thinks might be remedied by two or three ways according as I haue noted by obseruing the proceedings of our owne Countrey to wit either by a firme and resolute boldnes the which may many tymes put a sober learned man to silence or else by bestowing some part of his owne fees to get the fauour of the Iudge or otherwise by making friendship with his fellow Lawiers to fauour one another vnderhand though they make shew to be great aduersaries FAVONIVS Then by meanes of these helps an vnskilfull Lawier you suppose might be able well inough to make his Profit by the Law As if it were no greater a matter to become a Lawier then to become a Clarke of a Market whose office it is whensoeuer he is called vpon to see due measure to be made of Corne. AQVILONIVS And what more I pray you hath to do the Lawier then to see good measure to be made of Contracts by alledging that and no more which his Clients euidences and testimonies haue already made knowne vnto him without further medling with the Law FAVONIVS This seemeth strange vnto me how a Lawier may so quite himselfe from knowing the Law who hath for his profit to excercise the same when as it is necessary for an ordinary subiect that hath but only to obay the Law to be able after a sort to know it AQVILONIVS It must be you may suppose but a very silly knowledg of the Law that a common Subiect may attaine vnto and the rather for that the grounds not only of some old forren Lawes abroad but also of some newer Lawes vsed in certaine parts of England be so intricate and obscure that one Law is contrary to another and yet both of them houlden for good As for example concerning old Lawes The Carthaginians had a Law that in the tyme of peace no souldiar might steale because he might liue by any manuall trade but in the tyme of warre he might steale to prouide both for his present need and also for the tyme to come The Aegiptians had a contrary Law that in time of warre no souldiar might steale for not hindring therby his Military discipline but in tyme of peace he might because he had not then any pay yet with this condition that he should write his name for a Theefe in the booke of the hygh Priest and present vnto him also a note of the stolne goods to the end that if the owner redemanded them they might be restored him excepting only the fourth part which was to remayne to the theefe as also the whole if it were not redemanded Were not these Lawes thinke you one contrary to another FAVONIVS Contrary they were and so perhaps the people who made them were no lesse cōtrary of nature then their Lawes AQVILONIVS What say you then to the Athenians who had amongst them an old Law That euery man should take two wiues to the end that no man for variety of pleasure should either keep concubynes or practise with other mens wiues wheras on the other side their Neighbours the Lacedemonians had a contrary old Law to wit That euery woman should take two husbāds to the end that one of them should be still at home to prouide for the house while the other was at the warres Can there any thing be more contrary then these FAVONIVS You must consider that those Lawes were made in tyme of Gentility and also by Cittyes of seuerall Iurisdictions that were emulators in all things one to another AQVILONIVS I propound you then another example at home amongst our selues That in one Lordship the eldest Sonne is to be heyre because he is supposed best able to serue his Prince and in another Lordship the yongest Sonne is to inherite all because he is least able to prouide for himselfe be not these also contrary Lawes the one to the other and yet both of them houlden to be good FAVONIVS If both these Lawes were in vse in two distinct Lordshipes houlden alike by Kinghts seruice they might import some contrariety as you say but your latter case is only for Landes which are houlden in Socage Tenure according to our Law terme and not for all such Landes neither but for the smallest part therof and for that part also permitted only by the particuler customes of some Mannours and not so cōmaunded by the Law the which Law may be knowne no doubt well inough vnto all or the most part of those who haue to obay it notwithstanding your alledged contradiction AQVILONIVS Let vs then consider this other reason Whether ordinary subiects should be bound so strictly to know the Law when as that which was Law the last yeare may this yeare be no Law at all by occasion of some new Statute made against it FAVONIVS Then by this accompt because the last yeare there was peace and this yeare warre the subiects should not be bound to know when it is peace and when warre not that I will infer hereof that euery common Subiect should know the Law so exactly and particulerly as Lawiers themselues who make their profit of it but only to know the same superficially and in generall that is to say partly by Tradition and partly by naturall Reason AQVILONIVS Then naturall Reason by your owne confession is halfe inough of it selfe in subiects to make them to know so much of the Law as is necessary for their vocation FAVONIVS You say very well for so much haue I confessed already indeed AQVILONIVS But he who doth know any part of the Law by naturall Reason may he not execute by naturall Reason so much therof in his practise as he knoweth FAVONIVS I will not greatly deny but that naturall Reason alone may serue well inough the turne to execute all sorts of priuate Iustice the which extendeth it selfe no further then for one Neighbour to render to another his dew so far forth as Humanity and Charity do oblige him therunto But for the practise of publike Iustice in Courts of Record there is required the help of more art according as hath been said before AQVILONIVS Then by this I perceaue you will now allot vs two sorts of Iustice wherof the one hath to proceed from the morality of the mynd and the other from the equity of the Law FAVONIVS Not only from the equity of the Law which consisteth in the Reason therof but also from the force of the Law which consisteth in the authority of the same the first being to be called the Body and the second the Soule and both of them tending togeather to teach as well what is good as to prohibite what is euil without which two helps as saith Plutarke in his Morals it were hard for vs to inioy the benefits which God hath bestowed vpon the world And therfore not without cause it is said by Plato in the ninth of his Laws That men without Law nihil à feris atrocissimis discreparent AQVILONIVS And yet I haue heard it said That
not loue the same SVBSOLANVS Let Fauonius answere to this if he will for that it most of all concerneth himselfe I hauing already performed so much as my promise was FAVONIVS I haue not quoth Fauonius directly said as yet that the World is not to be loued but that the excesse in louing it is to be hated AQVILONIVS By this which now you say you affirme neither the one nor the other since whatsoeuer is indifferent betwixt Loue and Hate cannot properly be said either to be loued or hated FAVONIVS Perhaps in this you deceaue your selfe and so much the rather because a great Deuine in his Booke of Sentences saith That the world is both to be loued and hated meaning belike that it is to be loued as the worke of the Creator and to be hated as the instrument of temptation vnto sinne AQVILONIVS Your citation of Diuinity knowing as I do of what Schoole you be moueth me not so much as the reason it selfe of your argument whereby still you would make it a sinfull thing I perceaue for a man to liue in the world like a worldly man and yet not yong men alone but old men also do by their actions argue the contrary while as none do proue more worldly then old men themselues who you know are the wiser sort of men FAVONIVS For all your making so little accompt of my Diuinity a daungerous point I can tell you it is to determine what is sinne and what is not by this or that mans proceeding only be he young or old AQVILONIVS I speake of multitudes both of the oldest wisest sort of men and not of any one particuler person alone FAVONIVS Let them be as old and as wise as they will it is nether their age nor their wit but some other higher mysterie that can keep them from straying out of the true beaten path of discipline AQVILONIVS Then belike old men and the wiser sort of men do not know what they do FAVONIVS As though it were not possible for an old Wise man sometymes to play the Foole AQVILONIVS If he play the Foole in any thing it is in this for not to attend to the World and to his Profit so much as he ought to do considering the diuers wantes to the which Age is dayly more and more subiect as Ease Seruice Aboundance of clothes Extraordinary sustenance and the like which cannot well be had without some store of money FAVONIVS Nay rather the contrary for that the more he attendeth in his age to worldlines and Profit the more he may be said to be ouerseene therin because hauing as then but a little while to liue the same world which bringeth all carryeth with it all away againe And therfore so long as old men be moderate in their desires and cheerfull of Nature their age albeit it be not accompanied with any great store of Wealth will not be very noysome vnto them but if they be immoderate with all melancholy their age wil be dolorous vnto them notwithstanding they be rich And not only age but youth also it selfe in that case would be no lesse because it is not the wealth but the mind which maketh the well contented either youth or age AQVILONIVS Me thinkes in this accompt you rest deceaued much since of the two the immodest Poore man who by reason of his bouldnes can shift for himselfe well inough would seeme better able to support his age then may the modest Poore man whose shamefastnes may be an occasion to make him indure much want Besides that being on the one side afflicted with necessity and on the other side with feare of his approaching death he cannot but passe a most miserable age And therfore I do repute the hauing of wealth to be a very necessary thing not only for all sorts of men but chiefly for old men FAVONIVS Yet it seemeth that in this point you forget your selfe greatly since old men be of nature so couetous that when they haue wealth they be loath to spend it so that it were allmost as good not to haue it as to liue besides it and to feele the affliction of pouerty no lesse then poore men themselues do or rather more then they by reason of the care and solicitude that rich men haue to keep their wealth from being robbed or purloyned from them which the poore old men be voide of So that Pouerty and Age would better seeme to agree togeather then age and welthines the rather because when the houre of death approacheth the poorer sort of men haue lesse anxiety to leaue their pouerty then haue the more wealthy to forsake their riches AQVILONIVS You please me with this point very well and say in effect as I would haue you for that an old man without money may be likened to a soule without a body And therfore no meruaile if he desire euery houre to be rather out of the world then in it And so much the more because such a poore and needy old man carrieth for the most part his eyes in his pocket his eares in his belly his teeth in his girdle and his legges in his hands which is but a miserable state to liue in All which myseries may in an old man that is welthy be supplied by hauing others to read and write for him without vsing his spectacles and also by hauing others to tell him what a clocke it is without ayming at his dinner tyme by his hungry stomake Likewise to haue others to cut carue his meate for him without carying about him any knife of his owne And lastly by hauing others to beare him abroad either in his chaire or his coach without vsing the help either of staffe or crutches and therfore of the two yong men might better want the wealth of the world then old men though yet on the other side a yong man without money may in a contrary similitude to that before of an old man be likened to a body without a soule wishing rather in that case to haue neuer come into the world then so to liue in it And therfore for ought I can perceaue it is necessary for youth aswell as for age to attend also vnto Worldlines and Profit some by one kind of trade some by another And he who hath no trade nor reuenew to liue by may vsurpe the title of a Phisitian or else of a Lawyet for that these men get money by bare words only if others do but conceaue an opinion of them though they haue no skill at all FAVONIVS Your counsell were good and sound if it would worke effect in deeds so well as it seemeth to do in words but though an vnskilfull Phisitian may sometymes get money by practising with men lesse skilfull then himselfe yet how an vnskilfull Lawyer may be able to do the like I cannot well perceaue because he may happen many tymes to contend with other such Lawers as be skilfull indeed AQVILONIVS This me
suffer themselues to be ouerlaid and as health was ordayned to make men able to follow their affaires and not that the healthfull should retiredly rust away in idlenes so riches were also ordayned to help to prouide for necessaryes not that the rich should either foolishly forsake or consume their wealth lauishly For what praise could it be either to Lucius Mummius the Roman Captayne who subdued Corinth to haue died so poore by neglecting his owne state as his Souldiers were driuen to make a common gathering for his buriall Or vnto Paulus Aemilius who subdued Macedon to haue left his daughters so poore by the like occasion that the Common Wealth was faine to giue them their marriage money Or els vnto the younger Africanus who destroyed Carthage to haue neglected so much the care of his family as his Daughters were fayne to begge for their dowryes These be the braue examples of the neglectors and despisers of riches to haue greatly damnified if not vtterly vndone their posterity thereby contrary vnto that which we read of Pallas of Callistus and of Narcissus the infranchised slaues to Claudius the Emperour who left behind them diuers millions of Crownes as also amongst the Philosophers we read of Cicero of Terentius Varro and of Seneca to haue risen from little to be men of great riches and likewise amongst the souldiers we read of Caius Marius Lucius Sylla and of Ventidius Bassus who by their owne industryes rose vp vnto infinite wealth and their posterity after them vnto great fame and glory where on the other side what in this world can be more reproachfull then pouerty or a greater enemy vnto all kind of vertue either in women or men As for example in women what more vnfaithfull a Guardian may there be found of their chastity and consequently of all that is good in them then is want and necessity when as the vnmarried be easily drawne thereby vnto all sorts of lasciuiousnes for fupply of their need and the married be drawne no lesse to make like hauock of their honesty And in the same fort touching the state of men what so much doth abase them or maketh abiect and vile their mynds not only in their owne conceits but also in the opinion of others as doth the burden of Pouerty for so saith the Wise man Eccles cap. 9. That the wisedome of the poore is despised And againe Eccles cap. 40 That it were better to be dead then to liue in want and need adding withall in his Prouerbes That all the dayes of a poore mans life be nothing els but misery Besides that what also may be vnto gratuity a greater enemy then the same What vnto shamefastnes Cùm non bene conueniunt nec in vna sede morantur pudor egestas And what vnto the obseruation of all sorts of Laws both humane and diuine vnto the which necessity beareth no respect at all So that not without cause is Pouerty called the greatest enemy vnto man the companion vnto all kind of Vice and of all other euills the extreamest yea worse then either sickenes or imprisonment for that vnto him who is wealthy there be remedyes inough to be applyed for the one and consolations inough to be found for the other and therfore though you in words do seeme to fauour pouerty neuer so much yet I suppose for the putting of it in practise you will striue against it no lesse then any other SVBSOLANVS To striue against Pouerty we are not expresly commaunded further then necessity requireth nor yet prohibited so long as men get riches without the violating of Iustice the which is vnderstood to be violated not only by fraude or force as hath byn said before but partly by not restoring that which is borrowed and partly by not rendring at the day that which is hired and likewise by not abstayning to weare out things left vs in custody and trust And as none of these iniustices are to be vsed for the reliefe of pouerty so also much lesse for the increase of wealth since the superfluity therof is not as you suppose a shunner of vice but an enemy to vertue as hath byn told you already making men so idle so slouthfull and so lasciuious as they become altogeather effeminate neither giuen to the practise of Armes nor yet to the study of letters And therfore Democritus iudged the aboundance of riches to be foolish Heraclitus iudged it to be miserable and Crates iudged it to be friuolous and burdensome for which respect he threw his Wealth into the sea though no kind of wealth be so burdensome as that which being wrongfully gotten doth seldome tymes descend vnto the third generation therfore the burden of honest pouerty cannot be so heauy to beare by much as the burden of a rich mans culpable conscience For what els doth take away either the innocency from the body or the life from the soule but the infection of sinne So that sinne alone is more hurtfull vnto man then can be the hurt of all the world besides or of Hell it selfe For what draue the Angells out of Heauen Isa 14. and Adam out of Paradise Genes 3. or the great Floud into the world Gen. 8. but sinne Or what els ouerthrew the great Tower of Babylon Gen. 11. or destroyed Amalec and the Gyants Exod. 17. or caused to be cut in peeces the great army of Senacherib 4. Reg. 19. but sinne not to speake of the burning of fiue Cittyes Gen. 19. or of the persecuting of Aegipt with the seauen plagues Gen. 41. or of the drowning of Pharao in the red sea Exod. 14. And finally to omit all other examples ancient and moderne what are all the miseryes calamityes afflictions that fall vpon men but punishments for sinne And therfore seeing that aboundance of riches is a speciall motiue and cause of sinne as I haue declared before it is euident that rich men are in a dangerous state in which respect our Sauiour himselfe affirmeth That it is as hard for a rich man to enter into Heauen as a Camel to passe through a needles eye wheras poore men on the other side are in farre greater security if they be good men withall for they do still receaue comfort from God in all their distresses be they neuer so great and do neuer want necessaryes For so God releiued the pouerty of Agar by an Angell Gen. 16. the distresse of Dauid and his people in the desert 2. Reg. 17. the misery of Noemi by Ruth the wife of Booz Ruth 2. and the pouerty of Elias by an Angell 3. Reg. 29. besides the like done vpon diuers occasions to the Apostles themselues Act. 5.12.27 and to innumerable other good men in all ages wherof infinit examples might be alledged Furthermore the poore man who being confident of Gods mercifull prouidence is contented with that which God giueth him wanteth nothing hauing all that he will haue because in not willing that which is superfluous he hath
should be vrged to make restitution therof againe with shame for he who doth not this deceiueth many others and himselfe also vnto his owne vtter perdition in the end as shall appeare further hereafter So that vertue iustice honesty and lawfull Profit go allwayes linked inseparably togeather the Profit being directed by iustice and honesty and both these by vertue Furthermore what sufficient excuse or pretence can there be for fraudulent dealing when Nature her selfe hath prouided sufficient and lawfull meanes for the reliefe of pouerty to wit honest industry and frugall parsimony two such principall and also familiar kinds of helps as few men be debarred from them at leastwise for the supply of so much as is needfull For first as touching honest industry it is to be noted that no man by nature hath more burden laid vpon him then of one mouth to feed and of one backe to cloath vnto the supply wherof she hauing giuen him two leggs and also two hands the number of Purueyours is double to the number of consumers besides that she hath also giuen him agility of wit to teach him and strength of body to enable him and freenes of will to put him forward vnto the lawfull applying his said leggs and hands for the sustenance of his whole body And as concerning his frugall parsimony to spare and lay vp of that which he hath lawfully gotten his owne reason besides the instinct of nature ought not a little to mooue him therunto since dayly there may happen vnto him not only vnlooked for losses but also sicknes which may hinder his industry if not age it selfe which is not apt to worke any more and therfore the remedy vnto all these casualtyes is that frugall parsimony spoken of before the which may be called a sure and fauourable Hospitall if not rather a Sanctuary to keep men from penury and imprisonment far more sure then heretofore were either the publike Hospitall of Cadmus in Thebes or the famous Temple of Diana in Ephesus for if men would be content to leaue off all defrauding and liue frugally that is to say with only so much as were necessary we should see as few beggers or as few prisoners for debt as we see at this day either Centaures or Gorgons AQVILONIVS These rules of yours against fraude and deceiuing and in the fauour of lawfull getting were I confesse to be considered if euery man would be content to obserue them alike as wel I meane the contented poore man with his owne estate as he who aspireth vnto higher fortune but since it is impossible to bring it to passe but that deceiuers of men for their owne gaine will still be found I hold it therefore a kind of worldly wisedome rather to deceiue then to be deceiued so long as it is warily done either for the supply of need or els as hath byn said vnto the increase of degree for that euery man will not be content to liue alwayes in low estate as you by your former propositions would suppose SVBSOLANVS Though he be neuer so desirous to increase his degree aboue the ranke of those of whome we haue lastly spoken yet to promote that desire of his he must not go about to deceiue others vnder pretence of not being deceiued since hereby it might follow that he may so deceiue those who had no intention at all to deceiue him besides that if you will allow profitable deceiuing to be such a badge of a worldly wise man you take thereby away from his wisedome all the reputation of that vertue iustice and honesty which we haue already spoken of and so thereby do make no difference betwixt good men and euill men AQVILONIVS I would not you should take me for such a confounder of these things so togeather but that still I make this difference betwixt them to wit that these men for the most part whom you do accompt to be good are ech where seene to be poore needy miserable full of aduersityes full of wants full of affliction and full of all persecution because either they cannot flatter or not tolerate the lightnes of mens conditions or not forbeare to speake of their faults too freely wheras contrarywise those other whom for following their gaine you accompt to be euill are seene to be rich iocund exalted loaden with rewards with followers and with all other felicityes of this world in so much as throughout all the places where I do passe I heare in effect no other talke then whose is this sumptuous Pallace of such a Ribald whose is that other of such an Vsurer whose is that great Kingdome of such an Vsurper that other great dominion of such a Murderer this wonderfull wealth of such a Traytor of such a Pander or of such a Flatterer what say you to this Were it not better to be one of these euill men then one of your good men Therfore see I pray you now whether I know or not how to distinguish betwixt them and that in such manner that a man of little skill may be able therof welnigh to make his election So as to conclude none but such as either haue not the fortune or not the wit to attayne to these benefits are driuen to shrowd their baser condition and that possibly more for shame then for loue vnder the positiue titles of honesty and goodnes SVBSOLANVS In this former accompt of yours do you make your said fraudulent rich man to consist of body only or of both body and soule AQVILONIVS The care of his soule be it vnto himselfe or to him that hath the charge therof for that point dependeth vpon another accompt SVBSOLANVS But yet let me aske you whether your recited benefits happening to such an euill man be beneficiall also for his soule or but for his body only AQVILONIVS Belike you take me for the Curate of the Parish where I dwell but you deceiue your selfe therin let euery man render accompt of his owne charge for I speake like one of myne owne profession SVBSOLANVS Yet this ensueth therof that put the case it were neuer so good for the body to be fraudulently rich yet if it be euill for the soule the one halfe at the least of all your euill mans felicityes is lost by the affliction which the same may heap vpon the soule of which point I will treat particularly in the conclusion of this dayes Conference and now in the meane tyme we will consider whether all that you haue said be true in respect of the body alone Therfore I would know whether he that seemeth vnto you for his wealth to be so happy abroad may not be full of other miseryes and infelicityes at home AQVILONIVS It cannot be denied but that some discontentments he may possibly haue SVBSOLANVS Those some belike you meane to be either these or such like As for example to be afflicted with an vnruly or disloyall wife a disgracious or vnthrifty heire a defamed or dishonest generation of
terrible threat of eternall perdition is denounced by the Psalmist to a deceytfull tongue Thou hast loued sayth he Psal 51. all words of precipitation a deceytfull tongue therefore God will destroy thee eternally he will pluck thee vp and remoue thee out of thy Tabernacle and roote thee out of the Land of the liuing Loe then how hatefull to Almighty God is all deceitfull and fraudulent dealing be it by word or act And this being true in priuate persons what shall we thinke of fraud and deceit in Magistrates Iudges and publike Persons How abhominable is the same to God and Man and pernicious not only to the CoÌ„mon Wealths which they gouerne but also to themselues through the seuerity of Gods Iustice and Iudgements vpon them In which respect King Iosaphat hauing constituted and ordayned Iudges in the Cittyes of Iuda said vnto them 2. Par. 19. Videte quid faciatis c. Looke well what you do for you do not exercise the Iudgement of Man but of God and whatsoeuer you shall Iudge shall redound to your selues So he And the hurt that redoundeth to the Common wealth by the iniustice of the Magistrates doth not consist only in the iniuryes done to the members therof but also in the punishment that God inflicteth many times vpon the whole State for the sinnes of the Heads when the same are not punished and reformed in the offenders such being the seuerity of Gods Iustice that when the Magistrats are either themselues corrupt or els negligent in punishing the faults of others he coÌ„monly imposeth some generall penalty vpon the whole common Wealth and many times destroyeth the same or transferreth the gouerment therof to stranges as the holy Ghost signifieth in Ecclesiaâ—â—icus Cap. 10. saying Regnum à Gente in Gentem tranfertur c. A Kingdome is transferred from Nation to Nation for Iniustice and Iniuries and Calumniations and diuers Deceits So as if we duly consider the enormity of Fraudes Deceits and of all kind of Iniustice especially in Magistrates in whome the same commonly passeth without any humane punishment we shall easily conclude the Fraudulent to be not only treacherous to priuate men whome they deceaue and abuse but also trayterous to the common Wealth by reason of the diuine Punishment which they draw vpon the same besides the eternall damnation which they purchase to themselues for their owne offence therein if they do not repent and do sufficient satisfaction for it in this life which Satisfaction neuerthelesse cannot be done in matters of Iniustice and Iniuryes without restitution of ill gotten goods honour and fame according to the most Christian and knowne axiome of S. Augustine Non dimittitur peccatum nisi restituatur ablatum In which repsect the Publican Zachaeus being by our Sauiour conuerted and illuminated with the light of his Grace did not content himselfe to make a bare restitution of the iust valew only what he had wrongfully and fraudulently got but promised to restore the quadruple that is to say foure times so much as he had guilfully vnlawfully gained of any man alluding perhaps to the Law of Moyses Exod. 22. where it was ordeyned That in cases of Theft sometimes the double sometimes the quadruple yea otherwhiles fiue times so much as was stolne should be restored In which respect King Dauid swore to Nathan 2. Reg. 12. that the rich man who had wrongfully taken a sheep from a poore man should not only dye for it but also restore the quadruple for so indeed it was ordained in the Law Now then this being so it is to be considered what he gayneth that enricheth himselfe by Fraud and Deceyt seeing that he looseth not only his reputation if it be knowne but also his soule how secretly soeuer he do it in case he do not repent and make Restitution of his vnlawfull gaine so farre as his ability will extend Therfore as I asked you before whether you made accompt that your fraudulent rich man should consist of body only or both of body and soule so now I add thereto another demand to wit whether you will haue him to be a beast or a man for if you accompt him for a man that is to say a reasonable creature we must exact of him to do the office of a man and not of a beast to which purpose the Psalmist saith Nolite fieri sicut equus mulus quibus non est intellectus that is to say be not lead or moued chiefly by sense and pleasure by the apprehension only of present obiects as horses mules and other beasts are but by reason and the due consideration of future things and of the end of euery thing and especially of that which belongeth to the eternall good of the soule without which consideration no man either is or can be worthily accouÌ„ted a man and much lesse a wise man for as the Wiseman saith Eccles 37. Est sapiens animae suae sapiens and therfore Moyses bewayling the folly of the Iewes in that behalfe calleth them a people without wit and prudence saying Deut. 32. Gens absque consilio est atque prudentia vtinam saperent intelligerent ac nouissima prouiderent the Psalmist speaking of such rich worldlings as you haue hitherto so highly commended compareth them to brute beasts Psal 48. Homo saith he cùm in honore esset non intellexit comparatus est iumentis insipientibus similis factus est illis And little better accompt made the Philosophers and wise Paynims of such as prefer honour riches and worldly coÌ„modityes before Vertue In which respect Aristotle compareth them to children who esteeme their Puppits more then gold and Seneca saith Ep. 96. that they are far more foolish then children playing the fooles notably not as children do in tryfles matters of no moment or danger but in things of great wayght and coÌ„sideration so as saith he veriùs cariusque insaniunt they are more truly costly mad Therfore now to conclude concerning all that Profit and Gaine which you haue hitherto placed in fraudulent meanes it is most euident that being preiudiciall and hurtful to the soule it cannot be accounted either gainfull or any way profitable but most noysome and pernicious according to our Sauiours expresse testimony saying Quid prodest homini si vniuersum mundum lucretur animae verò suae detrimentum patiatur wherupon it also followeth that the Philosophers Axiome is true to wit That nothing is profitable which is not honest wherof I promised you before to giue you now a speciall reason For seeing that all Dishonesty whatsoeuer is hurtfull to the soule it cannot possibly be profitable no more then a pleasant stong wine can be holsome in a hoat burning Feuer which albeit for the present seemeth to refresh and comfort the sick man yet afterwards turneth to his great domage and euen so fareth it with all euill gotten gaine which though at first and for a while contenteth the couetous mynd of the getter yet in the end breedeth his euerlasting torment if as I haue said before he doth not satisfy Gods Iustice by repentance and restitution to his power Therfore consider now with your selfe what reason you haue had in your former assertions either to condemne good men so much as you haue done for their Pouerty arising by honest Syncerity or to extoll bad men so much aboue measure for their riches growing by their fraudulent Practises and other reproachfull Iniquityes The which is as much as occurreth heere to be said concerning the whole scope of vnlawfull Profit generally considered The end of the first Booke