managing and ordering of it vsing their best care and helpe that it may bee preserued and continued and that it may not be exhausted and drawne dry And more particularly Kings themselues the Grandes and Peeres of the kingdome as also the commonwealths and your Cities should carefully looke hereunto Being that they do most participate of the profits which issue from a warre And most certaine it is that nothing is more necessarie in a Monarchie then this particular treasure or that causeth more respect in our friends or feare in our enemies Or that with more commoditie and conueniencie puts in execution all plots and proiects in this or that other enterprise of what qualitie or condition soeuer they bee And to this aduice I shall adde that which followeth All wise and prudent Princes in Empires that are runne out to waste and decrease of wealth haue euermore held it for the onely remedie of their reparation and conseruation to excuse vnnecessarie expences And that their Ministers take this businesse into consultation and to cast vp all accounts and to see what the Kings rents and in-comes are for the defraying of the charge he is at and by comparing one with the other and seeing how they will answer each other if they finde the expence to exceed the In-come to cast about which way it may be best spared and to husband the businesse so that there may be some ouerplus still remaining for the publike treasurie For if by disorder ill gouernment the Kings coffers shall come to be emptie it will bee if not impossible at least very hard to fill them againe For if there be daily more spent then is to be or can be had that stocke will in a short time decay and come to nothing as wee see it fareth in euery other humane subiect that hath not fresh supply Which lauish and vnproportionable spending not liuing according to the rate of their rents hath been the vndoing of many particular houses families as also the impouerishing and ouerthrowing of Empires kingdomes And therefore to auoide this inconuenience was that booke of Accounts or Memoriall made which the Ancient called Breuiarium Imperij a briefe abridgement of the Empire which Augustus Caesar left to his successours written with his owne hand wherein was particularly set downe in a true and iust account the full number of all the kingdomes and Prouinces of the whole Romane Empire As likewise the number of all the Citizens and Souldiers which were in euery one of them together with their forces and strength and to what quantitie came all the rents and tributes that hee had what aide-money and other helpes hee receiued from his Confederates and the whole charge he was at As also his Councels ordained by him either for the inlarging or shortning of his hand in these his expences So that hauing still before his eyes the wealth and substance of his Empire he might alwayes see how the world went and how to make his best benefit thereof for the conseruing and vpholding of his Empire Such a Register or rent-roll as this much importeth Kings It is said of that wise and prudent King Don Philip the second that in his time he had such another as was this And the like ought all Kings to haue and at all times but more especially when their power is lessened their rents diminished their forces wasted and those of their enemies augmented For we see the like care to bee taken in particular houses and therefore ought much more to bee looked into in Monarchies which are composed of all those houses and families amongst which that which spends beyond it's meanes consumes it selfe For supposing such â—one hath an 100. V. Ducats of rent or set reuenue and that euery yeare ten thousand more is spent then the rent comes to in a few yeares all will come to nothing and by running still on in debt and taking no course to come out of it by liuing still at the same height he must bee inforced in the end to sell and deliuer ouer the luster maiestie and greatnesse of his house to other families which were before little better then dust taken out of the dunghill And most certaine it is that they that will not cast vp their accounts and looke throughly into their estates and see in what state they are must bee either men that are willing to vndoe themselues and their whole posteritie and must bee either Atheists or almost as bad if not worse meere Epicures who carry in their mouths and in their hearts those words of your vnthristie gallants Comedamus bibamus cras enim moriemur Let vs eate and drinke for to morrow we shall dye Your Atheists they propose an end vnto themselues thinking by this their prodigalitie to procure vnto themselues an immortalitie of fame But these and the like who so inconsiderately runne out of all are carelesse and negligent euen of this taking care onely to eate and to drinke and to feast one another without so much as thinking that there is another world or any honour or fame in this And spending their whole life in belly cheare and bezeling they are neuer satisfied but call in still for more till their crawes be ready to cracke And notwithstanding the excessiue rents which some Kings haue and the great store of treasure that comes to their coffers besides the Tributes Taxes Imposts and Subsedies that are duely payed them they are neuer out of debt the Crowne-land lying impawned for the payment thereof and that for no small summes of money Ordinary expences are ill husbanded extraordinary worse payed The Cities they are consumed Trading decayed the Subiects out of breath and purse and by hauing too much imposed vpon them are growne like ouer-laboured oxen so poore and so weake that they are no longer able to beare so great a burthen And yet all this to them though the Subiect infinitely suffer is no more then a drop of water throwne into the sea nor makes no more shew Which sea though it swallow vp all the fountaines of the earth all the brookes and all the great and principall riuers and lesser springs and this daily and hourely and at all times yet we see the Sea is neuer a whit the more increased nor growes greater one yeare then another But what should bee the cause of this let your Naturalists and your Kings render such reasons as pleaseth them in their excuse of mine owne part I am of opinion that the Kings Exchequer is not well ordered making him not onely a small but a bad account That there is a great deale of disorder in the laying out of those monies whereof much might bee saued if there were some orderly course taken for the dispending of them and imploying them for their Kings best aduantage And I feare me which I could wish were causelesse that a great part of this water which should come directly to the Kings owne cisterne passeth through
if he be defectiue in this For kingdomes last no longer then Iustice lasteth in them And true it is that there is no winde shut vp in the bowells of the earth which causeth therein such violent effects of Earth-quakes as in those kingdomes which thinke themselues surest and firmest doe the complaints and greiuous sighes of the wronged poore And therefore let none whatsoeuer be they Kings great Ministers or Counsellours of State slightly reckon of the cries of the poore For they referring their reuenge to God they draw him downe from Heauen to right their quarrell And the basest and most barbarous man in the world when he sees himselfe wronged and can finde none vpon earth to pleade his cause or to doe him right he presently lifts vp his eyes vnto Heauen and makes his addresse vnto God assuring himselfe that his helpe will come from thence And it was well said of a Wise man That the wronged are like vnto those that are ready to be drowned who if they fasten vpon any thing neuer let it goe so these men when they are in danger to be sunke by being forcibly kept vnder water by the oppressours hand lay fast hold on complaints cryes sighes and teares as the last remedy allotted them by God who saith That he will heare the petitions and receiue the Memorialls of the afflicted which are written with teares A maxilla enim ascendunt vsque ad caelum Ecel For from the cheeke they ascend vp to heauen They trill downe the cheekes till they fall to the ground and from thence they mount vp as high as Heauen for being water they rise as much as they fall And when God sees they haue reason on their side and that they onely call vnto him for iustice it being so proper an Attribute vnto him in the end he grants and signes their request Nor is it much that he should shew them this fauour his bowells being moued to compassion in seeing his creatures in such extremities of affliction Let Kings therefore beware and take heede and their Ministers bethinke themselues that in such a case an Inundation of teares is of more force and more danger then that of the swiftest Torrent vpon a mighty flood CHAP. XVIII Of the sense of hearing And of the Audiences which Kings ought to giue PVrsuing stil the Metaphore of the head whereon hitherto we haue insisted occasion is now offered vnto vs to treat of the sense of Hearing which hath some certaine excellencies aboue the rest For thereby we come to vnderstand the hidden secrets of the heart and the most inward thoughts of the Soule which being clad and apparrelled with that out-side and exterior part the Voyce and put vpon the Hearing of that person with whom we talke and discourse it knoweth that which the vnderstanding of neither Men nor Angels once is able to comprehend And that which we haue spoken of the sence of the sight ought likewise to be said of this For as far forth as is the perceiuing of a Voyce or some other noyse or sound by the hearing so farre is it common as well to brutes beastes as to Men. But it is proper only vnto Man by hearing a significatiue voyce to discourse thereof and to vnderstand the inward conceipt of him that speaketh And from hence will we draw what ought to be heard by the Head of a Common-wealth who is not onely to content himselfe with hearing the bare externall Voyce but to heare it in such maner as the holy Scripture telleth vs God heareth the voyces of those which call vpon him in the time of their trouble which is a vsuall and plaine kinde of Language in the Diuine Writt And when it is sayd that God heareth vs it is ioyntly sayd that he graunteth our petition Whereof many Testimonies are found in the Psalmes of Dauid and in diuerse other places CÃ um inuocarem Psal 4.1 ibi ver 4. exaudiuit me Deus iustitiae meae Dominus exaudiet me cum clamauero ad cum c. The God of my righteousnesse heard me when I called vpon him And anone after The Lord will heare when I call vnto him In the twentie one of Genesis it is there twice repeated that God heard the voyce of Agars childe who was Abrahams bond-woman Gen. 21.17 which the mother had left all alone in the wildernesse of Bersheba vnder a certaine tree and sitting downe ouer against him a farre off about a bow-shoote that shee might not see him perish for want of water Dixit enim non videbo morientem puerum For shee said I will not see the death of the childe In the very next Verse following a double mention is made That God heard the voyce of the childe Which was in effect to say that he did releiue him and refresh his thirsty Soule and granted that which the infant and his mother desired And the Apostle Saint Paul in that Epistle which hee wrote to the Hebrewes saith of our Sauiour Christ That Offerens preces ad deum cum clamore velido Heb. 5.7 et lachrymis exauditus est pro sua reuerentia Offring vp prayers and supplications to God the father with strong crying and teares he was also heard in that which he feared Which was all one as if he should haue said That his father dispatcht him and granted what he petitioned in that his prayer So that in rigour of holy Writ Gods Hearing and Gods Granting is all one But in that common Commerce with men and in that style which Kings and their Ministers vse it is not so For they heare and hearing answer that they haue heard that which they neuer meane to grant And there is no worse Answer for a suitor then to make this answer to his petition That it hath beene heard And it is very fit that they should reply in this kinde of phrase for thereby is giuen to be vnderstood the great obligation they haue to heare as well those that haue iustice as those that pretend to haue it although they haue it not In signification whereof the two eares are placed on the two contrarie sides of the head one opposite to the other because affording one eare to the Plaintiffe we must reserue the other for the defendant And because God would haue it so that Hearing should be the ordinary meanes for the receiuing of the diuine Light and attaining to the knowledge of those supreme truthes by so superexcellent and high a gift as that of faith Rom. 10.14 Quomodo credent ei quem non crediderunt How shall they beleeue in him of whom they haue not heard As also that Kings may haue an intire light of humane Truthes it is requisite that they should lend a willing care to those that craue Audience of them For in this sense of all other saith Saint Bernard Truth hath it's seate and Mansion Bern. in Cont. Ser. 28. In auditu veritaes Truth is in Hearing And in example of
this hee alleageth that which passed betwixt good old Isaac and his two sonnes Esau and Iacob who by reason of his olde age fayling very much in all the rest of his senses that of his hearing continued still in it's full perfection The other deceiu'd him Gen. 27.22 and this onely told him the Truth Vex quidem vex Iacob manus autem maâ—â—s sunt Esau The voyce is Iaecobs voyce but the hands are the hands of Esau Wherein he was out In Gods Schoole where faith is professed great reckoning is made of Hearing Quia fides ex auditu Because faith comes by hearing Rom. 10 17. For a man may heare and beleeue though he cannot see But in the Schoole of the world we must haue all these and all is little inough We must see heare and beleeue And when Kings haue both seene and heard and throughly informed themselues of the whole State of the busines that they may not be deceiued in their iudgement then let them presently proceede to touch it as we say with the hand to fall roundly to worke and in that maner and forme as shall seeme most fitting to finish and make an end of it Psal â—02 19.20 Dominâ— de coeli in terram aspexit vt audiret gemitus compeditorum c. The Lord looked downe from the height of his Sanctuary Out of the Heauen did the Lord behold the earth that he might heare the mourning of the prisoner and deliuer the children of death This looking downe of the Lord from the highest Heauens and from the throne of his glory vpon the earth to heare the grieuous groanings and pitifull complaints of poore wretched creatures which call and cry vnto him for iustice should my thinkes be an admirable good lesson for Kings that they should loose somewhat of their sportes and recreations and of that which delighteth the eye and the eare to bestow them both on those who humbly petition him that he will be pleased to both see and heare their cause Of Philip King of Macedon though some put it vpon Demetrius it is reported by Plutarke in his life that going one day abroad to take his pleasure and pastime an olde woman came vnto him besought him to heare her and to do her Iustice But he excusing himselfe and telling her he was not now at leysure to heare her shee made answer Proinde neâ— Rex quidem esse velis Sir if you be not at leysure to heare your subiects will not giue them leaue to speake vnto you leaue to be king for there is no reason he should be a king that cannot finde a time to cumply with his dutie Conuinced with this reason without any more adoe he presently gaue a gracious Audience not onely to her but many moe besides For Kings which doe not heare by consequence do not vnderstand And not vnderstanding they cannot gouerne And not gouerning they neither are nor can be Kings The Cretans painted their God Iupiter without cares because he was that supreme king that gaue lawes and iudged all And therefore ought to cary an equall eare indifferently to heare all parties after one and the same selfe manner Other some did allow him eares but so placed them withall that they might heare those least that were behinde him Which was held a fault in their God as likewise it is in Kings not to heare any but thosse that stand before them or side by side are stil weighting at their elbow Kings should heare as many as they possibly can and which is the onely comfort of suitors in that gratious and pleasing kinde of maner that no man should depart discontented from their feete being a maine fundamentall cause to make all men to loue reuerence and esteeme them and likewise to oblige Princes to lend the more willing and patient eare to their subiects And of this subiect Pliny in commendation of his Emperour Traiane tells vs that amidst so many cares of so great an Empire as his was he spent a great part of the day in giuing Audience and with such stilnes and quietnes as if he had beene idle or had nothing to doe And that he knowing the content that his subiects tooke in their often seeing of him and speaking with him so much the more liberally and longer he afforded them occasion and place for to inioy this their content For nothing doth so much please and satisfie the heart of a Prince as to conceiue that he is beloued and generally well affected of all his subiects Let a King then this course being taken perswade himselfe that his people loueth him and desireth to see him and to speake dayly if it were possible with him And that they take a great deale of comfort that they haue seene him and he heard them And that of two things which all desire To wit To be heard and relieued The first intertaines and comfortes the suitor and makes him with a cheerefull minde to hope well of the second Let him heare though it be but as he passes by from place to place and let him not let any day passe without giuing ordinary Audience at a set hower and for a set time And in case any shall require a more particular and priuate Audience a gods name let him grant it them For euery one of these to conceiue the worst cannot deceiue him aboue once And it is to be supposed that they will not be so vnciuill or so foolishly indiscreete as to craue the Kings priuate eare but in a case of necessitie or where there is some especiall cause or extraordinary reason for it And I farther affirme that Audience being giuen in this maner things will be carryed more smoothly and with more ease on either part For that which breakes down your Damn's in your riuers is the detention of the water And the detayning of a Subiect from the presence speech of his King is that which doth dishearten and deiect the mindes of your negociants and supplicants And when they see they so seldome haue Audience and are put off from day to day and that it costes them so deare before they can be heard they will while they may make vse of that present occasion and then they talke world without end and neuer giue ouer because they are afraid they shall neuer haue the like opportunitie againe But when those suitors shall know that they shall haue ordinary hearing on such dayes and such a set houre and for so long a time they will content themselues with giuing much lesse trouble to their owne tongues and his Maiesties eares In a word no man will denie but say with me that it is iust and meete That he that is to rule and remedy all ought likewise to heare all and that all men should know as much for for the good and hope thereof they principally obay and loue their King And besides a great part of that concurse and tedious trouble of Negociants will by this
pleasing and very acceptable vnto all and will oblige them all to new seruices And such a generall content will it cause in all sortes of people that it will make them to brook with the better patience those great fauours which are vndeseruedly done vnto others being in themselues men of no merit in the world I would not haue Kings to be too much carried away with the inclination of their own mindes for as they are Kings they will euermore be apt to giue much But I would haue them to place their eyes as also their consideration vpon the qualitie of the person to whom they giue according to the rules of Distributiue Iustice For from that in the receiuer and this in the Giuer is formed that Temperance Moderation and Equitie which giues liberality it's being and makes it to be a vertue Heroicall and worthy Kings Which if it be fayling in ether of these the one or the other it shall merit no such name as you shall see by and by when we come to conclude this discourse wherein we aduertise those that giue that it shall be much prudence and make likewise much for the good of the party himselfe that receiueth to goe leysurely along with him in these Mercedes and fauours For this difference I finde to be betweene offences and punishments fauours and benefits that the first are done but once because in discretion they will not goe dayly nourishing the passion of those who receiue the harme thereby and stand in feare lest the like ill might happen vnto them selues As for the second it is fitting that they be done often giuing now a little and then a little that it may the better penetrate the palate and please the taste of him that receiueth them As in our bodily meates and drinkes bit after bit draught after draught agrees better with our health and taste then grosse feeding and fall cups Besides this faire and frequent distribution cannot but cause a more settled loue in those persons on whom they are bestowed as also in those who liue in expectation of the like CHAP. XXIII How and in what sort Limitation in giuing may sute with the Greatnesse of Kings NOw I see the reply and the Argument which may be made against that which we haue mentioned in the former Chapter For this same sising of Kings fauours and these same short bounds of bounty wherein some would shut them vp seemeth no way compatible with the authoritie and greatnesse of Kings Especially on such occasions wherein they are forced to bestow them vpon persons that are deseruingly qualified for them and that haue done notable seruices who are not to be gratified with small gifts nor may that seeme to bee much which is giuen but once First of all I answer hereunto that it stands with good reason that they who haue spent their meanes and the better and greater part of their liues in the seruice of their King and Common-wealth should be recompensed according to the qualitie of their persons and seruices when Kings are well able to doe it without putting themselues in necessitie or charging their subiects which they too vsually doe with extraordinary Impositions And if it be well considered the maine drift of our former Chapter was that things might be so ordred that Kings might haue wherewithall to giue vpon such like occasions That therefore which I say is this That they ought to holde their hand in those Gifts which they giue meerely vpon their owne pleasure and humour that they may the better cumply with those which lye vpon them by way of obligation For they that haue vnder their charge and Command such a multitude and number of subiects it is not meete that they should conferre many and great fauours vpon a few and few or none vpon many shewing grace vnto some with that which in Iustice is due vnto others whose often sweats perpetuall labour and extreame neede serue now for riches regalos intertainments and annuall rents to those who in all the whole course of their life neuer knew what it was to moyle and toyle or to take any paines for the Common-wealth Nay which is more and it grieueth my soule to speake it the sweat and blood of poore labouring men is conuerted into roseâ—water for to feede their delightes and pleasures and that in such wastfull riotous loose intertainments as certainely beseemeth not Christians but Epicures and Sardanapalians Amos. 6.1 who did denie the immortalitie of the soule Woe vnto them saith God that are at ease in Syon woe vnto you great Potentates and Rulers ouer the people who enter in state into the Temples and goe thence in pompe who delight in lasciuiousnesse lying vpon bedds of yuory who eate the Lambeâ— of the flock the Calfes out of the stall who drink wine in bowles and annoynt themselues with the chiefe oyntments who sing to the sound of the Violls and inuent to themselues instruments of Musicke no man in the meane while being sorie for the afflictions of Ioseph or taking pitie and compassion of those poore miserable wretches who must wring and smart to maintaine these their idle and vnnecessary vanities But the world will be altred with these men one day and a time shall come wherein as that Princely Prophet saith Psal 58.10.11 Laetâ—bitur justus cum viderit vindictam manus suas laâ—abit in sanguine peccatorum The righteous shall reioyce when hee seeth the vengeance he shall wash his hands in the blood of the wicked And men shall say Verily there is fruit for the righteous doubtlesse there is a God that iudgeth in the earth Then shall Lazarus reioyce and be glad in Abrahams bosome and the rich Glutton lying in Hell shall begg a dropp of cold water and haue no body to giue it him And if any man should say vnto me that the Grandeza and Greatnesse of Kings requireth that great rewards should be giuen both to the one and the other My answer vnto him is That nothing better becommeth Kings for the conseruing of their Greatnesse then to know that they are but men and that they cannot stand in Competition with God whose fountaine of riches is infinite and is able to fill and satisfie all and neuer can be drawne dry though it be imparted and distributed to neuer so many Whereas that of men is but like vnto the water of a Cisterne which by being communicated to many is diminished and exhausted King Nabucodonosor and other Kings of whose falls there is mention made in the Scripture for default of this knowledg fel from their estates And let that tree whose top touched heauen and whose boughes did ouerspread the whole world whereof wee so lately made mention serue now the second time for an Example which going about to imbrace all in it 's owne armes and to giue sustenance in aboundance to all and pretending to exalt it selfe as high as heauen did pay the price of this it's pride
the clattering of armour and taking pleasure in the sound of musicke in putting off harnesse and putting on silkes in changing a field-Tent for a soft bed and forsaking the conuersation of soldiars and Captaines to follow the companie of women they stuck a naile in the wheele of their fortunes These are examples that cannot be excepted against But much lesse that which followes of King Salomon whose pompe musick dancings feastings huntings dainties delights and passe-times were such as he himselfe inspired by the Holy Ghost reckons vp Now that which he got by all these what was it Onely this that these Vices and wanton delights made him forget himselfe and to blot out all the good of his felicitie and that good correspondence which hee held with God and in such sor◠did turne his braines that hee came to committ idolatrie and to call his saluation in question And therefore let euery one command his flesh as hee would command his slaue lest it make him a slaue For to him that yeelds himselfe thereunto it is a fierce to him that feares it a cruell and to him that deliuers the keyes of his libertie vp vnto him a dominering Tyrant which like a haltred beast it hales after him There are two remedies found for the curing of so many dammages and disorders as we perceiue to be in this sense of Touching and that of the Tast One generall for all which is Temperance whereof wee will treate by and by The other more particular drawne from the example of Kings whereof we will discourse hereafter §. I. Of Temperance THe Office of Temperance is to keepe a man from flying out and to make him not to incline to a little more or a little lesse but to liue alwayes in very good Order not exceeding in any thing the bounds of Reason Cicero lib. 2. de sin Aug. lib. de moribus Est moderatio Cupiditatum rationi obediens It consisteth in a certaine moderation and mediocritie in pleasures and delights from which a Temperate man abstaineth refrayning from superfluities and excesses vsing things according to necessitie and not according to his appetite And it is that rule and Compasse which doth mete and measure out the desires of man that they may not passe from their point and Center not suffring the heart like the Rauen to flesh it selfe on the dead flesh of sensuall delights Dionis S. Dionisius saith That it serueth to incline a Man to all good according to the rule of reason as well in that which appertaineth to the sense of Touching as of the Taste that it may not like an vnbridled colte breake out into those two vnruly appetites whose operations are so furious and vehement that in earth water and ayre they leaue nothing safe and secure and therefore had neede of this great vertue to restraine their disorders and concupiscences These are those that make the cruellest warre against both body and soule and this is that which bridleth tempreth and moderateth her in her Excesses S. Prosper lib. 3. de vita Contemp. cap 19. Temperantia saith Prosperus temperantem facit abstinentem parcum sobrium moderatum pudicum tacitum serium verecundum Temperance makes a man temperate abstemious sparing sober moderate modest silent serious yet shamefac't It is a Vertue worthy Kings and Princes and much commended by the Saints and many are those Vertues which accompany it As modestie shamefastnesse chastitie abstinence faire and comely behauiour moderation sobrietie grauitie and humilitie Aristotle calls it Arist 6. Ethic. cap 5. 6. Conseruatricem prudentiae sapientiae the Conservresse of prudence and wisedome For intemperance in eating and drinking or in any other kinde of delight doth ouerthrow the braine dull the vnderstanding darken the iudgement blunt the best and sharpest wit and makes man as it were a beast as is to be seene by experience Quotidiano experimento probatur saith Pope Leo potus satietate S. Leo. Serm. de Ieiun aciem mentis obtundi vigorem cordis hebetari It is made good by daily experience that facietie of drinke dulleth the edge of the minde and blunteth the vigour of the heart Temperance likewise preserueth the health and makes mans life more long more sound and more pleasing For to be Princes and Monarkes and Lords of all the world and whatsoeuer therein is is not sufficient to content them if they want their health which is of more worth then all the world besides Melior est pauper sanus Eccl. 30.14 fortis viribus quam diues imbecillis corpus validum quà m census immensus Better is the poore being sound and strong of Constitution then a rich man that is afflicted in his body Health and good state of body are aboue all gold and a strong body aboue infinite wealth In distempering the humours the Lotts of mens Estates are changed The sicke man be hee neuer so great a Lord would be content to change States to haue a poore plough-mans health To what vse serue Kingdomes Signories and great treasures if day and night a King leade a more miserable life then a day-Labourer To what vse serue his rich bed and downe pillowes if he can take no rest in them To what vse serue his delicate Cates and dainty dishes if hee no sooner sees them but loaths them To what vse serue his rich and pretious wines if he must be driuen to drinke Barly-water Or what guste and content can hee take in any thing whose taste is as bitter as gall Or how can he haue contentment in these outward things that hath it not within himselfe Iulius Caesar wearyed out with his want of health did hate and abhorre his life For as the wise man saith Melior est mors quà m vita amara Better is Death then a bitter life A sicke life is no life nor is there any happinesse where health is wanting And all things without it are as nothing For to liue without paine is more to be prized then all And this doth Temperance effect This preserued Marcus Valerius more then a hundred yeares sound in iudgement and strong in body And by this Socrates liued all his life time free from sicknesses and diseases It was the saying of the elder Cate that hee gouerned his house increased his wealth preserued his health and in larged his life by Temperance In multis escis erit infirmitas saith Ecclesiasticus Qui autem abstinens est adijciet vitam Exceste of meates bringeth sicknesse By surfeiting haue many perished but hee that taketh heede prolongeth his life King Māsinoja was wonderfull temperate his fare was ordinary and with out curiositie which made him liue so sound and so healthy that at 87. yeares of age hee begat a Sonne and at 94. wanne a battaile wherein he shewed himselfe a very good Soldiar but a better Captaine And therefore let those dis-deceiue themselues and acknowledge their errour who thinke they shall preserue their life
or ballance they bend all the same way follow him as the shadow doth the body Mouetur cū Principe mobile vulgus As the Prince moues so doth the wauering multitude In vaine do we seeke to rectifie the shadow if the body be crooked The waues of the sea go that way as the winde driues them and the vulgar are led along by the example of those their Kings that gouerne them Aquae multae populi sunt The common people are as many waters The spirit and winde that moues them is the King who with great force carries the mindes of his subiects this way or that way as best pleaseth him By onely seeing Saint Peter abstaine from some meate and eate of other some without commanding it or saying any thing thereof to those new conuerted Christians Galat. 2.14 Saint Paul saith that he carried them away and drew them to doe the like For there is neither Law nor Precept nor force can be compared with that which the example of a King works vpon his subiects forcing them to imitate and follow him King Manasses saith the sacred Text fecit malum coram Domino He did that which was euill in the sight of the Lord for he forsooke him to follow strange Gods like vnto the abhomination of the heathen And anon after drawes thence this consequence or conclusion 2 Chron. 33.9 Igitur Manasses seduxit populum vt faceret malum So Manasses made Iudah and the Inhabitants of Ierusalem to erre and doe worse then the heathen c. But tell me I pray how came it to passe that this King should cast such a mist before his subiects eyes that he should thus deceiue them and make them doe as he did For we doe not finde there that he said any one word vnto them or induced them thereunto by any other diligences whereby to perswade them to commit the like sinne Though he did not yet he did enough in doing that which he did as being their King and Head For as the Soueraigne doth so doth the subiect King Hamor and Prince Shechem his sonne by their bare example onely perswaded their people the Shechemites to leaue that law wherein they had beene bred and brought vp and to entertaine that of the Hebrewes though it turned to the losse of all their liues Of Kings saith a Romane Philosopher Quaecunque vitia ipsi concipiunt ea infundunt in ciuitates Julius lib. 3. de Legibus plus exemplo quam peccato nocent Whatsoeuer vices they conceiue they infuse the same into their Cities offending more by their example then by their sinne By the sinne they doe but aggrauate and wrong their owne conscience but by the example the consciences of all the common people which haue no other eyes whereby they see no other rule or square whereby to rule and gouerne themselues in their actions Nor is there any other meanes whereby vices are communicated with more facilitie and larger licence And therefore it concernes them very much not to make any the least breach in good manners nor to turne though neuer so little aside from the way of vertue For they cannot build vp so fast by their good as they pull downe by their bad example Besides the vulgar iudge their vitious actions for vertuous their bad for good And if not so then will they iustifie their owne loosenesse by laying the same on their King Hee doth thus and thus And why should not I This same Regis ad exemplum runnes ouer all the world and men are willing enough to make their aduantage of it Of Dionysius the Siracusan Plutarch reporteth that at first he was very studious and much giuen to his booke and whilest hee so continued all his subiects applied themselues to the exercise of good letters But growing weary of so good a worke he left off his learning and betooke himselfe to the vice of gaming and wantonnesse and presently all his subiects as if they had beene bewitched began to loath their bookes and fall to vice Isidorus saith of the Ethiopians that they were such Apish counterfeits of their Kings that they held it a kinde of reproach and infamie that if their King did want a member or were lame all his houshold seruants were likewise of that fashion and would willingly mayme and dismember themselues that they might be like vnto their King I say therefore againe Let Kings looke well vnto that which they affect and whereunto they are inclined for the same will his Subiects affect and thereunto will they all be inclined And therefore Isocrates did counsell his King that hee should loue and esteeme the Arts and such Offices as might be most profitable for the commonwealth and should abhorre the contrary for these would bring him augmentation of honour when those other would bee forgotten or but ript vp to his shame that he should approue good and reproue bad customes and euill manners that these might fall and those other be in vse For in regard that the King is Censor morum he that censures our manners and behauiour and sets downe and determineth which we are to flie which to follow Looke which he approueth and keepeth are kept and approued by all and euery one does his best to excell therein And those which he shall reproue and mislike all men will shunne and auoide them And more particularly these two pernicious ones which appertaine to Tasting and Touching I desire to haue them be condemned and reproued by the example of Kings such as are excesse in sumptuousnesse of apparell and in meates and drinkes and the like publike and common vices For by these two abuses great Monarchies haue beene ruined and ouerthrowne Let vs fall a little vpon the first wherein is such excesse and superfluitie in this age as neuer more Howbeit as it was not wanting to former times so was there a great deale of care taken for the reforming thereof Your Romanes made Lawes for to moderate the expences and excesses of apparrell and diet The imperiall Lawes of the kingdome and those of the Partida prohibite it and many other prematicas and Statute Lawes which haue beene made thereupon and confirmed by Act of Parliament And the sacred Scripture likewise in many places doth condemne it And therefore a remedie in this kinde if possibly it can bee procured is very needfull For excesse doth not serue so much for sustentation as for pompe and ostentation wherewith is fomented Ambition vaineglory concupiscence and dishonestie euen to the falling into those vices that were neuer before seene or vsed Their expence that increaseth and their substance decreaseth what wealth can a man haue that will suffice for the arraying and apparrelling of women as also for the clothing of men which is no lesse vicious and expencefull then theirs What doth it benefit vs that the riches of our times are greater then those of our predecessours if our expences be more excessiue By running on in this lauish