neyther reason requireth that my penne should be so much dysmesured as to reproue those whyche are dead for to gyue the glory al onely to them that are alyue for the one of them knew not al neyther were the other ignoraunt of all Yf he deserueth thankes that sheweth me the way whereby I ought to go no lesse then meriteth he whiche warneth me of the place wherin we may erre The ignoraunce of our forefathers was but a gyde to kepe vs from â—rryng for the errour of them shewed vs the truth to theyr much prayse and to our great shame Therfore I dare boldly say if we that are now had bene then we had knowen lesse then they knew And if those were nowe whych were then they would haue knowen more then we know And that this is true it appeareth wel for that the auncyent phylosophers through the great desyre they had to know the trouth of small and bypathes haue made brode and large wayes the whych we now wil not sée nor yet walke therin Wherfore we haue not so muche cause to bewayle their ignoraunce as they had reason to complayne of our negligence For truth whych is as Aulus Gelius saith the doughter of time hath reueled vnto vs the errours which we ought to eschew and the true doctrine which we ought to folow What is ther to se but hath bene sene what to dyscouer but hath ben discouered what is there to reade but hath bene red what to write but hath bene writen what is ther to know but hath ben knowen now a dayes humaine malice is so expert men so we â—able and our wittes so subtyl that we want nothyng to vnderstand neither good nor euyl And we vndoe our selues by sekyng that vayne knowledge which is not necessary for our life No man vnder the pretence of ignoraunce can excuse his fault since al men know al men reade and al men learne the whych is euident in this case as it shal appeare Suppose the ploughe man and the learned man do go to the law and you shall perceyue the labourer vnder that simple garment to forge to his councellour halfe a dosen of malicious trickes to delude his aduersary as fynely as the other that is leerned shal be able to expound 2. or 3. chapters of this booke If men would employ their knowledge to honesty wisedome pacience and mercy it were wel but
I am sory they know so much only for that they subtilly disceiue and by vsury abuse their neighbours and kepe that they haue vniustly gotten and dayly getting more inuenting new trades Finally I say if they haue any knowledge it is not to amend their life but rather to encrease their goods If the diuil could slepe as men do he might safely slepe for wheras he waketh to deceiue vs we wake to vndoe our selues wel suppose that al these heretofore I haue sayd is true Let vs now leue aside craft take in hand knowledge The knowledge which we attaine to is smal that whych we shold attaine to so great that al that we know is the least part of that we are ignoraunt Euen as in things natural the elamentes haue their operacions accordyng to the variety of time so moral doctrines as the aged haue succeded and sciences were discouered Truly al fruites come not together but when one faileth another commeth in season I meane that neyther al the Doctours among the Christians nor al the phylosophers among the gentyles were concurrant at one time but after the death of one good ther came another better The chiefe wysedome whych measureth al thyngs by iustyce and disparseth them accordyng to his bounty wyl not that at one time they should be al wyse men and at an other time al simple For it had not ben reason the one should haue had the fruite and the other the leaues The old world that ran in Saturnes dayes otherwyse called the golden world was of a truth muche estemed of them that saw it and greatly commended of them that wrote of it That is to say it was not gilded by the Sages whych did gilde it but because there was no euyl men whych dyd vngild it For as thexperience of the meane estate nobility teacheth vs of one only parson dependeth aswel the fame and renoume as the infamy of a hole house and parentage That age was called golden that is to saye of gold and this our age is called yronne that is to say of yron This dyfference was not for that gold then was found now yron nor for that in this our age ther is want of theym that be sage but because the number of them surmounteth that be at this day malicious I confesse one thing and suppose many wil fauour me in the same Phauorin the philosopher which was maister to Aulus Gellius and his especial frend sayde ofttimes that the phylosophers in old time were holden in reputacion bycause ther were few teachers and many learners We now a daies se the contrary for infinite are they whych presume to be maysters but few are they whych humble theym selues to be scholers A man maye know how litle wise men are estemed at this houre by the greate veneracion that the phylosophers had in the old tyme. What a matter is it to se Homere amongest the Grecians Salomon amongest the Hebrues Lycurgus amongest the Lacedomoniens Phoromeus also amongest the Grekes Ptolomeus amongeste the Egiptians Liui amongeste the Romaynes and Cicero lykewyse amongeste the Latines Appolonius among the Indians and Secundus amongest the Assirians How happy were those philosophers to be as they were in those dayes when the world was so ful of simple personnes and so destitute of sage men that there flocked greate nombers out of dyuers contries and straung nacions not only to here their doctrine but also to se their persons The glorious saint Hierome in the prologue to the bible sayth When Rome was in her prosperitie thenne wrote Titus Liuius his decades yet notwithstaÌ„ding men came to Rome more to speake with Titus Liuius then to se Rome or the high capitol therof Marcus Aurelius writing to his frend Pulio said these words Thou shalt vnderstand my frend I was not chosen Emperour for the noble bloude of my predecessours nor for the fauoure I had amongest them now present for ther were in Rome of greater bloud and riches then I but the Emperour Adrian my maister set his eyes vpon me and the emperour Anthony my father in law chose me for his sonne in law for no other cause but for that they saw me a frend of the sages an enemy of the ignoraunt Happie was Rome to chose so wise an emperoure and no lesse happye was he to attaine to so great an empire Not for that he was heire to his predecessoure but for that he gaue his mynd to study Truly if that age then were happie to enioye hys person no lesse happie shal ours be now at this present to enioy his doctrine Salust sayth they deserued great glory whych did worthy feates and no lesser renowme merited they whych wrote them in high stile What had Alexander the great ben if Quintus Curtius had not writen of him what of Vlisses if Homere hadde not bene borne what had Alcibiades bene if Zenophon had not exalted him what of Cirus if the philosopher Chilo had not put his actes in memory what had bene of Pirrus kinge of the Epirotes if Hermicles cronicles were not what had bene of Scipio the great Affricane if it had not bene for the decades of Tâ—tus Liuius what had ben of Traiane if the renowmed Plutarche had not bene his frend what of Nerua and Anthonius the meke if Phocion the Greke had not made mencion of them how should we haue knowen the stout courage of Cesar and the great prowesse of Pompeius if Lucanus had not writen them what of the twelue Cesars if Suetonius tranquillus hadde not compiled a booke of their lyues and how should we haue knowen the antiquityes of the Hebrues if the vpright Iosephe had not ben who could haue knowen the commyng of the Lombardes into Italy if Paulus Diaconus had not writ it how could we haue knowen the comming in the going out and end of the Gothes in Spayne if the curious Rodericus had not shewed it vnto vs By these things that we haue spoken of before the readers may perceyue what is dew vnto the Historiographers who in my opinion haue left as great memorye of theym for that they wrote with their pennes as the prynces haue done for that they dyd with their swordes I confesse I deserue not to be named amongest the sages neyther for that I haue wryten and translated nor yet for that I haue composed Therfore the sacred and deuyne letters set a side ther is nothing in the world so curiouslye wryten but neadeth correction as I say of the one so wil I say of the other and that is as I wyth my wyl do renounce the glorye which the good for my learning woulde gyue me so in like maner euyl men shal not want that agaynst my wil wil seke to defame it We other writers smally esteme the labour and paynes we haue to wryte although in dede we are not ignoraunt of a thousand enuyous tongues that wyl backbite it Many now a dayes are so euil taught
thousand sexterces Trauaile to augmēt them for her not to dymynish them I commend vnto thee Drusia the Romain wydow who hath a proces in the Senat. For in the times of the cōmotions past her husband was banished proclamed traytor I haue great pyety of so noble worthy a widow for it is now .iii. moneths since shee hath put vp her cōplaint for the great warres I could not shew her iustice Thou shalt find my sonne that in .xxxv. yeares I haue gouerned in Rome I neuer agreed that any widow should haue any sute beefore mee aboue .viii. dayes Bee carefull to fauour and dispatch the orphanes and wydows For the needy wydows in what place so euer they bee doo encurre into great daunger Not which out cause I aduertise thee that the trauaile to dispatch thē so sone as the maist to administer iustice vnto thē For through the prolōging of beautiful womēs suites their honor credit is diminished So that their busines being prolōged they shal not recouer so much of their goods as they shal lose of their renowm I cōmēd vnto thee my sonne my old seruaunts which with my long yeares and my cruell warres with my great necessityes with the combrance of my body and my long disease haue had great trouble as faithfull seruaunts oftentimes to ease mee haue annoyed them selues It is conuenient since I haue preuailed of their lyfe that they should not loose by my death Of one thing I assure thee that though my body remaine with the wormes in the graue yet beefore the gods I will remember them And heerin thou shalt shew thy selfe to bee a good child when thou shalt recompence those which haue serued thy father well Al princes which shall doo iustice shal get enemies in the excucion therof And sith it is doone by the hands of those which are neere him the more familiare they are with the prince the more are they hated of the people al in generally doo loue iustice but none doo reioyce that they execute it in his house And therfore after the Prince endeth his lyfe the people will take reuenge of those which haue beene ministers therof It were great infamy to the empire offence to the gods iniury to mee vnthankfulnes to thee hauing found the armes of my seruants redy xviii yeares that thy gates should bee shut against them one day Keepe keepe these thinges my sonne in thy memorye and since particulerly I doo remember them at my death cōsider how hartely I loued them in my life ¶ The good Marcus Aurelius Emperor of Rome endeth his purpose life And of the last woords which hee spake to his sonne Commodus and of the table of counsels which hee gaue him Cap. lvii WHen the Emperor had ended his particuler recommendacions vnto his sonne Commodus as the dawning of the day beegan to appeere so his eies beegan to close his tong to faulter his hands to tremble as it dooth accustome to those which are at the point of death The prince perceiuing then litle life to remaine commaunded his secretory Panutius to go to the coffer of his books to bring one of the coffers beefore his presence out of the which hee tooke a table of .iii. foot of bredth and ii of length the which was of Eban bordered al about with vnycorne And it was closed with .2 lyds very fine of red wood which they cal rasing of a tree where the Phenix as they say breedeth which dyd grow in Arabia And as there is but one onely Phenix so in the world is there but one onely tree of that sorte On the vttermost part of the table was grauen the God Iupiter on the other the goddesse Venus in the other was drawen the God Mars the goddesse Diana In the vppermost part of the table was carued a bull in the neythermost part was drawne a kyng And they sayd the paynter of so famous renowmed a woork was called Apelles The Emperor takyng the table in his hands casting his eies vnto his sonne sayd these woords Thou seest my sonne how from the turmoyls of fortune I haue escaped how I into miserable destenies of death doo enter where by experience I shall know what there is after this lyfe I meane not now to blaspheme the gods but to repent my sinnes But I would willingly declare why the gods haue created vs since there is such trouble in life such paine in death Not vnderstāding why the gods haue vsed so great cruelti with creatures I see it now in that after .lxii. yeres I haue sayled in the daunger peril of this life now they commaund mee to land harbour in the graue of death Now approcheth the houre wherin the band of matrimoni is losed the thred of life vntwined the key dooth lock the slepe is wakened my lyfe dooth end I go out of this troublesome paine Remembring mee of that I haue doone in my lyfe I desire no more to liue but for that I know not whyther I am caryed by death I feare refuse his darts Alas what shal I doo since the gods tel mee not what I shal doo what coūsail shal I take of any mā since no man will accompany mee in this iourney O what great disceite o what manifest blindnes is this to loue one thing al the days of his life to call nothing with vs after our death Beecause I desired to bee rych they let mee dy poore Bycause I desired to lyue with company they let mee dy alone For such shortnes of life I know not what hee is that wyl haue a house since the narow graue is our certain mansiō place beeleeue mee my sonne that many things past doo greeue mee sore but with nothing so much I am troubled as to come so late to the knowledge of this life For if I could perfectly beeleeue this neyther should men haue cause to reproue mee neither yet I now such occasion to lament mee O how certaine a thing is it that men when they come to the point of death doo promise the gods that if they proroge their death they will amend their life but notwithstanding I am sory that wee see them deliuered from death without any maner of amendment of life They haue obteyned that which of the gods they haue desired haue not perfourmed that which they haue promised They ought assuredly to think that in the sweetest time of their lyfe they shall bee constreyned to accept death For admit that the punishment of ingrate persons bee deferred yet therfore the fault is not pardoned Bee thou assured my sonne that I haue seene enough hard felt tasted desired possessed eaten slept spoken and also liued inough For vices geeue as great trouble to those which follow them much as they doo great desire to those which neuer proued them I confesse to the immortall Gods that I haue no desire to lyue yet I ensure thee
thy children haue no nede to be maried For one thing we are bound to thee that is the example of thy pacience for since thou suffrest Faustine in so many open infamies it is no great nede we suffer any secretes in thee For this present I say no more I end my letter desiring to se shortly the ende of thy life ¶ Marcus Aurelius wryteth to the lady Macrine the Romaine of whom beholding her at the wyndowe he became enamoured Whiche declareth what force the beauty of a fayre woman hath in a weake man Cap. xiii MArke the very desirous to the lady Macrine greatly desired I know not whether by my euyl aduenture or by happe of my good aduenture not long agoe I saw the at a window where thou haddest thy armes as close as I my eyes displayd that cursed be they for euer for in beholding thy face forthwith my hart abode with the as prisoner The beginning of thy knowledge is the end of my reason and fallyng in shonnyng one euyl come infinite trauayles to men I say it for this if I had not bene ydel I had not gone out of my house and not gone out of my house I had not passed by the streat And not going through the streate I had not sene that at the window and not seing the at the window I had not desired thy person And not desiringe thy person I had not put thy fame in so greate peril nor my life in doubt nor we had geuen no occasion to Rome to speake of vs. For of troth lady Macrine in this case I condemne my selfe For willyngly I dyd behold the. I did not salute the althoughe thou desiredst to be sene Sith thou were set vp as a white it is no merueile though I shotte with the arrowes of my eyes at the but of thy beauty with rollyng eyes with browes bent wel coloured face incarnate teth ruddy lipps courled heere hands set with ringes clothed with a thousand maner of coloures hauyng purses full of swete sauoures the bracelettes and earinges ful of pearles and stones Tel me what this meaneth The most that I can thinke of this is sith you shew vs your bodies openly ye would we should know your desires in secret And if it be so as I beleue it is it semeth to me lady Macrine thou oughteste to loue him that lyketh the to enfourme him that seketh the to aunswere him that calleth the to feale him that fealeth the and to vnderstand him that vnderstandeth the and sith thou vnderstandest me I do vnderstand the vnderstand that thou knowest not I do wel remember as I went by the streat solitarily to se ii theues put to death my eyes saw the at a window on whom dependeth al my desires More iustice thou dost to me then I to the theaues for I being at iustice thou hast iusticed the iustice none dare paine the. The gallowes is not so cruel to them which neuer knew but doing euyl as thou art to me which neuer thought other but to serue the. They suffer but one death but thou makest me suffer a thousand They in one daye one houre end their lyues and I each minute do fele the pāges of death They died gilty but I innocently They dy openly I in secret What wilt thou I saye more to thee they wepte for that they died and I wepe teares of bloude from my hart for that I liue This is the differēce their torments spreadeth abrod through al their body I kepe mine together in my hart O cruel Macrine I know not what iustice this is that they kil men for robbing stealing of money suffer women to liue which steale mens harts If they take the liues from them that picke purses why then do they suffer ladies which robbe our entrailes By thy noblenes I pray the by the goddesse Venus I coniure the eyther satisfye my desire or restore to me my hart whych thou hast robbed from me I would thou knew lady Macrine the clere intencion of my hart rather then this letter written with my hande If my hap were so good as thy loue would permit me to speake with the I wold hope by sight speche to win that which I am in suspect by my letter to lose The reason wherof is because thou shalt rede my rude reasons in this leter if thou sawest me thou shouldest se the bitter teares which I would offer to thee in this my vnhappy life O that my mouth could publishe my cruel peines as my harte fealeth thē I sweare to thee lady Macrine that my woful plaintes would stirre vp thy small care and as thy beauty hath made thee thine owne so the knowledge of my griefe should make the myne I desire thou wouldest regarde the beginning and therewith note the ende For of truth the same day that thou imprisonest my hart at the window in the dungeon of my desires I had no lesse weakenes to ouercome then thou haddest strength to enforce me greater was thy power to take me frome my selfe then my reason was to put me from the. Now lady Macrine I doe not aske other mercy of the but that we may declare our minds together But in this case what wilt thou I say vnto the but that thou hast somuch power ouer me and I so lytle of my libertie that though I would not my hart must nedes be thine that being thine thou wilt shewe thy selfe to be mine And sith it may not be but that my life must be condemned in thy seruice be thou as sure of my faith as I am doubtful of thy good wil. For I shal haue a greater honor to be lost for thy sake thē to winne any other treasure I haue no more to say to the now but that thou haue respect to my perdicion draw life out of my death tourne my teares to ioy And because I hold my faith and wil neuer dispaire in thy hope I send the x. litle ringes of gold with x. ringes of Alexandria and by the immortall gods I cōniure the that when thou puttest thē on thy finger thou receiuest my loue into thy hart Marcus thy louer wrote this with his owne hand ¶ Of an other letter whiche the emperour sent to the Lady Macrine wherin he expresseth the firy flames which consume sonest the gentle harts Cap. xiiii MArke thy neighbour at Rome to the Macrine his swete enemy I cal the swete for it is iust I die for the enemy because thou ceasest not to kil me I cannot tel how it is but sithe the feast of Ianus hitherto I haue writen thre letters vnto the in the aunswere wherof I would haue ben cōtented to haue receiued but ii from the. If I wuld serue the thou wil not be serued if I speake to the thou wilt not aunswere me If I behold the thou wilt not loke at me if I cal the thou wilt not answer me If I visite
merite to suffer many troubles if we haue not pacience therin During the time of this our miserable life we cannot denay but in euery estate there is bothe trouble and daunger For then onely our estate shal be perfit when we shal come gloriously in soule and body without the feare of deathe and also whan we shall reioyce without daungers in life Retourninge agayne to our purpose mightie Prince although we all be of value little we all haue little we all can attaine little we all know little we al are able to doe little we all do liue but little Yet in all this little the state of Princes semeth some great and high thing For that worldely men say there is no such felicitie in this life as to haue authoritie to commaunde many to be bounde to obey none But if either subiectes knewe how dere Princes by their power to commaunde or if Princes knewe howe swete a thinge it is to liue in quiet doutelesse the subiectes would pitie their rulers and the rulers would not enuy theyr subiectes For ful few are the pleasures which Princes enioy in respecte of the troubles that they endure Sithe then the estate of Princes is greater than al that he may doe more than all is more of value than all vpholdeth more than all and finally that from thence procedeth the gouernement of all it is more nedefull that the house the person and the life of a Prince be better gouerned and ordred than all the reste For euen as by the yard the marchante measureth al his ware so by the life of the Prince is measured the whole common weale Many sorowes endureth the woman in nourishing a waywerde childe great trauaile taketh a scholemaister in teaching an vntowarde scholler much paine taketh an officer in gouerning a multitude ouergreate howe greate than is the paine and peril whereunto I offer my selfe in takinge vpon me to order the life of such a one vpon whose life hangeth all the good state of a common weale For Princes and great Lords ought of vs to be serued and not offended we ought to exhort them not to vexe them we ought to entreate them not to rebuke them we ought to aduise them and not to defame them finally I say that right simple recken I that surgiō which with the same plaisters he layed to a hard héele séeketh to cure the tender eyes I meane by this cōparison that my purpose is not to tel princes and noble men in this booke what they be but to warne them what they ought to be not to tell them what they doe but to aduise them what they ought to doe For that noble man which will not amende his lyfe for remorse of his owne conscience I doe thinke that he wil amende it for the writing of my penne Paulus diaconus the historiographer in the second booke of his commentaries sheweth an antiquitie right worthy to remember and also pleasaunt to reade Although in dede to the hinderaunce of my selfe I shall reherse it It is as of the henne who by longe scraping on the donghill discouereth the knife that shall cut hir owne throte Thus was the case Hannibal the moste renowmed Prince and captayne of Carthage after he was vainquished by thaduenturous Scipio fled into Asia to kinge Antiochus a Prince then liuinge of great vertue who receiued him into his realme tooke him into his protectiō and right honourably enterteyned him in his house And certes king Antiochus did herein as a pitefull Prince for what can more beautifie the honor of a Prince than to succor nobilitie in their nedefull estate These two Princes vsed diuers exercises to spende the time honorably thus they diuided tyme. Sometime to hunt in the mountaines otherwhile to disporte them in the fieldes oft to vewe their armies But mostly they wente to the scholes to heare the Philosophers And truly they did like wise skilfull men For there is no hower in a daye otherwise so well employed as in hearinge a wise pleasaunt tonged man There was at a time in Ephesus a famous philosopher called Phormio which openly red and taught the people of that realme And one day as these twoo Princes came into the schoole the philosopher Phormio chaunged the matter whereupon be red and of a sodayne began to talke of the meanes and wayes that Princes ought to vse in warre of thorder to be kepte in geuing battaile Such so straunge and high phrased was the matter which he talked of that not onely they merueiled which neuer before sawe him but euen those also that of longe tyme had dayly hearde him For herein curious and flourisshing wittes shewe their excellency in that they neuer wante fresh mater to entreate vpon Greatly gloried the king Antiochus that this philosopher in presence of this straunge prince had so excellentlye spoken so that straungers might vnderstand he had his realme stored with wise mē For couragious and noble princes esteme nothing so precious as to haue men valiāt to defend their frontiers and also wise to gouerne their commō weales The lecturered king Antiochus demaunded of the prince Hannibal howe he liked the talke of the philosopher Phormio to whome Hannibal stoutely aunswered and in his aunswere shewed him self to be of that stoutnes he was the same day whā he wanne the great battayle at Cannas For although noble harted and couragious princes lose all their estates and realmes yet they will neuer confesse their hartes to be ouerthrowen nor vaynquisshed And these were the words that at that time Hannibal said Thou shalt vnderstande kinge Antiochus that I haue séene diuers dotinge olde men yet I neuer sawe a more dootarde foole than Phormio whom thou causest such a great philosopher For the greatest kinde of foly is whan a man that hath but a little vaine science presumeth to teach not those which haue only science but also such as haue most certeine experience Tel me kinge Antiochus what harte can brooke with pacience or what tonge can suffer with silence to sée a sely man as this philosopher is nourished all his life time in a corner of Grece studieng philosophie to presume as he hath done to talke before the prince Hannibal of the affaires of warre as though he had bene either lorde of Affrike or captayne of Rome Certes he either full little knoweth him self or els but little estemeth vs. For it appeareth by his vaine words he would seme to know more in matters of warre by that he hath red in bookes than doth Hannibal by the sundry and great battayles which he hath fought in the fieldes O king Antiochus how far and how great is the difference betwene the state of philosophers the state of captaynes betwene the skill to reade in schole and the knowledge to rule an armie betwene the science that these wise men haue in bookes and thexperience that thothers haue in warre betwene their skil to write with the penne and ours to fight
with the sword betwene one that for his pastime is set round with deskes of bookes and an other in perill of life compassed with troupes of enemies For many there are which with great eloquence in blasing dedes done in warres can vse their tongs but few are those that at the brunt haue hartes to aduenture their liues This sely philosopher neuer saw man of warre in the field neuer saw one army of men discomfeited by an other neuer heard the terrible trumpet sound to the horrible cruel slaughter of men neuer saw the treasons of some nor vnderstode the cowardnes of other neuer saw how fewe they be that fight nor how many there are that ronne away Finally I say as it is semely for a philosopher and a learned man to praise the profites of peace euē so it is in his mouth a thing vncomely to prate of the perils of warre If this philosopher hath sene no one thing with his eyes that he hath spoken but onely red them in sondry bokes let him recounte them to such as haue neither sene nor red them For warlike feates are better learned in the bloudy fields of Afrike than in the beautifull scholes of Grece Thou knowest right wel king Antiochus that for the space of 36. yeres I had continuall and daungerous warres aswell in Italy as in Spayne in which fortune did not fauor me as is alwaies her maner to vse those which by great stoutnes manhodde enterprise things high and of much difficultie a witnes wherof thou séest me heare who before my berde began to grow was serued nowe whan it is hore I my selfe begin to serue I sweare vnto the by the God Mars kinge Antiochus that if any man did aske me how he should vse and behaue him selfe in warre I would not answere him one word For they are things that are learned by experiēce of déedes not by prating in words Although princes begin warres by iustice and folow them with wisedome yet the ende standeth vpon fickle fortune and not of force nor policie Diuers other things Hannibal saide vnto Antiochus who so wil sée thē let him reade the Apothemes of Plutarche This example noble prince tēdeth rather to this end to condempne my boldnes not to cōmende my enterprise saying that thaffaires of the cōmon wealth be as vnknowen to me as the daungers of the warres were to Phormio Your maiestie may iustely say vnto me that I being a poore simple man brought vp a great while in a rude countrey do greatly presume to describe howe so puissant a prince as your highnes ought to gouerne him self and his realme For of trueth the more ignoraunt a man is of the troubles and alteracions of the worlde the better he shal be coūted in the sight of God The estate of princes is to haue great traines about them the estate of religious men is to be solitarye for the seruaunt of God ought to be alwayes voyde from vaine thoughtes to be euer accompanied with holy meditations The estate of princes is alwayes vnquiet but the state of the religious is to be enclosed For otherwise he aboue all others may be called an Apostata that hath his body in the sell and his hart in the market place To princes it is necessary to speake common with all men but for the religious it is not decente to be conuersaunt with the world For solitary men if they do as they ought should occupy their hands in trauaile their body in fasting their tonge in prayer their harte in contemplacion The estate of princes for the most part is employed to warre but the state of the religious is to desire procure peace For if the prince would study to passe his boundes and by battaile to shed the bloud of his enemies the religious ought to shede teares pray to God for his sinnes O that it pleased almighty God as I know what my boūden dutie is in my hart so that he would giue me grace to accomplish the same in my dedes Alas whan I ponder with my selfe the waightines of my matter my penne through slothe and negligence is ready to fall out of my hand I half minded to leaue of mine enterprise My intent is to speake against my selfe in this case For albeit men maye know thaffaires of princes by experience yet they shall not know howe to speake nor write thē but by science Those which ought to counsaile princes those which ought to refourme the life of princes that ought to instruct them ought to haue a clere iudgement an vpright minde their words aduisedly considered their doctrine holesom their life without suspiciō For who so wil speake of high things hauing no experēce of them is like vnto a blinde man that woulde leade teach him the way which séeth better thā he him self This is the sentēce of Xenophon the great which saith There is nothing harder in this life than to know a wise mā And the reason which he gaue was this That a wise man cānot be knowen but by an other wise mā we maye gather by this which Xenophon saieth that as one wise man cannot be knowen but by an other wise man so lykewise it is requisite that he should be or haue ben a prince which should write of the life of a prince For he that hath ben a mariner sailled but one yere on the sea shall be able to giue better counsaile and aduise than he that hath dwelled .x. yers in the hauen Xenophō wrote a boke touching the institucion of princes bringeth in Cambises the kyng how he taughte and spake vnto kyng Cirus hys sonne And he wrote an other booke likewise of the arte of cheualrye and brought in kyng Phillip how he oughte to teache his sonne Alexander to fight For the philosophers thought that writting of no auctoritie that was not intituled set forth vnder the name of those princes which had experience of that they wrate O if an aged prince would with his penne if not with worde of mouth declare what misfortunes haue happened sins the first time he began to reigne howe disobedient his subiectes haue ben vnto him what griefe his seruauntes haue wrought against him what vnkindnes his frendes haue shewed him what subtile wiles his enemies haue vsed towardes hym what daunger his person hath escaped what tarres haue ben in his palace what faultes they haue said against him how many times they haue deceiued straungers finally what grefes he hath had by day what sorrowful sighes he hath fetched in the night truly I thinke in my thought I am nothing deceaued that if a prynce wold declare vnto vs his hole lif that he wold particularly shew vs euery thing we wold both wōder at that body which had so much suffered also we wold be offended with that hart that had so greatly dissembled It is a troublesom thing a daungerous thing an insolent
the yle of Scicili haue caried a great quantitie of corne into Spaine and into Affrike the which thing was forbidden by a Romayne lawe and therefore they haue deserued greuous puniâ—â—ement Nowe because thou arte vertuous thou mayst teache me to do wel and I that am olde wil teach the to say wel this is because that amongest wyse and vertuous men it is enoughe to saye that the lawe commaundeth appointeth and suffereth this thing but in as much as it is agreing with reason For the crowne of the good is reason and the scourge of the wicked is the lawe The fourth thing that commonly through the worlde amongest all men was accepted was the barbars And let no man take this thing in mockery For if they doe reade Plinie in the .59 chapiter the seuenth booke they shal finde for a truth that the Romaines wer in Rome .454 yeres without pouling or shauing the hayres of the beard of any man Marcus Varro said that Publius Ticinius was the firste that brought the barbers from Scicili to Rome But admitte it were so or otherwise yet notwithstandinge there was a greate contention amonge the Romaynes For they sayde they thought it a rashe thinge for a man to committe his life to the courtesie of another Dionisius the Siracusan neuer trusted his beard with any barbor but whaÌ„ his doughters were very little they clipped his beard with sisers but after they became great he woulde not put his trust in them to trimme his bearde but he him selfe did burne it with the shales of nuttes This Dionisius Siracusan was demanded why he would not trust any barbours with his beard He answered because I know that ther be some which wil geue more to the barbor to take away my life than I wil giue to trimme my beard Plinie in the seuenth booke saith that the great Scipio called African and the Emperour Augustus wer the first that caused them in Rome to shaue their beards And I thinke thend why Plinie spake these things was to exalte these twoo princes which had as greate courage to suffer the raysours touche their throtes as th one for to fight against Hannibal in Afrike and thother against Sextus Pompeius in Scicili The fifte thing which coÌ„monly through the world was accepted were the dialles and clockes which the Romaines wanted a long tyme. For as Plinie and Marcus Varro say the Romaines were without clockes in Rome for the space of .595 yeres The curious hystoriographers declare thre maner of dialles that were in olde time that is to say dialles of the houres dialles of the sonne and dialls of the water The dialle of the son Aneximenides Millesius inuented who was great Animandras scholer The dialle of the water Scipio Nasica inuented and the Diall of houres one of the scholers of Thales the Phylosopher inuented Of all these antiquities whyche were brought into Rome none of them were so acceptable to the Romaines as the dialles were wherby they measured the daye by the houre For before they could not saye we wil ryse at .vii. of the clocke we will dine at .x. we will see one thother at .xii. at .i. we will doe that we oughte to doe But before they sayde after the sonne is vp we wil doe such a thinge and before it goe downe we wyll doe that we ought to doe Thoccasion of declaryng vnto you these .v. antiquities in this preamble was to no other intente but to call my booke the Dial of Prynces The name of the booke veing newe as it is maye make the learning that is therein greatly to be estemed God forbyd that I should be so bolde to saye they haue ben so longe time in Spayne without dialles of learning as they were in Rome without the diall of the sonne the water and of the houres For that in Spayne haue ben alwayes men well learned in sciences and very expert in the warres By great reason and of greater occasion the Princes oughte to be commended the knyghtes the people their wittes and the fertilitye of their countrey but yet to all these goodnes I haue sene manye vnlearned bookes in spayne which as broken dialles deserue to be cast into the fier to be forged anew I do not speake it without a cause that manye bookes deserue to be broken and burnte For there are so many that without shame and honestie doe set forthe bookes of loue of the worlde at this daye as boldely as if they taught theim to dispise and speake euil of the world It is pitye to see how many dayes and nightes be consumed in readyng vayne bookes that is to say as Orson and Valentine the Courte of Venus the .iiii. sonnes of Amon and diuerse other vaine bokes by whose doctrine I dare boldlye say they passe not the tyme but in perdicion for they learne not how they oughte to flye vice but rather what way they may with more pleasour embrace it This dial of princes is not of sande nor of the sonne nor of the houres nor of the water but it is the dial of lyfe For that other dialles serue to know what houre it is in the nyghte and what houre it is of the day but this sheweth and teacheth vs how we ought to occupye our mindes and how to order our lyfe The propertye of other dyalles is to order thinges publyke but the nature of this dyal of prynces is to teache vs how to occupye our selues euery houre and how to amende our lyfe euery momente It lytle auayleth to keape the dyalles well and to see thy subiectes dissolutely without any order to range in routes and dayly rayse debate and contention amonge them selues Jn this Prologue the Aucthour speaketh particularlye of the booke called Marcus Aurelius which he translated and dedicated to the Emperour Charles the fyfte THe greatest vanitye that I find in the world is that vayne men are not only conteÌ„t to be vaine in their life but also procure to leue a memory of their vanity after their death For it is so thought good vnto vaine and light men whyche serue the worlde in vaine workes that at the houre of death when they perceyue they can do no more that they can no lenger preuaile they offer them selues vnto death which now they see approche vpon them Manye of the world are so fleshed in the world that although it forsaketh them in déedes yet they wyl not forsake it in theyr desires And I durst sweare that if the world could graunt them perpetual life they woulde promyse it alwayes to remaine in their customable follye O what a nomber of vaine men are aliue whiche haue neither remembraunce of god to serue him nor of his glorye to obey him nor of their conscience to make it cleane but like brute beasts folow and ronne after their voluptuous pleasours The brute beast is angrye if a man kepe him to much in awe if he be wery he taketh his rest he slepeth when he lysteth he eateth and
in nothing delighted so much as by straunge hands to put men to death and to dryue away flies wyth his owne hands Smal is the nomber of those that I haue spoken in respect of those which I could recite of whom I dare say affirme that if I had bene as they I cannot tel what I would haue done or what I should haue desired but this I know it would haue bene more paynes to me to haue wonne the infamy that they haue wonne then to haue lost the lyfe that they haue lost It profyteth hym lytle to haue his ponds ful of fish his parkes ful of deere whych knoweth neyther how to hunte nor how to fysh I meane to shew by this that it profiteth a man lytle to be in great authority if he be not estemed nor honored in the same For to attayne to honour wysedome is requisite to kepe it pacience is necessarye Wyth great consyderacions wyse men ought to enterpryse daungerous thyngs For I assure them they shal neuer winne honour but wher they vse to recouer slaunder Returnyng therfore to our matter Puisaunt prynce I sweare durst vndertake that you rather desyre perpetual renowne through death then any idell rest in this life And hereof I do not merueile for ther are some that shal alwayes declare the prowesses of good prynces others which wyl not spare to open the vyces of euyl tiraunts For although your imperial estate is much your catholike person deserueth more yet I beleue wyth my hart se with these eyes that your thoughts are so highly bent vnto aduenturous dedes your hart so couragious to set vpon them that your maiestie litle estemeth the inheritaunce of your predecessours in respect of that you hope to gaine to leaue to your successours A captaine asked Iulius Cesar as he declareth in his commentaries why he trauailed in the winter in so hard frost in the sommer in such extreme heate He aunswered I wyl do what lyeth in me to do and afterward let the fatal destinies do what they can For the valiaunt knyght that gyueth in battayle thonset ought more to be estemed then fickle fortune wherby the victory is obtayned sins fortune gyueth the one aduenture gydeth the other These words are spoken like a stout valyaunt captayne of Rome Of how many prynces do we read whom trulye I muche lament to see what flatteries they haue herd wyth their eares being aliue and to redde what slaunders they haue susteyned after their death Prynces and great lords shold haue more regard to that whych is spoken in their absence then vnto that which is done in their presence Not to that whych they heare but to that whych they would not heare not to that whiche they tel them but to that which they would not be told of not to that is wryten vnto them being aliue but to that which is wryten of them after their death not to those that tell them lyes but to those whych if they durst would tel them trouth For men manye times refrayne not their tongues for that subiects be not credited but because the prince in his auctority is suspected The noble vertuous prince shold not flit from the trouth wherof he is certified neyther with flateryes lyes should he suffer himselfe to be deceiued but to examine himselfe se whether they serue him with trouth or deceiue hym with lyes For ther is no better witnes iudge of truth lyes then is a mans owne conscience I haue spoken al this to thintent your maiesty myght know that I wil not serue you wyth that you should not be serued That is to shew my selfe in my wryting a flaterer For it wer neither mete nor honest that flateries into the eares of such a noble prynce shold enter neither that out of my mouth which teach the deuine truth such vaine tales should issue I say I had rather be dispraysed for trew speaking then to be honoured for flatery lieng For of truth in your highnes it shold be much lightnes to heare them in my basenes great wickednes to inuent them Now againe folowing our purpose I say the historyes greatly commend Licurgus that gaue lawes to the Lacedemonians Numa Pompilius that honoured and adourned the churches Marcus Marcellus that had pitye on those whych were ouercome Iulius Cesar that forgaue his enemyes Octauius that was so welbeloued of the people Alexander that gaue rewards and giftes to al men Hector the Troyane because he was so valiaunt in warres Hercules the Thebane because he emploied his strength so wel Vlisses the Grecian because he aduentured himselfe in so many daungers Pirrhus king of Epirotes because he inuented so many engins Catullus Regulus because he suffered so many torments Titus the Emperour because he was father to the Orphanes Traianus because he edified sumptuous goodly buildings The good Marcus Aurelius because he knew more thē al they I do not say that it is requisyte for one prynce in these dayes to haue in him all those qualyties but I dare be bold to affirme this that euen as it is vnpossible for one prince to folow al so likewise it is a great slaunder for him to folow none We do not require princes to do al that they can but to apply themselues to do some thing that they ought And I speake not without a cause that whych I haue sayd before For if princes did occupy themselues as they ought to do they shoulde haue no tyme to be vycious Plynie saith in an epistle that the great Cato called Censor did were a ring vpon his fynger wherin was wryten these wordes Esto amicus vnius inimicus nullius which is be frend to one enemy to none He that would depely consider these few words shal find therin many graue sentences And to apply this to my purpose I saye the prince that would wel gouerne his common weal shew to al equal iustyce desire to possesse a quiet lyfe to get among al a good fame that coueteth to leaue of hymselfe a perpetual memory ought to embrace the vertues of one and to reiect the vices of al. I alow it verye wel that princes should be equal yea surmount many but yet I aduise theym not to employ their force but to folow one For oftētimes it chaunseth that many which suppose themselues in their life to excel al when they are dead are scarcely found equal to any Though man hath done much blased what he can yet in the ende he is but one one mind one power one byrth one life and one death Then sithen he is but one let no man presume to know more then one Of al these good princes which I haue named in the rowle of iustice the last was Marcus Aurelius to thintent that he should weaue his webbe For suppose we read of many prynces that haue compyled notable things the whych are to be redde and knowen
but al that Marcus Aurelius sayd or dyd is worthy to be knowen necessary to be folowed I do not meane this prynce in his heathen law but in hys vertuous dedes Let vs not staye at hys belyef but let vs embrace the good that he did For compare many chrystians wyth some of the heathen loke howe farre we leaue them behynd in faith so farre they excel vs in vertuous works Al the old prynces in times past had som phylosophers to their familiars as Alexander Aristotle King Darius Herodotus Augustus Pisto Pompeius Plauto Titus Plinie Adrian Secundus Traian Plutarchus Anthonius Apolonius Theodotius Claudius Seuerus Fabatus Fynally I say that philosophers then had such authority in princes palaces that children acknowledged them for fathers and fathers reuerenced them as maysters These sage meÌ„ wer aliue in the coÌ„pany of princes but the good Marcus Aurelius whose doctrine is before your maiestie is not aliue but dead Yet therfore that is no cause why his doctrine shold not be admitted For it may be paraduenture that this shal profit vs more which he wrate with his hands then that which others spake with their tongues Plutarche sayth in the time of Alexander the great Aristotle was aliue and Homere was dead But let vs see how he loued the one reuerenced the other for of truth hee slept alway with Homers booke in his hands waking he red the same with hys eyes alwayes kept the doctrine therof in his memory layed when he rested the booke vnder his head The which priuiledge Aristotle had not who at al times cold not be heard much lesse at al seasons be beleued so that Alexander had Homere for his frend and Aristotle for a maister Other of these phylosophers wer but simple men but our Marcus Aurelius was both a wyse phylosopher and a valiaunt prynce and therfore reason would he should be credited before others For as a prince he wyl declare the troubles as a phylosopher he wil redresse them Take you therefore Puisaunt Prince this wise phylosopher and noble emperour for a teacher in your youth for a father in your gouernment for a captayne general in your warres for a guide in your iourneys for a frend in your affayres for an example in your vertues for a maister in your sciences for a pure whyte in your desyres and for equal matche in your deedes I wil declare vnto you the lyfe of an other beinge a heathen and not the lyfe of an other being a chrystian For how much glory this heathen prince had in this world being good and vertuous so much paynes your maiestie shal haue in the other if you shal be wicked and vycious Behold behold noble prince the lyfe of this Emperour you shal se how clere he was in his iudgement how vpright in hys iustyce howe circumspect in hys life how louing to his frends how pacient in his troubles how he dissembled with hys enemies how seuere agaynst Tyraunts how quyet among the quiet how great a frend to the sage and louer of the simple how aduenturous in his warres and amyable in peace and aboue al thinges how high in words and profound in sentences Many tymes I haue bene in doubt with my selfe whether the Eternal maiesty which gyueth vnto you princes the temporal maiestie to rule aboue al other in power and authorytie did exempt you that are princes more from humaine frayltye then he did vs that be but subiects and at the last I knew he did not For I see euen as you are chyldren of the world so you do lyue according to the world I see euen as you trauaile in the world so you can know nothing but things of the world I se because you liue in the fleshe that you are subiect to the myseryes of the fleshe I see though for a tyme you prolong your lyfe yet at the last you are brought to your graue I see your trauaile is great and that within your gates there dwelleth no rest I se you are cold in the wynter and hote in the sommer I se that hunger feeleth you and thirst troubleth you I se your frendes forsake you and your ennemyes assault you I se that you are sadde and lacke ioy I se you are sicke and be not wel serued I see you haue muche and yet that which you lacke is more What wil ye se more seyng that princeâ— die O noble princes great Lordes syns you must die and become wormes meat why do you not in your lyfe tyme serche for good counsayle If the prynces and noble men commit an â—rroure no man dare chastice them wherfore they stand in greater nede of aduyse counsaile For the trauailer who is out of his waye the more he goeth foreward the more he errethe If the people do amisse they ought to be punyshed but if the prince erre hee shoulde bee admonished And as the Prynce wyl the people shoulde at his handes haue punyshment so it is reason that he at their hands should receyue counsayle For as the wealthe of the one dependeth on the wealthe of the other soo trulye if the prince bee vycious the people can not be vertuous If youre maiestie wyl punyshe your people with words commaund them to prynt this present worke in their harts And if your people would serue your hyghnes with their aduise let them likewyse beseche you to reade ouer this booke For therin the subiectes shal fynd how they may amende and you Lordes shal se al that you ought to do wdether this presente worke be profytable or noo I wyll not that my penne shal declare but they whyche reede it shall iudge For we aucthours take paines to make and translate others for vs vse to giue iudgement and sentence From my tender yeres vntil this present I haue liued in the world occupieng my selfe in reading and studieng humaine deuyne bookes and although I confesse my debilitie to be such that I haue not reade so much as I might nor studied so much as I ought yet not withstandinge al that I haue red hath not caused me to muse so muche as the doctrine of Marcus Aurelius hath sith that in the mouth of an heathen god hath put such a great treasor The greatest part of al his workes were in Greke yet he wrote also many in latin I haue drawen this out of greke throughe the helpe of my frends afterwards out of latin into our vulgare tongue by the trauaile of my hands Let al men iudge what I haue suffred in drawing it out of Greke into latin out of the latin into the vulgar and out of a plaine vulgar into a swete and pleasaunt style For that banket is not counted sumptuous vnlesse ther be both pleasaunt meates and sauory sauces To cal sentences to mynd to place the wordes to examine languages to correct sillables what swette I haue suffred in the hote sommer what bytter cold in the sharpe wynter what
or to say better so enuyous that when the aucthour laboreth in his study they playe in the streates when he waketh they slepe When he fasteth they eate when he sitteth turninge the leaues of the booke they go huntyng after vices abrode yet for al that they wyl presume to iudge depraue and condeme an other mans doctrine as if they had the aucthoritye that Plato had in grece or the eloquence that Cicero had in Rome When I find a man in the latyn tongue well sene his vulgar tongue wel polished in histories wel grounded in Greke letters very expert and desirous to spend his tyme wyth good bookes this so heroical and noble a parsonage I would desire him to put my doctrine vnder his fete For it is no shame for a vertuous and wise man to be corrected of an other wyse man Yet I would gladly know what pacience can suffer or hart dissemble when two or thre be assembled togithers at meate and after at the table or otherwyse one of them taketh a booke at aduenture in his handes against the whiche another will say it is to longe and another wyll saye it speaketh not to the purpose another it is obscure and another the wordes are not well couched another wyll say all that that is spoken is fained one will say he speaketh nothing of profite another he is to curious and the other he is to malicious So that in speaking thus the doctrine remaineth suspicious and the authour scapeth not scotte fre Suppose them to be therfore suche that speake it as I haue spoken of that at the table doe finde suche faultes suer they deserue pardon for they speake not according to the bookes whiche they haue redde but accordâ—nge to the cuppes of wyne whiche they haue drunke For he that taketh not that in geste whiche is spoken at the table knoweth not what gesting meaneth It is an olde custome to murmure at vertuous dedes and into this rule entreth not onely those that make them but also those whiche wryt them afterwardes Which thing semeth to be true for that Socrates was reproued of Plato â–ª Plato of Aristotle Aristotle of Auerois Sicilius of Vulpitius Lelius of Varro Marinus of Ptolomens Ennius of Horace Seneca of Aulus Gellius Crastonestes of Strabo Thessale of Gallian Hermagoras of Cicero Cicero of Salust Origines of saint Hierome Hierome of Rufinus Rufinus of Donatus Donatus of Prosper and Prosper of Lupus Then sithe that in these men and in their workes hath bene suche neade of correction whiche were men of great knowledge and Lanternes of the worlde it is no maruayle at all that I haue suche fortune since I knowe so litle as I doe He may worthely be counted vaine and light whiche at the first sight as for onely once reading wil rashely iudge that whiche a wyse man with muche diligence and studie hath wrytten The authours and wryters are ofttimes reproued not of them whiche can translate and compile workes but of those whiche can not reade and yet lesse vnderstande them to thintent simple folkes shold count them wise take their partes in condemning this worke and esteme him for a great wyse man I take God to witnes who can iudge whether my intention were good or ill to compile this worke and also I say this my doctrine at the feete of wyse and vertuous men to the ende they may be protectours defendours of the same For I truste in God though some would come to blame as dyuers doe the simple wordes whiche I spake yet others would not faile to relate the good intention that I ment And to declare further I say that diuers haue wrytten of the tyme of the said Marcus Aurelius as Herodian wrote litle Eutropius lesse Lampridius not so much and Iulius capitolinus somewhat more Likewyse ye ought to know that the maisters whiche taught Marcus Aurelius sciences were Iunius Rusticus Cinna Catullus Sextus Cheronensis whiche was nephewe to the great Plutarque These three were those that principally as witnesses of sight wrate the most parte of his life and doctrine Many may marueile to heare tell of the doctrine of Marcus Aurelius saying it hath ben kept hid and secret a great whyle and that of myne owne head I haue inuented it And that there neuer was any Marcus Aurelius in the worlde I know not what to saye nowe vnto them for it is euident to all those whiche haue red any thyng that Marcus Aurelius was husbande to Faustine father to Comodus brother to Annius Verus and sonne in lawe to Antonius Pius the seuenth of Rome Emperour Those which say I onely haue made this doctrine truly I thanke them for so saying but not for their so meaning For truly the Romaines would haue set my Image in Rome for perpetuall renowne if so graue sentences should haue proceaded from my head We see that in our tyme which was neuer sene before and heare that we neuer heard before We practise not in a newe worlde and yet we marueyle that there is at this present a newe booke Not for that I was curious to discouer Marcus Aurelius or studious to translate him For truly it is worthy he be noted of wyse personnes and not accused of equious tongues For it chaunceth oftentimes in hunting that the moste simplest man killeth the deare The last thing which the Romaines conquered in Spaine was Cantabria whiche was a citie in Nauarra ouer against Lagrogne and situated in a highe countrey where there is nowe a vaine of vynes And the Emperour Augustus whiche destroyed it made tenne bookes De bello Cantabrico where are thinges worthy of notinge and no lesse pleasaunt in reading which happened vnto him in the same conquest As Marcus Aurelius was brought me from Florence so was this other booke of the warres of Cantabrie brought me from Colleine If perhappes I tooke paynes to translate this booke as fewe haue done whyche haue sene it they woulde speake the lyke of it that they dyd of Marcus Aurelius Bycause menne are so long in speakyng and so briefe in studienge that without anye let or shame they will a vowe no booke to be in the worlde this daye but that they haue redde or seen it I haue as muche profited in this writynge whyche is humaine as other doctours haue done in matters whyche are deuine It is not translated worde for worde but sentence for sentence For we other interpreters are not bounde to gyue wordes by measure but it suffiseth vs to gyue sentencis by wayghte I began to studye this woorke in the yeare a thousande fiue hundred and eyghtene and vntill the yeare a thousande fiue hundred twentie and foure I coulde neyther vnderstand nor knowe wherein I was occupied and albeit I kept it secreat .vi. yeres yet it was knowen abroade whervpon the Emperour his maiestie being with the feauer diseased sent to me for it to passe the tyme away And I according to his commaundement shewed him Marcus Aurelius that
wrath in giuinge him payne O ye Princes of this world trulie it is both iuste and necessarie that you acknowledge subiection vnto the Prince of heauen and earthe whiche in the end althoughe ye be greate and thynke your selues to be muche worthe although that youe haue muche and can do muche yet in respecte of the supreame prince you are nothing worth neither can ye doe any thing For there is no Prince in the worlde this daye but can doe lesse than he would and would more than he hath Since all that we haue spoken of before is true let Princes and great Lordes see howe consonaunte it is to reason that sythe all the creatures were not created but by one Why then do they not honour one aboue all For as a Prince will not suffer that an other be called kynge in his realme so likewise god will not permit that any other be honoured in this worlde but he onely The father did a greate benefite to vs for to create vs without the desire of any man and also the sonne to redeme by vs without the healpe of any man and aboue all the holye ghoste to make vs christians without the desert of anye man For all the good deedes and seruices whiche we are able to do are not sufficient to requite the leaste benefite that he shewed vnto vs. Princes ought greatly to esteme suche a gyfte that god hath created them men and not beastes and muche more they shoulde esteme that they are made Lordes and not seruauntes but moste of all they ought to reioyce that god hath made them christians and not gentils nor Moores For it profiteth them litle to haue scepters and realmes to condempne if they shall not acknowledge the holy church without the which no man cā be saued O diuine bountie how many paynims had bene better peraduenture than I if thou haddeste chosen them for the churche if thou hadst made me a Paynime I had bene worse than they Thou leauest them which haue serued the and haste chosen me a sinner which offende the. Lorde God thou knowest what thou doest and wher thou art but I know not what I do nor what I speake For we are bounde to praise the workes of god and haue not the lycence to call them backe The Emperours paynem kynges which haue bene good and vertuous as there hathe bene many so muche lesse they haue to aunswer for that in time of charge they were not called And likwise the contrary to the wicked christian princes The more goodnesse they haue receyued without measure so muche the more tormentes shal be giuen them in eternall fyre For accordyng to the ingratitude whiche they haue shewed for the benefites by them receiued in this worlde so shall the bitternesse of their paines be which they shal receiue in hell Princes are muche bound to do well because they were created of god reasonable men but they are moche more bounde because they be christians and more then others bounde because they were made mighty and placed in so high estate for the greatest power is not for a prince to haue and possesse muche but to profite muche They do not require of a litle and weake tree muche but that he beare his fruite in dewe time For a great and high tree is bounde to giue wood to heate them that be a cold shadow to refreshe the very trauailours and frute to confort the neady and also it ought to defend it selfe from all importunate windes For the vertuous prince ought to be a shadow and resting place wher the good may couer them selues being wearye The churche dothe moue vs to do many things and our conscience willeth vs to obserue more But if the princes will promise me they will do .2 thinges onely that is to say that they wil be faithfull in the law of god whom they honour and that they wil not vse tiranny against their people whom they gouerne from hensforthe I promyse thē the glory and felicicie whiche they desire For that prince only dieth in safegarde which dieth in the loue of our sauiour Iesus Christ and hath lyued in the loue of his neyghbour Princes and great lordes which presume to be good Christians should watche greatly that all thinges myght be done to the seruice of god begonne in god followed in god and ended in god And if they will watche in this I let them knowe that as touchyng the exaltacion of faith they shoulde watche so muche that all shoulde knowe that for the defence of the same they are readye to dye For if the prince beleue that ther is paine for the euill and rewarde for the good in an other lyfe it is impossible but that he amend his life and gouerne wel his common wealth Thinke this for a surety that where the princes feare not god neither them selues nor their realmes can prosper For the felicitie or miserie of Realmes proceadeth not of the paynes and trauailes that the kinges and people doe take but of the merites which the kinges and realmes deserue In great peril liueth that realme whose prince is an euil christian Happye sure is that common wealth wherof the prince hath a good cōscience For the man that is of a good conscience will not doe any euill thing to the common wealth ¶ Of sondry gods which the auncientes worshipped of the office of those gods howe they were reuenged of them when they displeased them and of the Twentie elect goddes Cap. xi THough to men of clere iudgement the woorkes of God are greate of them selues without anye comparison to others yet that the whyte maye be better knowen from the blacke I will satisfye somewhat the curious reader in rekenyng vp a flocke of false gods that by them and their power men shall see how muche the princes are bound to the true God The auncient Panyms had gods of diuerse sortes how be if the chiefe of al were these which they called Diis electi They would haue said gods of heauen whiche gods as they thoughte sometime descended from heauen to earth These gods were .xx. in nombre as Ianus Saturnus Iupiter Genius Marcurius Apollo Mars Vulcanus Neptunus Sol Orcus Vibar Tellus Ceres Iuno Minerua Luna Diana Venus Vesta These .viii. laste rehersed were goddesses and .xii. of the firste were goddes No man myghte take anye of those as hys owne God but as common and indifferent to all Their office was to profit all I meane all of any one Realme one prouince singuler or one noble citie And first note they had one God whome they called Cantius whom they honored much offred vnto him many sacrifices to th ende that God might giue them wyse children And this if they had demaunded of the true God they should haue had reason For the impostumation of humain malice is swelled in suche wyse that that man is in great ieopardie whom God hath not indued with wyse iudgement They had also an other
poore but also it is requisitie that his common wealth be rych For where the people are poore of their enemies they are nothinge regarded and where the common wealth is riche the Prince can not be greatly poore I will not denay but that it is wel done to help the poore and succour the needy But yet I say that no man ought to giue the treasour to any one particulerly which is kepte for the preseruation of al. For oftentimes the prince which is to lyberal in geuing his owne is after wardes through necessitie compelled to be a Tyranne and take from others I let the wete Tiberius that thou shalte finde few Princes but are proude maglignaunt or vicious For of a trouth wantonnesse lybertie youthe and riches are cruell enemyes to honestie I wyll not say that all princes haue bene euil but I wil say ther hath bene but few good and those which are or wil be good ought to be greatly honoured For no time ought to be called happie but that wherin vertuous Princes do reygne And I say to the further Tiberius if Princes become Tyrants for want of riches so do they become vicious through aboundaunce of treasurs and in this case vicious princes are chastened in the same vyce For auarice hath such power ouer them that it suffereth them not to taste their owne delight And I let the wete Tiberius that there are many Princes whiche are of good nature and yet become Tyrants for nothing els but because they be oppressed with pouertie .. For truly the noble hart refuseth no daunger seing him selfe assaulted with pouertie Therfore I demaund of the which is better or otherwise which of these two euilles is leaste that the Prince be poore and with that a Tiranne or that he be riche and therwith vicious In mine opinion it wer much better to be riche and viciouse then a tiranne and poore for in the end if he do euil by vyce he should be euil to no man but to himselfe by riches he should profit al the people And if he be poore and a tyranne he should do great euil to many and by pouertie he could profit no man For the poore prince cannot maintaine the riche and much lesse succour the poore without comparison it is more profitable to the common wealth and more tollerable to men that the Prince be an euil man and therwithall a good prince than an euil Prince and therwithal a good man For as Plato saithe the Athenians wold alwayes rather seeke a profitable then a stoute Prince and the Lacedemonians dyd erre in willing rather a stoute Prince then profitable Therfore see Tiberius it is more sure and profitable for the common wealthe that Princes haue treasours to giue lyberalye amonge their seruantes then that they should be poore and enforced to oppresse their people with taxes and subsidies For princes oftetimes throughe pouertie take occasion to leauy great subsedies in their realmes and seignories ¶ The aunswere of Tiberius vnto the Empresse Sophia Augusta Wherin he declareth that noble Princes neade not to hourd vp great treasures And of the hidden treasure this good Emperour found by reuelacion in the Palace wher he remayned Cap. xv TIberius heard very paciently the admonicion of the Empresse wherfore with great reuerence he aunswered and with swete gentle words he spake to her in this sorte I haue hearde and vnderstode what you haue tolde me moste noble Princesse Sophia alwayes Augusta and do receyue your gentle admonicions moste humblye thankinge you for your louing counsayle which principally you giue me in so hyghe a style For oftentimes sicke men abhorre meates not for that the meates are not good but because they are not wel dressed If it were gods pleasour I would I knewe aswel how to do these thinges as you know how to speake theim And do not maruaile though I make hereof a doubt for we greatly desyre to praise vertuous workes but to put them in vre we are very slow Speaking therfore with such reuerence as is due vnto so hyghe a Ladie to euerye one of these things which your excellencie hath tolde me I wil aunswere in one word For it is reason sithe you haue spoken that which you perceyue of my deedes that I speake that which I gather of your words You tell me that when I was in Alexandrie I thought not to be gouernour of the empire after Iustinian and that I thought not my selfe worthy to deserue it nor yet loked to come vnto it To this I aunswere that thoughe by reason I gouerned my selfe at that tyme yet I ought not to thinke to deserue such a dignitie nor to come to so highe an estate For those whiche by vertues deserue great dignities are but few and fewer are those which attayne vnto them though they deserue them But if this matter be iudged accordyng to sensualitie I tel you truly dame Augusta that I thought not only to deserue it but also I thought to come vnto it And hereof marueyle not for it is an vnfallible rule wher leeste desert is ther is most presumption You saye you estemed me for a wise man and that by wisedome I could ouercome any disordinate appetite To this I answere that you knewe my wisedome eyther in mine owne busines or els in other mens affayres Yf in other mens affayres where it dyd coast me nought I was alwayes a louer of iustice For there is no man in the world so euyl that doth not desire if it be without his owne coast to be counted lyberall But if you iudge me Dame Augusta on mine owne busines giue not to lyghte credite For I will that you know ther is no man so iuste nor of so clere a iudgement that doth not shew him selfe frayle in matters which touche his owne interest You say that men which haue their thoughtes hyghe and their fortune base lyue alwaies a pensife lyfe Truly it is as you say But in mine opiniō as the membres of the bodyes are but instrumentes of the mind so is it necessary for men to haue quicke and sharpe wittes if they wil not be neglygente For if Alexander Pyrrus Iulius Cesar Scipio and Hanniball had not bene hyghe mynded they had not bene as they were so noble and stout Princes I let you vnderstand most noble Princesse that men are not lost for hauing their thoughtes hygh nor for hauing their hartes couragious neyther for being hardie and stout but they are vndone because they begin thinges throughe folie pursue them without wisdome and atchieue them without discression For noble men enterprising great things ought not to employ their force as their noble hart willeth but as wisedome and reason teacheth You say you meruaile why I wast the treasours without care which Iustinian and you gathered togethers with great paine To this I aunswere you oughte not to meruayle if all the treasours you heaped together of so longe tyme were spent and consumed in one day For ther is
knewe howe small a thing it is to be hated of men and howe great a comfort to be beloued of god I sweare that you woulde not speake one worde although it were in ieste vnto men neither woulde you cease night nor day to commende your selues vnto god for god is more mercifull to succour vs then we are diligent to call vppon hym For in conclusion the fauour whiche men can giue you other men can take from you but the fauour that god will giue you no man can resiste it All those that possesse muche should vse the company of them whiche can doe muche and if it be so I let you princes wete that all men can not thynke so muche togethers as god him selfe is able to doe alone For the crie of a LyoÌ„ is more fearefull then the howling of a woulfe I confesse that princes and great lordes maye sometimes gayne and wynnne of them selfes but I aske them whose fauoure they haue neade of to preserue and kepe them we see oftentymes that in a short space many come to great authoritie the whiche neither mans wisedome suffiseth to gouerne nor yet mans force to kepe For the authoritie whiche the Romaines in sixe hundred yeares gayned fighting against the Eothes in the space of three yeares they loste We see dayly by experience that a man for the gouernement of his owne house onely nedeth the councell of his friendes and neighbours and doe princes great lordes thinke by their owne heades onely to rule and gouerne many realmes and dominions ¶ What the Philosopher Byas was of his constancie whan he lost all his goodes and of the ten lawes he gaue worthy to bée had in memorie Cap. xxi AMong all nations and sortes of men whiche auaunt them selues to haue had with them sage men the Gretians were the chiefest whiche had and thought it necessary to haue not onely wyse men to reade in their scholes but also they chose them to be princes in their dominions For as Plato saith those whiche gouerned in those daies were Philosophers or els they sayde and did like Philosophers And Laertius wryteth in his second booke De antiquitatibus Grecorum that the Gretians auaunted them selues muche in this that they haue had of all estates persons moste notable that is to wete seuen women very sage seuen Queenes very honest seuen kings very vertuous seuen Captaines very hardy seuen cities verie notable seuen buildinges very sumptuous seuen Philosophers well learned whiche Philosophers were these that folowe The first was Thales Milesius that inuented the Carde to sayle by The seconde was Solon that gaue the first lawes to the Athenians The thirde was Chilo who was in the Orient for Embassadour of the Athenians The fourth was Pittacus Quintilenus who was not only a philosopher but also Captaine of the Mitelenes The fifth was Cleobolus that descended froÌ„ the auncient linage of Hercules The sixte was Periander that long tyme gouerned the realme of Corinth The seuenth was Bias Prieneus that was prince of the Prieneans Therfore as touching Bias you muste vnderstande that when Romulus reigned at Rome and Ezechias in Iudea there was great warres in Grecia betwene the Metinenses and the Prieneans and of these Prieneans Bias the philosopher was prince and Captaine who because he was sage read in the vniuersitie and for that he was hardy was chiefetaine in the warre and because he was wyse he was made a Prince and gouerned the common wealth And of this no man ought to marueile for in those dayes the Philosopher that had knowledge but in one thing was litle estemed in the common wealth After many contentions had betwene the Metâ—nenses and Prienenses a cruell battayle was fought wherof the philosopher Bias was captaine and had the victorie and it was the first battayle that euer anye Philosopher gaue in Greece For the whiche victorie Greece was proude to see that their Philosophers were so aduenturous in warres and hardy of their handes as they were profound in their doctrine and eloquente in their toungues And by chaunce one brought him a nomber of women and maydens to sell or if he listed to vse them otherwyse at his pleasure but this good philosopher did not defile them nor sell them but caused them to be apparailed and safely to be conducted to their own natiue countries And let not this liberalitie that he did be had in litle estimation to deliuer the captiues and not to defloure the virgins For many times it chaunseth that those whiche are ouercome with the weapons of the conquerours are conquered with the delightes of them that are ouercome This deede amongest the Grekes was so highly commended and likewyse of their enemies so praysed that immediatly the Metinenses sent Embassadours to demaunde peace of the Prienenses And they concluded perpetuall peace vpon condition that they shoulde make for Bias an immortall statue sith by his handes and also by his vertues he was the occasion of the peace and ending of the warres betwene them And trulye they had reason for he deserueth more prayse which wynneth the hartes of the enemies in his tentes by good example then he whiche getteth the victorie in the fielde by shedding of bloud The hartes of men are noble and we see daily that oftentyme one shal soner ouercome many by good then many ouercome one by euyll and also they saye that the Emperour Seuerus spake these wordes By goodnes the least slaue in Rome shall leade me tied with a heere whether he wyll but by euill the most puissaunt men in the worlde can not moue me out of Italy For my harte had rather be seruaunt to the good then Lorde to the euill Valerius Maximus declareth that when the citie of Priene was taken by enemies put to sacke the wyfe of Bias was slayne his children taken prysoners his goodes robbed the citie beaten downe and his house set on fire but Bias escaped safe and went to Athens In this pytiful case the good philosopher Bias was no whit the sadder but rather sang as he went by the way and when he perceiued that men marueiled at his mirthe he spake vnto them these wordes Those whiche speake of me for wantinge my citie my wife and my children and losing al that I had truly such know not what fortune meaneth nor vnderstande what philosophie is The losse of children and temporall goodes cannot be called losse if the life be safe and the renowne remaine vndefiled Whether this sentence be true or no let vs profoundly consider if the iust god suffer that this citie should come into the handes of the cruell tyrauntes then this prouision is iuste for there is no thing more conformable vnto iustice then that those whiche receyue not the doctrine of the Sages shoulde suffer the cruelties of the Tyrauntes Also thoughe my ennemies haue kylled my wyfe yet I am sure it was not withoute the determynation of the Gods who after they created her bodye immediately appoynted the
him afraide in the night And Xerxes which was the sonne of kyng Darius when he passed into Italye to wage battaile before all other thinges he sente fower thousand horsemen to Delphos wher the Temple of God Apollo was to beate it downe for the pryde of Xerxes was so great that he would not onlye subdue men but also conquere the gods It chaunsed that euen as they approched nere the Temple to beat it downe a sodaine tempest fell vpon them so that with stones and thunder boltes they were al killed in the fields and so dyed Brennus was one of the renowmed Captaines of the Gothes who sithe he had conquered and subdued the Greekes determined also to robbe the treasours of the temples saying that gods should gyue vnto men and not men vnto gods and that it was greate honoure to the goddes that with their goodes men should be made riche But as they beganne to robbe the Temple there fell a multitude of arrowes from heauen that the Captaine Brennus dyed there and all his men with him not one left alyue After that Sextus Pompeius was vanquished in the battaile by sea neare vnto Scicile by Octavus Angustus he retired him selfe into the Arkes Lacinii where there was an auncient Temple consecrated to the godesse Iuno endewed with maruelous treasours And it chaunsed one day that his souldyers asking him money and he beinge then withoute he commaunded theym to beate downe the Temple of the goddesse Iuno and to paye them selues with the spoile of her treasure The historiographers saye that within a whyle after it chaunsed Sextus Pompeius to be taken of the knightes of Marcus Antonius and when he was broughte before Titus generall of the armye he spake vnto him these woordes I wil thou know Sextus Pompeius I do not condemne the to dye for thoffences thou hast committed against my Lord Marcus Antonius But because thou hast robbed and beaten downe the Temple of the Goddesse Iuno For thou knowest that the good Captaynes oughte to forget the offences against men and to reuenge the iniuryes done vnto the Goddes ¶ How Valentine the Emperoure because he was an euyll Chrystian loste in one day both the Empire and his lyfe and was burned alyue in a shepecote Cap. xxiiii WHen Iulian the Apostate was Emperour of Rome he sente to conquere Hongarie of no iust title hee had to it more then of Ambicion to vnite it to the Romaine Empire For tyrannous princes vse all their force to vsurpe others realmes by crueltye and lytle regard whether they maye do it by iustice And because the Romaine Empire was of great force this Ambicious Emperour Iulian had in that warres a mighty and puysant Armie which did wonderfull muche harme throughe al the countryes they came For the fruites of warres is to bereue the enemyes of lyfe and to spoyle the men of their goodes It chaunsed one day as 5 knyghtes wente out of the campe to make a rode they found a young man that caried a halter in hys hande and as they would haue taken it awaye from hym to haue tyed their horses to let them feede he was so hardy and stout that he defended hym selfe from them all so that he had more strength alone then they fyue altogethers The Romayne knyghtes amazed to see this younge man defend hym selfe from them all so stoutly very instauntly desired him to go to the Romaine campe with them and they promised him he should haue great interteynment For the Romaines were so dyligent that they woulde omit no good thinge for want of money so that it wer for the publike weale This yonge man was called Gracian and was borne and brought vp in the country of Pannonia in a citie they called Cibata his lynage was not of the lowest sort of the people nor yet of the most estemed Citizens but were men that lyued by the swete of their browes and in loue of the common people And truly it is no small benefite that God had made him of a meane estate for to be of base linage maketh men to be despised and not regarded and to come of a noble bloud and high synage maketh men to be proud and lofty This yonge man being come into the Romaynes campe the fame was immediatly spred how that he alone had vanquished fiue knyghtes And his strength and courage was so highely estemed that wythin a while after he was made Pretour of the armie For the Romaynes not according to fauour but according to the habilytie of men deuyded the offices and degrees of honoure in warres Tyme therfore working his nature and manye estates beinge decayed after thys yonge Gracian was made Pretour of the armye and that he was sufficiently tryed in the warres fortune which many times bringeth that to passe in a day that mans malyce cannot in many yeres raised this Gracian to be Emperoure of Rome For trulye one hower of good successe is more worthe thenne al worldly fauour This Gracian was not onlye singuler in strengthe couragious in battaile fortunate in all his affaires but also he was luckye of children That is to wete he had two sonnes which were Emperours of Rome the one was called Valente the other Valentinian In this case the children mighte glorye to haue a father so stout but the glorie of the father is greater to haue sonnes of such nobilytie For there is no greater felicitie in this world then duringe life to come to honour and riches after death to leaue good children to enioy them The eldest of the two sonnes was the Emperour Valente who ruled in the Orient for the space of .iiii. yeres was the xxxix Emperour of Rome from Iulius Cesar though some do beginne at the time of Octauian sayeng that he was vertuous and that Iulius Cesar vsurped the Empire lyke a tiraunt This Valente was beautifull of personne but poore of vertues so that he was more beautifull thenne vertuous more couragious thenne mercifull more riche thenne charitable more cruell then pitefull For there are manye Princes that are verye expert to deuise newe orders in a common wealthe but there are few that haue stoute hartes to put the same in execution In those dayes the sect of Arrian the cursed heretike florished and the Emperour Valente was greatly blinded therin in somuch that he did not only fauour the Arrians but also he persecuted the Christiās which was shewed for somuch as he killed caused to be killed for that occasiō many lay men toke many clerkes banished many Bishopps ouerthrew many Churches robbed the goods of the Chrishiās dyd infinite other mischeues in the comcomon wealth For the prince whych is infected wyth heresy liueth without feare of the Church ther is neyther mischiefe nor treasō but he wil comit In the desertes of Egipte in the mountaynes of Armenia and in the cityes of Alexandrie there was a greate multitude of fryers and relygious men amongest whom were many wise men and pure
thee if they toke the prysoner though perchaunce in times past they vsed thy father Philip euill and haue now disobeied thee his sonne It were better counsell for thee to make them thy frendes by gentlenes then to confirme them ennemies by crueltie For the noble and pitifull hartes when they are reuenged of any make of them selues a bucherye Wee can not with trouthe saye that thy trauayles are well imployed to wynne suche honour sythe thy conuersation and lyfe is so vnconstaunt For trulye honour consisteth not in that flatterers saye but in that whiche Lordes doe For the great familiaritie of the wycked causeth the lyfe to be suspected Honour is not gotten by lyberall geuinge of treasoures at hys death but by spendynge it well in his lyfe For it is a sufficient profe that the man whiche esteameth renowme dothe lytle regarde money and it is an apparaunte token that man who lytle esteameth money greatlye regardeth his renowme A man wynneth not honour by murdering innocentes but by destroying tyrauntes for all the armonie of the good gouernement of princes is in the chastising of the euill and rewarding the good Honour is not wonne in taking and snatching the goodes of an other but in geuing and spendinge his owne For there is nothing that beautifieth the maiestie of a prince more thē to shewe his noblenes in extending mercy and fauour to his subiectes and geuing giftes and rewardes to the vertuous And to conclude I will let the know who he is that winneth both honour in this life and also a perpetuall memory after his death and that is not he whiche leadeth his lyfe in warres but he that taketh his death in peace O Alexander I see thou arte younge and that thou desirest honour wherfore I let thee vnderstande that there is no man farther from honour then he whiche procureth and desireth the same For the ambicious mē not obteining that which they desire remayne alwayes defamed and in wynning and getting that whiche they searche honour notwithstanding will not followe them Beleue me in one thynge Alexander that the true honour ought through worthy deades to be deserued and by no meanes to be procured for all the honour that by tyranny is wonne in the ende by infamy is lost I am sory for thee Alexander for I see thou wantest iustice since thou louest tyranny I see thou lackest peace because thou louest warre I see thou art not ryche because thou hast made all the worlde poore I see thou lackest rest because thou sekest contention and debate I see thou hast no honour because that thou winnest it by infamy I see thou wantest frendes because thou haste made them thyne ennemies Finally I see thou doest not reuenge thy selfe of thy ennemies because thou arte as they would be the scourge to thy selfe Then since it is so why arte thou alyue in this world sithe thou lackest vertues for the which life ought to be desired For truly that man whiche without his owne profite and to the domage of another leadeth his life by iustice ought forthwith to lose his breath For there is nothing that soner destroieth the weale publyke then to permit vnprofitable men therein to liue Therefore speaking the trouthe you lordes and princes are but poore I beleue thou conquerest the worlde because thou knowest not thy superiour therein and besydes that thou wylte take lyfe from so many to the ende that by their death thou maiest wynne renowme If cruell and warrelike princes as thou arte should inherite the liues of them whome they slaye to augmente and prolonge their liues as they doe inheritie goodes to maintayne their pryde although it were vnmeate then warre were tollerable But what profiteth the seruaunt to lose his life this day and his maisters death to be differred but vntil the morowe O Alexander to be desirous to commaunde muche hauinge respite to liue but litle me thinketh it were a great foly and lacke of wysedome Presumptuous and ambicious men whiche measure their workes not with the fewe daies they haue to liue but with the arrogant and haughty thoughtes they haue to commaunde They leade their lyfe in trauayle and take their death with sorowe And the remedy hereof is that if the wyse man cannot obtayne that which he would he should content him selfe with that which he may I let thee knowe 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 trauayle much to possesse much and to be able to doe much but it is to be in in the fauour of the gods Finally I tell thee that that man is perfecte who in his owne opinion deserueth not that he hath and in the opinion of another deserueth muche more then that he possesseth We are of this opinion amonge vs that he is vnworthy to haue honour who by suche infamous meanes searcheth for it And therfore thou Alexander deseruest to be sclaue to many because thou thinkest to deserue the signorie ouer all By the immortall gods I sweare I can not imagine the great mischiefe which entred into thy breast so vnrighteously to kill kyng Darius whose vassale and frende thou wert onely because thou wouldest possesse the Empire of the whole worlde For truly seruitude in peace is more worth then signorie in warre And he that shall speake against that I haue spoken I saye he is sicke and hath loste his taste ¶ The sage Garamante continueth his oration shewing that perpetuitie of life can not be bought with any worldly treasure Among other notable matters he maketh mention of the seuen lawes which they obserued Cap. xxxiiii THou wilt not deny me Alexander that thou wert more healthfull when thou waste kyng of Macedonia then thou art nowe being lorde of all the earth for the excessiue trauayle bryngeth menne out of all order Thou wilt not denye me Alexander that the more thou gettest the more thou desirest for the hart which with couetousnes is set on fier cannot with wood and bowes of riches but with the earth of the graue be satisfied and quenched Thou wilt not denie me Alexander but the aboundaunce that thou thy selfe hast semeth vnto thee litle and the litle whiche an other man possesseth semeth vnto thee muche for the gods to the ambicious couetous hartes gaue this for penaunce that neither with enough nor with to muche they should contente them selues Thou wilt not denie me Alexander if in dede thy harte be couetous that first the pleasures of life shall ende before thy couetousnes for where vices haue had power long time in the harte there death onely and none other hath authoritie to pluck vp the rootes Thou wilt not denie me Alexander that though thou hast more then all yet thou enioyest least of any for the prince that possesseth muche is alwayes occupied in defending it but the prince that hath litle hath time and leasure in quiet to enioye it Thou wilt not denie me
Alexander though thou callest thy selfe lorde of all yet thou hast but onely the name thereof and others thy seruauntes subiectes haue all the profites for the gredy and couetous hartes do trauaile and toyle to get and in wasting that whiche they haue gotten they pyne awaye And finally Alexander thou wilt not denie me that all that whiche thou hast in the longe conquest gotten is litle and that whiche of thy wysedome and quietnes thou hast lost is much For the Realmes whiche thou hast gotten are innumerable but the cares sighes and thoughtes whiche thou hast heaped vpon thy harte are infinite I let the knowe one thing that you princes are poorer then the poore subiectes for he is not ryche that hath more then he deserueth but he that desireth to haue lesse then that he possesseth And therfore princes you haue nothing for though you abound in great treasures yet you are poore of good desires Nowe Alexander let vs come to the pointe and caste accompte and let vs see to what ende thy conquest wil come Eyther thou arte a man or thou arte a God And if thou be any of the gods commaunde or cause that we be immortall and if thou canst doe any suche thing then take vs and our goods withall For perpetuitie of the lyfe by no riches can be boughte O Alexander I let thee vnderstande that therefore we seke not to make warre with thee for we see that bothe from thee and also from vs death will shortly take away the life For he is a very simple man that thinketh alway to remayne in an other mans house as in his owne If thou Alexander couldest geue vs as god euerlastinge life eche man would trauayle to defende his owne house but sithe we knowe we shal die shortly we care litle whether to thee or any other our goods riches remaine For if it be folly to dwell in an other mans house as in his owne it is a greater folly to him that loseth his life in taking thought and lamenting for his goodes Presuppose that thou art not god but a man I coniure the then by the immortal gods and do require the that thou lyue as a man behaue thy selfe as a man and couet no more then an other man neither desyre more nor lesse then a man for in the end thou shalt die as a mā and shal be buried as a man and throwen into the graue then there shal be no more memorie of thee I tolde thee before that it greued me to see thee so hardy couragious so apte and so younge and nowe it greueth me to see thee so deceiued with the world and that which I perceiue of thee is that then thou shalt knowe thy folly when thou shalt not be able to finde any remedy For if the proude younge man before he feleth the wound hath all redy the oyntment You whiche are Grecians call vs Barbarous because we enhabite the mountaines But as touching this I say that we reioyce to be Barbarous in our speache and Greekes in our doinges and not as you which haue the Grecians tongue and doe Barbarous workes For he that doth well speaketh rudely is no barbarous man but he which hath the tongue good and the life euill Sithe I haue begonne to that ende nothing remaynd vnspoken I will aduertise thee of our lawes and life and marueile not to here it but desire to obserue and kepe it for infinite are they whiche extolle vertuous workes but fewe are they whiche obserue the same I let thee wete Alexander that we haue short life we are fewe people we haue litle landes we haue litle goodes we haue no couetousnes wee haue fewe lawes we haue fewe houses wee haue fewe frendes and aboue all we haue no enemies For a wyse man ought to be frende to one and enemy to none Besides all this we haue amongest vs great frendshippes good peace great loue much reste and aboue all we holde our selues contented For it is better to enioy the quietnes of the graue then to liue a discontented life Our lawes are fewe but in our opinions they are good and are in seuen wordes onely included as here foloweth We ordaine that our children make no more lawes then we their fathers doe leaue vnto them for newe lawes maketh them forget good and olde customes We ordayne that our successours shall haue no mo Gods then twoo of the whiche the one god shal be for the life and the other for the death for one God well serued is more worth then many not rewarded We ordaine that all be appareled with one cloth and hosed of one sorte and that the one haue no more apparell then the other for the diuersitie of garmentes edgendreth folly among the people We ordeine that whan any woman which is maried hath had thre childrē that then she be separated from her husband for the aboundaunce of children causeth men to haue couetous hartes And if any woman hath broughte forth any mo children then they should be sacrificed vnto the gods before her eies We ordeine that all men and women speake the truthe in all thinges and if any be taken in a lie committing no other fault that immediatly he be put to death for the same For one lyer is able to vndo a whole multitude We ordeine that no woman liue aboue .xl. yeres and that the man lyue vntill fiftie and if they die not before that time that then they be sacrifised to the gods for it is a great occasion for men to be vicious to thinke that they shal lyue many yeares ¶ That princes ought to consider for what cause they were made princes and what Thales the philosopher was of the .xii. questions asked him and of his aunswere he made vnto them Cap xxxv IT is a commen and an old saiyng whiche many times by Aristotle the noble prince hath bene repeted that in the ende all thinges are done to some purpose for there is no worke neither good nor euill but he that doth it meaneth it to some end If thou demaundest the gardener to what ende he watereth so oft his plantes he wil aunswere thee it is to get some money for his herbes If thou demaundest why the ryuer runneth so swift a man wil aunswere thee that his ende is to the sea from whence it came If thou demaundest why the trees budde in the spring time they will aunswere to the ende they may beare frute in haruest If we see a trauayler passe the mountaines in the snow the ryuers with perill the woodes in feare to walke in extreme heate in sommer to wander in the night time in the colde wynter if by chaunce a man doth aske one of them saiyng frend whether goest thou wherfore takest thou such paines and he aunswereth truly syr I know no more then you to what ende neither can I tell why I take so much paines I aske thee now what would a wyse man aunswere to
this innocent trauayler Truly hearing no more he would iudge him to be a foole for he is muche infortunate that for all his trauaile loketh for no rewarde Therfore to our matter a prince which is begotteÌ„ as an other man borne as an other man lyueth as an other man dieth as an other man and besides al this commaundeth all men if of suche one we should demaunde why god gaue him signory and that he should answere he knoweth not but that he was borne vnto it in such case let euery man iudge how vnworthy suche a kyng is to haue such authorie For it is vnpossible for a man to minister iustice vnlesse he knowe before what iustice meaneth Let princes and noble men heare this worde and let them imprinte it in their memory whiche is that when the liuing god determined to make kinges and lordes in this worlde he did not ordeyne theym to eate more then others to drynke more then others to sleape more then others to speake more then others nor to reioyce more then others but he created them vpon condition that sithe he had made them to commaunde more then others they shoulde be more iuste in their lyues then others It is a thinge moste vniuste and in the common wealth very sclaunderous to see with what authoritie a puissaunt man coÌ„maundeth those that be vertuous and with how much shame himselfe is bounde to all vices I knowe not what lorde he is that dare punishe his subiecte for one onely offence committed seing him selfe to deserue for euery deede to be chastised For it is a monsterous thing that a blynd man should take vppon him to leade him that seeth They demaunded great Cato the Censor what a king ought to do that he should be beloued feared and not despysed he answered The good prince should be compared to hym that selleth tryacle who if the poyson hurte hym not he selleth his triacle well I meane thereby that the punyshement is taken in good parte of the people which is not ministred by the vicious man For he that maketh the triacle shall neuer be credited vnlesse the profe of his triacle be openly knowen and tried I meane that the good lyfe is none other then a fine triacle to cure the coÌ„mon wealth And to whome is he more lyke whiche with his tongue blaseth vertues and imployeth his deades to all vyces then vnto the man who in the one hand holdeth poyson to take away lyfe and in the other tryacle to resiste deathe To the ende that a lorde be wholy obeyed it is necessary that all that he coÌ„maundeth be obserued firste in his owne persone for no lorde can nor may withdrawe him selfe from vertuous workes This was the aunswere that Cato the Censor gaue whiche in mine opinion was spoken more like a Christian then any Romaine When the true god came into the worlde he imployed thirtie yeares onely in workes and spente but two yeres and a halfe in teaching For mans harte is perswaded more with the worke he seeketh then with the worde whiche he heaâ—eth Those therefore whiche are lordes let them learne and knowe of him which is the true lorde and also let princes learne why they are princes for he is not a Pylot which neuer sayled on the seas In mine opinion if a prince will know why he is a prince I would saye to gouerne well his people to commaunde well and to mainteyne all in Iustice and this should not be with wordes to make them afrayde neyther by workes whiche should offende them but by swete wordes whiche should encourage them and by the good workes that shoulde edifie them For the noble and gentle harte can not resiste hym that with a louynge countenaunce commaundeth Those whiche wyll rule and make tame fierce and wylde beastes doe threaten and rebuke them a hundred tymes before they beate them once and if they keape them tied they shewe them sondrie pleasures So that the wyldenes of the beaste is taken away onely by the gentyll and pleasaunt vsage of the man Therefore sithe we haue this experience of brute and sauage beastes that is to wete that by their wel doing and by the gentle handling of them they voluntarely suffer them selues to be gouerned muche more experience we reasonable men ought to haue that is to knowe that being right and well gouerned we shoulde huÌ„blye and willingly obey our soueraigne lordes For there is no man so harde harted but by gentyll vsage will humble him selfe O princes and noble men I will tell you in one worde what the lorde oughte to doe in the gouernement of his commoÌ„ wealth Euery prince that hath his mouth full of troth his handes open to geue rewardes and his eares stopped to lyes and his hert open to mercy such a one is happy and the realme which hath him may wel be called prosperous and the people maye call them selues fortunate For where as truth liberalitie and clemency ruleth in the harte of a prince there wronges iniuries and oppressions doe not reigne And contrariwyse where the prince hath his harte flesshed in crueltie his mouthe full of tyrannies his handes defyled with bloude and enclineth his eares to heare lyes suche a prince is vnhappy and muche more the people the whiche by suche one is gouerned For it is vnpossible that there is peace and iustice in the common wealthe if he whiche gouerneth it be a louer of lyes and flatterers In the yere foure hundreth and fourty before the incarnatioÌ„ of Christ whiche was in the yere .244 of the foundation of Rome Darius the fourthe being kyng of Persia and Brutus and Lucius at Rome Counsulles Thales the great Phylosopher floryshed in Greece who was prince of the seuen renowmed sages by the whiche occasion all the realme of Greece had and recouered renowme For Greece boasted more of the seuen sages whiche they had then Rome did of all the valiaunt captaines whiche she nouryshed There was at that tyme muche contention betwene the Romaynes and the Greekes for so muche as the Greekes sayde they were better because they had mo sages and the Romaines sayde the contrary that they were better because they had alwayes mo armies The Greekes replied againe that there were no lawes made but in Grece And the Romaines to this answered that though they were made in Greece yet they were obserued at Rome The Greekes sayde that they had great vniuersities to make wyse men in And the Romaines sayde they had many great temples to worship their Gods in for that in the ende they oughte to esteme more one seruice done to the immortall goddes then all the other commodities that myghte come vnto men A Thebane knight was demaunded what he thoughte of Rome and Greece and he aunswered me thynkes the Romaines are no better then the Greekes nor the Greekes than the Romaines For the Greekes glorie in their tongues and the Romaines in their lances But we referre it to vertuous workes For one good worke
I wold not yester daye aunswere to that that the Senatour Fuluius spake vnto me because it was somewhat late and for that we were long in sacrifices I thought that neyther time nor place was conuenieÌ„t to aunswere therunto For it is a signe of a lytle wisedome of great folye for a man to aunswere sodainly to euerye question The libertie that vndiscret men haue to demaunde the selfe same priuiledge hath the sage for to aunswere For though the demaund procede of ignoraunce yet the aunswere oughte to procede of wysedome Trulye wise men were wel at ease if to euery demaund they shoulde aunswere the simple and malicious who for the most part demaund more to vexe other men then for to profyte themselues more for to proue than to know wherfore wise men ought to dissemble at such demaundes For the sages oughte to haue their eares open to heare and their tongue tyed because they should not speake I let you know auncyent fathers sacred senate that the lytle whyche I knowe I learned in the yle of Rhodes in Naples in Capua and in Tharente And al tutors told me that the Intencion and end of men to study was only to know to gouerne them selues amongest the malicious For scyence profiteth nothing els but to know how to kepe his lyfe wel ordered his tongue wel measured Therfore I protest to god that which I will say before your sacred preseÌ„ce I wil not speake it of any malice or ill wil but only to aunswere vnto that which toucheth the auctoritie of my person For the thynges which touch the honour ought first by word to be aunswered afterwards by sword to be reuenged Therfore now beginning my matter addressing my words to the Fuluius and to that which thou spakest vnto me asking why I shew my selfe so to all men I aunswere the. It is because al men shold giue themselues to me Thou knowest wel Fuluius that I haue bene a Consul as thou art and thou hast not bene an Emperour as I am Therfore beleue me in thys case that the prince being dispised caÌ„not be beloued of hys people The gods wil not nor the lawes do permyte neyther the common wealth wyllyngly should suffer that al princes should be lordes of many and that they should not communicate but with a few For princes which haue bene gentile in their lyues the auncients haue made them gods after their deathes The fisher to fish for many fishes in the riuer goeth not with one bote alone nor the Mariner to fish in the depe sea goeth with one net only I meane that the profounde willes which are deepely enclosed in the hartes oughte to be wonne some by giftes other by promises other by pleasaunt words and others by gentle enterteynement For princes should trauaile more to winne the hartes of their subiectes then to conquere the Realmes of straungers The gredy and couetous hartes care not thoughe the prince shutteth vp his hart so that he open his cofers but noble and valiaunt men litle esteme that which they locke vp in their cofers so that their hartes be open to their frendes For loue can neuer but with loue againe be requited Sith Princes are lords of many of necessitie they ought to be serued with many being serued with many they are bound to satisfie many and this is as generally as perticulerly they cannot dispence with their seruaunts For the prince is no lesse bound to pay the seruice of his seruaunte then the maister is to pay the wages of the hired laborer Therefore if thys thing be true as it is how shal poore princes do which kepe many Realmes in keping them they haue great expenses and for to pay such charges they haue lytle money For in this case let euery man do what he will and let them take what counsaile they like best I would counsaile all others as I my selfe haue experimented that is that the prince shold be of so good a conuersacion among those which are his and so affable and familiar with all that for his good conuersacion only they should thinke them selues wel paid For with rewardes princes recompence the trauaile of their seruantes but with gentle wordes they robbe the hartes of their subiectes We se by experience that diuers marchauntes had rather by dearer in one shoppe because the marchaunt is pleasaunte then to â—ye better chepe in an other wheras the marchaunt is churlishe I meane that there are many which had rather serue a prince to gaine nothing but loue only thaÌ„ to serue an other prince for money For there is no seruice better imployed then to him which is honest good and gracious and to the contrary none worse bestowed then on hym which is vnthankfull and churlyshe In princes pallaces there shall neuer want euil and wicked men malicious deuelishe flatterers which wil seke meanes to put into their Lords heades howe they shall rayse their rentes leauye subsidies inuent tributes and borow money but there are none that wil tel them how they shal winne the hartes and good willes of their subiectes though they know it more profitable to be wel beloued then necessarie to be enriched He that heapeth treasure for his prince and seperateth him from the loue of his people ought not to be called a faithfull seruaunt but a mortall enemy Princes and Lordes ought greatly to endeuour themselues to be so conuersant among their subiects that they had rather serue for good wil then for the payment of money For if moneye wante their seruice will quaile and hereof procedeth a thousand inconueniences vnto princes which neuer happen vnto those that haue seruauntes whiche serue more of good wil then for moneye for he that loueth with al his harte is not proude in prosperitie desperate in aduersitie neither complayneth he of pouertie nor is discontented being fauourlesse nor yet abashed with persecution finallye loue and life are neuer seperated vntill they come vnto the graue We see by experience that the rablemeÌ„t of the poore labourers of Scicil is more worth then the money of the knightes of Rome For the labourer euery time he goeth to the fielde bringeth some profit from thence but euery time the knight sheweth him selfe in the market place he returneth without money By that comparison I meane that princes should be affable easie to talke with all pleasaunt mercifull benigne and stoute and aboue all that they be gracious and louing to the end that through these qualities and not by money they may learne to wynne the hartes of their subiectes Princes should greately labour to be loued specially if they will finde who shall succour them in aduersitie and kepe them from euill will and hatred whiche those princes can not haue that are hated but rather euery man reioyceth at their fall and miserie For eche man enioyeth his own trauaile and truly the furious and sorowfull hartes taketh some reste to see that others haue pitie and
for in the ende tyme is of such power that it cause the renowmed men to be forgotten and all the sumptuous buildinges to decaye and fall to the earth If thou wilt knowe my frende Pulio in what tyme the tyraunt this philosopher was I wyll thou knowe that when Catania the renowmed citie was builded in Cicilia neare the mount Ethna and when Perdica was the fourth kyng of Macedonia and that Cardicea was the thirde kyng of the Meedes and when Candare was fift king of Libeans and that Assaradoche was ninth king of the Assirians and when Merodache was twelft king of Caldeans and that Numa Pompilius reigned second king of the Romaines in the time of those so good kinges Periander reigned amonges the Assirians And it is meete thou knowe an other thyng also whiche is this That this Periander was a tyraunt not only in dede but also in renowme so that thei spake of no other thing thorowe Greece but it tended hereunto Though he had euill workes he had good wordes procured that the affaires of the cōmon wealth shuld be wel redressed For generally there is no man so good but a mā may finde somwhat in him to be reproued neither any man so euill but he hath some thing in him to be cōmended I doe yet remēber of my age being neither to young nor to old that I saw the emperour Traian my lord suppe once in Agrippine it so chaunced that wordes were moued to speake of good euil princes in times past as wel of the Grekes as of the Romains that al those which were present there cōmended greatly the emperour Octauian they al blamed the cruel Nero. For it is an aūcient custome to flatter the princes that are present to murmure at princes that are past When the good emperour Traian was at dinner when he praied in the tēple it was maruel if any mā sawe him speake any word that day since he sawe that thei excessiuely praised the emperour Octauian that the others charged the emperour Nero with more then neded the good Traian spake vnto them these wordes I am glad you cōmende the emperour Octauian but I am angry you should in my presence speake euil of the emperour Nero of none other for it is a great infamy to a prince being aliue to heare in his presence any prince euill reported after his death Truly the emperour Octauian was very good but ye will not denye me but he might haue bene better and the emperour Nero was very euil but yet you will graunt me he might haue ben worse I speake this because Nero in his first fiue yeares was the best of all and the other nyne folowyng he was the worste of all so that there is bothe cause to disprayse him and also cause to commende him When a vertuous man will speake of princes that are dead before princes whiche are aliue he is bounde to prayse onely one of their vertues which they had hath no licence to reuyle the vices whereof thei were noted For the good deserueth rewarde because he endeuoreth him selfe to folowe vertue the euill likewyse deserueth pardon because through frayltie he hath consented to vyce All these wordes the emperoure Traian spake I being present and they were spoken with suche fiercenes that all those whiche were there present bothe chaunged their colour and also refrained their tongues For truly the shamelesse man feeleth not so muche a great strype of correction as the gentill harte doth a sharpe worde of admonition I was willing to shewe thee these thinges my frende Pulio because that since Traian spake for Nero and that he founde in hym some prayse I doe thynke no lesse of the tyraunte Periander whome thoughe for his euyll workes he dyd we doe condemne yet for his good wordes that he spake for the good lawes whiche he made we doe prayse For in the man that is euill there is nothing more easier then to geue good counsayle and there is nothing more harder then to worke well Periander made dyuerse lawes for the common wealth of the Corinthians whereof here folowing I wil declare some We ordeyne and commaunde that if any by multipliyng of wordes kyll an other so that it were not by treason that he be not therefore condemned to die but that they make hym slaue perpetuall to the brother of him that is slayne or to the nexte of his kynne or frends for a shorte deathe is lesse payne then a longe seruitude We ordeyne and commaunde that if any these be taken he shall not dye but with a hotte iron shal be marked on the forehead to be knowen for a thefe for to shammefaste men longe infaime is more payne then a short lyfe We ordeyne and commaunde that the man or woman whiche to the preiudice of an other shall tell any lye shall for the space of a moneth carie a stone in their mouthe for it is not meete that he whiche is wonte to lye should alwayes bee authorysed to speake We ordeyne and commaunde that euery man or woman that is a quareler and sedicious persone in the common wealth be with great reproche bannished frome the people for it is vnpossible that he shoulde bee in fauoure with the Gods which is an enemie to his neighbours We ordeyne and commaunde that if there be any in the common wealth that haue receiued of an other a benefite and that afterwardes it is proued he was vnthankefull that in suche case they put hym to death for the man that of benefites receiued is vnthankefull oughte not to lyue in the worlde amonge menne Beholde therefore my frende Pulio the antiquitie whiche I declared vnto thee and howe mercifull the Corinthians were to murtherers theues and Pirates And contrarie howe seuere they were to vnthankefull people whome they commaunded forthwith to be putte to deathe And truly in myne opinion the Corinthians had reason for there is nothinge troubleth a wyse man more then to see him vnthankefull to him whome he hath shewed pleasure vnto I was willing to tel thee this historie of Periander for no other cause but to the end thou shouldest see and know that forasmuch as I doe greatly blame the vice of vnthankefulnes I will laboure not to be noted of the same For he that reproueth vice is not noted to be vertuous but he which vtterly flieth it Count vpon this my worde that I tel thee which thou shalt not thinke to be fained that though I be the Romain Emperour I wil be thy faithfull frend wil not faile to be thankefull towardes thee For I esteme it no lesse glory to know how to keape a frend by wysedom then to come to the estate of an emperour by philosophie By the letter thou sentest thou requiredst me of one thing to answere thee for the whiche I am at my wittes end For I had rather open my treasures to thy necessities then to open the bookes to answere to thy
demaundes although it be to my cost I confesse thy request to be reasonable and thou deseruest worthy prayse for in the end it is more worth to knowe how to procure a secrete of antiquities past then to heape vp treasures for the necessities in time to come As the philosopher maketh philosophie his treasour of knowledge to liue in peace to hope to loke for death with honour so the couetous being suche a one as he is maketh his treasure of worldly goodes for to keape preserue life in this world in perpetuall warres and to end his life and take his death with infamie Herein I sweare vnto thee that one daie emploied in philosophy is more worth then ten thousand which are spent in heaping riches For the life of a peaceable man is none other then a swete peregrination and the life of sedicious persones is none other but a long death Thou requirest me my frend Pulio that I write vnto thee wherin the auncientes in times past had their felicitie knowe thou that their desires were so diuerse that some dispraised life others desired it some prolonged it others did shorten it some did not desire pleasures but trauailes others in trauailes did not seke but pleasures the whiche varietie did not proceade but of diuerse endes for the tastes were diuerse and sondry men desired to taste diuerse meates By the immortall Gods I sweare vnto thee that this thy request maketh me muse of thy life to see that my phylosophie answereth thee not sufficiently therein For if thou aske to proue me thou thinkest me presumptuous if thou demaunde in mirth thou countest me to be to light if thou demaundest it not in good earnest thou takest me for simple if thou demaūdest me for to shew it thee be thou assured I am ready to learne it if thou demaundest it for to knowe it I confesse I can not teache it thee if thou demaundest it because thou maiest be asked it be thou assured that none wylbe satisfied with my aunswere and if perchaunce thou doest aske it because thou sleapinge haste dreamed it seing that nowe thou art awake thou oughtest not to beleue a dreame For all that the fantasie in the nighte doth imagine the tongue doth publishe it in the morning O my frende Pulio I haue reason to complayne of thee for so muche as thou doest not regarde the authoritie of my persone nor the credite of thy phylosophie wherefore I feare leaste they wyll iudge thee to curious in demaundinge and me to simple in aunsweringe all this notwithstanding I determine to aunswere thee not as I ought but as I can not according to the greate thou demaundest but according to the litle I knowe And partely I doe it to accomplyshe thy requeste and also to fulfyll my desire And nowe I thinke that all whiche shall reade this letter wyll be cruell iudges of my ignoraunce ¶ Of the Philosopher Epicurus IN the Olimpiade the hundreth and thre Serges being king of Perses and the cruel tyraunt Lysander captaine of the Peloponenses a famous battayle was fought betwene the Athenians and Lysander vpon the great ryuer of Aegcon whereof Lysander had the victory and truly vnles the histories deceiue vs the Athenians tooke this conflicte greuously because the battayle was loste more through negligence of their captaines then through the great nombre of their enemies For truly many winne victories more through the cowardlynesse that some haue than for the hardinesse that others haue The philosopher Epicurus at that tyme florished who was of a liuely wytte but of a meane stature and had memorie fresh being meanely learned in philosophie but he was of much eloquence and for to encourage and counsell the Athenians he was sent to the warres For whan the auncientes tooke vpon them any warres they chose first sages to geue counsaile then captaines to leade the souldiours And amongest the prisoners the philosopher Epicurus was taken to whom the tyraunt Lysander gaue good entertainement and honoured him aboue all other and after he was taken he neuer went from him but redde philosophie vnto him and declared vnto him histories of times paste and of the strengthe and vertues of many Greekes and Troyans The tyraunt Lysander reioysed greatly at these thinges For truly tyrauntes take great pleasure to heare the prowesse vertues of auncientes past to folow the wickednes vices of them that are present Lysander therefore taking the triumphe hauing a nauy by sea a great army by land vpon the ryuer of Aegeon he and his captaines forgotte the daunger of the warres gaue the brydel to the slouthfull flesh so that to the great preiudice of the cōmon wealth they led a dissolute and ydle life For the maner of tyrannous princes is to leaue of their owne trauaile to enioy that of other mens The philosopher Epicurus was alwaies brought vp in the excellent vniuersitie of Athens wher as the philosophers liued in so great pouertie that naked they slept on the groūd their drinke was colde water none amongest them had any house propre they despised riches as pestilēce labored to make peace where discord was they were only defenders of the common wealth they neuer spake any idle worde it was a sacrilege amōgest thē to heare a lie finally it was a lawe inuiolable amongst thē that the philosopher that shuld be idle shuld be banished he that was vicious shuld be put to death The wicked Epicurus forgetting the doctrine of his maisters not esteming grauitie wherunto the sages are bound gaue him self wholy both in words deedes vnto a voluptuous beastly kinde of life wherin he put his whole felicitie For he said ther was no other felicitie for slouthful men then to sleape in soft beds for delicate persons to fele neither heat nor cold for fleshly mē to haue at their pleasur amorous dames for drōkardes not to wāt any pleasaunt wines gluttons to haue their filles of all delicate meates for herein he affirmed to consiste all worldly felicitie I doe not marueile at the multitude of his scholers which he had hath shal haue in the world For at this day ther are few in Rome that suffer not thē selues to be maistred with vices the multitude of those which liue at their owne willes and sensualitie are infinite And to fell the truthe my frend Pulio I doe not marueile that there hath bene vertuous neither I do muse that there hath bene vicious for the vertuous hopeth to reste him selfe with the gods in an other worlde by his well doing and if the vicious be vicious I doe not marueile though he will goe and ingage him selfe to the vices of this world since he doth not hope neither to haue pleasure in this nor yet to enioy rest with the gods in the other For truly the vnstedfast belefe of an other life after this wherin the wicked shal be punished the good rewarded causeth
Seruilius Caius Brisius theÌ„ Consulles in Rome â–ª which were appointed against the Attikes in the moneth of Ianuarye immediately after they were chosen in the .29 yere of the reigne of Ptolom aeus Philadelphus this greate Prince Ptolomaeus built in the cost of Alexandrye a great tower which he named Pharo for the loue of a louer of his named Pharo Dolouina this tower was built vpon .4 engins of glasse it was large and high made 4. square and the stones of the tower were as bright shining as glasse so that the tower being 20. foote of bredth if a candel burned with in those without might se the lyght therof I let the know my frend Pulio that the auncient historiographers did so much esteme this buildynge that they compared it to one of the vii buildinges of the worlde At that time when these thinges florished ther was in Egipt a philosopher called Zeno by whose counsayle industrie Ptolomaeus built that so famous a tower gouerned his land For in the old time the princes that in their life were not gouerned by sages were recorded after their death in the register of foles As this tower was stronge so had he great ioy of the same because he kept his derely beloued Pharo Dolouina therin enclosed to the end she should be wel kept and also wel contented He had his wyues in Alexandria but for the most part he continued with Pharo Dolouina For in the old time the Perses Siconians and the Chaldeans did not marie but to haue children to enherite their goodes the resydue of their lyfe for the most part to leade with their concubynes in pleasure and delightes The Egiptians had in great estymacion men that were great wrastlers especially if they were wise men and aboue all things they mayde great defiaunce againste straungers and all the multitude of wrastlers was coÌ„tinually great so ther were notable masters among them For truly he that dayly vseth one thing shal at the last be excellent therein The matter was thus That one day as amongest them there were many Egiptians there was one that would not be ouerthrowen nor cast by any man vnto the earth This philosopher Zeno perceyuing the strength courage of this great wrastler thought it much for hys estimacion if he might throw him in wrastlyng and in prouing he threw him deade to the earthe who of none other cold euer be cast This vyctorie of Zeno was so greatlye to the contentacion of his person that he spake with his tongue and wrote with hys penne that ther was none other felycitye then to know how to haue the strength of the armes to cast downe others at his feete The reason of this philosopher was that he said it was a greater kinde of victory to ouerthrowe one to the earth then to ouercome many in the warres For in the warres one onlye wrongefullye taketh the vyctorye since there be many that do winne it but in wrestling as the victorie is to one alone so let the only vyctorye and glory remaine to him and therfore in this thinge felicitie consisteth for what can be more then the contentacion of the hart Truly we cal him in this world happie that hath his hart content and hys body in health ¶ Of the Philosopher Anacharsis WHen the king Heritaces reigned among the Meedes and that Tarquin Priscus reigned in Rome ther was in the coastes of Scithia a philosopher called Anacharsis who was borne in the citie of Epimenides Cecero greatly commended the doctrine of this philosopher and that he can not tell whiche of these two thinges were greater in him that is to wete the profoundnes of knowledge that the gods had giuen him or the cruel malyce wherwith he persecuted his enemyes For truly as Pithagoras saith Those which of men are most euyl wylled of the gods are best beloued This phylosopher Anacharsis then being as he was of Scithia whych nacion amongeste the Romaines was estemed Barbarous it chaunsed that a malycious Romaine sought to displease the Phylosopher in wordes and trulye he was moued thereunto more throughe malyce then through simplicite For the outward malycious words are a manifest token of the inward enuious harte This Romaine therefore sayde to the philosopher it is vnpossible Anacharsis that thou shouldest be a Sithian borne for a man of such eloquence cannot be of such a barbarous nation to whom Anacharsis aunswered Thou hast sayde well and herein I assent to thy wordes howbeit I do not alow thy intencion for as by reason thou mayst dispraise me to be of a barbarous countrey and commend me for my good lyfe so I iustly may accuse the of a wicked lyfe and prayse the of a good countrey And herein be thou iudge of both which of vs two shal haue the most praise in the world to come eyther thou that art borne a Romaine and leadest a barbarous lyfe or I that am borne a Sithian and leade the lyfe of a Romaine For in the ende in the Garden of this lyfe I had rather be a grene apple tree and beare fruite then to be a drie Libane drawen on the ground After that Anacharsis had bene in Rome long time and in Greece he determined for the loue of his countrey nowe being aged to retourne home to Scithia wherof a brother of his named Cadmus was kyng who had the name of a kyng but in dede he was a Tiraunt Since this good phylosopher sawe hys brother exercise the workes of a tyraunte seing also the people so dissolute he determined to gyue hys brother the best counsayle he could to ordeyne lawes to the people in good order to gouerne them whych thing being sene of the Barbarous by the consent of them al as a man who inuented new deuyses to lyue in the world before them all openly was put to death For I wyl thou know my frende Pulio that there is no greater token that the common wealth is full of vyce then when they kyll or banysh those whych are vertuous therin So therfore as they ledde thys phylosopher to death he sayd he was vnwillyng to take his death and loth to lose his life Wherfore one sayd vnto him these words Tel me Anachaâ—sis sith thou art a man so vertuous so sage and so olde me thinketh it should not greue the to leaue this miserable lyfe For the vertuous man should desire the company of the vertuous men the which thys world wanteth the sage ought to desire to liue with other sages wherof the world is destitute and the old man ought litle to esteme the losse of his life since by true experience he knoweth in what trauayles he hath passed his dayes For truly it is a kind of foly for a man which hath trauayled and fynished a daungerous and long iourney to lament to se himselfe now in the end therof Anacharsis aunswered him Thou speakest very good words my frend I would that thy life were as thy counsell
is but it greueth me that in this conflict I haue neither vnderstanding nor yet sence to tast nor that I haue time enoughe to thanke the. For I let the know that ther is no tongue can expresse the griefe which a man feeleth when he ought forthwith to dye I die and as thou seest they kil me only for that I am vertuous I feele nothing that tormenteth my hart so much as king Cadinus my brother doth for that I can not be reuenged For in myne opinion the chiefe felycitie of man consisteth in knowing and being able to reuenge the iniurye done without reason before a man doth end his lyfe It is a commendable thing that the philosopher pardon iniuries as the vertuous philosophers haue accustomed to do but it should be also iust that the iniuries which we forgiue the gods should therwith be charged to se reuengment For it is a hard thing to se a tiraunt put a vertuous man to death and neuer to se the tiraunte to come to the lyke Me thinketh my frend Pulio that this philosopher put all his felycytie in reuenging an iniurye during the like in this world Of the Sarmates THe mount Caucasus as the Cosmographers say doth deuide in the middest great Asia the which beginneth in India and endeth in Scithia and according to the varietie of the people which inhabyte the vyllages so hath this mount diuerse names and those which dwel towards the Indians differ much from the others For the more the countrey is ful of mountaines so much the more the people are Barbarous Amongest al the other cyties which are adiacent vnto the same there is a kinde of people called Sarmates and that is the countrie of Sarmatia which standeth vpon the riuer of Tanays There grow no vynes in the prouince because of the great cold it is true that amonge all the orientall nacions there are no people which more desire wine then they do For the thyng which we lacke is coÌ„monly most desired These people of Sarmatia are good men of warre thoughe they are vnarmed they esteme not much delicate meates nor sumptuous apparaile For al their felicytie consisteth in knowing how they might fil them selues with wine In the yere of the foundacion of Rome .318 our auncient fathers determined to wage battaile agaynst those people and other Barbarous nations and appointed a Consull called Lucius Pius And sith in that warres fortune was variable they made a truce and afterwardes all their captaines yelded themselues their countrey into the subiectioÌ„ of the Romaine empire only because the Consul Lucius Pius in a banket that he made filled them with wine After the warres were ended al the land of Sarmatia subiect the Consul Lucius Pius came to Rome for rewarde of his trauaile required the accustomed triumphe the which was not only denied him but also in recompense of his fact he was openly beheaded by the decre of all the Senate about his graue was written this Epitaphe WIthin this tombe Lucius Pius lyes That whilome was a Consul great in Rome And daunted eke as shame his sclaunder cries The Sarmates sterne not by Mauors his dome ¶ But by reproofe and shame of Romayne armes He vanquishte hath not as the Romaynes vse But as the bloody tyrauntes that with swarmes Of huge deceites the fyerse assaultes refuse ¶ Not in the warres by byting weapons stroke But at the boorde with swete delighting foode Not in the hasard fight he did them yoke But feding all in rest he stole their bloode ¶ Nor yet wyth mighty Mars in open fielde He rest their lyues with sharpe ypersing speares But with the pusshe of dronken Bacchus shielde Home to hye Rome the triumphe lo he heares THE sacred Senate set this epitaphe here because al Romaine captaines should take example of him For the maiestie of the Romaines consisteth not in vanquishing their enemyes by vyces and deliciousnes but by weapons and prayers The Romaynes were very sore greued with the audacitie of this Consul Lucius Pius and not contented to haue beheaded him and to haue set on his graue so defamous a tytle but made proclamacion forthwith throughout Rome by the sounde of a trumpet howe al that whyche Lucius Pius had done the sacred senate condemned for nothing and shoulde stand to no effete For there was an auncient law in Rome when they beheaded any man by iustice they should also take away the aucthoritie he had in Rome And not contented with these thinges the sacred senate wrote to the Sarmates that they did release them of their homage making themselues subiectes of the Romaynes wherfore the restored theim agayne to their lybertie They did this thing because the custome amonge the stoute and valiaunt Romaines was not to get nor winne realmes in makinge their enemyes druncke with delycate wines but in shedding their proper bloude in the plaine field I haue told the this my frend Pulio because the Consull Lucius Pius did perceiue that the Sarmates put all their filicitye to ingurge them selues with wine ¶ Of the Philosopher Chilo IN the 15. Dinastia of the Lacedemonians and Deodeus beinge kyng of Medes Gigion being kyng of Lides Argeus being king among the Macedonians and Tullius Hostilius kyng of the Romaynes in the Olimpiade â–ª 27. there was in Athens a philosopher borne of Grece whose name was Chilo one of the .7 sages which the Grekes had in their treasure In that time there was great warres betwene the Atthenians and the Corinthians as we may perceiue by the Greeke histories whiche we see written Since Troye was destroyed there was neuer peace in Greece for the warre betwixte the Greekes and Troyans was neuer so great as that which afterward they made amonge themselues Sithe the Grekes were now wise men they did deuide the offices of the comon wealth acording to the abilytie of euery person that is to know that to the stout and hardy men they gaue the gouernement to the sage they recommended the imbasies of straunge countryes And vpon this occasion the Athenians sent the philosopher Chilo to the Corinthians to treat of peace who came vnto the citie of Corinthe Bechaunce on that day ther was celebrated a great feast wherfore he found all men plaieng at dyce the women solacing them selues in the gardeins the priestes shâ—tte with the crosse-bowes in the temples the senatours played in the consistorye at tables the maisters of fence played in the streates to conclude he found them al playeng The philosopher seing these thinges without speakinge to any man or lighting of on his horse returned into his countrey without declaringe hys message when the Corinthians went after him asked him why he did not declare the cause of his comming he aunswered Frendes I am come from Athens to Corinthe not without great trauayle now I returne from Corinthe to Athens not litle offended ye might haue sene it because I spake neuer a word to any of you
good to desire it to procure it to kepe it to praise it and to loue it wel for in the end if we loue the beautie in beastes and buildinges by greater reason we should desire it in our selues But what shall we saye that when we doe not watche this litle floure whiche yesterday florisshed on the tree faire and whole without suspicion to be lost one litle hory frost sodainly wasteth and consumeth it the vehement wynde ouerthroweth it the knife of enuie cutteth it the water of aduersitie vndoeth it and the heate of persecutions pineth it and finally the worme of shorte life gnaweth it and the putrifaction of death decayeth and bryngeth it downe to the grounde O mannes lyfe that arte alwayes cursed I counte fortune cruell and thee vnhappy synce she will that thou tariest on her whiche dreaminge geueth the pleasures and wakinge woorketh the displeasures whiche geueth into the handes trauayle to taste suffreth thee not only to listen after quiet which wil thou proue aduersitie and agree not that thou haue prosperitie but at her will finally she geueth thee life by ounces and death without measure The wicked vicious say that it is a great pleasure to liue in ease but I protest vnto them that ther was neuer any mortal man had so much pleasure in vices but that he remained in great paine after that they were bannished frō him For the harte which of long time hath ben rooted in vice incontinently is subiect to some great alteration I would all would open their eies to see how we liue deceiued for al the pleasures which delighte the body make vs beleue that they come to abide with vs continually but they vanishe awaye with sorowe immediatly And on the contrary parte the infirmities and sorrowes that blynde the soule saye that they come onely to lodge as gestes and remayne with vs continually as housholders I marueyle of thee Epesipus why thou doest not consyder what shall become of the beautie of thy bodye hereafter sythe thou seest presently the beautie of those departed interred in the graue By the dyuersitie of fruites manne dothe knowe the dyuersytie of trees in the Orcharde that is to wete the Oke by the acornes the Date tree by the dates the vines by the grapes but when the roote is drie the body cut the fruite gathered the leafe fallen when the tree is laide on the fire and become asshes I would now know if this ashes could be knowen of what tree it was or howe a man might know the difference of the one from the other By this comparison I meane to saye that for somuche as the life of this death and the death of this life cōmeth to seke vs out we are all as trees in the orcharde whereby some are knowen by the rootes of their predecessours others by the leaues of their wordes others by the braunches of their frendes some in the floures of their beauty and other some by the barke of their foule skynne The one in their mercifulnes the other in their stoutnes others in their hardines being aged others in the hastines of their youthe others in their barronnes by their pouertie others by their fruitfulnes in ryches fynally in one onely thinge we are all alike that is to wete that all vniuersally goe to the graue not one remaining I aske nowe when death hath done his office executing all earthely men in the latter daies what differēce is there then betwene the faire and the foule whiche lie both in the narrowe graue certainely there is none and if there be any difference it shal be in the making of the graues whiche vayne men inuented And I doe not repent me for calling them vaine since there is no vanitie nor fondnes comparable to this for they are not contented to bee vaine in their liues but will also after their deathes eternise their vanities in sumptuous and stately sepulchres The coale of the Ceder in my opinion that is highe and faire is nothing more whither when it is burnte then the coale of the Oke which is litle and croked I meane oftentimes the gods do permitte that the bones of a poore Philosopher are more honoured then the bones of princes With death I will threathen thee no lenger for sithe thou art geuen to the vices of this life thou wouldest not as yet that with a word it should destroye thee but I will tell thee one worde more though it greue thee to heare it whiche is that the Gods created thee to die men begot thee to die women bare thee to die and thou camste into the worlde for to die to conclude I saye some are borne to daye on condition they die to morow and geue their places to others When the great and fruitfull trees begin to budde forth by the rootes it signifieth that time draweth on for them to cut the drie and wythered braunches I meane that to see children borne in the house is no other but to cite the grandfathers and fathers to the graue If a man would aske me what death is I woulde saye a miserable lake wherin all worldly men are taken For those that most safely thinke to passe it ouer remaine therein moste subtilly deceiued I haue alwayes redde of the auncientes past and haue seene of the younge men present and I suppose that the selfe same will be to come hereafter That when life most swetest semeth to any man then sodainly death entreth in at their dores O immortal gods I can not tell if I may call you cruell I knowe not if I may call you mercifull because you gaue vs fleshe bones honour goodes frendes and also ye geue vs pleasure finally ye geue to men all that they wante saue onely the cuppe of lyfe whiche to your selues you did reserue Since I may not that I would I will that I may but if it were referred to my will I woulde rather one onely day of life then all the ryches of Rome For what auayleth it to toyle and take paine to increase honour and worldly goodes since lyfe daily diminisheth Returning therfore to my first purpose thou must knowe that thou estemest thy selfe and glorifiest in thy personage and beautie I would gladly know of the and of others whiche are yonge and faire if you doe not remember that once ye must come to be olde and rotten For if you thinke you shall lyue but a lytle then reason woulde you shoulde not esteme youre beauties muche for by reason it is a straunge thinge that lyfe shoulde abate vs and folie trayne vs. Yf you thinke to become aged ye ought to remember and alwayes to thinke that the steele of the knyfe whiche dothe muche seruice at length decayeth and is lost for lacke of lokynge to Trulye the yong man is but a new knyfe the whiche in processe of tyme cankerethe in the edge for on one daye he breaketh the poynte of vnderstandynge another he loseth the edge of cuttyng and
and reproue the .40 yeares of an other Ther are many princes tender of yeres but ripe in counsailes and for the countrary there are other princes old in yeares yong in counsailes When the good Emperour Vespasian died they determined to put his sōne Titus in the gouernement of the empire or some other aged Senator because they said Titus was to yong And as they were in controuersie of the matter the Senatour Rogerus Patroclus said vnto the Senate For my parte I require rather a Prince which is yong and sage then I do a prince which is old and foolysh Therfore now as touchyng the children of Theodosius one day Estilconus the tutour of Archadius speaking to a greke philosopher very sage whose name was Epimundus sayde thus vnto him Thou and I long time haue bene acquainted together in the palace of the emperour Theodose my lord who is dead and we ar aliue thou knowest it had bene better that we .2 had died and that he had liued For there be many to be seruauntes of princes but there ar few to be good princes I feele no greater griefe in this world than to know many princes in one realme For the man whiche hath sene many princes in his lyfe hath sene many nouelties and alterations in the common wealth Thou knowest well that when Theodosius my maister died he spake to me these wordes the which wer not spoken without great sighes and multiplienge of teares O Estilconus I dye and am going into an other world wherin I shall giue a streighte accompte of the Realmes and seignories which I had vnder my charge And therfore when I thinke of myne offences I am meruelously afrayed But when I remember the mercy of God then I receiue some conforte and hope As it is but mete we should trust in the greatnes of his mercy so likewise is it reason we should feare the rigour of his iustice For truly in the christian law they are not suffred to liue as we which are Princes that liue in delightes of this world and afterward without repentaunce to goe streighte to Paradyse Then when I thinke of the great benefittes which I haue receiued of God and of the great offences which I haue committed when I thynke of the long tyme I haue lyued and of the litle which I haue profited also that vnprofitably I haue spent my time On the one part I am loath to dye for that I am afrayed to come before the tribunall seate of Iesus Christ and on the other part I would liue no lenger because I do not profit The mā of an euil life why doth he desire to lyue any longer My lyfe is now finished the tyme is shorte to make amendes And sithe god demaundeth nought els but a contrite harte with all my harte I doe repente and appeale to his iustice of mercie from his Iustice to his mercy because it maye please him to receiue me into his house and to giue me perpetuall glorie to the confusion of al my synnes and offences And I protest I dye in the holy catholike faith commend my soule to god my body to the earth to you Estilconus Ruffinus my faithful seruauntes I recōmende my dere beloued children For herby the loue of the childrē is sene in that the father forgetteth thē not at the houre of his death In this case of one only thing I doe warne you one only thing I require you one only thing I desire you one onely thing I cōmaund you that is that you occupye not your mindes in augmentinge the Realmes seignories of my childrē but only that you haue due respect to giue thē good education vertuous seruāts For it was only the wise men which I had about me that thus long haue mainteined me in this great auctoritie It is a goodly thing for a prince to haue stoute captains for the warres but without comparison it is better to keape haue wise men in his palace For in the end the victory of the battaille consisteth in the force of many but the gouernement of the common weale oftentimes is putte vnder the aduise of one alone These so dolefull and pitiefull wordes my lord and maister Theodosius spake vnto me now tell me Epimundus what I should doe at this present to fulfill his commaundement For at his harte he had nothing that troubled him so much as to thinke whether his children would vndoe or encrease the cōmon wealthe Thou Epimundus thou art a Grecian thou art a philosopher thou hast vnderstandyng thou art an olde seruaunt thou arte my faithfull frend therfore for al these thinges thou art bound to giue me good healthful counsaile For many times I haue heard Theodosius my maister say that he is not accompted sage which hath turned the leaues of many bookes but he which knoweth and can geue good healthful counsailes Epimundus the philosopher aunswered to these wordes Thou knowest wel Lord Estilconus that the auncientes and great Philosophers ought to be brief in wordes and very parfect in their workes For otherwise to speake muche worke litle semeth rather to be done like a tyraunt then like a greeke philosopher The Emperour Theodosius was thy Lord and my frend I say frend because it is the libertie of a greeke Philosopher to acknowledge no homage nor seruice to any superiour For he in his hart can haue no true sciēce that to rebuke the viicous kepeth his mouth shut In one thing I cōtent my selfe in Theodose aboue al other princes which were in the Romaine empire and that is that he knew and talked wisely of al his affaires and also was very diligēt to execute the same For all the fault of Princes is that they are prompte bold to talke of vertues and in executing them they are very slacke fearefull For such Princes can not continew in the vertue which they doe commende nor yet resyste the vyce which they do dispraise I graunt that Theodosius was an executour of iustice mercifull stoute sober valiaunt true louyng thankfull and vertuous and finally in all thinges and at all times he was fortunate For fortune oftentimes bringeth that to Princes which they will and desire yea many times better then they looke for Presuppose it to be true as it is most true that the time was alwayes prosperous to the Emperour Theodosius yet I doubte whether this prosperity wil continew in the succession of his children For worldlye prosperitie is so mutable that with one only man in a moment she maketh a thousande shrewde turnes and so much the more it is harde to continue stedfast in the second heyre Of slowe and dull horses come oftentimes couragious and fyerse coltes and euyn so of vertuous fathers come children euill brought vp For the wicked children inherite the worste of the father whiche is ryches and are dysenherited of the best whiche are vertues That whiche I perceyue in this matter as
declareth that he was more valiaunte in feates of warre then comely of personage For though he was lame of one foote bleamished of one eye lackyng one eare and of bodye not muche bygger than a dwarfe yet for all thys he was a iuste manne verye constant stoute mercyfull couragious and aboue all he was a great enemy to the ignoraunt and a specyall frende to the sage Of thys Kynge Cresus Seneca speaketh in hys booke of clemencie and sayeth that the sages were so entierly beloued of hym that the greekes whyche hadde the fountaine of eloquence dyd not call hym a louer but entitled hym the loue of sages For neuer no louer dyd so muche to attayne to the loue of hys ladye as he dyd to drawe to hym and to hys countreye sage menne Thys kynge Cresus therefore beyng lorde of many Barbarous nations the whiche loued better to drinke the bloude of the innocent then to learne the science of the wise lyke an excellent Prince determined for the comfort of his person and remedye of his common wealth to searche out the greaetst sages that were in Grece At that tyme flourished the famous and renowmed philosopher Anacharsis who though he was borne brought vp amonges the Scithies yet he was alwaies resident notwithstāding in Athens For the vniuersitie of Athens dyd not despise those that were Barbarians but those that were vitious The king Cresus sent an embassatour in great auctoritie with riches to the Phylosopher Anacharsis to perswade and desire him and with those giftes and presentes to present him to the end it myght please him to come and see his person and to sette an order in his common wealth Cresus not contented to send him giftes which the imbassatour caried but for to let him vnderstande why he dyd so wrote hym a letter with hys owne hand as hereafter foloweth The letter of kyng Cresus to Ancharsis the Philosopher CResus kyng of Lydes wysheth to the Anacharsis great Philosopher which remainest in Athens health to thy person and encrease of vertue Thou shalte see howe well I loue the in that I neuer saw the nor knew the to write vnto the a letter For the thinges whiche with the eyes haue neuer bene sene seldome times with the hart are truly beloued Thou doest esteme litle as truth is these my small giftes and presentes which I send the yet I praye the greatly esteme the will and hart wherwith I doe visite the. For noble hartes receyue more thankefully that whych a man desireth to gyue them then that which they doe giue them in dede I desire to correcte thys my Realme and to see amendement in the common wealth I desire some good order for my person and to take order touchyng the gouernement of my palace I desire to communicate with a sage som thinges of my lyfe and none of these thinges can be done without thy presence For there was neuer any good thyng made but by the meane of wisdom I am lame I am crooked I am balde I am a counterfeyte I am black and also I am broken finally amongest all other men I am a monster But all these imperfections are nothyng to those that remayne that is to wete I am so infortunate that I haue not a Philosopher with me For in the world ther is no greater shame than not to haue a wyse man about him to be conuersaunt withall I count my selfe to be dead though to the symple fooles I seme to be alyue And the cause of my death is because I haue not with me some wyse person For truly he is only aliue amongest the lyuyng who is accompanied wyth the sages I desire the greatly to come and by the immortall gods I coniure the that thou make no excuse and if thou wilt not at my desire do it for that thou art bound For many men oftentimes condescend to do that whych they would not more for vertues sake then to satisfye the demaunde of any other Thou shalt take that which my embassatour shal giue the and beleue that which he shall tell in my behalfe and by this my letter I do promise the that when thou shalt ariue here I wil make the treasourer of my coffers only coūsailour of mine affaires secretary of my coūsail father of my childrē refourmer of my realm maister of my person gouernour of my cōmō wealth finally Anacharsis shal be Cresus because Cresus may be Anacharsis I saye no more but the gods haue the in their custodie to whome I praye that they may hasten thy commynge The imbassatour departed to goe to Athens bearyng with him this letter and many iewels and bagges of gold and by chaunce Anacharsis was reading in thuniuersity at the arriual of the imbassatoure to Athens Who openly said and dyd his message to Anacharsis presenting vnto hym the giftes and the letter Of whiche thinge all those of the vniuersitie marueiled for the barbarous princes were not accustomed to seke philosophers to gouerne their cōmon wealth but to put them to death and take from them their liues After the great philosopher Anacharsis had hard the embassage sene the giftes and receiued the letter without alteryng his countenaunce or elacion of his person impedimente in his tong or desire of the riches immediately before all the philosophers said these wordes which heare after are writen The letter of the Philosopher Anacharsis to the king Cresus ANacharsis the least of the philosophers wisheth to the Cresus most mightye and puissaunt king of Lides the health whiche thou wisshest hym and the increase of vertue which thou sendest him They haue told vs many thinges here in these parties aswel of thy realme as of thy person and there in those parties they say many thinges as wel of our vniuersity as of my selfe For the harte taketh greate pleasour to knowe the condicions and liues of all those in the world It is wel done to desier and procure to know all the liues of the euill to amend our owne It is wel done to procure and knowe the liues of the good for to follow them but what shall we do since now a dayes the euill doe not desire to knowe the liues of the euil but for to couer them and kepe them secrete and do not desier to know the liues of the good for to followe them I let the know king Cresus that the philophers of Greece felte not so muche payne to be vertuous as they felte in defendyng thē from the vicious For if a man once behold vertue immediatly she suffreth to be taken but the euil for any good that a man can doe vnto them neuer suffereth them selues to be vanquished I beleue well that the tirannye of the Realme is not so great as they talke of here neyther oughtest thou lykewyse to beleue that I am so vertuous as they reporte me to be there For in mine opinion those whiche declare newes of straunge countries are as the poore which were their garmentes al to
patched and peced wherof the peces that were sowen on of new are in more quantity of clothe then the olde whyche before they had when they were first made Beware king Cresus and be not as the barbarous princes are which vse good wordes and euill dedes For they go about with faire wordes to couer the infamie of their cruel dedes Meruell not though we philosophers readers in scholes desire not to liue with you Princes gouernours of Realmes For euil Princes for none other intente seke the companye of wyse menne but onelye because they woulde throughe them excuse their faultes For doinge as thou doest of wyll and not of ryghte you will that the vulger people thincke you doe it by the coūsayle of a wyse man I let the vnderstande Kynge Cresus that the Prince which desireth to gouerne his people wel oughte not to be contente to haue one only sage in his palace For it is not mete that the gouernement of many doe consiste in the aduise of one alone Thy imbassadour hath sayde by worde and the selfe same thy letter testifieth that thou arte certified that I am counted for sage throughout all Greece and that this presupposed I woulde come to thee to gouerne thy common wealthe And for the contrary thou doyng thus as thou doest condemnest me to be an Idiote for thou thynkyng that I woulde take thy golde is nothyng els but for to rayle vppon me as a foole The chiefe poynte wherein true philosophie is knowen is when he dispyseth the thinges of the worlde for there neuer agreeth together the lybertie of the soule and the care of goodes in this lyfe O kyng Cresus I let thee vnderstande that he whiche knoweth moste the course of the elemente is not called sage but it is he whiche leaste knoweth the vices of this worlde For the true Philosopher profiteth more by not knowynge the euyll then by learnyng the good I let thee vnderstande I am three score and seuen yeares olde and yet neuer before this tyme there reigned Ire in me but whan thy embassage was presented to me and that I sawe layde at my feete suche treasure and ryches For vppon this deede I gather that either wysedome lacketh in thee or that great couetousnes aboundeth in me I doe sende thee thy golde againe which thou sendest me and thy embassadour shall declare as witnes of syghte how greatly it hath sclaundered all Grece For it was neuer sene nor heard of that in any wyse they shoulde suffer golde to enter into the vniuersitie of Athens For it should not onely be a dishonour to the philosophers of Grece to haue ryches but also it woulde turne them to great infamy to desire them O king Cresus if thou knowest it not it is but reason thou know it that in the scholes of Grece we learne not to commaunde but to obey not to speake but to be silent not to resist but to humble our selues not to get much but to cōtent vs with litle not to reuēge offences but to pardon iniuries not to take from others but to giue oure owne not to be honored but to trauaile to be vertuous finally we learne to despise that which other men loue and to loue that which other men despise which is pouertie Thou thoughtest that I would accept thy golde or els that I would not If thou thoughtest I would haue taken it then thou haddest had reason not to haue receiue me afterwardes into thy palace for it is a great infamy that the couetous man shuld be acceptable to a prince If thou thoughtest that I would none of it thou were not wyse to take the paynes to sende it for princes ought neuer to take vpon them thinges wherein as they thinke the subiectes should lose their honestie in receiuing them See king Cresus and behold that by diligence it litle auaileth to serche for the phisition afterwards to do nothing of that which by him is ordeined I meane that it shall not profite but rather it shabe harme that I come into thy common wealth that afterwardes thou wilt not doe that whiche I shall ordeine therin for great daungers ensue to alter the humors with siropes vnlesse they take afterwardes a purgation to purge away the same For to redresse thy barbarous realme to satisfie thy good desier I am determined to condiscende vnto thy request and to accomplishe thy commaundement vpon condition that thou shalt ensure me of these thinges folowing For the labourer ought not to sowe his sede before the ground be plowed tilled The firste thou shalt forsake the euill custome which ye barbarous kings doe vse that is to wete to heape vp treasures and not to spende them For euery prince whiche is couetous of treasures is scarsely of capacitie to receiue good counsayle The seconde thou shalt not only banishe out of thy place but also out of thy courte all flatterers for the prince that is a frende of flatterers of necessitie must be an enemy of the truthe The thirde thou shalt ende the warres whiche thou at this present doest mainteine against the people of Corinthe for euery prince that loueth forayne warres must nedes hate the peace of his common wealth The fourth thou shalt bannishe from thy house all those Iugglers comediantes and minstrels for the prince which occupieth him selfe to heare vaine and trifling thinges in time of necessitie shall not applie him selfe to those whiche be of weight and importaunce Fiftly thou shalt prouide that all loiterers and vacaboundes be expulsed from thy persone and bannished thy palace for idlenes and negligence are cruell enemies of wysedome Sixtly thou shalt banish from thy court and palace al liers and sedicious men for when liers are suffered in the palace of princes it is a signe that the kyng and the realme falleth into vtter destruction The seuenth thou shalt promise that in al the daies of thy life thou shalt not presse me to receiue any thing of thee for the day that thou shalt corrupt me with giftes it is necessary that I corrupt thee with euill counsailes For ther is no counsel that is good but that whiche procedeth frō the man that is not couetous If on these conditions the king Cresus desireth the philosopher Anacharsis that philosopher Anacharsis desireth the king Cresus if not I had rather be a disciple of sage philosophers then a king of the barbarous people Vale felix rex Sith this letter doth declare it it is nedeles for my penne to write it that is to wete what was the humanitie goodnes of king Cresus to write vnto a poore philosopher howe great the courage of a philosopher was to despise the gold to say as he did in this behalfe Therefore let princes note here that such ought the sages to be they shold chose and let Sages note heare also vppon what conditions they oughte to enter into the pallace of princes For this is suche a bargayne that it seldome tymes
were Sinatus Sinoris whiche were by bloud cosins in familiaritie frendes and for the loue of a Grekes doughter being very noble beautifull and exceading gratious they both striued to haue her in mariage and for to attain to their desires they both serued her they both folowed her they both loued her and for her both of them desired to die For the dart of loue is as a stroke with a clod of earth the which being throwen amongest a company dothe hurte the one and blinde the others And as the fatal destinees had ordeined it Sinatus serued this lady called Camma in suche sorte that in the ende he obteined her in mariage for his lawfull wife whiche thing when Sinoris perceiued he was ashamed of his doinges was also wounded in his harte For he lost not only that which of so long time he had sought loued and serued but also the hope to attaine to that which chiefly in his life he desired Sinatus therfore seing that his wife Camma was noble meke gratious faire and louing and that in all thinges she was comely and well taught decreed to offer her to the goddesse Diana to the end that she would preserue her from peril and keape her from infamie Truly we cannot reproue the knight Sinatus for that he did nor we ought to note him for rashe in his counsel for he sawe that his wife was very faire and therfore much desired For with great difficultie that is kepte whiche of many is desired Though Camma was nowe married and that she was in the protectioÌ„ of the goddesse Diana yet notwithstanding her olde frend Sinoris died for her sake and by all meanes possible he serued her continually he importuned her daily he folowed her howerly he required her And all this he did vppon certayne hope he had that suche diligent seruice should suffice to make her chaunge her sacred mynde and as she had chosen Sinatus for her husbande openly so he thought she shoulde take him for her frend secretly For many women are as men without tast through sickenes the which eate more of that that is hurtful and forbidden then of that whiche is healthsome and commaunded Not without a cause Camma was greatly renowmed throughout all Galatia for her beautie and much more among the vertuous esteamed for her honestie The which euidently in this was sene that after she was maried Sinoris could neuer cause her to receiue any iewell or other gifte nor that she would heare him speake any worde nor that she would shew her selfe in the wyndowe either to him or to any other to the ende to be sene in the face For it is not sufficient for Ladies to be pure good but also to geue no occasion for men to iudge that if they durste they would be euill As it is true in dede that the harte which is intangled with loue dare boldely aduenture him selfe in many kynde of daungers to accomplishe that whiche he desired so Sinoris seing that with faire wordes he could not flatter her nor with any giftes wynne her determined to kyll Sinatus her husbande vpon hope that when she should be wydowe he might easely obteine her in matrimonie For he thought although Camma was not euyll it was not for that she wanted desier to do it but because she had no commodious place to accomplishe it And to be shorte Sinoris would neades execute and bryng to effect his deuellyshe and damnable intente so that sone after he vylie slewe his saide compaignion Sinatus After whose death the noble lady Camma was of Sinoris greatly desired and by his parentes muche importuned that she would condiscende to take and mary him and that she would forgyue him the death of her husband Sinatus whiche then was buried And as she was in all her doinges suche a princely woman she imagened with her selfe that vnder the pretence of mariage she might haue opportunitie to accomplishe her desiers wherfore she aunswered vnto his parentes that she did accepte their counsel and saide to Sinoris that she did choose him for her husbande speakyng these woordes more for to comforte him then with intente to pardon him And as amongest those of Galatia there was a custome that the newe maried folkes shoulde eate togethers in one dishe and drynke in one cuppe the daye that the mariage was celebrated Camma determined to prepare a cuppe with poyson and also a lute wherewith she began to playe and singe with her propre voyce before the goddesse Diana in this maner TO thée Dian whose endles reigne doth stretche Aboue the boundes of all the heauenly route And eke whose aide with royall hande to reche Chiefe of all gods is moste proclaimed oute I sweare and with vnspotted faith protest That though till nowe I haue reserud my breth For no entent it was but thus distrest With waylefull ende to wreke Senatus deth ¶ And if in mynde I had not thus decreed Wherto should I my pensife daies haue spent With longer dewle for that forepassed dede Whose ofte record newe sorowes still hath bent But oh synce him their kindled spite hath slaine With tender loue whom I haue waide so dere Synce he by fate is rest from fortunes rayne For whose decaye I dredelesse perishe here Synce him by whom my only lyfe I ledd Through wretched handes the gaping earth nowe haue Ought I by wyshe to lyue in eny stedd But closde with him togither in the graue O bright Dian synce senceles him I see And makeles I here to remaine alone Synce he is graude where greedy wormes nowe bee And I suruiue surmounted with my fone Synce he is prest with lumpes of wretched soyle And I thus chargd with flame of frosen care Thou knowest Dian howe harde with restles toyle Of hoote abhorring mynde my life I spare For howe can this vnquiet brest resarue The fainting breth that striues to drawe his last Synce that euen then my dieng harte did starue When my dead phere in swalowyng earth was cast The first black daye my husbande slept in graue By cruell sworde my lyfe I thought to spende And synce a thousande times I sought to haue A stretching corde my sorowes wrath to ende And if till nowe to wast my pining daies I haue deferde by slaughter of my hande It was but loe a fitter cause to raise Whereon his sharpe reuenge might iustly stande Now since I may in full suffising wyse Redeme his breath if waywarde will would let More depe offence by not reuenge might rise Then Sinoris erst by giltles bloud did get Thee therfore mightie Ioue I iustly craue And eke thy doughter chast in thankefull sorte That loe the offering whiche of my selfe ye haue Ye wil vouchesafe into your heauenly forte Synce Sinatus with soone enflamed eies Amongest the Achaian routes me chiefly â—ewed And eke amidst the prease of Grekes likewyse Chose for his phere when swetely he had sewed Synce at my will the froth of wasting welth With
gladsome mynde he trained was to spend Synce that his youth which slippeth loe by stelth To waite on me he freely did commend Since he such heapes of lingring harmes did wast Aye to contente my wanton youthly wil And that his breath to fade did passe so fast To glut their thrust that thus his bloud did spill Though great the dutie be which that I owe Vnto his graued ghost and â—indred moulde Yet loe me seames my duetie well I showe Perfourming that my feble power coulde For since for me vntwined was his threede Of giltles life that ought to purchase breath Can reasons doome conclude I ought to dreede For his decaye to clyme the steppes of death In wretched earth my father graued lyes My deere mother hath ronne her rase of life The pride of loue no more can dawnt mine eies My wasted goodes ar shronke by fortunes strife My honours sone eclipsed is by fate My yong delight is loe fordone by chaunce My broken life these passed happes so hate As can my graued hart no more aduaunce And nowe remaines to duetie with my phere No more but refuse loe my yrkesome life With willing mynde followed eke with drere Whiche I resigne as sitteth for a wife And thou Sinoris whiche Iunos yoke doest craue To presse my corps to feede thy liking lust The route of Homers gods the graunt to haue In steade of roiall feates a throne of dust In chaunge of costlie robes and riche araie A simple winding sheete they deigne the giue And eke in stede of honest wedlockes staie They singe thy dirge and not vouchsaue the liue In place of himens hie vnfiled bedde They laie thée vp in closure of thy graue In steed with precious meates for to be fedde They make the wormes for fitter praie thee haue In steed of songe and musikes tuned sowne They waite on thée with loude lamenting voice In chaunge of ioyfull life and hie renowne Thy cruell death may sprede with wretched noise For you great gods that stalled be on hie Should not be iust ne yet suche titles clame Vnles this wretche ye ruthles cause to die That liueth nowe to sclaunder of your name And thou Dian that haunted courtes doost shonne Knowst with what great delight this life I leaue And when the race of spending breath is donne Will perse the soile that did my phere receaue ¶ And if perchaunce the paled ghostes despise Suche fatall fine with grudge of thankeles minde Yet at the least the shamefast liuing eies Shall haue a glasse rare wysely giftes to finde Wherein I will that Lucres secte shall gase But none that lyue like Helens line in blase AND when the praier was ended that this faire and vertuous Camma made she dranke and gaue to drynke to Sinoris of this cuppe of poyson who thought to drynke no other but good wyne and water and the case was suche that he died at noone daies and she likewyse in the eueninge after And truly her death of all Grece with as great sorowe was lamented as her life of all men was desired Princesses and great Ladies may moste euidently perceiue by the examples herein conteyned howe honest and honourable it is for them to loue and endeuoure them selues to be beloued of their husbandes and that not onely in their lyfe but also after their deathe For the wyfe to serue her husbande in his life seameth oft tymes to proceade of feare but to loue and honour him in his graue proceadeth of loue Princesses and great Ladies ought not to doe that which many other women of the common people doe that is to wete to seke some drinkes and inuente some shamefull sorceries to be beloued of their husbandes for albeit it is a great burden of conscience and lacke of shame in lyke maner to vse such superstitions yet it should be a thing to vniust and very slaunderous that for to be beloued of their husbandes they should procure to bee hated of God Truly to loue to serue and contente God it is not hurtefull to the woman for that she should be the better beloued of her husbande but yet God hathe suffered and doth permitte oftetymes that the women beinge feble deformed poore and negligent should be better beloued of their husbandes then the diligent faire and ryche And this is not for the seruices they doe to their husbandes but for the good intention they haue to serue loue God whiche sheweth them this especiall fauour for otherwyse God doth not suffer that he being with her displeased she should lyue with her husbande contented If women would take this councell that I geue them in this case I wil teache them furthermore a notable enchauntement to obteine the loue of their husbandes whiche is that they be quiet meke pacient solitary and honest with which fiue herbes they may make a confection the which neither seene nor tasted of their husbands shal not onely cause them to be beloued but also honoured For women ought to knowe that for their beautie they are desyred but for their vertue onely they are beloued ¶ That Princesses and great Ladies ought to be obedient to their husbandes and that it is a great shame to the husbande that his wyfe should commaunde him Cap. vi MAny auncient historiographers trauailed greatly and consumed long tyme in wryting to declare what authoritie the man ought to haue ouer the woman and what seruitude the woman oweth to the man and some for to auaunce the dignitie of the man and others to excuse the frailtie of the woman alleged such vayne thinges that it had bene more honour for them not to haue written at all then in suche sorte as they did For it is not possible but the wryters should erre whiche wryte not as reason teacheth but rather as their fantasie leadeth Those that defende the frailtie of the women saied that the woman hath a body as a man she hath a soule as a man she hath reason as a man dieth as a man and was as necessarie for generation as man she liueth as a man and therefore they thought it not mete that she should be more subiect to man then man to her for it is not reason that that whiche nature hath made free should by any lawes of man be made bond They saide furthermore that God created not the creatours but to augmente the generation of mankinde and that in this case the woman was more necessary then the man for the man engendreth without payne or trauayle but the woman is deliuered with perill and daunger and with payne and trauayle norysheth vp the childe Wherfore it seameth great vnkindnes and crueltie that the women whiche are deliuered with peryll and daunger of their lyues and brynge vp their chyldren with laboure and toyle of their bodyes should be vsed of their husbandes as sclaues They sayed further that men are those that cursse that moue seditions that make warres that mayntayne enmytie that weare weapons that sheade mans bloude
to be simple so that it semeth not that they are mete to vysite the one the other but to loke accuse the one the other It is a straung thing for the sage woman to thinke that she shold take pleasure abroad since she hath her husband at home to whom she may talke hath her children to learne her doughters to teach her family to order and her goodes to gouerne she hath her house to kepe and her parentes whom she ought to please then synce she hath within her house such pastime why do they accept company of straunge men That maryed women should haue priuate frendes and loue to be vysited it foloweth oftentimes that god is offended the husband iniuried and the people slaundered the woman that is maried taketh lytle profite it hindereth the mariage of her that is to mary For in such a case thoughe some desire her for her riches yet mo wyl forsake her for her euyl fame ¶ That women great with child inspecially the Princesses great Ladyes ought to be very circumspect for the daunger of the creatures wherein is shewed many misfortunes happened to women with child in the old tyme for suffering them to haue their willes Cap. ix ONe of the most necessary things for him that taketh in hand any great iorney ouer any daūgerous countries is at that the beginnyng he ought to learne the way which he ought to go for it is a thing no lesse troublesome then perillous that when he should come to rest of necessity he shold be enforced to trauel No man can denay but that mans lyfe is a long and tedious iorney the which beginneth at our birth endeth at our death for in the end to haue a long or short life is none other but to come soner or later to the graue The chiefest folly of al in mine opinion is this that some in their owne opinions thinke they haue counsel enough for others and to all others it semeth that they want for them selues For of right he may be called a foole that condemneth all other as fooles and auaunceth himselfe to be wise Euery man ought to let his neighbour lyue in peace and though he do esteame himselfe to be wise yet he oughte not to thinke his neighbour a foole for ther is none so wyse but that he may occupie it all For we neuer saw any man so wise of himselfe but that he neaded the counsel of an other And if this want be in those that be very old truly it is much more in them that be yong whose fleshe is not dry but grene the bloud not cold but hote no deadly heate but very liuely the bestial mocions not mortifyed but quickned and hereof ensueth that yong men loue their owne aduyce and opynion and dyspise the counsaile of all other When the trees are tender they bynde theym togethers bycause they grow right they brydel the horse when as yet they are but coltes to the end they may be easy hereafter to the brydel They take the haukes in the neast to make them more famyliar when the beastes are litle they take them to teach them I meane that a man ought to instruct his children to the end they may know to liue wel here after I admonish and tel the mothers that haue doughters that ther is no remedy to reforme the euil inclinacion of our children but to teach them and to bring them vp wel in their youth for ther is no wound but is daungerous if in tyme the playster be not layd therunto Returnyng now to our purpose synce that in al thyngs ther is order and measure we wil declare presently how the male child ought to be taught first of al we wil treat how a man ought to prouide when the infant is begotten and when as yet it is alyue in the mothers wombe to the entente Princesses and great Ladyes should lyue very circumspectlye when they know they are conceyued with child I should be excused to speake of this matter since it is not my profession and that as yet I was neuer maried but by that I haue red of some and by that I haue hard of others I will and dare be so bold to say one word For the sage oft times geueth a better accompt of that he hath red then the simple doth of that he hath proued Thys thing seameth to be true betwene the phisicion and the pacient for wher the pacient suffereth the euyl he oft tymes demaundeth the physicion what his sicknes is wher it holdeth him and what it is called and what remedy ther is for his disease so the phisicion knoweth more by his scyence then the pacient by hys exsperience A man ought not to denay that the women and in especially great ladyes know not by experience how they are altered when they are quycke and the great paynes they suffer when they are deliuered we could not denay but that ther is great daunger in the one greate peril in the other but they shal not knowe from whence al commeth and from whence al procedeth and what remedy is necessary For there are many which complayneth of robberyes but they know not what the theaues are that haue robbed them First according to my iudgement and opinyon that which the woman quicke with childe ought to do is that they go softly quietly and that they eschue running eyther in commyng or goyng for though she lytel esteme the helth of her person yet she ought greatly to regard the lyfe of the creature The more precious the licour is and the more weaker the vessell is which conteyneth it so much the more they ought to feare the daunger least the licoure shed and the vessel breake I meane that the complection of women being with child is very delicate and that the soule of the creature is precious therfore it ought with great diligence to be preserued for al the treasure of the Indes is not equal in valewe to that which the woman beareth in her bowelles Whan a man plāteth a vineyard forthwith he maketh a ditch or some fence about it to the end that beastes shold not croppe it while it is yong nor that trauailers shold gather the grapes when they are ripe And if the labourer doth this thing for to get a litel wine only the which for the soule and body is not alwayes profitable how much more circumspection ought the woman to haue to preserue her chyld since she shall render an accompte to the creator of her creature vnto the church of a christyan and vnto her husband of a child In my opinyon wher the accompt at the houre of death is so streight it is requisite that in the time of her life she be circumspect for god knoweth euery thinge so well in oure lyfe that ther is none that can begile hym in rendering hys accompt at his death Ther is no wighte can suffer nor hart dyssemble to see
as one but men do tourne from vice to vertue from vertue to vice The good Emperour Marcus Aurelius did deuid the time by time so that though he had time for him selfe he had time lykewise to dispatche his owne and others affaires for the man that is willing in a small time dispatcheth much busynes the man which is necligent in a longe tyme doth lytel This was the order that the Emperour Marcus Aurelius toke in spendyng his time He slepte .7 houres in the nighte and one hower reasted hym selfe in the day In dyning and suppynge he consumed onely .2 howers and it was not for that he toke great pleasure to be longe in eatinge but bycause the philosophers whyche disputed before his presence were occasion to prolonge the time For in .17 yeares they neauer saw hym at meate but one or other redde vnto him some booke or elles the philosophers reasoned before hym philophye As he hadde manye realmes and prouinces so he appointed one hower for the affaires of Asia for Affryke one hower and for Europe another hower and for the conuersacion of his wife children and family he appointed other .2 howers of time he had another hower for extraordinary affaires as to here the complaintes of the greued the quarrelles of the poore the complaintes of the widowes and the robberies done to the orphanes For the mercifull prince geueth no lesse eare vnto the poore which for want can doe lytell then to the riche which for aboundance can do much He occupyed all the residew of the day and night to rede bokes write workes to make meter and in studyng of other antiquities to practyse with the sage and to dyspute with the philosophers and fynally he toke no tast of any thing so muche as he dyd to talke of science Vnlesse the cruell warres dyd let hym or suche lyke affaires troubled him ordynarily in winter he went to bed at .9 of the clocke and awaked at .4 and bycause he would not be idle he had alway a boke vnder his beddes hed and the residue of the day he bestowed in readyng The romans had an auncient custome to beare fyer before them that is to wete a torche lyghte in the daye and a lampe burnyng in the night in their chambers so that wakyng they burned waxe and fleapyng they hourned oyle And the cause why the Romans ordeyned that the oyle should be made of olyue and the waxe made of bees which was vsed to be borne before the princes was to the end they should remember that they ought to be as gentell and louing as the oyle of Olyue is swete and as profytable to the common wealth as the Bees are He did rise at .6 of the clocke and made him selfe ready openlye and with a gentle countenaunce he asked them that were about hym wherin they had spente all the nyght and declared vnto them then what he had dreamed what he had thought and what he had red when he was readye he washed his face with odiferous waters and loued veray wel swete sauoures For he had so quycke a sent that he was much offended when he passed by any stincking place In the mornyng he vsed to eate .2 morsels of a lectuary made of Sticades and dranke .3 sponefulls of maluesey or els two droppes of Aqua Vite bycause he had a colde stomacke for that he gaue hym selfe so muche to studye in tymes past We se it by experience that the greate studentes are persecuted more with sycknes then any others for in the swetenes of the scyence they knowe not how their lyfe consumeth If it were in the sommer season he went in the mornyng to recreate him selfe to the ryuer of Tiber and walked there a fote for .2 howers and in this place they talked with hym that had busines and trulye it was a great policie for wher as the Prince doeth not syt the sewtour alwayes abridgeth his talke And when the day began to wax hot he went to the hight capitol where al the Senate taried for him from thence he went to the Coliseo wher the imbassadours of the prouinces wer there remained a great part of the day afterwardes he went to the chappel of the vestal virgines ther he hard euery nation by it selfe accordyng to the order which was prescribed He dyd eate but one meale in the daye it was veray late but he did eate wel not of many diuers sortes of meates but of fewe and good For the aboundaunce of diuerse and straunge meates breadeth sondry dysseases They sawe him once a weke go thoroughe Rome and if he wente anye more it was a wonder at the whyche tyme he was alwayes without companie both of his owne and also of straungers to thentente all poore men myghte talke with him of their busines or complaine of his officers for it is vnpossible to reforme the common wealthe if he which ought to remedy it be not informed of the iniuryes done in the same He was so gentle in conuersacion so pleasaunt in wordes so noble amongest the great so equall with the least so reasonable in that he dyd aske so persyte in that he dyd worke so patiēt in iniuries so thankefull of benefittes so good to the good and so seuere to the euill that all loued him for beyng good and all the euill feared him for being iuste A man oughte not lytell to esteme the loue that the people bare to this so good a Prince and noble Emperour forsomuch as the Romans haue bene thus that for the felicitye of their estate they offered to their gods greater sacryfyce then they dyd in any other prouinces And Sextus Cheronensis sayeth that the Romains offered more sacrifyces to the gods because they should lengthen the lyfe of the Emperour then they dyd offer for the profyte of the common wealthe Trulye their reason was good for the Prynce that leadeth a good lyfe is the harte of the common wealthe But I doe not maruaile that the Emperour was so well wylled and beloued of the Romayn empire for he had neuer porter to hys chamber but the .2 howers which he remained with his wyfe Faustine Al this beyng past the good Emperour went into his house into the secretest place he had accordyng to the councel of Lucius Seneca they key whereof he alone had in his custodye and neuer trusted any man therwith vntyll the hower of hys death and then he gaue it to an old auncient man called Pompeianus sayeng vnto hym these wordes Thou knowest ryght wel Pompeianus that thou beyng base I exalted the to honor Thou beyng poore I gaue the riches Thou being persecuted I drewe the to my pallas I beyng absente committed my hole honoure to thy trust thou beyng old I maryed the with my doughter and doe presently gyue the this key Behold that in geuing the it I giue the my harte lyfe For I will thou know that death greueth me not so much nor the losse of my
is as yet vnborne and dead it is a wonderfull thinge for a man that wil curiously note and marke thinges to see the brute beastes that all the tyme they bryng vp their litell ones they will not consent to accompanie with the males nor the males wil follow the females and that that is most to be noted yet is to see what passith betwene byrdes for the she sparrowe will not suffer the male in any wise to towche or come nere her till her litle ones be great and able to flye and moch lesse to sit apon any egges to hatch them till the other be fled and gone Plurarche in the .vii. of his regiment of princes saieth that Gneus Fuluius Cosin germain of Pompeius beyng consull in Rome fell in loue with a yong mayden of Capua being an orphane whether he fled for the plague This maiden was called Sabina when she was great with child by this consull she brought forth a doughter whom they called faire Drusia and truly she was more coÌ„mended for her beautie theÌ„ for her honesty For oftetimes it happeneth that the faire and dishonest women leue their children so euyll taught that of their mothers they inherite litel goods much dishonour This Sabina therfore being deliuered as it was the custome of Rome she did with her owne brestes nourish her doughter Drusia during that which time she was gotten with chyld by one of the knightes of this Consul to whom as to hys seruaunt he had geuen her to kepe Wherfore when the Consull was hereof aduertised and that notwithstandyng she gaue her doughter sucke he commaunded that the knight should be immediatly beheded his louer Sabina forthwith to be cast into a wel The day of execution came that both these parties should suffer wherfore the wofull Sabina sent to beseche the consul that it would please him before her death to geue her audience of one sole word that she would speake vnto hym the which being come in the presence of them all she sayed vnto him O Gneus Fuluius knowe thou I did not cal the to th ende thou shuldest grauÌ„t me lyfe but because I would not dye before I had sene thy face thoughe thou of thy selfe shuldest remember that as I am a fraile woman and fel into sin with the in Capua so I might fal now as I haue done with another in Rome For we women are so fraile in this case during the time of this our miserable life that none can keape her selfe sure from the assaultes of the weake fleash The coÌ„sul Gneus Fuluius to these wordes aunswered the gods immortal knoweth Sabina what grefe it is to my wofull harte that I of thy secret offence shuld be an open scourge For greater honesty it is for men to hyde your frailnes then openly to punyshe your offences But what wilt thou I should do in this case considering the offence thou hast comitted by the immortal gods I sweare vnto the againe I sweare that I had rather thou shouldest secreatly haue procured the death of some man then that openly in thys wise thou should haue slaundered my house For thou knowest the true meaning of the common prouerbe in rome It is better to die in honour then to liue in infamie And thinke thou not Sabina that I do codemne the to die because thou forgotest thy faieth vnto my person and that thou gauest thy self to hym whiche kepte the for sinse thou werte not my wyfe the libertie thou haddest to come with me froÌ„ Capua to Rome the selfe same thou haddest to go with another froÌ„ rome to Capua It is an euil thing for vitious men to reproue the vices of others wherin they theÌ„ selues are faultie The cause why I coÌ„dempne the to die is for the remeÌ„braunce of the old law the which coÌ„maundeth that no nourse or woman geuyng sucke should on paine of death be begotten with child truly the law is veray iust For honest women do not suffer that in geuyng her child sucke at her breast she should hide another in her intrailes These wordes passed betwene Gneus Fuluius the consul and the ladye Sabina of Capua Howbeit as Plutarche saieth in that place the consul had pitie vpon her shewed her fauoure banishyng her vpon condicion neuer to retourne to Rome againe Cinna Catullus in the forth boke of the .xxii. consulles saieth that Caius Fabricus was on of the most notable consulles that euer was in rome was sore afflicted with disseases in his life onely because he was nouryshed .iiii. monethes with the milke of a nource being great with child for feare of this they locked the nource with the child in the teÌ„ple of the vestal virgines wherfor the space of .iii. yeres they wer kepte They demauÌ„ded the consul why he did not nourish his children in his house he aunswered the children being nourished in the house it might be an occasion that the nource should be begotten with child and so she should distroye the children with her corrupt milke furder should geue me occasion to doe iustice vpon her person wherfore keaping them so shut vp we are occasion to preserue their lyfe and also oure children from peril Diodorus Siculus in his librarie and Sextus Cheronensis sayth in the life of Marcus Aurelius that in the Isles of Baleares ther was a custome that the nources of yong children whether they were their owne or others should be seuered from their husbandes for the space of .ii. yeares And the woman whych at that tyme though it were by her husbande were with child though they did not chastice her as an adultresse yet euery man spake euill of her as of an offender Duryng the tyme of these ii yeres to the end the husband should take no other wife they commaunded that he shold take a concubine or that he should bye a slaue whose companye he myghte vse as hys wyfe for amongest these barbarous he was honoured most who had .ii. wyues the one with childe and thother not By these examples aboue recyted Princesses and great Ladies may see what watche and care they ought to take in chousyng their nources that they be honest sinse of theÌ„ dependeth not onlye the healthe of their chyldren but also the good fame of their houses The seuenth condicion is that princesses and great Ladyes ought to see their nources haue good condicions so that they be not troblesome proude harlots lyers malicious nor flatterers for the viper hath not so muche poyson as the woman whyche is euell conditioned It litell auayleth a man to take wyne from a woman to entreate her to eate litel and to withdraw her from her husband if of her owne nature she be hatefull and euell maâ—â—red for it is not so great daunger vnto the child that the nource be a dronckard or a Glutton as it is if she be harmefull and malicious If perchaunce the nource that nourisheth the chylâ—e be euell conditioned trulye she is euell troubeled
as he sayd that the tongue is moued by the mocions of the soule that he whiche had no tongue had no soule And he which hath no soule is but a brute beast and he that is a beast deserueth to serue in the fields among brute beasts It is a good thing not to be domme as bruyte beastes are and it is a greater thing to speake as the reasonable men do but it is muche more worthye to speake wel as the eloquent philosophers do For otherwise if he which speaketh doth not wey the sentences more then the wordes ofte tymes the popingayes shal content them more which are in the cage then the men which do read in scooles Iosephus in the booke De bello Iudaico saith that king Herode not onely with his personne and goodes but also with all his frendes and parentes folowed and gaue ayde to Marcus Anthonius and to his louer Cleopatra howbeit in the end Octauian had the vyctorie For the man which for the loue of a woman doth enterprise conquestes it is impossible that eyther he loose not his lyfe or els that he lyue not in infamy Herode seing that Marcus Anthonius was dead determyned to go towardes the Emperour Octauian at whose feete he layd his crowne and made a notable oration wherein he spake so pleasaunt wordes and so hyghe sentences that the Emperour Octauian did not only pardon him for that he was so cruell an enemye but also he confirmed him againe into his Realme and toke him for his deare and special frend For among the good men and noble hartes many euil workes are amended by a few good words If Blundus in the booke intituled Roma triumphante do not deceiue me Pirrus the great king of the Epirotes was stout and hardy valiaunt in armes liberal in benefites pacient in aduersityes and aboue al renowmed to be very swete in wordes and sage in his aunswers They sayd that this Pirrus was so eloquent that the man with whom once he had spoken remayned so much his that from that time foreward in his absence he toke his part and declared his life and state in presence The aboue named Blundus saied and Titus Liuius declareth the same that as the Romaynes were of al things prouided seing that king Pirrus was so eloquent they prouided in the senate that no Romaine Embassadour shold speake vnto him but by a third person for otherwise he would haue perswaded them through his sweate woordes that they shoulde haue retourned againe to Rome as his procurers Soliciters Albeit Marcus Tullius Cicero was Senatour in the Senate consul in the Empire rich amongest the rich and hardy amongest men of warre yet truly none of these qualyties caused him eternal memorie but only his excellent eloquēce This Tullius was so estemed in Rome for the eloquence of his tongue only that oft times they hard hym talke in the Senate iii. houres togethers without any man speakinge one word And let not this be lytle estemed nor lightly passed ouer for worldlye malyce is of such condicion that some man may more easely speake 4. howers then another man shal haue pacience to heare him one minute Anthonius Sabellicus declareth that in the time of Amilcares the Affricans a Philosopher named Afronio florished in great Carthage who being of the yeres of 81. dyed in the first yeare of the warres of Punica They demaunded this Phylosopher what it was that he knew he aunswered He knew nothing but to speake wel They demaunded him againe what he learned he aunswered He did learne nothinge but to speake wel Another time they demaunded him what he taught he aunswered He taught nothing but to speake wel Me thinketh that this good phylosopher in 80. yeres and one said that he learned nothing but to speake wel he knew nothing but to speake wel that he taught nothing but to speake wel And truly he had reasō for the thing which most adorneth mans life is the sweate pleasaunte tongue to speake wel What is it to see ii men in one councel the one talking to the other the one of them hath an euyll grace in propounding and thother excellent in speaking Of such there are some that in hearing theym talke .iii. houres we would neither be trobled nor weryed and of the contrarie part there are others so tedyous and rude in their speache that as sone as men perceiue they beginne to speake they auoyde the place And therfore in mine opinyon ther is no greater trouble thenne to herken one quarter of an houre a rude man to speake and to be contrarye ther is no greater pleasure thenne to heare a dyscreate man though it were a whole weke The deuyne Plato in the Booke of Lawes sayd that there is nothynge whereby a manne is knowen more thenne by the woordes he speaketh for of the woordes whyche we heare hym speake we iudge his intention eyther to be good or euil Laertius in the lyfe of the Phylosophers sayeth that a yong child borne at Athens was brought vnto Socrates the great phylosopher being in Athens to the end he shold receiue him into his company teach him in his scoole The yong chyld was straunge and shamefaste and durst not speake before his maister wherfore the philosopher Socrates said vnto him speake frend if thou wilt that I know the. This sentence of Socrates was very profound and I pray him that shal reade this wryting to pause a while therat For Socrates wil not that a man be knowen by the gesture he hath but by the good or euyl wordes which he speaketh Though eloquence and speaking wel to euery man is a cause of augmenting their honour and no dimynissher of their goodes yet withoute comparison it shineth muche more and is most necessarie in the pallaces of Prynces and great Lordes For men which haue common offices ought of necessity harken to his naturall contrymen also to speake with straungers Speking therfore more plainly I say that the Prince ought not to trauaile only to haue eloquence for the honour of his person but also it behoueth him for the comon wealth For as the prince is but one and is serued of all so it is vnpossible that he haue so much as wil satisfye and content them al. And therfore it is necessarie that he requyte some mith money that he content others with good wordes For the noble hart loueth better a gentle worde then a reward or gift with the tongue of a rude man Plato Liuius Herodotus Vulpicius Eutropius Diorus Plynie and many other innumerable auncient historyographers do not cease to prayse the eloquence of greeke princes and latynes in their workes O how blessed were those tymes when ther were sage princes and discrete lords truly they haue reason to exalt them For many haue obteyned and wonne the royal crounes and septures of the Empire not so much for the great battailes they haue conquered nor for the highe bloud and generacion from whence
be beleued for the saying of the graue authours on the one parte and by that we dayly see on the other parte For in the ende it is more pleasure to heare a man tell mery tales hauing grace and comlines in his wordes then to heare a graue man speake the truthe with a rude and rough tongue I haue founde in many wrytinges what they haue spoken of Pithagoras and his doughter but none telleth her name saue only in a pistle that Phalaris the tyraunt wrate I fouÌ„d this word written where he saith Polichrata that was the doughter of the philosopher Pithagoras was young and exceading wyse more faire then riche and was so much honoured for the puritie of her life and so high estemed for her pleasaunt tongue that the worde which she spake spinning vpon her distaffe was more estemed then the philosophy that her father red in the schole And he sayd more It is so great a pitie to see and heare that women at this present are in their life so dishonest in their tongues so malicious that I haue greater pleasure in the good renowme of one that is dead then in the infamie of all them which are aliue For a good woman is more worth with her distaffe spinning then a hundred euel queenes with their roiall scepters reigning By the wordes which Phalaris saied in his letter it seamed that this doughter of Pithagoras was called Polichrate Pithagoras therefore made many commentaries as wel of his owne countrey as of straungers In the end he died in Mesopotamia where at the houre of his death he spake vnto his doughter Polichrate saied these wordes I see my doughter that the houre wherein I must ende my life approcheth The Gods gaue it me and nowe they wil take it from me nature gaue me birth now she geueth me death the earth gaue me the body and now it retourneth to ashes The woful fatall destinies gaue me a litle goodes mingled with manie trauailes so that doughter of all thinges which I enioyed in this world I cary none with me for hauing all as I had it by the waye of borowyng nowe at my death eche man taketh his owne I die ioyfully not for that I leaue thee riche but for that I leaue thee learned And in token of my tender harte I bequethe vnto the al my bookes wherin thou shalt finde the treasure of my trauailes And I tel thee that that I geue thee is the riches gotten with mine owne sweat and not obtained to the preiudice of an other For the loue I beare vnto thee doughter I pray thee and by the immortall gods I coniure thee that thou be such so good that althoughe I die yet at the least thou mayst kepe my memory for thou knowest wel what Hoâ—ere saieth speaking of Achilles and Pirrus that the good life of the childe that is aliue keapeth the renowme of the father that is dead These were the wordes which this philosopher spake vnto his doughter lieng in his death bed And though perhaps he spake not these wordes yet at the least this was the meaning As the great poet Mantuan saieth king Euander was father of the giant Pallas and he was a great frende of king Eneas he vaunted him selfe to discend of the linage of the Troyans and therfore when king Eneas prince Turnus had great warres betwene them which of them should haue the princesse Lauinia in mariage the which at that time was only heire of Italy king Euander ayded Eneas not only with goodes but also sending him his owne sonne in persone For the frendes ought for their true frendes willingly to shed their bloud in their behalfe without demauÌ„ding thei ought also to spend their goods This king Euander had a wyfe so well learned that that which the Grekes saied of her semeth to be fables That is to say of her eloquence wisdome for they say that if that which this woman wrote of the warres of Troye had not bene through enuy cast into the fire the name of Homere had at this day remained obscure The reason hereof is because the woman was in the time of the destruction of Troy and wrate as a witnes of sight These wordes passed betwene the Romaine Calphurnius and the poet Cornificius I desire to declare the excellency of those fewe auncient women as wel Grekes as Latines Romaines to thintent that princesses and great ladies may knowe that the auncient women were more esteamed for their sciences then for their beauties Therefore the princesses and great Ladies ought to thinke that if they be women they were also in lyke maner and if they be frayle the others were also weake If they be maried the other also had husbandes if they haue their wylles the other had also what they wanted if they be tender the others were not strong Finally they ought not to excuse them selues saying that for to learne women are vnmete For a woman hath more abilitie to learne sciences in the scholes then the Parate hath to speake wordes in the cage In my opinion princesses great ladies ought not to esteame theÌ„selues more then an other for that they haue fairer heares then other or for that they are better appareled then an other or that they haue more ryches then an other But they ought therfore to esteame them selues not for that they can doe more then others To say the truth the faire and yelow heares the riche and braue apparel the great treasures the sumptuous palaces and strong buildinges these and other like pleasures are not guides and leaders to vertues but rather spies scout watches for vices O what a noble thinge were it that the noble ladies would esteme them selues not for that they can doe but for that that they knowe For it is more commendation to knowe howe to teache twoo philosophers then to haue authoritie to commaunde a hundred knightes It is a shame to write it but it is more pitie to see it that is to wete to read that we read of the wisdome and worthines of the auncient matrones paste and to see as we doe see the frailenes of these younge ladies present For they coueted to haue disciples both learned and experimented and these of this present desire nothing but to haue seruauntes not only ignoraunt but deceitful and wicked And I do not marueile seing that which I se that at this present in court she is of litle value lest estemed among ladies which hath fairest seruauntes is lest enterteined of gentlemen What shall I say more in this matter but that they in times past striue who should write better compile the best bookes and these at this presente doe not striue but who shal haue the richest and most sumptuous apparel For the ladies thinke it a iolier matter to weare a gown of a new fachion then the auncientes did to read a lesson of philosophie The auncient ladies striue whiche of them was
the negligence of the fathers in bringing vp their childrē Sextus Cheronensis in the second boke of the sainges of the Philosophers declareth that a citezen of Athens sayed on daye to Dyogenes the Phylosopher these wordes Tel me Diogenes what shall I doe to be in the fauour of the gods and not in the hatred of men for oft tymes amonges you Philosophers I haue hard saye that there is great difference betwene that that the Goddes wil and that which men loue Diogenes aunswered Thou speakest more then thoughtest to speake that the gods will one thinge and men another for the gods are but as a center of mercy and men are but as a denne of malice if thou wilte inioye rest in thy dayes and keape thy lyfe pure and cleane thou must obserue these thre thinges The first honour thy gods deuoutly For the man which doeth not serue and honour the gods in all his enterprises he shal be vnfortunate The second be very diligent to bring vp thy children well For the man hath no enemy so troublesome as his owne son if he be not wel brought vp The third thyng be thankefull to thy good benefactours and frendes For the Oracle of Apollo sayeth that the man who is vnthankefull of all the worlde shal be abhorred And I tell the further my frend that of these thre thinges the most profitable though it be more troblesome is for a manne to teache and bring vp his children well This therefore was the aunswere that the Philosopher Diogenes made to the demaunde of the Cytezen It is great pytie and griefe to see a yonge child how the bloud doth stirre him to se how the fleshe doth prouoke him to accomplishe his desire to se sensualyte go before and he himselfe to come behinde to se the malicious world to watche him to se howe the deuill doth tempt him to se how vyces bynde him and in all that whych is spoken to se how the father is negligent as if he had no children wher as in deed the old man by the few vertues that he hath had in his youth may easely know the infirmites and vices wherewith his sonne is compassed If the expert had neuer ben ignoraunt if the fathers had neuer ben children if the vertuous had neuer ben vicious if the fyne wittes had neuer ben deceiued it were no meruaile if the Fathers were negligent in teachyng their children For the lytell experience excuseth men of great offences but synce thou arte a father and that fyrst thou were a sonne synce thou arte old and hast ben yong and besides al this synce that pride hath enflamed the lechery hath burned the wrath hath wounded the negligēce hath hindred the couetousnes hath blinded the and glotonie surfeted the tell me cruell father since so manye vices haue reigned in the why hast thou not an eye to thy childe whom of thy owne bloud thou hast begotten And if thou doest it not bycause he is thy childe thou oughtest to do it bycause he is thy nearest For it is vnpossible that the child whych with many vyces is assaulted and not succoured but in the end he should be infamed and to the dishonour of the father most wickedly ouercome It is vnpossible to kepe flesh well fauored vnlesse it be first salted It is vnpossible that the fishe should liue without water It is vnpossible but that the Rose should wyther whiche is of the thorne ouergrowen So like it is vnpossible that the fathers should haue any comforte of their chyldren in their age vnlesse they haue instructed them in vertue in their youth And to speake further in this matter I saye that in the Christian catholike religion where in dede there is good doctrine ther alwayes is supposed to be a good conscience Amongest the wryters it is a thinge well knowen howe Eschines the philosopher was banished from Athens and with all his family came to dwell at Rhodes The occasion was because that he and the philosopher Demosthenes were in great contention in the common wealth Wherefore the Athenians determined to banish the one and to keape the other with them And truly they dyd well for of the contentions and debates of sages warres most commonly aryse amongest the people This philosopher Eschines being at Rhodes banished amongest others made a solempne oration wherein he greatly reproueth the Rhodians that they were so negligente in brynging vp their children saiyng vnto them these wordes I let you vnderstande Lordes of Rhodes that your predecessours aduaunced them selues to discende and to take their beginning of the Lides the whiche aboue all other nations were curious and diligent to bring vp their children and hereof came a lawe that was among them which sayed We ordeine and commaunde that if a father haue many chyldren that the moste vertuous should enherite the goods and riches and if there were but one vertuous that he alone should inherite the whole And if perchaūce the children were vitious that then al should be depriued from the heritage For the goods gotten with trauaile of vertuous fathers ought not by reason to be inherited with vitious children These were the wordes that the philosopher spake to the Senate of the Rhodes and because he sayde in that Oration many other thinges whiche touche not our matter I wyll in this place omitte them For among excellent wryters the wryting loseth muche authoritie when the authour from his purpose digresseth into an other matter To saye the truthe I doe not maruayle that the children of princes and great lordes be adulterers and belly gods for that on the one parte youth is the mother of Idlenes and on the other litle experience is the cause of great offences And furthermore the fathers being once dead the children enherite their goodes as quietly being loden with vices as if in dede they were with all vertues endued If the younge children did knowe for a certaine that the lawes of the Lydes should be obserued that is to witte that they shoulde not enherite vnlesse they be vertuous it is vnpossible but that they would leade a good life and not in this wyse to runne at large in the worlde For they doe absteine more from doing euill fearyng to lose that whiche they doe possesse then for any loue to doe that whiche they ought I doe not denaye but according as the natures of the fathers is dyuers so the inclinations of the chyldren are variable For so muche as some folowyng their good inclination are good others not resisting euil sensualities are euill But yet in this matter I saye that it lieth muche in the father that doeth brynge them vp when as yet they are younge so that the euill whiche nature gaue by good bryngyng vp is refrayned For oftetymes the good custome doeth ouercome all euill inclination Princes and great lordes that wylbe diligent in the instruction of their chyldren ought to enforme their maisters and tutors that shall teache theim to what vyces and
of Athens no vycious man could enter nor idle word be spoken neither they dyd consent that any ignoraunt philosopher should come in to read there As by chaunce many phylosophers were come from the mout Olimpus amongest the residue ther was one came to se the phylosophers of Athens who was natife of Thebes a man as afterwards he declared him selfe in mortal natural Phylosophy very wel learned and since he desired to remayne in Athens he was examined and of many and dyuers thyngs demaunded And amongest the others these folowing were some of them Firste they asked him what causeth women to be so frowarde since it is true that nature made them shamefast and created them simple the Philosopher aunswered A Woman is not frowarde but bycause she hath to much her wil and wanteth shame Secondarily they asked him why yong men are vndone he aunswered bycause time aboundeth them for to do euil and maysters wanteth to enforce them to do good Thirdly they asked him why are wise men deceyued aswel as the simple he aunswered The wise man is neuer deceyued but by him that vseth faire words and hath euil condicions Forthly they asked him of whom mē ought most to beware he aunswered That ther is to a man no greater enemye then he which seeth that thing in the which he desireth to haue in him selfe Fifthly they asked him why many princes beginne wel and end euil he aunswered princes begin wel bycause their nature is good they end euil bycause no man doth gaine say them Sixtly they asked him why do princes comit such follyes he aunswered Bicause flatterers aboundeth that deceiue them true men wanteth which should serue them Seuenthly they asked him why the auncients were so sage men at thys present so simple he aunswered Bycause the auncients did not procure but to know they present do not trauaile but for to haue Eightly they asked him why so many vyces were nourished in the pallace of princes he aunswered Bycause pleasures abound and councel wanteth The ninth they asked him why the most part of mē liued without rest few without paine he aunswered No man is more without suffereth more paine thē he which dieth for the goods of another litle estemeth his owne The tenth they asked him wherby they myght know the common wealth to be vndone he aunswered There is no comon wealth vndone but where the yong are light and the old vicious The xi they asked him wherwith the comon wealth is mainteyned he aunswered The common wealth cannot decay wher iustice remayneth for the poore punishment for the tiraunts weight and measure plentiful chefely if ther be good doctrine for the yong lytle couetousnes in the old Affro the historiographers declareth this in the x boke De rebus attheniensium Truly in my opinion the words of this philosopher were few but the sentences were many And for none other cause I dyd bring in this history but to profite me of the last word wherin for aunswere he saith that al the profite of the commō wealth consisteth in that ther be princes that restrayne the auarice of the aged that there be maisters to teach the youthful We se by experience that if the brute beasts were not tied the corne seedes compassed with hedges or ditches a man should neuer gather the fruite when they are ripe I meane that strife debate wil rise continually amonge the people if the yonge men haue not good fathers to correct them wise maisters to teach them We cānot deny but though the knife be made of fyne steele yet sometimes it hath nede to be whet so in lyke maner the yong man during the time of his youth though he do not deserue it yet from time to time he ought to be corrected O princes great lords I know not of whom you take councell when your sonne is borne to prouyde him of a maister gouernour whom you chose not as the most vertuous but as the most richest not as the most sagest but as the most vile euil taught Finally you do not trust him wyth your children that best deserueth it but that most procureth it Againe I say O princes great lords why do you not wtdraw your childrē from their hands which haue their eyes more to their owne profite thē their harts vnto your seruice For such to enrich themselues do bring vp princes vyciously Let not princes thinke that it is a trifle to know how to find chose a good master the lord which herein doth not employ his dyligence is worthy of great rebuke And because they shal not pretend ignoraunce let them beware of that man whose life is suspicious and extreame couetous In my opinion in the palace of princes the office of tutorship ought not to begeuen as other comon offices that is to wete by requestes or money by priuyties or importunities eyther els for recompence of seruices for it foloweth not though a man hath ben imbassadour in straunge realmes or captaine of great armies in warre or that he hath possessed in the roial palace offices of honour or of estemaciō that therfore he should be able to teach or bring vp their children For to be a good captayne sufficeth only to be hardy and fortunate but for to be a tutour and gouernour of princes he ought to be both sage and vertuous ¶ Of the ii children of Marcus Aurelius the Emperour of the which the best beloued dyed And of the maisters he prouided for the other named Comodus ▪ Chap. xxxv MArcus Aurelius the xvii Emperour of Rome in that time that he was maried with Faustine only doughter of the Emperour Antonius Pius had only ii sonnes wherof the eldest was Comodus and the second Verissimus Of these ii chyldren the heyre was Comodus who was so wycked in the 13 yeres he gouerned the empire that he semed rather the disciple of Nero the cruel then to descend by the mothers syde from Anthonius the mercifull or sonne of Marcus Aurelius This wicked chyld Comodus was so light in speach so dishonest in parson so cruel with his people that oft tymes he being aliue they layed wagers that ther was not one vertue in him to be found nor any one vyce in him that wanted On the contrary part the second sonne named Verissimus was comely of gesture proper of personne in witte verye temperate the most of al was that by his good conuersacion of al he was beloued For the faire and vertuous princes by theyr beauty draweth vnto them mens eyes by their good conuersacion they winne their harts The child Verissimus was the hope of the comon people the glory of his aged father so that the Emperour determined that this chyld Verissimus shold be heyre of the Empire and that the prince Comodus should be disherited Wherat no man ought to maruaile for it is but iust since the child
this the good Emperour aunswered my frend I saye thou art much deceaued For to the sacred Senate wherein there are so many sages I would leade all the fooles to the ende they might become wise and to the Theaters where all the fooles are I would bring the sages to the ende to teache them wisedome Truly this sentence was fit for him that spake it I admonishe princes and great lordes that in steade to kepe company with fooles flatterers parasites they prouide to haue about them wyse and sage mē in especially if the fooles be malicious for the noble hartes with one malicious worde are more offended then if they were with a venemous arrow wounded Therfore returning to our matter as the emperour was in the feast of the god Genius that with him also were the .xiiii. sage philosophers maisters of the prince Comodus a iugler more conning then al the rest shewed sondry trickes as cōmonly such vaine loiterers are wont to doe For he that in like vanities sheweth most pastime is of the people most beloued As Marcus Aurelius was sage so he set his eies more to beholde these .xiiii. maisters then he did stay at the lightnes of the fooles And by chaunce he espied that fiue of those laughed so inordinatly at the folly of these fooles that they clapt their hands they bet their feete lost the grauitie of sages by their inordinat laughter the which was a very vncomly thing in such graue persons For the honest modestie of the body is a great witnes of the wisedome and grauitie of the mynde The lightnes and inconstancie of the sages sene by the Emperour and that al the graue Romaines were offended with them he toke it heauely as well to haue brought them thether as to haue bene disceiued in electing them Howe be it with his wysedom then he helped him selfe as muche as he coulde in not manifesting any griefe in his harte but he dessembled and made as though he sawe them not For sage princes muste nedes feale thinges as men but they ought to dissemble them as discrete The Emperour presently would not admonish them nor before any reproue them but he let the feaste passe on and also a fewe dayes after the whiche being passed the Emperour spake vnto them in secret not telling them openly wherein he shewed him selfe a mercifull prince for open correction is vniuste where secret admonition may take place The thinges whiche Marcus Aurelius saide to those fiue maisters when he put them out of his house he him selfe did wryte in the third booke and the first chapter vnder the title Ad stultos pedagogos And saide that he said vnto them these and suche other like wordes ¶ Of the wordes whiche Marcus Aurelius spake to fiue of the ▪ xiiii maisters whiche he had chosen for the education of his sonne and howe he sent them from his pallace for that they behaued them selues lightly at the feaste of the God Genius Chap. xxxvi MY will was not my frendes to forsee that whiche can not be excused nor I wyll not commaunde you that whiche I ought not to commaunde but I desire that the gods of their grace doe remaine with me and that with you the same iust gods may goe and that likewyse from me and from you the vnlucky and vnfortunate chaunces may be withdrawen For the vnlucky man were better be with the dead then remayne here with the liuing Since that nowe I had receiued you and with great diligence sought you to that ende you should be tutors to my sonne the prince Comodus I proteste to the immortall gods that I am sory and that of your shame I am ashamed and that of your paine the greatest part is mine And it can be no otherwyse for in the worlde there shoulde be no frendship so streight that a man therefore shoulde put his good name in daunger The sages that I haue sought were not prouided onely to learne the prince Comodus but also to refourme al those that liued euill in my pallace And nowe I see the contrary for where I thought the fooles should haue bene made wyse I see that those that were wyse are become fooles Knowe you not that the fine golde defendeth his purenes among the burning cooles and that the man endued with wysedome sheweth hym selfe wyse yea in the middest of many fooles For truely as the golde in the fire is proued so among the lightenes of fooles is the wisedome of the wyse discerned Do not you knowe that the sage is not knowen among the sages nor the foole among the fooles but that amonge fooles wyse men doe shyne and that amonge the sages fooles are darkened for there the wyse sheweth his wysedome and the foole sheweth his folly Doe not you knowe that in the sore woundes the surgian sheweth his cunning and that in the daungerous diseases the phisition sheweth his science And that in the doubtful battailes the captaine sheweth his stoutnes and that in the boysterous stormes the maister sheweth his experience So in like maner the sage man in that place where there is great ioye and solace of people ought to shewe his wisdome and discretion Do not you know that of a moderate witte there proceadeth a cleare vnderstandinge a sharpe memory a graue persone a quiet minde a good name and aboue all a temperate tongue For he only ought to be called wyse who is discreate in his workes and resolute in his wordes ▪ Doe not you knowe that it litle auaileth to haue the tongue experte the memory liuely the vnderstāding cleare to haue great science to haue profounde eloquence a swete style and ample experience if with all these thinges you be as maisters and in your workes as wicked men certainely it is a great dishonour to a vertuous emperour that he should haue for maisters of young princes those which are schollers of vaine Iuglers Doe not you know that if all the men of this worlde are bounde to leade a good life that those which presume to haue science are muche more bounde then others are whiche by their eloquence presume to confounde the worlde For it is a rule certayne that alwayes euill workes take awaye the credit from good wordes And to the ende it seame not vnto you that I speake of fauour I wyll brynge here into your memory an auncient lawe of Rome the whiche was made in the tyme of Cinna whiche saide We ordeine and commaunde that more greauous punishement be geuen vnto the sage for one folly onely committed by him openly then to the simple man for a greater offence cōmitted secretly O iuste very iust law O iust and happy Romaines I saye vnto all those that togethers did finde ordeine the law For the simple man sleyeth but one man with his swerde of wrath but the sage killeth many by the euil example of his life For according to the saiyng of the deuine Plato the princes and sage sinne more by the euill
and the other a latine The king Seuleucus here with not contented prouided secreatly by the meane of a seruaunt of his named Parthemius that he shold haue no other office in the pallace but that what the maysters taught or did to his sonne Antigonus in the day he should secreatly come and tel him in the night But by the dilligence of Parthemius it came to the knowledge of the tutors that they had ouerseers for in the end ther is nothing accustomably but at the last wil be reueiled Since the ii philosophers knew the secret one day they sayd vnto the king Seuleucus these wordes Mightye prince Seuleucus since thou hast of trust committed thy son Antigonus into our haÌ„des why doest thou appoint thy seruauÌ„t Parthemius as accuser of our liues if thou countest vs euil and him good thou shalt showe vs great fauoure if thou wilt discharge vs commit to hym the tuition of thy son For we let the to know that to men of honor it is an vntollerable euil to shame theÌ„ and no dishonor to licence them Thou hast appointed Parthemius to goe and dog vs to see what we do or say openly and afterwardes to make relation vnto the secreatly the worst is that by the relation of the symple we should be condemned beyng sages for triacle is not so contrary to poison as ignorauÌ„ce is to wisedom And truly most noble prince it is a great matter that dayly inquisition be made of man for there is no beard so bare shauen but that it wil grow againe I meane that there is no man of so honest a lyfe but iâ— a man make inquisition he may finde wherwithall to detect The king Seuleucus aunswered them Consyder my frendes that I do know right well that neither the aucthoritie of the parson nor the good creadite of renowme wold be steyned for any other frend in this world if the rude men do it not much lesse ought the Sages to do it For ther is nothing that men trauaile for somuch in this life as to leaue of theÌ„ good renowme after their death Since you are sages and maisters of my sonne and likewyse counsailers of my house it is not mete you shold with any be offended for by good reason he alone ought to be estemed in the pallaces of princes that wil geue vnto the prince good couÌ„cell That which I haue sayed to Parthemius was not for the doubt of your faith neither to thinke any daunger in your aucthority And if the thing be wel considered it goeth well for you and not euil for me and the reason herof is that either you are good or els you are euil If you be good you ought to be glad that daily your seruices be reported vnto me For the continuall betyng in the princes eares of the good seruices of his seruauntes must nedes cause at the last their seruices to be well rewarded Yf you be euill and in teaching my sonne negligent it is but reason that I be aduertised For if the father be deceiued in his opinioÌ„ the son shall receiue poison in his doctrine and also bycause you shal not vndoe my realme nor slaunder me by your euil counsel If the fatal destenies permit that my son be euill I am he that loseth most therby â–ª for my realme shal be distroyed and my renowme vtterly abolished in the end my sonne shall not enioye the heritage And if all passe so you will care litel for you wil saye you are not in the faulte since the childe would not receiue your doctrine Wherefore me thinke it not euill done to ouer see you as you ouer see hym for my dutye is to see that you be good and your dutye is to trauaile that your disciples be not euill This kynge Seuleucus was an honorable man and dyed aged as Plutarke sayth and Patroclus more plainely declareth in the third boke of the warre of the Assirians and for the contrarye hys sonne Antigonus came to be a wycked Prince in all his doynges And this a man may wel perceiue that if he had not bene of his father so muche corrected and of the maisters so well instructed without doubte he wold haue proued much more wicked then he was For yong men on the on part beyng euill inclined and on the other parte euill taught it is vnpossible but that in the ende they should be vitious and defamed In my opininion though children be not euill inclined yet the fathers therof ought not to cease to correcte them for in tyme to come those that write will commende the diligence of the fathers in correcting the vices of the children I haue declared this example to councell that the father be not so necgligent that he shoulde vtterly forget to loke vnto his sonne thinking that now the maister hath the charge of him And of my concell that father ought in this thing to be so aduerâ—ised that if at the first he beheld the child with two eies that theÌ„ he shuld loke vnto him with .iiii. eies For oftetimes it is more requisite that the maysters be punished then the scollers Though princes are not daily informed of the life of the maisters as king Seuleucus was yet at the least oftetymes they ought to enquire of the state of the life of the behauiour both of the maisters and also of the children And this thing they ought not to do only once but also they ought to cal the maisters and councel them lykwise that they haue great respect to the doctrine of their children thinking alwayes to geue them good counsel to shew vnto their scollers afterwardes For otherwyse the mayster immediatly is discouraged when he seeth the father to be necgligent and nothing careful for the bringing vp of his children Princes in one thing ought to haue great respect that is to wete lest the maisters beare with the secreat vyces of children And he ought not to doe thus but also to call them vnto hym to aduyse them to warne them to praye them to counsell and commaunde them that they haue great respect to the bringyng vp of his childreÌ„ and further that he geue them some notable councell to thentente that the maisters afterwarde maye make relation therof to their scollers For there is no manne so weake nor childe so tender but the force whyche he hath to be vitious is ynough if he wil to be vertuous â–ª I would nowe demaunde the maisters and tutour which do gouerne the children of noble and vertuous men what more strength is required to be a glutton then to be a sober man to be a babler or to be silent to be dylygente or to be necgligent to be honest then to be dissolute and as of those few I speake so I coulde resite manye others In this case I wyll not speake as a man of science but as one of experience and that is that by the faith of a christian I swere that with lesse trauaill of the maister
the Senatours thoughe in dede they wer verye vnlucky in the bryngyng vp of the Prince Comodus For this cursed prynce had nyne masters whych instructed him but he hadde aboue nyne thousand vyces whych vndyd him The emperour Marcus Aurelius made fyue bokes of declamations and in the third booke the syxte Chapter vnder the title ad Sapientes pedagogos he brought in these nyne maysters and perswaded them greatly that they should be diligent and attentyue to teach hys sonne Comodus And in this matter he spake vnto them manye and graue sentences the wordes whereof doe folow The matter is manifest in Rome and no lesse publyshed thorough out all Italy what paynes I toke to searche oute to manye Sages to enstructe my sonne Comodus the whiche all beyng examined I kept onely the wysest and the best and though in verye dede I haue done muche yet I haue not done so muche as I am bounde For Prynces in doubtefull matters ought not only to demaunde councel of all the good that be alyue but also to take payne to talke with those which are dead That is to reade the dedes of the good in their writynges You were fouretene maysters chosen whereof I haue put out fyue so that presently you ar but nyne and if in dede you be wyse men you shall not be offended with that I haue done For the greefe of euill thynges procedeth of wisdome but the admiration of good thynges commeth of small experience I do not denay but that wyse men do fele in them passions as men but in the end there is no arte nor science that doth excuse vs from the miseries of men But that wher at I maruaile is how it is possible that a wyse man shoulde meruaile at any thyng in this world For if the wise man shuld be astonied at euery thing of the world it appeareth that ther is litle constancy or vertue in him at all Returnyng therfore to our particular talke I haue taken you to be masters of my son and you se of many I chose a few to the end that with few my son shold be taught For as it is the fathers dutie to search out good masters so it is the masters dutie to be diligent about his scoller The nource of my sonne Comodus gaue hym sucke two yeres with her teates at the gate of Hostia And hys mother Faustine other two yeares brought him vp wantonly in Capua How be it thys was a sufficient excuse I woulde as a pitiefull father yf I coulde geue hym correction at the leaste thys twentye yeares For I sweare by the immortall Goddes that to a Prynce that shal be an enheritour one yeares punyshement is more worthe then twenty yeares of pleasure Synce the nources whyche geueth the chyldren sucke knoweth lytell and synce the mothers whyche bare them doe loue them muche and synce the chylde peraduenture as yet is but of a weake vnder standynge they are occupyed about the thinges that are presente considerynge that chastysemente in muche more betters for him then pleasure But the wise man whyche hath vnderstandyng oughte to thyncke of that that is past and by much wysedome to prouyde for that that is to come For he can not be counted wise that onely in one thing is carefull My sonne Comodus was borne the laste daye of Auguste in a citie by Danubio I shall not forget the day that the gods gaue him vnto me nor yet this day in the whiche I commit hym vnto you Of greater reason I should remember that daye wherin I put him to be taught then the day whych I saw him to be borne For the gods gaue hym me as I gaue hym to you mortall since he is a man but you shall restore him againe vnto me and I lykewyse him to the Godds as immortall if he be wyse What will you I saye more vnto you but if you regarde that any thinge at all whyche I saye you will regarde much more thys whych I wyll saye When the Gods determined that I should haue a child of my wyfe and that my wofull destenies deserued that I should haue such a child truly the Gods made me a man in the sprite and I begot him a beast amongest the beastes in the fleshe But if you will you may make hym a god amongest the gods by science For princes winne infamye for beynge fearse and selfe willed but they get good renowme for beyng wise and pacient I would you should apply this busines well and therfore it is necessarye that you examine him ofte For it is a general rule that the precious iewel is litle regarded when he whyche hath it knoweth not the value thereof I require that you aunswere me in this one thynge What dyd I geue vnto my sonne Comodus when the gods gaue him me but frayle and mortall flesh by the corruption wherof hys life shal ende but you shal geue hym highe doctrine whereby he shall alwayes deserue perpetuall memore For the good renowme is not gotten by that the weake fleshe doth but by that whyche the highe vnderstandyng immagyneth and by that the curious harte executeth O if his tender age knew what I gaue to his weake flesh and if his dul vnderstanding could com to the wisedom which you may geue him he wold call you his right fathers me but his stepfather For he is the true father that geueth vs doctrine to liue and he is but an vniust stepfather that geueth vs fleshe to dye Certainely the naturall Fathers of children are but their open enemyes and cruell stepfathers synce we geue them such dul vnderstanding so weake a memory a wyll so frowarde lyfe so shorte fleshe so frayle honour so costly health so vncertaine ryches so troublesome prosperitie so scarse and death so fearefull Finally we geue them a nature subiecte to infinite alterations and great misfortunes Reason woulde not you shoulde lytle regarde that whiche I committe vnto your iudgement that is to wete that you haue the charge of Comodus my sonne For the thynge that Prynces chefely ought to foresee is to whome they oughte to recommende the gouernement of theyr children To be a mayster and Tutor of a Prince in the yearth is to haue an office of the Gods whyche are in heauen bycause he gouerneth him that ought to gouerne vs he teacheth him that ought to teache vs he chastneth him that ought to chasten vs. Finally he commaundeth one that oughte to commaunde all What wyll you that I saye more vnto you Truly he that hath the charge to teache the children of Prynces and great Lordes is as the gouernour of the shyppe a standarde of a battaylle a defence of the people a guyde of the wayes a father of the Orphanes the hope of pupylles and a treasourer of all For ther is no other true treasore in the common wealthe but the prince whyche doth mainteine and kepe it in good peace and iuste iustice I will tell you furthermore to the ende you
feuer which I haue I sawe this villaine standing boldely a whole houre on his feete al we beholdinge the earthe as amazed coulde not aunswere him one word For in dede this villaine confuted vs with his purpose astonied vs to se the litle regarde he had of his life The senate afterwardes being al agreed the next day folowing we prouided new iudges for the ryuer of Danuby cōmaunded the villaine to deliuer vs by writing all that he had saide by mouth to the end it might be registred in the booke of good saiyng of straungers which were in the senate And further it was agreed that the saide villaine for the wise wordes he spake should be chosen senatour and of the free men of Rome he should be one and that for euer he should be sustayned with the cōmon treasour For our mother Rome hath alwaies bene praysed estemed not only to acquite the seruices which hath bene done vnto her but also the good wordes which were spoken in the Senate ¶ That princes noble men oughte to be very circumspect in chosinge iudges and offycers for therein consistethe the profyte of the publike weale Cap. vi ALexander the great as the historiographers say in his youth vsed hūting very much specially of the mountains that which is to be marueiled at he would not hunt Deare goats hares nor partriges but Tigers Lyberdes elephants cocodrilles and Lyons So that this mighty prince did not onely shewe the excellency of his courage in conqueringe proude princes but also in chasing of cruel sauage beasts Plutarche in his Apothegmes saiethe that the greate Alexander had a familiar seruaunt named Crotherus to whom often times he spake these words I let the to know Crotherus that the valyāt princes ought not only to be vpright in their realmes which they gouern but also to be circumspect in pastimes which they vse that the auctoritie whiche in the one they haue wonne in the other they do not lose When Alexander spake these wordes truely he was of more auctoritie then of yeares But in the ende he gaue this example more to be folowed cōmanded then to be reproued or blamed I saye to be folowed not in the huntinge that he exercysed but in the great courage which he shewed To the Plebeyans men of base condicion it is a litle thing that in one matter they shew their might in other things they re small power is knowen but to princes greate lordes it is a discommendable thing that in earnest matters any man should accuse them of pryde in thinges of sport they should count them for light For the noble valiaunt Prince in thinges of importaunce ought to shew great wisedome in meane things great stoutnes The case was such that Alexander the great hunting on the wilde mountaines by chaunce met with a cruel Lion as the good Prince would wyn his honor with the Lion also the Lion preserue his own life they were in griepes the one of the other so faste that bothe fell to the earthe where they striued almoste halfe an houre but in the ende the lyon remained there deade and the hardye Alexander escaped all bloudye This huntynge of Alexander and the Lyon thoroughe all Grece was greatlye renowmed I say gretly renowmed because the grauers painters drew a pourtrait forthwith in stone worke of this huntinge the grauers hereof were Lisippus and Leocarcus marueilous grauers of anuk workes which they made of mettall where they liuely set forth Alexander the Lion fighting also a familiar seruant of his named Crotherus being among the dogges beholding thē So that the worke semed not onely to represent an aūcient thing but that the Lyon Alexander Crotherus the dogges semed also to be aliue in the same chase Whē Alexander fought with the Lyon ther came an Embassatour from Sparthes to Macedonia who spake to Alexander these wordes Woulde to god immortall prince that the force you haue vsed with the Lyon in the mountain you had imployed against some prince for to be Lorde of the earth By the wordes of the Embassatour the deedes of Alexander may easely by gathered that as it is comly for Princes to be honest valiaunt and stout so to the contrary it is vnsemely for them to be bolde and rashe For thoughe princes of their goodes be lyberall yet of their lyfe they oughte not to be prodigall The diuine Plato in the tenth booke of his laws saieth that the .2 renowmed Philosophers of Thebes whose names were Adon Clinias fell at variaunce withe them selues to know in what thing the prince is bound to aduenture his life Clinias said that he ought to dye for any thing touching his honour Adon saide the contrarye That he should not hazarde his life vnles it were for maters touching the affaires of the common wealth Plato saieth those .2 philosophers had reason in that they saide but admit that occasion to dye shoulde be offred the prince for the one or the other he ought rather to dye for that thing touching iustice then for the thinge touchinge his honour For there is no great difference to dye more for the one then for the other Applying that we haue spoken to that we will speake I say that we do not desire nor we wil not that princes and greate lordes doe destroy them selues with Lions in the chase neither aduenture their persones in the warres nor that they put their liues in peril for the common weale but we only require them that they take some paines and care to prouide for thinges belonging to iustice For it is a more naturall hunting for princes to hunt out the vicious of their common weales then for to hunt the wilde bores in the thicke woodes To the end princes accomplish this which we haue spoken we wil not aske them time when they ought to eat slepe hunt sport recreate thē selues but that of the foure and twenty houres that be in the daye and nyghte theye take it for a pleasure and commoditie one houre to talke of iustice The gouernement of the commonweale consisteth not in that they should trauaile vntil they sweate and molest theire bodies shed theire bloude shorten theire lyues and lose theire pastimes but all consistethe in that they shoulde be dylygent to forsee the domages of their common wealth and likewise to prouyde for good mynysters of iustice We doe not demaunde Prynces and greate lordes to geue vs theire goodes nor we forbydde them not to eate to forsake slepe to sporte to hunte nor to putte theire lyues in daunger but we desyre and beseeche them that theye prouyde good mynysters of iustice for the common wealthe Firste they oughte to be very dyligente to serche them oute and afterwards to be more circūspect to examine thē for if we sighe withe teares to haue good Prynces we oughte muche more to praye that wee haue not euill offycers What profytethe it
ignominy Seldome times we se the sunne shine bright al the day long but first in the sommer there hath ben a mist or if it be in the winter thâ—t hath ben a frost By this parable I meane that one of the miseries of this worlde is that we shall se fewe in this worlde which nowe bee prosperous but beefore haue had fortune in some cases very malitious For we see by experience some come to be very poore and other chaunce to atteine to greate riches so that thoroughe the impouerishing of those the other become riche and prosperous The weping of the one causeth the other to laugh so that if the bucket that is emptye aboue doth not go downe the other whiche is full beneathe can not come vp Speaking therefore according to sensuallyty thou wouldest haue bene glad that day to haue sene our triuÌ„phe with the abundance of riches the great nomber of captiues the dyuersitie of beasts the valiantnes of the captaines the sharpnes of wittes which we brought from Asia eÌ„tred into Rome wherby thou mightest wel know the dauÌ„gers that we escaped in that warre Wherefore speakynge the truth the matter betwene vs our enemies was so debated that those of vs that escaped best had their bodies sore wounded their vaines also almost with out bloud I let thee wete my Cornelius that the Parthes are warlike men in daungerous enterprises verye hardy bolde And when theye are at home in their couÌ„trey euery one with a stout hart defendeth his house surely they do yt like good men valiaunt captaines For if we other romaines without reasoÌ„ through ambition do go to take another mans it is mete iuste that theye by force do defend their own Let no man through the abundaunce of malice or want of wisedome enuy the Romaine Captaine for any triumphe that is geuen him by his mother Rome for surely to get this only one daies honor he adueÌ„tureth his life a M. times in the fielde I wil not speak al that I myght say of them that we lede forth to the warres nor of them which we leaue here at home in Rome which be al cruell iudges of our fame for theire iudgement is not vpright accordinge to equitye but rather procedethe of malice and enuye Though they take me for a pacient man not farre out of order yet I let thee know my Cornelius that there is no pacience can suffer nor hart dissemble to see many romains to haue such great enuy which thorough their malicious tongues passe not to backebite other mens triumphes For it is a olde disease of euil men through malice to backebite that with their tong which through their cowardnes they neuer durst enterprise with their hands Notwithstanding al this ye must know that in the warre you must first ofteÌ„ hazard your life afterwardes to the discrecion of suche tonges commit your honour Our follye is so folishe the desires of men so vaine that more for one vaine worde then for any profyte we desire rather to get vaine glorye withe trauaile then to seeke a good life withe reste And therefore willinglye wee offer oure liues nowe to great trauaile and payne onelye that amonge vaine men hereafter we maye haue a name I sweare by the immortall gods vnto thee mye Cornelius that the daye of mye triumphe where as to the seemynge of all those of this worlde I went triumphinge in the chariote opeÌ„ly yet I ensure thee my hart wepte secreatly Such is the vanitie of men that though of reason we be admonished called and compelled yet we flye froÌ„ her and contrary though we be â—â—â—ked euil handled despised of the worlde yet we will serue it If I be not deceiued it is the prosperitie of foolishe men wante of good iudgementes that cause the men to enter into others houses by force rather then to be desiroâ—â—â— be quiet in their owne with a good will I meane that we shoulde in folowinge vertue soner be vertuous then in haunting vices be vicious For speaking the troth men which in all and for all desire to please the worlde must nedes offer them selues to great trauaile and care O Rome Rome cursed be thy folly and cursed be he that in thee brought vp so muche pryde and bâ— he cursed of men and hated of gods which in thee haâ—â—uented this pompeâ— For verye fewe are they that worthely vnto it haue aâ—â—â—â—d but infinite are they which thorough it haue perished What greater vnâ—â—â—or what equall lightnes can be then that a Romaine captaine because he â—â—h conquered realmes troubled quiet men destroied cities beaten downe castels robbed the poore enriched tiraunts caried away treasours shed much bloud made infinite widdowes takeÌ„ manye noble mens liues should be afterwardes with great triumphe of Rome receiued in recompence of al this domage Wilt thou now that I tel thee a greater follye which aboue al other is greatest I let thee wete infinite are theye that dye in the warres and one onely carieth away the glorye thereof so that these wofull miserable men though for their carcase they haue not a graue yet one captaine goeth triumphing alone thorough Rome By the immortall gods I sweare vnto thee let this pas secretly as betwene frindes that the day of my triumphe when I was in my triumphaunt chariot beholdinge the miserable captiues loden with yrons and other men cariynge infinite treasures which we had euill gotten and to se the carefull widdowes weepe for the death of their husbandes and remeÌ„bred so many noble Romaines whych lost their liues in Affrike though I semed to reioice outwardly yet I eÌ„sure thee I did wepe droppes of bloud inwardly For he is no maÌ„ borne in the world but rather a fury bred vp in hel among the furies that ran at the sorow of another take any pleasure I knowe not in this case what reputacion the prince or captayn should make of him selfe that commeth from the warre and desireth to enter into Rome for if he thinke as it is reason on the woundes he hath in his body or the tresures which he hathe wasted on the places that he hath burnt on the perils that he hath escaped on the iniuries which he hath receiued the multitude of men which vniustlye are slaine the frindes whiche he hath lost the enemies that he hath gotten the litle rest that he hathe enioied and the greate trauaile that he hath suffred in such case I say that such a one with sorowful sighs ought to lament and with bitter teares oughte to be receiued In this case of triumphinge I neither commende the Assirians nor enuy the Persians nor am content with the Macedonians nor allowe the Caldians or content mee with Grekes I curse the Troians and condempne the Carthagiens because that they proceded not according to the zeale of iustice but rather of the rage of pride to set vp triumphes endomaged their countreys and lefte an occasion
to vndoe vs O cursed Rome cursed thou hast ben cursed thou art and cursed thou shalt be For if the fatall destenies do not lye vnto me and my iudgemente deceiue me and fortune fasten not the naile they shall se of thee Rome in time to come that which we others presently se of the realmes paste Thou oughtest to know that as thou by tyranny hast made thy self lady of lordes so by iustyce thou shalt returne to be the seruant of seruauntes O vnhappy Rome and vnhappy againe I retourne to call the. Tell me I praye thee why arte thou at this daye so dere of marchaundise and so chepe of folly Where are the auncient fathers whiche buylded thee and wyth theire vertues honoured thee in whose stede presently thou magnifyest so many tyrauntes whiche with theire vyces deface thee Where are al those noble and vertuous barons which thou hast nourished in whose steede thou hast nowe so manye vicions and vacabondes Where are those whyche for thy libertye dyd shedde theire blonde in whose stede nowe thou hast those that to bring thee into subieccion haue lost their lyfe Where are thy valyant Captaines which with such great trauaile dyd endeuour them selues to defende the walles froÌ„ enemies in whose stede haue succeeded those that haue plucked them downe and peopled them wyth vyces and vicious where are thy great priestes the whiche did alwaies praye in the Temples in whose steede haue succeded those whiche knowe not but to defile the churches and with theire wickednes to moue the goddes to wrathe where are these so manye philosophers and oratours which with their counsailes gouerned the in whose stede haue nowe succeded so many simple ignorant whiche with theire malyce doe vndoe the O Rome all those auncieÌ„ts haue forsaken the and we succede those which now are newe and if thou knewest truely the vertue of them and diddest consider the lightnes of vs the day that they ended theire lyfe the selfe same daye not one stone in thee shoulde haue bene lefte vpon an other And so those feldes shoulde haue sauoured of the bones of the vertuous whiche nowe stinke of the bodyes of the vicious Peraduenture thou arte more auncient then Babilon more beautifull then Hierusalem more riche then Carthage more stronge then Troy more peopled the Thebes more in circuite then Corinthe more pleasaunt then Tirus more fertile then Constantinople more high then Camena more vnuincible then Aquileia more priuileged then Gades more enuironed with Towers then Capâ—a and more floryshing then Cantabria Wee see that all those notable cyties perished for all theire vertuous defendoures and thinkest thou to remayne being replenished with so muche vyce and peopled with so manye vicious O my mother Rome take one thinge for a warning that the glorye whyche now is of the was firste of them and the same destruction that was of them shall hereafter lyghte vppon the for suche is the worlde For thus goeth the world euen as wee presentlye see the troubles of them that be paste so shall those that be to come see oures that be present ¶ Marcus Aurelius goeth on with his letter and declareth the order that the Romaynes vsed in settyng forth theire men of warre of the outragious villanyes which captaines souldiours vse in the warre Cap. xv I wyll nowe declare vnto thee my frend Cornelius the order which we haue to set forth men of warre and thereby thou shal see the great disorder that is in Rome For in the olde tyme there was nothing more looked vnto nor more corrected then was the discipline of warre And for the contrarye now a dayes there is nothinge so dissolute as are our men of warre Newes once spred abrodeÌ„ through the empire howe the prince doth take vppon him anye warre immediatlye dyuers oppinions engender amongest the people and euery one iudgeth dyuerselye vppon the warre For asmuche as the one saythe it is iust and the prince that taketh it vppon hym is iust Others saye that it is vniust and that the prince which beganne it is a tyraunt The poore and seditious persons do allowe it to the ende they might goe and take other mens goods by force The riche and pacient do condemne it because thei would enioye theire owne in quiet So that they doe not iustifye or condempne warre accordyng to the zeale of iustice but accordinge to the little or muche profite that shall folowe them of that enterpryse I commaunde whiche am a Romayne Emperour warre to be proclaimed because a city or prouince hath rebelled and that accordinge to theire custome they doe obserue the ceremonies of Rome First you must vnderstand the priestes must be called to goe immediately to praye to the immortall gods for the romaine people neuer went to shedde the bloude of theire enemies in the warres but first the pristes dyd shed the teares of theire eyes in the Temples Secondly al the sacred Senate doth goe to the temple of the God Iupiter and there they sweare all with a solemne othe that if the enemies agaynst whome they goe doe require a newe confederacion with Rome or demaund pardon of their faultes committed that all reuengement layde on syde they shall not denye them mercye Thyrdlye the consull whiche is appointed for captaine of the warre went to the hygh capitoll and there he maketh a solemne vowe to one of the gods whiche lyketh hym best that hee will offer hym a certaine Iewell if hee retourne victorious of the same warre and though the iewell whiche he dooth promise be of greate value yet all the people are bound to paye it The .4 is that they set vp in the temple of Mars the ensigne of the Egle whiche is the auncient romaine ensigne and that is that all the Romaynes take it for coÌ„maundement that no spectacle nor feast bee celebrated in Rome durynge the tyme that theire brethren bee in the warres The .5 a Pretor mounteth vp to the toppe of the gate of Salaria and theire hee bloweth the trumpet to muster menne of warre and they bring forth the standers and ensignes to deuyde them amonge the Captaines How fearfull a thyng is it to see that so soone as the Captayne is enuyroned wyth thensigne so soone hath he lycence to commit all euyls and villanyes So that he taketh it for a brauerye to robbe the countreys whereby he passeth and to deceyue those wyth whome hee practyseth What lyberty captaynes and gouernours of warre haue to doe euyll and to bee euyll it is verye manyfest in those whome they leade in theire companye For the sonnes leaue theire fathers the seruauntes theire lordes the Schollers theire maysters the offycers theire offyces the priestes theire Temples the amarouse theire loues and this for none other cause but that vnder the coloure of the liberties of warre their vyces shoulde not be punished by iustyce O my frende Cornelius I know not how I should begin to say that whiche I wil tel thee Thou oughtest to know that after
I wyll saye that there was neuer anye Romayne Captayne that dyd kylle tenne thowsande Asians with the weapons he brought into Asia but that hee lost a hundreth thousand romaines with the vyces they brought to Rome So that the Asians by the handes of theire enemies died with honour and lefte vs Romaynes alyue full of they re vyces with infamye I aske nowe what they were that inuented to dyne in common places to suppe in secrete gardeines to apparaile the women as menne in the theatre to colour the fleshe of priestes with yellow to noynt the women as menne in the bathe the Senatours goyng smellyng to the Senate Prynces to bee apparanied with purple agaynst the auncient decree to eate twise in the daye as the Tyraunt Dennys did to keepe harlottes and concubines as they of Tyre doe to speake blasphemyes agaynst the goddes whyche were neuer heard of before in the empire These sayde vyces of Asia Asia hath presently sent to Rome At the same tyme when in those partyes of the Oriente the warre was kyndeled tenne valyant capytaynes brought these vyces to Rome whose names my penne shall pardone to tell because theire vyle offences shoulde not obscure theire valyaunt deedes Before that Rome conquered Asia wee were ryche wee were pacyent wee were sober wee were wyse wee were honeste and aboue all wee lyued contented But synce that tyme wee haue geeuen our selues to forgeat the polycyes of Rome and to learne the pleasure of Asia so that nowe all vyces may be learned in Rome as all sciences maye bee hearde in Greece By the aboue rehearsed all warlyke prynces maye see what profyte they haue to conquer straunge realmes Let vs nowe leaue the vyces whyche in the warres are recouered and talke of money whyche the princes couet and loue And in this I saye that ther is no prince brought into so extreme pouertie as hee whyche conquereth a straunge countrey O Cornelius thou haste not seene howe Prynces more of a wyl then of necessitie doe waste theire treasoures howe they demaunde that of another mannes and howe theire owne doth not suffyce them they take those of churches they seeke greate lones they inuent great tributes they demaund grete subsidies they geeue straungers occasion to speake and make them selues hated of theire subiectes fynallye they praye theire subiectes and humble thē selues to theire enemies Synce I haue declared the dommages of warre I wyll nowe declare what the originall of warre is For it is vnpossible that the phisition applye vnto the sicke agreable medecyne if hee knowe not of what humour the sickenesse doth proceede Prynces synce they came of menne are noryshed with menne doe counsayle with men and lyue with menne and to conclude they are menne Sometime through pryde whyche aboundeth in them sometyme through want of counsayle they them selues imagine and other flatterers telleth that though they haue muche in respecte of other prynces yet they can doe lytle Also they saye vnto them that yf theire substance bee great their fame ought to be greater Further they tell thē that the good prince ought litle to esteeme that hee hath inherited of his predecessors in respect of the greate deale more hee ought to leaue to his successors Also they tell thē that neuer prince left of him any great memory but inuēting see cruel warre agaīst his enemy Also they tel thē that the houre that one is chosen emperour of Rome he maye boldly conquere all the whole earth These vayne reasons being hearde of the princes afterwardes as theire fortune is base and theire myndes high immediatly they defye their enemies they open theire treasures they assemble great armies and in the end of all the goddes suffer that they thinkinge to take an other mannes goods they waste and lose theire owne O princes I knowe not whoe doth deceyue ye that you whyche by peace maye bee riche and by warre will bee poore O princes I know not who doth deceiue you that you whiche may be loued doe seke occasions to bee hated O princes I knowe not who doth begyle ye that ye whiche maye enioye a sure lyfe doe aduenture your selues to the mutabilitie of fortune O princes I knowe not who doth deceiue you that you so little esteeme and wey your owne haboundaunce and so greatlye set by the want of others O princes I knowe not who doth deceiue you that all hauīg nede of you you shoulde haue nede of others I let thee to wete my Cornelius thoughe a prince bee more quicke and carefull then all other his predecessors haue beene in Rome yet it is vnpossible that all thinges touchynge warre shoulde succede vnto him prosperousely For in the greatest neede of warre either he wanteth money or his subiectes doe not succour him or tyme is contrarye vnto hym or hee fyndeth perillous passages he lacketh artillarye or the Captaines rebell or els succour commeth to his aduersaries so that hee seeth hym selfe so miserable that thoughtes doe more oppresse his harte then the enemyes doe harme his lande Though a prince had no warre but for to suffer menne of warre yet hee ought to take vppon him no warre I aske thee my Cornelius what trauaile so greate to his parsonne or what greater dommage to his realme can his enemies doe then that whiche his owne men of warre doe The enemyes to doe the worste they canne will but robbe oure frontiers but our menne of warre do robbe all the whole countrey The enemyes we dare and maye resist but to oures we cannot nor dare not speake The enemies the worst they can do is once in a moneth to robbe runne theyr ways but ours dayly do robbe remayn stil The enemyes feare their enemies only but ours do feare their enemies haue no pitie on their frids The enemies the further thei go on the more thei diminish but ours the further thei go the more they encrease I know no greater warre that princes can haue then to haue men of warre in their realmes For as experiēce doth shew vs before the gods they are culpable to princes importunate to the people troublesome so that they lyue to the dommage of all and to the profite of none By the God Mars I sweare vnto thee my frende Cornelius as hee maye directe my handes in the warre that I haue mo complaintes in the Senate of the theftes whyche my captaynes doe committe in Illiria then of all the enemyes of the Romayne people Bothe for that I saye and for that I keepe secrete I am more afrayde to create an ensygne of twoe hundred menne of warre then to geue a cruell battaile to thirtye thousande menne For that battaile fortune good or euyll forthwith dispatcheth but with these I can bee sure no tyme of all my lyfe Thou wilte saye vnto mee Cornelius that since I am Emperour of Rome I shoulde remedy this since I knowe it For that prince which dissembleth with the fault of another by reason hee wyll condempne hym
as if it were his owne To thys I aunswere that I am not myghtye ynough to remedy it except by my remedye there shoulde spring a greater inconuenience And since thou hast not bene a Prince thou couldest not fall into that I haue nor yet vnderstand that whych I saie For princes by theire wisedome knowe manye thinges the whych to remedy they haue no power So it hath beene so it is so it shal be so I founde it so I keepe it so wil I leaue it them so I haue read it in bookes so haue I seene it with my eyes so I heard it of my predecessours and finallye I saye so our fathers haue inuented it and so wyll wee theire children sustaine it and for this euyll wee will leaue it to our heires I wyll tell thee one thinge and imagine that I erre not therein whych is consideringe the great dommage and lytle profyte which the men of warre doe bringe to our common wealth I thynk to doe it and to sustaine it either it is the folly of menne or a scourge geuen of the gods For there can be nothinge more iust then for the goddes to permit that we feele that in our owne houses whiche we cause others in straunge houses to lament All those thinges I haue written vnto thee not for that it skilleth greatly that thou knowe them but that my harte is at ease to vtter them For as Alcibiades saide the chestes and the hartes ought alwaies to bee open to theire frendes Panutius my secretary goeth in my behalfe to visite that land and I gaue him this letter to geue the with two horses wherewith I think thou wilt be contented for they are gennettes The weapons and ryches whyche I tooke of the Parthes I haue nowe deuyded notwtstanding I doe sende thee .2 Chariottes of them My wyfe Faustine greeteth thee and I sende a riche glasse for thy doughter and a Iewell with stones for thy sister No more but I beseche the Gods to geeue thee a good lyfe and mee a good death ¶ The admonition of the Aucthour to Princes and greate Lordes to thintent that the more they growe in yeares the more they are bounde to refraine from vyces Cap. xvii AVlus Gelius in hys booke De noctibus Atticis sayeth that there was an auncient custome amongest the romaynes to honour and haue in great reuerence aged men And this was so inuiolate a law amongest them that there was none so noble of bloode and lynage neyther so puissaunt in ryches neither so fortunate in battayles that should goe before the aged men which were loden with whit heares so that they honoured them as the gods and reuerenced them as theire fathers Amongest other the aged menne had these preheminences that is to wete that in feastes they sate highest in the triumphes they went before in the temples they did sitte downe they spake to the Senate before all others they had their garments surred they might eat alone in secrat and by theire onlye woorde they were credited as witnesses Fynally I saye that in all thinges they serued them and in nothinge they annoyed them After the people of Rome began warre wyth Asia they forsooke all theire good Romayne customes immediatlye And the occasyon hereof was that since they had no menne to sustaine the common wealth by reason of the great multytude of people which dyed in the warre they ordeyned that al the yong menne should mary the yong maides the wydowes the free and the bonde and that the honour whyche hadde bene done vntyll that tyme vnto the olde menne from henceforthe shoulde be done vnto the maried menne though they were yong So that the moste honoured in Rome was hee not of moste yeares but he that had most children This lawe was made a little before the firste battaile of Catthage And the custome that the maried menne were more honoured then the old menne endured vntill the tyme of the Emperour Augustus whiche was such a frende of antiquyties that hee renewed all the walles of Rome with newe stones and renewed all the auncient customes of the common wealth Licurgus in the lawes whiche hee gaue to the Lacedemonians ordayned that the young menne passinge by the olde shoulde doe them greate reuerence whē the olde dyd speake then the younger shoulde bee sylent And he ordained also that if any olde man by casualtye dyd lose hys goods and came into extreame pouertie that he shoulde bee sustained of the comon wealth and that in suche sustentacion they shoulde haue respecte not onely to succour him for to sustaine hym but further to geue him to lyue competently Plutarche in hys Apothegmes declareth that Cato the Censoure visitinge the corners of Rome founde an olde manne sittinge at his doore weepinge and sheddinge manye teares from hys eyes And Cato the Censoure demaundynge hym why hee was so euyll handeled and wherefore he wepte so bitterlye the good olde manne aunswered hym O Cato the Gods beinge the onelye comfortours comforte thee in all thy tribulations since thou arte readye to comforte mee at this wofull hower As well as thou knowest that the consolations of the harte are more necessarye then the phisike of the bodye the whiche beeynge applyed sometymes doeth heale and an other tyme they doe harme Beholde my scabbed handes my swollen legges my mouth without teethe my peeled face my white beard and my balde heade for thou beinge as thou arte descreete shouldest be excused to aske mee why I weepe For menne of my age thoughe they weepe not for the lyttle they feele yet they ought to weepe for the ouermuche they lyue The manne which is loden with yeares tormented with diseases pursued with enemyes forgotten of his frendes visited with mishappes and with euill wyll and pouertie I knowe not why hee demaundeth long life For there can be no sharper reuengemēt of vyces whych we commit then to geue vs long lyfe Though now I am aged I was yong and if any yong manne should doe me anye iniurye truelye I would not desire the gods to take his lyfe but that they woulde rather prolonge his lyfe For it is a great pitie to heare the man whyche hath lyued longe account the troubles whiche he hath endured Knowe thou Cato if thou doest not knowe it that I haue lyued .77 yeares And in thys tyme I haue buried my father my graundefather twoe Auntes and .5 vncles After that I had buried .9 systers and .11 Brethren I haue buried afterwardes twoe lawfull wyfes and fyue bonde women whyche I haue hadde as my lemmans I haue buryed also .14 chyldren and .7 maryed doughters and therewith not contented I haue buryed .37 Nephues and .15 Nieces and that whyche greaueth me moste of all is that I haue buryed two frendes of myne one which remained in Capua the other which was residente here at Rome The death of whom hath greued me more then all those of my aliaunce and parentage For in the worlde there is no
moue mee to speake and the faythe whyche I owe vnto you dothe not suffer mee that I shoulde keepe it close For manye thinges oughte to be borne amonge friendes thoughe theye tell them in earnest whiche ought not to be suffered of others thoughe theye speake it in gest I come therefore to shewe the matter and I beseche the immortall goddes that there bee noe more then that whiche was tolde mee and that it bee lesse then I suspecte Gaius Furius youre kinsman and my especiall friende as hee went to the realme of Palestyne and Hierusalem came to see mee in Antioche and hathe tolde mee newes of Italy and Rome and among others one aboue al the residewe I haue committed to memorye at the whiche I coolde not refraine laughinge and lesse to bee troubled after I hadde thought of it O how manye thinges doe wee talke in gest the whiche after wee haue well considered geeue occasion to be sorye The emperoure Adrian mye good lorde had a Iester whose name was Belphus yonge comelye and stoute allbeeit hee was verye malicious as suche are accustomed to bee and whiles the imbassadours of Germaine supped with the Emperour in greate ioye the same Belphus beeganne to iest of euery one that was present according to his accustomed manner with a certeine malicious grace And Adrian perceiuing that some chaunged colour others murmured and others weare angrye hee saide vnto thys Iester frinde Belphus if thou loue mee and mye seruice vse not these spytefull iestes at our supper which being considered on may turne vs to euil rest in our beddes Gaius Furius hath tolde me so many slaunders chaunced in Italy such nouelties done in Rome such alteracion of our Senate such contentiō strife betwene our neighbours suche lightnes of yow twoo that I was astonied to here it ashamed to writ it And it is nothing to tell after what sort he told thē vnto me onlesse you had sene how earnestly he spake them imagining that as he told thē without taking anye paine so did I receiue them as he thought with out any griefe though in deede euerye woorde that he spake seemed a sharpe percinge arrowe vnto my hart For oft times some telleth vs thynges as of small importaunce the whiche do pricke our hartes to the quicke By the oppynion of all I vnderstande that you are verye olde and yet in your owne fantasies you seame verye yonge And further theye saye that you apparell youre selues a newe nowe as thoughe presentlye you came into the worlde moreouer they saye that you are offended with nothinge so muche as when theye call you olde that in theaters where comedies are played and in the fieldes where the brute beastes do runne you are not the hindmost and that there is no sport nor lightnes inuented in Rome but first is registred in youre house And finally they say that you geue your selues so to pleasures as thoughe you neuer thought to receiue displeasures O Claude and Claudine by the god Iupiter I sweare vnto you that I am a shamed of your vnshamefastnes am greatly abashed of your maners and aboue all I am excedingly greeued for your great offence For at that time that you ought to lift vp your handes yow are returned againe into the filth of the world Many thinges men commyt which though they seme graue yet by moderacion of the person that committeth them they are made light but speaking according to the trouthe I fynde one reason wherebye I mighte excuse youre lightnes but to the contrarye I see tenne wherebye I maye condempne youre follyes Solon the phylosopher in hys lawes sayde to the Athenians that if the yonge offended hee shoulde bee gentlye admonished and grieuouslye punished beecause hee was strong and if the olde dydde erre he shoulde be lightlye punished and sharpelye admonished sithe he was weake and feble To this Licurgus in his lawes to the Lacedemonians sayde contrarye that if the yonge did offende hee shoulde bee lightly punished and greuously admonished sins through ignoraunce he dyd erre and the olde manne whiche did euill shoulde be lightly admonished and sharpely punished sins through malice he did offend These two phylosophers being as theye haue bene of suche authoritie in the worlde that is paste and consideringe that their lawes and sentences were of suche weighte it shoulde be muche rashenesse in not admittinge the one of them Nowe not receyuyng the one nor reprouynge the other mee thynketh that there is greate excuse to the yonge for theire ignoraunce and greate condempnacion o the aged for theire experience Once agayne I retourne to saye that you pardone me mye friendes and you oughte not greatlye to weye it thoughe I am somewhat sharpe in condempnation since you others are so dissolute in youre liues for of youre blacke lyfe mye penne dothe take ynke I remember well that I haue harde of thee Claude that thou haste bene lusty and couragious in thye youthe so that thye strengthe of all was enuyed and the beauty of Claudine of all men was desired I will not write vnto you in this letter mye frindes and neigheboures neither reduce to memorye howe thou Claude haste imployed thy forces in the seruice of the common wealth and thou Claudine hast wōne muche honoure of thy beautye for sundrye tymes it chaunced that men of manye goodlye gyftes are noted of greuous offences Those whiche striued with thee are all dead those whom thow desiredst are dead those which serued thee Claudine are deade those whiche before thee Claudine sighed are deade those which for thee died are nowe dead and sins all those are dead withe they re lightnesse do not you others thinke to dye your follyes allso I demaunde nowe of thy youthe one thinge and of thy beauty another thinge what do you receiue of these pastimes of these good interteinmentes of these abundances of these great contentacions of the pleasures of the worlde of the vanytye that is paste and what hope you of all these to carye into the narrowe graue O simple simple and ignoraunt persones howe oure life consumeth and we perceiue not howe we liue therein For it is no felicitie to enioy a short or long life but to knowe to employe the same well or euill O children of the earthe and disciples of vanytie nowe you knowe that tyme flyethe without mouing his wynges the life goeth without liftinge vppe hys feete the worlde dispatcheth vs not tellinge vs the cause men beegile vs not mouinge theire lippes our flesh consumeth to vs vnwares the heart dieth hauing no remedy finally our glory decayeth as if it had neuer bene and death oppresseth vs wythoute knockinge at the doore Thoughe a man be neuer so simple or so very a foole yet he can not denaye but it is impossible to make a fier in the botome of the sea to make a waye in the ayre of the thinne bloude to make roughe sinewes and of the softe vaines to make harde bones I
meane that it is vnpossible that the grene flower of youthe be not one daye withered by age ¶ The Emperour followethe his letter perswadeth Claudins Claudinus beeing now olde to geue no more credit to the world nor to any of his deceytful flatteries Cap. xx THat whych I haue spoken now tendeth more to aduertyse the yong then to teache the olde For yow others haue now passed the pryme tyme of chyldehoode the sommer of youth and the haruest of adolescency and are in the wynter of age where it seemeth an vncomly thyng that those youerhoarye heares shoolde bee accompanyed wyth such vayne follyes Sythens yong men know not that they haue to ende theire youth it is no maruail that they follow the world but the olde men which see them selues fall into this gyle why will they runne after vices againe O world for that thou art the world so small is our force and so great our debylitie that thou wylling it and wee not resisting it thow doost swallow vs vp in the most perilous goulfe and in the thornes most sharpe thow dost pricke vs by the pryuiest waies thow leadest vs and by the most stony wayes thou caryest vs. I meane that thow bringest vs to the highest fauors to the end that afterwards wyth a push of thy pike thow myghtest ouerthrow vs. O world wherein all is worldly two and fyfty yeares haue passed since in thee I was fyrst borne duryng which tyme thou neuer toldest mee one trueth but I haue taken thee wyth tenne thousaund lies I neuer demaunded the thing but thow didst promyse it mee and yet it is nothyng at all that euer thou dydst performe I neuer put my trust in thee but euer thou begildst mee I neuer came to thee but thou dydst vndo mee fynally neuer saw I ought in thee whereby thow deseruest loue but allways hatred This presupposed I know not what is in thee O world or what wee worldlyngs want for if thow hatest vs wee cannot hate the if thow dost vs iniury wee can dyssemble it yf thow spurne vs wyth thy feete wee wyl suffer it if thou beatest vs with a staff wee will hold our peace also although thou ê‘secutest vs wee wil not coÌ„playn though thou take ours wee wil not demauÌ„d it of thee though thou doost beeguyle vs wee wyl not cal our selues beeguyled and the woorst of al is that thou doost chase vs from thy house yet wee wyl not depart from theÌ„ce I know not what this meaneth I know not from whence this commeth I wore not who ought to prayse this same that wee couet to follow the world which will none of vs hate the gods which loue vs oft tymes I make accouÌ„t of my yeares past somtimes also I turn tosse my booke to see what I haue read and another time I desyre my friends to geeue mee good counsel and for no other end I do it then to attain to that I haue spoken to know that I wil say I readyng Rethoryk in Rhodes Adrian my lord mainteynyng mee there knowyng that I was two and thyrty yeares of age it happened that in the spryng tyme I found my selfe solytaryly and solytarines wyth lyberty smelled the world and smelling it I knew it and knowyng it I followed it and followyng it I attayned vnto it and attaynyng vnto it thereunto I ioyned my selfe and ioyning my selfe therewith I prooued it and in prouyng it I tasted it and in tastyng it mee thought it bytter and in fyndyng it bitter I hated it and hatyng it I left it and leauyng it is returned and beeyng returned I receyued it again fynally the world inuytyng mee and I not resistyng it two and fyfty yeares wee did eat our bread togethers in one house wee haue alwaies remained wilt thou know after what sort the world I do liue in one house togethers or better to say in one hart remain harken theÌ„ in one woord I wil tel it thee When I sawe the worlde braue I serued him when hee sawe mee sadde hee flattered mee when I sawe him wealthy I asked him when he saw mee merye hee begiled me when I desired anye thinge he holpe mee to atteine to it afterwards when the same I best enioyed then he toke it froÌ„ mee wheÌ„ he saw me not pleased he vysited me wheÌ„ he saw me he forgot me when he saw me ouerthrowen he gaue me his haÌ„d to releue me wheÌ„ he saw me exalted he tripped me again to ouerthrow me Fynally when I think that I haue somwhat in the world I fynd that all that I haue is a burden Yf thys which I haue spoken of the world be anye thinge more is that a great deale which yet of my selfe I will saye whiche is that without doubte my follye is greater then his mallice since I am begiled so ofte and yet allwaies I followe the deceiuer O worlde worlde thou hast suche moodes and fashions in thy procedyng that thou leadest vs all to perdicion Of one thinge I maruaile muche whereof I cannot be satisfied Which is since that we may go vpon the bridge yet without any gaine we doe wade through the water where as the shallow is sure we seke to ronne into the golfe and where the way is drye wee go into the plashe where we may eate wholsome meates to norishe the lyfe wee receiue poyson to hasten deathe we seke to destroy oure selues where as we may bee without daunger Fynallye I say without profite we commit a fault thoughe wee see with our eyes the pain to follow Wise men ought circumspectly to see what they do to examine that they speake to proue that theye take in hande to beware whose company they vse and aboue all to knowe whom they trust For our iudgement is so corrupt that to begile vs one is ynough and to make vs not to be disceiued tenne thosande woolde not suffise They haue so greate care of vs I meane the worlde to beegile vs and the fleshe to flatter vs that the highe way beinge as it is narrowe the patheway daungerous and full of prickes the iorney is longe the lyfe shorte our bodies are neuer but loden with vices our hartes but full of cares I haue wondered at dyuers things in this worlde but that which astonieth me most is that those that be good we make theÌ„ beleue they are euill and those whiche are euel we perswade others to beleue that they are good So that wee shoote at the white of vertues hit the butte of vices I will confesse one thinge the whiche beinge disclosed I know that infamye will follow me but paraduenture some vertuous man will marueile at it that is that in those two and fiftye yeares of my lyfe I haue proued all the vices of this worlde for no other intent but for to proue if there bee anye thynge where in mannes mallice might be satisfyed And afterwardes all well considered al examined and all proued I
if thou be euill lyfe shal bee euyl imployd on thee and if thou bee good thou oughtest to die imediatly and because I am woors thē all I liue lōger then all These woordes which Adrian my lord sayed doe plainely declare and expresse that in short space the pale and cruel death doth assaulte the good and lēgthneth life a great while to the euil The opinion of a philosopher was that the gods are so profound in their secrets high in their misteryes and so iust in their woorks that to men which least profit the common wealth they lengthen lyfe longest and though he had not sayd it we others see it by experience For the man which is good and that beareth great zeale and frendship to the common wealth either the gods take him from vs or the enemies do sley him or the daungers doe cast him away or the the trauailes do finish him When great Pompeius Iulius Cesar became enemyes from that enmite came to cruel warres the cronicles of that time declare that the kings and people of the occidental part became in the fauour of Iulius Cesar and the mightiest most puisaunte of al the oriental parts came in the ayd of great Pompeius beecause these two Princes were loued of few and serued and feared of al. Amongst the diuersity and sundry nations of people which came out of the oriental part into the host of the great Pompeius one nation came maruelous cruel barbarous which sayd they dwelled in the other side of the mountayns Riphees which go vnto India And these barbarous had a custome not to liue no longer then fifty years therfore when thei came to that age they made a greater fier and were burned therin aliue and of their owne willes they sacrificed them selues to the gods Let no man bee astoined at that wee haue spoken but rather let them maruel of that wee wyl speak that is to say that the same day that any man had accomplished fifty years immediatly hee cast him self quick in to the fier and the parents children and his freends made a great feast And the feast was that they did eat the fleash of the dead half burned and drank in wyne and water the asshes of his bones so that the stomak of the children beeing aliue was the graue of the fathers beeing dead All this that I haue spoken with my toung Pompeius hath seen with his eies for that some beeing in the camp did accomplish fifty years bycause the case was straunge hee declared it oft times in the Senate Let euery man iudge in this case what hee will and condemne the barbarous at his pleasure yet I wyll not cease too say what I think O golden world which had such men O blessed people of whom in the world to come shal bee a perpetuall memory What contēpt of world what forgetfulnes of him self what stroke of fortune what whip for the flesh what litell regard of lyfe O what bridell for the veruous O what confusion for those that loue lyfe O how great example haue they left vs not to feare death Sithens those heeare haue wyllingly dispised their own liues it is not to bee thought that they died to take the goods of others neither to think that our life shoold neuer haue end nor our couetousnes in like maner O glorious people and .10 thousand sold happy that the proper sensuallyty beeing forsaken hath ouercome the natural appetyte to desire to liue not beeleeuing in that they saw and that hauing faith in that they neuer saw they striued with the fatall destines By the way they assalted fortune they chaunged life for death they offred the body to death and aboue al haue woon honor with the gods not for that they should hasten death but because they should take away that which is superfluus of life Archagent a surgiō of Rome and Anthonius Musus a phisition of the Emperor Augustus and Esculapius father of the phisick shoold get litel mony in that country Hee that thē shoold haue sēt to the barbarous to haue doone as the Romaynes at that tyme did that is to wete to take siroppes in the mornings pylls at night to drynk mylk in the morning to noynt them selues with gromelsede to bee let bloud to day and purged to morrow to eat of one thing and to abstein from many a man ought to think that hee which willingly seeketh death wil not geue mony to lengthen lyfe ¶ The Emperor concludeth his letter and sheweth what perilles those old men lyue in which dissolutely like yong children passe their days and geeueth vnto them holsome counsell for the remedy therof Cap. xxii BVt returning now to thee Claude to thee Claudine mee thinketh that these barbarous beeing fifty years of age and you others hauing aboue thre score and 10. it should bee iust that sithens you were elder in years you were equal in vertue and though as they you wyl not accept death paciently yet at the least you ought to amend your euel liues willingly I do remember that it is many years sithens that Fabritius the yong sonne of Fabritius the old had ordeyned to haue deceiued mee of the which if you had not told mee great inconueniences had hapned and sithens that you did mee so great a benefit I woold now requite you the same with an other like For amongst frends there is no equal benifit then to deceyue the deceyuer I let you know if you doo not know it that you are poore aged folks your eyes are soonk into your heads the nostrels are shutt the hears are white the hearing is lost the tonge faltreth the teeth fall the face is wrincled the feete swoln the stomak cold Finally I say that if the graue could speak as vnto his subiects by iustice hee myght commaund you to inhabit his house It is great pity of the yong men and of their youthfull ignorante for then vnto such their eyes are not opened to know the mishaps of this miserable life when cruell death doth end their dayes and adiorneth thē to the graue Plato in his book of the common wealth sayd that in vaine wee geeue good counsels to fond light yongmen For youth is without experiēce of that it knoweth suspicious of that it heareth incredible of that is told him despising the counsayl of an other and very poore of his own Forsomuch as this is true that I tell you Claude and Claudine that without comparison the ignorance which the yong haue of the good is not so much but the obstinacion which the old hath in the euel is more For the mortal gods many times do dissemble with a .1000 offeces committed by ignorance but they neuer forgeeue the offence perpetrated by malice O Claude and Claudine I doo not meruel that you doo forget the gods as you doo which created you and your fathers which beegot you and your parēts which haue loued you and your frends which haue
first ought to abhorre couetousnes before hee beginne to occupie hym selfe to locke vp goods For the man which setteth no bond to his desire shall alwayes haue litle thoughe he see himselfe lord of the worlde Truly this sentence was worthilye spoken of such a man The sentēce of the Stoyckes doth satisfy my mind much wherof Aristotel in his pollitikes maketh mēcion where he sayth that vnto great affayres are alwaies required great riches there is no extreame pouerty but where there hathe beene greate aboundaunce Therof ensueth that to princes and great lordes which haue much they wāt much bicause to men which haue had litel they can not wāt but litel Yf we admonishe wordlings not to be vitious they wil alwayes haue excuses to excuse theim selues declaring why they haue bene vitious the vice of auarice excepted to whom and with whom they haue no excuse For if one vaine reason be readye to excuse then there are .2000 to condemne them Let vs put example in all the principall vices and we shall se how this onely of auarice remaineth condemned and not excused If we reason why a prince or great lord is haulty and proude he wil aunswere that he hath great occasion For the natural disposition of men is rather to desire to commaūd with trauaile then to serue with rest Yf we reproue any man that is furious and geuen to anger he will aunswere vs that we maruaile not since we maruaile not of the proude For the enemy hath no more auctority to trouble any man then the other to take reuēge of him Yf we blame him for that he is fleshly and vitious he will aunswer vs that he can not absteyne from that sinne for if any man can eschew the acts he fighteth continually with vncleane thoughtes Yf we say that any man is negligent he will aunswere vs that he deserueth not to be blamed for the vilenes of our nature is suche that if we do trauaile it immediatly it is weary and if we rest it immediatly it reioyceth Yf we rebuke any man that is a glutton he wil aunswer vs that without eatinge and drinkinge we can not lyue in the worlde for the deuine worde hath not forbidden man to eate with the mouthe but the vncleane thoughtes which come from the hart As of these fewe vices we haue declared so maye we excuse al the reasidue but to the vice of couetousnes none can geue a reasonable excuse For with money put into the cofer the soule cānot profite nor the bodye reioyce Boetius in his booke of consolation sayd that money is good not when we haue it in possessiō but when we want it in very dede the sentence of Boetius is very profound for when man spendeth mony he attayneth to that he wil but hauinge it with him it profiteth him nothinge We may say of riche and couetous men that if they heape and kepe they say it is but for deare and drye yeres and to releue their parents frendes We may aunswere them that they do not heape vp to remedye the poore in suche like necessities but rather to bringe the commonwealth to greter pouertye For then they sel al thinges deare and put out theyr money to great vsury so that this couetous man dooth more harme with that he dooth lend them then the dry yere dooth with that it hath taken from theim The noble and vertuous men ought not to cease to do wel for feare of dry yeres for in the ende if one deare yeare come it maketh all dere and at such a time and in such a case he onely may be called happy which for being free and liberal in almes shall reioyce that his table should be costlye Let couetous mē beware that for keaping of much goodes they giue not to the deuel their soules for it may be that before the deare yere cometh to sel their corne their bodies shal be layd in the graue O what good dooth god to the noble men geuing them liberal hartes and what ill luck haue couetous men hauing as thei haue their hartes so hard laced For if couetous men did tast how sweete and necessary a thing it is to giue they could kepe litle for them selues Nowe sithens the miserable and couetous men haue not the hart to giue to their frendes too depart to theire parentes to succour the poore to lend to their neighboures nor to susteyne the orphanes it is to be thought that they wil spend it on them selues Truly I saye no more for there are men so miserable and so hard of that they haue that they thinke that as euyll spent whiche amonge theim selues they spende as that which one robbeth from them of their goods Howe will the couetous and miserable wretche geue a garmēte to a naked man which dare not make him selfe a cote How wil he geue to eate to the poore famylyar which as a poore slaue eateth the bread of branne and sellethe the floure of meale How shal the pilgrimes lodge in his house who for pure miserye dare not enter and howe doth he visite the hospitall and reliue the sicke that oft times hasardeth his owne helth and life for that he wil not geue one penye to the phisition how shall he succour secretly the poore and neady which maketh his owne children go barefoote and naked how can he helpe to marye the poore maydes being orphanes when he suffereth his owne daughters to waxe old in his house how wil he geue of his goodes to the poore captiues which will not paye his owne men their wages how wil he geue to eate to the children of poore gentelmen which alwayes grudgeth at that his owne spende howe should we beleue that he wil apparel a widowe hwich wil not giue his owne wife a hoode howe doth he dayly giue almes which goeth not to the churche on the Sonday because he wil not offer one peny how shal the couetous mā reioice the hart sith for spending of one peny oft times hee goeth supperles to bed And finally I saye that he wil neuer giue vs of his owne proper goodes which weapeth alwayes for the goodes of an other ¶ The auctor foloweth his matter and with great reasons discommendeth the vices of couetous men Cap. xxiiii ONe of the thinges wherin the deuine prouidence sheweth that we do not vnderstand the maner of her gouerment is to see that she geueth vnderstandinge too a man too knowe the riches she geueth him force too seeke theim subtiltye too gather them vertue too susteyne them courage too defend them and also longe life to possesse them And with al this she gyueth him not licence to enioye them but rather suffereth him that as withoute reason he hath made him selfe lorde of an nother mans of righte he shoulde bee made sclaue of his owne thereby a man may knowe of howe greater excellencye vertuous pouertye is then the outragious couetousnes for so much as to the poore god doth giue contentation of
vertues men ought to vse and the vyces which they ought to eschew Cap. xxvi IN tymes past I beeing yong and thou old I did succor thee with money and thou mee with good counsell but now the world is otherwise chaunged in that thy white hears doo iudge thee to bee old and thy woorks doo cause thee to bee yong Therefore necessity compelleth mee that wee chāge our stile which is that I succor thee with good counsell though thou geeue mee no money therfore for I count thy couetousnes to bee such that for all the good counsel coūselers of Rome the wilt not vouchsafe to geeue one quatrine of Capua Now for the good that I wish thee for that which I owe to the law of frendship I will presently geeue thee a counsel wherby thou mayst know what a good mā ought to doo to bee loued of god feared loued of mē If the wilt quietly lead thy life in this miserable world retain this well in memory which I write vnto thee First the good deedes thou hast receiued of any those shalt thou remember the wrongs thou hast sustained them shalt thou forget Secondarely esteeme much thy own little way not the much of an other Thirdly the company of the good always couet the conuersation of the euill dayly fly Fourthly to the great shew thy self graue to the small more conuersant Fiftly to those which are present doo always good woorks and of those that bee absent always speak good woords Sixtly way little the losse of fortune esteeme much things of honor The seuenth to win one thing neuer aduenture thou many nor for many things doubtfull doo not thou aduēture any one thing certain Finally lastly I pray thee aduertise thee that thou haue no enemy that thou keepe but one frend Hee which among the good wil bee counted for good none of these things hee ought to want I know well that thou wilt haue great pleasure to see these my counsels well writen But I ensure thee I shal haue greater pleasure to see them in thy deedes well obserued For by writing to geeue good counsel it is easy but by woorks to folow the same is maruelous hard My faithful frendship to thee plighted thy great ability considered caused mee always for thee in Rome to procure honorable offices by my suyt thou hast been Edite tribune maister of the horses wherin thou behauedst thy self with such wisdom that all the senate therfore yelded mee most harty thanks I procuring them for thee thou for thy self winning such perpetual renowm One thing of thee I vnderstand which with good wil I woold not haue knowen much lesse that any such thing by thee shoold haue been cōmitted that is to weet that thou leauing thy office of the pretorship in the warre by land hast taken vpon thee traffike of a marchāt by sea so that those which in Rome knew thee a knight doo see thee now in Capua a marchant My pen indyting this my letter for a tyme stood in suspence for no other cause but only to see what thing in thee first I might best blame either the noble office which thou didst forsake or the vyle base estate which thou hast chosen And though thou bee so much bereued of thy sences yet call to mynd thy auncient predecessors which dyed in the warres only to leaue their children and nephews armed knights and that thou presently seekest to lose that liberty through thy couetousnes which thei wanne by their valyauntnes I think I am not deceiued that if thy predecessors were reuiued as they were ambicious of honor so woold they bee greedy to eat thee in morsels sinnues bones and all For the children which vniustly take honor from their fathers of reason ought to lose their lyues The castels towns housen mountains woods beasts Iewels and siluer which our predecessors haue left vs in the end by long cōtinuance doo perish and that which causeth vs to haue perpetuall memory of them is the good renowm of their lyfe And therfore if this bee true it is great shame for the parents to haue such children in whom the renowm of their predecessors dooth end In the florishing time of Cicero the oratour when by his counsell the whole common wealth was gouerned hee beeing then of power both in knowledge and of money Salust said vnto him in his inuectiue that hee was of base stock wherunto hee aunswered Great cause haue I too render thāks vnto the gods that I am not as thou art by whom thy high linage is ended but my poore stock by me doth now begin too rise It is great pity to see how many good noble valiant men are dead but it is more greef to see presently their children vitious and vnthrifts So that there remaineth asmuch memory of their infamy as there doth of the others honesty Thou makst mee ashamed that thou hast forsaken to conquer the enemies as a romain knight and that thou art become a marchant as a poore plebeian Thou makest mee to muse a littel my freend Cincinnatus that thou wilt harme thy familiars and suffer straungers to liue in peace Thou seekest to procure death to those which geeue vs life and to deliuer from death those which take our life To rebels thou geeuest rest to the peace makers thou geeuest anoyaunce To those which take from vs our own thou wilt geeue and to those which geeueth vs of theirs thou wilt take Thou condemnest the innocent and the condemned thou wilt deliuer A defender of thy countrey thou wilt not bee but a tirant of thy common welth To al these things aduentureth hee which leaueth weapons and fauleth to marchandise With my self oft times I haue mused what occasion should moue thee to forsake chiualry wherein thou hadst such honor and to take in hand marchandise whereof foloweth such infamy I say that it is asmuch shame for thee to haue gon from the warres as it is honor for those which are born vnto office in the common welth My freend Cincinnatus my end tendeth not to condemne marchandise nor marchaunds nor to speak euill of those which traffick by the trade of bying and selling For as without the valiant knights warre cannot bee atchyued so likewise without the diligent marchants the comon wealth cannot bee maintained I cannot imagin for what other cause thou shooldst forsake the warre traffique marchandise vnlesse it were because thou now being old wantest force to assault men openly in the straits shooldst with more ease sitting in thy chayer robbe secretly in the market place O poore Cincinnatus sithens thou byest cheap sellest deare promisest much performest litle thou byest by one measure sellest by an other thou watchest that none deceiue thee playest therin as other marchants accustom And to conclude I swear that the measure wherwith the gods shall measure thy lyfe shal bee much iuster
Lido of whom the Atheniens demaunded what they shoold doo with the treasure and dead body mee thinketh quod thys philosopher that if those which are lyuing did know any siluer or gold which the tyraunt tooke from them it shoold bee restored again immediatly and doo not meruell that I doo not require it to bee put in the common treasure For god will not permit that the commonwealth bee enriched with the theft of Tyraunts but with the swet of the inhabitants If any goods remayn which doo not appere from whom they haue beene taken mee thinketh that they ought to bee distributed among the poore for nothing can bee more iust then that which the goods wherewyth the tyraunt hath enpouerished many wyth the self same wee shoold enrich some As touching his buriall mee thinketh hee ought to be cast out to the 〈…〉 to bee eaten and to the dogs to bee gnawen And let no man thynk this sentence to bee cruell for wee are bound to doo no more for him at his death then hee did for him self in his lyfe who beeing so ouercome with auaryce that hee woold neuer disburse so much money as shoold buy him seuen foote of earth wherin his graue shoold bee made And I will you know that the gods haue doon a great good to all Greece to take lyfe from this tyrant First it is good because much goods are dispersed which heeretofore lay hid and serued to no purpose Secondly that many tongues shall rest for the treasours of this tirant made great want in the common welth and our tongues the greatest part of the day were occupied to speak euill of his parson Mee thinketh this philosopher hath touched two things which the couetous man dooth in the common wealth that is to wete that drawing much gold siluer to the hid treasure hee robbeth the marchandise wherwith the people doo liue The other dommage is that as hee is hated of all so hee causeth rancour malice in the harts of all for hee maketh the rych to murmour and the poore to blasphem One thing I read in the laws of the Lombards woorthy of truth to bee noted and knowen and no lesse to bee folowed which is that all those which shoold haue gold siluer money silks clothes euery yere they shoold bee registred in the place of iustice And this was to the end not to consent nor permit them to heap much but that they shoold haue to buy to sell and to trafik wherby the goods were occupyed among the people So that hee which did spend the money to the profit of his house it was taken for good of the common wealth Yf christians woold doo that now adays which the Lombardes did there shoold not bee so many treasures hid nor so many couetous men in the commonwealth for nothing can bee more vniust then that one rych man shoold heap vp that which woold suffise ten thousand to liue wyth all Wee can not deny but that the cursed auarice and disordinat couetise to al states of men is as preiudiciall as the moth which eateth all garments Therfore speaking the truth and wyth lyberty ther is no house that it dooth not defyle for it is more perilous to haue a clod of earth fall into a mans eye then a beam vppon his foot Agesilaus the renowmed king of the Lacedemonians beeing asked of a man of Thebes what woord was most odible to bee spoken to a king and what woord that was that coold honor him most hee aunswered The prince with nothing so much ought to bee annoied as to say vnto him that hee is rich and of nothing hee ought so much to reioice as to bee called poore For the glory of the good prince consisteth not in that hee hath great treasures but in that hee hath geeuen great recompences Thys woord without doubt of all the world was one of the most royallest and worthiest to bee committed vnto memory Alexander Pirrhus Nicanor Ptolomeê° Pompeius Iulius Cesar Scipio Hanniball Marcus Portius Augustus Cato Traian Theodose Marcus Aurelius all these princes haue beene very valiant and vertuous but addyng heereunto also the writers which haue writeÌ„ the deedes that they did in their lyues haue mencioned also the pouerty which they had at their death So that they are no lesse exalted for the riches they haue spent then for the prowesses they haue done Admit that men of meane state bee auaricious and princes and great lords also couetous the fault of the one is not equall with the vice of the other though in the end all are culpable For if the poore maÌ„ keepe it is for that hee woold not want but if the knight hoord it is beecause he hath to much And in this case I woold say that cursed bee the knight which trauaileth to the end that goods abound and dooth not care that betweene two bowes his renowmsall to the ground Sithens princes and great lords will that men doo count them noble vertuous valyaunt I woold know what occasion they haue to bee nigards and hard Yf they say that that which they keepe is to eat heerein there is no reasoÌ„ for in the end where the rich eateth least at his table ther are many that had rather haue that which remaineth then that which they prouide to eat in their houses If they say that that which they keepe is to apparel them heere in also they haue as lytle reason for the greatnes of lords consisteth not in that they shoold bee sumptuously appareled but that they prouide that their seruaunts go not rent nor torne If they say it is to haue in their chambers precious iewels in their halles rich Tapestry as little woold I admit this answer for all those which enter into princes palaces doo beehold more if those that haunt their chambers bee vertuous then that the tapestries bee rych If they say that it is to compasse their cities with walles or to make fortresses on their fronters so lykewise is this aunswer amongst the others very cold For good princes ought not to trauel but to bee well willed and if in their realms they bee welbeeloued in the world they can haue no walles so strong as the harts of their subiects If they tell vs that that they keepe is to mary their children as little reason is that for sithens princes and great lords haue great inheritaunces they neede not heap much For if their children bee good they shall encrease that shal bee left them and if by mishap they bee euill they shall aswell lose that that shal bee geeuen them If they say vnto vs that that which they heap is for the warres in like maner that is no iust excuse For if such warre bee not iust the prince ought not to take it in hand nor the people therunto to condescend but if it bee iust the common wealth then not the prince shal bere the charges therof For in iust warres it is not sufficient that they geeue
persoÌ„ moderat in speach exercised in the warre couragious of hart happy in Armes and honest in lyfe fynally of all hee ought to bee beeloued for his vertue and of none hated for hys vice The knights in whom these vertues shyned bright in Rome had dyuers lyberties that is to weete that they onely myght weare ryngs ryde on horsback thorough the streats they myght haue a shylde shit their gates at dynner they myght drynk in cuppes of siluer speake to the senat and make defyaunces they might demaund the ensigne weare weapons take the charge of imbassage and ward at the gates of Rome The auctour hereof is Blondê° in the booke of De Italia illustrata If Plinie deceiue vs not in an Epystle and Plutarche in his pollitiks Seneca in a tragedy and Cicero in his paradoxes there was nothing wherein the auncients were more circumspect then in electing of their knights Now it is not so but that one hauing mony to buy a lordshyp immediatly hee is made knight and that which is woorst when hee is made a knight it is not to fight agaynst the enemies in the field but more freely to commit vices and oppresse the poore in the towns To the end hee may bee a good christian hee ought to think vpon Iesus crucyfyed and to bee a good knight hee ought always to beehold the arms of hys shyeld the which his graundfather or great graundfather wanne For they shall see that they wanne them not beeing vicious in their houses but in sheding the blood of their enemies in the frontiers ¶ Of a letter which the emperor wrote to Mercurius his neighbour a marchaunt of Samia wherein men may learn the daungers of those which traffyck by sea and also see the couetousnes of them that trauaile by land Cap. xxx MArcus Aurelius Emperour of Rome borne in mount Celio wysheth to thee Mercurius his speciall frind health and consolation in the gods the onely comforters It seemeth well that wee are frends sytheÌ„s wee doo the woorks of charyty For I vnderstanding here thy mishap immedyatly sent a messenger to coÌ„fort thee in hearing my disease thou seÌ„dell a frend of thine to visit mee Wherefore men may perceiue if thou hadst mee in mind I did not forget thee I vndestand that the messenger that went the other that came met in Capua the one caried my desire for thee the other brought thy letter for mee And if as diligeÌ„tly thou hadst read mine as I attentiuely haue hard thine thou shooldst thereby plainly know that my hart was as ful of sorow as thy spyrit was ful of pain I was very glad great thanks I yeeld thee for that thou didst send to comfort mee in my feuer tertian thy visitacion comfort came at the same hour that it left mee But if the gods did leaue this fact in my hands euen as they thought it good to fix the feuer in my bones I woold not leaue thee wtout comfort nor geeue place to the feuer to retourn again O how great is our pride the misery of mans life I speak this beecause I doo presume to take many realms froÌ„ other yet I haue not the power to pluck the feuer out of my own bones Tel mee I pray thee Mercurius what profit is it to vs to desire much to procure much to attain much to presume much since our days are so brief our ê‘sons so frayl It is long time since wee haue been bouÌ„d togethers in freÌ„dship many years haue passed sitheÌ„s wee haue knoweÌ„ the one the other the day that thy frendship trusted my faith immediatly my faith was bound that thy euils shoold bee mine my goods thine for as the deuine Plato said that only is true frendship where the bodies are .2 the willes but one I count that suspicious frendship where the harts are so deuided as the wils are seuered for there are diuers in Rome great frends in woords which dwell but ten houses in sunder haue their harts ten thousand miles distant When thow wenst from Rome I came from Samia thou knowst the agreement which wee made in Capua whereof I trust thou wilt not deceiue mee now but that I am another thou here that thou shooldst bee another I there so that my abseÌ„ce with thy presence thy presence wyth mine absence bee always together By relacion of thy messenger I vnderstoode that thou hadst lost much goods but as by thy letter I was enformed that anguish of thy parson was much greater As wee vnderstand here thou didst send a ship laden with marchandise to Grece the mariners factours desiring more to profit by their wisedome then to accomplish thy couetousnes did cast the marchandise into the Sea only they trauailed to saue their persons In deede in so streyght perilous a case thou hast no reason to accuse them nor yet they are bound to satisfy thee for no man can commit greater folly then for the goods of others to hazard his own propre life Pardon mee Mercury I pray thee for that I haue spoken allso for that I wil say which is that for so much as the mariners factours were not thy children nor thy kinsmen nor thy frends so that thy marchandise might haue come to the haueÌ„ safe thou hadst lytle passed if they had al been drowned in the deepe goulf of the sea Further I say though I woold not say it thow much lesse here it that according to the litle care which you other couetous men haue of the children factors of others and according to the disordinat loue which yow haue to your proper goods where as thou weepest bitterly for the losse of thy goods though thou hadst seen al the mariners drowned thou wooldst not haue shed one teare For Romain marchants weepe rather for ten crowns lost which they can not recouer then for ten men dying the which ten crowns woold haue saued Mee thinketh it is neither iust nor honest that thou doo that whych they tell mee thou doost to complain of thy factours and accuse the maryners only to recouer of the poore men by land that which the fish haue in their possession in the Sea For as thou knowest no man is bound to chauÌ„ge health life nor the renowm of their parsons for the recouery of goods Alas what pyty haue I on thee Mercury in that the ship was loden with thy marchandise and the woorst of all is that according to my vnderstanding thy feelyng the Pirats haue not cast such fardels into the sea as thoughts hath burdened oppressed thy hart I neuer saw man of such condicion as thou art for that thow seest that the shyp vntil such time as they cast that marchandise ouer the boord could not saile safely and yet thou doost lode thy self with ryches to goe to thy graue O greeuous and cursed riches with the which neither in the deepe seas neither yet in
the main land our parsons are in safegard Knowing thy property I woold rather binde my self to seeke thy lead tinne theÌ„ thy hart so wouÌ„ded For in the end thy lead is together in some place in the bottom of the sea but thy couetousnes is scattered through al the whole earth If perhaps thou shooldst dye and the surgions with the sharp raser should open thy stomack I sweare vnto thee by the mother Berecinthe which is the mother of all the gods of Rome that they shoold rather fynd thy hart drowned which the lead then in life with thy body Now thow canst not bee sick of the feuer tertian as I am for the heate with in thy body the pain in thy head woold cause thee to haue a double quartain and of such disease thou canst not bee healed in thy bed but in the shyp not in land but in the sea not with phisitions but with pirats For the phisicions woold cary away the money and the pyrats woold shew thee where thy lead fel. Trouble not thy self 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 oughtest inough to comfort thy self for where as beefore thou hadst it in thy cofers thou hast it presently in thy intrailes For there thy life is drowned where thy lead is cast O Mercury now thou knowest that the day that thou didst recommend thy goods to the vnknowen rocks and thy shyp to the ragyng seas and thy outragious auarice to the furious wynds how much that thy factors went desyryng thy profyt and gayn so much the more thow mightst haue been assured of thy losse Yf thou hadst had this consyderacion and hadst vsed this diligence thy desire had been drowned and thy goods escaped For men that dare aduenture their goods on the sea they ought not to bee heauy for that that is lost but they ought to reioyce for that that is escaped Socrates the auncyent and great Phylosopher determyned to teach vs not by woord but by woork in what estimacion a man ought to haue the goods of this world for hee cast in the sea not lead but gold not litle but much not of another mans but of his own not by force but willingly not by fortune but by wisedome Finally in this woorthy fact hee shewed so great courage that no couetous man woold haue reioyced to haue fouÌ„d so much in the land as thys phylosopher did delyght to haue cast in the sea That which Socrates dyd was much but greater ought wee to esteme that hee sayd which was O ye disceytfull goods I will drown you rather then you shoold drown mee Since Socrates feared and drowned hys own proper goods why doo not the couetous feare to robbe the goods of other Thys wyse Philosopher woold not trust the fyne gold and thou doost trust the hard lead Draw you two lottes Socrates of Athens and thou of Samia See which of you two haue erred or doone well hee to cary gold from the land to the Sea or thou by the Sea to bring gold to the land I am assured that the auncyent Romayns woold say that it is hee but the couetous of this present world would say that it is thou That which in this case I thynk is that thou in praysyng yt doost disprayse thy self and Socrates in dyspraysyng it of all is praysed and esteemed ¶ The Emperor followeth his matter concludeth his letter greatly reprouing his frend Mercurius for that hee tooke thought for the losse of his goods Hee sheweth him the nature of fortune and describeth the condicions of the couetous man Cap. xxxi THis messenger told mee that thou art very sad that thou cryest out in the night and importunest the gods wakest thy neighbors and aboue all that thou complainest of fortune which hath vsed thee so euill I am sory for thy grief for grief is a frend of solytude enemy of company a louer of darknes straunge in conuersation heire of desperacion I am sory thou cryest in the night for it is a signe of folly a token of smal pacience the point of no wise man and a great proof of ignoraunce for at the hour when al the world is couered with darknes thou alone doost discouer thy hart with exclamacions I am sory that thou art vexed with the gods saying that they are cruell For so much as if they haue taken any thing froÌ„ thee for thy pryde they shoold restore it again vnto thee for thy humility For as much as wee offeÌ„d the gods through the offence so much doo wee appease them with pacieÌ„ce O my frend Mercurius knowst thou not that the pacience which the gods haue in dissembling our faults is greater then that which men haue in suffering their chastisements for wee others vniustly doo offend them and they iustly doo punysh vs. I am sory that with thy exclamations and complaints thou slauÌ„derest thy neighbors for as thou knowst one neighbor always enuyeth another in especially the poore the rych And according to my counsell thow shooldst dyssemble thy payn and take all things in good part for if perhaps thy riches haue caused thy sorow thy pacience will moue them to compassion I am sory thou complainest of thy fortune For fortune sith shee is knowen of al dooth not suffer her self to bee defamed of one and it is better to thynk wyth fortune how thou mayst remedy it then to thynk with what grief to coÌ„playn For they are diuers men which to publish their pain are very carefull but to seeke remedy are as negligent O poore innocent Mercurius after so long forgetfullnesse art thou more aduysed to complayn of fortune agayn datest thow defye fortune with whom all wee haue peace Wee vnbend our bowes and thow wilt charge thy launces thou knowst not what warre meaneth and yet thou wilt winne the victory all are deceiued and wilt thow alone go safe What wilt thow more I say vnto thee synce I see thee commyt thy self to fortune Doost thow know that it is shee that beateth down the high walles and defendeth the town dyches knowst thou not that it is shee that peopleth the vnhabitable deserts and dyspeopleth the peopled Cities Knowst thou not that it is shee that of enemyes maketh frends and of frends enemyes Knowest thou not that it is shee that conquereth the conquerors Knowst thou not that it is shee that of traitors maketh faithfull and of faithfull suspicious fynally I wil thou know that fortune is shee which turneth realms breaketh armies abassheth kings raiseth tirants geeueth lyfe to the dead and berieth the lyuing Doost thou not remember that the second king of the Lacedemonians had ouer his gates such woords ¶ The pallace here beehold where men doo striue by fruitles toyle to conquere what they can And fortune â—cke that princes fancies riue by his vnbrideled wyl that alwayes wan CErtaynly these woords were high and proceeded of a hygh
vnderstandyng And if in this case I may bee beeleeued they ought to bee well noted of wyse men not written beefore the gates but imprinted within the harts Better knew hee fortune then thow since hee tooke him self for one disherited and not as heire and when hee lost any thing as thow hee knew that hee receiued it by loan and not that it was his own Men in this lyfe are not so much deceiued for any thing as to thynk that the temperall goods shoold remayn with them duryng lyfe Now that god dooth suffer it now that our wofull fortune dooth deserue it I see no greater myshaps fall vnto any then vnto them which haue the greatest estates and ryches so that truly wee may boldly say that hee alone which is shut in the graue is in safegard from the vnconstancy of fortune Thy messenger hath told mee further that this sommer thow preparedst thy self to Rome now that it is winter thou wylt sayl to Alexandria O thou vnhappy Mercury tell mee I pray thee how long it is sythens thow lost thy sensis forasmuch as when this lyfe dooth end thy auaryce beeginneth a new Thou foundest two cyties very meete for thy traffyck that is to weete Rome which is the scourge of all vertues and Alexandria which is the chiefest of all vyces And if thow louest greatly these two cyties here I pray thee what marchaundise are solde therein In Rome thow shalt lode thy body with vyces and in Alexandria thow shalt swell thy hart with cares By the fayth of a good man I sweare vnto thee that if perchance thou buyest any thing of that that is there or sellest ought of that thou bringest from thence thou shalt haue greater hunger of that thou shalt leaue then contentacion of that thou shalt bryng Thou doost not remember that wee are in winter and that thou must passe the sea in the which if the Pyrats doo not deceiue mee the surest tranquyllyty is a signe of the greatest torment Thow myghtst tel mee that thy ships should retourn without frayt and therefore they shal sayle more surely To this I aunswere thee that thou shalt send them more loden with couetousnesse then they shall returne loden with silks O what a good chaunge shoold it bee if the auarice of Italy coold bee chaunged for the silk of Alexandry I sweare vnto thee that in such case thy sylk woold frayght a shyp and our couetyse woold lode a whole nauy That couetousnes is great which the shame of the world dooth not oppresse neither the feare of death dooth cause to cease And this I say for thee that sythens in this daungerous time thou durst sayle eyther wisedome wanteth or els auaryce and couetousnes surmounteth To satisfy mee and to excuse thee with those which speak to mee of thee I can not tell what to say vnto them but that GOD hath forgotten thee and the seas doo know thee I pray thee what goest thow to seeke synce thow leauest the gouernaunce of thy howse and saylest in Alexandrie Peraduenture thow goest to the goulph Arpyn where the maryners cast in thy lead Take heede Mercury and consyder well what thow doost for peraduenture where as thow thinkest to take from the fysh the hard lead thow mayst leaue vnto them thy soft flesh I haue knowen many in Rome which for to recouer one part of that that they haue lost haue lost all that which was left vnto them O my frend Mercury note note note well this last woord whereby thou shalt know what it is that you couetous men gape for in this life Thou seekest care for thy selfe enuy for the neighbours spurs for straungers a bayt for theeues troubles for thy body damnacion for thy renowm vnquietnes for thy life annoyance for thy frends and occasion for thy ennemies Finally thou searchest maledictions for thy heires and long sutes for thy children I can not wryte any more vnto thee beecause the feuer dooth so behemently vexe mee I pray thee pray to the gods of Samia for mee for medecines littel profiteth if the gods bee angry with vs. My wife Faustine saluteth thee and shee sayeth that shee is sory for thy losse shee sendeth thee a rich iewell for Fabilla thy doughter and I send thee a cōmission to th end they shall geeue thee a ship in recompence of thy lead If thou saylest with it come not by Rhodes for wee haue taken it from their pirats The gods bee in thy custody geeue mee and Faustine a good life with ours a good name amōg straungers I doo not write vnto thee with mine own hand for that my sicknes dooth not permit it ¶ That Princes and noble men ought to consider the mysery of mans nature and that brute beasts are in some poynts reason set a part to be preferred vnto mā Cap. xxxij MYdas the auncient kyng of Phrigia was in his gouernment a cruell tyrant and contented not him self to play the tiraunt in his own proper countrey but also mainteined rouers on the sea and theeues in the lād to robbe straūgers This king Mydas was wel knowen in the realms of orient and in such sort that a frend of his of Thebes sayd vnto him these woords I let thee to weete king Mydas that all those of thy own realm doo hate thee and al the other realms of Asia doo feare thee and this not for that thou canst doo much but for the crafts and subtilties which thou vsest By reason where of all straungers and all thine own haue made a vow to god neuer to laugh during the time of thy life nor yet to weepe after thy death Plutarche in the book of pollitiques sayth that when this king Mydas was born the ants brought corn into his cradel and into his mouth and when the nurse woold haue taken it from him he shut his mouth and woold not suffer any parson to take it from him They beeing all amazed with this straunge sight demaūded the oracle what this beetokened Who aunswered that the chyld should bee marueilous rych and with that exceeding couetous which the ants dyd beetoken in fylling his mouth with corne And afterwards hee woold not geeue them one onely grayn and euen so it chaunced that kyng Mydas was exceedyng rych and allso very couetous for hee woold neuer geeue any thyng but that which by force was taken from him or by subtelty robbed In the schools of Athens at that tyme florished a philosopher called Sylenus who in letters and purenes of lyfe was highly renowmed And as kyng Mydas was knowen of many to haue great treasures so this phylosopher Silenus was no lesse noted for despysyng them This phylosopher Silenus trauaylyng by the borders of Phrigia was taken by the theeues whych robbed the countrey and beeing brought beefore kyng Mydas the kyng sayd vnto hym Thow art a phylosopher and I am a kyng thou art my prisoner and I am thy lord I wyll that immedyatly thow tell mee what raunsome
thou canst geeue mee to redeeme thy parson for I let thee to weete that I am not contented any phlosopher shoold perysh in my countrey because you other philosophers say that yow wyll willyngly renounce the goods of the world syth yow can not haue it The phylosopher Silenus aunswered hym Mee thinketh kyng Mydas that thou canst better execut tyrāny then to talk of phylosophy for wee make no accompt that our bodies bee taken but that our willes bee at lyberty Thy demaund is very symple to demaund raunsome of mee for my parson whether thow takest mee for a phylosopher or no. If I bee not a phylosopher what mooueth thee to feare to keepe mee in thy realme for sooner shooldst thow make mee a tyrant then I thee a phylosopher If thou takest mee for a phylosopher why doost thow demaund money of mee sins thow knowst I am a phylosopher I am a craftesman I am a poet and also a musicion So that the time that thow in heapyng vp riches hast consumed the selfsame tyme haue I in learning sciences spent Of a phylosopher to demaund eyther gold or siluer for raunsome of hys parson is either a woord in mockery or els an inuention of tyranny For sithens I was borne in the world riches neuer came into my hands nor after them hath my hart lusted If thou kyng Mydas wooldst geeue mee audience and in the fayth of a prynce beeleeue mee I woold tell thee what is the greatest thyng and next vnto that the second that the gods may geeue in this life and it may bee that it shal bee so pleasaunt vnto thee to here and so profytable for thy lyfe that thou wilt pluck mee from my enemies and I may diswade thee from tirannies When king Mydas hard these woords hee gaue him lycence to say these two things swearing vnto him to heare him wyth as much pacyence as was possible The phylosopher Silenus hauyng lycence to speak freely taking an instrument in his hands beeganne to play and syng in thys wyse The senate of the gods when they forethought On earthly wights to still some ryall grace the chiefest gyft the heauenly powers had wrought had bene to sow his seede in barrayne place But when by steps of such diuine constraint they forced man perforce to fyxe his line The highest good to help his bootles plaint had been to slyp his race of slender twine For then the tender babes both want to know the deare delight that lyfe doth after hale And eke the dread that griefly death dooth shew Er Charons bote to Stigeanshore dooth sal◠THese two thinges the philosopher proued with so high and naturall reasons that it was a marueylous matter to see with what vehemency Sylenas the philosopher sang them and with what bitternes Mydas the tirant wept Without doubt the sentences were marueilous profound which the philosopher spake and great reason had that king to esteeme it so much For if wee doo prepare our selues to consider whereof wee are and what wee shall bee that is to weete that wee are of earth and that wee shall retourn to earth Wee woold not cease to weepe nor sygh One of the greatest vanities which I fynd among the children of vanity is that they imploy them selues to consyder the influences of the starres the nature of the planets the motion of the heauens and they wil not consider them selues of which consyderacion they shoold take some profyt For man geeuing his minde to think on straunge things commeth to forget his own propre O if wee woold consider the corruption whereof wee are made the fylth whereof wee are ingendred the infinit trauaile wherew t wee are borne the long tediousnes wherew t wee are norished the great necessities and suspicions wherein wee liue and aboue all the great peryll where in wee dye I sweare and affirme that in such consideracion wee fynd a thousand occasions to wysh death and not one to desire life The children of vanyty are occupyed many years in the schools to learn rethoryk they excercise them selues in philosophy they here Aristottel they learn Homere without booke they study Cicero they are occupied in Xenophon they herken Titus Liuius they forget not Aulus Gelius and they know Ouide yet for all this I say that wee can not say that the man knoweth lytell which doth know him self Eschines the philosopher sayd well that it is not the least but the chiefest part of phylosophy to know man and wherefore hee was made for if man woold deepely consyder what man is hee shoold fynd mo things in him which woold moue him to humble him self then to stirre him to bee proud If wee doo beeholdyt without passion and if wee doo examin it with reasō I know not what there is in man O miserable and fraile nature of man the which taken by it self is littel woorth and compared with an other thing is much lesse For man seeth in brute beasts many things which hee doth ēuy and the beasts doo see much more in mē whereō yf they had reason they woold haue cōpassion The excellency of the soule layd asyde and the hope which wee haue of eternall lyfe yf man doo compare the captyuyty of men to the lyberty of beasts wyth reason wee may see that the beasts doo liue a peacible life and that which men doo lead is but a long death If wee prepare our selues to consyder from the tyme that both man and beast come into this world vntill such time as they both dy and in how many things the beasts are better then men with reason wee may say that nature lyke a pitifull mother hath shewed her self to beasts that shee doth handle vs as an iniust stepmother Let vs beeginne therefore to declare more particularly the original of the one and the beginning of the other wee shall see how much better the brute beasts are endowed how the myserable men are disherited ¶ The auctour followeth his purpose excellently compareth the mysery of men with the lyberty of beasts Cap. xxxiij WE ought deepely to consyder that no wilde nor tame beast is so long beefore hee come to his shape as the myserable man is who wyth corruption of blood vile matter is nine moneths hyd in the womb of his mother Wee see the beast when shee is great if neede require doth labor all exercises of husbandry so that shee is as ready to labor when shee is great as if shee were empty The contrary happeneth to women which whē they are bigge with childe are weary with going troubled to bee layd they ryde in chariots through the market places they eat lytle they brooke not that they haue eaten they hate that which is profytable loue that which doth thē harm Fynally a woman with childe is contented with nothing and shee fretteth and vexeth with her self Sithens therefore it is true that wee are noysome and troublesome to our mothers when they beare vs in theire wombs why
that is hurtful for them For wee see this that the sheepe flyeth the wolf the catt flyeth the dog the ratt flyeth the catt and the chicken the kyte so that the beasts in opening the eyes doo immediatly know the frends whō they ought to folow and the enemies whom they ought to fly To the miserable man was vtterly denyed this so great priuilege For in the world there hath been many beastly men who hath not onely attained that which they ought to know whiles they lyued but also euen as like beasts they passed their daies in this life so they were infamed at the tyme of their death O miserable creatures that wee are which lyue in this wicked world for wee know not what is hurtfull for vs what wee ought to eat from what wee ought to abstain nor yet whom wee shoold hate wee doo not agree with those whom wee ought to loue wee know not in whom to put our trust from whom wee ought to fly nor what it is wee ought too choose nor yet what wee ought to forsake Finally I say that when wee think oft times to enter into a sure hauen within .3 steps afterward wee fall headlong into the deepe sea Wee ought also to consider that both to wild and tame beasts nature hath geeuen armes or weapons to defend them selues and to assault their enemies as it appeareth for that to birds shee hath geeuen wings to the harts swiftfeete to the Elephants tushes to the serpents scales to the Eagle tallons to the Faucon a beake to the lyons teeth to the bulles hornes and to the bears pawes Finally I say that shee hath geeuen to the Foxes subtilty to know how to hyde them selues in the earth and to the fishes lyttle finnes how to swim in the water Admit that the wretched men haue few enemies yet in this they are none otherwise priuileged then the beasts for wee see without teares it cannot bee told that the beasts which for the seruice of men were created with the self same beastes men are now adays troubled and offended And to the end it seeme not wee should talk of pleasure let euery man think with him self what it is that wee suffer with the beasts of this life For the Lyons do fear vs the wolfes deuoure our sheepe the dogges doo bite vs the cattes scratche vs the Bear doth tear vs the serpents poysō vs the Bulles hurt vs with their horns the birds do ouerfly vs the ratts doo trouble vs the spiders do annoy vs and the woorst of all is that a litel flye sucketh our blood in the day the poore flea doth let vs from slepe in the night O poore and miserable mā who for to sustein this wretched life is enforced to begge al things that hee needeth of the beastes For the beasts do geeue him wool the beast do draw him water the beasts do cary him him from place to place the beasts do plough the land and carieth the corn into their barnes Finally I saye that if the mā receiue any good he hath not wherwith to make recompēce if they doo him any euill he hath nought but the tong to reuenge Wee must note also that though a man lode a best with stripes beate her driue her by the foule wayes though he taketh her meat from her yea though her yonglings dye yet for none of all these things shee is sad or sorowfull and much lesse doth weepe though shee should weepe shee cannot For beasts little esteame their life much lesse feare death It is not so of the vnhappy and wretched mā which can not but bewayle the vnthankfullnes of their frends the death of their children the want which they haue of necessityes the case of aduersitie which doo succede theim the false witnes which is brought against theym and a thousād calamities whice doo torment their harts Fynally I say that the greatest cōfort that men haue in this life is to make a riuer of water with the teares of their eyes Let vs inquire of princes and great lords what they can doo whē they are borne whether they can speak as oratours if they can ronne as postes if they can gouerne them selues as kinges if they can fyght as men of warre if they can labor as laborers if they can woork as the masons if they knew to teach as maisters these litell children would aunswer that they are not onely ignoraunt of all that wee demaund of them but also that they can not vnderstād it Let vs retourne to ask them what is that they know since they know nothing of that wee haue demaunded them they wil aunswer that they can doo none other thing but weepe at their byrth and sorow at their death Though al those which sayle in this so perillous sea doo reioyce and take pleasure and seeme too sleap soundly yet at the last there cometh the winde of aduersity which maketh them al to know their foly For if I bee not deceyued and if I know any thing of this world those which I haue seene at the time of their birth take shipp weeping I doubt whether they will take land in the graue laughing O vnhappy life I shoold say rather death which the mortalls take for life wherein afterwards wee must cōsume a great time to learn all arts sciences and offices and yet notwithstanding that whereof wee are ignorante is more thē that which wee know Wee forget the greatest part saue only that of weeping which no man needeth to learn for wee are borne and liue weeping and vntill this present wee haue seene none dye inioy Wee must note also that the beasts doo lyue and dye with the inclinations where with they were borne that is to weete that the wolfe foloweth the sheepe and not the birds the hounds follow the hares and not the ratts the sparrow flyeth at the birds and not at the fish the spider eateth the flyes and not the herbs Finally I say that if wee let the beast search hys meat quietly wee shall not see hym geeuen to any other thing The contrary of al this happeneth to men the which though nature hath created feeble yet Gods intētiō was not they should bee malitious but I am sory since they cannot auoyde debilyty that they turne it into malice The presumption which they haue to bee good they turne to pryde and the desire they haue to bee innocent they tourne into enuy The fury which they should take against malice they turne into anger and the liberality they ought to haue with thee good they conuerte into auaryce The necessity they haue to eat they turne into gluttony and the care they ought to haue of their conscience they turne into neglygence Finally I say that the more strength beasts haue the more they serue and the lesse men are worth somuch the more thanks haue they of god The innocency of the brute beast consydered and the malice of the malitious man marked without comparison the
company of the brute beast is lesse hurtfull then the conuersation of euil men For in the end if yee bee conuersant with a beast yee haue not but to beeware of her but if yee be in coÌ„pany with a maÌ„ there is nothing where in yee ought to trust him Wee must note also that it was neyther seene or read that there was any beast that took care for the graue but the beasts beeing dead some ore torne in peeces with Lyons other dysmembred by the bears others gnawn with dogs other remaine in the fylds other are eaten of men and other by the ants Finally the intralles of the one are the graues of others It is not so of the myserable man the which consumeth no small treasure to make his tombe which is the most vaynest thing that is in this miserable lyfe for there is no greater vanity nor lyghtnes in man then to bee esteemed for his goodli and suÌ„ptuous sepulture and lytell to way a good lyfe I will swere that at this day all the dead doo sweare that they care lytell if their bodyes bee buried in the deepe Seas or in the golden tombs or that the cruel beasts haue eaten them or that they remayne in the fields without a graue so that their soules may bee among the celestiall companies Speaking after the law of a christian I durst say that it profiteth lytell the body to bee among the paynted and carued stones when the myserable soul is burning in the fyrye flames of hell O miserable creatures haue not wee suffycient where with to seeke in this lyfe to procure to trauaile to accomplish to sygh and also what to beewayle with out hauyng such care and anguysh to know where they shal bee buryed Is there any man so vaine that hee dooth not care that other menn shoold condempn his euill lyfe so that they prayse his rych Tomb To those that are liuing I speak and say of those that are dead that if a man gaue theym leaue to returne in to the world they would bee occupied more to correct theyr excesse and offences then to adourne and repaire their graues and tombs though they found them fallen down I cannot tell what to say more in this case but to admonysh men that it is great folly to make any great accompte of the graues ¶ The Emperor Marcus Aurelius writeth this letter to Domitius a citezin of Capua to comfort him in his exile beeing banished for a quarell beetwixt him and an other about the ruÌ„ning of a hors very comfortable to those that haue been in fauor and now fallen in disgrace Cap. xxxiiii MArke the Romain Emperor borne at mount Celio to thee Domitiê° of Capua wysheth health and consolation from Gods the onely comforters The bitter winter in these parts haue reised boisterus wynds and the winds haue caused much rayn and the much rayn hath caused great moystures the which engendreth in mee sondry dyseases Among the which the gowt of my hands is one and the Siatica in my legge is another Eschines the philosopher said that the liberty of the soul and the health of the bodi caÌ„not bee esteemed to much much lesse also bee bought for mony Tell mee I pray thee what can hee doo or what is hee worth that hath neither lyberti nor health The deuine Plato in his bookes of his common wealth reciteth three things The first that the man which oweth nothing cannot say that hee is poore For the day that I ow money to another another and not my self is lord of myne own The second the man which is no seruant nor captiue hath not reason to say that any thing may make hym vnhappy For fortune in nothing sheweth her selfe so cruel as to take from vs the liberty of this life The third which Plato saied is that among all temporall goods ther is none more greater nor greater felicity then the treasure of health For the man which is persecuted with sicknes with ryches can haue no contentacion In the time of our old fathers when Rome was well corrected they did not only ordeine the things of their common wealth but also they prouyded for that which touched the health of euery person So that they watched to cure the body and they were circumspect to destroy vices In the time of Gneus Patroclus and Iulius Albus they say that the city of Rome was ordinarily vysyted with sicknes Wherefore first they dyd forbyd that in the moneth of Iuly and Augustus there should bee no stewes for women For the bloud of the yong was corrupted in venerial actes The second that no man should bring any fruit from Salon nor Campania to sell during these .2 moneths in Rome For the delicate ladies of Rome for extreame heat and the poore for their pouerty dyd not eat in sommer but fruyts and so the market places were full of fruyts and the houses ful of agues The third they did defend that no inhabitaunt should bee so hardy to walk after the sunn were set For the yong men thorough the lightnes they vsed in the nights tooke dyseases which vexed them in the days The fourth they did prohibit that no man should bee so hardy to sell openly in Rome wyne of Candie or Spaine For in the great heat of the sommer as the sunne is very whot so the wyne as poyson dooth kil yong men The fifth that they shoold purge the priuyes and make clean the streats and houses For of the corruption of the ayer is engendred the plague among the people When Rome was rych when Rome prospered all these things were obserued in the common wealth But since Catilina the Tyrant dyd rebell since Scilla and Marius dyd slaunder it since Cesar and Pompeius dyd play the tiraunts since Octauius Augustus and Marcus Antonius dyd robb it since Calligula and Nero did defame it they cared litel whither they entred into Rome to sell the wine of Spaine or Candia For they feared more the knife of the enemies then the heat of the sommer Great reason had the auncients to forbyd those thinges in Rome for to say the trouth they are not healthfull When I was yong in Rome my head dyd not ake with talking in the nyght nor I did feele my blood chafed wyth drinkyng wine Then I was not troubled to iette in the heat in the sommer nor I was annoyed to goo bare legged in the wynter But now that I am old there is no heat but offendeth mee nor cold but perseth mee For men through much euyll rule in their youth come to greauous dyseases in theyr age O if mortall men after that they bee old could at any tyme woork with the gods that they shoold beecome yong agayne I swere vnto thee by the fayth of a good man that they woold beehaue them selues so well that the world should not agayne deceiue them Since men haue been vicious in their youth I doo not meruell though they are full of dyseases when they
dye lyueth the euill man though hee liue dyeth I swear vnto thee by the mother Berecinthia and so the god Iupiter doo preserue mee that I speak not this which I will speak fainedly which is that considering the reast that the dead haue with the gods and seeing the sorows troubles wee haue here with the lyuing I say and affirm once agayn that they haue greater compassion of our lyfe then wee others haue sorow of their death Though the death of men were as the death of beasts that is to weet that there were no furies nor deuils which shoold torment the euil that the gods shoold not reward the good yet wee ought to bee comforted to see our frends dye if it were for no other but to see thē deliuered from the thraldō of this miserable world The pleasure that the Pilot hath to bee in sure hauen the glory that the captaine hath to see the day of victory the rest that the traueler hath to see his iorney ended the contentation that the woork man hath to see his woork come to perfeccion all the same haue the dead seeing them selues out of this miserable lyfe If men were born alway to lyue it were reason to lament them when wee see them dye but since it is troth that they are borne to dye I woold say since needes dye wee must that wee ought not to lament those whych dye quickly but those whych lyue long I am assured that Claudine thy husband remembring that whych in this lyfe hee hath passed and suffered and seeing the rest that hee hath in the other though the Gods woold make him emperor of Rome hee woold not bee one day out of his graue For returning to the world hee shoold dye agayn but beeing with the gods hee hopeth to lyue perpetually Lady Lauinia most earnestly I desire thee so vehemently not to perse the heauens with thy so heauy sighes ne yet to wete the earth with thy so bitter teares since thou knowst that Claudine thy husband is in place where there is no sorow but mirth where ther is no payn but rest where hee weepeth not but laugheth where hee sigheth not but singeth where hee hath no sorows but pleasures where hee feareth not cruell death but enioyeth perpetuall lyfe Since therfore this is true it is but reason the wydow appease her anguish considering that her husband endureth no payn Often tymes wyth my self I haue thought what the widows ought to immagin when they see them selues in such cares and distresse And after my count made I fynd that they ought not to thynk of the company past nor wofull solitarynes wherin they are presently and much lesse they ought to think on the pleasures of this world but rather to remember the rest in the world to come For the true widow ought to haue her conuersacion among the lyuing and her desire to bee wyth the dead If til this present thou hadst paine and trouble to look for thy husband to come home haue thou now ioy that hee looketh for thee in heauen wherin I swere vnto thee that there thou shalt bee better vsed of the gods then hee was here of mē For in this world wee know not what glory meaneth and there they know not what payns are Licinius and Posthumius thy vncles told mee that thou art so sorowful that thou wilt receiue no comfort but in this case I think not that thou bewailest so much for Claudinus that thou alone doost think thou hast lost him For since wee did reioyce togethers in his lyfe wee are bound to weep togethers at his death The heauy and sorowful harts in this world feele no greater greef then to see others reioice at theyr sorows And the cōtrary hereof is that the wofull and afflicted hart feeleth no greater ioy nor rest in extreme mishaps of fortune then to think that others haue sorow and greef of their payn When I am heauy and comfortles I greatly ioy to haue my frend by mee and my hart dooth tell mee that what I feele hee feeleth So that all which my frend with his eyes dooth beewail and all that which of my greefes hee feeleth the more therwith hee burdeneth him self and the more therof hee dischargeth mee The Emperor Octauian Augustus the histories say on the riuer of Danuby found a kynd of people which had thys straunge custom that with eyes was neuer seene nor in books at any time euer read which was that two frends assembled and went to the aultars of the temples and there one frend confederat with an other so that their harts were maried as man and wife are maried touching their bodies swering and promysing there to the gods neuer to weepe nor to take sorow for any mishap that shoold come to their persons So that my frend shoold come to lament and remedy my troubles as if they had been his own I shoold lament and remedy his as if they had been mine O glorious world O age most happy O people of eternal memory wherin men are so gentle frendz so faithfull that their own trauails they forgot and the sorows of strangers they beewayled O Rome without rome O tyme euil spent O lyfe to vs others euil emploied O wretch that always art careles now adays the stomack and intrailes are so seuered from the good and the harts so ioyned with the euill that men forgetting them selues to bee men beecome more cruell then wyld beasts I labor to geeue thee lyfe and thou seekest to procure my death Thou weepest to see mee laugh and I laugh to see thee weepe I procure that thou doo not mount and thou seekest that I might fall Fynally without the profit of any wee cast our selues away and wythout gayn wee doo reioyce to end our lyues By the faith of a good man I swear vnto thee Lady Lauinia that if thy remedy were in my hands as thy grief is in my hart I woold not bee sory for thy sorows neither thou so tormēted for the death of thy husband But alas though I miserable man haue the hart to feele thy anguysh yet I want power to remedy thy sorows ¶ The Emperor proceedeth in his letter and perswadeth wydowes to put their willes to the will of god and exhorteth them to lyue honestly Cap. xxxviii SInce thy remedy and my desire cannot bee accomplished beecause it is a thing vnpossible to receiue and speak with the dead and not hauing power mee think that thou and I shoold referre it to the gods who can geeue much better then wee can ask O lady Lauinia I desire thee earnestly and as a frend I counsel and admonish thee and with all my hart I require thee that thou esteem that for wel doon which the gods haue doon that thou conform thy self to the will of the gods and that thou will nought els but as the gods will For they only know they erre not wherfore they haue assaulted thy husband with so
dysburthen thee of this charge And since it is vnpossyble for mee I send thee this letter wherein perchaunce thou shalt finde some cōfortable woords For thow knowst that if the trew frends cannot doo that which they ought yet they doo accomplish it in dooyng that they can If my memory deceyue mee not it is well two and thirty yeares since wee two haue knowen togethers in Rome duryng the which fortune hath made here beetween vs dyuers alteracions in the whych time I neuer saw thee one day contented For if thow were sad nothyng dyd make thee mery but were as a man without tast and if thow were ioyfull thou esteemedst it lytle as a man beeyng troubled Therefore if the trueth bee so as in deede it is that in trauayles thow were loden with sorows and in prosperities thow were euill content so that of nothyng in the world thow takest any tast why is it my frend Torquatus that now agayn thow art in dyspaire as if thow cammest new into this world Thou dydst reioyce thy self .xxxii. yeares with the tryumphs and prosperyty of Rome and thou complainest onely of three moneths that fortune hath been contrary vnto thee O Torquatus Torquatus doost thow know that the wise men in whom wisedome reigneth haue more feare of two vnhappy days in this lyfe then of two hundreth of prosperous fortune O how many haue I seene goe out of their prosperyties with the charges of another man and their own proper vices so that the vayn glory and the fayling prosperity endured few days but the griefe of that they haue lost and the enmyties which they haue recouered endure many yeares The contrary of all this commeth to infortunat men which escape out of their tribulacions spoyled of vyces enuyronned with vertues persecutours of euill zelers of good frends of all and enemies of none contented with theirs and not desyryng others fynally they are scaped wisely from the snare and haue gathered the rose not hurting them selues with the pricks What wylt thow that I say more vnto thee but that the most fortunat are vanquyshed in peace and the vnfortunat are conquerers in warre One of the sentences which most haue contented mee of those which the auncyents haue spoken is this of the deuine Plato That those which are in prosperyty haue no lesse nede of good counsaile then the vnhappy haue of remedy For no lesse doo they trauayle which goe always in the playn way then those which mount on the sharp craggy mountayn Accordyng to that I haue gathered of thy letter mee seemeth that when wee hope most rest greatest trauaile hath succeeded to thee And hereof I doo not maruell nor thow oughtst not to bee offended For as experience teacheth vs when the trees haue the blossomes then they are most subiect to the frost And when glasses are drawen out of the furnace they breake The captayns hauing wonne the victory doo dye When they will put the key in the doore the house dooth fall The pyrats perish withyn the kenning of land By that I haue spoken I mean that when wee thynk to haue made peace with fortune then shee hath a new demaund ready forged All new chaunges of fortune causeth allway new payn to the parson but oftentymes it is cause of more great fortresse For the tree beareth not so much fruit where it fyrst grew as there where it is agayn planted and the sauors are more odiferous when they are most chafed I mean that men of hye thoughts the more they are wrapped in the frownings of fortune the more valiaunt and stout they shew them selues The man vtterly is foolysh or hath great want of vnderstandyng who hopeth at any time to haue perfect rest immaginyng that the world will geeue no assault vppon hym but that the time shall come wherein hee shall bee without care and feare This myserable lyfe is of such condicion that dayly our yeares doo diminish and our troubles encrease O Torquatus by the immortall gods I doo desire thee and in the faith of a frend I doo require thee thow beeing born in the world nouryshyng thy self in the world lyuing in the world beeing conuersaunt in the world beeing a chyld of the world and following the world what dydst thow hope of the world but things of the world Peraduenture thow alone wilt eat the fleash without bones geeue battaile without peryll trauaile wythout payn and sayle by the sea without daūger I mean that it is vnpossible for mortall men to lyue in the world vnlesse they wyll beecome subiect to the sorows of the world The world hath allways been the world and now the world shall bee after vs and as a world shall handell the worldlyngs The wyse men and those which of their estates are carefull are not contented to see nor superfycially to know the things but rather way them profoundly I say this beecause if thow knewst thy debylyty and knewst fortune and her chaunge if thow knewst the men and their malyces if thow knewst the world and his flatteryes thow shooldst wynne no lytle honor where as otherwise thou mayst chaunce to get infamy Wee are now come to so great folly that wee wyl not serue the Gods which haue created vs nor abstain from the world which persecuteth vs. And the best is that hee not wyllyng vs but rather reiectyng vs wee say that of our own willes wee will loue serue hym yet knowyng that those which longest haue serued the world doo goe out of hys house most bytterly lamentyng Oftentymes I stay to thynk that according to the multitude of men which follow the world beeyng allways euyll handled of the world if the world dyd pray them as hee dooth annoy them yf hee dyd comfort them as hee dooth torment them yf hee kept them as hee banysheth them yf hee exalted them as hee abuseth them yf hee receyued them as hee expelleth them yf hee dyd contynew them as hee consumeth them I thynk that the Gods should not bee honored in heauen nor the Temples woorshypped in the earth O Torquatus my frend that which now I wyll say of thee thow mayst say of mee That is to weete how much wee put our confydence in fortune how lewdly wee passe our days and how much wee are blynded in the world yet for all that wee credyt his woord as much as though hee had neuer mocked any ¶ Marcus Aurelius goeth on with hys letter and by strong and hygh reasons perswadeth all that lyue in the world not to trust the world nor any thing therein Cap. xlij TEll mee I pray thee Torquatus what wylt thou heare more What wilt thou see more and what wylt thou know more to know the world seeing how vntill this present thow hast beene handled of the world thou demaundest rest and hee hath geeuen thee trouble Thou demaundest honor and hee hath geeuen thee infamy Thou demaundest riches hee hath geeuen thee pouerty Thou demaundest ioy hee hath geeuen thee
bold to make any pastimes in any particuler houses but in open places For otherwise those which spake them beecame hardy and those which heard them were vicious The Romayns not contented to haue made these lawes ordeyned that the iuglers for no pastimes shewed or any other thing spoken should bee so bold as to receyue any mony And to auoyde their complaynts and to satisfy theyr paynes they allowed euery one of them a thousand sexterces yerely out of the common treasure Wee ought greatly to prayse the prouidence of the Romayns which haue prescribed a kinde of life for the iesters to liue euē as they did to other men of rome and to the captains of war And in this place no lesse thā in an other graue thing thei shewed their wisedome For a gouernour of a cōmon welth trauaileth more to correct fooles thē to gouern the sage ¶ How some iesters were punished by the auncients and of the iesters and loyterers of our tyme. Cap. xliiii IVlius Capitolinus in the booke of the maners of the auncients sayth that in times past the iesters and iugglers were greatly estemed And wee wil not deny but that they had reason sins with theim they honoured the gods they tooke their pleasures the reioyced their feastes they were very quick men nor importunate nor couetous The iester hath no grace onlesse immediatly a man putteth his hand to the purse Wee finde sōe fragments of an oration which Cicero made in the senat greatly reprouing the Senators and all the people beecause they so willingly gaue eare to this iester who stirred vp sedition among the commons his name was Roscio who was so greatly esteemed in rome that the Romayns did more willingly heare that which hee sayd in his iests than that which Cicero spake in good earnest This iester Roscio and Cicero stryued which of them both were of greater witt Roscio for presēting a thing with diuers iests or Cicero pronouncing waity matters in earnest When I rede in Iulius Capitolinus that which I haue spoken I will not cease to confesse mine innocency for that I could not then keepe my self from laughing to see that Roscio beeing Prince of foly did presume to dispute with Cicero which was father of eloquence Sith all these things are vnstable in one so from one day to another wee see them chaunge The romayns dyd greatly esteeme the pollicy of the common wealth the discipline of warre the nurture of children the exercyse of the yong and the honesty of the players and iuglers the which in time came to bee dissolute that very oft they were occasion of great slaunder among the people The which by the Romayns seene and considered and that the iesters which were wont to shew them pleasures were cause of discension and where all they commaunded them to bee resydente in their offices they were vacabonds and that vsing them as sages they liued as loyterers and fooles not contented with that that they gaue them of the common treasure but they went begging of euery mā the Senat of rome determined among them selues to banish al the iuglers and iesters out of the common wealth On this execution of these loyterers sprang dyues dyssentions among the people For the Princes which were good cast them out and those which were euill called them in So that one of the tokens which were in Rome to know a vertuous or vitious prince was to see if hee maintained iesters iuglers or vacabonds amōg the people Plutarch in his Apothegmes sayeth that the Lacedemonians did neuer permit any iugler or iester to bee in the common wealth And when one did demaūd a Lacedemonian by an imbassador of Rhodes what was the occasion to make such a law since the the iesters players shewed pleasure to the people and the people lost nought but laughed at their folly the Lacedemonian answered Lycurgus saw hard felt or red some great domage the iesters iuglers or players might doo in the common welth since agaynst them hee made this so straight a law But that which I know is that wee Greekes are better weeping with our sages then are the Romayns laughing at their fooles Dio in the life of Traian declareth that there came a iugler to Rome frō Affricke whose conueyance was so clene that it was a wonderfull thing to see what seats hee did and to heare what words hee spake And when they prayd the good Emperor Traian that it would please him to heare him hee aunswered It is not for the authority of a graue and vertuous prince that in his presence any such vayne thing should bee shewed For in such a case hee shoold bee no les noted of lightnes then the other accused of folly And further hee sayd Beefore princes a mā should not be so hardy to speake dishonest woords nor shew light representacions And in such case as much payne deserue they which moue him thereto as those which doo represent them For a man ought not to put beefore princes things which should allure them to vices but things which shoold moue them to vertues Certainly these woords were worthy of such a personage Suetonius Tranquillus in the life of Augustus declareth that in Rome ther was a iester very pleasant of an excellent wyt caled Epifanius who one day vpō a holyday to shew the Emperor sōe pleasure hoping to haue a good reward wēt to the pallace at one time in the attire of a page another time ī the habite of a Romayn matron and so truely counterfeted euery thing that it seemed not to bee him but the self same parson hee represented The Emperor Augustus was greatly displesed with that the iester had doon and commaunded forth with that hee shoold bee whipt iii. tyms about the theater And whē hee complayned that the Emperor commaunded vacabonds to bee whipped once and hee thrise the Emperor Augustus aunswered Once they shall whip thee for the iniury thou didst to the Romayn matron whom thou didst represent The second time they shall whip thee for the presumption that thou hast to represēt it before my parsō The third for the time thou hast made diuers lose for beeholding and hearing thee For iesters doo not deserue so much punishment in the iestes and mockries they doo say as for the time which they lose and cause others to lose Certaynly the punishment which was geeuen to the iester was very iust and exceading good were the woords which Augustus sayd There was an other in the time of Augustus whose name was Pilas And when the Emperor had banyshed all the iesters and iuglers frō Rome this Pilas was so pleasant mery with all persons that with great instaūce they bee sought the Emperor to reuoke that sētence And the request in deed was so great as if it had been for a Philosopher they could haue doon no more For dayn light mē employ rather that they haue on him who bringeth vnto theim some folye then on one
mother in the chariot to the temple So after that the feast was ended the mother not knowyng how to requite the benefite of her children with many teares beesought the goddesse Iuno that shee with the other gods woold bee contented to geeue her .ii. children the best thing that the gods coold geeue to their frends The goddesse Iuno aunswered her that shee was contented to require the other gods and that they woold doo it And the reward was that for this noble fact the gods ordeyned that Cleobolus and Biton shoold sleepe one day well and in the morning when they shoold wake they shoold dye The mother pitifully beewayling the death of her children and complaining of the gods the goddesse Iuno sayd vnto her Thou hast no cause why to complayn sins wee haue geeuen thee that thou hast demaunded and hast demaunded that which wee haue geeuen thee I am a goddesse and thou art my seruaunt therefore the gods haue geeuen to thy children the thing which they count most deare which is death For the greatest reuenge which amongst vs gods wee can take of our enemies is to let them liue long and the best thing that wee keepe for our frends is to make them dye quickly The auctor of this history is called Hisearchus in his politikes and Cicero in his first book of his Tusculanes In the I le of Delphos where the Oracle of the god Apollo was there was a sumptuous temple the which for want of reparacion fell down to the ground as often times it chaunceth to high sumptuous buyldings which from tyme to tyme are not repayred For if the walles dungeons castels and strong houses coold speak as well woold they complayn for that they doo not renew them as the old men doo for that wee doo not cherish them Triphon and Agamendo were two noble personages of Greece and counted for sage and rich men the which went vnto the temple of Apollo and buylt it new agayn as well with the labor of their persons as with the great expenses of their goods When the buylding was atchiued the god Apollo said vnto them that hee remembred well their good seruice wherefore hee woold they shoold demaund him any thing in reward of their trauail and with a good will it shoold bee graunted For the gods vse for a little seruice to geeue a great reward Triphon and Agamendo aunswered vnto the god Apollo that for their good will for their trauell and for their expenses they demaunded no other reward but that it woold please him to geeue them the best thing that might bee geeuen vnto man and that vnto them were most profit saying that the miserable men haue not the power to eschew the euill nor wisedom to choose the good The god Apollo aunswered that hee was contented to pay them their seruice which they had doon and to grant them that which they had demaunded By reason whereof Triphon and Agamendo hauing dyned sodeinly at the gates of the temple fell down dead So that the reward of their trauell was to pluck them out of their misery The end to declare these two examples is to th end that al mortal men may know that there is nothing so good in this world as to haue an end of this lyfe and though to lose it there bee no sauor yet at the least ther is profit For wee woold reproue a traueler of great foolishnes if sweating by the way hee woold sing and after at his iorneys end hee shoold beegin to weepe Is not hee simple which is sory for that hee is comen into the hauen is not hee simple that geeueth the battell and fighteth for that hee hath got the victory Is not hee stubbern which is in great distresse and is angry to bee succored Therefore more foolish simple and stubbern is hee which traueleth to dye and is loth to meet with death For death is the true refuge the perfect health the sure hauen the whole victory the flesh wythout bones fysh wythout scales and corne without straw Fynally after death wee haue nothing to beewail and much lesse to desire In the tyme of Adrian the emperor a philosopher called Secundus beeing marueilously learned made an oration at the funerall of a noble Romayn matrone a kinswoman of the emperors who spake exceeding much euill of lyfe marueilous much good of death And when the emperor demaunded him what death was the philosopher answered Death is an eternal sleepe a dissolucion of the body a terror of the rich a desire of the poore a thing inheritable a pilgrymage vncertain a theef of men a kynde of sleaping a shadow of lyfe a seperacion of the lyuing a company of the dead a resolution of all a rest of trauels and the end of all ydle desires Fynally death is the scourge of all euyll and the cheef reward of the good Truely this philosopher spake very well hee shoold not doo euill which profoundly woold consider that hee had spoken Seneca in an epistle declareth of a philosopher whose name was Bassus to whom when they demaunded what euil a man can haue in death since men feare it so much hee aunswered If any domage or fear is in him who dyeth it is not for the fear of death but for the vyce of him which dieth Wee may agree to that the philosopher sayd that euen as the deaf can not iudge harmony nor the blynd colours so lykewise they cannot say euill of death in especially hee which neuer tasted it For of all those which are dead none returned again to complayn of death and of these few that lyue all complayn of lyfe If any of the dead returned hyther to speak with the liuing and as they haue proued it so they woold tel vs. If there were any harm in secret death it were reason to haue some fear of death But though a man that neuer saw hard felt nor tasted death dooth speak euil of death shoold wee therefore fear death Those ought to haue doon some euil in their life whych doo fear and speak euill of death For in the last hour in the streight iudgement the good shal bee knowen and the euill discouered There is no prince nor knight rich nor poore whole nor sick lucky nor vnlucky whych I see with their vocacions to bee contented saue only the dead which in their graues are in peace and rest and are neyther couetous proud negligent vayn ambitious nor dissolute So that the state of the dead ought to bee best since wee see none therin to bee euil contented And since therefore those which are poore doo seeke wherewith to enrich them selues those which are sad doo seeke wherby to reioice and those which are sick doo seeke to bee healed why is it that those which haue such fear of death doo seeke some remedy against that fear In this case I woold say that hee which will not fear to dye let him vse him self well to liue For the giltles
wee shall write but such as they shal finde vs so shall wee bee iudged And that which is most fearfull of all the execucion and sentence is geeuē in one day Let princes and great lords beeleeue mee in this Let them not leaue that vndoon till after their death which they may doo during their lyfe And let them not trust in that they commaund but in that whiles they liue they doo Let them not trust in the woorks of an other but in their own good deedes For in the end one sigh shal bee more woorth then all the frends of the world I counsel pray and exhort all wise and vertuous men and also my self with them that in such sort wee liue that at the hour of death wee may say wee liue For wee cannot say that wee lyue whē wee liue not well For all that tyme which without profit wee shall liue shall bee counted vnto vs for nothing ¶ Of the death of Marcus Aurelius the Emperor and how there are few frends which dare say the truth to sick men Cap. xlix THe good Emperor Marcus Aurelius now beeing aged not only for the great yeres hee had but also for the great trauels hee had in the warres endured It chaunced that in the .xviii. yere of his Empire and .lxxii. yeres from the day of his birth and of the foundation of Rome .v. hundreth xliii beeing in the warre of Pannony which at this tyme is called Hungary beeseeging a famous citie called Vendeliona sodaynly a disease of the palsey tooke him which was such that hee lost his life and Rome her Prince the best of lyfe that euer was born therein Among the heathen princes some had more force then hee other possessed more ryches then hee others were as aduenturous as hee and some haue knowē as much as hee but none hath been of so excellent and vertuous a lyfe nor so modest as hee For his life beeing examined to the vttermost there are many princely vertues to follow few vices to reproue The occasion of his death was that going one nyght about his camp sodeinly the disease of the palsey tooke him in his arme so that from thence forward hee coold not put on his gown nor draw his sword and much lesse cary a staffe The good emperor beeing so loden with yeres and no lesse with cares the sharp winter approching more and more great aboundance of water and snow fell about the tenis so that an other disease fell vppon him called Litargie the which thing much abated his courage and in his hoast caused great sorow For hee was so beeloued of all as if they had been his own children After that hee had proued all medicins and remedies that coold bee found and all other things which vnto so great and mighty princes were accustomed to bee doon hee perceiued in the end that all remedy was past And the reason hereof was beecause his sicknes was exceeding vehement he him self very aged the ayer vnholsom aboue al beecause sorows cares oppressed his hart Without doubt greater is the disease that proceedeth of sorow then that which proceedeth of the feuer quartain And thereof ensueth that more easely is hee cured which of corrupt humors is full then hee which with profound thoughts is oppressed The emperor then beeing sick in his chamber in such sort that hee coold not exercise the feats of arms as his men ranne out of their camp to scirmidge the Hungarions in lyke maner to defend the fight on both parts was so cruell through the great effution of blood that neither the hungarion had cause to reioyce nor yet the romayn to bee mery Vnderstanding the euil order of his specially that .v. of his captains were slain in the conflict that hee for his disease coold not bee there in person such sorows persed his hart that although hee desired foorthwith to haue dyed yet hee remained two days three nights without that hee woold see light or speak vnto any man of his So that the heat was much the rest was small the sighs were continuall and the thirst very great the meat lytle and the sleepe lesse and aboue all his face wrynkled and his lips very black Sometimes hee cast vp his eyes and another tyme hee wrong his hands always hee was sylent and continually hee sighed His tong was swollen that hee coold not spit and his eyes very hollow with weeping So that it was a great pity to see his death and no lesse compassion to see the confusion of his pallace and the hinderaunce of the warre Many valiant captains many noble Romayns many faithfull seruaunts and many old frends at all these heauines were present But none of them durst speak to the Emperor Marke partly for that they tooke him to bee so sage that they knew not what counsel to geeue him and partly for that they were so sorowfull that they coold not refrayn their heauy tears For the louing and true frends in their lyfe ought to bee beeloued and at their death to bee beewailed Great compassion ought men to haue of those which dye not for that wee see them dye but beecause there are none that telleth them what they ought to doo Princes and great lords are in greater perill when they dye then the Plebeyans For the counsaylour dare not tell vnto his Lord at the hour of death that which hee knoweth and much lesse hee will tell him how hee ought to dye and what things hee ought to discharge whiles hee is aliue Many goe to visit the sick that I woold to god they went some other where And the cause heereof is that they see the sick mans eyes hollow the flesh dryed the arms without flesh the colour enflamed the ague continuall the payn great the tong swollen nature consumed and beesydes al this the house destroyed and yet they say vnto the sick man bee of good cheere I warrant you you shall liue As yong men naturally desire to liue and as death to all old men is dredfull so though they see them selues in that dystresse yet they refuse no medicine as though there were great hope of lyfe And thereof ensueth oftentymes that the miserable creatures depart the world without confessing vnto god and making restitutions vnto men O if those which doo this knew what euil they doo For to take away my goods to trouble my person to blemish my good name to sclaunder my parentage and to reprooue my lyfe these woorks are of cruell enemyes but to bee occasion to lose my soul it is the woorke of the deuill of hell Certeinly hee is a deuyll whych deceiueth the sick with flatteries and that in steede to healp hym to dye well putteth him in vayn hope of long lyfe Heerein hee that sayth it winneth lyttle and hee that beeleeueth it aduentureth much To mortall men it is more meete to geeue counsels to reform their consciences with the truth then to hasard their houses
space of an hour Considering the omnipotency of the diuine mercy it suffiseth ye and I say that the space of an hour is to much to repent vs of our wicked lyfe but yet I woold counsell all since the sinner for to repent taketh but one hour that that bee not the last hour For the sighs and repentaunce which proceed from the bottom of the hart penetrate the high heauens but those which come of necessity dooth not perse the seeling of the house I allow and commend that those that visit the sick doo counsell them to examin their conscienses to receiue the communion to pray vnto god to forgeeue their enemiez and to recommend them selues to the deuout prayers of the people and to repent their sinnes fynally I say that it is very good to doo all this but yet I say it is better to haue doon it beefore For the diligent and carefull Pirate prepareth for the tempest when the sea is calm Hee that deepely woold consider how little the goods of this lyfe are to bee esteemed let him goe to see a rich man when hee dyeth and what hee dooth in his bed And hee shall fynd that the wife demaundeth of the poore husband her dower the doughter the third part the other the fift the child the preheminence of age the sonne in law his mariage the phisition his duity the slaue his liberty the seruants their wages the creditors their debts and the woorst of all is that none of those that ought to enherit his goods wil geeue him one glasse of water Those that shall here or read this ought to consider that that which they haue seene doon at the death of their neighbors the same shall come to them when they shal bee sick at the point of death For so soone as the rych shutteth his eyes foorthwith there is great strife beetweene the children for his goods And this strife is not to vnburthen his soule but whych of them shall inherit most of his possessions In this case I will not my penne trauel any further since both rich and poore dayly see the experience hereof And in things very manyfest it suffyseth only for wyse men to bee put in memory without wasting any more tyme to perswade them Now the Emperor Marcus Aurelius had a secretary very wise and vertuous through whose hands the affairs of the Empire passed And when this secretary saw his lord and maister so sick and almost at the hour of death and that none of his parents nor frends durst speak vnto him hee plainly determined to doo his duity wherein hee shewed very well the profound knowledge hee had in wisdom and the great good will hee bare to his lord This secretary was called Panutius the vertues and lyfe of whom Sextus Cheronensis in the lyfe of Marcus Aurelius declareth ¶ Of the comfortable woords which the Secretary Panutius spake to the Emperor Marcus Aurelius at the hour of his death Cap. l. O My lord and maister my tong cannot keepe silence myne eies cannot refrayn from bitter tears nor my hart leaue from fetching sighes ne yet reason can vse his duity For my blood boyleth my sinnews are dryed my pores bee open my hart dooth faint and my spirit is troubled And the occasion of all this is to see that the wholsom counsels which thou geeuest to others either thou canst not or wil not take for thy self I see thee dye my lord and I dye for that I cannot remedy thee For if the gods woold haue graunted mee my request for the lengthning of thy lyfe one day I woold geeue willingly my whole life Whether the sorow bee true or fained it nedeth not I declare vnto thee with woords since thou mayst manyfestly discern it by my countenaunce For my eies with tears are wet and my hart with sighs is very heauy I feele much the want of thy company I feele much the domage which of thy death to the whole common wealth shal ensue I feele much thy sorow which in thy pallace shal remaine I feele much for that Rome this day is vndoon but that which aboue al things dooth most torment my hart is to haue seen thee liue as wise and now to see thee dye as symple Tell mee I pray thee my lorde why doo men learn the Greek tong trauel to vnderstand the hebrew sweat in the latin chaunge so many maisters turn so many bookes and in study consume so much money and so many yeres if it were not to know how to passe lyfe with honor and take death with pacience The end why men ought to study is to learn to liue well For there is no truer science in man then to know how to order his life well What profiteth it mee to know much if thereby I take no profit what profiteth mee to know straunge languages if I refrain not my tong from other mens matters what profiteth it to study many books if I study not but to begyle my frends what profiteth it to know the influence of the starres and the course of the elements if I cannot keepe my self from vyces Fynally I say that it lytle auayleth to bee a maister of the sage if secretly hee bee reported to bee a folower of fooles The cheef of all philosophy consisteth to serue god and not to offend men I ask thee most noble prince what auaileth it the Pilot to know the art of sayling and after in a tempest by neglygence to perish What auayleth it the valyaunt captayn to talk much of warre and afterwards hee knoweth not how to geeue the battayl What auaileth it the guyde to tell the neerest way and afterwards in the midst to lose him self All this which I haue spoken is sayd for thee my Lord. For what auayleth it that thou beeing in health shooldst sigh for death since now when hee dooth approch thou weepest because thou wooldst not leaue life One of the things wherein the wise man sheweth his wisedom is to know how to loue and how to hate For it is great lightnes I shoold rather say folly to day to loue him whom yesterday wee hated and to morow to sclaunder him whom this day wee honored What Prince so hygh or what Plebeyan so base hath there been or in the world shall euer bee the whych hath so lyttle as thou regarded lyfe and so hyghly commended death What thyngs haue I wrytten beeing thy Secretary with my own hand to dyuers prouynces of the world where thou speakest so much good of death that sometymes thou madest mee to hate lyfe What was it to see that letter which thou wrotest to the noble Romayn Claudines wydow comforting her of the death of her husband which dyed in the warres Wherein shee aunswered That shee thought her trouble comfort to deserue that thou shooldst write her such a letter What a pitifull and sauory letter hast thou written to Antigonus on the death of thy child Verissimus thy sonne so much desired Whose death
thou tookest so that thou exceedest the limits of philosophy but in the end with thy princely vertues thou didst qualify thy wofull sorows What sentences so profound what woords so wel couched didst thou write in that booke entytuled The remedy of the sorowfull the which thou didst send from the warre of Asia to the Senators of Rome and that was to comfort them after a sore plague And how much profit hath thy doctrin doon since with what new kinde of consolation hast thou comforted Helius Fabatus the Sensour when his sonne was drowned in the ryuer where I doo remember that whē wee entred into his house wee found him weeping and when wee went from thence wee left him laughing I doo remember that when thou wentst to visit Gneus Rusticus in his last disease thou spakest vnto him so effectuously that with the vehemency of thy woords thou madest the tears to run down his cheeks And I demaunding him the occasions of his lamentacions hee said The emperor my lord hath told mee so much euils that I haue wonne and of so much good that I haue lost that if I weepe I weepe not for lyfe which is short but for death which is long The man whom aboue all thou hast loued was Torquatus whom thou didst obey as thy father and seruedst as thy maister This thy faithfull frend beeing ready to dy and desyring yet to liue thou sendst to offer sacrifices to the gods not for that they shoold graunt him lyfe but that they shoold hasten his death Herewith I beeing astonied thy noblenesse to satisfy my ignoraunce said vnto mee in secret these woords Maruel not Panutius to see mee offer sacrifyces to hasten my frends death and not to prolong his life For there is nothing that the faithfull frend ought so much to desyre to his true frend as to see him ridde from the trauels of this earth and to enioy the pleasures of heauen Why thinkest thou most noble prince that I reduce all these things to thy memory but for to demaund thee how it is possible that I which haue hard thee speak so well of death doo presently see thee so vnwilling to leaue life since the gods commaund it thy age willeth it thy disease dooth cause it thy feeble nature dooth permit it the sinfull Rome dooth deserue it and the fickle fortune agreeth that for our great misery thou shooldst dye Why therfore sighest thou so much for to dye The trauels whych of necessity must needes come wyth stout hart ought to bee receiued The cowardly hart falleth beefore hee is beaten down but the stout and valyaunt stomack in greatest perill recouereth most strength Thou art one man and not two thou oughtst one death to the gods and not two why wilt thou therefore beeyng but one pay for two and for one only lyfe take two deaths I mean that beefore thou endest lyfe thou dyest for pure sorow After that thou hast sayled and in the sayling thou hast passed such perill when the gods doo render thee in the safe hauen once agayn thou wilt run in to the raging sea wher thou scapest the victory of lyfe and thou dyest with the ambushements of death Lxii. yeres hast thou fought in the field and neuer turned thy back and fearest thou now beeing enclosed in the graue hast thou not passed the pykes and bryers wherein thou hast been enclosed and now thou tremblest beeing in the sure way Thou knowest what dommage it is long to liue and now thou doutest of the profit of death which ensueth It is now many yeres since death and thou haue been at defiaunce as mortall enemies and now to lay thy hands on thy weapons thou flyest and turnest thy back Lxii. yeres are past since thou were bent agaynst fortune and now thou closest thy eyes when thou oughtst ouer her to tryumph By that I haue told thee I mean that since wee doo not see thee take death willyngly at this present wee doo suspect that thy lyfe hath not in tymes past been very good For the man which hath no desire to appeere beefore the gods it is a token hee is loden with vyces What meanest thou most noble prince why weepest thou as an infant and complainest as a man in dispaire If thou weepest beecause thou diest I aunswer thee that thou laughedst as much when thou liuedst For of too much laughing in the life proceedeth much wayling at the death Who hath always for his heritage appropriated the places beeing in the common wealth The vnconstancy of the mynd who shal bee so hardy to make steddy I mean that all are dead all dye and al shal dye and among all wilt thou alone lyue Wilt thou obtayn of the gods that which maketh them gods That is to weete that they make thee immortall as them selues Wilt thou alone haue by priuiledge that which the gods haue by nature My youth demaundeth thy age what thing is best or to say better which is lesse euill to dye well or to lyue euill I doubt that any man may attayn to the means to lyue well according to the continuall variable troubles whych dayly wee haue accustomed to cary beetweene our hands always suffring hunger cold thirst care displeasures temptacions persecucions euil fortunes ouerthrows and diseases Thys cannot bee called lyfe but a long death and with reason wee will call this lyfe death since a thousand tymes wee hate lyfe If an auncient man did make a shew of his lyfe from tyme hee is come out of the intrailes of his mother vntill the tyme hee entreth into the bowels of the earth and that the body woold declare all the sorows that hee hath passed and the hart discouer all the ouerthrows of fortune which hee hath suffered I immagin the gods woold maruell and men woold wonder at the body whych hath endured so much and the hart whych hath so greatly dissembled I take the Greekes to bee more wise whych weepe when their children bee borne and laugh when the aged dye then the Romayns whych syng when the children are borne and weepe when the old men dye Wee haue much reason to laugh when the old men dye since they dye to laugh and with greater reason wee ought to weepe when the children are borne since they are borne to weepe ¶ Pannatius the secretary continueth his exhortatiō admonishing al men willingly to accept death and vtterly to forsake the world and all his vanities Cap. li. SIns lyfe is now condempned for euill there remaineth nought els but to approue death to bee good O if it pleased the immortall gods that as I oftentimes haue hard the disputacions of this matter so now that thow cooldst therewith profit But I am sory that to the sage and wise man counsaile sometimes or for the most part wanteth None ought to cleue so much to his own opinion but sometimes hee shoold folow the counsaile of the thyrd parson For the man which in all things will follow his own
aduise ought wel to bee assured that in al or the most part hee shall erre O my lord Mark sith thou art sage liuely of spirit of great experience and auncient didst not thou think that as thou hadst buried many so like wise some should burie thee What imaginacions were thine to think that seeing the end of their days others should not see the end of thy yeares Since thou diest rych honourably accompanied old and aboue all seeing thou diest in the seruice of the common wealth why fearest thou to enter into thy graue Thou hast always beene a frend as much to know things past as those which were hid and kept secret Sins thou hast proued what honors and dishonors doo deserue ryches and pouerty prosperity and aduersity ioy and sorow loue and feare vices pleasures mee seemeth that nothing remayneth to know but that it is necessarye to know what death is And also I sweare vnto thee most noble lord that thow shalt learn more in one hour what death is then in a hundreth years what life meaneth Since thou art good and presumest to bee good and hast lyued as good is it not better that thow dye goe with so many good then that thow scape and liue amongst so many euill That thou feelest death I maruell nothing at all for thou art a man but I doo maruail that thou dissemblest it not since thou art discrete Many things doo the sage men feele which inwardly doo oppresse their hart but outwardly they dissemble them for the more honor If all the poyson which in the sorowfull hart is wrapped were in small peeces in the feeble flesh scattered then the walles woold not suffice to rubbe neither the nayles to scratch vs. What other thing is death but a trap or doore where with to shut the shop wherein all the miseries of this wofull lyfe are vendible What wrong or preiudice doo the gods vnto vs whē they cal vs beefore them but from an old decaied house to chaunge vs to a new builded pallace And what other thing is the graue but a strong fort wherein wee shut our selues from the assaults of lyfe broyles of fortune Truely wee ought to bee more desirous of that wee fynd in death then of that wee leaue in lyfe If Helia Fabricia thy wife doo greeue thee for that thou leauest her yong doo not care For shee presently hath litle care of the perill wherein thy lyfe dependeth And in the end when shee shall know of thy death shee will bee nothing greued Trouble not thy self for that shee is left widow For yong women as shee is which are maried with old men as thou when their husbands dye they haue their eies on that they can robbe and their harts on them whom they desire to mary And speaking with due respect when with their eies they outwardly seeme most for to beewaile then with their harts inwardly doo they most reioyce Deceyue not thy self in thinking that the empresse thy wife is yong and that shee shal fynd none other Emperor with whom agayn shee may mary For such and the like will chaunge the cloth of gold for gownes of skynnes I mean that they woold rather the yong shepeheard in the field then the old emperour in his royall pallace If thou takest sorow for the children whom thou leauest I know not why thou shooldst do so For truely yf it greeue thee now for that thou dyest they are more displeased for that thow lyuest The sonne that desireth not the death of his father may bee counted the onely Phenix of this world for if the father bee poore he wisheth him dead for that hee is not maintained if hee bee rich hee desireth his death to enherit the sooner Sins therefore it is true as in deede it is it seemeth not wisedome that they sing thou weepe If it greue thee to leaue these goodly pallaces these sūptuous buildings deceiue not thy self therein For by the god Iupiter I sweare vnto thee that since that death dooth finish thee at the end of .lxii. yeares tyme shal consume these sūptuous buildings in lesse then xl If it greeue thee to forsake the cōpany of thy frends neighbors for them also take as litle thought sins for thee they wil not take any at all For amongst the other compassions that they ought to haue of the dead this is true that scarcely they are buryed but of their frends neighbors they are forgotten If thou takest great thought for that thou wilt not dye as the other emperors of Rome are dead mee seemeth that thou oughtst allso to cast this sorow from thee For thou knowst ryght wel that Rome hath accustomed to bee so vnthankful to those which serue her that the great Scipio also woold not bee buryed therein If it greeue thee to dye to leaue so great a seignory as to leaue the empire I can not think that such vanity bee in thy head For temperat reposed men when they escape from semblable offices do not think that they lose honor but that they bee free of a troblesome charge Therefore if none of al these things moue thee to desire lyfe what should let thee that through thy gates enter not death it greeueth men to dye for one of these two things eyther for the loue of those they leaue beehynd them or for the feare of that they hope Sins therefore there is nothing in this lyfe worthy of loue nor any things in death why wee shoold feare why doo mē feare to dye According to the heauy sighs thou fetchest the bitter tears thou she dest according also to the great payn thou shewest for my part I think that the thing in thy thought most forgotten was that the gods shoold cōmaund thee to pay this debt For admit that al think that their life shal end yet no man thinketh that death wil come so soone For that men think neuer to dye they neuer beeginne their faults to amend so that both life fault haue end in the graue togethers Knowst not thou most noble prince that after the long night cōmeth the moist morning Doost thou not know that after the moyst morning there commeth that cleere sunne Knowst not thou that after the cleare sunne cōmeth the cloudy element Doost thou not know that after the dark myst there commeth extream heat And that after the heat cometh the horrible thunders after the thunders the sodeyn lightnings that after the perilous lightnings commeth the terrible hayle Fynally I say that after the tempesteous troublesome time commonly commeth cleare faire weather The order that time hath to make him self cruel gentill the self same ought men to haue to liue dye For after the infancy cōmeth chyldhod after chyldhod commeth youth after youth cōmeth age after age cōmeth the fearfull death Finally after the fearful death cōmeth the sure life Oftentimes I haue read of thee not seldome hard that
the gods onely which had no beginning shall haue also no endyng Therefore mee thinketh most noble prince that sage men ought not to desire to lyue long For men which desire to liue much eyther it is for that they haue not felt the trauailes past beecause they haue been fooles or for that they desire more time to geeue them selues to vices Thou mightst not complayn of that sins they haue not cut thee in the flower of the herb nor taken thee greene from the tree nor cut in thee in the spring tide and much lesse eat the eager beefore thou were ripe By that I haue spoken I mean if death had called thee when thy lyfe was sweetest though thou hadst not had reason to haue complayned yet thou mightst haue desired to haue altered it For it is a great grief to say vnto a yong man that hee must dye and forsake the world What is this my lord now that the wall is decayed ready to fall the flower is withered the grape dooth rotte the teeth are loose the gown is worn the launce is blunt the knife is dull and doost thou desire to return into the world as if thou hadst neuer knowen the world These lxii yeares thou hast liued in the prison of thys body wilt thou now the yron fetters haue rot thy legges desire yet to length thy days in this so woful prison They that wil not be cōtented to lyue lx years fyue in this death or to dye in this lyfe will not desire to dye in lx thousand years The Emperour Augustus octauian sayd That after men had lyued .l. years eyther of their own will they ought to dye or els by force they shoold cause them selues to bee killed For at that time all those which haue had any humain felicity are at the best Those which liue aboue that age passe their days in greeuous torments As in the death of children in the losse of goods importunity of sōne in laws in mainteining processes in discharging debts in sighing for that is past in bewailing that that is present in dissēbling iniuries in hearing woful news in other infinit trauails So that it were much better to haue their eies shut in the graue then their harts bodies aliue to suffer so much in this miserable life Hee whom the gods take from this miserable life at the end of 50. years is quited from al these miseries of life For after that time hee is not weak but crooked he goeth not but rouleth hee stumbleth not but falleth O my lord Mark knowest thou not that by the same way whereby goeth death death cometh Knowst not thou in like maner that it is 52. years that life hath fled from death and that there is an other time asmuch that death goeth seeking thy life and death going from Illiria where hee left a great plague and thou departing from thy pallayce ye .ii. now haue met in Hungary knowst not thou that where thou leapedst out of thy mothers intrails to gouern the land immediatly death leaped out of his graue to seeke thy life Thou hast always presumed not onely to bee honored but also to bee honorable if it bee so synce thou honoredst the Imbassadours of Princes which did send them the more for their profyt then for thy seruice why doost thou not honor thy messenger whom the gods send more for thy profyt then for their seruices Doost thow not remember well when Vulcane my sonne in law poysoned mee more for the couetousnes of my goods then any desire hee had of my life thou lord diddest come to comfort mee in my chamber and toldst mee that the gods were cruell to slea the yong and were pytiful to take the old from this world And thou saydst further these woords Comfort thee Panutius For if thow were born to dye now thou diest to liue Sins therefore noble prince that I tell thee that which thow toldst mee and counsaile thee the same which thou coūsayledst mee I render to thee that which thow hast geeuen mee Fynally of these vines I haue gathered these clusters of grapes ¶ The aunswer of the emperour Marcus to Panutius his secretory wherein hee declareth that hee tooke no thought to forsake the world but all his sorow was to leaue beehynd hym an vnhappy chyld to enheryt the Empire Cap. lij PAnutius blessed bee the milk thou hast sucked in Dacia the bread which thou hast eaten in Rome the learning which thou hast learned in Greece the bringing vp which thou hast had in my pallace For thou hast serued as a good seruant in life and geeuest mee counsayl as a trusty frend at death I commaund Commodus my sonne to recompence thy seruice and I beseech the immortal gods that they acquite thy good counsayls And not wythout good cause I charge my sonne with the one and require the gods of the other For the payment of many seruices one man alone may doo but to pay one good counsayl it is requisyt to haue all the gods The greatest good that a frend can doo to his frend is in great wayghty affayres to geeue him good and holsome counsayl And not without cause I say holsome For commonly it chaunceth that those which think with their counsayl to remedy vs do put vs oftentimes in greatest perils All the trauayles of lyfe are hard but that of death ys the most hard and terrible Al are great but this is the greatest All are perillous but this is most perillous All in death haue end except the trauayl of death whereof wee know no end That which I say now no man perfectly can know but onely hee which seeth him self as I see my self now at the point of death Certainly Panutius thou hast spoken vnto mee as a wise man but for that thou knowst not my grief thow couldst not cure my disease for my sore is not there where thou hast layd the playster The fistula is not there where thou hast cut the flesh The opilation is not there where thou hast layd the oyntments There were not the right vayns where thou dydst let mee blood Thou hast not yet touched the wound which is the cause of all my grief I mean that thou oughtst to haue entred further with mee to haue knowen my grief better The sighes which the hart fetcheth I say those which come from the hart let not euery man thynk which heareth thē that he can immediatly vnderstand them For as men can not remedy the anguishes of the spirit so the gods likewise woold not that they shoold know the secrets of the hart Without fear or shame many dare say that they know the thought of others wherein they shew them selues to bee more fooles then wise For since there are many things in mee wherein I my self doubt how can a straunger haue any certayn knowledge therein Thow accusest mee Panutius that I feare death greatly the which I deny but to feare it as mā I doo confesse For
to deny that I feare not death shoold bee to deny that I am not of flesh Wee see by experience that the elephants doo feare the Lyon the Beare the Elephant the woolf the Beare the lamb the woolf the ratte the catte the catte the dogge and the dogge the man fynally the one and the other doo feare for no other thyng but for feare that one kylleth not the other Then since brute beasts refuse death the which though they dye feare not to fyght with the furies nor hope not to rest with the gods so much the more ought wee to feare death which dye in doubt whither the furies wyll teare vs in pieces with their torments or the gods will receyue vs into their houses with ioy Thinkest thou Panutius that I doo not see well that my vine is gathered and that it is not hyd vnto mee that my pallace falleth in decay I know well that I haue not but the kirnel of the raison and the skinne and that I haue not but one sygh of all my lyfe vntill this time There was great difference beetweene mee and thee and now there is great difference beetwixt mee and my self For about the ensigne thow doost place the army In the ryuers thow castest thy nettes within the parks thou huntest the bulles In the shadow thow takest cold By this I mean that thow talkest so much of death beecause that thou art sure of thy life O myserable man that I am for in short space of all that in this lyfe I haue possessed with mee I shall cary nothing but onely my wynding sheete Alas now shall I enter into the field not where of the fierce beasts I shal bee assaulted but of the hungry woorms deuoured Alas I see my self in that dystresse from whence my frayl flesh cannot escape And yf any hope remayn it is in thee o death When I am sick I woold not that hee that is whole shoold comfort mee When I am sorowfull I woold not that hee which is mery shoold cōfort mee When I am banished I woold not that he which is in prosperity shoold comfort mee When I am at the hour of death I woold not that hee shoold comfort mee which is not in some suspicion of lyfe But I woold that the poore shoold comfort mee in my pouerty the sorowfull in my sorows the banyshed in my banishment and hee which is in as great daunger of his life as I am now at the poynt of death For there is no counsayle so healthfull nor true as that of the man which is in sorow when hee counsayleth an other whych is likewise tormented him self If thow consyderest well this sentence thow shalt fynd that I haue spoken a thyng very profound wherein notwithstanding my tongue is appeased For in my oppinion euill shall hee bee comforted which is weeping with him that continually laugheth I say this to the end thow know that I know it and that thou perceiue that I perceyue it And beecause thou shalt not lyue deceyued as to my frend I wil disclose the secret and thow shalt see that small is the sorow which I haue in respect of the great which I haue cause to haue For if reason had not stryued wyth sensuality the sighs had ended my lyfe and in a pond of teares they had made my graue The things which in mee thow hast seene which are to abhorre meat to banysh sleepe to loue care to bee annoyed with company to take rest in sighs to take pleasure in tears may easely declare vnto thee what torment is in the sea of my hart when such tremblings doo appeare in the earth of my body Let vs now come to the purpose and wee shall see why my body is without consolation and my hart so ouercome with sorows for my feelyng greatly exceedeth my complaynyng beecause the body is so delycat that in scratchyng it it complayneth and the hart is so stout and valiaunt that though it bee hurt yet it dyssembleth O Panutius I let thee weete that the occasion why I take death so greeuously is beecause I leaue my sonne Commodus in this life who lyueth in this age most perillous for hym and no lesse daungerous for the Empire By the flowers are the fruits knowen by the grapes the vines are knowen and by the face men are knowen by the colt the horse is iudged and by the infant youth is knowen This I say by the Prince my sonne for that hee hath been euill in my life I doo ymagyn that hee will bee woorse after my death Since thou as well as I knowst the euill condicions of my sonne why doost thou maruell at the thoughts and sorows of the father My sonne Commodus in years is yong and in vnderstanding yonger Hee hath an euill inclynation and yet hee wil not enforce him self against the same hee gouerneth him self by hys own sence and in matters of wisedome hee knoweth lytel of that hee shoold bee ignoraunt hee knoweth too much and that which is woorst of all hee ys of no man esteemed Hee knoweth nothing of things past nor occupyeth hym about any thing present Fynally for that which with myne eyes I haue seene I say and that which with in my hart I haue suspected I iudge that shortly the person of my sonne shall bee in hazard and the memory of hys father perysh O how vnkyndly haue the Gods vsed them selues toward vs to commaund vs to leaue our honor in the hands of our children for it shoold suffice that wee shoold leaue them our goods and that to our frends we shoold commyt our honor But yet I am sory for that they consume the goods in vices and lose the honor for to bee vitious The gods beeyng pityful as they are since they geeue vs the authoryty to deuyde our goods why doo they not geeue vs leaue to make our wills of the honor My sonnes name beeing Commodus in the Romayn tongue is as much to say as profyt but as hee is wee will bee content to bee without the lytle profyt which hee may doo to some so that wee may bee excused of the great domage which hee is lykely to doo to all For I suppose hee wyll bee the scourge of men and the wrath of Gods Hee entreth now into the pathway of youth alone without a guide And for that hee hath to passe by the hygh and daungerous places I feare lest hee bee lost in the wood of vices For the children of Princes and great Lords for so much as they are brought vp in lyberty wantonnes doo easely fall into vices and voluptuousnes and are most stubborn to bee wythdrawen from their folly O Panutius geue attentiue eare to that I say vnto thee Seest thow not that Commodus my sonne is at lyberty is rych is yong and is alone By the fayth of a good man I sweare vnto thee that the least of these wynds woold ouerthrow not onely a yong tender ash but also a mighty strong
hee speak not with his head aswell as wyth hys tongue nor that hee play not wyth his hands nor his feete nor that hee stroke hys beard nor wynk with his eyes for such fond countenaunces and gestures doo rather beecome a foole or iester then a ciuill or honest courtier And in his discourse with the Prince that hee exceede not in superfluous woords more then shall onely bee needefull and touching his matter and not to seeme in his presence to depraue or detract any man Hee may honestly allege and that without reproch the seruyce hee hath doon him but not to lay beefore him others faults and imperfections For at such a tyme it is not lawfull for him to speak yll of any man but onely to communicate wyth hym of his own affayrs And hee may not goe so farre also as to remēber him with too great affection the blood spent by his auncestors in hys seruyce nor the great acts of his parents for this onely woord sayd to the prince I did this better pleaseth and lyketh the Prince then to tell him a hundred other woords of that that hys predecessors had doone It pertayneth onely to women and they may iustly craue recompence of the prince for the lyues of their husbands lost in the princes warres but the valyaunt and woorthy courtier ought not to demaund recompence but for that hee only hath doon by persyng launce and bloody swoord Hee must beeware also that hee shew no countenaunce to the king of insatisfaccion neither to bee passioned in casting his seruice in the princes teeth saying all others haue been recompenced saue only him whom the Prince hath clean forgotten For princes will not that wee only serue them but that wee also at their willes and pleasures tary for recompence and not to haue it when wee gape or are importune for yt Howbeeit it is lawfull notwithstandyng humbly and lowly wythout cholor or passion to put the Prince in remembraunce of all that wee haue doone for him and of the long tyme wee haue spent in seruyng him Also the curious courtier shall not shew him self to dyslike at all of the prince neither by heaping of many woords to induce him to bere hym the better good will For mens harts are so prone to yll that for one only vnpleasaunt or ouerthwart woord spoken to them they lyghtly forgeat a thowsand seruyces doone them Socrates beeing one day demanded what hee thought of the princes of Greece aunswered There is no other difference beetwene the names and properties of the gods and that of princes but that the Gods were immortall and these mortall For these mortall princes vse in maner the lyke aucthority here in earth that the gods immortall doo in heauen aboue Saying further also that I alwayes was am and wil bee of that mynd that my mother Greece remayn a common weal. But since it is determined to bee gouerned by princely monarchie I wish them in all and for all to acknowledge their obedyence and allegeance to their king and soueraigne For when they woold otherwise vse it they may bee assured they shall not only goe against mortall princes but also against the eternall god Suetonius Tranquillus sayeth that Titus the emperor being aduertised that the consuls woold kill him and vsurp his empire aunswered thus wisely Euen as without the diuine will and prouidence I coold neuer haue possessed the imperiall crown so without their permission and sufferaunce it lyeth in no mans power to depriue mee of it For to vs men it pertaineth only to keepe the imperiall iurisdiccion and to the gods alone to geeue and defend it Which wee haue spoken to thend no man presume to bee reuenged of his prince neither in woord nor deede for to speak yll of hym wee shoold rather purchase vs their high indignation and displeasure then procure vs any cause or suggestion to bee reuenged of him Let the good courtier bee also aduysed that in talking with the prince hee bee not to obstinate to contend with the prince or any other in the princes presence For this name of arrogant and self willed beecommeth not the person of a wise courtier For wee know that in sport and argument euery man desireth to ouercome how tryfling so euer the matter bee And therefore wee read in the lyfe of the emperor Seuerus that Publius the consull iested one day with Fabritius his compagnion and told him hee was in loue Whom Fabritius aunswered I confesse it is a fault to bee in loue but yet it is a greater fault for thee to bee so obstinate as thou art For loue proceedeth of witt and discretion but obstinacy commeth of folly and great ygnoraunce Yf perchaunce the kyng ask the courtiers opinion in those matters they discoursed if hee know his opiniō to agree wyth the princes let him tell it him hardely but if it bee contrary let hym hold hys peace and not contend against him framyng some honest excuse to concele hys oppinon But if perhaps the king were obstinate and bent to his oppinion in any thing and that through his self will and obstinacy hee woold doo any thing vnreasonable or preiudiciall to his common wealth and that great detryment might come thereby yet for all this in such case the beeloued courtier shoold not at that instant bee to playn with hym to let hym vnderstand his error neyther yet shoold hee suffer him altogeether to passe hys way vntouched but in some fyne maner and proper woords as may beecome the place best to geeue him to vnderstand the troth But to vse it with more discretion hee shall not neede beefore them all to open hys whole mynd but to keepe his oppynion secrete expecting a more apter tyme when the kyng shall bee apart in his priuy chamber and then frankly to tell hym his hole mynd with all humylity and reuerence and to shew him the plaine troth wythout keeping any one thing from his knowledge For otherwyse in tellyng the kyng openly hee shoold make him ashamed and in dyssemblyng his fault also priuily hee shoold not bee admonished of hys error committed Now therefore let our conclusion bee that the courtier that proceeds in his matters rather with oppinion and obstinacy then discretion and iudgement shall neuer bee in fauor with the Prince nor yet beeloued in the court For it is as necessary for the courtier that will seeke the fauor of the prince and loue of the court to impose his tongue to sylence as it is to dyspose his body to all maner of seruyce I know there are some such rash vndiscreete and arrogant fooles that as much doo bost and reioice to haue spoken vndiscreetly to the king and without respect of his princely maiesty as if they had doon some maruelous thankfull seruice with whom truely no man ought to bee greatly offended for such fond bostes and vaunts as they make and much lesse also with that that happens to them afterward The courtier also must bee
sodeinly to rise in fauor and to bee rich al in short time By thys I inferre that the wise man euer desireth first to bee in fauor before hee couet to bee rich but the foole Ideot desireth first to bee rich then in fauor last Not few but many wee haue seen in princes courts which though fortune in short time hath exalted to the first degree of riches made theÌ„ cheefe in fauor yet wtin short space after shee hath made theÌ„ also lose their riches fal from the top of their honor It is most certain that if one haue enemies in the court onely for that hee is infauor hee shal haue as many moe if beeing in fauor hee bee also rich For wee are al of so ill a condicion in things that touch our particular profyt that all that wee see geeuen to others wee think sodeinly taken away from our selues Wee haue heretofore sayd that it is not fit for the courtier and those that are in fauor to coÌ„maund for his profit al that hee list neither al those that hee may And wee now at this present also aduise them to take heede that they doo not accept take al that is offered preseÌ„ted although they may lawfully doo it For if hee bee not wise in coÌ„mauÌ„ding moderatin taking a day might come that he should see himself in such extremity that hee should bee inforced to cal his frends not to couÌ„sel him but rather to help succor him It is true that it is a natural thing for a courtier that hath 20. crownes in his purse to desire sodeinly to multiply it to a .100 from a .100 to .200 froÌ„ 200. to a .1000 froÌ„ a .1000 to 2000. and from .2000 to 10000. So that this poore wretched creature is so blinded in couetousnes that hee knowth not nor feeleth not that as this auar ce ê¯tinually increaseth augmenteth in him so his life dayly diminisheth and decreaseth beesides that that euery man mocks scornes him that thinketh the true coÌ„tentacion consisteth in commaunding of many in the faculty of possessing much riches For to say truly it is not so but rather disordinat riches troubleth greeueth the true contentacion of men and awaketh euer in them dayly a more appetite of couetousnes Wee haue seen many courtiers rich beloued but none in deede that euer was contented or wearied with commaunding but rather his life should faile him then couetousnes O how many haue I seene in the court whose legges nor feete haue ben able to cary them nor their body strong inough to stand alone nor their hands able to wryte nor their sight hath serued them to see to read nor their teeth to speak neither their iawes to eat nor their eares to heare nor their memory to trauaile in any suyt or matter yet haue not their tongue fayled them to require presents and gifts of the prince neither deepe and fyne wit to practise in court for his most auaile and vantage So incurable is the disease and plague of auarice that hee that is sick of that infirmity can not bee healed neither with pouerty nor yet bee remedied with riches Sence this contagious malady and apparant dauÌ„ger is now so commonly knowen and that it is crept into courtiers and such as are in high fauor and great autoritie by reason of this vile sinne of auarice I would counsell him rather to apply him self to bee well thought of and esteemed then to endeuor to haue inough Albeit 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 hart neuer other wise but valiaunt and noble For after shee was wyddow shee made her self 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 wheare shee would lyfe after her death and about the which shee caused to bee grauen in golden letters these woords VVho longs to swell with masse of shining gold and craues to catch such wealth as few possest This stately tomb let him in haste vnfold where endles hopes of hatefull coyne doo rest Many days and kings reignes past before any durst open this sepulker vntill the comming of the great Cyrus who commaunded it to bee opened And beeing reported to him by those that had the charge to seeke the treasure that they had sought to the bottomles pyt and wolrds end but treasure they coold fynd none nor any other thing saue a stone wherein were grauen these woordes Ah haples knight whose high distraughted mynd by follies play abused was so â—ych that secret tombs the care as could not bynd but thow wouldst reaue them vp for to be rich Plutarke and also Herodotus which haue both writen this history of Semiramis doo shew affirm that Queene Semiramis got great honor by this gest kyng Cyrus great shame dishonor If courtiers that are rych think beleeue that for that they haue money inough at their wil that therefore they should bee farre from al troubles miseries they are farre deceiued For if the poore soul toile hale his body to get him only that that hee needeth much more dooth the rich maÌ„ torment burn his hart til he bee resolued which way to spend that superfluous hee hath Ihesu what a thing is it to see a rich man how hee tormenteth him self night day imagyning deuising with him self whether hee shal with that money that is left buy leases mills or houses aÌ„nuities vines or cloth laÌ„ds tenemeÌ„ts or pastures or some thing in fee or whether he shal eÌ„rich his soÌ„ne with the thirdes or fifts after al these vain thoughts gods wil is to stryke him with deth sodeinly not onely before he haue determined how hee should lay out or spend this money but also before hee haue made his will I haue many times told it to my frends yea preached it to them in the pulpit and wrytten yt also in my bookes that it is farre greater trouble to spend the goods of this world wel and as they ought to bee spent then it is to get them For they are gotten wyth swet and spent with cares Hee that hath no more then hee needeth it is hee that knoweth wel how to part from them to spend theÌ„ but hee that hath abundaÌ„s more then needeful dooth neuer resolue what hee should doo Whereof followeth many times that those which in his life time were enemies to hym shall happeÌ„ to bee heires after his death of all the goods money hee hath It is a most suer certain custome among mortal men that commonly those that are rych men while they are aliue spend more money vaynly in things they would not that they haue no pleasure in where in they would least lay it out and after their death they leaue the most part of their inheritance
you haue hitherto geeuen mee you will moderate your correction and punishment which after this I looke for that you wil geeue mee that you punish mee with pyty and not with vtter destruction and ruyn And yet hee added this furder to his woords Not without cause I coniure thee O fortune doo beeseech you immortal gods that you will punish mee fauorably but not to vndoo mee because I am assured that ouermuch felicity and prosperyty of this life is no more but a prediction and presage of a great calamity ill ensuyng happe Truely al the examples aboue recited are woorthy to bee noted to bee kept always beefore the eyes of our mynd sith by them wee come to know that in the prosperity of this our thrawled life there is litle to hope for much to bee afrayd of It is true wee are very frayle by nature since we are borne fraile wee liue frayl and dayly wee fall into a thowsand fraylties but yet notwithstanding wee are not so frayl but wee may if wee will resist vice And all this commeth onely because one sort of people foloweth an other but one reason seeldome foloweth an other If wee fall if wee stomble if wee bee sick if wee break our face are wee suer that seruing as wee doo the world that the world will recure remedy vs No sure it is not so For the remedy the world is woont to geeue to our troubles is euer notwithstanding greater trouble then the first So that they are like to searing yrons that burn the flesh and heale not the wound For the world is full of guile disceyt subtill to deciue but very slow to geeue vs remedy And this wee see plainly For if it perswade vs to reuenge any iniury receyued it dooth it only in reuenging of that to make vs receiue a thousand other iniuries And if sometimes wee think wee receiue some comfort of the world of our payns and troubles of the body it afterwards ouer lodeth our mynds with a sea of thoughts cogitacions So that this accursed and flattering world maketh vs beleeue and perswadeth vs the right perfyt way in the end wee are cast vnwares into the nettes of all wickednes priuily layd to snare vs. How great so euer a man bee in fauor with the kyng how noble of blood how fyne of wyt how ware so euer hee bee let euery man bee assured that practiseth in the world hee shall in the end bee deceyued by him For hee costeth vs very deere wee sell our selues to him good cheap I told you but litle to tell you wee sold our selues good cheap for I should haue sayd better in saying wee haue geeuen our selues in pray wholly to him without receiuing any other recompence And in deede they are very few and rare that haue any reward of him infinit are they that serue him without any other recompence more then a foolish and vayn hope O trayterous world in how short a time doost thou receiue vs and afterwards with a glimse of an eye sodeinly doost put vs from thee thou gladdest and makest vs sorofull thou callest vs to honor and abasest vs thou punishest vs doost vs a thousand pleasures And fynally I say thou doost make vs so vile and poysonest vs with thy vile labors that wythout thee wee are yet euer with thee and that that greeues vs woorst of all ys that hauing the theefe in the house wee goe out of the house to geeue him place and make him owner When the world knoweth one once that is proud and presumptuous hee procureth him honor to another that is couetous riches to an other that is a glutton good meats to an other that is carnall the commodity of women to an other that is idle quiet and ease all thys dooth the traterous world to the end that after as fysh whom hee hath fed hee may lose the net of sinne vpon vs to catch vs in If wee would resist the first temptacions the world offereth vs it is impossyble hee durst so many times assault vs. For to say truely by our small resistaunce increaseth his ouer great audacity I woold these louers of this world woold but tel mee a litle what reward or what hope they can hope of him why they should suffer so many incombers broiles and troubles as they doo To think the world can geeue vs perpetual life it is a mockry and extreame madnes to hope of it For wee see when life is most deere to vs and that wee are lothest to leaue the world then ariueth death in an vnhappy hower to swallow vs vp and to depriue vs of all thys worldly felicity To hope that the world will geeue vs assured mirth this ys also a madnes For the days excepted wee must lament the due hours allotted out to cōplain alas wee shal see a small surplus of time left to laugh and bee meery I can say no more but exhort euery man to looke well about him what hee dooth and that hee bee aduised what hee thinketh For when wee thynk and beleeue wee haue made peace with fortune euen then is shee in battell against vs. And I doo assuredly beleeue that that I now prepare my self to speak euen presently shal bee read of many but obserued of few and that is that I haue seene those come out of their own propre houses moorning lamenting that had spent and consumed all their time in laughing and making good cheere seruing this miserable world Which is but only a geeuer of al euels a ruyn of the good a heap of sinne a tyrant of vertues a traytor of peace and warre a sweete water of errors a riuer of vices a persecutor of the vertuous a combe of lyes a deuiser of nouelties a graue of the ignorant a cloke of the wicked an ouen of lechery and fynally a Caribdis where all good and noble harts doo perish and a right Silla where all noble desires and thoughts are cast away togeethers For it is most certayn that this worldling that is not content with this world and that leaueth his fyrst state and that taketh vppon him a new maner of life and chaungeth from house to house and contrey to contrey hee shall neuer notwithstanding content him self nor quyet his mynd And the cause heereof is that if a worldling depart out of his house neuer to come agayn into it there are yet at hand immediatly other tenne licentious persons that doo but watch to enter into his house Speaking more particulerly I say that in the court of prynces they account them happy and fortunat that bee in fauor with the prince that haue great affairs in court that bee rich and of power that bee serued and honored of euery man and that take place and goe beefore euery man So that it may bee sayd that the common people doo not call those fortunat that deserue to bee fortunate but onely those that haue
knowledge by mee This phylosopher woold first indent wyth the prince before hee woold come to his seruice that hee shoold neuer here any of these things the knowledge whereof bringeth many a man to their end or at the least to some great mischife onely to shew vs the imminent perill and daunger the secretary of a prince standeth in For our hart is such a frend of newes that euery hower it feeleth a thousaund temptations to vtter that to others that was deliuered to it of secret In this our age wee doo not vse to keepe secrets so well as in old time the Grecians were woont syth wee see by experyence that yf one frend haue to day tolde hys frend a thyng in secret to morrow yea perhappes the self same nyght before it was told amongst the neighbors There are also some kynd of men so desirous to here news that to know it they will swere a thousand othes neuer to reuele in agayn to any But so soone as they know it they are like vnto the blood hounds that follow the deare now here now there smelling with their noses till they haue found the hurt deare then they open and bay for their maister Therefore I coūsel exhort all wise discreete men that they doo not accompany wyth those whom they know are not secret For the hurt that commeth by them consisteth not onely to tell that they know see and here but with this they tel that they haue imagined of their own wicked malicious heads It cannot bee otherwise but being men wee are also subiect to the frailty of a man as for example To fal sometimes into the sinne of the flesh in that to forget the sinne of gluttony to haue small consideracion of that of sloth to bee assured in that of auaryce or with that to bee ouercome with passion and rage or to bee puffed vp in the synne of pryde And if perhaps by misfortune any one chaunce into such mans company that hath but part or all these condicions and such one as doo discouer and disclose both his own secrets and others to what other can there bee hoped of then a fyer enflamed in his good fame and reputacion and a cōtagious plague and pestilence in his house For that that I haue hard seen read yea and also prooued I say and affirme that there is no bread so il spent as that that is geeuen to the seruants which open and reuele their maysters secrets And sure it may bee sayd that such are not seruants that serue them but traytors that betray them and sell their maisters liberty And it is of such importaunce for the fauored of princes to keepe secret and not to reuele any part of the princes secrets that euery man must think that when the prynce telleth them any thing in secret hee telleth it not alone vnto them but rather hee confesseth it to them Princes beeing men as in deede they are and much busyed with the cares of the common wealth yt cannot bee but when they are withdrawen a part into their priuy chāber they wil both play talk sleyt sygh laugh bee angry threaten make much agayn of some before others All which things though they doo before their seruāts in secret it is not their pleasure neither wil they like it should bee told abrode amōgst their subiects And sure they haue great reason for men of grauyty authority doo not lose their reputacion for dooing things graue and of good example but they are iustly noted when publikely they will shew any lightnes or folly how litle so euer it bee Not onely those that bee in aucthority and fauor about the prince but such other officers of the court seruants of houshold of the prince also ought not to tell nor reuele any thing they see their prince doo For they may bee wel assured that the prince wil bee more offended and displeased to haue that hee dooth in his priuy chamber told abrode by those of the pryuy chamber or other whom it pleaseth him to make familier with him then hee woold bee if his treasorers receiuers should robbe him of his treasure It was told to Denis the Siracusan on a time that Plato the philosopher was at the chamber doore to speak with him and hee presently sent Bias one of hys priuy chamber that hee loued well to him to know what hee would with the kyng and Plato asked Bias what Denis did hee aūswered that hee lay stark naked vppon a table which when Denis vnderstoode hee was so offended with Bias that hee commaūded foorthwith hee should bee beheaded saying first these woords vnto him I wil that like a traytor that bee beheaded sith thou hast traitorously betraied mee p̄suming to disclose the secrets of my chāber For I sent thee not to Plato to tel him what I did but to know what hee woold of mee Now princes familiars beloued of them as they must bee very circumspect heedeful that they tell no man the princes secrets so they must bee much carefull that they tel it not cheefly to women yea though they were their own wiues For as women are very good profitable to looke to things of houshold safly to lock vp their husbands goods so are they on the other side very daūgerous for a man to cōmit any secrets to thē For notwtstanding a womā know that in reueling the secrets of her husband shee putteth her life in perill the honor of her husband the losse of her children the reputacion of her house kynred peraduenture the peace trāquility of the cōmon weal yet had shee rather dye then she shoold not vtter that shee knoweth And many times for no other respect but to make these weomē beleeue that heareth her that shee onely cōmaundeth her husband al besides in her house Well I wil enlarge my self no further of this matter for if I woold but geeue my pen leaue to write that I know I shoold fynd lyme sand enough to buyld a tower as high as Babilon But to end my purpose I will speak thys one woord that is that I counsell exhort with al my hart request princes familiars or seruants that they cōmit not their princes secrets to any how great a frēd or neere kinsman so euer hee bee to thē For they may bee assured that since they refuse to keepe secret that the prince cōmaūdeth thē that much lesse their frend will keepe it secret for any request they make to him If thou can not keepe that secret that to open it importeth the losse of thy fauor credit happely thy life also how canst thou think an other wil doo it that in tellyng it winneth both honor credyt ¶ A comendation of troth which professed courtiers ought to imbrace in no respect to be found defectiue in the contrary telling one thing for an other Cap. xx EPimenides the philosopher
occasion to others to iudge him to be euil Al the losses of temporal goodes that chaunce vnto men in this life oughte not to be cōpared with a litle blemishe of a mans good name The man that hasardeth for a trifle his good name in this world shall at a hūdreth shootes scarsly shoote one right And cōtrariwyse the man that hath lost his honesty and that estemeth not the reputation of his persone truly from him we shall neuer see any good thing proceade Now the emperour like vnto a wise ship-maister fearing after the great calmes some tempestuous storme seing the lightnes of his doughter and vanitie of the mother I meane in the time of this great mirth and gladnes feared lest any infamy should ensewe vnto these two ladies And for a surety he doubted not without a cause for it is an infallible rule of enuious fortune to geue vs in many yeres a litle prosperitie to thintēt that afterward sodainly she may bring vs into some great aduersitie By experience we see that the sea is seldome times calme but immediatly foloweth some perilous tēpest The extreame heate of the day doth prognosticate that terrible thōder in the euentide I meane whē fortune doth flatter vs with her golden pilles it is a token that she entendeth to catche vs in her snares The mylner before the bankes broken repareth the dammes The husbandman before it raineth thacketh his house fearing the snow and raine that is to come So lykewise the sage man ought to consider that during this lyfe he hath prosperity but by leaue aduersity as by patrimony Marcus Aurelius among al other men was he that knew how to enioy prosperitie also to preuaile of aduersity Though fortune gaue him much prosperity yet he neuer trusted therin nor for any troubles that euer he receiued in this lyfe he was at any time abashed Of the sharpe words which Marcus Aurelius spake to hys wyfe and to his doughter Cap. v. WHen the tryumphes before named were finyshed this good Emperour being willyng to vnbourden his hart and to aduyse Faustine to teache the youg damosel his doughter and to the end that no man shold heare it he called them a part and sayd vnto them these words I am not contente Faustine with that thy doughter did nor yet with that which thou hast done being her mother The doughters if they wil be counted good children must learne to obeye their fathers and the mothers if they wil be counted good mothers must learne to bring vp their doughters wel When the mother is honest and the doughter shamefast the father is excused in geuyng councel It is great shame to the father being a man that the mother being a womā should chastise his sonne And it is a great reproch to the mother that the doughter should be chastised by the hands of any man There was a law enacted among the Rhodiens that neyther the father should haue to doe wyth the doughters nor the mothers with the sonnes but the men vsed to bring vp the men and the women the women And in such wise that they abyding al in one house it semeth vnto the fathers that they had no doughters and vnto the mothers that they had no sonnes O Rome Rome I bewaile the not for to se the streates vnpauid nor to se the houses so decayed nor to se the battlements so fallen downe nor the timber hewed downe nor for the dyminishing of the habytaunts for al this tyme bringeth and tyme taketh awaye but I wepe for the and wepe for the againe to se the vnpeopled of good fathers and vnprouided in the nourishing of their children Rome began to decay when the disciplyne of sonnes and doughters was enlarged that their brydle was let at lybertye For ther is now such boldnes in boyes and so lytle shamefastnes in girles with dishonesty of the mothers that where as one father suffised for .xx. sonnes and one mother for xx doughters now xx fathers dare scarcely vndertake to bring vp wel one sonne xxx mothers one doughter I say this to you Faustine you remember not how you are a mother for you geue more libertie to your dougher then ought to be suffred And now Lucilla remember not how you are a doughter for you showe to haue more liberty then requireth for a yong mayden The greatest gift that the gods haue geuen to the Matrons of Rome is because that they are women they kepe them selues close and secret and because they are Romaines they are shamefast The day when the women want the fearre of the gods secretly and shame of men openly beleue me they shal eyther faile the world or the world theym The common wealth requyreth it of great necessity that the women which therin enhabyte should be as honest as the captaines valyaunt for the captaines going to warre defend them and the women whych abyde at home conserue them As now .iiii. yeares passed ye saw this great pestilence and I demaund then to haue account of the people and I found that of C. and xl M. honest women .lxxx. M. dyed of .x. M. dyshonest women in maner they scaped al. I cannot tel for which I should wepe eyther for the lacke that we haue of the good vertuous womē in our comon wealth or els for the great hurt domages that these euil wicked women do to the youth of Rome The fyer that brenneth in mount Ethna doth not so much endomage those that dwel in Scicil as one euyl woman doth with in the walles of Rome A fyerse beast and a perillous ennemy to the common wealth is an euyl woman for she is of power to commyt all euyls and nothing apte to do anye good O how many realmes and kingdomes rede we of whych by the euil behauiours of one woman haue bene lost and to resist agaynst them there hath bene nede both of wisedome perils money and force of many men The vyces in a woman is as a grene rede that boweth euery waye but the lightnes and dyshonesty is as a dry kyxe that breaketh in such wise that the more euyl they vtter the more vnlykely is the amendment therof Behold Faustine ther is no creature that more desireth honour and worse kepeth it then a woman and that this is true we se by iustice by orations by writyng and other trauailes man getteth fame renowme but withoute it be by flattering and faire speakyng this houre by auncient writers we cā rede of few women or none whych eyther by writyng redyng workyng with nedle spinning or by weauing haue gotten them any great renowme But as I say of one I say of an other certaynely of diuers we rede by keping them close in their houses being wel occupyed in their busines temperate in their words faithful to their husbands wel ordred in their persons peasable with their neighbours and finally for being honest amonge their owne family and shamefast amongest straungers
entrailes For from that way that thou goest I wil not depart one iote if thou goest I wil go if thou rest I wil rest if thou worke I wil worke if thou leaue of I wil do the same if thou wilt die know thou I wil not liue Loke frend what thou wilt do For thy troubles myne torment both one hart If thou haue displeasure al things dysplease me if thou wepe I swer fro henceforth neuer to laugh if thou discharge the of thy paine fro henceforth I shal take it for myne if thou go alone I wil forsake company and forthwith lyue solytarilie What wilt thou that I should desire For al that euer thou wylt I wyl Thou complainest that in al thy trauayles thou canst find no parent to remedy the nor frend to councel the. I sweare to the frend Piramon that of these ii things I haue as great nede in my house as thou hast sorow in thine I know wel the remedy should come by riches and by councel and consolacion of them that be wise And by reason of my heauy destinyes slouâ—h hath taken from me the knowledge of wisedome and fortune wil not permyt me to haue great riches Certainly I wepe for my myserie and yet there is but smal remedy in me Thou sayst in thy letter that thy neyghbours and frends in promysinge haue behight the many things but in performyng it they do nothyng Hereof I maruaile not for the vertuous hand is not bound to make the tongue a foole Truly our fete daunce our hands should worke at the sowne of the tongue our lyfe endeth in few days and our renowme in fewer Promyse is an auncient custome among the children of vanytie and of custome the tongue speaketh hastely and the hands worke at leisure Now let vs speake more particularly Thou oughtest not to complayne in that thou findest not but in few that dyuers haue founde in the alone it haue bene a custome to receiue merelye and willyngly but to geue slowly and with euyl wil. They that be presumptuous do the one they whych be the slouthful do the other The Greekes saye that he that promyseth and is longe in fulfillynge is but a slacke frende We Romaynes say that he is much better that denyeth forth with because he doth not deceiue him that asketh In this case I saye he that maye geue and geueth not is an open ennemye and he that promyseth foorthwith and is longe before hee perfourme it it is but a suspicious frende What nede wordes to our frendes when we may succour theÌ„ with works It is not right to whom we geue our hartes which is the best thing of our heartes that we geue him our tongue which is the worst thing of our liues In good so the the gods wyll not suffer in the place of amitie to desire any thing of our frende in haste and to be driuen of with long delaying Plato in his lawes saieth we commaunde that in our gouerning politike counsayle be geuen to them that be in prosperitie to the intent that they decaie not and to succour them that be in heuines and trouble to the intent that they dispaire not Certainly vnder these wordes are comprised diuers great sentences Thou knowest well my frende Piramon that swete wordes comfort the harte but litle that is in tribulation vnlesse there be some good works therwith I wyll not denye but that they to whome we haue geuen our good wylles in the tyme of our prosperitie be bounde to geue vs of their goodes and to shewe vs fauour in our aduersitie I demaunde one thyng of thee wherefore holdest thou a presumptuous licence to demaunde and reprouest on the other parte the libertie of denyinge Truly as the shamefast man should not haue denay in any of his requestes being honest so the shameles and importunate man should be denayed what so euer he demaundeth Thou maiest knowe if thou knowe it not my frende Piramon that to attayne to euery thyng that is demaunded belongeth onely to the Gods To geue all thing that is demaunded is the signe of a seruaunt and to deny any thing is a token of libertie To wepe for that is denied is the condition of tyrauntes to be vnthankefull for that is geuen is the condition of Barbarians And to haue a stoute harte though thinges are denied is the guise of the Romaines One of the thinges wherein Caius Caesar shewed him selfe to be of high courage was that he had most greatest ioy when the senate denayed any thing desired by hym Oftentimes he sayed There is nothing where in Rome geueth more glory nor renowme to my persone then when I shewe my selfe most hasty to demaunde and she moste stiffe to denay to the intent that after she should knowe howe great my wyll is to desire and howe that my strength is to acquire Me thinketh it is better to haue recourse to the gods with vertue then to displease them with vices And to geue contentation to thy reposed wil when thou seest thy selfe in tribulation and that thy demaundes of the gods of men be frustrate thou oughtest to measure it with a right measure to wey it in a right balaunce the many things which thei haue geuen thee the few thinges which thei haue denied thee O how vncourteous be we to the gods vngratious to men wheÌ„ we minish with forgetfulnes that we haue receiued of them and that litle that hath bene denied vs we augmente with complaintes Frende Piramon I am beguiled if thou be not fifty yeares of age and all that season thou haste done nothing but receiued giftes and yet for all that I haue not sene thee doe one dayes seruice Certainely it is no reason to complayne of eight dayes of euyl fortune beynge fiftie yeares of age Thou sayest in thy letter howe thou haste muche payne because thou knowest all thy neyghbours to be enuyous In good sothe I haue payne for thy payne and of thy marueylyng I haue great marueyle For all admyration proceadeth of aboundaunce of ignoraunce and faulte of experience Doeth the quicke vnderstanding of men rule the life of them that be mortall that they neade not to thinke of the trauaile to come hauinge in their handes present remedy If they be hungry they may eate when they are colde they may warme them if they be drowsy they may sleape when they be wery they may reste when they are sicke they may be healed and when they are heauy they may reioyce In such maner that the careful lyfe passeth some to make tiltes and listes some to make armoure and scaffolds some to inuente newe ginnes and some to repaire bulwarkes I saye the world and the flleshe doe nought els but fighte against vs we haue nede at all times to defende vs from them All these remedies are against the trauayle of the fleashe But what shall we doe that the cursednesse of enuie endeth not among all these Cursed is that wealth that
euery man enuieth Certainly against enuy is no fortresse nor caue to hyde nor highe hyll to mounte on nor thicke woode to shadowe in nor shippe to scape in nor horse to beare away nor money to redeme vs. Enuy is so venemous a serpente that there was neuer mortall man among mortalles that could scape from the byting of her toothe scratching of her nayles defyling of her feete and the castinge of her poyson I sweare to thee my frend Piramon that such as fortune lifteth vp with great ryches she full of crueltie sonest ouerthroweth Enuy is so enuious that to them whiche of her are most denied and set farthest of she geueth most cruell strokes with her feete This vnhappy enuy prepareth poyson secretely for them that enioye great pleasures I haue red diuerse bookes of Hebrewe Greke Latine and Caldei And also I haue spoken with many excellent wyse men to see if there might be founde any remedy against an enuious man I confesse the truthe reade all that can be read and imagen all that can be demaunde all that can be demaunded and ye shall finde none other cure against this cursed enuy but to banishe vs fro all the prosperitie and to dwell in the house of aduersitie O howe vnhappy are they that be in prosperitie for iustly they that be set vp in high estate cannot flie from the peril of Scilla without falling into the daunger of Caribdis They cannot scape the peryll without casting their treasures into the sea I saye that the malady of enuy wyl not suffer them to scape from death and the medecine that is applied to them wyll not assure their life I cannot determine whiche is the best or to saye more properly the worste extreame misery without the daunger of fortune or extreame prosperitie that is alwayes threatned to fall In this case to be so extreame I wyl not determine sithe in the one is a perilous life and in the other renoume is sure I shall tell thee what wyse Cicero sayde when he was pursued with many at Rome Beholde you Romaines I holde you not for so good nor my selfe so euill to saye the trouth alwayes nor alwayes to make lies I am certaine that ye beare me no enuy for that I am not as ye be but it is because ye can not be as I am In this case I had rather that my enemies had enuy at my prosperitie then my frendes at my pouertie This Oratour spake after the appetite of them that be in prosperitie leauing to geue remedie to them that be sorowefull And after this Cicero had sene the fieldes of Farsale he tooke other councell and remedy suche as pleased him in Rome For though Caesar had graunted him his goodes yet that turned not his credence and renowme Surely frende Piramon I knowe no remedy to geue thee against enuy sith thou seest al the world ful therof We see how we be the sonnes of enuy we liue with enuy die with enuy he that leueth moste riches leueth the greatest enuy The auncient wyse men counsailed riche men that they should haue poore folkes nere them and they admonished the poore that they should not dwell nere to the riche And truly it is good reason For the riches of riche mē is the seede of enuy to the poore And because the poore man lacketh and the riche hath to muche causeth discorde among the people I sweare by the gods immortall frende Piramon though they that be euill would that I sweare falsely as muche as riches with thought nourisheth couetise so much the enuious nourisheth enuy therby I tel the one thing and that is that it is no good councell to flie enuy to auoyde the vertue contrary to the same Homer saith that in his time there were two Grekes extreame in all extremities the one was extreame in ryches and therefore he was persecuted by enuy that was Achilles and the other was sore noted of malice but no man had enuy at him and that was Thiestes Certainly I had rather be Achilles with his enuy then Thiestes without it Thou knowest wel that we Romaines searche not but for rest in our life for honor after death And sith it is so it is not possible but the mā that euery man enuieth his renowme ought to be exalted in the reste of his life And sithe I see those two thinges in thee such as be my frendes taketh litle thought for that thine enemies murmure against thee Thou wrytest to me how they of Lions doe well and are mery except thy selfe that art heuy and full of pensiuenes And sith they shew not to haue pleasure at thy displeasure shew not thy self displeased with their pleasure For it may chaunce one day they shal be sorowfull when that thou arte mery and so thou shalt be quite with them In an euil persone there can be no greater euill nor in a good mā a greater faulte then to be displeased with another mans wealthe to take pleasure af another mans harme And in case that all doe vs domage with enuy yet much more a frend then the enemy For of mine enemy I will beware for feare I wil withdrawe but my frende with his amitie may beguile me I by my fidelitie shall not perceiue Among all mortall enemies there is none worse then a frende that is enuious of my felicitie Piramon my frend I wil conclude if thou wilt withdraw thy self fro enemies then kepe cōpany with thine own familiar frendes I wote not what to write more to thee but with al my harte I lament thy heuines Thou knowest howe thy niece Brusia slew with a dagger her owne husband I was very sory for her death and for the renowme that she left behinde her Flauius Priscus thine vncle is newly made censoure The proces betwene thy brother Formio Britio is determined by the senate and it pleaseth me right well that they be frendes and euery man well contented The booke intituled the consolation of heauines I haue ended and layde it in the capitol I haue written it in Greke and that is the cause that I sent it not to thee But I doe sende thee a riche swerde a faire girdle Faustine my wyfe doth salute thee sendeth thy wife two sclaues The gods be my kepers comfort thee in thy present heuines Marke the man fortunate to Piramon sore discomforted ¶ A letter sent by the Emperour Marcus Aurelius to Catullus Censorius that was so sorowefull for the death of Verissimus the Emperoures sonne worthy to be red and noted Cap. viii MArke the younge and newe Censour saluteth thee olde and aunciente Catullus I haue wrytten two letters to thee and thou hast made aunswere to none of them If it be because thou couldest not I holde my peace if it be because thou wouldest not then I complayne me if it be for forgetfulnes thē I accuse thee if it be because thou settest litle by me then
wynne as your fathers did All their exercyse was in goodnes and ye that are their chyldren passe all your tyme in ceremonies I saye this ye Romaines because ye haue almoste killed me with laughing at you to see how ye doe all as muche your diligence to leaue your armure without the gate of the Senate as your predecessours did take to them to defende the Empire What profite is it to you to leaue of these armours which hurte the bodies and to put on them those which slea al the world What profiteth it to the careful suiter that the senatour entreth vnarmed into the senate without sweard or dagger his hart entreth into the senate armed with malice O Romains I wil ye know that in our ysle we esteme you not as armed captaines but as malicious senatours You feare vs not with sharpe grounden swoordes and daggers but with hard hartes venemous tongues If ye should in the senate put on harneis therwith take away your liues it were but a small losse seing that ye susteine not the innocentes nor dispatche not the businesse of suiters I can not suffer it I can not tell in what state ye stande here at Rome for in our isle we take armoure from fooles whether your armoures are taken away as from fooles or mad folkes I wot not If it be done for ambitiousnes it cometh not of Romaines but of tyrauntes that wranglers and ireful folke should be iudges ouer the peacible the ambicions ouer the meke the malicious ouer the simple If it be done because ye be 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 taried for mine aunswere and licence by your delaies I am nowe farther of then I was the first day We bring oyle hony saffron wood and timber salte siluer And sold out of our ysle into Rome ye wyl that we go els where to seke iustice Ye wil haue one lawe to gather your rentes and another to determine our iustice Ye wyl that we pay our tributes in one day ye wil not discharge one of our errandes in a whole yeare I require you Romaines determine your selues to take away our liues and so we shall ende or els heare our cōplaintes to the entent that we may serue you For in another maner it may be that ye know by hearing with your eares which peraduēture ye would not see with your eyes And if ye thinke my wordes be out of measure so that ye wyl remedy my countrey I set not by my lyfe And thus I make an ende Verely frende Catullus these be the woordes that he spake to the senate which I gate in wryting I say of trouth that the hardinesse that the Romaines were wont to haue in other countreis the same as now straungers haue in Rome There were that saide that this Embassadour should be punished but God forbid that for sayinge trouth in my presence he shoulde haue bene corrected It is enough to much to to suffer these euils though we slea not and persecute those that aduertise and warne vs of them The shepe are not in sucrtie of the wolfe but if the shepehearde haue his dogge with him I meane dogges ought not to leaue barkinge for to awake the shepeherdes There is no God commaundeth nor lawe counsayleth nor cōmon wealth suffereth that they whiche are committed to chastice lyers should hange them that saye trouthe And sithe the senatours shewe them selues men in their liuing and sometime more humaine than other that be Sclaues who els should deliuer theim from chasticement Oh Rome and no Rome hauing nothing but the name of Rome where is nowe become the noblenesse of thy triumphes the glory of thy children the rectitude of thy iustice and the honour of thy temples For as now they chastice him more that murmureth against one only senatour thā thei do them that blaspheme al the gods at once For it greueth me more to se a senatour or cēsore to be worst of al other than it displeaseth me that it should be said that he is the best of all other For of a trouth I saye to thee my frende Catullus that as nowe we nede not to seke to the Gods in the temples for the Senatours are made gods in our handes There is difference betwene them that be immortall and they that be mortall For the Gods neuer doe thing that is euill and the Senatours doe neuer any thinge well The Gods neuer lye and they neuer saye trouthe The gods pardon often and they neuer forgeue The gods are content to be honoured fiue times in the yeare and the Senatours would be honoured ten times a daye What wilt thou that I saye more but what so euer the Gods doe they ought to be praysed and the Senatours in all their workes deserue to be reproued Finally I conclude that the Gods are constant in euery thing and erre and faile in nothing and the Senatours assure nothing but erre in all thing Onely in one thing the Senatours are not of reason to be chasticed and that is when they intende not to amende their faultes they will not suffer the Oratours to wast their time to shewe them the trouth Be it as may be I am of the opinion that what man or woman withdraweth their eares from hearing of trouth impossible it is for them to applie their hartes to loue any vertues be it Censore that iudgeth or Senanatour that ordeineth or Emperour that commaundeth or Consul that executeth or Oratour that preacheth No mortall man take he neuer so good heede to his workes nor reason so well in his desires but that he deserueth some chasticement for some cause or counsayle in his doinges And sithe I haue written to thee thus of others I wyl somewhat speake of my selfe because of the words of thy letter I haue gathered that thou desirest to know of my persone Knowe thou for certaine that in the kalendes of Ianuary I was made Censore in the senate the which office I desired not nor I haue not deserued it The opinion of al wyse men is that no man without he lack witte or surmounteth in folly wil gladly take on him the burdein charges of other men A greater case it is for a shamefast man to take on him an office to please euery man for he must shewe a countenaunce outwarde contrary to that he thinketh inward Thou wilt say that the good are ordeined to take the charge of offices O vnhappy Rome that hath willed to take me in such wyse as to be the best in it Greuous pestilence ought to come for thē that be good sithe I am scaped as good amonge the euill I haue accepted this office not for that I had nede thereof but to fulfil the cōmaundement of Antonius my graundfather Haue no marueile of any thing that I do but of that I leaue to be done
keapyng their doughters I sweare that there was neyther grape nor cluster but it was either eaten or gathered by the. Thou diddest eate me grene for the which I promise the it hath set thy teeth on edge Thou sayest I was riped by power of heat and straw It greueth me not so much that thou saiest it as that thou geuest me occasion to say to the thy shame is so shamelesse and thy euil so malicious that I cannot make aunswere to thy purpose onlesse I rubbe the on the quycke I aske the when thou mariedst Faustine whether thou foundest them grene or ripe thou knowest wel and so do I also that other gaged the vessel and thou drankest the lyees other had the meate and thou the huskes other did eate them being grene and with the refuge set thy teath on edge O cursed Marke behold how great thy euels are and how the goddes haue iustly punished the that beinge yonge thou couldest not deserue to be beloued of thy louers nor yet now in thy age thy wife kepe her faith to the. For me to be reuenged of thy parson I nede no more but to se the maried to Faustine By the mother Berecinthia I promise the that if thy smal wisedome mighte attaine to know at the ful what they say of the and her in Rome thou wouldest wepe both day and night for the life of Faustine and not leaue the woful Boemia O Marke litle care is taken for the and how farre is our vnderstanding vncoupled from thy thoughtes For through thy great learninge thy house in the day tyme is a schole of philosophers and the wantonnes of thy wife Faustine in the night maketh it a receite of ruffians It is a iust iudgement of the goddes sith that thy malice onely sufficeth to poison many that be good the euilnes onely of one woman shal be enough to spoile and take away thy good renowm One difference ther is betwene the and me and thy Faustine which is that my facts are in suspect and yours done in deed mine be in secret but yours knowen openly I haue but stombled but you haue fallen For one onely fault I deserue punishment but you deserue pardon for none My dishonour dyed with my fact and is buried with my amendmēt but your infamy is borne with your desires nourished with your malices stil with your works Finally your infamy shal neuer dye for you liued neuer wel O Marke malicious with al that thou knowest dost not thou knowe that to dye wel doth couer an euil fame and to make an end of an euyl life doth begin a good fame Thou ceasest not to say euil onely of suspect which thy false iudgements geueth and yet wouldest thou we shold conceale that we se with our eyes Of one thing I am sure that neyther of the nor of Faustine ther are hath bene any false witnes For ther are so many true euilles that ther neadeth no lyes to be inuented Thou saiest it is an old custome with the amorous ladies in Rome though they take of many yet they are the porest of al because we want credite we are honored for siluer It is most certaine that of holly we loke for pricks of acorns huskes of nettels stinginge and of thy mouth malices I haue seriously noted I neuer heard the say wel of any nor I neuer knew any that would the good What greater punishmēt can I desire for thy wickednes nor more vengeaunce for my iniuries then to se al the amorous ladies of Rome discontented with thy life and ioy to thinke on thy death cursed is the man whose life many do bewaile and in whose death euery one doth reioyce It is the propertie of such vnthankeful wretches as thou art to forget the great good done to them to repent that litle they geue How muche the noble harts do reioyce in geuing to other so much they are ashamed to take seruice vnrewarded For in geuing they are lords in taking they become sclaues I aske what it is thou hast geuen me or what thou hast receiued of me I haue aduentured my good fame and geuen thee possession of my persone I haue made thee lord of me and mine I banished me from my countrey I haue put in perill my life In recompence of this thou dost detect me of misery Thou neuer gauest me ought with thy harte nor I toke it with good will nor it euer did me profite As all thinges recouer a name not for the worke we openly see but for the secrete intention with which we worke Euen so thou vnhappy man desirest me not to enioye my parsonne but rather to haue my money We ought not to call thee a cleare louer but rather a thefe a wily persone I had a litle ring of thine I minde to throwe it into the riuer a gowne thou gauest me which I haue burnt And if I thought my body were increased with the bread I did eate of thine I would cut my fleshe being whole let out my bloud without feare O malicious Marke thy obscured malice wyl not suffer thee to vnderstande my cleare letter For I sent not to thee to aske money to relieue my pouertie and solitarines but only to acknowledge satisfie my willing hart Such vayne couetous men as thou are cōtented with giftes but the hartes incarnate in loue are not satisfied with a litle money For loue is rewarded alway with loue The man that loueth not as a mā of reason but like a brute beast the woman that loueth not where she is beloued but onely for the gaine of her body such ought not to be credited in wordes nor their persones to be honored For the loue of her endes when goods faileth and his loue when her beautie decaieth If the beautie of my face did procure thy loue they riches only allured my good wyl it is right that we should not be called wyse louers but rather folishe persons O cursed Marke I neuer loued thee for thy goodes although thou likedst me for that I was faire Then I loued with my hart now I abhorre thee with all my hart Thou saiest the gods vsed great pitie on me to geue me fewe children them many fathers The greatest faulte in women is shameles the greatest villany in men is to be euill sayers Diuers thinges ought to be borne in the weakenes of women which in the wisedome of men are not permitted I say this for that I neuer saw in the tēperance to cloke thine own maliciousnes nor wisedome to shadow the debilitie of others Thou saiest my children haue many fathers but I sweare to thee that the children of Faustine shal not be fatherles although thou die And if the gods as thou saiest haue ben pitifull to my childrē no lesse art thou to straunge children For Faustine kepeth the but to excuse her faultes to be tutor to her children O cursed Marke thou nedest not take thought for
the thou wilt not se me if I write to the thou wilt make no aunswere And the worst of al is if others do shew the of my grefes thou takest it as a mockerie O that I had so much knowledge wher to complaine to the as thou hast power to cease my plaint then my wisedom should be no lesse praised among the wise then thy beauty amongest the foles I besech the hartely not to haue respect to the rudenes of my reasons but regard the faith of my teares which I offer to that as a witnes of my wil. I know not what profite may come by my harme nor what gaine of my losse thou maist hope to haue nor what surety of my peril thou maist attaine nor what pleasure of my paine thou maiste haue I had aunswere by my messenger that without reading my letters with thy owne hands thou didst rent them in pieces it ought to suffice to thinke how many parsons is tormented If it had pleased you lady Macrine to haue red those few lines you should haue perceiued how I am inwardly tormented Ye women be very extreme for the misaduenture of one man a woman wil complaine of al mē in general So ye al shew cruelty for one particuler cause openly ye pardon all mens liues and secretly ye procure death to al. I accompt it nothinge lady Macrine that thou haste done but I lament that which thou causest thy neighbour Valerius to say to me One thing I would thou sholdest remember and not forget that is Sith my libertie is so small and thy power so great that being wholy mine am torned to be thine the more iniurie thou dost to me the more thou hurtest thy selfe since by the I die as thou by me doest liue In this peruers opinion abide not so mayest thou hasarde the life of vs both Thou hurtest thy good name and destroyest my health in the ende thou must come to the same phisicke Pardone me lady Macrine if I saye ought that may offende thee I know ye women desire one thing greatly that is to haue soueraintie of vs and yet not seame so much as by thought to wyshe the same Thou haddest the same of a gentle nature though in dede thou were not so yet thou haddest the same thereof and an auncient good name ought not to be loste with a newe vnkindenes Thou knowest howe cōtrary ingratitude is to vertue in a vertuous house Thou canst not be called vertuous but if thou be curteous There is no greater ingratitude then not to loue againe Though I visite the and thou not me it is nothing though I remember thee and thou forgettest me it is nothing though I wepe and thou laugh it is nothing though I craue of thee and thou denie me it is nothing though thou owest me and paye me not it is nothing But if I loue thee and thou not me this is a great thing which the eies can neither dissimule nor the hart suffre All the vices in mortall men are to be pardoned because they offende naturally saue onely this discourtesy in women and vngentlenes in mē which are counted of malice Diuerse seruices by me done to thee and all the good willes I haue heretofore borne to thee thou onely lady Macrine with one thing rewarde me I praye thee be not slacke to helpe me for I was not so to offer me into peril If thou sayest that Patroclus thy husbande hath the propertie in thee at the least yet receiue me vpon proufe and I will pretende a possession of thee and in this wyse the vayne glorie in being thyne shall hyde the hurt being myne thou makest me maruayle not a litle that for so small a rewarde thou wilt suffer so great an importunitie For certainly we graunte many thynges to an importunate man whiche we deny to a temperate man If thou lady Macrine hopest to ouercome me beholde I yelde me as vanquished If thou wilt lose me I holde me loste if thou wylt kyll me I holde me dead For by the gestures whiche I make before thy gate and the secreate sighes whiche I fetche in my house thou mayest knowe howe greatly I mynde to reste but thy braue assaultes are rather buyldinges to nouryshe death then to cōforte the lyfe If thou wylt I escape this daunger deny me not remedy For it shal be a greater dishonour for to slea me then shame to saue me It is no iust thing for so small againe to lose so faithfull a frende I wote not howe to make thee my detter nor howe to make thee paye me and the worste of all is I knowe not what to saye nor howe to determine For I was not borne to myne owne wealth but to be faithful in thy seruices And sythe thou knowest whom thou haste trusted with thy message the same I doe trust with this open letter and my aunswere in secrete I doe sende to thee a iewell of pearle and a piece of golde I pray the gods make thee receiue them as willingly as I doe frely sende them Marke Oratour to the inexorable Macrine ¶ Of a letter whiche the Emperour Marcus Aurelius sent to the beautiful lady Liuia wherein he proueth that loue is naturall and that the moste parte of the philosophers and wyse men haue bene by loue ouercome Cap. xv MArke full of sorowe to thee careles Lyuia If thy litle care did lodge in me and my sorowes were harboured in thee thou shouldest then see howe litle the quarell is that I make to thee in respect to the torment I suffer If the flambes issued out as the fire doth burne me within the heauens should perishe with smoke and the earth should make imbers If thou doest well remember the firste time I saw thee in the temple of the virgin Vestals thou being there diddest alwayes praye to the gods for thy selfe and I vpon my knees prayed to thee for me Thou knowest and so doe I that thou diddest offer oyle and hony to the goddes but I did offer to thee teares and sighes It is iust thou geue more to hym that offered his harte then to him whiche draweth money out of his purse I haue determined to wryte to thee this letter whereby thou maieste perceiue howe thou arte serued with the arrowes of my eyes whiche were shott at the white of thy seruice O vnhappy that I am I feare least this present calme doth threaten me with a tempest to come I wyl saye that discourtesy in thee causeth doubtfull hope in me Beholde my misaduenture I had lost a letter and tourning to the temple to seeke it I founde the letter whiche was of some importaunce and had almoste loste my selfe whiche is the greatest thyng Considering my small rewarde I see my eyes the ladders of my hope set on so high a wal that no lesse certaine is my fal then my climming was doubtfull Thou bending downe thy harnes of thy high desertes and putting me to the point of continuall seruice
suffrest me to enioye the fruite and geue to whom thou wilt the leaues By the immortal gods I sweare that I marueile not a litle for I thought that in the temple of the virgin Vestalles no temptation could haue come to man But nowe by experience I finde that that woman is easelier ouercome whiche is moste watched then the other that hath honest libertie All bodily diseases be first had or they be knowen and knowen or they be sene and sene or they be felte and felte or they be tasted and so in all thinges except this darte of loue whom they firste feale the stroke thereof before they knowe the waye howe it commeth The lightning commeth not so sodaine but it is knowen before by the thonder The wal falleth not sodeinly but first some stones fall downe The colde commeth not so faste but some small shiuering is sene before onely loue is not felt vntil he hath had power in the entrailes Let them know that are ignoraunt thou lady Liuia if thou wilt know Loue sleapeth when we wake waketh when we slepe laugheth whē we weape wepeth whē we laugh It assureth in taking taketh in assuring it speaketh when we be still is stil when we speake And finally it hath such a cōdition that to geue vs our desire it causeth vs to liue in paine I sweare vnto the whē my wil became thy seruaunt thy beautie made the my mistres when I was at the tēple and there found thee neither thou in thy praier didst mynde me nor I vnhappy man did thinke on thee O vnhappy hart of mine that being whole thou art deuided being in health thou art hurt being aliue thou art killed being mine thou art stolen the worst of al is that thou not helping to my lyfe consentest that death shal assault me Considering many times lady Liuia with my selfe my thoughtes to be high my fortunes base I would haue seperated my selfe from thee but knowing my trauaile to be wel emploied in thy seruice I say though I might I would not be seperated from thee I wil not deny one thing that is the cursed loue taketh away the tast of al thinges in those things only it geueth vs pleasure which are greatly against our profite This is the profe of him that loueth hartely that one frowne of her that he loueth doth more greue him then al the delightes of the rest of his life cā please I deme lady Lyuia thou arte abashed to se me openly as a philopher to know me secretly as a louer I besech thee hartely discouer me not For if the gods graunt me long life I am now a young foole yet in age I will be wyse The gods know what I desire and the force whiche doth enforce me thereunto And as the fleshe is weake the hart tender the occasions many the vertues fewe the world deceitfull the people malicious so I passe this springe time with floures in hope that in haruest I shall haue some fruite Thinkest thou lady Liuia that philosophers be thei neuer so wise are not touched with the sharp dartes of loue and that vnder their course clothes there is not soft fleshe white Certainly amonges hard bones is nourished softe fleshe within the pricking huskes growe the chesse nut I saye that vnder simple attire is the faithful loue I doe not deny but our fraile nature doeth withstande our vertues Nor I deny not but that the wanton desires are repressed with vertuous mindes Nor I deny not but that the rashenes of youth are restrained with the reynes of reason I deny not but many times wisedome doth withstand that that the fleshe procureth yet I confesse that he that is not amorous is a foole And dost not thou know although we be wise we leaue not therfore to be men dost not thou know all that euer we learne in our life suffiseth not to gouerne the fleshe one houre doest not thou know that to wise men in this case hath fallen many errours dost not thou know that there hath bene are many maisters of vertues and much more there are hath bene folowers of vices then why doest thou make suche a wonder only of me I wil not saye it without a trouth that I neuer had my iudgement so good perfite as when Cupide blewe winde on me with his winges There was neuer man vntil my time accompted wise but first he was entangled with Cupides snares Gratian was in loue with Tamira Solon Salaminus the geuer of the lawes was enamored with one Gretian Pittacus Mitelenus left his owne wife was in loue with a bond woman that he brought from the warre Cleobulus when he was .lxxx. yere olde had red philosophy lxv yeres climming vp a ladder to scale his neighbours house fel and of the bruse died Periander prince of Achaia chefe philosopher of Grece at the instaunce of his louers slew his owne wife Anacharsis a Philosopher a Sithian by his father and a Greeke by the mother side loued so dearely a woman of Thebes that he taught her al that he knew in so much that he being sicke on his bed she red for him in the scholes Epimenides of Crete that slept .xv. yeares without waking Although he was agreat worshipper of the Gods yet was he bannished Athens .x. yeres for the louing of women Architus Tarentinus the maister of Plato scholer of Pithagoras occupied his mynd more to inuēt new kinds of loue then to employ his minde to vertues learning Gorgias Leontinus borne in Scycil had mo cōcubines in his house then bookes in his study Al these were wise men we knew them wise yet at th end they were ouercome with the flesh Therfore blame me not alone for as I haue told thee of these few so could I of a whole army For of trouth he ought to haue many thinges that wil be accōpted a curious louer He must haue his eyes displayed on her that he loueth his vnderstanding much altered in that he thinketh his tongue troubled in that he should speake so that in seing he be blind in thinking dismaid in speaking troubled O lady Liuia the louing in mockery passeth by mockery but wheras true loue is there is grefe no mockerie there loue spitteth his poison cruel Cupide fixeth his arrowes vp to the feathers The eies wepe the harte sigheth the fleshe trembleth the senewes doe shrinke the vnderstāding is grosse reason faileth so al falleth to the earth Finally the heauy louer abyding in himselfe holdeth nothing of himselfe Al this I saye because if I want knowledge to make me a louer yet am I sure that the workes faile not in me to worke thy seruice And though by mishap I sawe the yet by good chaunce I knew thee I aske nothing of thee but that thou loue me faithfully sith I loue the vnfainedly And if thou hearest that I am sicke from my hart I desire the to do me some good Sith it is only in the to help me it is reason thou only do seke for remedy I was greatly comforted whē Fulius Carlinus desired me in thy behalfe to doe a pleasure which I did incontinent al that thou desiredst to the intent that thou another day shouldest doe frankly that I desire thee And behold lady Liuia the woman that is serued with seruices it is reason within a whyle she be sued vnto by prayer And though my strength cannot open the gates of the purpose or not agreing to thy demaund yet al my labours slake not to vphold thy renowme I praye the discouer not the one nor beguile me with the other For thou seest in graunting is remedy and in hoping is comfort But promise is deceiuable delayeng is perylous and the entertaining byndeth I se wel that the harty demaund requyreth a long aunswere but I would not thou shouldest do so But as I loue the so loue me as I desire of the so graūt thou me I will say once againe I am all thine nothing mine owne And note lady Liuia that it is as muche honour to thee as profitable for me that thou chaunge these thy desires put in order thy disordered will For thou seest it is muche better to heale shortly then to late with failing thy purpose All women obserue one euill opinion that is ye neuer receiue councel although it be geuen you in neuer so waighty a case And if it be not so then because thou arte estemed beautiful be likewyse honoured for taking of good counsel In this sorte though my losse be much thy pacience litle yet shall they accompt me wise in geuing counsel the most happy to folowe it One thing I will say to thee pardon me therin Women be much defamed in that they wil take no councel such as do assure their renowme so much on the iudgement of others as they condemne wel doing before I thinke good if it so like thee would if thou wilt that thou should doe in all pointes as I haue counsayled thee I will say no more lady Liuia but that I doe present to thee all my vnfortunate troubles my sighes as a desperate man my seruice as thy seruaūt my troubled griefes my wordes of philosophy and my teares as a louer I sende thee here a girdle of golde on condition that thou alwayes fixe thy eies on that and thy harte on me I pray the gods geue me to thee thee to me Marke the open Philosopher wrote this in great secreate FINIS
set ryse my sonne Marke and sithens nowe thou arte yong it is but iust that thou geue me place whiche am aged If it bee true that it is xxxiii yeares sithens thou askedst place in the theathers as and old man tell mee I praye thee and also I coniure thee with what oyntement hast thou anoynted thy selfe or with what water hast thou wasshed thy selfe to become yonge O Claude if thou hadst founde anye medicyne or dyscouered anye herbe where with thou couldest take whyte heares from mens heades and from women the wrincles of theire face I sweare vnto thee and also I doe assure thee that thou shooldest be more vysyted and serued in Rome then the god Apollo is in his Temple at Ephesus Thou shouldest wel remember Annius priscus the old man whiche was our neighbour and somewhat a kinne to thee the whiche when I tolde him that I coulde not bee filled with his good woordes and to behold his auncient white heares he saied vnto me O my soone Mark it appereth wel that thou hast not byn aged because thou talkest as a yong maÌ„ for if white heares do honour the ê‘son they greatlye hurt the harte For at that houre when they se vs aged the straungers do hate vs ours do not loue vs. And he told me more I let the wete my sonne Marke that many times my wyfe and I talking of the yeares of another perticularly when she beholdeth mee and that I seeme vnto her so aged I saye vnto her and swere that I am yet yoÌ„ge and that the white heares came vnto me by great trauailes and the age by sicknes I do remember also that this Annius Priscus was senatour one yeare and bycause he woulde not seeme aged but desired that men shoulde iudge hym too bee yonge he shaued his bearde and hys heade which was not accustomed amonge the senatours nor Censours of Rome And as one day amongest the other Senatours he entred into the hyghe Capitolle one sayde vnto hym Tell me man from whence comest thou What wylte thou and why comest thou hither howe durste thou being no senatour enter into the Senate he aunswered I am Annius priscus the aged howe chauÌ„ceth it that nowe you haue not knowen me they replyed vnto hym if thou werte Annius Priscus thou woldest not come thus shauen For in this sacred senate can none enter to gouerne the coÌ„mon wealth vnlesse his parsoÌ„ be endued with vertues and his heade with white heares and therfore thou art banished and depriued of thy office For the olde which lyue as the yong ought to be punished Thou knowest wel Claude and Claudine that that which I haue spoken is not the faynyng of Homere neither a fable of Ouide but that you your selues saw it with your eyes and in his banishment I dyd helpe him with money and more ouer he was banished another time for the lightnes he dyd commit in the nighte in the citye and I meruaile not hereof for we see by experyence that old men whiche are fleashed in vices are more obstinate to correct then the yong O what euill fortune haue the olde men which suffered them selues too waxe olde in vyces for more daungerous is the fier in an old house then in a new and a greate cut of a sworde is not so perilous as a rotten fistule Though old men were not honest and vertuous for the seruice of the gods and the common wealth for the saieng of the people nor for the example of the yong yet he ought to be honest yf it weare but for the reuerence of their yeares If the pore old man haue noe teeth how shall he eate If he haue no heate in his stomacke howe can he dysgest If he haue no taste how can he drinke if hee be not strong howe can he be an adulterer If hee haue no feete howe can he goe If hee haue the palsy howe can hee speake if hee haue the goute in his handes howe can hee play Fynally suche lyke wordlye and vicyous men haue employed their forces beinge yonge desirous to proue al these vices and when they are old it greueth them extreamelye that they can not as yet accoÌ„pplishe their desiers Amongest all the faultes in old men in my opinion this is the chefest that since they haue proued al thiÌ„ges that they shoold stil remaine in their obstinat folly There is no parte but they haue trauailed no villany but they haue assayed no fortune but they haue proued no good but they haue persecuted no euyl but hath chaunced vnto theÌ„ nor there is any vice but they haue attempted These vnhappy men which in this sorte haue spent all their youth haue in the end their combes cut with infirmities diseases yet they are not somuch greued with the vices which in them do abound to hinder them froÌ„ vertues as they are tormented for wante of corporall courage to further them in their lusts O if wee were gods or that they would geeue vs licence to know the thoughts of the old as wee see with our eies the deeds of the yong I swear to the God Mars and also to the mother Berecinthe that without comparison we woold punishe more the wicked desiers which the aged haue to be wicked then the light deeds of the yong Tel mee Claude and thou Claudine do you think though you behaue your selues as yong you shall not seme to bee old know you not that our nature is the corruption of our body and that our body hindereth our vnderstandings and that the vnderstandyngs are kept of our soule that oure soule is the mother of desiers that our desiers are the scourge of our youth that our youth is the ensigne of our age age the spye of death that death in the end is the house where life taketh hys herber and from whence youth flyeth a fote and from whence age can not escape a horsback I woold reioyce that you Claude and Claudine woolde tell me what you fynde in lyfe that somuche therwith you should bee contented since now you haue passed foure score yeares of lyfe duryng the which tyme either you haue been wycked in the world or els you haue been good Yf you haue been good you ought to think it long vntil you be with the good gods if you haue been euil it is iust you dye to the end you bee no worse For speaking the truth those which in .3 score 10 yeares haue been wicked in woorks leaue smal hope of their ameÌ„dment of lyfe Adrian my lord being at Nola in Campania one brought vnto him a nephew of his from the study where as the yong child had not profyted a lytel for hee became a great Gretian and latinest and more ouer he was faire gratious wise honest And this Emperor Adrian loued his nephew so much that hee saied vnto him these woords My nephew I know not whither I ought to say vnto thee that thou art good or euil for
sodein death and to thee his wife haue lent so long lyfe The gods beeing as they are so mighty and so sage what is hee that can bee iudge of their profound iugements The gods know right well those which serue them and those which offend them those that loue them and those which hate them those that praise them and those that blaspheme them those that yeeld them thanks and those which are vnthankfull And I tel thee further that oftentimes the gods are serued more with them which are buried in the graues then with those which go weeping through the temples Wilt thou now enter into account with the gods thou oughtst to note cōsider that they haue left thee childrē to comfort thy self they haue left thee goods wherwith thou maist auoid pouertie they haue left thee frends by whom thou shalt bee fauored they haue left thee parentz of whom thou art beeloued they haue left thee a good name for to bee esteemed and health wherwith thou mayst liue Fynally I say that small is that which the gods take from vs in respect of that they leaue vs. After one sort wee ought to beehaue our selues with men and after an other wee ought to serue the gods For to men some times it is requisite to shewe a countenaunce for to humble them but to the gods it is necessary to lye flat on the ground with thy stomack to honor them And if the Oracle of Apollo doo not deceiue vs the gods are sooner with humility wherewith wee woorship them appeased then with presumptuous sacrifices which wee offer vnto them contented Since thou art wydow Lady Lauinia and art a wise and vertuous woman beesech the gods to preserue thy children to defend thy renowm and not to seuer thy frends from thee and that thou scatter not thy goods to preserue thy person in health and aboue all to bee in their fauour Thou canst not winne nor lose somuch in all thy lyfe as the gods can geeue or take from thee in one hower Woold to god the wydow knew how little shee winneth among men and how much shee loseth amōg the Gods when shee is not pacient in aduersitie for impacience oftentymes prouoketh the gods to wrath Wee see it in mans body by experience that there are sundrye dyseases which are not cured with woords spoken but with the herbs thereunto applyed And in other diseases the contrary is seene which are not cured with costly medicynes but wyth comfortable woords The end of this comparison tendeth to this effect that all the afflicted harts shoold know that sometymes the hart is more comforted with one benefyte which they doo then with a hundred woords which they speak And at an other tyme the sorowfull hart is better lyghtned with one woord of his frends mouth then with all the seruice of others in the world O wretch that I am for as in the one and in the other I am destitut So in all I doo want For considering thy greatnes and waying my lytle knowledge I see my self very vnable For that to comfort thee I want science and for to help thee I neede ryches But I cease not to haue great sorow if sorow in paiment may bee receiued That which with my person I can doo neither with paper or ynk I wil requite For the man which with woord only cōforteth in effect beeing able to remedy declareth him self to haue been a fayned frend in tymes past and sheweth that a man ought not to take him for a faithful frend in tyme to come That which the Romains with the wydows of Rome haue accustomed to doo I will not presently doo with thee Lady Lauinia that is to weete that thy husband beeing dead all go to visite the widow all comfort the wydow and all weepe with the wydow and within a few days after if the wofull wydow haue neede of any small fauor with the Senat they withdraw them selues togeether as if they had neuer knowen her husband nor seene her The renowm of the Romayn wydows is very daynty for of their honesty or dishonesty dependeth the good renowm of their person the honor of their parents the credit of their children and the memory of the dead For this therfore it is healthfull counsayl for wyse men to speak few woords to wydows and to doo infinite good woorks What auayleth it woful wydows to haue their coffers fylled with letters and promyses and their eares stuffed wyth woords and flatteries If hitherto thou hast taken mee for thy neighbor and parent of thy husband I beeseech thee henceforth that thou take mee for a husband in loue for father in counsell for brother in seruyce and for aduocat in the Senat. And all this so truely shal bee accomplished that I hope thou wilt say that which in many I haue lost in Marcus Aurelius alone I haue found I know well as thou doost in lyke maner that when the harts with sorows are ouer whelmed the spirits are troubled the memory is dulled the flesh dooth tremble the spirit dooth chaunge and reason is withdrawn And since that presently sorrow and care in thy house doo remayn let the gods forsake mee if I abandone thee let them forget mee if I remember thee not But as Claudine remayned thyne wholly till the hour of death so Marcus Aurelius will euermore bee thyne duryng his lyfe Since I loue thee so intierly and thou trustest mee so faithfully and that thou with sorrows art so replenished and my hart with care so oppressed let vs admit that thou Lady Lauinia hast the auctority to commaund mee in thy affayrs and I lycence to counsell and aduertyse thee of thyngs touching thy honor and person For often tymes the wydows haue more neede of a mean remedy then of a good counsell I earnestly desyre thee to leaue the lamentacion of the Romayn wydows that is to weete to shutt the gates to tear their hears to cutt their garments to go bare legged to paynt the vysage to eat solitarily to weepe on the graues to chyd her Chamberlayns to poure out water wyth tears to put Acorns on the graues and to byte theyr nayls wyth the teeth For these thyngs and such other semblable lightnes beehoueth not the grauitie of Romayn Matrons eyther to see thē or els to know them Since there is no extremity but therunto vice is annexed I let thee weete lady Lauinia if thou bee ignoraunt thereof that the widows which are so extreme doo torment them selfes doo trouble their frends doo offend the gods doo forsake theirs and in the end they profit not the dead to the enuious people they geeue occasion to talk I woold think and mee seemeth that the women which are matrons and widows ought to take vppon them such garment and estate the day that the gods take lyfe from their husbands as they entend to wear during their lyfe What auaileth it that a wydow bee one moneth shut vp in her house that afterwards