done but well ordained For in the end sith man is man in few things hee can be eyther certaine or assured and sith God is God it is vnpossible that in any thing hee should erre It is a great benefite of the Creator to bee willing to reforme and correct the words of the Creatures For if God would suffer vs to doe after our owne mindes wee should bee quite contrary to his pleasure God without a great mistery did not ordayne that in one family there should bee but one Father among one people there should be but one Cittizen that should commaund in one Prouince there should be but one Gouernour alone and also that one King alone should gouerne a prowde Realme and also that by one onely Captaine a puissant Armie should be ledde And furthermore and aboue all he willeth that there bee but one Monarchiall King and Lord of the Worlde Truely all these things are such that wee with our eyes doe see them and know them not wee heare them with our eares and vnderstand them not we speake them with our tongues and knowe not what wee say For truely mans vnderstanding is so dull that without doubt he is ignorant of more then he knoweth Appolonius Thyaneus compassing the most part of Asia Affrike and Europe That is to say from the bridge of Nilus where Alexander was vnto Gades where the pillers of Hercules were hee beeing one day in Ephese in the Temple of Diana the Priestes asked him what thing hee wondered at most in all the world For it is a general rule that men which haue seene much alwayes doe note one thing aboue another Although the Phylosopher Appolonius greatlyer esteemed the workes then the speaking of them that demanded the question yet foorthwith hee made them this answere I let you know Priests of Diana that I haue bin throughout France England Spayne Germanie through the Laces and Lydians Hebrues Greeks Parthes Medes Phrygians and Corinthiās and so with the Persians aboue in all the great Realme of India For that alone is more woorth then all these Realms together I will you vnderstand that all these Realmes in many and sundry things doe differ as in languages persons beasts mettals waters flesh customs Lawes Lands buildings in Apparell and Forts and aboue all diuers in their Gods and Temples For the Language of the one differeth not so much from the language of the other as the Gods of Europe differ from the Gods of Asia and the Temples and Gods of Asia and Europe differ from them of Affricke Amongst all things which I haue seene of two onely I did maruell which is that in all the parts of the world wherein I haue trauailed I haue seene quiet men troubled by seditious persons the humble subiect to the proude the iust obedient to the Tyrant I haue seene the cruell commaunding the mercifull the coward ruling the hardie the ignorant teaching the wise and aboue all I saw that the most Thieues did hang the innocent on the gallowes The other thing whereat I maruelled was this That in all the places and where I haue bene I knowe not neyther could I finde any man that was euerlasting but that all are mortall and in the end both high and low haue an ende For manie are layd too night in theyr graue which the next Day following thought to bè aliue Leaue aside the diuine iudgement in that hee spake hee said highly and like a Philosopher for it seemeth to bee a pleasant thing to see how men gouerne the World Therefore now to the matter It is but reason we know the cause of this so ancient a noueltie which is That God willeth and ordayneth that one onely command all and that all together obey one For there is nothing that God doeth although the cause thereof bee vnknowne vnto vs that wanteth reason in his Eternall wisedome In this case speaking like a Christian I say that if our Father Adam had obeyed one onely Commaundement of Almightie GOD which was forbidden in the Terrestriall Paradise we had remained in liberty vpō the earth and should haue bin Lords and maisters ouer all But sith hee would not then obey the LORD wee are now become the abiects and slaues of so many Lords Oh wicked sinne accursed be thou sith by thee onely the Worlde is brought into such a bondage without teares I cannot speake that which I would that through our first Fathers which submitted themselues to sinne we their childrē haue lost the Seignoric of the world For sith they were prisoners vnto sinne in their soules little auaileth the libertie of their bodies There was great diuersitie betwixt the opinions of Pythagoras and the opinions of Socrates for so much as those of Socrates schoole said That it were better all things should be common and all men equall The other of Pythagoras schole saide the contrarie And that the Common-wealth were better wherein each one had his owne proper and all should obey one so that the one of them did admitte and graunt the name of seruants and the others did despise the name of Lords As Laertius in his first booke of the lise of Phylosophers saide that the Phylosopher Demosthenes was also of the same opinion that to the ende the people should be well gouerned hee would two names should be vtterly abolished and taken away That is to say Lords and subiects Maisters and seruants For the one desirous to rule by fiercenesse and the others not willing to obey to tyrannie would shed the bloud of the innocent and would be violent against the poore They would destroy the renowmed and famous people and Tyrannie would waxe stoute the which things should be taken away if there were no seignorie nor seruitude in the world But notwithstanding these things the Philosopher in his first booke of his Pollitiques saith That by foure naturall reasons wee may prooue it to be very necessarie that Princes doe commaund and the people obey The first reason is of the parts of the Elements simple and mixt For wee see by experience that the Elements doe suffer to the ende they would be ioyned together the one to haue more power then all the which is shewed by experience Forasmuch as the Element of the Fire the Element of the Ayre and the Element of the Water doe obey the Element of the Earth doth commaund For against their nature he bringeth them all to the Earth But if all the noble and chiefest Elements were obedient to the most vile Element only to forme a bodie mixt it is a greater reason that all obey to one vertuous person that the Common-wealth might therby the better be gouerned The second reason is of the bodie and the soule in the harmonie wherof the Soule is the mistresse which commaundeth and the bodie the seruant which obeyeth For the bodie neyther seeth heareth nor vnderstandeth without the bodie The sage Philosopher by this inferreth that the
thinke thou wilt do so For by the faith of a good man I sweare vnto thee that my heart neither suspected iâ— nor yet the aucthority of so graue a Romane doth demand it for to thee onely the fault should remaine and to me the wonder Heartily I commend vnto thee thy honesty which to thy selfe thou oughtest and the care which behooueth so worthy and notable a widow For if thou art tormented with the absence of the dead thou oughtest to comfort thee with the reputation of the liuing At this present I will say no more to thee but that thy renowne among the present be such and that they speake of thee so in absence that to the euill thou giue the bridell to be silent and to the good spurres to come and sefue thee For the widow of euill renowne ought to be buried quicke Other things to write to thee I haue none Secret matters are dangerous to trust considering that thy heart is not presently disposed to heare newes It is reason thou know that I with thy parents and friends haue spoken to the Senate which haue giuen the office that thy husband had in Constantinople to thy sonne And truly thou oughtest no lesse to reioyce of that which they haue said of thee then for that they haue giuen him For they say though thy husband had neuer beene Citizen of Rome yet they ought to haue giuen more than this onely for thy honest behauiour My wife Faustine saluteth thee and I will say I neuer saw her weepe for any thing in the world so much as shee hath wept for thy mishap For shee felt thy losse which was very great and my sorrow which was not little I send thee foure thousand sexterces in money supposing that thou hast wherewith to occupy them as well for thy necessaries as to discharge thy debts For the complaints demaunds and processes which they minister to the Romane Matrons are greater then are the goods that their husbands doe leaue them The gods which haue giuen rest to thy husband O Claudine giue also comfort to thee his wife Lauinia Marcus of mount Celio with his owne hand CHAP. XXXIX That Princes and Noble men ought to despise the world for that there is nothing in the world but plaine deceit PLato Aristotle Pythagoras Empedocles Democrates Seleucus Epicurus Diogenes Thales and Methrodorus had among them so great contention to describe the world his beginning and propertie that in maintaining euery one his opinion they made greater wars with their pens then their enemies haue done with their lances Pythagoras sayde that that which wee call the World is one thing and that which wee call the vniuersall is an other the Philosopher Thales said that there was no more but one World and to the contrarie Methrodorus the Astronomer affirmed there were infinit worlds Diogenes sayd that the world was euerlasting Seleucus sayd that it was not true but that it had an ende Aristotle seemed to say that the world was eternall But Plato sayde clearely that the world hath had beginning and shall also haue ending Epicurus sayd that it was round as a ball Empedocles saide that it was not as a bowle but as an egge Chilo the Philosopher in the high Mount Olimpus disputed that the world was as men are that is to say that hee had an intellectable and sensible soule Socrates in his Schoole sayeth and in his doctrine wrote that after 37 thousand yeares all things should returne as they had beene before That is to say that he himselfe should bee borne anew and should be nourished and should reade in Athens And Dennis the Tytant should returne to play the Tyrant in Syracuse Iulius Caesar to rule Rome Hannibal to conquer Italy and Scipio to make warre against Carthage Alexander to fight against King Darius and so foorth in all others past In such and other vaine questions and speculstions the auncient Philosophers consumed many yeares They in writing many bookes haue troubled their spirites consumed long time trauelled many Countryes and suffered innumerable dangers and in the end they haue set forth few truthes and many lyes For the least part of that they knew not was much greater then all that which they euer knew When I tooke my penne in my hand to write the vanity of the world my intention was not to reproue this material world the which of the four Elements is compounded that is to say of the earth that is cold and drie of the water that is moist and cold of the ayre that is hote and moist of fire that is drie and hote so that taking the world in this sort there is no reason why we should complaine and lament of it since that without him we cannot liue corporally When the Painter of the world came into the world it is not to be beleeued that he reproued the water which bare him when hee went vpon it nor the ayre that ceased to blow in the sea nor the earth that trembled at his death nor the light which ceased to light nor the stones which brake in sunder nor the fish which suffered themselues to bee taken not the trees which suffered themselues to be drie nor the monuments that suffered themselues to bee opened For the creature acknowledged in his Creator omnipotency and the Creator founded in the creature due obedience Oftentimes and of many persons wee heare say O woefull world O miserable world O subtill world O world vnstable and vnconstant And therefore it is reason wee know what the world is whereof the world is from whence this world is whereof this world is made and who is lord of this world since in it all things are vnstable all things are miserable all things deceitfull all things are malicious which cannot be vnderstood of this materiall worlde For in the fire in the aire in the earth and in the water in the light in the Planets in the stones and in the Trees there are no sorrowes there are no miseryes there are no deceytes nor yet any malice The world wherein wee are borne where we liue and where we die differeth much from the world whereof we doe complaine for the world against whom wee fight suffereth vs not to be in quyet one howre in the day To declare therefore my intention this wicked World is no other thing but the euill life of the Worldlings the Earth is the desire the fire the couetise the water the inconstancie the ayre the folly the stones are the pride the flowers of the Trees the thoughts the deepe Sea the heart Finally I say that the Sunne of this world is the prosperity and the moon is the continuall change The Prince of this so euill a world is the diuell of whom IESVS CHRIST laid The prince of this world shall now be cast out and this the Redeemer of the World sayeth For he called the worldlings and their worldly liues the world For since they be seruants of sinne of
doth not weigh vs as we are but as wee desire to bee And let no man say I would and cānot be good for as wee haue the audacitie to commit a faulte so if we list wee may enforce our selues to worke amendes All our vndoing proceedeth of this that wee outwardly make a shewe of vertue but inwardly in the deede wee employ our whole power to vice which is an abuse wherewith all the world is corrupted and deceiued For Heauen is not furnished but with good deedes and hell is not replenished but with Euill-desires I graunt that neyther man nor beast desireth to die but all trauell to the ende they may liue But I aske now this question What doth it auayle a man to desire his life to be prolonged if the same be wicked vngodly and defamed The man that is high-minded proude vnconstant cruell disdainfull enuious full of hatred angry malicious full of wrath couetous a Lyer a Gluton a Blasphemer and in all his doings disordred Why will wee suffer him in the world The life of a poor man that for need stealeth a gowne or any other small trifle is forthwith taken away Why then is hee that disturbeth the whole Common-wealth left aliue Oh would to GOD there were no greater theeues in the world thē those which robbe the temporall goods of the Rich and that wee did not winke continually at them which take away the good renowne as well of the Rich as of the Poore But wee chastise the one and dissemble with the other which is euidently seene how the theefe that stealeth my neighbours gown is hanged forthwith but hee that robbeth mee of my good-name walketh still before my doore The diuine Plato in the first booke of laws saide We ordaine and commaund that hee which vseth not himselfe honestly and hath not his house well-reformed his Riches well gouerned his family well instructed and liueth not in peace with his neighbors that vnto him bee assigned Tutours which shall gouerne him as a Foole and as a vacabonde shall he be expulsed from the people to the intent the common-wealth be not through him infected For there neuer riseth contention or strife in a commonwealth but by such men as are alwayes out of order Truely the diuine Plato had great reason in his sayings for the man that is vicious in his person and doth not trauell in things touching his House nor keepeth his Familie in good order nor liueth quietly in the Commonwealth deserueth to be banished and driuen out of the countrey Truely we see in diuers places mad men tyed and bound fast which if they were at libertie would not doe so much harme as those doe that daylie walke the streetes at their owne willes and sensualitie There is not at this day so great or noble a Lord nor Ladie so delicate but had rather suffer a blow on the head with a stone then a blot in their good-Name with an euilltongue For the wound of the head in a month or two may well bee healed but the blemish of their good-name during life will neuer be remoued Laertius sayth in his booke of the liues of Phylosophers that Dyogenes being asked of one of his neighbours what they were that ordayned theyr Lawes Aunswered in this wise Thou shalt vnderstand my friend that the earnest whole desire of our Fore-fathers and all the intentions of the phylosophers was only to instruct them in their Common-wealth how they ought to speake how to be occupyed how to eate how to sleepe how to treat how to apparrel how to trauell and how to rest And in this consisteth all the wealth of worldly wisedome In deede this Phylosopher in his aunswer touched an excellent point For the Law was made to none other end but only to brydle him that liueth without Reason or Law To men that will liue in rest and without trouble in this life it is requisite and necessarie that they chuse to themselues some kinde and manner of Liuing whereby they may maintaine their house in good-order and conforme their liues vnto the same That estate ought not to be as the folly of the person doth desire nor as may bee most pleasant to the delights of the bodie but as reason teacheth them and God commaundeth them for the surer saluation of theyr soules For the Children of vanitie embrace that onely which the sensuall appetite desireth and reiect that which Reason commaundeth Since the time that Trees were created they alwayes remaining in their first nature vntill this present day doe beare the same leafe and fruite which things are plainly seen in this that the Palme beareth Dates the Fig-tree figs the Nut-tree Nuttes the Peare-tree Peares the Apple-tree Apples the Chestnut-tree chest-nuts the Oke Acornes and to conclude I say all things haue kept their first nature saue onely the Sinnefull-Man which hath fallen by malice The Planettes the Starres the Heauens the Water the Earth the Ayre and the Fire the brute beasts and the Fishes all continue in the same estate wherein they were first created not complaining nor enuying the one the other Man complaineth continually hee is neuer satisfyed and alwayes coueteth to chaunge his estate For the shepheard would be a Husbandman the husbandman a Sqiure the Squire a Knight the Knight a King the King an Emperour c. Therefore I say that fewe is the number of them that seeke amendment of life but infinite are they that trauell to better their estate and to increase their goods The decay of the Common-wealth at this present through all the world is that the drye and withered Okes which haue been nourished vpon the sharpe mountains would now seeme to be daintie Date-trees cherished in the pleasant gardains I meane that those which yesterday could haue bin pleasant with drye Acornes in a poore cottage at home at this day will not eate but of delicate Dishes in other mens houses abrode What estate men ought to take vpon them to keepe their conscience pure and to haue more rest in theyr life a man cannot easily describe For ther is no state in the Church of God but men may therin if they will serue God and profite themselues For there is no kinde of life in the world but the wicked if they perseuer and continue therein may slaunder their persons and also lose their soules Plinie in an Epistle that hee wrote to Fabatus his friend saith There is nothing among mortall men more common and daungerous then to giue place to vaine imaginations wherby a man beleeueth the estate of one to bee much better then the estate of another And hereof it proceedeth that the World doeth blinde men so that they will rather seeke that which is an other mans by trauell and daunger then to enioy their owne with quiet and rest I say the state of Princes is good if they abuse it not I say the state of the people is good if they behaue themselues obediently I say
defile them nor sell them but caused them to bee apparrelled and safely to bee conducted to their owne natiue Countries And let not this liberty that he did be had in litle estimation to deliuer the captiues and not to defloure the virgins For many times it chaunceth that those which are ouercome with the weapons of the Conquerours are conquered with the delights of them that are ouercome This deede amongst the Greekes was so highly commended and likewise of their enemies so praysed that immediatly the Metinences sent Ambassadors to demaund peace of the Prienenses And they concluded together a perpetuall peace vpon condition that they should make for Bias an immortall Statue sith by his hands and also by his vertues hee was the occasion of the peace and ending of the wars betweene them And truely they had reason for hee deserueth more prayse which winneth the hearts of the enemies in his tents by good example then hee which getteth the victory in the field by shedding of bloud The hearts of men are noble and wee see dayly That oftentimes one shal sooner ouercome many by good then many ouercome one by euill And also they say that the Emperour Seuerus spake these words By goodnesse the least slaue in Rome shall leade mee tyed with a hayre whether hee will but by euill the most puissant man in the world cannot moue mee out of Italy For my heart had rather bee seruant to the good then Lord to the euill Valerius Maximus declareth that when the City of Priene was taken by enemies and put to sacke the wife of Bias was slaine his children taken prisoners his goods robbed the City beaten downe and his house set on fire but Bias escaped safe and went to Athens In this pittifull case the good Philosopher Bias was no whit the sadder but rather sang as he went by the way and when hee perceyued that men maruelled at his mirth hee spake vnto them these words Those which speake of mee for wanting my City my wife and my children and loosing all that I had truely such know not what Fortune meaneth nor vnderstand what Philosophie is The losse of children and temporall goods cannot bee called losse if the life bee saued and the renowne remaine vndefiled Whether this sentēce be true or no let vs profoundly consider if the iust God suffer that this City should come into the hands of the cruell Tyrants then this prouision is iust For There is nothing more conformable vnto Iustice then that those which receiue not the Doctrine of the Sages should suffer the crueltite of the Tirants Also though my enemies haue killed my wife yet I am sure it was not without the determination of the Gods who after they had created her body immediately appointed the end of her life Therfore why shuld I bewayle her death since the Gods haue lent her life vntill this day The great estimation that we haue of this life causeth that death seemeth vnto vs sodayne and that the life vnwares with death is ouertaken but these are words of the children of vanitie for that by the will of the Gods death visiteth vs and against the willes of men life for saketh vs. Also my Children bee vertuous Philosophers and albeit they be now in the hands of tirants we ought not therefore to call them captiues for a man may not call him a captiue which is laden with yrons but him which is ouerwhelmed with vices And although the fire haue burnt my house yet I know not why I ought to be sad for of truth it was now olde and the winde did blowe downe he tiles the wormes did waste the wood and the waters that ranne downe perished the walles and it was olde and like to fall and perchaunce would haue done greater displeasure For most commonly enuie malice and old houses suddenly without any warning or knocking at the dore assaulteth men Finally there came the fire which quited mee of many troubles First of the trouble that I should haue had in repayring ◠Secondarily it saued mee money in plucking it downe Thirdly it saued me and mune heyres frō much cost and many daungers For ofentimes that which a man consumeth in repayring an old house would with aduantage buy him a new Also those which say that for the taking away of my goods I lacke the goods of Fortune such haue no reason so thinke or say for fortune neuer giueth temporall goods for a proper thing but to those whom shee list when shee will dispose them therefore when Fortune seeth that those më whom shee hath appointed as her distributers do hoarde vp the same to them and to theyr heyres then shee taketh it from them to giue it to another Therfore by reason I should not complaine that I haue lost any thing for Fortune recommendeth vnto any other the temporall goods but I carrie patience and Philosophie with me so that they haue discharged me from all other and haue no more charge but for my selfe alone Laertius declareth in his fifth booke of the sayings of the Gretians That this Byas determined to goe to the Playes of the Mount Olympus wherevnto resorted people of all Nations and he shewed himselfe in this place of so high an vnderstanding that hee was counted supreame and chiefe of all Phylosophers and wonne the name of a true Phylosopher Other Philosophers then being in the same Playes called Olymp calles asked him many questions of diuerse and sundry matters where of I will make mention here onely of some of the chiefest The Questions demaunded of the Phylosopher Byas THE first Question was this Tell mee who is the vnhappiest man in the Worlde Byas answered Hee is most vnhappie that is not patient in aduersitie For men are not killed with the aduersities they haue but with the impatience which they suffer The second was What is most hardest and most troublesome to iudge He aunswered There is nothing more difficult then to iudge a contention betwixt two Friends For to iudge between two enemyes the one remaineth a Friende but to iudge betweene two Friendes the one is made an enemie The third was What is most hardest to measure Wherevnto Byas answered There is nothing that needeth more circumspections then the measuring of Time For the Time should bee measured so iustly that no Time should want to doe well nor any time should abound to doe euill The fourth was What thing is that which needeth no excuse in the accomplishment thereof Byas answered The thing that is promised must of necessitie be performed For otherwise hee that doth loose the credite of his word should lose more then he that should lose the promise to him made The fifth was What thing that is wherein the men as well good as euill should take care Then Byas answered Men ought not in any thing to take so great care as in seeking counsell and counsellours For the prosperous Times cannot bee maintained nor the multitude of enemyes
infamy which worketh euil in his life truly he deserueth much more which trauelleth to bring that euill in vre after his death Eusebius seemeth to affirm that after Nimrod had destroied the realm of Chaldea by his plagues came to Italy with 8. sons built the of Camesa which afterwards in Saturnes time was called Valentia and in the time of Romulus it was called as it is at this present Rome And sith this thing was thus a man ought not to maruell that Rome in auncient time was possessed with Tyrants and with Tyrants beaten downe since by so so famous and renowmed tyrants it was founded For euen as Hierusalem was the daughter of the patient and the mansion of the quiet Kinges in Asia so was Rome the mother of proude Princes in Europe The Histories of the Gentiles which knew not the holy Scripture declare in an other sort the beginning of signorie and seruitude and when they came into the world for the Idolaters not onely did not know the Creator of the World but also they were ignorant of many things which beganne in the world They therfore say that the Tyrant Nimrod amongst the others had a sonne called Belus and that this Belus was the first that raigned in the land of Syria and that hee was the first that inuented warres on the earth and that hee set vp the first Monarche among the Assyrians and in the end hee dyed after hee had raigned 65. yeares in Asia and left the world in great wars The first Monarchie of the world was that of the Assyrians and continued 132. yeares The first King was Belus and the last King was Sardanapalus whome at that time when he was slain they found spinning with women hauing a Distaffe in his hand wherewith they vse to spinne and truly his vile death was too good for such a cowardly King For the Prince ought not to defend that with the Distaffe that his Predecessors had wonne with the sword As wee haue sayde Nimrod begat Belus who had to wife Semyramis which was the mother of Ninus which Ninus succeeded his Father in tyranny and in the Empire also and both the Mother and the Sonne not contented to bee tyrants inuented statues of new Gods For mans malice pursueth rather the euill which the wicked doe inuent then the good which vertuous men begin We would haue shewed you how the Grandfather and the Father the Mother and the Sonne were Idolaters and warlike to the end Princes and great Lords might see that they beganne their Empires more for that they were ambitious persons then for that they were good patient or vertuous men Albeit that Nimrod was the first that euer committed any tyranny and whether it bee true or not that Belus was the first that inuented warres and that Chodor Laormor was the first that inuented battels and that there bee others wherof the Writings make no mention euery man taking for himselfe and afterwards all together those vvere occasions of euil enough in the world to agree vnto those thinges Our inclination is greatly to bee blamed For those which haue credite for their euill are many and those which haue power to doe well are but very few CHAP. XXXI Of the golden age in times past and worldly misery which we haue at this present IN the first age and golden world all liued in peace each man tooke care for his owne landes euery one planted sowed their trees and corne euery one gathered his fruites and cut his vines knedde their bread and brought vp their children and finally all liued by their own proper sweate and trauell so that they all liued without the preiudice or hurt of any other O worldly malice O cursed and wicked world that thou neuer sufferest things to remaine in one estate and though I call thee cursed maruell not thereat for when wee are in most prosperity then thou with death persecutest vs most cruelly Without teares I say not that I will say that two thousand yeares of the World were past before we knew what the World meant God suffering it and worldly malice inuented it ploughes were turned into weapons oxen to horses goades vnto launces whips to arrowes slings to Crossebowes simplicity into malice trauell into idlenesse rest to paine peace to warre loue to hatted charity to cruelty iustice to tyranny profite to dammage almes to theft and aboue all Faith into Idolatry And finally the swet they had to profite in their owne goods they turned to bloud-shedding to the damage of the Common-wealth And herein the World sheweth it selfe to bee a world herein worldly-malice sheweth it selfe to bee malicious in so much as the one reioyceth and the other lamenteth the one reioyceth to stumble to the end that other may fall and breake their neckes the one reioyceth to bee poore to the end the other may not bee rich the one reioyceth to bee dispraysed to the end the other may not be honoured the one delighteth to bee sad to the end the other should not bee merry And to conclude wee are so wicked that wee banish the good from our owne house to the end the euill might enter in at the gates of an other man When the Creator created the whole World hee gaue to each thing immediately his place that is to say hee placed intelligence in the vppermost Heauen hee placed the starres in the Firmament the planets in the orbes the birdes in the ayre the earth on the Center the Fishes in the Water the Serpents in the hoales the beasts in the mountaines and to all in generall he gaue place to rest themselues in Now let Princes and great Lords bee vaine-glorious saying that they they are Lords of the earth for truly of all that is created God onely is the true Lord thereof because the miserable man for his part hath but the vse of the fruit for if wee thinke it reasonable that wee should enioy the profite of that which is created then were it more conuenient wee should acknowledge God to be the Lord thereof I doe not deny but confesse that God created all things to the end they should serue man vpon condition that man should serue God likewise but when the creature ryseth against God immediately the Creator resisteth against man For it is but reason that hee bee disobeyed who one onely commandement will not obey O what euill fortune hath the creature onely for disobeying the commandement of his Creator for if man had kept his commaundement in Paradise God had conserued to the World the signorie but the Creatures whom he created for his seruice are occasion to him of great troubles for the ingratitude of benefite heapeth great sorrow to the discreet heart It is great pity to behold the man that was in Paradise and that might haue been in Heauen and now to see him in the world and aboue all to bee interred in the entrals of the earth For in Terrestrial Paradise he was innocent and
in heauen he had been blessed but now he is in the world enuironed with cares and afterwards he shall bee throwne into his graue and gnawne of the Wormes Let vs now see the disobedience wee had in the commaundement of God and what fruit we haue gathered in the world For hee is very simple that dare commit any vice taking no delight nor pleasure thereof in his body In my opinion through the sinnes which our forefathers committed in Paradise the seruitude remaineth in vs their children which are on the earth For so much as if I enter into the water I drowne if I touch the fire I burne if I come neare a dogge hee biteth mee if I threaten a horse hee easteth mee if I resist the winde it bloweth me downe if I persecute the serpent hee spoyleth me if I smite the beare hee destroyeth me and to be briefe I say that the man that without pitty eateth men in his life the Worms shall eate his entrals in his life after his death O Princes and great Lords lode your selues with cloth of gold heape vp your great Treasures assemble many Armies inuent Iusts and turneis seeke pastimes and pleasures reuenge your selues of your enemies serue your selues with your subiects marry your children to mighty Kings and set them in great estate cause your selues to bee feared of your enemies imploy your bodies to all pleasures leaue great possessions to your heyres rayse sumptuous buildinges to leaue memory of your persons I sweare by him that shall iudge mee that I haue more compassion to see your sinfull soules then I haue enuy to see your vicious liues for in the end all pastimes will vanish away and they shall leaue you for a gage to the hungry wormes of the earth O if Princes did consider though they haue beene borne Princes created and nourished in great estates that the day they are borne death immediately commeth to seeke the end of their life and taketh them here and there when they are sicke now tumbling then rising hee neuer leaueth them one houre vntill their wofull buriall Therefore sith it is true as indeed it is that that which Princes possesse in this life is but small that which they hope in the other is so great Truely I maruell why Princes the which shall lye so straight in the graue dare lye in such and so great largenesse in their life To be rich to be Lords and to haue great estates men should not thereof at all bee proude since they see how frayle mans condition is for in the end life is but lone but death is enheritage Death is a patrimony and heritage which successiuely is inherited but life is a right which dayly is surrendered For death counteth vs so much his own that oft times vnawares hee commeth to assault vs life taketh vs such strangers that oft times we not doubting thereof it vanisheth away If this thing then bee true why will Princes and great Lords presume to commaund a strange house which is this life as in their owne house which is the graue Leauing aside the sayd opinions I say that for sinne onely scruitude came to dwell in vs and entered into the world for if there had beene no sinners wee ought to beleeue there had beene no Lords nor seruants For asmuch as seruitude generally entreth into this World through sinne I say that the Seigniory of Princes is by the diuine commaundement for he sayeth By mee the King doth gouerne and by mee the Prince doth minister Iustice I conclude in this sort with this reason That since it is true Princes are sent by the hands of God for to gouerne vs Wee are bound in all and for all to obey them for there is no greater plague in a publike weale then to be disobedient to the Prince CHAP. XXXII How King Alexander the great after hee had ouercome King Datius in Asia went to conquer the great Indea and of that which happned vnto him with the Garamantes and how the good life hath more power then any force of warre IN the yeare of the Creation of the World 4970. in the first age of the World and in the 4027. yeares of the foundation of Rome Iado being High Priest in Hierusalew Decius and Mamilius at Rome Consuls in the third yeare of the Monarchie of the Greekes Alexander the Great sonne to Philip King of Macedonia gaue the last battell to Darius King of Persia wherein King Alexander escaped very sore wounded and Darius slaine so that the whole Empire of the Persians came vnder the gouernment of the Greeks For the vnfortunate Princes do not onely lose their liues with which they came into the world but also the Realmes which they did inherite After that Darius was dead and Alexander saw himselfe Lord of the field and that the Persians and Medes were become subiect to the Grecians though many Kings and Lords dyed in those cruell batailes yet it seemed to Alexander a trifle to be Gouernor of all Asia wherefore he determined in person to goe conquere the great India For Proude and stoute hearts obtayning that which they desire immediately beginne to esteeme it as little All his Armies repayred and placing gouernours in all the Realme of Asia Alexander departed to conquere the great India for hee had promised sworne to his gods that through all the World there should be but one Empire and that that should be his and moreouer that hee would neuer passe thorow any strange Realme or Country but it should giue obedience vnto him or else forthwith hee would destroy it for tyrannous harts haue neuer any regard to the damage of another vntill they haue obtained their wicked desires Alexander then going to conquer Realmes and destroy Prouinces by chance one sayde vnto him That on the other side of the mountaine Riphei towards the partes of India was a barbarous Nation which were called Garamantes as yet neuer conquered by the Persians and Medes Romaines nor Greekes neyther any of them euer triumphed ouer them for they had no weapons nor esteemed them not sith they had no riches King Alexander who for to conquer and subdue Realmes and strange countreys was very diligent hardy and to see new things very desirous determined not onely to send to see that countrey but also to goe himselfe in person and in that place to leaue of him some Memoriall which thing forthwith he accomplished For hee left them Altares as Hercules left in Gades pillars For mans heart is so stout that it Trauelleth not onely to compare with manie but also to excell all The Embassadours of Alexander were sent to Garamantes to aduertise them of the comming of King Alexander the great of the terrible and cruell battells which he in the warres had ouercome and to declare vnto them how the puissant K Darius was slayne and that all Asia was vnder his subiection and how euery Citie did yeelde themselues against
first and best Masters of Fence the which the Romanes kept alwaies for their Playes for as Trogus Pompeius sayth the Romanes found it by experience that there were no better men in waightie affayres then those of Spaine nor no people apter to playes and pastimes then those of Arcadia As those Siconians were ancient so they were maruellously addicted to follies and superstitious in their vsages and customes for among other they honoured for their God the Moone and during the time that shee was seene they gaue their children sucke imagining that the Moone shined vpon the brests of the mother it would doe much good vnto the childe The Authous hereof is Sinna Catullus in the booke De edicandis pueris and as the same Historian sayth the Aegyptians were great enemies to the Siconians so that all that which the one did allow the others did repoue as it appeareth for as much as the Siconians loued Oliues and Akorns they were cloathed with linnen and worshipped the Moone for their God The Aegyptians for the contrary had no Oliues neyther nourished they any Okes they did weare no linnen they worshipped the Sunne for their God and aboue all as the Siconians did giue their children sucke whiles the Moone did shine so the Aegyptians gaue their children sucke whiles the Sunne did shine Among other follies of the Caldeans this was one that they honoured the Fier for their God so that hee that was not marryed could not light Fier in his house because they sayd the custodie of Gods should be committed to none but to married and ancient men They had in Mariages such order that the day when any children did marry the Priests came into his house to light new Fire the which neuer ought to bee put out vntill the houre of his death and if perchance during the life of the husband and of the wife they should finde the fire dead and put out the marriage betweene them was dead and vndone yea though they had beene fortie yeeres together before in such sort and of this occasion came the prouerbe which of many is read and of few vnderstood that is to say Pronoke me not so much that I throwe water into the fire The Caldeans vsed such wordes when they would diuorce and separate the marriage for if the woman were ill contented with her husband in casting a little water on the fire immedately she might marry with an others and if the husband in like manner did put out the fire hee might with another woman contract marriage I haue not beene marryed as yet but I suppose there are many Christians which wish to haue at this present the libertie of the Caldes for I am well assured there are many men which would cast water on the fire to escape from their wiues also I sweare that there would be a number of women which would not onely put out their fire but also the ashes imbers and coales to make themselues free and to bee dispatched of their husbands and in especially from those which are iealous Therefore returning to our matter The Caldeans made before the fire all notable things in their lawe as before their God for they did eate before the fire they slept before the fire they did contract before the fire and the mothers did neuer giue the children sucke but before the fire for the milke as they imagined did profite the childe when it sucked before the fire which was their God The Author of this that is spoken is Cinna Catuilus The Mauritanians which at this present are called the realms of 〈◊〉 were in times past warlike men of whom the Romans had great victories and the more valiant the men were in the warres so much the more superstitious their wiues were in soceries charmes and enchantments 〈◊〉 the husband that is long abâ—â—nt from his wife ought not to maruell though in her bee founde some 〈◊〉 Cicero in the booke De Natura Deorum and much more at large Boccâ—s sayeth That as many men and women as were in that Realme 〈◊〉 many gods there were among the people for euery one had one particular God to himselfe so that the god of the one was not the god of the other And this was to bee vnderstood in the weeke dayes for in the holy and festiuall dayes they had no other gods the which altogether they did honour The manner that they had in choosing gods when a woman was with child was this Shee went to the Sacrificer of the Idoll and tolde him that shee was great with childe and besought him to giue her a God for her child And the sacrificer gaue her a little idoll of stone gold siluer or of wood the which the mother hanged at the necke of the child And as often as the childe did sucke the dugge so oft the mother putteth the Idoll on his face for otherwise shee had not giuen him a droppe of milke to sucke vnlesse first shee had consecrated to the god the milke of her brest That which I haue spoken is little in respect of that I will speake which is that if perchance the child dyed before the time or that any young man by some perilous mishap dyed before hee was somewhat ages the Fathers and kinsmen of the dead did assemble and came to the Idoll of him and eyther stoned it â—â—ng it drew it burnt it or else they cast it into the deepe well saying that sith the gods did kill man without reason that they might lawfully kill them by iustice The same Bocchas in the second booke De Natura Deorum sayth that the Allobroges had a custome that those which were Priests of the gods should from the wombe of their mothers bee chosen vnto that dignitie And as soone as the childe was born before he tasted the milke of the brest they earned it into a Priestes house for they had a custome that the man which had tasted the thinges of the world merited not to serue the Gods in the Temples One of the lawes that they sayde Priests had was that not onely they could not by violence shedde any bloud nor yet see it neyther touch it so that immediately as the Priest should by chance touch mansbloud euen so soone he lost his Priesthood This law afterwards was so narrowly looked vnto that the Priests of the Allobroges did not onely not shedde drinke nor touch mans bloud when they were now men but also when they were little infants those that should bee Priests they gaue them no milke of the brest at all And this was their reason That to sucke milke was no other but to drinke white bloud for white milke is but sodden bloud and redde bloud is but raw milke Pulio in the booke de educandis pueris sayeth That the Auncients had a certaine kinde of reedes that breaking it in sunder there issued white milke wherewith they accustomed to nourish their children but let it bee as it is that this law
apparrelled like Priests Haman was also very familiar with the King Assuerus and although all those of his Realme did him great seruice and that strangers had him in great veneration and did honor him maruellously yet was there a glorious Mardocheus that would neuer do him reuerence nor once put off his cappe to him by reason whereof this Haman that was in so great fauour commaunded a gybbet of fifty yardes high to bee set vppe for Mardocheus whom hee would haue hanged on that gibbet to be reuenged on him for the iniury he had done him But the Diuine wil of God was such and fortune did permit it that on the same Gallowes Hamon thought to haue put Mardocheus to death on the selfe same himselfe was hanged Themistocles and Aristides were 2. famous men among the Greekes and because they were both great Princes and Philosophers and had in great reputation of all those that knew them there was such a secret emulation and ambition betweene them the one to raigne ouer the other that both aspiring each to commaund other there followed great disorders and oppressions of the subiects of their Common-Weale Wherefore Themistocles moued with pitty and compassion of so great a Tirant which for their sakes their Common weale endured one day in the Market place before all his people with a loude voyce hee spake these words Know you O you people of Athens that if you doe not lay handes on my exceeding presumption and on the ouer great ambition of Aristides that our Gods will bee offended the temples will fall down to the hard foundation our treasures will bee consumed our selues destroyed and our common weales brought to vtter ruine and decay Therefore once againe good people I say bridle these our inordinate and vnspeakeable affections betime lest the reines layde in our neckes be runne too farre O golden wordes of a Prince and worthie eternall fame Lucanus also when hee would reproue the pride and presumption of the Romane Princes sayde that Pompey the great could neuer abide to haue any for his companion or equall with him within Rome And Iulius Caesar also wold neuer suffer that there should bee any greater in the Worlde then himselfe And therefore to discourse a little of this abominable and horrible vice of pride we haue not without great reason layde before you these approued examples before wee beginne to reproue it For in al things the examples wee shew you are wont to moue vs more then the reasons we seeme to tell you of For that which I haue seene for that I haue read and for that I haue heard say also of others I am most assured and resolued therof that by the onely cause of this wicked sinne of pride proceedeth the ruine and vtter decay of all our greatest things and affayres of this life for by all other sinnes a man may indeede discend and decline from his degree and state of honour and estimation but by this onely sinne hee cannot chuse but hee must fall downe flat to the ground They finde out the middest and center of the earth the depth of the sea and the highest toppes of Riphey Mountaines the end of the great mount Caucasus and the beginning of the great floud Nile and only the little heart of man touching desire to rule and commaund can neuer finde ende The insatiable couetousnesse is such that it cannot bee contented with the things wee haue but onely with those wee repute of lesse price Likewise Ambition pride to commaund cannot bee contained within boundes but onely by obeying For neuer no vice can haue end if hee that haue it doe not leaue it and banish it from him After Alexander the Great had conquered all Asia and had subdued the great India he was one day reproued of the great Philosopher Anacharses who tolde him these words Sith thou art now O Alexander Lord of the earth why doest thou weary thy selfe so much in thy affayres as no paine seemeth troublesome to thee To whom Alexander answered Thou hast tolde mee many times Anacharses that besides this world there are also three others And if it bee so as thou sayest how great a reproach and infamy it were to me that being three other worlds I should bee Lord but onely of one Therefore I doe dayly sacrifice to the Gods that though they take mee out of the life of this World yet at least they will not deny mee of so glorious a conquest I confesse that the Scriptures excepted I haue no wordes so rise in memorie as these whereby may easily be perceyued that for to quiet and to content a proud and haughty heart the seigniorie of the whole World is not yet sufficient and how ended the pride of this glorious prince euen thus Hee that hoped for to conquere and to bee Lorde of three other Worldes did not rule this one onely aboue three yeares Wee may boldly say this and sweare it and may also plainely proue it to any that desire to see it that he wanteth both wit and knowledge that taketh vppon him to bee proud and presumptuous For the more hee looketh into himselfe and reconsidereth and considereth his state and calling and what he is hee shall finde in him a thousande occasions fitte to humble him but neuer a one onely to make him proude and naughty How great rich mighty noble and worthy soeuer the person be euery time that wee happen to see him and that we haue no acquaintance of him And that we desire to know what hee is wee doe not aske of what Element of what Sea of what Fire of what Planet of what Climat of what Sunne of what Moone nor of what ayre but onely of what Countrey hee is of and where he was born For wee are all of the earth wee liue in the earth and in the end wee haue to turne into the earth as to our naturall thing If the Planets and the beasts could helpe vs with the Instrument and benefite of the tongue they would take from vs the occasions of vaine glory For the starres woulde say that they were created in the firmament the Sunne in the Heauens the birdes in the ayre the Salamander in the fire and the fish in the water but onely the vnhappy man was made of earth and created in the earth So that in that respect wee cannot glory to haue other kinsfolke neerer to vs then are the wormes the flyes and horse-flyes If a man did consider wel what he were hee would assertaine vs that the fire burns him water drowns him the earth wearies him the ayre troubles him the heate grieues him the colde hurtes him and the day is troublesome to him the night sorrowfull hunger and thirst makes him suffer meate and drinke filles him his enemies dayly follow him and his friendes forget him So that the time a man hath to liue in this wretched world cannot be counted a life but rather a long death The first day wee
world then to be in health No greater pouertie then neuer to haue neede of any thing And there is no greater temptation then to be neuer tempted Nor there can be no greater sadnesse then to be alwayes merry Nor greater daunger then neuer to be in danger For many times it so happeneth that where a man thinketh to passe ouer a dangerous floud safe enough his horse falleth ouer head and eares and drowneth his Master or hee escapeth hardly Socrates being one day demaunded which was the most sure and certaine thing of this life Aunswered thus There is nothing more certain in this life then to account all things vncertaine hee hath nor among Riches any greater then to haue life and health But if the life bee doubtfull and vnquyet what suretie or certaintie may bee found in it Surely none King Agesilaus beeing requested of certaine of his Grecian captains to go see the Olympiade in mount Olympus where all the philosophers did assemble to dispute and where all the Rich men of the countrey came to buy and sell any thing he answered them If in mount Olympus they solde and exchanged sorrow for mirth sicknesse for health honour for infamy and life for death I would not onely goe to see it but I would also spend all that I am worth and that I haue But since the buyer is mortall and the thing also hee buyeth condemned to death I will buye nothing in this life since I can not carrie it with mee into my graue Yet is there another deceipt which the poore Courtyers fall into daylie and that is that in liuing many yeares they think and assuredly belieue in the ende to light of a time when they hope to haue ease and rest which is a mockery to thinke it and extreame madnesse to hope for it For if their years grow by ounce and ounce their sorrowes and troubles encrease by pounds Who can denie but that milke that is kept many dayes doth corrupt and becommeth sower and sharpe Yea the garments that are now very olde and haue beene long worne without that euer moth doth touch it doth in the ende also become rags and dust By this therefore I doe inferre that if it be a most certain thing for young men to dye quickly then much more should olde men be assured that they haue no long time to liue And there are many in the Courts of Princes also that finde themselues so laden with sinnes and wickednesse that they thinke assuredly that in changing their age time and fortune they shall not onely leaue their vices but shall be discharged also of manie grieues and troubles Which we see afterwardes happen contrary to them For there is no way so plaine in this world but there is some ascent or discent for vs to goe vp to the toppe or some Riuer for vs to passe ouer or some terrible mountaine to feare or some crooked ill-fauoured way to loose vs in or some Caue or hole to fall into Those also that thinke certainely that the Sunne cannot lose his light nor that the Moone can be eclipsed nor that the starres may be darkened and that the earth shall not cease to bring forth the seas to flow the water to runne the fire to burne and Winter to be cold let them also bee assured that man cannot bee excused to suffer and abide much For sure it is impossible hee should passe one day without some trouble or sinister hap of Fortune And the greatest trumpery and deceite that Courtiers for the most part are abused in is that the more they waxe in yeares the more they enter dayly into greater affayres and businesse with a vaine hope and assurance they haue to dispatch them and bring them to such end as they list or desire But afterwards when they come to looke into their matters it is the wil of God and their deserts to procure it that the poore old men find when they thinke to goe home to their houses that they see death approach neare them and they afterwardes are carried to be buried in their graues O how many are there in Court that become aged men by long seruing in Court with a vaine hope afterwards in their age to depart from the Court and to repose their aged yeares in their owne houses in quyet and tranquilitie which abuseth them very much So that they may bee called Christians in name and thoughtes but right worldlings and Courtyers in doings And therefore many times I reproued diuers olde Courtyers my Friendes for that they did not leaue the Court when they might haue left it with honour and commoditie tellling them it was more then time now they should depart from the Courte seeing that Age and grauitie had stollen vpon them Who could not tell how to aunswere me nor what to say more then they would within a shorte time goe home to their houses with deliberation and intent to take their ease at home for the better health of their persons which they had not till then and so to seclude them from all doings saue onely in the morning when hee riseth to goe to the Church and serue GOD and from thence to go vnto the Hospitalls to visite the sicke and diseased to seeke out the poore Orphanes and widowes amongst his Neighbours and to make peace between neighbour and neighbour and to relieue the poore And albeit they haue tolde me this tale many a time and ofte yet I neuer sawe any of them put it in execution with good will And I saw once an honorable and rich Courtyer who was so olde that for very Age hee had neuer a blacke haire on his head nor any Teeth in his mouth neyther any Children or Sonnes or Daughters to inherite his good who notwithstanding was of so foolish and phantasticall opinion brought to that kinde of madnesse by his sinnes that he sware vnto me that for the discharge of his Conscience onely hee would neuer leaue or giue vp his Office hee had in Courte to chaunge that seruile trade and course of life for to obtaine his quyet rest at home Thinking assuredly that enjoying rest at home in his owne house hee might easily be damned and abyding the paines and seruice of Court hee belieued vndoubtedly hee should be saued Surely wee may aptly say that this olde Courtyer was more then a Dotard and that hee had marred the call of his conscience since hee belieued that it was a charge of Conscience to depart the court The ambition to do much and the couetousnesse to haue much maketh the miserable Courtyers belieue that they haue yet Time ynough to liue and to repent themselues when they will So that in the Court thinking to liue two yeares onely in their Age good men they liue fiftie and three score yeares naughty and wicked persons Plutarch in his Apothegmes sayth that Eudonius that was Captain of the Greekes seeing Zenocrates reading one day in the vniuersitie of
his euill hap hath made her his enemie which heretofore hee so entirely loued For any man that esteemeth his honour and reputation doth rather feare the euill tongue of such a woman then the sword of his enemy For an honest man to striue and contend with a woman of such quality is eueÌ„ as much as if hee would take vpon him to wash an asses head Therefore hee may not seeme to make account of those iniuries done him or euill words shee hath spoken of him For women naturally desire to enioy the person they loue without let or interruption of any and to pursue to the death those they hate I would wish therefore the fauoured of Princes and such as haue office and dignity in the court that they beware they incurre not into such like errors For it is not fitting that men of honour and such as are great about the Prince should seeme to haue more liberty in vice then any other neyther for any respect ought the beloued of the Prince to dare to keepe company much lesse to haue friendshippe with any such common and defamed women sith the least euill that can come to them they cannot be auoided But at the least hee must charge his conscience trouble his friends waste his goods consume his person and lose his good fame ioining withall these also his concubine to bee his mortall enemy For there is no woman liuing that hath any measure in louing nor end in hating Oh how warily ought all men to liue and specially we that are in the Court of Princes for many women vnder the colour of their authority and office go ofttimes to seeke them in their Chambers not onely as humble suiters to solicite their causes but also liberally to offer them their persons and so by colour to conclude their practises and deuises So that the decision and coÌ„clusion of proces which they faine to solicite shall not goe with him that demaunds there goods of them but rather with him that desires but their persons to spoyle them of theyr honour Now the Princes officers must seeke to be pure and cleane from al these practises of these commoÌ„ strumpets much more from those that are suters to them and haue matters before them For they should highly offend God and commit great treason to the king if they should sende those Women from them that sued vnto them rather dishonored and defamed then honestly dispatched of their businesse And therefore he bindeth himselfe to a maruellous inconuenience that falleth in loue with a woman suter for euen from that instant hee hath receiued of her the sweet delights of loue euen at the present hee bindeth himself to dispatch her quickly and to end all her suites and not without great griefe I speake these words There are many women that come to the Court of Princes to make vnreasonable and dishonest sutes which in the end notwithstanding obtaine their desire And not for any right or reason they haue to it saue onely they haue obtained it through the fauour and credite they haue wonne of the fauoured Courtier or of one of his beloued So as wee see it happen many times that the vniust furnication made her suit iust and reasonable I should lye and doe my selfe wrong me thinkes if I should passe ouer with silence a thing that hapned in the Emperours Court touching this matter in the which I went one day to one of the princes chiefe officers and best beloued of him to solicit a matter of importaÌ„ce which an hostes of mine should haue before him And so this fauoured Courtier and great Officer after hee had hearde of men the whole discourse of the matter for full resolution of the same hee asked mee if shee were yong and fayre and I aunswered him that shee was reasonable fayre and of good fauour Well then sayth he bid her come to mee and I will doe the best I can to dispatch her matter with speede for I will assure you of this that there neuer came fayre woman to my handes but shee had her businesse quickly dispatcht at my hands I haue knowne also many women in the Court so dishonest that not contented to follow their owne matters would also deale with others affayres and gaine in feliciting theyr causes so that they with theyr fine wordes and franke offer of their persons obtayned that which many times to men of honour and great authority was denyed Therefore these great Officers fauoured of Princes ought to haue great respect not onely in the conuersation they haue with these Women but also in the honest order they ought to obserue in hearing their causes And that to bee done in such sort that whatsoeuer they say vnto them may bee secret prouided also the place where they speake with them bee open for other Suiters in like case CHAP. XVIII That the Nobles and Beloued of Princes exceede not in superfluous fare and that they bee not too sumptuous in their meates A notable Chapter for those that vse too much delicacy and superfluitie THe greatest care regard that Nature laide vpon her selfe was that men could not liue without sustinance so that so long as wee see a man eate yea if it were a thousande yeares wee might bee bolde to say that hee is certainely aliue And hee hath not alone layde this burden vpon men but on bruite beasts also For wee see by experience that some feedeth on the grasse in the fieldes some liues in the ayre eating flyes others vpon the wormes in carring others with that they finde vnder the water And finally each beast liueth of other and afterwardes the wormes feede of vs all And not onely reasonable men and brute beasts liue by eating but the trees are nourished thereby and wee see it thus that they in stead of meate receiue into them for nutriture the heate of the Sunne the temperature of the ayre the moisture of the earth any dewe of heauen so that the sustenance for men is called meate and that of plants and trees increase This beeing true therefore that wee haue spoken we must needes confesse that to liue wee must eate and yet withall wee must vnderstand that the sin of gluttony consisteth not in that that wee eate for necessity but only in that that is eaten with a disordinate appetite and desire And sure now a dayes men vse not to eate to content nature but to please their licorous and dainty mouthes Hee that giueth him selfe ouer to the desire of the throate doth not onely offend his stomacke and distemper his body but hurteth also his conscience for all gluttons and drunkards are the children or the brothers of sinne And I speake but little to say that the mouth and sinne are câ—sin Germanes together for by their effects and operations me thinketh them so knit and combined together as the Father and the Sonne Sith burning Leacherie acknowledgeth none other for her mother but onely the infatiable and gurmand throate And
greatest troubles or to tearme it better one of the greatest daungers I see the fauoured Courtier in is this that all the Courtiers and in a manner all the Citizens desire to see them out of fauour or dead by some meanes For euery man is of this minde that with the chaunge of things by his fall or death hee hopeth hee shall rise to some better state or happily to catch some part of his offices or liuing An other mischiefe and inconuenience yet happeneth to this fauoured Courtier by haunting other Tables and that is that many times it chanceth vnseemely and vnhonest wordes are let fall at the Table and perhapps quarrell arise vpon it which though hee bee present yet he can neyther remedy nor appease it And because these thinges were done spoken in the presence of the esteemed of the Prince he that spake them hath credit and those that heard it descryed it Yet there is an other disorder that commeth by these feasts that is that he which maketh the feast and biddeth guestes dooth it not for that they are of his acquaintance his kinsfolkes or his faithfull friends nor for that hee is bound and beholding to them but onely to obtaine his desire in his suites that he hath in hand for they are few that seeke to pleasure men but in hope to be greatly recompenced Therefore those that are in fauor and authority about the prince and that accept others bidding sure one of these two things must happen to them Eyther that hee must dispatch his businesse that inuiteth him yea although it be vnreasonable so vniust and damnable that obtayning it both he and the fauoured Courtier goe to the Deuill together for company for the wrong and iniury they haue done to another or on the other side refusing to doe it the Bidder is strucken dead and repenteth his cost bestowed on him Aboue all things I chiefly admonish the Courtiers and Officers of Princes not to sell chaunge nor engage their liberties as they doe the same day they beginne to follow such feasts or to receiue gifts or presents or to linke themselues in straight friendshippe with any or to deale parcially in any cause For by these foresayde occasions they shall oft binde themselues to doe that that shall not bee fit for them besides the losse of their liberty they had before to doe that was most honest and commendable CHAP. XIX That the fauoured of Princes ought not to be dishonest of their tongues nor enuious of their words ANaxagoras the Philosopher disputing one day of the cause why Nature had placed the members of mans body in such order as they are and of the propertie and complexion of euery one of them and to what ende they had beene so orderly placed by Nature each member in his place falling in the end to treat of the tong sayde thus of it You must vnderstand my good Disciples that not without art and great mystery Nature gaue vs two feete two hands two eares and two eyes and yet for all this but one tongue whereby shee shewed vs that in our going feeling smelling hearing and seeing we may bee as long as we will but in speaking wee should be as sparing and scant as could bee Alleadging further That Nature suffered vs to goe open and bare-faced the Eyes the eares the hands the feete and other partes of the bodie bare also excepting the Tongue which shee hath enuironned with jawes and empaled with Teeth and also shut vp with lips which shee did to giue vs to vnderstand that ther is nothing in this present life that hath more neede of Guarde and defence then hath this our vnbrydeled Tongue And therefore sayde Pythachus the phylosopher that a mans Tongue is made like the yron poynt of a Lance but yet that it was more daungerous then that For the poynt of the lance can but hurte the flesh but the Tongue pierceth the heart And surely it was a true saying of this philosopher For I know not that man how vertuous or pacient so euer he be but thinks it lesse hurt the bloudie sword should pierce his flesh then that he should be touched in honour with the venemous poynt of the Serpentine-Tongue For how cruell soeuer the wound be Time doth heale it and maketh it wel againe but defame or infamie neyther late nor neuer can be amended We see men refuse to goe by water for feare of drowning not to come too neer the fire for feare of burning nor to goe to the warres for feare of killing to eate no ill meates for beeing sicke to climbe vp on high for feare of falling to goe in the darke for feare of stumbling to auoyde the yll ayre and raine for feare of rewmes yet I see very few or none that can beware of detractors and ill tongues And that this is true I tell you I doe not thinke that in any thing a man is in such perill and daunger as when he liueth accompanyed with men dishonest in theyr dooings and vile and naught in their tongues I haue also read touching this matter that Aformius the phylosopher being asked what he meant to spend the most part of his time amongst the desart mountaines and in hazard euery houre to be deuoured of wilde beasts Answered thus Wild beasts haue no other weapons to hurt mee but theyr hornes and nayles and theyr Teeth to deuoure mee but men neuer cease to hurte and offend mee with all their whole members And that this is true behold I pray you how they looke at mee with their Eyes spurne mee with their feete torment mee with their hands hate mee with their hearts and defame me with their tongues So that we haue great reason to say That a man liueth with more securitie amongst wilde beasts then amongst malignant and enuious people Plutarch in his booke De exilio sayth That the Lidians had a Law that as they sent the condemned murtherers to rowe in the Galleyes so they confined those that were Detractors and euill tongued men into a secret place farre off from all company the space of halfe a yeare In so much that many times these lewde mates chose rather to rewe in the Galley three yeers then to bee exempt from company and speaking with any but sixe monethes Much like vnto this Law did Tiberius the Emperour make another and condemned a great talker and railer of his tongue and commaunded straightly that he should neuer speake word the space of a whole yeare And as the historic sayth hee remayned dumbe and neuer spake during the whole terme but yet that hee did with his dumbnesse more hurt with nods and signes with his fingers then many other would haue done with their ill tongues By these two examples wee may see that sith these naughty tongues are not to be repressed by silence in secret nor to entreate them as friends nor by doing them good nor by sending them to Galleyes nor to make them holde
the Sunne shineth hotest and at the beginning there was found one Woman with one birde called the Phenix which birde was created on the Water and the woman engendered by the great heat of the Sunne and of the powder of trees in this wise There was a tree sore eaten with wormes and vpon a time a blast of Lightning set it on fire and burnt it so as among the ashes of that rotten tree the first woman was made and found Although I bee a Romane Philosopher yet can I not disallow the opinion of the Greeke Philosopher Of a truth ' ye amorous Dames you haue your tongues of the nature of fire and your conditions like the powder of a rotten tree According to the diuersity of Beasts so Nature hath in diuers parts of the body placed their strength as the Eagle in her byll the Vnicorne in the horne the Serpent in the tayle the Bull in the head the Beare in his pawes the horse in the breast the dog in the teeth the Bore in the tuske the Doues in the winges and the women in their tongues For of a truth the flight of their loue is not so high as the fantasie of your foolishnesse is vaine the catte scratcheth not so sore with her nayles as yee doe scratch the foolish men with your importunities The dogge hurteth him not so much that hee runneth after as ye do the sorrowful Louer that serueth you the life of him is not in so much danger that catcheth the Bul by the horns as is the fame of him that falleth into your hands To conclude the Serpent hath not so much poyson in his tayle as ye haue in your tongues I accept the Romane Ladies apart for there are many very noble whose liues are not touched with complaint nor good fames had in suspect Of such neyther my Letter speaketh ought nor my penne writeth but of those women I speake that bee such as all the venemous beasts in the world haue not so much poison in their bodies as one of those haue in their tongues And sith the Gods haue commaunded and our fate doth permit that the life of men cannot passe without women I aduise the youth and beseech the aged I wake the wise and instruct the simple to shunne women of euill name more then the common pestilence Reading the auncient Lawes of Plato I finde written this We command that all women openly defamed bee openly banished the City to the entent that others seeing the sinne punished may abhorre the same for feare to fall in the like paine The same Law sayde further Wee commaund that they pardon a woman for all her faults shee committeth boldly in case yee see amendment likewise in her but wee will that no fault bee pardoned committed by the tong For actuall sinne done is the frailety of nature the tongue onely of malice O diuine Plato Master and measure of all knowledge and science and prince of all philosophers when thou in the golden world madest such Lawes In which time there was such scarcitie of those women which were euill and so great plentie of them that were good In this case what should wee doe now in Rome where there bee so many euill openly and none good in secret Women ought naturally to bee shamefast in their face temperate in their words wise of wit sober in their going honest in their conuersation pittifull in their correction warie in their liuing auoyding companies faithfull in their promises constant in their loue Finally shee that will be counted honest let her not trust to the wisedome of the Worldly-pretended-wise nor commit her Fame vnto the wanton youth Let euery wise woman take heede what hee is that promiseth her ought For after the flames of Venus be set on fire and Cupid shotte his arrowes the Rich offereth all that hee hath and the poore all that hee may The wise man will euer be her friend and the simple-man for euer her seruant The wise man wil lose his life for her and the simple will accept his death for her The old men say they will be friends to their friends and the yong men will say he wil be enemy to theyr enemyes The aged promising to pay her debts the other to reuenge her jniuries Finally the one because to hide their pouerty and the other to publish their beautie leade these fooles losing their liues and bringing their fame to ende I will leaue to speake of the good Women for I minde not to charge them with ought I aske you amorous Ladyes if Plato was amongst you when ye made a play of my life and drewe my picture about Rome No surely for that I see in your acte now I doe suspect that to be true which hath been saide of others for there are fewe in Rome that execute the paines of Platoes Law One thing yee cannot denie if I were the worst of all men at the last ye see the end of my transgressing but this you cannot denie that she which is least euill of all you the naughtines of her life I could not sufficiently set out in my life It is great perill to wise women to be neighboured with fooles it is great perill to the shamefast to bee with the shameles it is great perill to the chast to be with the adulterers great perill it is for the honourable to be with the defamed For there is no slaundered woman but thinketh euery one defamed or at the least is desirous to haue them so procureth to haue them slaundered or saith they bee infamed And in the end to hide their infamie they slaunder all the good It is long sith I knewe you amorous Ladyes and you mee If I speake I speake if you knowe I knowe If yee holde your peace I am still if ye speake openly I will not talke in secrete Thou knowest well Auilina thou diddest compasse the ieast of mee that Eumedes solde Calues deâ—rer in the Butchery then thou diddest innocent Virgines in thy house And thou Toringa knowest well that before mee thou couldest not recount all thy Louers on thy fingers but diddest desire to haue a bushell of peason Thou knowest well Lyuia Fuluia when thou wert thou knowest with whom at Bretus we made agreement with thy husband thou tookest him aside and sayedst Vnles I may lye out of my house one Night in a weeke thou shalt not lie quietly in thy house Thou knowest well Rotoria that in thy youth thou werte two yeares on the Sea and diddest compound with the pirate that no woman shold serue the 100. soldiers but thou alone in a gally Thou knowest right wel Enna Curtia that when the Censor came to take thee hee found v. mens apparrell the which thou warest in the night season and but one womans attire wherewith thou wert clothed in the dayetime Thou knowest well Pesilana Fabricia that Alluines Metelles and thou beeing married demaunded openly what thou haddest gotten in his house with thy friendes in secret Thou