be heard He that honoureth his father shall haue a long life and he that is obedient to the Lord shall comfort his mother He that feareth the Lord honoreth his parents and doth seruice vnto his parents as vnto Lordes Honor thy father and mother in deeds and in word and in all patience that thou mayest haue the blessing of God and that his blessing may abide with thee in the ende For the blessing of the father establisheth the houses of the children the mothers curse rooteth out the foundations Helpe thy father in his age and grieue him not as long as he liueth And if his vnderstanding faile haue patience with him and despise him not when thou art in thy full strength For the good intreatie of thy father shall not be forgotten but it shall be a fortresse for thee against sinnes In the day of trouble thou shalt he remembred thy sinnes also shall melt away as the ice in faire weather He that for saketh his father shall come to shame and he that angreth his mother is cursed of God By these holy speeches we see how we ought to loue honor reuerence and feare our parents This is comprehended vnder the first commandement of the second table and this only of all the ten articles of the Decalogue beareth his reward with him albeit no recompence is due to him that is bound to do any thing namely by so strȧight a bond as this wherof all lawes both diuine and humane are full and the law of nature also doth plentifully instruct vs therein as it hath been diligently obserued of very Infidels Ethnikes and Pagans Amongst the Lacedemonians this custome tooke place that the younger sort rose vp from their seates before the aged Whereof when one asked the cause of Teleucrus It is quoth hee to the ende that in dooing this honour to whom it belongeth not they should learne to yeeld greater honour to their parents The arrogancie of a childe was the cause that one of the Ephories published the law of Testaments whereby it was permitted to euery one from that time forward to appoint whom he would his heire This lawe serued well to make children obedient and seruiceable to their parents and to cause them to be afraid of displeasing them Among the Romanes the child was not admitted to plead his fathers will after his death by way of action but onely by way of request vsing very humble honourable and reuerent speech of his dead father and leauing the whole matter to the discretion and religion of the Iudges Contend not with thy father said Pittacus the wise although thou hast iust cause of complaint And therefore Teleucrus aunswered aptly to one who complained vnto him that his father alwayes spake ill of him If quoth he there were no cause to speake ill of thee he would not do it So that it belongeth to the duetie of a childe to beleeue that his father hath alwayes right and that age and experience hath indued him with greater knowledge of that which is good than they haue that are of yoonger yeeres Philelphus said that although we could not possibly render the like good turnes to our parents nor satisfie those obligations by which we stand bound vnto them yet we must doe the best we can vnto them we must intreate them curteously and louingly and not go farre from them we must harken vnto their instructions and be obedient to their commaundementes wee must not gaine-say their deliberations and wils no more than the will of God whether it be that we are to depart from them or to tary still or to enter into some calling agreeable to the will of God we must not stand in contention with them wheÌ„ they are angry but suffer and beare patiently if they threaten or correct vs. And if they be offended with vs when we thinke there is no cause why yet we must not lay vs down to rest before we haue by all kind of honest submissions appeased them Humilitie is always commendable but especially towards our parents The more we abase our selues before them the more we encrease in glory and honor before God and men This is very badly put in vre at this day when the sonne doth not onely not honor his father but euen dishonoreth him and is ashamed of him He is so farre from louing him that he rather hateth him so farre from fearing him that contrarywise he mocketh and contemneth him and in stead of seruing and obeying him he riseth vp and conspireth against him If he be angry he laboureth to anger him more brieflie scarce any dutie of a child towards his father is seene now a daies And if some point therof be found in any towards his father yet is it cleane put out in regard of the mother as if he that commanded vs to honour our father did not presently say and thy mother vnto whoÌ„ in truth we owe no lesse honor respect and obedience than to our father as well in regard of the commaundement of God as of the vnspeakable paines and trauell which she suffered in bearing and bringing vs into the world in giuing vs sucke in nourishing vs. But alas what shall we say of those that spoile their parents of their goods houses and commodities and desire nothing more than their death that they may freely enioy euen that which oftentimes their parents haue purchased for them O execrable impietie It is vnwoorthy to be once thought vpon amongst vs the iudgement of God doth of it selfe sufficiently appeere vpon such cursed children Whose behauiour that it may be more odious vnto vs let vs learn of Pittacus that our children will be such towards vs as we haue been towards our parents But let vs be more afraid to prouoke our fathers in such sort through our default vnto wrath that in stead of blessing vs they fall to curse vs. For as Plato saith there is no prayer which God heareth more willingly than that of the father for the children And therfore special regard is to be had vnto the cursings and blessings which fathers lay vpon their childreÌ„ Which was the cause as the scripture teacheth vs that children in old time were so iealous one of another who should â—ary away the fathers blessing and that they stoode in greater feare of their curse than of death it selfe Torquatus the yonger being banished from his fathers house slue himselfe for grief thereof And to alleage another example out of the writings of auncient men of the loue which they bare to their fathers that of Antigonus the second sonne of Demetrius is most woorthy to be noted For when his father beyng prisoner sent him worde by one of his acquaintaunce to giue no credite nor to make account of any letters from him if it so fell out that Seleucus whose prisoner he was should compell him thereunto and therefore that he should not deliuer vp any of those
continuall trouble Now the foundation of all dueties here mentioned by vs of the husband towards the wife and of all others which daily communication may require is that true and vnfained loue that ought to be the vnseparable bond of euery good mariage We haue handled heretofore the great effects of friendship which if they be required among common friends no doubt but they are much more between those whom God nature the lawes and loue haue so straightly ioined togither Also let husbandes know that they ought to reuerence their wines more than any other person and perceiuing them to be wise and vertuous as they may make them if they be not altogither forlorne and corrupted let them neuer seeme to distrust them in any respect The Romanes when they returned from a voiage or from a farre countrey or onely out of the countrey into the citie if their wiues were at home they sent word before to giue them intelligence of their comming to the end they should not conceiue this opinion that they meant to deale craftily or maliciously with them Forasmuch therfore as loue and friendship is the fountain of euery good dutie of the husband towards his wife and that which as it were stealeth away and maketh the will of his half-partner to be wholy his owne let vs consider for the conclusion of our speech of some notable examples of great loue in the behalfe of men to the end we may be drawen on to loue and to honor them that are in the same place towards vs that the church is towards God which he so loued that he sent his only sonne to die for the redemption thereof Tiberius Gracchus a noble man of Rome finding two serpents in the chamber wherein he slept inquired for the meaning thereof by sooth-saying wherunto he gaue absolute credite Answer was made him that if he slue the male first he should die before his wife but if the female his wife before him As soone as he vnderstood therof he slue the male and within a litle while after he died Whereupon Historiographers doubt whether his wife Cornelia were more happy in finding a husband that loued hir so well than miserable in loosing him Baptista Fregosa maketh mention of a Neapolitane whose wife being taken on the sea coast by the Moores he presently cast himself after hir into the sea and following their foist besought thē to take him also Which they did so that both of them were brought before the king of Thunis to whom the vessail belonged who hearing the discourse of the fact and being moued with compassion ouer such perfect friendship deliuered them both Orpheus as the Poets write loued his wife so entirely that she dying on the wedding day he kept his loue inuiolable and would neuer set it vpon any other Ninus king of the Assyrians falling in loue with Semiramis the wife of Menon a vassaile of his besought him to let him haue hir to wife in recompence wherof he offred him his daughter in mariage But Menon bare such great loue towards hir that he would not yeeld therunto Wherupon the king being mooued with wrath and threatning to plucke out his eies and to take hir away by force as he did in deed Menon for very griefe sorow hung himselfe Periander king of Corinth loued his wife so tenderly that after she was dead he caused hir to be laid by him certaine daies Marcus Lepidus being driuen into banishment heard that his wife was maried to another whereupon he died for sorow When word was brought to Plautius Numidius a Romane Senator that his wife whom he loued as himselfe was dead he thrust himself into the bosome with a dagger whereof he died Sylanus a Romane slue himselfe after his wife whom he singularly loued was taken from him and giuen to Nero the Emperor Dominicus Catalusius prince of Lesbos loued his wife so wel that although she grew very leprous yet he neuer depriued hir therefore of his boord or bed We read of a great lord of Spaine called Roderigo Sarmiento that through griefe which he receiued for the losse of his wife he slept for a yeeres space in his clothes did neuer eate vpon a table cloth nor sate him downe in any chaire but afflicted himselfe diuersly Therefore let vs learne by our present discourse to loue our wiues perfectly yeelding due beneuolence vnto them and behauing our selues discretly towards thē without offending them or going beyond the boundes of our duetie And as nature mingleth vs togither by our bodies to the ende that taking part of the one and part of the other and putting all togither she may make that which commeth thereof common to both and that in such sort that neither partie can discerne or distinguish that which is proper to it selfe from that which belongeth to the other so let vs haue all things common togither euen our will affection and authoritie Neuerthelesse this must be done in such sort that as in one cup although there be as much or more water than wine yet we call it wine so in the authoritie of the wife the husbands name must be written as he that directeth the same But in the meane while let these wordes Mine and Thine be banished far from them vnlesse it be in this respect that according to the opinion of the Phisitians as blowes giuen on the left side are felt on the right so the wife must through compassion feele the harmes of hir husband and the husband much more those of his wife to the ende that as knots haue their strēgth by interlacing the ends one within another so the societie of mariage is preserued and strengthened when both parties affoord a mutuall affection of good will being assured that both togither shall be made heires of grace and life Of the dutie of a Wife towards hir Husband Chap. 48. AMANA NAture hauing honored woman with a gracious alluring of the eyes with a sweete speech with a beautifull countenance and modest behauior hath giuen hir great means to win the good liking and loue of hir husband if she be honest and shamefast as likewise she may easily deceiue man by offring him pleasure if she be wickedly minded This did Olympias wife to king Phillip know full well when she tooke the Thessalonian woman by the hand whom hir husband loued so well and by whom as they said he was charmed and bewitched But the Queene seeing hir so faire and of so good a grace and as hir speech declared a woman of a good house and well brought vp Away quoth she with all slander for I see wel that your charms are in your selfe And let vs not thinke that the power of a lawfull wedded wife is lesse if by taking all things vnto hir hir wealth hir nobilitie hir charmes and the whole web of Venus she studie by meeknes good behauiour and vertue to obtaine
townes which he held Antigonus contrarywise wrote to Seleucus that he would yeeld vp vnto him all the landes he had vnder his obedience and would also himselfe become his pledge if he would deliuer his father We may not here passe ouer with silence the rare example of daughter-like pietie with which all the painters in the world haue set foorth their science I meane of the daughter that gaue sucke to hir father who was condemned to die of that auncient and vsuall punishment of famine which neuer suffereth a sound man to passe the seuenth day The iailour espying this acte of pietie gaue notice thereof to the magistrates which beyng knowen to the people the daughter obtained pardon for hir fathers life Moreouer seeyng we must labour to obey and to please our parentes in all things it is certaine that no action gift or disposition in vs is more acceptable or contenteth them better than to see good-will and an assured and certaine friendship among brethren Which may easily be knowen by these contrary signes For if parents are offended when their children offer wrong to a seruant whom they loue and if hartie old men are grieued when no account is made of a dog or horse bred in their house and are vexed whē they see their children mocke despise those pastimes stories and other such like things which they somtime loued is it likely that they could patiently abide to see their children whom they loue best of all to hate one another to be always quarelling one with another to speake ill one of an other and in all their enterprises actions to be diuided and set one against another and to seeke to supplant and defeat each other I think no man will affirme it Therefore contrarywise we may iudge that those brethrē which loue and cherish one another which ioine togither in one bond of self-same wils studies affections that which nature had disioined separated in bodies lastly which haue all their talke exercises playes pastimes common amongst them they I say vndoubtedly giue occasion to their parents of a sweete and happy contentation in their old-age for this brotherly loue friendship For no father saith Plutarke euer loued learning honour or siluer so much as he did his children And therefore they neuer took so great pleasure to see their children good orators rich or placed in great offices and dignities as to see the loue one another To this purpose one rehearseth that Apollonida mother to king Eumenes and to three other of his brethren accounted hir selfe happy as she said and gaue great thanks to God not for hir riches or principalitie but bicause she saw hir three yonger sons as it were a gard to their elder brother who liued freely and most safelie in the middest of them with their swordes by their sides and their iauelins in their handes Contrarywise when king Xerxes perceiued that his sonne Ochus lay in waite for his brethren to put them to death he died for displeasure thereof Therefore Euripides sayd that warres betweene brethren are grieuous but most of all to their parents bicause he that hateth his brother and cannot abide to looke vpon him must needes also be offended with him that begate him and hir that bare him Whereas good children that loue one another for the loue of their parents are so much the more prouoked to loue and honour them saying and thinking alwayes with themselues that they are bound vnto them for manie causes but chiefly in regard of their brethren who are vnto them as precious pleasaunt and gracious an inheritaunce as any they could receiue from them This ment Homer to teache vs when he brought in Telemachus reckoning this amongst his calamities that Iupiter had ended the race of his father in him and had not giuen him a brother Let vs not then doubt but that this is a certaine demonstration to the parents that their childe loueth them when he loueth his brethren And this also serueth for as great an example and instruction to his children to loue one an other as any can be Therefore let vs vtterly banish awaye all hatred of our brethren which is both condemned by God who commendeth aboue all things concord vnto vs and also a naughtie nurse for the olde age of fathers and mothers and a worse for the yong yeeres of children And seeing we are about this matter of brotherly loue so precious and excellent whereunto now adayes men haue so small regard I thinke we ought to insist and stand longer vpon it and alleage some precepts and examples of auncient men whereby to confirme vs in it more and more First nature hath bred from our birth in regard of vs the beginning and occasion of this amitie and hath taken away from our iudgement all former motions to procure loue Therefore we must beware that we seeke not too exactly after the faults and imperfections one of another but couer beare with them bicause they are of our own blood knowing that no mans life can be sincere clean frō all vice so that we were better to support the domestical imperfectiōs of our brethrē thā to make trial of those that are in strangers That brother saith Plutark that warreth with his brother seeketh to procure a stranger to friend seemeth to me to cut off voluntarily a mēber of his owne flesh belonging to him that he may apply and fasten to that place one taken from another mans body We note also that nothing more preserueth the loue of brethren than to haue the same common friends For seueral familiaritie conuersation company keeping turneth aside alienateth them one from another bicause thereby they acquaint themselues with diuers natures and take pleasure in things that are contrary But there is a further matter in it For as tinne doth soder ioine togither broken copper by touching both ends of the broken pieces bicause it agreeth as well with the one as with the other so a common friend serueth to confirm to preserue to encrease to reunite their mutual friendship and good-wil when vpon light occasion somtimes it is as it were in danger of breaking Which is so much the more to be feared as it is certain that all enmitie breedeth within our soules a thousand passions that torment vs but especially that enmitie which a man beareth towards his brother as that which is most prodigious and against nature And as bodies that were once ioined togither if the glew or bande waxe loose may be reioined and glewed againe but if a naturall bodie breake or rent asunder it is hard to find any soder that is able to reunite and knit them well togither againe so those mutual friendships which we contract voluntarily with such as are not of kinne or allied vnto vs if peraduenture they fall asunder sometimes may easily be vndertaken againe but when brethren
their husbands Men must not dally with their wiues in the presence of others What houshold affaires are to be diuided between the man and the wife There must be but one head in a familie Loue the band of mariage a hu band must not distrust his wife Examples of the loue of husbands towards their wiues T. Gracchus The great loue of a Neapoliâ—ane towards his wife Orpheus Menon Periander M. Lepidus P. Numidius Sylanus Dominicus Catahusius Roderigo Sarmiento All things must be common between the husband and the wife The naturall gifts of women Eph. 5. 23. 24. Wiues must be subiect to their husbands It is an honor to a woman to obey hir husband A wife compared to a looking glasse Notable similitudes Euil wiues resembled to the moone An ouerthwarting wife maketh hir selfe odious How a wife must deale with hir cholerike husband A woman must not disclose hir husbands imperfections to any body Maried couples must not make two beds for any iarre between them When is the best time and place to pacifie strife between man and wife A woman must be free from all suspicion of incontinencie She must not loue to gad abroad or to be seene She must be modest in hir attire The true ornaments of a woman Certain tokens of an adulterous hart Shamefastnes is the best dowrie of a woman An excellent vse of looking glasses A woman must be silent and secret A woman must auoid silthie speeches and iestes A short summe of the ductie of a wife A woman must be desirous of knowledge Exercises vnseemly for women What great loue the law of nations requireth in a wife towards hir husband Examples of the great loue of women towards their husbands Hipsicrates Triara The wife of Ferdinando Goncales Zenobia Panthea Artemisia Iulia. Porcia Sulpitia Octauia Aria The manner of Seneca his death Paulina Hipparchia Pisca Pandoërus wife Camma Macrina Men are inferior to women in perfecton of loue The definition of Oeconomie and of Policie Euery head of a familie must prouide for his houshold 1. Tim. 5. 8. What maketh a house to be called good All good order in a house proceedeth from the head of the familie Where a housholder must begin to rule his house well The progresse of a familie before it come to perfection What a housholder must first looke vnto Goods are instruments tending to the maintenance of life Two sorts of goods What interest a father of a familie hath in his goods Two sorts of getting goods The end of arts sciences and trafficke Biting vsurie a detestable gain Why monie was first inuented and vsed * The question of interest hath waightie reasons on both sides An ancient law against vsurie The law Genutia forbad all vsurie Exod. 22. 25. Deut. 23. 19. The praise of husbandrie What good husbandrie is Of the Maisterlie part of a house Instructions touching the dutie of a maister towards his seruants The poore and rich are both created to one end Against rigorous maisters Two properties requisite in a maister Seruants must not be defrauded of their pay Of the Parentall part of a house The difference betweene commanding ouer a wife and ouer children The word Father is a kinglâ— and sacred title Youth is the seede-corne of the Common-wealth The giftes of nature are soone corrupted A father must be loued feared reuerenced of his children The office of a father resembled to building A child will learne better of his father than of any other M. Cato I. Caesar Augustus Noah Lot Iacob c. God commandeth fathers to instruct their children Prou. 23. 13. 14. 13. 24. Correction necessarie for children Ecclus. 30. 8. 9. 11. 12. Seueritie must be mingled with elemencie in the correcting of children The fathers life must be a mirrour of vertue to the child When fathers may be iustly charged with their childrens faults 1. Sam. 3. 13. The storie of a father appointed to execute his owne child A father must bring vp his children in mutuall loue Aelius Tubero Eph. 6. 9. Obed great Col. 3. Eph. 6. 2. Obedience to parents commanded of God Ecclus. 3. 4. 5. 1. Pet. 2. 18. Obedience to masters coÌ„manded of God Reuerence to parents placed next to the honor due to God A token of an Atheist A father is the image of God Ecclus. 3. 1. 2. c. The fist commandement only hath a speciall promise annex ed vnto it Eph. 6. 2. The law of Testaments to keep children in aâ—e Children might not the out their liueâ—â—es by way of action but of request The dutie of children towards their parents Humilitie towards parents most commendable The description of a disobedient childe The mother is no lesse to be honoured than the father The blessings and cursings of parents towards their children is of great waight Torquatus An example of great loue in a child towards his father An other of a daughter towards hir father Children can not please their parents better than to loue one another Apollonida Xerxes He that hateth his brother hateth his parents Telemachus The beginning of brotherly loue is in our natiuitie The benefite that commeth to brethren by hauing common friends Enmitie between brethren is prodigious vnnaturall It is a hard matter to reconcile brethren once fallen at variance How brethren must behaue themselues in the partition of lands goods Examples of brotherly loue Ariamenes Xerxes Antiochus Athenodorus Pittacus Great loue of a Persian woman towards hit brother Agrippa Scilurus left 80. sonnes behind him The dutie of seruants comprehended in soure points Col. 3. 22. 23. 24. Tit. 2. 9. 10. Examples of the loue of seruants towards their masters Eros the seruant of Antonius The seruant of Mauritius duke of Saxonie The chief foundation of a happy life A father of a familie must be most carefull to bring vp his youth A fit comparison The spring of corruptions in common-welths Lawes that constrained fathers to see to their children instructed The law Falcidia A woorthy act of Traian and Adrian Crates proclamation most necessary for these times Euil education corrupteth a good nature Euil education corrupteth a good nature Of the excellent education of children required by Plato Women with child must walk much Euery mother ought to nurse hir own child Of the bringing vp of infants From 3. yeeres From six yeeres Youth must be taught as it were in sport and not by compulsion A commendable end of Musicke Great care is to be taken in the choice of schole-maisters From the tenth yeere From the foureteenth yeere Hunting animage of warre Of the education of daughters Reasons why women may intermeddle with publike affaires Against ignorance in women Women must be able to giue a reason of their being Example of learned women Aretia Zenobia Cornelia Of the institution of youth according to Aristotle Two things to be respected in the institution of youth The end of all studies Aristotle appointed that children should learne foure things Of Grammer The
coniunctions which respect onely the estate of mankind the mariage of loue is that which is betweene an honest man and a vertuous woman linked togither by God for the preseruation of the linage of man It may be called a charitable coniunction vnitie and societie of them that are good being made by grace peace concord Of this mariage spake that wise lewe saying that three things among others were approoued of God and men the concord of brethren the loue of our neighbour and the husband and wife that agree well togither And to say truth it is one of the greatest benefits yea one of the rarest felicities in the world when a mariage is well and duly kept when both the husband wife feare God and keepe their promise one to another according to that saying of the wise man Blessed is the man that hath a vertuous wife the wife also being no lesse happy that hath a good husband The other kind of mariage namely of labour is that which is commonly practised in our daies wherein many yea almost all marie for couetousnes not for the vertue chastity or good report which they heare of women and maidens Plautus the comicall Poet said that in mariage a man must take his wife by the eares and not by the fingers that is to say for hir good report not for hir dowrie which is told with hands Lycurgus being desirous that his Citizens should put the same in practise established a law which forbad all giuing of dowries with maidens in mariage to the end that euery maide should labour to endow hir selfe with vertue for loue wherof and not of riches they should be demanded in mariage The same reason mooued Themistocles when two men required his daughter in mariage to preferre the honest man before the wealthie saying that he had rather haue a man to his sonne in lawe without goods than goods without a man We read that Olympias the mother of Alexander hearing of one that had maried a very faire woman but scarce chast being rauished with bi r loue said that he was a braineles man otherwise he would not haue maried by heare-say nor by the lust of his eies We may say asmuch of them that marie by the report of their fingers counting vpon them howe much their wiues bring to them by mariage not considering before whether they bee so qualified that they may liue with them But let vs know that euery mariage made through couetousnes especially where there is inequalitie of riches as namely when the husband is poore and the wife rich will be alwaies riotous and very hardly will there be any peace betweene them Which thing Menander desirous to teach vs said that when a poore man marieth a rich wife he giueth himselfe in mariage to the woman which he weddeth and not the woman to him And the Satyricall Poet saith that nothing is more intollerable than a rich wife This caused a yoong man to go to Pittacus one of the Sages of Grecia and to aske his counsell saying I haue two wiues offered me the one is equall to me in goods and parentage the other goeth farre beyond me which of them shal I take Marke said this wise man where children are readie to play at fence go to them and they will counsell thee He did so and as he drew neere they began to set themselues one against another to skirmish And when they saw this yoong man comming who exceeded them in strength and bignes and supposed that he would make one amongst them they said aloud let euery one go to his match Whereby he learned what he was to doe concerning his mariage Martia a noble widow being demanded why she maried not againe seeing she was rich and as yet in the floure of hir youth made this answer I can find none said she that loueth not my goods more than my person The same reason moued Venda Queene of Ruscia to throw hir selfe into the water thereby to reuenge hir selfe of them that made warre with hir to haue hir in mariage seeing they could not win hir by gentlenes For she knew well that they desired hir for hit kingdome and not of any good wil they bare vnto hir as it is the custome of Princes to respect onely their alliance and profite marying often-times by substitutes and proxies those whome they neuer saw but by picture But I finde that Elizabeth that wise Queene of England was of a better iudgement when she wrote to Henrie Prince and since king of Sweathland who demanded hir in mariage that he was the onelie Prince in the world whome she ought to loue most bicause he required hir when she was a prisoner but she was resolued neuer to marie any man before she had seene him The like answere she sent to the Archduke of Austria which was in part the cause why neither of them would come vnto hir fearing belike that if they were not well liked they should be sent backe againe into their countrie Of this that hath beene hitherto discoursed togither with the experience which is daily seene we may infer that mariages made through couetousnes are in deed mariages of labor And of this number may those be reckoned wherein bodilie beautie and other outward graces are only regarded For it seldome falleth out but that the spirite of dissention troubleth all in those houses and that all loue and liking vanisheth togither with age which causeth the liuely hue of colour to wither away Likewise amongst these mariages of labour we place those wherein there is disparitie of age especially of maners Therfore Dionysius the elder said to his mother who being very old would needes marie a yoong man that it was in her power to violate the lawes of Syracusa but not the lawe of nature Aristotle sayth that men and women ought to marie togither in such an age that both of them should leaue of to beget and to conceiue children at the same tyme. According to this rule the husband must be twentie yeeres or there abouts elder than his wife bicause naturally women conceiue and beate children vntil fiftie yeeres and men may beget children vntil 70. Lycurgus also forbad that any man should marie before he were â—7 yeeres old a woman before 17. Whereof this reason may rather be rendred that the wife may more easily acquaint hir self with hir husbands manners he being then of ripe iudgement and she comming into his power from hir tender yeeres For as the same Aristotle saith diuersitie of manners and callings hindereth friendship and true loue But bicause of the shortnes of mans daies I thinke it were good for him to marie at thirtie yeeres of age taking a wife of twentie yeeres old to the ende that hir age may not be too much vnlike his that so liuing according to the common course of nature they may
his children For in vaine sayth Plato doth he hope for a haruest that hath beene negligent in sowing I say he must be passing carefull and imploie all possible labour that his children and youth may be well instructed bicause they are the seede-corne of the citie insomuch that carefull heed is to be had euen of their words gestures sportes and other actions that nothing may leade them vnto vice For otherwise if no reckoning be made of this age a man shall labour no lesse in vaine to prescribe good lawes for them afterward than the Phisition doth that ministreth plentie of medicines to a diseased partie that keepeth no diet at all The best giftes of nature if they be not well trimmed and looked vnto become naught at the first and afterward passing euill Therefore a father of a familie ought not to be more carefull of anie thing than of the bringing vp of his children according to whose good or euill education the whole house will be gouerned This first institution of their life from the first age is called discipline which by little and little leadeth the spirite of the childe to the loue of vertue euen of that vertue whereby beeing come to mans estate he knoweth both howe to command and howe to obeie and to followe after nothing but that which the lawe commandeth and affirmeth to be good The vices of children are swordes which passe through the hartes of their Fathers who are for the moste parte the cause of them through their negligence in correcting them and ouer-great libertie which they graunt to this age that needeth a staye and bridle yea spurres whereby to bee broken and made tractable as men vse to deale with yoonge Coltes Therefore PLATO sayde that it is not in our owne power to cause our children to bee borne suche as wee woulde haue them but yet that it lieth in vs to make them good Whereunto this will be a good meane if from their yong yeeres we imprint in their harts a loue feare reuerence of vs. For if these thinges concurre not togither in the childes hart he will neuer yeeld due obedience to his father Pythagoras said that a prudent father was better to be liked than a cholerike bicause prudence serueth to procure loue and good will in those that ought to obey whereas choler maketh them odious that command and causeth their admonitions to profite but little For this cause Aristotle requireth perfection of Morall vertue in a father of a familie saying that his office is a kind of building that reason is as it were the builder by whome he guideth bringeth that Oeconomical worke to his perfection And in deede the Ancients tooke great paines in teaching their children themselues not suffering them to be farre from their presence during their youth bicause they iudged and that vpon good reason that son-like respect loue were good pricks to driue them forward to the studie of vertue And no doubt but if a skilfull father would execute this dutie of instructing his child in knowledge and learning he would conceiue and take it a great deale better of him than of any other Therefore Marcus Portius Cato would needs beschoole-maister to his owne children which institution did greatly auaile them not so much bicause he was Cato as bicause he was their father whose vertue they imitated Iulius Caesar adopted his nephew Octauian brought him vp himselfe Which did him so much good that being come to the empire he was called Augustus for his goodnes He also performed as much afterward to his nephews Lucius Caius whome in like maner he had adopted Noah Lot Iacob and all the fathers instructed their children themselues and God commanded the Israelites in the wildernes to teach their children the lawe which themselues had receiued from their fathers To this purpose an ancient man said that it was the greatest sloth that could be for a man to be negligent towards his children to teach them nothing Great heede therefore must be taken that they be not left to the gouernment of their owne fantasie considering that youth is very tender to resist vice and of it selfe vncapable of counsell With-hold not saith the Wise man correction from the child for in smiting with the rod thou shalt deliuer his soule from hell He that spareth his rod hateth his sonne but he that loueth him chasteneth him betime As an vntamed horse becommeth fierce so a child suffred to do what he list waxeth rebellious If thou bring vp thy son delicately he shall make thee afraid if thou play with him he shall bring thee to heauines Giue him no libertie in his youth and winke not at his follie Bow downe his necke while he is yoong and beate him on the sides while he is a child least he waxe stubborn be disobedient vnto thee so bring sorowe to thine hart And yet I would not that fathers should be ouer-sharpe hard to their children not bearing with any fault in them But as Phisitions mingling steeping their bitter drugs with some sweete iuice haue found the meanes to make a passage for profite through the middest of pleasure so must fathers intermingle the sharpnes of their reprehensions corrections with the facilitie of elemencie somtime let loose a little the bridle to the desires of their children so that they wander not far from that which becommeth them Againe they must by by let downe the button hold them hard in with the bridle but yet supporting gently and patiently their faults committed through youth not of malice And if it be so that they cannot but be angry at the least let their anger be presently appeased For it is better that a father should be quickly angry although that be an imperfection so that he be soone pacified than slowe to anger and hardly brought to forgiue But if a father be so seuere that he wil forget nothing be neuer reconciled it is a great argument that he hateth his children And then he maketh himselfe vnwoorthy of so excellent diuine a name shewing foorth effects cleane contrary therunto wheras parents commonly loue their children too much vse towards them rather too much lenitie than iust seueritie Oh how the father saith Seneca speaking of one that thrust his son out of his house cutteth off his lims with great griefe how many sighes he fetcheth in cutting them off how earnestly he wisheth to haue thē againe in their place Moreouer fathers must haue a special care that they commit no fault nor omit any thing appertaining to their dutie to the end they may be liuely examples to their children that looking into their life as into a cleare glasse they may abstaine after their example frō speking any thing that bringeth shame Againe we know that all those fathers which lead an euill life leaue not to themselues any
courage so much as to reprooue their slaues onely so far off are they that they can frankly chide their children And which is woorst of al by their naughty life they are vnto them in steed of maisters counsellors of il-doing For where old men are shameles there it must needs be that yoong men become impudent graceles Fathers therfore must striue to do whatsoeuer their dutie requireth that their children may waxe wise and well qualified This we may comprehend in fewe words namely if they bring them vp wel in their infancy let them haue due correction in their youth Which two things being neglected of fathers the faults of their children are for the most part iustly imputed vnto them Hely the Priest was not punished for any sin which himselfe had committed but bicause he winked at the sins of his children We read in the storie of the Heluetians or Switzers of the iudgement of a tyrant condemned to death where order was taken that the execution thereof should be done by the father who was the cause of his euill education that he might come to his death by the author of his life and that the father might in some sort be punished for his negligence vsed towards his child Moreouer they that haue many children must be passing careful to bring them vp in mutuall friendship causing them to giue each to other that honor and duty vnto which nature bindeth them and sharpely chastising those that in any respect offend therin The Ephoryes of Lacedemonia long since cōdēned a notable citizen in a very great sum when they vnderstood that he suffred two of his childrē to quarel togither The best meane which I find to auoid so great an euill is to loue and intreat them all alike and to accustom them to giue honour dutie and obedience one to another according to their degrees of age They must remoue from them al partialities and not suffer them to haue any thing seueral or diuided one from another that as it were in one hart and will all things may be common amongst them Example heerof was that good father of a familie Aelius Tubero who had sixteene children of his owne bodie all of them maried and dwelling all in one house with their children and liuing with him in all peace and concord For the conclusion therefore of our present discourse we learne that a father of a familie must begin the gouernment of his house with himselfe and become an example to his of all honestie vertue That he must not neglect the care of prouiding goods necessarie meanes for the maintenance of his familie remembring alwaies that in nothing he go beyond the bounds of that seemelines and decencie which dutie hath limited prescribed vnto him That he ought to loue to intreat his seruants curteously putting away threatnings as it is said in the Scripture and knowing that both their and his maister is in heauen with whom there is no respect of persons And for the last point that it belongeth to his dutie to bring vp his children in the holie instruction and information of the Lord not prouoking them to wrath that God may be glorified and he their father may reioice in the presence of his friends and that his countrie generally may receiue benefit profit and commoditie Of the dutie of children towards their parents of the mutuall loue that ought to be among brethren of the dutie of seruants towards their maisters Chap. 50. ACHITOB VPon a day when one said in the hearing of Theopompus king of Sparta that the estate of that citie was preserued in such flourishing maner bicause the kings knew how to command wel the prince replied that it was not so much for that cause as bicause the citizens knew how to obey well And to speake the truth to obey wel as also the vertue of commanding is a great vertue and proceedeth from a nature which being noble of it selfe is holpen by good education Therefore Aristotle said that it was necessarie that he which obeieth should be vertuous as wel as he that commandeth Now seeing we haue intreated of the dutie of a father and head of a familie exercising his office vpon all the parts of his house let vs now consider of the dutie and obedience that is requisite in seruaunts and children and of the mutuall and reciprocall amitie which ought to be betweene brethren desirous to preserue the bond of Oeconomical societie in a happie estate ASER. Children saith the Scripture obey your parents in all things for that is well pleasing vnto the Lord Honor thy father and mother which is the first commaundement with promise that it may be well with thee and that thou mayest liue long on earth AMANA Who so honoreth his father his sinnes shall be forgiuen him and he shall abstaine from them and shall haue his daily desires And he that honoureth his mother is like one that gathereth treasure And you seruaunts be subiect to your masters with all feare not onely to the good and curteous but also to the froward Let vs then heare ARAM discourse more at large of that which is here propounded vnto vs. ARAM. Nature saith Plutark and the law which preserueth nature haue giuen the first place of reuerence and honor after God vnto the father and mother and men can not do any seruice more acceptable to God than graciously and louingly to pay to their parents that begot thē and to them that brought them vp the vsurie of new and olde graces which they haue lent them as contrarywise there is no signe of an Atheist more certaine than for a man to set light by and to offend his parents The father is the true image of the great and soueraigne God the vniuersall father of all things as Proclus the Academike said Yea the child holdeth his life of the father next after God and whatsoeuer else he hath in this world Therfore a man is forbidden to hurt others but it is accounted great impietie and sacriledge for a man not to shew himselfe ready to doe and to speake all things I will not say whereby they can receiue no displeasure but wherby they may not receiue pleasure And in deed one of the greatest good turnes that we can do to those of whom we are descended is not to make them sad Which cannot possibly be done if God the leader and guide to all knowledge disposeth not the mind to all honest things The children of wisdome are the Church of the righteous and their ofspring is obedience and loue Children heare the iudgement of your father and do thereafter that you may be safe For the Lord will haue the father honored of the children and hath confirmed the authoritie of the mother ouer the children He that honoureth his father shall haue ioy of his owne children and when he maketh his prayer he shall
are once estranged and fallen from that loue whereby nature doth necessarily linke them one with another they are hardly reconciled againe togither And if they be friendes againe yet it is alwayes with some distrust and suspicion Questionles it is impossible but that affaires should breed in these times wherein we liue many occasions of dissention and debate betweene brethren namely for goods and successions as this worde of Parting importeth and bringeth with it diuision euery one being desirous to haue his owne But herein also they must suffer their matters to fight by themselues without adding any head-strong passion couetousnesse or choler which are as a hooke that taketh hold of them and seeketh to set them togither by the eares They must as it were in a balance consider iointly togither on which side right and equitie declineth and as soone as they can possible let them remit the iudgement and deciding of their controuersies to the arbitrement of some good men Yea a good brother ought rather to reioyce and to boast that he hath ouercome and gone beyond his brother in gracious behauior in curtesie in voluntarily giuing of place in euery good dutie towards him than in the diuision of some goods Now let vs consider of some notable examples amongst the ancients of great brotherly loue Although we had searched all histories yet could we not finde a more memorable act or woorthier to be set foorth at this day and to be rather followed especially of the greater sort who quarell for their possessions and reuenues than that which fell out betweene the children of Darius monarch of the Persians Ariamenes the eldest and Xerxes the younger being in great strife togither for the succession of the empire the eldest alleaged his birth-right the yonger that he was the sonne of Atossa daughter to Cyrus the great and that he was borne since his father was crowned king and so next inheritour of the kingdome now that Cambises was dead Each of them had great confederates and many Persian lordes were diuided into factious about this matter But Ariamenes came out of Media not in armes to make warre although hee had greate meanes thereunto but onely with his ordinarie traine as one that purposed to pursue his right by way of iustice Xerxes before his brothers comming exercised in Persia all duties belonging to a king but as soone as his brother was arriued he willingly put off his kingly diademe and hat and went out to meete him and to imbrace him After that he sent presents vnto him with commaundement giuen to those that bare them to say vnto him in this maner Xerxes thy brother honoreth thee now with these presents but if by the sentence and iudgement of the princes and lordes of Persia he be declared king his will is that thou shouldest bee the second person in Persia after him Ariamenes returned this aunswere I receyue my brothers giftes with all my harte and thinke that the kingdome of Persia belongeth to me but as concerning my brethren I will giue them that dignitie and honour that is due vnto them next to my selfe and to Xerxes first of all Nowe after that by their common consent Artabanus their vncle had decided and brought to an ende their controuersie and adiudged the kingdome to Xerxes Ariamenes presently arose from his seate and went to doe homage to his brother and takyng him by the right hande ledde him to his royall and kingly throne From that tyme forward he was always the greatest next vnto him and shewed him-selfe so well affected towards his right that in the Salamine battell by Sea he died fighting valiauntlie in his seruice Antiochus surnamed the Holie makyng warre with his Elder brother for his part in the kingdome of Macedonia declared euen in his ambition that all brotherly loue was not quite extinguished and cleane put out in him For in the hottest tyme of their warre when his brother Seleucus had lost the battell with great destruction of his men and was supposed to haue been dead bicause no newes was heard of him Antiochus put off his purple robe and clothed him-selfe in blacke and shuttyng vp his pallace royall mourned and lamented verie much for his brother But beyng afterward aduertised that hee was safe and sound and preparing an other armie hee went in open shewe from his lodging and sacrificed to the gods by way of thankes-giuing commaunding the Townes that were vnder his iurisdiction to offer the lyke sacrifices and to weare Hattes of flowers in token of publique ioye Athenodorus the Graecian hauyng a brother elder than him-selfe called Zeno who beyng conuicted of a certayne crime had lost all his goodes by confiscation parted agayne with him all his owne goodes and gaue vnto him the iust halfe When the king of Lydia demaunded of Pittacus whether hee had anye goodes yea quoth hee twise so much more than I woulde I had beyng heire to my brother that is dead The loue of that Persian woman of whome Plutarke maketh mention was verie great who beeyng asked why shee had rather saue the lyfe of hir brother than of hir owne sonne bicause quoth she I may well haue mo children but not more brethren seeyng my Father and Mother are bothe deade Howe much more then ought we to preferre our brethren before all other our friendes and acquaintaunce For many may bee gotten of this kinde and others if these fayle but it is no more possible to get a newe brother than to get an hande agayne that is cutte off or an eye that is plucked out Agrippa brother in lawe to the Emperour Augustus vsed to saye that hee was greatlie beholding to that sentence of Salust Small thinges encrease by concorde but perish through discorde bicause it procured vnto him all his wealth by seekyng to liue in peace and friendship with his brother and with euerie one This is that which Scilurus leauyng behind him foure-score male-children meant to teach them and how they should bee inuincible beyng ioyned and vnited togither by offering to each of them a bundle of dartes to breake which when they could not doe he brake them one after another before their eyes I woulde further enlarge this discourse with examples of the loue of brethren shinyng greatly in ages past were it not that we must here speake some-what of the ductie and obedience of seruauntes towards their masters according to that order which was propounded vnto vs. This wee will brieflie comprehend into foure generall poyntes The first is that they muste be prest and alwayes readie to put in execution their masters will and commaundement and to doe their businesse most diligently not beyng slouthfull slacke and negligent nor doyng any thing grutchingly The second point is that they must be faithfull vnto them not beguiling nor defrauding them of any thing nor affirming that before their faces to flatter them which they will vnsay behind
their backes The third thing is that they must seeke their masters profite and commoditie more than their owne and take good heede that no harme losse or trouble come vnto them And if any goe about to procure any such thing they must vndertake the defence thereof diligently euen to the hazarding of their liues if neede bee The last point which good seruauntes are to keepe is to vse a double silence the first that they replie not againe to their masters commaundementes although sometymes they suppose that they know better what is to be done than they that commaund them The second that they reueale not to others their masters secretes nor sowe them out of his house To be short we cannot giue them better instruction than that of Saint Paule saying Seruauntes be obedient vnto them that are your masters according to the fleshe in all things not with eye-seruice as men-pleasers but in singlenes of hart fearing GOD. And whatsoeuer ye doe doe it hartilie as to the Lorde and not vnto men knowyng that of the Lord yee shall receiue the reward of the inheritaunce for yee serue the Lorde Christ. And else-where he exhorteth them againe to be subiect to their masters and to please them in all thinges not aunswering agayne neyther pickers but that they shewe all good faithfulnesse that they may adorne the doctrine of GOD our Sauiour in all thinges Nowe for examples to all seruauntes that are desirous to effect their dutie towards their masters we will propound two the one olde the other of late yeeres which giue sufficient testimonie of a sonne-like rather than of a seruile affection Antonius beyng ouercome of Augustus and dispairing of his safetie vrged the promise of Eros his seruant in whom he trusted bicause he had giuen his faith long before that hee would kill him when he required the same at his hands But the seruaunt drawyng his sword and holding it out as though hee would haue killed him turned his face on the one side and thrust it into himselfe cleane through his bodie Maurice duke of Saxonie beyng in Hungarie against the Turke and walking out of the campe onely with his seruaunt was set vpon by certaine Turkes and his horse being slaine he was throwen to the ground But his seruaunt cast himselfe vpon him couered and defended him with his bodie sustained and kept backe the enimies vntil certaine horsemen came and saued the Prince but died himselfe not long after beyng wounded on euery side Therefore to ende our present discourse let vs learne that it is a great and commendable vertue and beseeming euery good and gentle nature to know how to obey well and to giue honour and seruice to those that occupie the degree of fathers lordes and masters ouer vs as also to loue our brethren with an indissoluble loue to reuerence one an other the younger honouring the elder and the elder yeelding all dueties of sincere loue to the younger Let vs not be lesse afrayd of the curse repeated so often in the Scripture against disobedient children than the auncients were of that lawe which condemned them to be stoned to death when they would not obey the voyce of their Parents nor harken vnto them when they instructed them but let vs much more feare that punishment which will continue for euer where there will be weepyng and gnashing of teeth Of the education and instruction of Children Chap. 51. ARAM. WHen we intreated of the duetie of a father of a familie towards his children we sayd that the chief marke whereat he ought to aime was to make them honest and good of condition which was to be performed by instruction and good bringing vp in the knowledge and exercise of vertue Now bicause the chiefe foundation of a happy life is good instruction begun in youth so that if the infancie of any bee well brought vp as Plato saith the rest of his life cannot but be good we ought as I thinke my Companions to take this matter againe in hand to follow and handle it more at large to the ende to prouoke Fathers and all such as haue authoritie ouer the younger sort to bee carefull and diligent in the well ordering of the seede of youth which is the spring and roote of all prosperitie both publike and priuate ACHITOB. We must not saith Plato be more carefull of any thing whatsoeuer than of the good education of children For if vpon their good bringing vp they become moderate and stayed men they will easily discerne euerie thing that is good And if good wits haue like education they will growe from better to better euerie day ASER. The beginning middle and ending of a happie life saith Plutarke consisteth in good education and bringing vp But it belongeth to thee AMANA to instruct vs in this so excellent a matter AMANA As a man cannot reape good wheate if he hath not sowen good seede nor gather good fruit of his trees if he had no care at the beginning to dresse them well nor to graft them with good sciences afterward so the corruption of mans nature which of it selfe is more enclined to euill than to good hindreth vertue from taking sure footing and roote in the soules of men if they be not from their very youth well and diligently instructed stirred vp and pricked forward to that which is honest and decent And truely that common-wealth is most miserable wherein this tillage of infancie is neglected For from this fountaine proceede rebellions seditions open murders contempt of lawes and commandemeâ—ts of princes pollings briberies heresies and Atheisme Therefore nothing was more esteemed from time to time among the auncients than the institution of youth which Plato calleth Discipline whereby children are led to this reason not to follow any thing but that which the lawe commaundeth and alloweth for good The monarchie of the Persians the common-wealth of the Lacedemonians and since that also of the Romans had certaine lawes compelling fathers to prouide that their children might be instructed not suffering them to be cast away and corrupted to the detriment of the common-wealth Amongst other lawes there was one called Falcidia whereby it was enacted that the child should be admonished for the first offence chastised for the second and for the third hanged and his father banished as if he had been partaker in the fault for want of good education and instruction of his sonne Heretofore we heard many testimonies of the care and trauell which famous and woorthie men tooke to instruct their children themselues Traian the emperour and after him Adrian at their owne costes and charges caused fiue thousand noble mens children of Rome to be brought vp in learning vertue and feates of armes Our auncient kings knowyng how necessarie this education of youth was builded long agoe and caused to bee framed so many goodly Colledges as we see in the Vniuersities of France yea the monasteries
were altogither Aristocratical or Democratical or Monarchicall In looking to the power of the Consuls a man would haue iudged it Monarchical Roial to the Senators Aristocratical to the Tribunes common sort Democratical The Venetians in their Cōmonwealth represent al these estates Their great Councel hauing soueraign power wherof the Senat the authority of al their Magistrats dependeth doth represent the Popular estate The Duke who is President as long as he liueth representeth the roial power bicause he especially retaineth the grauity dignity therof And the Colledge of ten men with the Colledge of ancients commonly called Sages representeth the Aristocraty as Contarenus writeth As for our French Monarchy it may wel be said also to be partaker of all 3. in regard of the gouernment therof albeit in truth the estate therof is a simple pure Monarchy For the king is the Monarch beloued obeied reuerenced who although he haue all power soueraigne authority to cōmand to do what he will yet this great soueraigne liberty seemeth in some sort to be ruled limited by good lawes ordinances and by the multitude great authority of Officers Counsellors who are aswell neere his person as in sundry places of his kingdom The 12. Peeres the secret priuy councels the Parliament great Councel the Chambers of accounts the Treasorers Generals of charges resemble in some sort the Aristocraty The States yeerely helde in the Prouinces the Mairalties of townes Shreeualties Consulships Capitolats Church-wardens are as it were the forme of a Democraty as Siessel declareth more at large Moreouer the general Estates of the Realme which are woont to be gathered togither to deliberate the king being President of all matters concerning the Estate doe they not sufficiently testifie the happie order therof drawing neere to the gouernment of a good Oeconomist when the king as Aristotle saith commandeth in his kingdome as a good father of a familie ruleth ouer his children with loue and according to right and iustice Wherefore although all the authoritie of Officers Counsellors Parliaments and Estates dependeth as riuers of a fountaine of the onely power of their king and Prince yet of his fatherly and royall goodnes he granteth them such authoritie that hardly could he do any thing that were very violent or too preiudiciall to his subiects And if some such actions may be noted they come rather through the fault of his Counsellors than from his Maiesty Thus let vs conclude with Plato that the royall gouernment and authority ought to be preferred before all others policies as that which draweth neerest to the diuinitie But it must haue a Senate of good men ioined vnto it after the forme of an Aristocratie as our kings haue alwaies vsed to haue of their natural benignitie which maketh them inclinable to all exercises of vertue pietie and iustice Of diuers kinds of Monarchies and of a Tyranny Chap. 58. ACHITOB THe varietie of manners and inclinations to diuers things which is we see particularly in euery one from his birth and generally throughout all nations of the world disposeth without doubt the people as they growe in age and iudgement and according to their bringing vp to like one kind of gouernment rather than another But Frenchmen haue euen to these last times caried away the praise of a more naturall and constant disposition loue obedience and fidelitie towards the maiestie of a king than other nations euer shewed to their forme of estate and gouernment For amongst them all there is not one nation to be found that hath so constantly continued in their lawes and ancient customes without any alteration and change as this flourishing Monarchie which hath also gone beyond them all in goodnes and mildnes of gouernment as we may see better my Companions if we compare with it those sundry sorts of Monarchies which haue been heretofore and doe at this day flourish of which many come as neere to a tyrannie as ours is farre distant from it And to make a tyrannie appeere more odious we will consider the pernitious and miserable estate thereof ASER. As it properly belongeth to a royall estate to gouerne and to rule subiects not according to the sensuall appetite and disordered will of the Prince but by maturitie of counsell and by obseruation of lawes and of iustice so it agreeth with a tyrant to raigne by his absolute will without all regard either of lawes or of the precepts of iustice AMANA A tyrant saith Seneca differeth from a king in effect not in name The one seeketh his owne profite onely and the other the profite of the Common-wealth Now let vs heare ARAM who will teach vs to discerne them well by their works ARAM. Amongst all the Monarchies that euer were or are at this daye among men most of the ancient authors and great Politicks haue noted out fiue sundric sortes of which I purpose heere to discourse particularly with briefe examples that the excellencie of ours may the better appeere ouer others especially ouer those that decline much vnto tyrannye whose shame and infamie I will heere display The first and most ancient kind of Monarchy was that which was voluntarily offered by the people for some heroicall vertue appeering in those men whom they iudged worthie to gouerne them iustly and vprightly And when they continued in this sort to declare themselues benefactors of the multitude in gathering them togither in giuing vnto them territories and in distributing lands among them in finding out of arts in making of warre and in the administration of iustice vnto them their authoritie and power did lawfully descend to their successors who had soueraigne power in time of warre and were chiefe in certain solemn ceremonies of their sacrifices Herodotus Demosthenes Aristotle Cicero and many others make mention of this kind of Monarchy After the floud when the number of men increased Noah perswaded his children and others of his posteritie to disperse themselues in diuers countries to till the ground and to build townes and to this ende he assigned to euery one his Prouince by lot Nimrod the sonne of Cush whose grandfather Noah was abode with his men in the land of the Chaldeans and was their first king and the first king of Babylon He was the first that beganne to extend his bounds by force vpon his neighbours sending whole companies of people into many and diuers countries to laye the foundations of other kingdomes as histories doe giue vs certaine knowledge thereof This is the cause why many establish the first Monarchy in Assyria vnder him We read also in good authors that the first and ancient kings of Egypt kept themselues a long time in this heroical vertue which had procured vnto them their dignitie They liued not disorderedly as those doe who bicause of their dominion iudge their owne will to be a iust lawe for them but they followed
authoritie yet he is of one and the same kind with them a man commanding men and free ouer those that are free not ouer beasts or slaues as Aristotle saith very well And if he would haue that excellent title which we giue to God the Prince of all men calling him Our father he must procure it not by threatnings and feare but by good deedes by meekenes and humanitie which will stand him in steede of a sure Gard to preserue his estate For the loue and loialtie of his subiects will greatly encrease thereby of which the assurance of Monarchies dependeth When the nobilitie and common-people vse to feare not him but for his sake that commandeth them then he seeth with many eies heareth with many eares and perceiueth a farre off whatsoeuer is done Let the Prince haue this saying of Plutarke alwaies engrauen in his soule That nothing heere below pleaseth God more or draweth neerer to his diuine nature than to rule well in all iustice and equitie which is the chiefest charge of his vocation and that vnto which he is straightly bound in respect of his subiects For as the subiect oweth obedience aide and reuerence to his Lord so the Prince oweth iustice defence and protection to his subiects When a Prince sheweth himselfe vpright indifferent and true of his word to all it is the greatest felicitie that can happen to a Common-wealth and that which crowneth the Monarch thereof with greater glorie and honour And truly a Prince ought to be more carefull to obtaine that praise and reputation which proceedeth of goodnes and vertue than that which commeth of strength and power For as the diuine nature vnto which kings must endeuour to conforme their woorks and actions excelleth all other essences and natures chiefly in three things that is in immortalitie power and goodnes so a Prince must striue to excell his subiects not so much in the immortalitie of his name or in power as in goodnes which vertue is certainly much more venerable and draweth neerest to the diuinitie For to be incorruptible and immortall the fower Elements and the whole frame are indued with that qualitie as naturall Philosophers maintaine And as for strength and power earthquakes lightnings tempestuous whirlewinds flouds and inundations of waters are full of force and might but nothing is partaker of iustice vprightnes and equitie except it be diuine and that by the meanes of reason and vnderstanding So that as the same Plutark saith we only are capeable of that Good of vertue that commeth from God To be short let the Prince be diligently taught whilest he is yoong and labour to knowe how he may adorne his name with works answerable to those excellent Epithits and titles wherewith Iulius Pollux who was gouernour to the Emperour Commodus in his yoong yeeres setteth foorth a good king He calleth him Father gentle acceptable mercifull prudent iust curteouus noble-minded free a contemner of monie not subiect to passions but commanding ouer himselfe one that ouercommeth pleasures and vseth reason quicke of iudgement sharpe prouident good in counselling iust sober godly and full of good religion carefull ouer the welfare of men constant firme no deceiuer minding great things decked with authoritie industrious a quicke dispatcher of affaires carefull ouer those whome he commandeth a Sauiour ready to do good slow to reuenge alwaies one and the same without turning aside inclining greatly to iustice easie to haue accesse vnto curteous in speech gentle to them that haue to deale with him plaine a louer of vertuous and valiant men who neuertheles are not desirous of warre a louer of peace a peace-maker a precise obseruer thereof borne to correct the manners of people skilfull in discharging the dutie of a king and Prince hauing knowledge to make good lawes borne to profit euery one and of a diuine forme A Prince of noble birth shall feele himselfe greatly prouoked to desire and seeke after these excellent gifts and graces through the consideration of examples propounded vnto him concerning the liues deeds of so many famous and woorthy men as are at this day after innumerable ages reuiued againe by meanes of histories And it cannot be but he will be greatly pricked forward to conforme himselfe vnto them thereby to giue like occasion to good wits to write singe and publish his praises What Prince will not burne with a iealous desire of vertue when he heareth that the onely fame thereof in the person of Scipio Africanus allured and rauished theeues and robbers with such an admiration that when they vnderstood that he was in a house far from any towne they did beset it round and as he stood in his defence to driue them away they threw downe their weapons assuring him that they came thither onely to see and to reuerence him as in deed they did What prince will not be possessed with ioy when he heareth that Menander king of the Bactrians was so beloued of his subiects for his iustice and vertue that after his death the cities were in great contention which of them should haue the honor of his buriall for the appeasing of ẇhich strife order was taken that each of them should make a tombe Who wil not be mooued with loue towards the goodnes of Traian Emperour of the Romanes when he heareth his Panegyricall Oration wherein Plinie after he had extolled him to heauen concludeth thus That the greatest happines which could come to the Empire was that the Gods tooke example by the life of Traian Who will not desire the honour that king Agesilaus receiued when he was fined by the Ephoryes bicause he had stolne away the harts and wonne the loue of all his Citizens to himselfe alone Who will not wish to haue the surname of Aristides the iust as diuine and royall a title as euer king could obtaine rather than as many vse to be called Conquerours Besiegers Thunderers Briefly vnto these examples oppose the reprehension and marke of perpetuall infamie which histories set vpon euill Princes and it cannot be but that a Prince well brought vp and exercised in the loue and studie of vertue will be very desirous to shew foorth the fruits and effects thereof especially if he be well instructed in the feare of God and knowledge of his dutie whereof he shall haue perfect vnderstanding in the law of God which he is commanded by the soueraigne king of all to haue with him to read in it all the daies of his life and to obey it to the end he may raigne happily in earth and finally in heauen Of the office and dutie of a King Chap. 60. AMANA AVgustus Caesar hearing some rehearse that Alexander the great after he had finished most of his conquests at two and thirtie yeeres of age said that he tooke great care to know what he should do afterward I woonder said this wise Monarch at the speech of that great
when the Prince onely is offended through some light contempt or excusable breach of his Edicts it cannot but be commendable in him to vse pardon pitie These are those strong and mighty chaines which as Dion said to Dionysius the king of Syracusa will preserue his kingdom in a happy flourishing and peaceable estate I meane goodnes and iustice For force feare the multitude of his gard assure not the estate of a Prince so well as the good wil affection fauour and loue of his subiects which he may obtaine by goodnes and iustice They onely said Marcus Aurelius instructing his sonne are to hold a kingdom long time without danger who by good behauiour and iust dealing imprint in the harts of their subiects not a feare of their power but a mutuall loue of their vertue For those subiects are to bee suspected that serue through constraint and extremitie not they that obey being mooued with reason and gentlenes These holie precepts were so well put in practice by this good Emperour Marcus Aurelius that all his subiects had very easie accesse vnto him insomuch that albeit he were a great Monarch yet he neuer had any gard no not so much as a Porter to his Pallace Likewise king Numa put from him those three hundred Archers which Romulus vsed to haue for his gard saying that he would not distrust that people which put their trust in him nor command ouer that people that distrusted him To this purpose when Plato sawe the aboue-named Dionysius compassed about with many souldiours of his Gard he sayd vnto him What Hast thou committed so many euils that thou standest in neede of such a Gard of armed fellowes Nowe it is most certaine that the obedience of the subiect springeth and proceedeth from the loue of his Lord as also that the loue of the Lord increaseth through the obedience of the subiect But bicause the wickednes of men is so great at this day that they which striue to be very gratious are contemned and despised it is very necessary that the Prince should shew foorth a certaine kind of grauitie and seueritie and according to the times places persons and occasions that are offred cause his power and the maiestie of his commandements to be perceiued being alwaies the stronger bicause in matter of Estate a man may holde this for an vndoubted principle that he is maister of the estate who is maister of the forces Thus the gentlenes of the Prince accompanied with seueritie his bountie mingled with rigor and his facilitie with austeritie will be the meanes that his vertue shall attaine to a harmonical iustice which distributeth vprightly that which appertaineth to euery one reward to whome reward punishment to whome punishment belongeth From these duties offices of a good Prince towards his subiects already mentioned proceedeth the fatherly care which he hath of their prosperitie in the preseruation encrease of their cōmodities riches so far off is he from all headlong desire to inuade spoile them He considereth wisely that although he hath authoritie power ouer the goods of his subiects yet not in such sort as he hath ouer his owne demaine or as if the proprietie therof belonged to him but only to this end to demand aide succor for the good profit of the Common-wealth Homer bringing in Achilles offring great iniuries to Agamemnon against whome he was sore incensed saith that he called him Deuourer of the people and contrariwise when he would in other places praise the king he termeth him Sheepheard of the people And truly they are vnworthy of the title of Prince that lending their eares to such as inuent new subsidies impose them daily on their subiects hauing against all humanitie spoiled them of their goods riches consume them miserably vpon pleasures or cruelly in warre when they might aswel suffer their poore subiects to liue in peace When Marcus Antonius was in Asia he doubled the taxe and laid a second charge vpon them that he might haue wherewith to furnish his immoderate expences The Estates of the Countrie sent Hebreas to shewe him howe the case stoode with them who vsing a maruellous freedome of speech spake vnto him in this manner If thou wilt haue power to laye vppon vs two taxes in one yeere thou must also haue power to giue vs two Summers and two Autumns two Haruests and two Vintages Further he added this Asia hath paied thee 200000. Talents that was six score millions of gold if all this summe came not into thy cofers call them to account that haue receiued it But if thou hast receiued it and yet hast nothing left we are cast away and vndone These words ought to be well noted of a prudent Prince that he may throughly consider with himselfe and keepe a register of all that is leauied of the poore people in his name least some few about him fat themselues with the oppression and ouerthrow of many as it commonly falleth out and let him be so carefull of the blood and substance of that bodie wherof he is head that he profit all the members equally Ezechiel crieth out against such Princes as deuoure the substaunce of their Vassals by loanes and taxes Apollonius saith that the gold which is taken from subiects by tyrannie is more vile than iron bicause it is wet with the teares of their poore subiects Artaxerxes said that it was a great deale more seemelier for the Maiestie of a king to giue than to take by polling and to cloath than to vncloath the one belonging to theeues and not to Princes and Kings vnles they will falsifie staine their name King Darius sent for all the gouernors of the Prouinces vnder his subiection and enquired of them among other things whether the taxes and tributes were not too excessiue whereunto when they made answere that they thought them moderate he presently commanded that they should raise but the one halfe thereof esteeming the loue of his subiects a richer treasure than all the heapes of gold which he might haue gathered We may not heere forget to propound to kings the example of that good king S. Lewes the ninth of that name who was the first that raised a taxe in his kingdom but it was onely by way of a necessarie subside during the warre not vsing it as an ordinarie receite Directing his speech to Philip his eldest sonne and successor he vttered these words in his Testament which is yet to be found in the treasorie of France and is registred in the Chamber of accounts Be deuout in the seruice of God haue a pitifull and charitable hart towards the poore and comfort them with thy good decdes Obserue the good lawes of thy kingdom take no taxes nor beneuolences of thy subiects vnles vrgent necessitie euident commoditie force thee vnto it and then vpon a iust cause and not vsually if thou doest
with infinite charges and costes all kinde of trade hindered briefly there is no calamitie or miserie that aboundeth not in the Common-wealth in time of warre We may iudge that kingdome happie wherein the Prince is obedient to the lawe of God and nature Magistrates to the Prince priuate men to Magistrates children to their fathers seruants to their maisters and subiects being linked in loue one with another all of them with their Prince enioy the sweetenes of peace and true quietnes of mind But warre is cleane contrary thereunto and souldiors are sworne enimies to that kind of life For war maketh men barbarous mutinous and cruell as peace maketh them curteous and tractable We read that Englishmen were in times past so seditious and vntameable that not onely their Princes could not do what they would but also the English merchants were of necessity lodged apart by them selues For so the towne of Antwarpe was constrained to do where there was one house common for all merchant strangers except Englishmen who had a house by themselues bicause they could not abide to be ioined with others The chiefe cause of that strang qualitie was bicause their countrie bordered vpon two Estates and Nations that were their enimies namely vpon the Frenchmen and Scots with whome they had continuall warre but since they concluded a peace and ioined in league with France and Scotland they became very mild and ciuill And contrariwise the Frenchmen who were inferiour to no nation whatsoeuer in curtesie humanitie are greatly changed from their naturall disposition and become sauage since the ciuill warres began The like as Plutarke saith happened to the Inhabitants of Sicilia who by meanes of continuall warre grew to be like brute beastes Archidamus king of Lacedemonia knowing well the effects of peace and warre heere briefly touched by vs and hearing that the Elians sent succors to the Archadians to warre against him tooke occasion to write vnto them after the Laconicall manner in steede of a long discourse Archidamus to the Elians Peace is a goodly thing And another time he gaue a notable testimonie how farre he preferred peace before warre when he made this answer to one that commended him bicause hee had obtained a battell against the fore-said Archadians It had beene better if we had ouercome them by prudence rather than by force The selfe same reason of louing peace and of abhorring the breakers thereof was the cause why Cato in a full Senate opposed himselfe against the request which Caesars friendes made that the people should offer sacrifices by way of thanks-giuing to the gods for the notable victories which he had gotten against the Germanes of whom he had surprized and discomfited 300000. I am said Cato rather of this opinion that he should be deliuered into their hands whome he hath wronged without cause by violating the peace which they had with the people of Rome that they may punish him as they thinke good to the ende that the whole fault of breaking faith and promise with them may be cast vpon him alone and not be laid vpon the citie which is no cause at all thereof And to say truth wise men are greatly to feare all beginnings of warre For being in the end growne to some ripenes after that some men wanting experience in worldly affaires haue rashly and vnskilfully sowne the seede thereof hardly can the greatest and wisest kings plucke it vp againe without great labour and perill Therefore they that are too desirous and hastie to begin warre peruert the order of reason bicause they beginne by execution and force which ought to be last after due consultation But he deserueth greater honour and praise that procureth peace and winneth the enimies harts by loue than he that obtaineth victorie by shedding their blood cruelly For this onely reason saith Cicero we must begin warre that we may liue in peace and not receiue wrong but this must be done after we haue required satisfaction for the iniurie offered It was for these considerations that Phocion that great Athenian Captaine laboured to stoppe the warre which the people of Athens had determined to make against the Macedonians at the perswasion of Leosthenes And being demanded when he would counsell the Athenians to make warre when I see quoth he that the yong men are fully resolued not to leaue their rankes that rich men contribute monie willingly and Oratours abstaine from robbing the Common-wealth Neuertheles the armie was leauied against his counsell and many woondering at the greatnes and beautie thereof asked him howe he liked that preparation It is faire for one brunt said Phocion but I feare the returne and continuance of the warre bicause I see not that the citie hath any other meanes to get monie or other Vessels and men of warre beside these And his foresight was approoued by the euent For although Leosthenes prospered in the beginning of his enterprise whereupon Phocion being demanded whether he woulde not gladly haue doone all those great and excellent things answered that he would but not haue omitted that counsell which he gaue yet in the end he was slaine in that voyage the Grecian armie ouerthrowne by Antipater and Craterus two Macedonians and the citie of Athens brought to that extremitie that it was constrained to sende a blanke for capitulations of peace and to receiue within it a garrison of strangers Thus it falleth out commonly to those that seeke for war by all meanes either by right or wrong Euerie Prince that desireth it in that manner stirreth vppe against himselfe both the hatred and weapons of his neighbours he vexeth and greeueth his subiects vnwoorthily seeking rather to rule ouer them by violence than to gaine their good will by iustice he quite ouer-throweth his Countrie preferring dominion and greatnes of his owne glorie before the benefite quietnes and safetie thereof and often-times he diminisheth his owne authoritie and is brought in subiection to his enimies whilst he laboreth to possesse another mans right by force Augustus the Emperour said that to haue a good and lawfull warre it must be commended by the Gods and iustified by the Philosophers And Aelius Spartianus affirmeth that Traian only of all the Romane Emperors was neuer ouercome in battell bicause he vndertooke no war except the cause therof was very iust But we may say that no warre betweene Christians is so iustified but that still there remaineth some cause of scruple The testimonie of Antigonus the elder wherein he accuseth himselfe is very notable to shewe what great wickednes and iniustice is in warre when he vsed this speech to a Philosopher that offered and dedicated vnto him a treatise which he had made of iustice Thou art a foole my friend to come and tel me of iustice when thou seest me beate downe other mens townes Caesar answered little lesse to Metellus a Tribune of the people who being desirous to keepe him
man must vse his own subiectes in warre Three causes from whence proceeded the ruine of the Romane empire The diuision of the empire weakened the same Dangerous to an Estate to call in forraine succours As appeereth by the Sequani By the Frenchmen The end that forraine souldiours propound to themselues Reasons why forraine force is woorth nothing The cause of the last destruction of Italy The discommoditie of bringing in hired Captaines Dangerous for a Prince to call in a Potentate to succour him Examples of the change of Estats by meanes of forraine succour Charles the fift bound by oath not to bring any forraine souldiors into Germany Charles 7. made decrees for French souldiors What inconueniences France is fallen into by hiring Switzers Francis 1. established seuen legions of footmen How a Prince may vse the succours of his Allies How a Captain should exhort his souldiors How victory is to be vsed Examples of such as knew not how to vse victorie wisely and to take opportunitie offered The Tyrians besieged and subdued by Alexander It is not good to fight with desperate men Iohn king of France taken by the Englishment Gaston de Foix. Small armies that ouercame great Victorie commeth only from God Valiant men are full of compassion No true victorie without clemencie Ringleaders of euill are to be punished and the multitude to be pardoned Humane sciences are but darkenes in regard of the word of God Psal 84. 4. 5. 11. Iohn 17. 3. Of the loue of righteousnes Leuit. 19. 2. 1. Pet. 1. 15. 16. Holines is the end of our calling Christ is a paterne of righteousnes vnto vs. Malach. 1. 6. Eph. 5. 26. 30. Col. 3. 1. 2. 1. Cor. 6. 19. 1. Thes 5 9. We must alwaies striue to come to perfection What the dutie of euery faithful man is Rom. 12. 1. 2. What it is to consecrate our selues to God Gal. 2. 20. True loue of God breedeth in vs a dislike of ourselues Matth. 16. 24. Fruits of the deniall of our selues Selfe loue is the cause of the most of our imperfections The definition of charitie 1. Cor. 13. 4. The effect of true charitie towards our neighbour The naturall inclination of men Corruptible things are no sufficient recompence for vertuous men Rom. 8. 28. Matth. 16. 24. 25. Rom. 8. 17. How God teacheth vs to know the vanitie of this life We must not hate the blessings of this life Psal 44. 22. The comfort of the godly in the midst of troubles Math. 25. 34. Isai 25. 8. Apoc. 7. 17. The summe of our dutie towards God The true vse of temporal things Wherein a happy life consisteth Gen. 2. 17. Rom. 6. 23. Rom. 5. 21. Temporal death is the way that leadeth the godly from bondage to blessednesse Heb. 9. 27. Ecclus 7. 36. The comsort of euery true christian against death Rom. 8. 22. Against Atheists and Epicures that deny the immortalitie of the soule Plato prooueth that there is a iudgement to come and a second life How good men are discerned from the wicked The afflictions of the godly in this world prooue a second life Three kinds of death Apoc. 20. 6. Why the faithfull ought to desire death What the life of man is Phil. 1. 23. 1. Cor. 15. 50. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 2. Cor. 4. 14. Phil. 3. 20. 21. Col. 3. 3. 4. 1. Thes 4. 13. 14. Heb. 2 14. 15. 2. Tim. 1. 9. 10. Iob 19. 25. 26. 27. Iohn 12. 17. 1. Cor. 2. 9. Who they be that feare not death A comparison betweene this life and that which is eternall Phil. 1. 23. Titus 2. 13. Luke 21. 28. How death can not hurt Psal 116. 15. A TABLE OF THE PRINCIPALL MATTERS CONTAINED IN THIS ACADEMIE A ADmonition sundrie instructions how to admonish wisely Pag. 153 Aduersitie who are soonest thrown downe with aduersitie 301. the cōmon effects thereof 345. the Romanes were wisest and most constant in aduersitie 347. examples of constancie in aduersitie 348 Adulterie the miserable effects of adulterie 240. the punishment of adulterers among the Egyptians 241. Zaleucus law and the law of Iulia against it 240. testimonies of Gods wrath against it 241 Age hath no power ouer vertue 61. the diuision of the ages of man 563-564 Ambition two kindes of ambition 224. the cause of ambitious desires 225. the effects of ambition 224. 229. examples of mê void of ambition 186. ambition breedeth sedition 225. ambitious men full of selfe-prayse 226. examples of ambitious men 227. c. they cannot be good counsellours to Princes 231 Anger the crueltie of Theodosius committed in his anger 316. Valentinian brake a veine in his anger 317 Apparell against excesse in apparell 219. examples of sobrietie in apparel 219 Archbishop the free gird of a Pesant giuen to an Archbishop 158. the Archbishop of Magdeburg brake his neck in dancing 216 Armes Armie the exercise of armes must alwayes continue 762. the auncient order of the Romane armie 766 Arrogancie dwelleth in the ends with solitarines 157 Aristocratie the description of an Aristocratie 579. the estate of Lacedemonia was Aristocraticall 580 Artes and Artificers the necessitie of artes and artificers in a common-wealth 750. artificers of one science ought not to dwell all togither 751 Authors how much we owe to good authors 45 Authoritie what authoritie a prince hath ouer his subiects 670 B Backbiting the prudence of Dionysius in punishing two backbiters 388. when backbiting hurteth most 460 Bankets the custome of the Egyptians and Lacedemonians at bankets 203 Beard what vse is to bee made of a white beard 572 Belly the belly an vnthankefull and feeding beast 201. 202. it hath no eares 212 Birth the follie of birth-gazers 42 Biting what biting of beasts is most dangerous 460 Body the wonderfull coniunction of the body and soule of man 19. the conceptiō framing and excellencie of the body 21 Brother he that hateth his brother hateth his parents 542. the benefite that brethren receiue by hauing common friends 544. examples of brotherly loue 545 C Calling callings were distinct from the beginning 478. sixe sundry callings necessary in euery common-wealth 744. holinesse is the end of our calling 795 Captaine the losse of a captaine commonly causeth the ruine of an armie III. how captaines were punished if they offended 768. a captaine must not offend twise in warre 773. what captains are woorthiest of their charge 784. the captains of an armie must be very secret 781. two faults to be eschewed of euery captaine 778. how a captain should exhort his souldiors 790 Cheere good cheere keepeth base mindes in subiection 206 Children must loue feare reuerence their father 533. the dutie of children towardes their parents 541. examples of the loue of children towards their parents 541 Choler whereof choler is bred 314. how the Pythagorians resisted choler 315. magistrates ought to punish none in their choler 316 Citie what Citie seemed to Clcobulus best guided 264 Citizens who are truly citizens 606
Clemencie examples of great clemencie in princes 324. c. it preserueth the thrones of Princes 411 Common-wealth a sure token of a desperate common-wealth 407. 600. 690. the spring of corruption in Common-wealths 550. the description of a mixt common-wealth 583. how a corrupt common-wealth must bee corrected 699. when common-wealths begin to alter 717 the causes therof 739 Commandement the 5. commaundement onely hath a special promise annexed vnto it 538. there is a shew of commanding and obeying in all things 575 Comparisons 33. 38. 46. 47. 55. 64. 70. 105. 150. 176. 191. 212. 286. 338. 339. 343. 360. 371. 378. 383. 4â—6 446. 448. 487. 513. 550. 589 641. 687. Communitie Plato established a communitie of all things in his common-wealth 490 the confutation therof 491 Concupiscence the fruites of concupiscence 238 Conscience the force of conscience in the wicked 68. examples of tormented consciences 68 Constancie the wonderfull constancie of Socrates 348 Correction nâ—â—â—ssarie for children 534. the lawe Falcidia touching the correction of children 551 Councell what a councell is with the profite of it 677. of the councell of sundrie countreys 679. c Counsellors qualities requisite in counsellors of estate 687 Counsell good counsell for counsellors 155. and for princes 157 Countrey examples of the loue of heathen men towards their countrey 60. 98. c Couetousnesse is neuer satisfied 445. the fruites of couetousnes 446. examples of coueiousnes 449. what magistrates are best liked of couetous princes 456 Coward Agamemnon dispensed with a rich coward for going to warre 284. what vices proceed of cowardlines 285 Creation the end of the creation of al things 92. Creatures all creatures are sociable by nature 594 Curiositie against curiositie in knowledge 161. two kindes of curiositie 162. against curious inquirie into other mens imperfections 166. curious persons profite their enimies more than themselues 167. wittie answeres made to cuâ—ioâ—â— questions 169. curiositie in princes affairs perilous 168 Custome a notable custome of the Lacedemonians 150. custome in sinning is dangerous 69 D Death the feare of death doth not astonish the vertuous 60. what death Cesar thoght best 262. no man ought to hasten forward his death 293. what it is to feare death 294. the comfort of euery true Christian against death 805. Definition the definition of ambition 224. of anger 312. of a body 20. of charitie 321. of a citie 595. of a Citizen 605. of comelines 181. of confidence 300. of duty 94. of enuie 458. of fortune 468. of friendship 138. of a house 490. 492. of iealousie 505. of iustice 390. 391. of intemperancie 190. of iudgement 691. of liberalitie 435. of the law 596. of malice and craft 123. of man 13. of meekenes 321. of nature 172. of Oeconomie 523. of policie 523. of passion 30. of Philosophy 40. 390. of prudence 104. of patience 310. of pleasure 236. of sedition 705. of societie 480. of the soule 23. of temperance 181. of vertue 52. of vice 65. of wedlocke 480 Democraty the description of a Democraty with the sundry kinds of it 528 Desire the effects of desire 36 Diseases the end cause and remedie of bodily diseases 29. the cause of the diseases of the soule 33. the seede of diseases 211 Discipline the ancient warlike discipline of the Romanes 769. the corruption thereof in these daies 769 Discord all things are preserued by agreeing discords 19 Diuision of Citizens 606. of a Common-wealth 579. 583. of dutie 94. of a house 492. of iustice 393. of the law 596. of nature 171. of Philosophy 40. of passions 31. of speech 127. of the soule 23. of sciences 76 Dowries why the dowries of women haue alwaies had great priuiledges 486. Lycurgus forbad all dowries 493 Drinke the manner of drinking in old time 203. against excessiue drinking 204 Drunkennes hurtfull effects of drunkennes and gluttony 213. examples of drunkennes 214 Duarchy what a Duarchy is 617 Dutie wherein the dutie of man consisteth 12. dutie and profite are distinct thinges 429. the duty of a wise man 12. what duty we owe to God and what to our neighbour 94. fower riuers issue out of the fountaine of duty 96 E Eclipse Nicias feared an eclipse of the Moone 120 Education helpeth the defect of nature 175. examples therof 177. naughtie education corrupteth a good nature 551. how Plato would haue children brought vp 552. of the education of daughters 554 Emperours there were 73. Emperours of Rome within 100. yeeres 223. what this word Emperour importeth 624 End the proper end of all things 477 Enimy how one may reape benefite by his enimies 112. 383. why men are beholding to their enimies 379. the common behauiour of men towards their enimies 380 Enuy is a note of an ambitious man 225. the nature of enuie 457. the fruits of it 458. it hurteth enuious persons most 459. a good way to be reuenged on the enuious 464 Ephoryes why the Ephoryes were appointed in Lacedemonia 581 Equality two sorts of equalitie 737 Equity is alwaies one and the same to all people 601. the equity of the Morall law ought to be the end and rule of all lawes 602 Error the spring of all error 119 Estate euery Estate and policie consisteth of three parts 578. the opinion of Politicks touching a mixt Estate 625. examples of mixt Estates 626. what it is to hold the Estates 685. a rule of Estate 723. choise custome of seuen flourishing Estates 732. meanes to preserue an Estate 734 c. it is dangerous to an Estate to call in forraine succours 785 Euent wee must not iudge of enterprises by the euent 305. we must be prepared against all euents 306. the euent of all things is to be referred to the prouidence of God 42 Euill what we ought to call euill 63 Exercise what bodily exercise is meete for youth 557 Expences a good law e to cut off the occasions of idle expences 221 F Fables who delight most in reading of fables 462 Family there must be but one Head in a family 509. the progresse of a family before it come to perfection 525 Father why many fathers set not their children to schoole 72. the storie of a father appointed to execute his owne child 535 Fauour the punishment of one who solde his maisters fauour 411 Feare two kinds of feare 278. the feare of neighbour enimies is the safetie of a Common-wealth 279. good feare is ioined with the loue of God 280. examples of wary feare 280. a strange effect of feare in one night 284. examples of feare which is the defect of fortitude 281 Feast how wise men feasted one another in old time 202. Socrates feast 208 Fidelitie a description of fidelitie 414 Flatterie the common practise of flatterers 139. good counsell for Princes against flatterers 462 Flesh the works of the flesh 20 Foe he that hath no foe hath no friend 145. Looke Enimie Fortitude the woorkes of fortitude must bee grounded vpon equitie and iustice 251. it is a good