A Commō wealth is a liuing body compact of sun­dry estates and degrees of mē: this body is cōposed of two sorts, namely of the soule the worthiest wight, and of the members or parts.Aristotle The soule is the king or supreame go­uernour: which I so terme, for two cōsiderations: first by a simile, in respect of his au­thoritie: for as Aristotle sai­eth, that anima is tot a in toto, Aristotle de anima lib. 2. et tota in qualibet parte. That is, is wholly in the whole bo­dy, and in euery part therof: so the king in regard of his authoritie is accounted. The [Page 2] second & last reason, is in re­spect of his being & ending, who is no sooner said a king, then a king of some Cōmon wealth, nor no Common wealth can be rightly a com­mon wealth, without a king: so the body is no liuing bo­dy without the soule, nor no longer liueth, then the soule remaineth. For as Augustine saith,August. Anima in hominem cre­ando infunditur, infundendo creatur. Or as some would haue it, A common wealth is a cōgregation, or a multitude of inhabitants; beyng as it were,Arist. politic. the mother of vs all. Which we ought to hold so deare, that in defence therof we shuld not feare, to hazard our liues.Cicer. off. lib. 1. For (as Cic. saith) wee are borne not for our selues, but for our countrey, [Page 3] kindred, friends & parents: childrē, parents, and friends are deare to vs: but our coū ­trie chalēgeth a greater loue, and exacteth a farther duty. This word Common wealth is called of the Latine word, Respublica, quasi res populi­ca, the affaires of the people: which the latines cal the Go­uernmēt of a cōmon wealth, or of a ciuill societie, and is termed of the Greciās a po­liticall gouernment, deriued of the Greeke word Polutia, which signifieth the regimēt and estate of a citie, disposed by order of equitie, and ruled by moderation of reason, which answereth and con­curreth most fitly to this my present discourse & purpose, as the order & estate wherby one or many townes are go­uerned, [Page 4] administered, ordai­ned, to that end, that euery societie should by due order or policie be framed.Arist po­ [...]. Al men are naturally borne to affect societie, whereof there be 3. sortes; the one being giuen to the engendring and pro­creating of humane race, as that of man and woman and this is wholy by nature, Nam omnium societatum nulta est magis secundū naturam, quam maris & foeminae. Plato. The other addicted to policie and ciuil gouernment, as lawmakers within their seueral precincts & limits; & this proceedeth partly by nature, partly by o­ther causes. The 3. to lewd­nes, and wickednes, as that of pyrates, theeues and conspi­rators, which societie nature needeth not: this hapneth in [Page 5] many places, either for want of lawe, or the execution therof. This naturall inclina­tion of societie in generall, is in it selfe rude and bar­barous, vnles it be gouerned by counsel, and tempered by wisedome: wherefore some of themselues, eyther by in­stinct of nature, or by diuine essence or secrete influence from aboue, haue deliuered vnto their posterities, a per­fect way and sure reason, as a sugred potion or sweete balme of their beneuolence, to mitigate this humane so­cietie, among whome many were termed authors: but God alone hath so framed the state of the whole cōmon wealth & the gouernment thereof, by his owne eternall prouidēce, & also cōstituted [Page 6] & appointed Moses, as an in­strumēt, to publish the same, for our instructiōs & know­ledge, by which meanes, ma­ny profitable things, for the due ordering of a common wealth, may be reaped & ga­thered, for whose preseruati­ons, as amōgst the Grecians, Persians, Iewes, & in these our daies, many were accoū ­ted authors of reformations: yet howsoeuer, wee ought somewhat to restraine our li­bertie, diminish our credit, & endammage our liues, in the greatest ieopardy, for the safetie hereof. So deare was the loue of Vlysses to his coūtry,Homer Odiss. that he preferred his natiue soile Ithaca, before immortalitie. Camillus a noble Romane, being Dicta­tor six times, & though bani­shed, [Page 7] yet when the French­men had taken the Citie of Rome, & compelled the Ro­mās to redeeme their heads with golde; he with the Ar­deats, with whom hee liued exild, slewe the Frenchmen, & saued the citie from bon­dage. So Horatius Cocles a valiant Romane, with two more, at a bridge that entred into Rome, kept backe, and caused the whole armie of Porsenna to retire, vntill the bridge was broken downe behind them; & then in spite of his enemie, armed as hee was, did swim safe into the ci­tie, and saued his countrie. So likewise Cynegirus a man of excellent vertue, willing to incurre any torture or tor­ment for his countries safe­ty: who after many conflicts [Page 8] had with his enemies, whom hee put to flight, and hardly pursued, vntill they were cō ­pelled to take shipping, yet this valiant man being not willing to let them saile scot-free, fastened his right hand on one of their shippes, not letting goe his hold, vntill it was cut off, and then he held with his left hand: of which also he being depriued, held at last with his teeth. Such was his excellencie,Trogus Pomp. and loy­altie towards his countrey, that no enterprise how great soeuer, could cause him to desist, to patronize the safety therof. But cōtrariwise, Co­riolanus, whome if the fates had prescribed his end in his infancy, had not so treache­rously, & vnnaturally borne armes to the ruine of his own [Page 9] naturall countrey.Dictis Cretens. Plutarc. Antenor also blemished with this de­testable vice, & spotted with this staine, most caitifly fled, with two thousand men, into Italie, and yeelded his natiue citie into the handes of his enemies the Grecians. And no maruaile, seeing neyther the loue of their countrey, nor their owne loyalty could moue them to desist from so lothsome & detestable a fact. Alas, who is hee that would not lament, to see the wrack and ruine of his owne coun­trie, and the happy stay ther­of turned into hellish state? much more, peruerting the lawes of nature, yeeld his cō ­sent to leuell at the bitter bane, and lay a plotte for the finall destruction of his na­tiue soyle, considering and [Page 10] calling to minde the payne due to such gracelesse diso­bedient conspirators, & lewd caterpillers, who neuer mist to suppe of the same sorrow, and tast of the first fruite of their dismall misery. Happie then is that commō wealth, whose safetie is no lesse ioy­full to it selfe, then to all, and whose loyaltie may bee said with Syllas host to crie out, to Sylla, Solus ego extinct a patria non relinquar, now that my countrey is destroied, I wil not liue alone. Most hap­py then is the citie and com­mon wealth, where the peo­ple in generall do obserue the customes and rightes of law, fearing them as a tirant.

1 That life which is due to death is canonized; & rea­ped double reward, if eclip­sed [Page 11] in the defence of his countrey.

2 All men are by nature bound to embrace their na­tiue soile, not in regard of the possessions which they enioy therein, but for the meere loue thereof.

3 In the loue of our coū ­try we ought to perseuer, as being not sufficient once to haue loued it, vnlesse we cō ­tinue to the end.

OF Cōmon wealths there are three sortes,Arist. Po lit. lib. 3. Aristo­cratie, Democratie, and Mo­narchie.

ARistocratie is a gouern­ment, or empire, depē ­ding on the arbitrement of the best nobilitie, deriued of the Greeke worde Aristo­cratiae, in Latin, Optimorum potentia, in English, the rule of men of the best dispositiō, from which regiment Kings were discarded and exclu­ded. Such was the gouern­ment or estate of Rome, wherein the Senators ruled: this in the originall had ex­perience, of the Empire of Kings, which within a litle after was changed into an Aristocratie, as into a wors & meaner estate: at which time Tarquinius was banished, [Page 13] for the detestable cryme and rape of Lucrecia, committed by his sonne: after which time, the tried moderation of nobles or ancient Pieres of Rome steeded as a lawe: for all the authoritie and iurisdi­ction consisted in the hands of Senators or Aldermen, which were in number a hū ­dred; who were accustomed to creat two yeerely consuls, so named, for the prouision and consultation that they made for the cōmon wealth. The Thebans of a long time obserued this gouernment. This maner of gouernment is this day in Venice, howbe­it there is a Duke, which stā ­deth for naught els but for a vaine cipher. Such hath bene y^e imperial state of Carthage. In this Aristocraticall go­uernment, [Page 14] mercenarie crafts­men, haue not bene thought worthy, to haue any place of any desert or estimation, ap­pertaining to this or the like gouernment.

DEmocracie is a popular regiment, tending to the common good. [...] de ori­gine iur. [...] ex­ [...] vs­qu [...] ad §. This worde Democratie is deriued of the Greek word Democratia, in Latine Popularis potentia, in English, the Rule of the Comminalties, who obtained the superiority. This Empire was sustained by gentlemen, whō we this day in England doe terme Esquires, such a gouernment is at this present time at Switzerland, where [Page 15] the people are deuided into Cantons or hundreds, from whence the nobility haue bin reiected and excluded. Such sort of gouernment was at Florence, vntil 60. yeares a­goe, which afterwardes was changed into a Monarchie. So likewise was that Empire of Athens, in which Demo­cratie aforesaid the seede of rashnes & lawlesse lust held the superioritie: because in a disordinate multitude the fruites of displeasure, as hate, rebellion, sectes, & factions, and other heynous crimes must needs be nourished, by a confusion of misgouern­ment, for defect of one sole soueraigne, in whose handes the first & chiefest forme of gouernment depēded: which beyng rightly established, is [Page 16] termed a kingdome, or roy­altie, which falling into these vices, hauing most affinitie therewith, and being nearest vnto it, as into a tyranny of their abolition, ariseth an A­ristocratie, which is commō ­ly or often changed into an Oligarchie & when the peo­ple conspireth reuengement of the iniustice of the gouer­nours, there hapneth this in­ferior gouernmēt of Demo­cratie, because the vertue of commanders are not alwaies alike. Those men are accoū ­ted good mēbers of the Cō ­mon wealth, which to them­selues liue least, and most to their citizēs, & is hardly to be found in the pernicious state of Democratie, because it is thought a cruell conflict in diuers, combred with sundry [Page 17] cogitations, to leuell & ayme at the self same marke: inso­much that the desire of the one is the content of the o­ther, & al their desire tend to the cōmoditie of the Cōmon wealth: In which there are 3. principal things to be noted in the gouernors therof: First their loue towards it that is now established: Secondly, their authority in gouerning: Thirdly, their vertue and iustice: all which are bani­shed out of a Democratie. Wherefore I worthily iudge this sort of gouernment, to be the meanest and worst of the three, because there are many that see the beginning of the miseries which arise, but few respecting their own commoditie least, that seeke to suppresse the same. There [Page 18] is no Common wealth more loose then that wherein the common people haue most liberty,Cicero. which is their wished desire, Nihil enim magis cupit popularis multitudo, quam po­testatem viuendi vt velit, Cicero et Floren. The common people doe desire nothing more, then libertie to liue at their plesure, which argueth & sheweth their im­moderate vanitie and light­nes, their head-long doings, and vnaduised dealings, void of discretion, which procu­reth deadly sedition, mu­tinies, & vproares, to the vt­ter destruction of their king­dome. Wherefore there can no greater daunger ensue, or happen to a Commō wealth then to tollerate the rude, & common sorte to rule, who (as their propertie is) are al­wayes [Page 19] noted to be vnconstāt and wauering, tossed with e­uery sudden blast, and car­ried with euerie light chaffe, as the Prouerbe is, Scinditur in contrarium semper instabile vulgus. The weatherlike vul­gar are prone to admire eue­ry thing, & ready to turne as often as the tide. Where­fore they are rightly accoun­ted to resemble the vgly Hy­dra, which is sayd, no sooner to lose one head, then im­mediatly another groweth. Herehence they are called the monsterous beast of ma­ny heads, whose Empire be­ginning Ordine retrogrado re­sembling the Hebrew, Chal­deake, and Syriake, that are written frō the right hand to the left with points in stead of vowels: so this Democrati­call [Page 20] gouernment beginneth topsie turuy, frō the meanest to the highest, and as wan­ting vowels, with the He­brewes, that is, imperiall o [...] royall gouernment, endeth without any point or period, with Fiat destructio.

A Monarchie is the royall estate of an empire or go­uernment, where one sole Prince most magnificently raigneth, assigned vnto vs as a perfect caulme of per­manent felicitie, against sturdy stormes of pinching misery. This word Monarchy is deriued of the Greek word Monos & Archos, which in Latine is Vnius principatus, in [Page 21] English the gouernment of one, in which Cōmonwelth many cannot fitly gouerne,Homer. wherfore it is thought expe­diēt, that one should be cre­ated soueraigne. In the be­ginning of the world, al peo­ple were willing to subiect themselues vnto a Monarch which was Nimrod;Gen. 11. and so they became ciuill, calling to minde, that mighty men did lay engines, traps & de­uices to rifle them. Not long after, being sundry times an­noyed by fierce and sauage beastes, betooke themselues to societies, frequēted & re­sorted vnto consorts of a set­led stay, fenced and inui­roned within one circuite as their defence and safe­gard, which were termed Ci­ties. Likewise euery country [Page 22] as hope of safety, desire of se­curitie, enforced them to chuse a Monarchy, the Iewes only excepted, who were go­uerned by Iudges and Com­missioners especially elected to administer Iustice, & con­tinue peace: but they after the custome and manner of other nations desired to haue a king, to whom Saul, accor­ding to their wished desire was graunted, and then were al people gouerned by kings, and one king of al the world was the Monarch, which Em­pire or Monarchie first be­gan in Babilon and Assyria, consequently to the Persiās, than to the Grecians, last to the Romanes it was transla­ted. Plato that diuine and famous Philosopher, wished that there were on earth but [Page 23] one King, as there is in hea­uen but one God, to the end that humane gouernment might resemble the diuine, which Lord of the world, as a true Messias or shepheard of mankind, should affect & loue all men alike, as his na­turall subiects, guiding them with good maners, lawes & iudgements, affording them a secure entercourse in all places, so mightie a Soue­raigne or Potentate, enui­yng no person, and desiring no occasion to enlarge has frontiers by ambition, which would bee a meanes of cea­sing so many enormities, warres, slaughters spoiles & robberies, incident to men, in respect of pluralitie and dissentions of gouernment.Plato de legibus. Likewise Zeno the first and [Page 24] chiefest author of the sectes of the Stolkes, imagined one vniuersall forme of gouern­ment, tending to this effect, that all men should not liue by people & nations, being separated by particular laws, rites, and customes, but that they shoulde acknowledge themselues fellow citizens: & as there was but one sort of life, as there was but one world, none otherwise than as it were but one flock, fee­ding vnder one shepheard in common pastures, which is more easily to bee wished than effected, cōsidering the disorder amongst men.

THere is no estate so high­ly established, or so per­fectly [Page 25] ordered & managed, to be compared to the royall scepter of a Monarchie guar­ded with good and whole­some lawes, preuenting pe­rils, by imposing penalties on such as haply in tract of time eclipsed with lasciuious perturbations of the minde, might otherwhiles infringe the rights of Iustice, and de­rogate from equitie & truth, if the seueritie of lawes did not somewhat bridle their haughty mindes, & represse their frowarde dispositions, whereupon that the Empire of a Monarch is the soue­raignest and chiefest, if my censure may stand for a sen­tence, may be euidently pro­ued by foure reasons. First, in that the peace, vnity, con­cord and tranquillity of the [Page 26] communalties,ff de off. presil. cō ­gruit in princ. & autem de mendatis princ. §. deinde conueni­ens col. 3. is said and ac­counted to be the finall end of the gouernour. But this peace, vnity & concord, may rather be maintayned and augmented through the rule of one, then of many: there­fore a Monarchie is best. Se­condly, by the rule and go­uernment of one, the power of the Common wealth is ra­ther fortified, which may be thus proued:Vt autem de cōsan­gui. & vt e. infra. § quia igi­tur col. 6. Vertue by how much more it is vnited, is so much the more corrobora­ted, then if it were dispersed into many partes. If there­fore the Common wealth be guided by the handes of one supreame gouernour, it is the rather munified, and by this meanes the Prince shal with greater power, pompe, and might rule.Vt. l. si pri. in. fi. cum l. se­quent. ff. de adop. Thirdly, arte or [Page 27] handicraft is the more excel­lent, by how much more it doth imitate nature. But an vniuersall Common wealth, is nothing els sauing an ima­ginary,ff. de iu­re. l. pre­ponebat & de fi­deius. l. mortuo. or artificiall perpo­lited bodie, seyng that in such a naturall body, we do coniecture and see one head and many members: where­fore a Citie or Monarchie, if it be so gouerned, it farre ex­ceedeth:Ad idem ex de off. oc. c. quo­niā ple­risque & hoc ver. determi­natū vii. q. I. cum apibu [...]. because it more imitates & resembles nature. Fourthly, prouinces which are subiect vnto many, can­not enioy peace & tranquil­litie, but are the rather mole­sted & cumbred with iarres, bickerings, turmoiles, neuer liuing in quietnes, or posses­sing rest. But contrariwise, in a Monarchie men are igno­rant of quarrels, liuing in [Page 28] safetie & securitie voyd of all annoiances,Bart. tract. de regimine ciuitat. incombred with no care, abounding with store, & flowing with plen­tie of all aboundance: to which if any will obiect, that by how much the more the number of rulers are, by so much the more excellent is the gouernmēt,L. hac cōsultis­sima infi. et ar. c. de testi. l. iure. because ma­ny are more prouident to foresee and preuent casual­ties which might happen to ensue, & withall, one is easier to be corrupted than many: Therefore the gouernment of many is to bee preferred before the gouernment of one: To which I answer, that although a king or Prince is but one, yet hee ought to haue many prudent and wise Counsellours, and in respect thereof he seemeth as many: [Page 29] and amongst many, one who cannot possibly bee corrup­ted, vnlesse all be corrupted, peruerted, and proue muta­ble. Shal we then proue farre inferior, and more sencelesse than the vnnaturall bruite beastes, which onely are by sence guided? they do create & elect one to be their king and chiefe gouernour, as ex­periēce of the Bees teacheth vs, which do make choise of the chiefest Bee, to be a king ouer all the hieue,l. hac cō ­sultissi­ma infi. et ar. c. de testi. l. iure. by which the whole swarme are ledde and guided, as being more prouident and wise than the rest.

[Page 30] If. de iust. & iure [...]. 1. FIrst a king ought to haue reason and knowledge to distinguish Iustice from in­iustice, trueth from falshood, lawfull from vnlawfull, al­lotting no priuiledge to de­fraude any of his right, remē ­bring dominion, power, and superiority not onely graun­ted him: but withall confi­dence and trust to be repo­sed, not to that end he might at his pleasure condemne whom hee lust, and effect what hee wished;Cicero. but what both law & religion should require, abandoning cruell feare: for the Prince, that is feared of many, needes most to feare manie. Quis enim cum diligat quem metuit, aut cum à quo se metui putet? Se­condly, a king should haue free will, a right and a true [Page 31] meaning to leuy euery one, not according to affection, but to desert & Iustice, eue­ry man by euen portion his owne:Aristot. for as the minde of man in it selfe is more pre­cious and excellent then all the other partes, as beyng voyde of indignitie and ble­mish: so ought the iudge­ment and sentence of a king be incorrupt and irreprehen­sible in all points. Also hee should haue a perfect con­stācy to perseuere in wel do­ing, that at al times his deeds might proue his doctrines; for cōstancie & temperance in all points maketh vertue strōg. This is proued by the definitiō of iustice,Instit. li. 1. Arist. Ethic. li. 1. cap. 4. which is a cōstant & a perpetual will, yeelding euery one his own. For the better accōplishmēt [Page 32] hereof, foure things herein are to be noted: first, the sub­iect wherein this Iustice is contained, which is Mens om­nium pars nobilissima. Se­condly, the consideration of the parties in behalfe of whō it is put in vre, who are the most deere and louing crea­tures of God: Thirdly, in re­spect of the originall cause from whence it proceedeth, that is to say, from the omni­potent God, from whom all good thinges doe proceed: Fourthly, in respect of the authoritie of the person whō he representeth, which is the most glorious father. Also it is expedient for a K. to haue wisedome to decide contro­uersie, fortitude to defend his Common wealth, valour to patronize his communalties [Page 33] securitie. Wisdome without iustice, is but craftines, iustice without temperāce is meere cruelty, temperance without fortitude is extreme sauage­nes. To the first, Nunquam enim temeritas cum sapientiae comitatur, Cicero. neque ad consilium casus admittitur. Rashnes ne­uer accompanieth wisdome, neither is blindhap admitted to coūsaile. Except wisemen be made gouernours, or go­uernours wisemen, mankind shall neuer liue at rest, nor vertue be able to patronize and defend her selfe.Plato. To the second, it behoueth a Prince to haue such a zeale & godly courage, that he may alwaies shew himselfe a strong wall for the defence of the trueth and securitie of his subiects. Quis enim non obstare cupiat, Cicero. [Page 34] quis non tantum quantum au­det et potest, conferat ad cōmu­nem salutem. It is requisit for a king to haue seueritie tem­pered with lenitie, to represse the furie of the froward and wicked men, as a scourge al­lotted to extirpate and roote out al iniquity, carying a ma­iestie in his thought, which might gard his mid frō cow­ardice, as the only priuiledge to contēpt. Maiesty is accoū ­ted to resemble the lighte­ning from the East; and the threats of a king, the noise of a thunder: wherefore it be­houeth a king to place such in authoritie, as are of an ex­quisite vertue, & ayme least thereat, and to repell them from gouernmēt, that presse most forwardes to attayne the same. Also it is expedi­ent [Page 35] for a King, in executing of iustice,Aristot. Ethi. in diuerse matters to make no procrastination or delay, which causeth of­tentimes great daungers to happen: which had it beene obserued at the first, might easly haue bin preuēted, whē as letters were sent from A­thens to Archias gouernour of Polemarches, detecting the treason of certain out­lawes who had conspired a­gainst him, which letters af­ter the receipt thereof, care­lesse without any perusing hee layed all night vnder his pillowe, saying, Because I iudge they are waightie matters, I wil adiourne them till the morrow. But before the morning his life was takē frō him. Which caueat Cice­ro did put in practise beyng [Page 36] consull, hauing a decree and an order to suppresse rebels: who assoone as Fuluia the paramour of Quintus Cu­rius had disclosed their intēt, preuented it, otherwise hee had the same night bin slain in his owne house, and the whole Citie fired. It is ne­cessarie for a King to bee stout & rich,Plutarc. that by the one he may boldly challenge his owne, and by the other re­presse his enemies, which for want thereof many become tyrants, and of ouer aboun­dance become enuious.Agesi­laus. A King ought to gouerne his realme and reigne ouer his people, as a Father ouer his children, and consider the cause of the innocent, folow­ing the example of God, in hearing and regarding the [Page 37] complaint of the distressed & needy, whō God regardeth and pittieth, and as he wil not suffer the reprobate to es­cape vnpunished, so will he not permit the iniuries done to the innocent, to escape the graue without reuenge. Also it is expedient for a prince to haue a charie care to his coū ­sellors, in noting who soothe his lust, & tender the publike commoditie, for therby shall he decerne the good frō the bad.Plutarc. In decerning good frō euill, he may eschew al enor­mities and vices, as enuy, an­ger and other odious crimes: for enuie is a filthy slime and an impostume of the soule, a perpetuall torture to him in whome it resteth, a venome, a bitter bane, a caterpiller or fretting corasiue, which con­sumeth [Page 38] the flesh,Socrat. and dri­eth vp the marrow of the bones. What destroyed coū ­tries? subdued kingdomes? depopulated Cities? but en­uie. Iulius Cesar waged war with his owne sonne in lawe Pompeius, beyng mooued with enuie. Qui summum im­perium in Repub. gesturi sunt, tria habere debent, primo, a­morem erga Rempub. iam con­stitutam, secundo facultatem adminisirandi et gubernandi: tertio virtutem et iustitiam, according vnto that of Deu­tronomie,Deut. ca. 16. Thou shalt do ac­cording as they teach thee, and not bowe either to the right hand,August. or to the left. Iustice is to God the chiefest incense, and equitie without guile is a sacrifice of y^e swee­test sauour, whereby gouer­nours [Page 39] must measure nothing by report, but by the way of cōscience: for it litle auaileth a Prince to be Lord of many Monarchies, if on the other­side he become a bondslaue to vice: wherefore a Prince ought to abandon anger as a notorious vice. For as Salo­mon saith, Anger in a King is death: grimme & terrible is his countenance, when he is puffed with wrath, hurtful to many, odious to al is the sight thereof. Alexander waxed so furious and angry,Valerius li. 9. c. 3. that hee could not permit his deare friend Clitus, to cōmend his owne father king Philip of Macedony. O witlesse wil, O fancie fraught ful of phrensie & furie, in stouping without a stall, to such a frantike & vaine furie, which in whoso­euer [Page 40] it resteth, enforceth ei­ther to breake or bend: as therefore holding the flagge of defiāce against these lewd vices, let vertue be thy life, Iustice thy loue, honor thy fame, & heauen thy felicitie.

1 Kings ought to be the shelters to pouertie, their seats the sanctuaries for the distressed.

2 As a king excelleth in pompe, power and riches, so ought he to exceed in vertue and wisedome.

3 Rulers doe more hey­nously offend, in tolerating the companie of vitious per­sons, yeelding ill example, because the offence that is committed in his companie, is accompted euill.

4 The dutie of a king is to listen & consider the com­plaint [Page 41] of his people without respect of person.

THe greatest parte of the office & dutie of kings in auncient time, was to see the administratiō of Iustice. Ho­mer the poet may be a suffi­cient witnesse, when he fai­eth of Agamemnon, that the Scepter & law was commit­ted to him by GOD, to doe right to euery man: answer­able to the which (Virgil de­scribing the Queene of Car­thage) saith she sate in iudge­ment in the middest of the people, as if there nothing beseemed such a person, but such an action, and therefore [Page 42] the poets not without a cause fame Iupiter alwaies to haue Themis, that is, Iustice, at his elbow: signifying, not that whatsoeuer Kinges or Princes did, was iustice and lawfull, be it neuer so vile in his owne nature, (as that wantō flatterer Anaxarchus said to Alexander) but that equitie and iustice should al­waies accompanie them, and neuer depart frō their sides: & hereupō it was that Ada­cus, Minos, and Rhadaman­thus, the first king of Grecia, were so renowned of olde antiquitie, because of their true and vpright execution of Iustice; and therfore were not honored with greater ti­tle, than with the name of Iudges. It is said of K. Alex­ander, that although he was [Page 43] alwaies busied in the affaires of the wars & in giuing bat­tels, yet he would sitte perso­nally in iudgement to heare criminal causes & matters of importance pleaded; & whi­lest the accused laid open his accusation with one hand he would stop one eare, to the end the other might be kept pure, & without preiudice for the defence & answer of the accused. The Roman Empe­rors also were very careful & diligent in this behalf: as first Iulius Cesar, who is recorded to haue taken great paines in giuing audiēce to the parties, & in dealing iustice between thē. In like maner Augustus Cesar is cōmēded for his care in this behalfe, for he would ordinarily sitte in iudgement vpon causes and cōtrouersies [Page 44] of his subiects, and that with such delight & pleasure, that oftentimes night was fayne to interrupt him before he would giue it ouer: yea, al­though he found himself not well at ease, yet would he not omit to apply himselfe to the diuision of iudgement, or els calling the parties before him to his bedside. Iorā king of Israel sonne of Achab, though a man that walked not vprightly before GOD, but gaue himselfe to worke abominatiō in his sight, yet he despised not the poore. A famished womā of Sama­ria, when she demaunded iu­stice at his hands, although it was in the time of warre, whē lawes vse to be silent, and in the besieging & famishment of the citie, neyther did he [Page 45] request the Sunamite for the recouerie of her house and lands, but caused them to be restored vnto her. So that then it is manifest, that those which in old time raigned o­uer the people of God, albeit they had in euery citie Iud­ges, yea, and in Ierusalem al­so, as it appeareth in the 19. chapter or the 2. booke of Chronicles, yet they ceased not to giue eare to suites and complaints that were made vnto them, and to decide cō ­trouersies that came to their knowledge: & for this cause it is that Wisedome saieth, That by her kings raigne, & Princes decree iustice: wher­vnto also belongeth that which is saide in an other place, that a King setting in the throne of iudgemēt, cha­seth [Page 46] away all euill with his eyes.

A Tyrant is a superiour Gouernour that ruleth as he listeth, who onely raig­neth to pleasure a few, & not to the publike profit,Aristot. who is accoūted a rigorous ill dis­posed king, that persisteth in extreames, perseuering in moodlesse modesty, accusto­ming to chastice many for the fault of one, which is a­mōgst euils the greatest euil, & amongst tyrants the grea­test tyranny, that they of thē ­selues will not liue within the precincts, & vnder the rights of law & iustice, nor yet con­sent that malefactors should [Page 47] receiue punishmēt: he estee­meth it better to haue his own palace costly furnished, & the common weale poore, than his palace poore, & the common weale rich. A tyrāt is a king chosen by popular & ambitious election, on the behalf of the cōmunalties, to patronize their cause against the chiefest citizens, preuen­ting iniuries, whose property is not to respect the publique vtilitie, but onely his priuate cōmoditie, whose glory con­sisteth in riches & delight, in pleasure and pompe. Such a one was Dionisius the tyrāt chosē of the Syracusiās. The like king was Atreus, brother to Thyestes, & sonne to king Pelops, who tyrānously slew without compassion three sons of his brother Thyestes, [Page 48] whose bloud hee caused his brother and their owne Fa­ther to drinke vnawares, and hauing hidden their bodies in a caue, cut off their mem­bers, and made their Father to eate thereof. So likewise Astyages played the tyrant, enforcing Harpagus to eate his owne sonne,Trogus Pomp. dressed and serued at his table before Harpagus, of which as being ignorant he fed: but not long after, as a reward for this de­testable tyranny, Harpagus caused his owne nephewe young Cyrus to wage warre against him: of whome hee was ouercome & exiled out of his kingdome. Like as a battered or a crazed ship by letting in of water, not only drowneth her selfe, but all that are in her: so a king or a [Page 49] vitious tyrant, by vsing dete­stable enormities, destroyeth not himselfe alone, but all o­thers beside that are vnder his gouernment; and though vniust offences escape for a time without penaltie, yet neuer without reuēge: wher­fore, as many haue beene remembred through equitie & iustice, aduanced to great honor, euen so iniurious in­uasions, oppressions, cursed and reprobated speeches, & sūdry enacted cruelties, haue bene the vtter wrack, ruine, and endles decay of famous men, and honorable peeres: therfore the miserable wret­chednes almost of all sauage tyrants, may wel yeeld a suf­ficient testimony: for not on­ly they were bereued of their liues, and depriued of digni­ties, [Page 50] but such as were alied vnto them by blood & con­sanguinitie, or adherents by confederacy, in so much that the greatest died the like death, & the rest being spoi­led of their goods and pos­sessiōs, hardly escaped death by banishment, neuerthe­lesse they could not happe­ly escape, and auoid the spot of slaunder and shamefull obloquie: and that I may here without offence speake of Phalaris the lewdest and vnsatiablest bloudsucker that euer nature yeelded, against whome rebelled the whole multitude of the citie Agri­gētinum; & that I may light­ly passe ouer diuerse others with silence, whose maners were infected with the like barbarous cruelty, as beyng [Page 51] nulled with vice, and wea­ned from vertue, assuredly al the blood & race of Phistra­tus by this onely way lost their gouernment & princi­palitie. What should I speak of the Tarquines? were not they traced in the same vice, and trayned in the same in­iniquitie, and for the same cause banished Rome, be­cause they regarded no right, but doing all by violence and extreame crueltie? and whereas Sextus Tarquini­us, imitating the lewde and abominable steps and wic­kednesse of his Father, had after many iniuries, where­by he had wronged the Ro­manes, before committed, and vsed violence to chaste Lucretia, liued with his Father and brethren as an [Page 52] outcast and a stragling straū ­ger in a straunge countrey.Aristot. Wherefore it may be well i­magined, that such an Em­pire cannot long endure, be­cause all the gouernment therof cōsisteth in extreames & violence, doing all things without the consideration of iustice, truth & equitie. Last­ly, amōgst gouernmēt or so­ueraintie, a tyrannicall go­uernment is the worst, De­mocratie the second; but a­mōgst these euils, Oligarchie is the least euill.

1 In vaine is that Prince which is fortified with terror, & is not garded with Iustice.

2 The tyrant that will lose many friends, to be rid of one foe, may be admired for his policie, but condem­ned for his impietie.

[Page 53]3 Tyrants, which by fai­ned gouernment and blazed vertue doe win admirations, are said to buy iust possessi­ons with wrongs.

4 The tyrānie of Prin­ces openeth euery gappe for ruine to enter, which Iustice keepeth backe.

THe nature or condition of an Oligarchie is, that fewe nobles, and the chiefest rich men should haue the su­perioritie, because the state thereof doth consist of aboū ­dance of wealth and riches: therfore what cities or Com­mon wealths were noted to flourish with sumptuous ex­cesse [Page 54] of varietie, wealth and chiualrie, and therein excel­led, such cities were termed an Oligarchie; as amōgst the most people of Asia.

Aristot. Politic.THe politike gouernment of an Oligarchie is more seuere and strict, and more royall and magnificent, than the gouernment of a Demo­cratie, being of equall au­thoritie in all degrees of per­sons, & more remisse & mild; which gouernment conti­nued in diuerse places, & es­pecially at Athens, vntil such tyme they sustained the hea­uie yoke of the thirty ty­rants:Herodo. which Democraticall [Page 55] Empire, as Cicero saieth, is most disordinate: for there is no Common wealth more loose, than that, wherein the people haue ouermuch li­bertie. This sort of popular gouernment is two fold: the one consisting in the rule & gouernment of the chiefest citizens, the other consisting in the rule of free men. The first, of Theseus and Draco instituted, the second, by A­ristides, Pericles and others, haunting after popular ap­plause.

XEnophon that famous philosopher, extolling the Persian laws, testi­fieth, [Page 56] that their citizens, from their very childhood, were taught to attempt, or almost imagine nothing dishonest or vnlawful: after which ma­ner, as it were for the confir­ming thereof, Draco, as Gel­lius reporteth being a citizen of Athens, and indued with wisedome & prudence, first of all decreed a law to the A­thenians, the which, as Plu­tarch reporteth, was so bit­ter and strict, imposing dead­ly punishment to the trans­gressours thereof, for euerie light offēce. Whereof pro­ceeded this excellent voyce of Demadis, saying, The laws of Draco were written with bloud, and not with inke. Of which speach being demaū ­ded a reason, hee answered, that those Lawes imposed [Page 57] ouermuch seueritie. This or the like speaches haue beene vttered by Anaxerxes to the like effect, who hearing that Solon made a law to the A­thenians, he smiled thereat, comparing it to the web of a spider, which is wont to take the lesser flies, and suffer the greater flies to escape and breake the web. Wherby he meant, that Solon had vsed parcialitie in the constituting thereof, by which meanes growe many inconuenien­ces: for the law is not too cru­el in her frowns, nor too par­ciall in her fauours. First, too much extremitie and ouer­much lenitie should not bee vsed, because extreame law sometimes is thought to bee extreame wrong, and ouer­much lenitie breedeth illi­centiousnes [Page 58] and sundrie vi­ces in all sorts. But omitting these particularities, who so deemeth of the generall na­ture & disposition of lawes, taketh his ayme amisse, and shooteth wide frō the marke: for doubtlesse the lawe will tolerate no parcialitie, the condition thereof beyng a­like to all ages and all de­grees: for as Cicero sayeth, Vera lex est recta ratio, na­turae congruens, diffusa in om­nes, constans sempiterna. True Lawe is a right reason of na­ture, agreeyng therewith in all points, diffused & spred in all Nations, consisting perpetuall: and though men erre in construyng the true meaning thereof, and albe­it diuerse in the executing thereof haue vsed parciality, [Page 59] being moued by affection or the like occasion, as A­lexander told his father Phi­lippe of Macedonie, who hearing and iudging the cause of Macheta negligent­ly, & giuing no right iudge­ment, tolde his Father that he had done amisse: against whom also Macheta exclai­med. The which Philip hea­ring, demaunded, Whom doest thou meane? Hee an­swered, I speak vnto you, de­siring that you would heare my cause more attentiue, & iudge more circūspect. But for that time departing as beyng angrie, within a li­tle after Macheta returned vnto him, hee considered thereupon, Et quasi melio­ri iudicio, Taking counsell of his pillow, chaunged his [Page 60] former sentence and iudge­mēt. Neuerthelesse the law, God himselfe beyng author thereof, cannot proue muta­ble: for as Plato saieth, Lex nullo affectu mouetur, non iras­citur, non odit, non ambitione ducitur, diligit omnes, pari­ter (que) omnibus indulget. The Lawe is moued by no affe­ction, and is not puffed vp with anger, hatred or am­bition, for it loueth all men, and embraceth euery one a­like, which breedeth quiet­nes to all, encreaseth loue, augmenteth Charitie, and continueth peace and con­corde amongst all estates; whereof wee haue mani­fest proofe: For what cau­sed Moses to be highly estee­med, and exceedingly belo­ued of the Iewes, but the [Page 61] establishing of their Lawe, which according to the ori­ginall hath beene inuented, both for the maintayning of equitie and Iustice, em­bracing of vertue, and to salue the decayed estate and frailtie of mās nature, which hath bene guided by iustice, tempered with honesty, in­structed by rules, examples and exhortatiōs, from which hauing swarued to chastice the insolent and hauty beha­uiour of lewd persons, lawes were inuented, enacted and deuised: wherof there were three sortes: the lawe of na­ture, whose vertue is all one,Iustinia­nus insti­tu. lib. 1. and the same euery where in all, or rather a very notice of Gods lawes, engraffed in the minde of man. The second is the law of nations, which no [Page 62] otherwise may be described, than of customes, maners, and prescriptions, which is of like condition to all peo­ple. Thirdly, Ciuil lawe, which is an abridgemēt de­rogating manie illicentious customes, which grewe by peruersnes and corruptnes of nature: and this is termed Peculiar, vsed by one kind of people;Iustinian. lib. 1. ciuill, Quasi vnius ci­uitatis propriū. Besides these, there haue bin other lawes called Morall, of the x. Com­mandements, & ceremoniall lawes & rites enioined to the Leuites, besides the lawes of Moses, & many other iudicial statutes of natural policies, of which I need not to speake. But to draw neerer to my purpose, and to speake more proper, I thinke it not amisse, [Page 63] to lay downe somwhat of the law of Aristotle, which he cal­leth, Ius legitimū, & seemeth to haue some affinitie with this our law of England, be­ing made by cōmon consent prescribing thereunto: wher­fore in my iudgement, it may wel chalēge the name of Sta­tute law, or Act enacted and cōcluded in a parliament: all which lawes were inuented for the vpholding of trueth, maintaining of iustice, being as a measure which God hath ordained amongst men in earth, to defēd the feeble frō the mighty, for the suppres­sing of iniuries, & to root out the wicked from among the good, which prescribeth these speciall points, To liue ho­nestly, to hurt no mā wilful­ly, to render euery man his due carefully, as proceeding [Page 64] from the minde of God, fur­thering what is right, & pro­hibiting what is wrong, ac­cording to the definition therof; which is termed a sin­gular reasō imprinted in na­ture, as an vnuiolable & per­petuall good, without which no house, no citie, no coun­trey, no estate of man, no na­turall creature, nor yet the world it selfe can firmely cō ­sist: for those cities, in which there are no lawes, imposing penalties of sinne, and yeel­ding a reward to the good, may be counted rather wild forests for Tigers, then inha­bitable places for men: yet the most necessary lawe for the Common wealth is, that the people amōg themselues liue in peace & vnitie, with­out strife and dissention.

[Page 65]1 Euery man in generall loueth law, yet they all hate the execution thereof in par­ticular.

2 The lawe iudgeth with extremitie, and equitie with lenitie.

3 He is much to be cō ­demned, that liues in feare of iudgemēt, neglecting the rights of law.

4 The heart that loueth the Prince loially, obserueth his lawes carefully, and de­fendeth his coūtrey valiant­ly, is to be commended farre aboue all others.

FOr the executing of laws, and the obseruing of Iu­stice, Magistrates are to bee [Page 66] ordained, which are the tōgs of law, and lawe a mute Ma­gistrate, who should be both religious and godly: for the onely motions thereof, are the most speciall garde of a flourishing Commō wealth, whose propertie aboue all o­thers, is to shewe themselues godly patterns of equity and pietie, because the people might so much the more fear to liue recklesse and ruthful: in the discharging & accom­plishing wherof, they should remaine constant, & not sub­iect to any chaunce or trans­mutatiō, nor by any way led eyther by friendship or affe­ction, or seduced by any o­ther sinister meanes, as bri­bery, or riches, which though a man abound with neuer so great store, yet deserueth he [Page 67] not to enioy the functiō of a magistrate, vnles he be ador­ned with sundry vertues, and qualified with rare qualities, as diuerse learned men haue verified, waying not the out­ward value, but the inward vertue. Wherfore Demonax when he saw a iolly swaine sit in his Scarlet gowne, well pleasing his own humor, be­holding himself placed in the Theatre of dignitie, said vnto him, Sir, this robe of yours was a sheepes coate, before it came to your backe; no­ting that his wealth or gay attire could not shrowde his rustick maners. Wherby we may learne, that it is not on­ly wealth, gay attire, or gor­geous robes, nor yet grauitie of yeeres without wisdome, knowledge, prudence, and [Page 68] other vertues, that can cause a man to deserue that place, wherein he is to minister iu­stice & equitie: riches cannot alter simplicitie, nor wealth procure prudencie; and as for grauity of yeeres & ripe­nes of age, it is a thing which ought somewhat to bee re­garded, if so bee it carieth a smacke of vertue and a taste of wisedome, for experience hath a great prerogatiue, be­cause grauitie of yeares fur­thereth credite: but as for wealth onely they are not to be esteemed, neither should a Magistrate in consideratiō thereof be chosen; for aboun­dance of riches maketh him to liue securely, and want of wisedome, to attempt any thing wilfully, for ignorance is a blinde guide, and a rude [Page 69] mistres, & none proue more bold then blinde bayardes: but yet I denie not, but mea­sure of wealth is necessarie to maintaine honor: but how soeuer, it is harde to rule, and troublesome to vndertake the charge: for the executing of iustice is an office that must be strēgthned by zeale, and zeale maketh equitie in­uincible, by which meanes they must needs offēd some; for that which seemeth iust to many, is offensiue to o­thers, and seemeth vniust: so by iudging rightly they must offend men, and in effecting the contrarie, they displease God: wherefore as being dif­ficult, and the burden ouer­weighty, it was reported, that Pompey being cōbred with his honor, exclaimed to [Page 70] see Scillas crueltie, beeing [...]gnorant after what sorte to behaue himself in the digni­tie he had, & cried out, O pe­rill and danger neuer like to haue an end. Whereby it ap­peareth, that he thought it farre better, to proceed from a meane and base stocke, that thereby he might lead a pri­uate and quiet life, then to be imployed in any politike gouernmēt. As therfore the consideration of the charge is great, and the execution weighty, so for the better ac­complishmēt of both, should none but the worthiest ap­proch therunto, whose wor­thines and dignity should as much grace the place, as the place his person. But leauing these circūstances, I will ap­proch vnto the Magistrates, [Page 71] of which, as Aristotle sayeth, ther are in general two kinds which do beare office; wher­of he calleth one a necessarie Magistrate, without which a citie cannot rightly stand. Of the sortes of Magistrates be­longing to the first kinde, there is one politike, which is imploied about ciuil matters, as were those of the citie of Rome, conuersant about ci­uill affaires, & munera muni­cipialia, by which meanes they were partakers with the citizēs of any gift or reward, which by right they might challenge in regard of their ciuill offices. There is an o­ther holy or godly magistrate which is busied in diuine af­faires. The aforesaid politike Magistrate, is either a supe­riour officer, or an inferiour: [Page 72] superiour officers were they, in whose handes all the go­uernment did depend or cō ­sist, as in the citie of Rome, wherein the Senatours were the superiour officers, or as some would haue, the Patri­cians were the superiour of­ficers, who were made by the Centurian conuocation, and as thought necessary, confir­med Lege curia. The inferi­our officer was accustomed to care and foresee common matters, and enquired of any lawfull or vnlawfull thing committed, and after what sort they were done, whe­ther iust or vniust, & assisted other officers in executing their duties. Such officers al­so were in the citie of Rome, which were thought to be the common people, created [Page 73] Lege Tributa and this inferi­our was of two sorts, either of small note or account, or of lesser regard or estimatiō ▪ they that were of small ac­count, they againe were ei­ther in the towne, because townsemen, or without the towne and precincts, which were termed of the suburbs, The vrbane and towne offi­cers, were those which were carefull ouerseers, prouiding all things necessarie, & sup­plying the want therof, insti­tuted to make prouision, and procuring reformatiō either of dilapidations, or any de­cayed or ruinate thing to be amended. The Magistrates that were without the citie or suburbes, were the ouer­seers of the fieldes, and pro­uided wood and such neces­saries. [Page 74] The foresaid Diuine officers, were those which were busied in godly and holy matters: of which there were two sorts, either those which did accomplish holy and diuine things, or els did care and prouide for ho­ly matters: they that busied themselues in holy matters, were Priests and Preachers: those that cared for holy and diuine affaires, were inferi­our ministers, vnto whom y^e charge of the holy sanctuarie was committed, and those were termed, Quaestores sacri: or High priests. The Magi­strate belonging to the first kinde, that Aristotle called, Lesse needfull, was required as an ornament for ciuill life, for reformation of maners.

1. Magistrates are cōmonly [Page 75] called Phisicians of the pub­like weale, yeelding a poti­on for the ridding out of all distemperate humours.

2. The Magistrate that politikely intendeth the good of the common weale, may be termed vpright, but hee that practiseth onely for his own profit, is a vitious, and a lewd Magistrate.

3. A Magistrate is like­ned to a running or sprin­ging fountaine, which the more it runneth, the greater and wider it openeth the path: euen so a good Magi­strate, the longer he ruleth, the greater sway in subuer­ting vices he beareth.

4. The onely scope of a magistrate, is to glorifie God in the executing of iustice, discharging of his dutie, and [Page 76] causing men to liue vpright­ly, and further the trueth.

FOr the aduising and dire­cting of the communal­ties in all affaires without cō ­fusion, and the procuring of the securitie of the common wealth in all estates, Coun­sellours are necessarie to bee required, and thought ex­pedient, to resolue al doubts, to decide debates, & delibe­rate wisely, as well in time of peace, as warre, what are to be effected, what enterprise to be taken in hand, lest that follie giuing the mate, the communalties by their wise­dome might with more ease auoyde the checke: for hee [Page 77] that is forewarned by coun­saile, of imminent danger, a­gainst all future mishap and calamitie, may thereby pre­uent perils, if it be possible, or if by sinister fortune it may not bee eschewed, then hee may beare the crosse with more patience and smaller griefe: for happie is he that is warned by other mēs harms, and such are most misera­ble, that are wise by their owne woes. Counsailours are called by Licurgus, The Champions of the Com­mon wealth, and by diuers other learned authours, The keyes of certaintie, The sa­cred anker or defence of the Common weale, bee­ing one minde, seeing with many eyes, and working with sundrie handes, and [Page 78] for wisedome, exceeding in consultation, as being ma­ny, and yet consenting in one, and all for the prospe­ritie of the common wealth, to which end they are consti­tuted, some waying & fore­casting imminent perils and inconueniences, which want no dammage; others, sear­ching out remedies, which haue their profits and emolu­ments. These Counsellours being garnished with lear­ning and experience, ought deliberatly and vigilantly, to tender the securitie of the common wealth, preferring the publike profit, before their particular commoditie, as hauing these circumstan­ces before their eyes, preme­ditating whether it be lawful or vnlawfull, whether neces­sarie, [Page 79] with the considerations therevnto annexed, compa­ring honestie and credite, as twinnes and adherents to­gether; and in the diuersitie of these causes, which is most honest and most profitable, omitting no circūstances: for as Cicero saith, A discreet and wise Counsailour neuer yeeldeth his consent, or pre­scribeth to any Act or Sta­tute, to bee promulgated & proclaimed, before hee hath some singular reason concei­ued with himselfe, as a suffi­cient token and proofe ther­of, or else hath learned of o­thers, the cause wherfore the same should be worthily exe­cuted & established. He that doth nothing without coun­sell or aduice, needs not to repent him of his deed: for it [Page 80] is the beginning and ending of euery good worke.Cicero. Hee that will not at the first hand buy counsell good cheape, shall at the second hand, buy repentance deare. Wherfore let none cōtemne the coun­sel of their friends,Pythago. nor reiect the aduice of the wise, pre­ferring his wit before their wisedome, nor leane to wil­fulnes, lest had I wist come too late. For none is of such perfection, that he may haue an instant remembrance of all things. Romulus the first king of the Romanes, in the first constitution of their cō ­mon weale, hauing of his own people, not aboue three thousande footemen, and three hundreth horsemen, yet selected and picked out of the eldest and wisest of [Page 81] them all, one hundred coun­sellours, thinking that the common wealth could not rightly bee gouerned with­out them.

A common wealth, is like the Celedonie stone, which retaineth her vertue no lon­ger, than it is rubbed with golde: so the happie state of the common wealth flou­risheth no longer, than it re­taineth Counsellours: which whosoeuer wanteth, though he possesseth neuer so great store of riches, enioyeth care to himselfe, enuie for his neighbours, spurres for his enemies, a pray for theeues, toyle for his person, an­guish for his minde, a com­bersome scruple and care for his conscience, daunger for his friends, woe for his [Page 82] children, wretchednesse to his heires, in that hee findeth readie way to heape riches, and wanteth coun­saile to dispose his gettings. The Niniuites ouerweaned with wantonnesse, their surcoates being of blisse, all polished with golde, pam­pering themselues with palpable follies, as wan­ting counsell, vntill Ionas by his Ambrosian and di­uine counsell, reclaimed them to a better confor­mitie.

The Oracle of Apollo at Delphos, beeing de­maunded, Why Iupiter should bee the chiefest of the gods, sith Mars was the best souldiour? an­swered, Mars is valiant, but Iupiter wise: conclu­ding [Page 83] by this, that counsell and policie are of more force to subdue, than va­lour: Parua sunt arma foris, Cicero. nisi sit consilium domi: Wea­pons doe little steade in warres, vnlesse there bee Counsaile at home to di­rect them. The necessitie whereof, the equall au­thoritie in all degrees of a Democratic, may bee a liuely witnesse, who did all things without coun­sell or aduice, voyde of discretion in their furious outrages and follies, im­posing most cruell tor­mentes vndeseruedly vp­on diuers innocent persons, and condemning most sage & wise Counsailors by false surmises, as Solō, & Phocion, [Page 84] to the vtter decay and ruine of their Common wealth: & therefore in no wise are coū ­sellers to be wāted in a com­mon weale, that are meet for so necessarie a charge, whose worthines (no doubt) consi­steth in maner, wholy in their good example of ho­nest and godly conuersation & orderly liuing. The which saying, Demosthenes well declared to the people of Athens, when Philip king of Macedonie, vnder colour dissembled peace with the citie, and so offered truce, vpon condition, that they would deliuer Demosthenes and nine other, which hee thought of most force against him in their cōmon coūsels: of which if he had obtained his expectatiō, no doubt but [Page 85] he thought, the want thereof would the sooner cause him to captiuate their whole city, and endaunger their liues; which being denied, procu­red the cities securitie.

1 Counsell is a sweete conserue, and aduice the pu­rest auditor.

2 In counsailes we must be hard to resolue, and con­stant to performe.

3 Wee are warned by the wise, not to accept the counsell of the worldly man, whose aduice wil proue to be his owne desire.

4 Counsell is the sure ground of reason, and the scourge of the wicked is law.

[Page 86]IVdges are the Phisicions of the Cōmon wealth, or­dained to administer iu­stice, to decide controuer­sies, and for the punishing of malefactors, by whose means worldly quietnes is preserued & truth maintained. In these Iudges there are 4. things to be considered: first, to heare curteously, to answere wise­ly, to consider soberly, and to giue iudgemēt without par­ciality: which are no lesse ne­cessarie, then is the soule in a liuing bodie. For being in­different to both parties, he reduceth that to equalitie, which he thinketh vnequall: not vnlike vnto a line cut in­to vnequall partes; that part which is too long is cut shor­ter, & added to the other. So doth the Iudge, being the li­uing [Page 87] law, & as it were an O­racle in the common weale. The Iudge ought also to ac­count himself an interpreter to lawmakers, a minister of iustice, and his chiefe vertue must be, to know what is iust and true: he ought therefore not to swarue from law, and the meaning therof, but giue iudgemēt as the law, equity, & iustice doth command: for which respect it behoueth him to be sworne, to the end that God may be present to witnes his intēt & cōscience, which of al other things God hath made in man most di­uine. Let y^e Iudge be free frō ire, and all suspition of hope, loue, and hatred, not corrup­tible with giftes, not fearfull of threates, nor by flatterie seduced: for where Iudges [Page 88] are subiect to these passions, Iustice is farre remoued frō the iudiciall seate, and the Iudge himselfe. For there is nothing that infecteth the Common wealth more with seditious hate, and iniuries, than the corruption and in­iustice of Iudges, By good & equall iudgements, the loue vniuersall of men is preser­ued, quarels, enmities, warres and sedition are thereby ap­peased, because they are in euery estate of such great force, as by good iudgemēts, the whole Common wealth doth seeme to be maintai­ned, and by euil Iudges sub­uerted. This Iustice which concerneth iudgement, hath greatest power to extirpate vices in all estates: for if of­fenders be punished, there [Page 89] will be no place left for vio­lence, fraude and audacious­nes, presumption & iniuries. The person of Iudges was by the auncient Philosophers painted like vnto a faire vir­gin, hauing a seuere & fear­ful aspect, piercing eies, chast and modest countenance, inclined to grauitie: which image seemeth to represent, that Iudges ought to bee in­corrupt, chast, seuere, sharpe witted, good conceiuers of all things, graue, constant, & inexorable. Cambises, king of Persia, caused the skinne of one vniust Iudge, to bee slayed from his bodie, & han­ged vp in the place of iudge­ment, to the end that there­by, all Iudges might be war­ned to be iust and vpright. In like maner ought our Coun­sellours [Page 90] to take heed that their Iustice (which extendeth to all sorts of people) may bee most dutifull, and that both in making and executing of Lawes, he may shewe him­selfe a man of a singular iu­stice: for it were shame for him not to obserue Lawes, who is the executer of them. He commandeth others, & the law cōmandeth him, not that law only which is writtē in books, & tables of brasse, but the liuing lawe of rea­son which remaineth in our minds. Iulius Cesar had such regard of equitie and iustice, after hee had obtained the gouernment of Rome, that he neuer omitted any paine or labour, as well in com­mon causes, concerning the defence and assistaunce of [Page 91] the innocent, as also in hea­ring and studiously discus­sing all controuersies, almost daily in his own proper per­son. But happy were those daies wherein Basil the Em­perour of Constantinople li­ued, that whēsoeuer he came to his iudgement seat, found neither partie to accuse, nor defendant to answere; which was a signe of an vpright li­uing. Herein might that of Solon be said to be obserued, who being asked how the cōmon wealth might be pre­serued: answered, If the peo­ple obey the Magistrates, & the Magistrates be vigilant in executing iustice, and in obeying the Lawes. And also that of Bias verified, who said, that the Common welth might be best assured, [Page 92] where all men liued vpright­ly, not trāsgressing the laws, yet fearing thē no lesse than a tyrant. It were then a thing most vnfit and vnconuenient in all estates, that the lawe should be reputed, as the spi­ders webbe, to take holde of the weake or simple, and suf­fer the strong and mighty to passe: of which errour Iudges should be heedful, endeuou­ring themselues to loue, ob­serue, & continually be care­full, how the Lawes may inuiolably be preserued, to which all men are seruants, that they might be freemen.

1 A wise Iudge alwaies preferres consideration be­fore conclusion.

2 Iudges ought to dis­patch with speed, and answer with patience.

[Page 93]3 The Iudge himself in­curreth the fault, when the guilty person is pardoned.

4 Happy is the coūtrey, whose Iudges are iust mē, & whose iust men are Iudges.

HAuing handeled of the two partes of regiment, which are requisite in euery action in generall of all men, either in a Monastike life, that is solitarie, or in a poli­tike; now it followeth next, that I should handle of that parte, which is required in a Domesticall gouernmēt, or­dered for the right mana­ging of the affaires therunto belonging, which consisteth [Page 94] in the well gouerning & dis­posing thereof, whose end is to be prudently gouerned, for the credite of euery one that is a gouernour or ma­ster thereof: for a family con­sisteth either of those things which are to be ordered or gouerned, or else of them which are the Lords, Ma­sters or gouernours thereof, who haue authoritie of all things thereunto appertai­ning, as of wife, children and seruants. First, the man and wife being by a diuine ordi­nance of God, linked toge­ther in wedlocke, and of two bodies beyng made one, should loue one another mu­tuallie without dissention, iarres, & broiles, comforting one an other in distresse, and reioicing with one another [Page 95] in prosperity, so that y^e desire of the one, should bee the content of the other, the husband tendring the wife, as the weaker vessell, and prouiding all things neede­full, supplying the wants of his familie: so likewise the wife obeying her husband, with all modestie and decen­cie, and of that prouision made by the husband, ende­uouring her selfe to play the good huswife, which procu­reth loue and vnitie on both parts: otherwise there would bee no domesticall gouern­ment, neither is that man fit to gouern any where, or to beare authoritie, that cannot gouerne his owne house: the which was ob­iected to Philip King of Macedony, who would haue [Page 96] pacified the strife risen in the Citie, and read a booke of exhortation vnto the peo­ple: to whō they said, his ad­monitiō would litle preuaile to gouerne them, when hee could not gouerne his owne house at home, because he, his wife and sonne were at a continuall discord at home. Wherefore in this gouern­ment, and for the maintai­ning hereof, man and wife should not disagree, imita­ting the exāple of Hector & Andromache his wife, who loued each other so entirely, that Hector grieued more at his departure from his wife, than for parents, children & his whole coūtrey, as Homer testifieth. By the obseruing hereof, all things may right­ly be ordered, and houshold [Page 97] affaires well managed, being so gouerned. First, the parēts of children are to haue great care in the orderly bringing vp of thē, who first begin to liue with the mother, which should haue great care in the nursing and tenderly vsing thereof, after the maner of the Grecians and Persians, who neuer were accusto­med to see their sonnes, vntil they were ready to bee trai­ned vp in warres: the mo­ther hauing discharged her charge and done her taske, then the Father is to haue thē brought vp in learning, & trained in nurture: for af­ter what sort they are at the beginning taught, they will taste of the same in their old age, euē as a twig that yong­ly sprowting is bent & made [Page 98] crooked, proueth a crooked old tree: which Aristotle in the end of his morall bookes testifieth, arguing vpon cer­taine opiniōs, that most of al may fashion an honest & ci­uill life, to the which some partly therunto are enclined by nature, some reformed & framed by good vsage & cu­stom, as by doctrine & other precepts: Hereupō he cōclu­ded at last, that vse and cu­stome are of most force: for wherin childrē are trained vp in their yong & tender age, therof they must needs sauor in their ripe yeeres: As that of Horace, Quo semel est im­buta recens seruabit odorē, te­sta diu: That which is once bred in the bone, is hardly rooted out of the flesh, wher­fore educatiō is so necessary, [Page 99] that it doth not onely guide thē, which nature hath made of a perfect disposition: but also correcteth & reformeth that which nature hath left vnpolished. What difference is betweene man and beast, but reason? what instructeth reason, but education? with­out which we are worse then the sencelesse brute beastes. Doubtlesse then wee are as much bound to our teachers for our education, as to our parents for the begetting of vs: for of the one wee haue our being, and of the other our well-being, who tem­per our crooked nature, which otherwise should re­main deformed. What force therfore this education wor­keth, may be well approued by Socrates answere to the [Page 100] Phisiognomer that iudged him lewde by his exterior countenance. To whom So­crates said, I confesse that I am by nature such a one, but by good instruction & edu­catiō I am better fashioned. By which answer, he likened youths vnto soft waxe, apt to receiue euery impression, who should bee handled as one would fill a glasse with a narrow mouth, by powring in the water with a pipe by litle and litle: meaning that the tēder childhood of yong ymps, is most gently to bee handled and mildly to be en­treated, vntill they approch vnto the age of discretion, which is limited to be at 14. yeeres, at which time obedi­ence & good maners should be engraffed in them. Here­of [Page 101] may Phocion be a liuely witnesse, who was wished by a friend of his to prouide for his children, that they might encrease & maintaine the honour of his ancesters: to whom he said, As for my childrē if they embrace ver­tue, which I euer endeuou­red to teach them, the litle possessions I haue shall make them deserue more, but if they proue otherwise, let no man be of that opinion, that I their father will prouide a­ny thing to maintaine their pompe & riot. This is a wor­thy sentence of all men to be embraced, and a right pre­cept for the fathers to in­struct their children, confir­med with that saying of Me­nedemus which he vsed to his sonne Clinia,Terence, Ego te meum [Page 102] [...]antisper dici volo, dū id quod te dignum est facias. So long shalt thou bee my sonne, as thou behauest thy selfe with honesty: but if the father ne­glects to reforme his sonne with this precept, or forgets to haue him instructed and brought vp by a right com­passe of education, what pi­tie doth the want of educa­tion breed, wherof the child shall haue iust cause to curse the parents, and the parents in their decrepit age to con­demne themselues, whē the child shall impute all to the security of his licentious nur­turing, which bringeth oft­times to the children an vn­happy end, and causeth the father with Augustus to re­peat that saying of Homer, Coniuge non ducta natis vti­nam [Page 103] caruissem. I would that I had neuer maried wife, so that I had neuer beene troubled with children: which he vt­tered in respect of his vicious daughter Iulia, whom his o­uermuch remisnesse at first had caused to proue so lewd. But omitting to speake fur­ther of this reformation, lea­uing it to the consideratiō of parents, who haue more dis­cretiō in the gouerning here­of, then I cā prescribe, I think it not a misse to speake a word or two cōcerning y^e gouern­ment of seruāts: for as magi­strats & officers are ordeined and instituted to minister iu­stice: so it is expediēt that e­uery householder and master of seruāts, should rightly go­uerne the state of his owne house, that seruants therein [Page 104] excersicing obediēce, might the rather be admitted to the general condition of the pu­blike gouernment, imitating the good exāple of their Ma­ster laid before them, who is to vse his seruants after a mo­deration of chastisement: be­cause many seruaunts are of that nature and condition, that they wil do more by one mild or gentle worde, than with a thousād seuere stripes: the Master thus teaching & instructing them vnto hone­sty, they may liue more vp­rightly, and thinke the yoke of seruice sweet, and the bur­den light, which procureth credit to the Master, & com­mendation to the seruants.

1 Euery beginning cō ­meth by nature: but the pro­gresse by houshold educatiō.

[Page 105]2 Gouernors of families not endued with wisedome, in stead of good gouernmēt doe bring foorth briers and brambles.

3 That man holdeth his goods in danger, his house in suspitiō, his honor in balāce, and his life in peril, that can­not gouerne his own family.

4 The force of Samson, the prudence of Augustus, the cautels of Pyrrus, the pa­tience of Iob, the sagacity of Hanibal, & the vigilancy of Hermogenes, be not suffici­ent to gouerne that house, where man and wife are not at vnitie.

5 That house may be ra­ther termed a denne for wild beastes, and a receptacle of fooles, then a dwelling for mā & wife, which is not rightly managed.

NOw I come to entreat of the meanes whereby a Cōmon wealth is preserued, safely munified, and rightly polished.Aristot. Which as Aristotle & diuers others doe affirme, is by vertue; for the end of a citie and Common wealth (that is, the happines and fe­licitie therof) is concluded to proceed of a good life, which must require vertue, which to vs is an impregnable towr, a floodde that needeth no flowing, a perpetuall during treasure, an inuincible army, a strong fortresse, a true har­binger, a burden supporta­ble, a balme that presently cureth, & an eternall honor [Page 107] that neuer dieth.Socrat. in Phoed. For (as So­crates saith) vertue is a thing that conducteth vs vnto im­mortality, and maketh vs e­quals with the heauens, and is called, An electiue habit of the mind, agreeing with rea­son and moderation of na­ture,Aristot. Politic. cap. 8. & 9. consisting in a Medio­critie between two extreams, the one in defect, and the o­ther in excesse: wherefore it excelleth all other things in goodnes. For if by liberality, substance, health, and liuing, our countrey, parents, and children do well, it hapneth in respect of vertue, which doth aduance all, and vnder whose wings all thinges are hatched, which resēbleth the Cameleō, that is of al colors sauing white: so vertue ta­steth of all diuersitie excep­ting [Page 108] vice. This vertue is well compared by a wise Philoso­pher, to the letter Y: which is small at the foote, and broade at the head, mea­ning, that to attaine vertue, it was difficult and harde, but the possessions thereof were passing pleasant, for thereby wee are saide to at­taine euerlasting felicity, that is to witte, by vertues acti­ons, which are of two fold: The one variable or muta­ble, the which may soone be chaunged or hindred, espe­cially the obiectes & meanes which are vsed in the attai­ning thereof being taken a­way: and this action hath no fellowship, societie, or affinitie with felicitie. The other constant and inuari­able, which is firme and per­fect, [Page 109] intending a good effect, alwaies perseuering in acti­on and contemplatiō, which by no meanes may be hin­dered or enforced to proue a changeling; and this acti­on is meere felicitie, which ought to be in a Common welth wel established: which beyng otherwise neglected, or lightly regarded, and slightly practised, or on the contrarie side immoderately vsed, might engender sun­dry vices:Plato in Tymae [...]. for all immode­rate actions on both sides are hurtful to nature. For he that on this side flieth perill in an honest cause, is termed timo­rous and fearful: and he that on the other side aduentreth ouermuch, is termed rashe: therfore vertue is said to cō ­sist betweene extreames, as [Page 110] not participating thereof. The due obseruation of this vertue, maketh a straunger grow naturall in a straunge countrey, and the vitious a meere stranger in his owne natiue soile, which if it be so, that the efficacy of this ver­tue is so great and worketh such wonders, no maruaile that Aemilius Paulus, when it was reported him being a sacrificing, that one of his sonnes, the elder by birth, was slaine in the field: there­with being moued, threw off his lawrell and triumphing crowne, & within a litle paw­sing and deliberating with himselfe, at last asked after what sort his sonne lost his life, and yeelded vp the ghost: to whom it was told, that he was depriued there­of [Page 111] valiantly fighting, & at last breathing became breath­lesse. At which saying being comforted, he layed on his triumphing crowne againe, protesting and calling the gods to witnesse, that hee conceiued greater pleasure at the death of his sonne (be­cause of his vertue) then griefe and sorrow for his death. Seeing vertue hath such a disposition and power of the reasonable parte of the minde and soule of man, which bringeth vnto order and decency the vnreasona­ble part being out of square and frame, causing it anew to propound a conuenient end, to her owne affections & passions, by which means the soule abideth in a come­ly and decent habite, ac­complishing [Page 112] and dischar­ging in all dutie and vpright­nes of life, what ought to be done according to reason. Who thē respecting the pro­perties thereof, would not with al might and maine, en­deuour to be traced and trai­ned herein, wearing this as his recognizance and chiefe badge, which euer glistereth and shineth, though it be ne­uer so much obscured wher­of Socrates hauing sufficient triall, was wont to giue these precepts to his scholers, That they should euery morning behold their Phisiognomy in a looking glasse, wherin if they should seeme faire, then they should employ them­selues in Vertue, that they might inwardly resēble the outward appearance: if de­formed, [Page 113] then should they e­specially endeuour thēselues in vertuous actiōs, that ther­by they might by the inward vertue, shroud their outward deformity.

1 It is the property of vertue, in suffering patient­ly to ouercome.

2 The first degree to ver­tue, is, to admire vertue in an other man.

3 Vertue getteth no su­periority by birth, nor pru­dence by yeeres: for there may be old fooles, and yong counsellers.

4 Vertue is a seemely goddesse of toyle, imagina­tion the mistres of fooles, le­uity the pride of nature, and dissention the ruine & ouer­throw of families.

PRudence is a busie sear­cher, and true inuentor of verity, which alloweth no­thing to haue fellowship with the truth, except it be seaso­ned with reason, and tempe­red with wisdome. This ver­tue is allowed as a soueraigne precious good and is termed the very touchstone of truth, which guideth the steps of men, in an vnfallible way, to the attaining and vnderstan­ding of vertue, which procu­reth felicity. Cicero defineth this vertue to be the know­ledge of things which ought to be wished or obtained, & of those things which ought to be eschewed, like a proui­dent mother foreseing what [Page 115] with decency should be ac­complished in euery enter­prise, who prepareth a con­ueniēt & fit abode, where all other vertues might securely execute and discharge their seueral duties and offices: for she accustometh to be con­uersant in the choosing of good and euil, being the cap­taine and mistresse of all o­ther vertues whom shee fee­deth. This vertue cannot ea­sily be taynted, or inueigled with any lewd canker of va­nity, nor fettered within the bonds of folly, being garded with al the troups of vertues, and tried in the fire of zeale, shining bright, and yeelding a fragrant smell and fauour to the nostrels of the lo­uers and possessors thereof, like a beame proceeding [Page 116] from the cleere sunne, which doth not onely lighten and kindle the affection, but al­so doth illuminate the vn­derstanding and knowledge of man: wherefore wise men haue laied a difference be­tweene science & prudence, saying, that science is a dead knowledge of things, which of it selfe cannot change the will, in such sort that it may embrace and followe the knowne good, and auoid the euill, which is euident in wic­ked men, imbrued with vice, & endued with knowledge. Wherefore Socrates was wont to admonish his scho­lers, that in all their life time, they should haue these three things in memory, to witte, Prudence in minde, which is an inuiolable castell (as An­tisthenes [Page 117] saith) Scilence in their tongue, and shamefast­nesse in their countenance, without which, nothing may bee done wisely: because prudence is the prince and guide to all other vertues, wherein the knowledge of our soueraigne good, and the ende of our life depen­deth. Wherefore we may in no sorte behaue our selues more prudently, then by cō ­sidering how we may deale imprudently. Such a prudent man was Agesilaus king of the Lacedemonians, who, when there was a battel to be pitched at Mantinia, by his subiectes the Lacedemo­nians, counselled them thus wisely, that they should bēd all their force and strength, and leuell at Epiminondas, [Page 118] saying, It was a poinct of prudence to cut off the har­tiest souldier first of all; mea­ning that valiant men were the causers of victory, which when they had obserued, ob­tained the conquest, and so preuented the daunger, and preserued their liues & safe­ty. Whereby it was conclu­ded, that in warre one pru­dent man was of greater force to subdue, then an whole army of vnwisemen. For (as Homer saieth) Ille sapit solus, volitant alii velut vmbrae. Likewise Ioseph so excelled in prudence, in ad­uising Pharao to prouide a man of wisedome and vn­derstanding, and set him o­uer the land of Egypt, say­ing, Let Pharao make and appoint Officers ouer the [Page 119] land, and take vp the first part of the land of Egypt in the seuen plenteous yeeres: also let them gather all the foode of these good yeeres that come, and lay vp corne vnder the hand of Pharao for foode in the citie, and let them keepe it; so the foode shalbe for the prouisiō of the land,Gen. 41. against the seuen yeres of famine which shall be in the land of Egypt, that the land perish not for famine. & the saying pleased Pharao and al his seruants, and ther­fore accoūted Ioseph a most prudent and wise man. In like sort the prudence of Li­curgus, the reformer & law­maker of the Lacedemoniās was the cause of the mainte­naunce of their flourishing estate aboue 500. yeeres, [Page 120] so that it was the chiefest in all Greece, both for glory, & excellency of gouernment: from whence they digres­sed not, vntill such time as they wholy neglected those lawes, and godly ordinances the which hee gaue them. Wherefore to conclude, the vigor & strength of this ver­tue in all actions, whether it be ingeneral to all in a Mo­nastike life, or Oeconomi­call appertaining to families, or politike which is the chie­fest of all, vsed to the good of the Commō wealth, hath such efficacy, that nothing without the same may right­ly be effected: for the confir­mation whereof and a finall conclusiō, we need no more then the liuely example of Argos, which had his head [Page 121] inuironed with a hundred watching eies: signifying vn­to vs, that he was euery way endued with great prudēce, and singular discretiō: wher­fore if a Pagan and a Hea­then man, by the reportes of the Poets, so excelled in the atchiuement of vertue, wise­dome, and prudence, how much the rather ought wee Christians to bee furnished with the same, as an onely or­nament of all actions? For al­though the wit of mā is most precious and apt to al good­nes, glistering as the yron & brasse, more & more in wea­ring, whose sharpnes and brightnes is like the sparkle that soonest kindleth desire; though eloquence be a di­uine influence, and inuentiō the daerling of nature: ne­uerthelesse [Page 122] inuention bring­eth forth oft times a rude & deformed matter, and elo­quence singeth a song harsh, voide of tune & concord of true melody, without pru­dence: by which men are al­waies cloathed and inuested with a mild and setled dispo­sition, wherein it steadeth them no lesse, then a shippe floting on the Sea, doeth the presence of a Pilote that may prudently vndertake, & wisely execute whatsoeuer he knoweth to be good, after mature deliberation and cō ­sideration of all the circum­stances of the fact. If therfore a gouernour be not endued with prudence & learning, ciuill policy cannot be main­tained, and his Empire or gouernment auaileth not.

[Page 123]1 Prudence reformeth a­buses past, ordereth thinges present, & foreseeth things to come.

2 Iustice without Pru­dēce, is dissolued into cruel­ty, temperance into fury, and fortitude into tyranny.

3 It is a point of great Prudence, to lament the life of a wicked man, more then the death of the iust.

4 To the prudent it is more pleasant to heare coū ­sell mixt with mirth, then to the foolish to wāt sport mixt with rudenesse.

5 He that searcheth out prudence, findeth treasure in this life and enioyeth perfect happines in the life to come.

[Page 124]FOrtitude is an inuincible vertue, or courage of the mind, vndertaking any peril in an honest & good cause: also it is defined of some, to be a firie humor of the spi­rit, inflaming the minde with boldnes in all assayes, & con­ducting the body thorow a million of perils, in attemp­ting harde aduentures, be­cause nothing ought to bee hard for a valerous mā to at­tempt, which might daunt & abate his courage. This ver­tue is of two sorts, either con­sisting of the meere strength of the body, which ought not to be termed fortitude, because there be many men that haue stout bodies and great strength, and yet cow­ards: And is therfore called naturall vigor, or els forti­tude, [Page 125] otherwise it is taken for the constancy of the minde, and so it is termed a morall vertue: wherefore by the as­sent of the Philosophers, it deserueth the vppermost roome and the greatest dig­nitie amōgst morall vertues, for two considerations. First, in respect of the primate and chiefest man, whose minde attaineth this vertue. Secōd­ly, in respect of the whole ci­tie which he enioieth, and in enioying defendeth her ter­ritories and turrets, aduen­turing any enterprise for the security thereof. The pro­perties of this vertue consist in two things: First in despi­sing outward casualties, not beeing moued to admire thereat: in admiring, not to desire or wish any thing but [Page 126] what is honest, holding the flagge of defiance against the allure and becke of fortune, suffering al things patiently, if any thing happen bitter or grieuous, which is a token of an inuincible minde, as Ci­cero saith,Cicero. Si quid obtigerit, aequo animo parato (que) morear, ne (que) enim turpis mors forti vi­ro potest accidere, ne (que) imma­tura consulari, nec misera sa­pienti. The second is, that if thou art of that minde and courage, see thou imploy thy selfe in those thinges which are most difficult and full of perill, which may as well cō ­serue the life of man, as sun­dry other things thereunto appertaining, that it may be said as it was of a certaine Philosopher, who being bu­sied touching his countreys [Page 127] affaires, and pleading truce for his friends liues, hapned to fall into the lapse of his e­nemies, and hauing many cowardly souldiers, who re­garding neither their friends liues, nor their owne coun­treys security, most timerous­ly flying, demaunded of this valiant mā what they should do: to whom hee answered, that they should report to those that were aliue, that he valiantly fighting for their security died: and I will in like sort report to the dead, that you escaped cowardly, as being the last in the field, and first in flight. We see therefore, that courage, and magnanimity, are daunted with no danger, and yet con­quer by perseuerance, & tri­umph with honor. So then as [Page 128] we shall finde our bounden dutie to honour our coun­trey, with all gratitude, & to defend it with all power and might, shewing our selues valiant and couragious, fol­lowing the example of Cur­tius the Romane, when there appeared a great gulfe in the market place, which could by no meanes be stopped; & an answere being giuen by the Oracle, that it was onely to be stopped by that which was of most value to the city of Rome, he deeming that the citie had nothing so pre­cious as stout & valiant men, armed himself and leapt into the gulfe, which stopt im­mediatly: declaring thereby how light, men ought to e­steeme their liues, when as the same might yeeld profit [Page 129] and cōmodity to their coun­trey, in regard of such ad­uentures which euery man ought in the behalfe of his coūtrey to enterprise. Here­hence it hapneth out some­time, that diuers rash & wil­full mē, carried with an erro­nious opinion, do esteeme it mere cowardnes, not to fight for euery light offēce, which is well approued to be other­wise, as Alexāder the sonne of Mammena testifieth: who hearing that Artaxerxes the king of the Persians, came with a great army of souldi­ors, about to inuade the Ro­mane Empire: it behoueth valiant & moderat men (said Alexander) to wish alwaies the best, & to beare patiently whatsoeuer happeneth con­trary to their expectation: [Page 130] for it is the point of fortitude, neither to encombate for e­uery small trifle, triumph in prosperity, nor yet to be dis­maid in aduersity: conclu­ding with Cicero, that a vali­ant man should bee alwaies girded with patience, & gar­ded with constancy: the one to perseuer in wel doing, the other to tolerate sundry e­normities:Cicero. for, Fortes & mag­nanimi sunt, nō qui faciūt, sed qui propulsant iniuriam. Cal­ling to mind, that not onely they which do offend are va­liant men, but they which do defend. Hereupō Laches de­maunded of Socrates what Fortitude was: he answered, It was a vertue, by which a man not forsaking right and custome, repelleth the force of his enemy: which he con­futed, [Page 131] saying,Plato. A mā after the maner of the Scythians, no lesse in flying, then in persi­sting, ouercommeth his ene­my, and so in like maner may be called a valiant man. Wherefore Homer calleth him a valiant man, which da­reth according to opportu­nity, and as time, place, and occasion shall require, bold­ly resist or feare his enemy: gathering hereby, that a vali­ant man or light not for euery trifle or light occasiō fight or encombat: For it is a rude thing (as Cicero saith) after the maner of beasts to cōmit such wilfull rashnes, vnles it be in defence of countrey, or for vertue & honesty sake, re­garding both time, place, & the person: for as he is called desperate and rash, that figh­teth [Page 132] for euery small matter: so againe are they accounted valiant, that suffer and tole­rate small iniuries, vnlesse they impaire their credit, or derogate [...]om their honesty: then if they resist not an in­i [...]e if it be offered, they are in as great a fault (as Cicero saieth) as if they should for­sake both countrey,Cicer. of­fic. parents, & children: deeming it bet­ter to die free, then to liue captiue: of which opiniō was Mucius Scaeuola that valiant man, who willing to incurre any sinister hap for the safe­ty of his countrey, was ta­ken of his enemies, at which time he thought to slay the king his enemy, but missing the king, slew the secretary, and was afterwards brought to a great fire to be burnt: [Page 133] into the which he willingly thrust his hand that had fal­led to slay the king, and suf­fered it to be burnt to ashes. Likewise also Abraham was of such excellent valure, that when he heard that his bro­ther was taken by the kings of Sodome and Gomorrha,Gen. 14. brought foorth of them that were borne and brought vp in his house three hundred & eighteene, and pursued them vnto a place called Dan.

In like maner Mithridates king of Pontus, after he had pestered the Romanes with warres the space of 40. yeres, during which time he beha­ued himselfe no lesse valiant in minde, then hardy in bo­dy, in resisting their strong forces, and withal in attemp­ting the fortitude of the Ro­manes, [Page 134] thogh he was by for­tune shaken in his old yeers, and eclipsed of his wealth, friēds, countrey, kingdome, & al worldly chiualry, yet in despight of fortune went to Celta, meaning with them to transport into Italy, whereby the Romanes might haue in­telligēce, that albeit he of his friends and countrey, by the frowne of fortune was de­priued, yet neyther fortune, nor the Romanes could sub­due his valiant hart. In this triumphed valiant men, be­cause they might not be van­quished, and gloried, being free from subiection.

1 Lightning or thunder­claps dismay infants: and threates annoy fooles, but nothing dismaieth the reso­lution of a valiant man.

[Page 135]2 Fortitude is the cham­pion to equity, which neuer ought to striue, except in righteous actions.

3 Valure is a wise mans coate, & a fooles cognizance.

4 Those that are stout in body & cowards in mind, are dissemblers with God & mā: with God, because they may be good and will not: with man, because they seeme and are not.

PAtience is an excellent vertue, belōging aswel to outward empire as to inward gouernance: it is said to be the shielde of intolerable wrōgs, the vāquisher of wic­kednes, that lighteneth the [Page 136] burden of aduersity, and is a sure carde against all assaults and passions of the soule, sea­soning the ioys of prosperity, and retaining a continuall glad assemblāce in aduersity and dolor, consisting stoutly and valiantly in sustaining all labours and griefes for the loue of honesty and vertue. For as S. Augustine sayeth, it is more cōmendable to con­tēne an iniury, the therewith to bee grieued or to pine, by reason that in despising, we seeme a [...] though we were not moued therewith, or felt nothing, regarding it no­thing at all: but on the con­traryside, hee that is thereat sturred or grieued, endureth torment & feeleth the smart, because the more impatient we be in sustaining iniuries, [Page 137] we aggrauate the griefe by so much the more, and grie­uous, and vneasie is the bur­den thereof. Patience then sucking the dregges of sor­row, and pestered with the bitter pils of distresse is made more strong and perfect: which seemeth to be wel ap­proued by the Lacedemoni­ans, who were noted to bee patterns of patience, sustai­ning all paines, wars, vinde, and weather. So likewise, as Plinie reporteth Anarchus, of all men was most pati­ent in all his torments: which is a speciall token of an he­roicall minde, to set light by small wrongs, and litle re­gard meane aduentures: But as for this kinde of patience these examples may serue, because wee haue sufficient [Page 138] daily before our eies: where­fore I will draw neerer vnto the inward gouernance, vpō whom patience should at­tend, to the subuersion and oppressing of naturall passi­ons, to the sustaining of the frowardnes of fortune, lest that they which haue the fū ­ction of authority, & be im­ploied in matters of great im­portance, their liues be not onely replenished with toiles and heinous displeasures, but withall bee subiect vnto di­uers casualties. To these the onely prouiso and ready way to haue patience, is thought by two waies inuented. First a direct and an vpright con­sciēce, a true & constant opi­niō in the estimatiō of good­nes, which seldom procedeth by instinct of nature, vnlesse [Page 139] it be exquisit, and excellent; but by the diligent study & attaining of vertue. For hee which bendeth himselfe to reuenge, doth imitate his doings who is molested with impatience, and he that imi­tateth an euil man, wil hard­ly proue good himselfe: it were difficult and harde for a valiant man, to tolerate a­ny iniury without reuenge, though oftentimes he is ac­coūted more valiāt in suffe­ring, then in hasty reuēging: for he that enterpriseth any thing hastily, may repent him by leysure: Neuerthe­lesse I denie not, but it is al­most a thing impossible for a couragious man, to tolerate an indignity, the which if he doth suffer, the onely and the surest way to be reuēged, [Page 140] is to contemne & rebuke it, and to liue with such godly courage, behauiour, and vp­right life, that the doer and actor of the wrong, shal haue sufficient occasion thereat to be ashamed, or at leastwise lose the fruites of his enuy, hauing no ioy of thy hin­derance and damage.Laerti. lib. 6. Anti­sthenes was wont to glory that he had sufficient vertue to the attaining of felicity, & wanted nothing, saue onely the strēgth of Socrates mea­ning, his mayle coate of pa­tience, was a sufficient ar­mour of proofe. Tiberius Cesar was in this one thing most highly cōmended, be­cause he refused honors that wer gratefully profered him,Guid. vi­tu vicen. ex Suet. shunned flattery, and suf­fered all reproches patient­ly, [Page 141] saying, that in a free citie there ought to be free toūgs: that is to say, void of iniqui­ty, and tempered with this mild soueraigne, named Pa­tience. Whose aduice Iulius Cesar seemed to imitate, whē Catullus the Poet wrote ve­ry many contumelious Epi­grams against him, he not­withstanding not onely for­gaue him, but was recōciled, and often inuited him to his house. But omitting to speak any more of this vertue, si­thens it seemeth sufficient, to the instruction of a gouer­nour, if any thing remaine, I referre him to Plutarch and Plato, where he may find suf­ficient to satisfie his minde, and accomplish his expecta­tion.

1 The sweetest salue to a [Page 142] deformed shape, is patience, and no greater reuenge can be profered to Fortune, then to liue contentedly in the midst of misery.

2 The final end of patiēce, is the expectatiō of promises.

3 He may be well verifi­ed to be right patient, which in his outrage can bridle his owne affections.

4 Patience winketh at apparant follies, and refrai­neth to prosecute manifest iniuries.

Aristot.COnstancy is a fortitude, as Aristotle saieth, perse­uering in well doing, defined of Cicero to be a prouident guide, teaching vs the force & efficacy of wisedome, and [Page 143] directing vs to tread our steps stedfastly in the continuall trace of vertue, our nature beeing fraile, lest that any puffe of vanity, or gale of winde should tosse our light affections: like the bramble, being wauering and wanting stay, wee are ready to ship­wrack at euery sudden waue or the least blast, vnlesse wee be cunningly guided by a Pilote of experience, whom, neither feare of aduersitie, exterior dammage, nor pri­uate familiarity may cause to desist from so commendable and comely a vertue as con­stancy, in which remaineth nothing worthy of blame as a note of blemish: for albeit we haue both by nature and nurture, obtained the guer­don due vnto our labour, & [Page 144] doe misse of constancy, when experience claspeth hold on vs; if we then omit any parte of our gotten talent or effe­cted vertue, moued by pri­uate affection, feare of ad­uersity, or any other exteri­or dammage, desisting from constancy, prouing vnstable and wauering in our actiōs, then is the estimation of our credit eclipsed, & what may be worthy of commendati­ons in vs. A man in nothing lesse resembleth a man, then to proue in his action vncon­stāt, which is a great blemish in any man, as appeared in Metellus, which after his ma­ster Diodorus being dead, laied vpon his sepulchre a stone, made after the fashion of a Crowe: which Cicero vnderstanding, said, that he [Page 145] had well rewarded him,Plutarc. be­cause he taught him to flie, and not to speake. Whereby he noted the inconstancy of Metellus. Also heretofore men were rebuked for their inconstancy, and likened to women and to children: to the one, because in respect of their infancy and young yeeres, were not able to ef­fect any thing: to the other, as being the weaker sort, at whose handes no great ex­ploit was to be expected; but now a daies it is contrary: for women are noted for the most part to bee of greater constancy then men, and if a­ny proue vncōstāt, the femi­nine sort are accustomed to terme the same to resemble some wauering or vncōstant man: what should bee the [Page 146] cause of this, I know not, vn­lesse it might come to passe, that men for their leuity are too often saide to resem­ble women, and so with Cae­neus changing sexe, who of a woman became man, so men become women. Con­stancy beyng a property on­ly vnto man, ought to bee of no small reputation: for as the wise man saieth, It is better to haue a constant e­nemy, then an vnconstant friend, whereof we haue di­uers liuely examples: there­fore I will drawe a little nee­rer to the nature and pro­perty of constancy. The pro­perty of a constant man, (as the Philosophers do affirme) is, not to insult in prosperi­ty, nor to pine in troubles or calamity, nor to mourne [Page 147] in aduersity, but as Plato saith, to holde a meane be­tweene submission & ambi­tion, guided by reason; wher­by we may note the ambiti­ous and enuious men to be excluded, of whom there is no meane obserued, nor true constancy vsed, beeing by these vices, as by a cable rope, haled with vnsatiable desire, making no period or comma, frō the highest Zo­diack & climate, to the lowest Centre, by which meanes their mindes cannot be per­manent. Moreouer we must not deceiue our selues, in deeming that the stiffe necked and stubborne man is constant, although hee continueth, as beyng void of al vertue, in his peruerse opi­niō, as Zeno the philosopher [Page 148] wel testifieth, saying, Facilius esse ventrem inflatum emer­gere, quam quemuis improbum ad aliquid agendum cogere: Who yeeldeth to no man is sooner like a Serpent to be broken, then bent: but on the contrary side, the constant man persisteth not accor­ding to opinion as the stub­borne man, which is groun­ded, Innanibus (as they say) & quasi labentibus fundamentis, vpon no certaine fundation, but vpon true knowledge or science, wherein he is assured not to erre. Such a constant man was Anaxarcus the phi­losopher, that when he was beaten in a hollow stone of Micocreon the tyrant, was of such inuincible mind, that he bad the tirāt, Knock, knock this carcase of Anaxarcus, [Page 149] but thou shalt neuer infringe his constancy. Likewise A­lexander had such great cō ­stancy, in trusting his friend against misreport, that it sa­ued his life, whereof all men despaired. Xantippe the wife of Socrates, did report that Socrates had alwaies the same countenance, both go­ing from home, & returning home, which was a signe of great constancy: wherefore nothing is more requisite in a gouernour, then during all his life time, in all actions to proue stable and constant.

1 To liue to God, to cō ­temne the world, to feare no mishap, are the ensignes of constancy.

2 The treasure that men gather in processe of time, may faile, friends may relent, [Page 150] hope may deceiue, vaine glory may perish, but cōstan­cy may neuer be conquered.

3 Constancy is the bles­sing of nature, the soueraine salue of pouerty, the mi­stresse of sorrow, the end of misery.

4 It is the signe of leuity and lightnes of wit, vnadui­sedly to promise, what a man may not, or will not per­forme.

TEmperance is a vertue, moderating and bridling lusts, defined by Aristotle, to be a meane in moderating of the pleasures of the body, & may bee fitly likened to a lampe that shineth, lightneth [Page 151] and expelleth away the dim and obscure passions that may enuiron it: before this vertue can be rightly setled, wee must be void of distem­perature, or annoyāce of cō ­trary vice: to the attaining whereof wee must vse such meanes, as the Chyrurgians doe: Before they apply any medicine or salue co cure a­ny festered vlcer or wound, they first drawe out all bad and corrupt humors, dead and rotten flesh, and then do proceede further to the cure thereof: so must we be­gin first, to cleanse & purge the mind of all distemperate humors, or noysome passions which may seeke harbour & rest therin, so that this vertue may haue no seate or roome to abide: whereby as her na­ture [Page 152] and property is, it may preserue both priuate and humane society, curing the soule, most miserably throwē downe in vice, restoring it a­gaine to her accustomed a­bode therin, foreseing all dis­ordered and vnbridled ap­petites, to yeeld to the yoke of reason & discretion, which is not onely effected by the abstaining from meat and drinke: but also in vanquish­ing the lust, and bridling las­ciuious affections, and sup­pressing wanton wils, which are the vtter wracke and ruine of man, the which to subdue, is thought by wise men a greater conquest, thē to ouercome an enemy in the field, as by their deeds & doctrine it euidently appea­reth. Antisthenes that fa­mous [Page 153] man, did so much loath vntēperate pleasure, that he was wont to say, that he had rather waxe madde,Laertius. then to be moued thereby, proclai­ming openly, I will be di­stracted, rather thē I wil de­light in vntemperature, be­cause the Phisition may cure this malady and madnes, but pleasure or any vntempera­ture, when it causeth a man to be void of reason, & with­out himselfe, is a mischiefe that hath no remedy, and is vncurable. Likewise Demo­sthenes that famous Orator of Greece, affirmed, no grea­ter euill to happen to any earthly wight, which had any tast of vertue, then inconti­nence and vntemperature: accompting it the greatest vertue that could bee, to ab­staine [Page 154] and vtterly to aban­don banquetting, swilling, and drinking, because tem­perance doth very much a­uaile vs, which is especially tried in contemning and a­bandoning pleasures in all actions. This is it that de­serued that daily commen­dation of Solon which was wont to crie out, Ne quid ni­mis. Wherefore the Persi­ans listening thereunto, cau­sed their children in all acti­ons daily to bee exercised herein. Likewise the Turkes doe obserue daily this ver­tue with all modesty, in such forte, that they excell the Greekes and the Romanes, who are wont in warre to su­staine themselues with bread half baked, and rice, with the pouder of flesh which is dried [Page 155] in the Sunne; their drinke is faire water, such as the anci­ent Carthaginians vsed in warre by prescription of law, as Plato saieth. In like ma­ner, Agesilaus king of the La­cedemoniās, passing through the city of Thracius, being mette and entertained by the Nobles and the people, with diuersity of banquets and rare dainties, to grati­fie his comming, who ne­uerthelesse tasted not their dainties, feeding onely on bread and drinke, & cōman­ded his foote men to feed vp­on such cheere, saying, that a Prince ought not to pam­per himselfe with varieties or dainty cheere, but to ab­stayne: meaning, that im­moderate eating and drin­king do inferre great dam­mages [Page 156] to mans body, which were onely ordained to su­staine the life of man, which otherwise vsed do cause great sinne before God and man, and ingendreth diuers dis­eases and sicknesses, as drop­sies & sundry other infecti­ons. Who would not there­fore, considering the discom­modity hereof, refraine, and willingly loath all vnsatiable gluttons, as Vitellus & Appi­tius, to which cormorāts, nei­ther land, water, ayre, might bee sufficient? which is the greatest blemish that can be in any man. Iulius Cesar so much abhorred intempe­rance, as Plutark rehearseth, that he was accounted in re­gard thereof, the very lampe and Lanthorne of all Europe for his abstinēce, & thought [Page 157] the very mirror of Italy, who by ouercōming of himselfe, ouercame all Europe: so, no lesse are all gouernours for their temperance and absti­nence to deserue praise and fame, then dignity & honour for their rule and Empire.

1 Heroicall vertues are made perfect by the vnity of temperance, and fortitude, which seperated, becomes vitious.

2 There is nothing in the world that deserues greater felicity, then moderatiō, that ouercommeth the assaults of the flesh, and the fruites of a good life are reuiued by it.

3 Temperance enforceth vs to yeeld to reason, bring­eth peace to the minde, and mollifieth the affections with concord and agreement.

[Page 158]4 It is vnpossible for him to praise temperance, whose delight is in pleasure, or af­fect gouernment, that de­lighteth in riot.

MOdesty is a temperate vertue, or a precinct or limite, which honesty com­maundeth to be obserued: so called, as Aristotle saith, be­cause it obserueth a meane, not exceeding nor declining in any thing: And as Osorius saieth, It is a vehement feare & shamefastnes of ignominy or reproch: but Plato calleth it the onely preseruer of all vertue, which first shineth or appeareth in youthes, like a lampe, and especially [Page 159] in those which are of the greatest towardnes, whō we perceiue to blush, not for any infamy or reproche which they haue cōmitted, but for feare of cōmitting any thing worthy the reprehēsiō, which is y^e only felicity in all estates, and may be called, the onely repairer of decayed vertue. Sith then the country which we must desire to inhabite, is so high and heauēly, and the way thither is Modestie, wherefore then desiring to enioy this happy countrey, do wee refuse the way? for doubtlesse, as Osorius saieth, that hee which altogether hath lost this vertue, and pas­seth the goale, is either of pre­sumption or of meere slow­nesse reputed, and may bee well thought to haue no [Page 160] sparkle of honesty. Was not impudence and ouerboldnes one of y^e greatest blemishes that Cicero was wont to re­prehend in Cateline? But modesty now a daies, as Pla­to saieth, is exilde out of the land. Wherefore did the La­cedemonians and Romanes banish out of their countrey, all vanity and other lewdnes passing the limits of mode­sty: but because they hated & vtterly detested this vice, as deeming nothing honest which wanted this vertue? Aristotle admonished, that no man should praise or dis­praise himselfe: which on the one side he thought to bee the property of a vaine glo­rious man, and on the other side to be the point of an vn­wise and foolish person: dee­ming [Page 161] on euery side, that it was the poinct of no mode­sty, seeing it is accounted so vnseemely a vice, & detesta­ble a crime amongst all good men, who would be ouer­slow in the obseruing here­of. The very Turkes do so embrace this vertue, and fol­low her traine so much, though being addicted vnto warres, yet to preuēt immo­desty which they greatly de­test, they carie no weapons in court, townes, nor yet in campe: but when they are to fight, they shew great staied­nes in their maners, auoiding haughtines and lightnes in their deeds, gestures, appa­rels, and speaches: As for ex­ample, when Amirath, whō they account and canonize as a Saint, who was very va­liant [Page 162] and fortunate in armes, went to the temple to heare praiers without any pompe, accompanied only with two seruants, would not be salu­ted or flattered with accla­mations. Seing such modesty hath beene vsed amongest those Turkish infidels, what should be vsed amōgst Chri­stians, and in well ordered common weales, where no­thing, but what with vertue and decency should agree, ought to haue any place? for the chiefest point of honesty consisteth in modesty, which subiecteth and reclaimeth all distēperature, and enforceth it to obserue a moderate de­cency. Consider well the graue matrones of Rome, & it shall suffice for an exam­ple, who vsed themselues so [Page 163] modestly & decently, both in behauiour and diet, & called those shamelesse and impu­dent, that did drinke wine or fauour thereof, the which Cicero testifieth in his fourth Booke De Rep. saying, that they obserued it for a token of shamefastnesse, & not for any reprehension: where­fore Cato by report of Pli­nie in his 14. booke De histo­ria naturali, said, That the neighbours for no other rea­son did vse to kisse and busse the female kinde, as wee do now for fashion sake vpon seldome meetings in kind­nes, but for that purpose on­ly, that they might know whether they sauoured of wine, from which to abstaine was a token of modesty. Iu­uenal.

[Page 164]1 Modesty hath often effected that, which no ver­tue nor reason can performe.

2 Men are in nothing more like to their maker, thē in sobernes and modesty.

3 The glorious seat and throne of the highest is in heauen: if thou presumptu­ously endeuour to lift vp thy selfe vnto him, he will flie frō thee; but if otherwise thou obserue true modesty before him, he wil descēd vnto thee.

4 After that Dio was made king of the Siracusians, he would neuer change his accustomed diet and appa­rell, which hee was wont to weare being a student of the Vniuersity.

[Page 165]CHastity is a bridled tem­perance of lawlesse lust, or as Aristotle saith, is a sweet blossome of the soule, and an integrity of life, which ray­seth vp slewces to auoid the floods of vaine pleasure, or refraine the act of carnall ap­petite, whereunto a man is vehemently moued, or els enioyeth his wished desire therin: which to refraine, vn­doubtedly is a thing almost impossible, and betokeneth a great wonder in a man of noble race & of great digni­ty: but in whosoeuer it hap­peneth to be, must of neces­sity be reputed of great wise­dome & vertue, considering that it is enioyed onely of those, that keep their bodies cleane and vnspotted. This chastity abideth neither in [Page 166] sincere Virginity, not sacred Matrimony, yet being good in wedlock, as a peace to de­sire, commendable in vir­ginity and widdowhood, as an onely dignity and grace to their bodies: gracious is that face that accomplisheth onely pure loue, and most celestiall is the resolution grounded vpon chastity: for what can be more accepta­ble before GOD and man, then to keepe our bodies and mindes cleane from all blurres, spottes, or blemish? He that stoupeth to the lure of vaine delight, whereby hee might breed his owne content, and satisfie his law­lesse lust, striketh often his foote against daungerous rocks, and by haunting af­ter vaine follies, falleth into [Page 167] most perillous daungers, not respecting the end, which is the onely salue to tame the fleshe, that wanton is and bold, well to waigh what it shall bee, once dead and layde in molde: For, Non melius poterit caro luxurio­sa dominari, quam bene (qua­lis erit post mortem) recor­dari. Which to forget, is a most detestable sinne in all ages, and especially in old yeeres to bee stayned with the spotte of incontinency. Wherefore it is reported by learned Authors, that a­mongst the Caspions there was a law decreed, that who soeuer should marry after he had passed fifty yeres of age, should in common assem­blies be placed in the lowest roome and the meanest seat, [Page 168] as one that had committed a heinous fact against nature, whom they entituled no bet­ter then a filthy doting old leacher: meaning, that to liue chaste, was the onely felicity of an earthly man, the which in this world could bee effe­cted: wherefore Cyrus, as thinking it a thing most needfull to liue in chastity, abstained from the sight of Pantha: and when Araspus told him, that she was a wo­man of excellent beauty, and woorthy to be a kings para­mour, Therfore, said Cyrus, the rather must I abstaine: for if by thy aduice I shall goe vnto her, when she is solita­ry, peraduenture she wil per­swade me to vse & frequent her company when she hath no need; then must I daily be [Page 169] with her, neglecting the se­rious busines and affaires of the Cōmon wealth: conclu­ding hereby, that he detested vnchastity: for if thereunto he should be addicted, then he could not as a king, right­ly discharge the duty of a go­uernour: for hee had daily experience before his eies, of those which haue beene im­ploied in warre, who after many wreaths and victories, being once intrapped & in­ueigled with the loue of vn­chastity (their minds being linkt thereunto) could no more vse any of their former Stratagems, or busie them­selues in such affaires, being imploid otherwise: whereof we haue diuers examples, as namely that of Alexander, who in stead of his Pollaxe [Page 170] and Curtilax, had a curtisan, whose fauour hee wore, as a signe of the deuotiō he bare to this his mistres: which is a thing greatly to be admired, that men of such resolutions and courage, should bee so quickly entrapped and wea­ned from so great affaires, to such toies & vanities, cōside­ring the discōmodities inci­dent therunto: which Socra­tes well weyed, who beheld on a time Sophocles the wri­ter of tragedies, following af­ter a yong boy, being rauish [...] with his beauty: To whom Socrates said, O Sophocles, it is the part of a man, not onely to abstaine his handes from incontinency, but also his eyes. Which is a saying worthy of all men to be em­braced, & especially of such [Page 171] as haue authority or gouern­ment, or are admitted into a­ny place of dignity, or estima­tion in the Common wealth.

1 Pure chastity is beauty to our soules, a heauenly grace to our bodies, & peace to our desires.

2 Chastity is the seale of grace, the marke of the iust, the crowne of virginity, the glory of life, and comfort in matrimony.

3 Chastity is like the stars in heauen, and beauty is like the marigold which openeth her leaues no lōger then the sunne shineth: so beauty en­dureth but for a moment.

4 Chastity is a signe of true modesty, which in extremi­ty is crowned with eterni­ty, whose presence striketh more shame, thē the sight of [Page 172] many wicked and immodest persons can stirre to filthines with their immodest spea­ches.

IVstice being an excellent and matchlesse vertue, is thought expedient to be in all degrees, and especi­ally in the gouernours of the Common wealth, without the which nothing is cōmen­dable: for it is the right guide vnto godlines, goodnes, and the knowledge of God; the which vertue Cicero called the Queene and mistresse of all vertues, and defined it to be the habite of the minde, which respecteth the publike cōmodity, & yeldeth equal­ly [Page 173] euery man his owne. This vertue Aristotle calleth the affection of the minde, by which men are prone to ad­minister iustice, as being the fundatiō of all other vertues, which allots no priuiledge to defraude any mā of his right: wherefore, as being by the prouidēce of God inuented, for the accōplishment here­of, there were certaine Ima­ges of Iudges (by report) set vp at Athens, hauing neither hands nor eyes: describing that rulers and Magistrates should neither be infected with bribes, or any other way drawen from that which was lawfull & right. To this pur­pose, as it seemeth, in the ori­ginall, an vpright and a iust man was chosen by full con­sent and assent of the com­munalties, [Page 174] of an equall indif­ferency, which should excell in vertue, to decide all con­trouersies, lest the inferiour fort should bee ouerpressed by mighty and wealthy mē: such a man at that time held the superiority, and ruled as a King. All this was effe­cted for the executing of iu­stice, and the right admini­stration thereof: which is so necessary, that no gouernors without it can rightly rule, nor no Common wealth be wel established, which ought to bee of force amongst the greatest enemies, according to the nature and disposition thereof,Iustin. de iustitia & iure. which is a perpetual and a constant will, yeelding euery one his owne by euen portion, wherein prudence, magnanimity, and cōstancy, [Page 175] as assistants or gards, are re­quisit: the one to distinguish lawful things from vnlawful: the other, not to be daunted or held backe by any sinister chaunce: the third and last, to perseuere in yeelding iu­stice. For as Osorius saieth, In repub. bene cōstituta, leges sunt in armorum tutela: sic in bene moratis animis omnia iustitiae praescripta, fortitudinis praesi­dio, prudentiae auxilio, & con­stantiae adminiculo muniūtur. In a well ordered Common wealth, lawes are in stead of weapons: so in well modera­ted mindes, all the rights and prescripts of Iustice are pa­tronized by the safegard of fortitude, by the ayd of pru­dence, and vnder the wing of constancy. Of this iustice, as Cicero sayth, there be two [Page 176] sortes, the one Distributiue, the other Commutatiue, and is of Aristotle called in greek Diorthotick, in English Cor­rectiue, or as the Philoso­phers do say, there are foure sorts of iustice, the first cele­stiall, the second naturall, the third ciuill, the fourth iudici­all. Celestiall is the perfect consideration and duty to God: naturall is that which al men haue among themselues by nature: ciuil is that which is made eyther by lawes of nature, y^e statutes of the peo­ple, the consultation of the Senators, or the authority of graue and wise men, and the deuice of Princes, as amōgst the Athenians & Romanes: iudiciall iustice depēded vp­on lawes made for the com­modity of the cōmon welth: [Page 177] But because of these, Plato (de legibus) and Cicero with diuers others haue spokē suf­ficiently, I will leaue off to speake any thing of the di­uersity of the sortes and na­ture thereof, but yet not for­getting the quality, I thinke it meet to proceed farther, because as Cicero testifieth, without this vertue there is nothing done or effected a­ny maner of way, which in processe of time weareth not away, excepting Iustice, which the more ancient it is, the more it flourisheth: wher­fore there ought to bee no time which should bee void of iustice, as it well appeared by Byas the sage and graue Philosopher, being to iudge a man to die, bewailed and lamēted the misery of y^e mā, [Page 178] and thought woorthily hee should bewaile his sinister fortune: whom a certaine mā beholding, demaunded why he should weepe and powre teares, when it rested at his pleasure to condemne or free any man. To whom Bias an­swered, I must of necessity pardon the frailty of nature, but to erre frō iustice & law, is a pernitious thing, and not to be tolerated: meaning that iustice was a measure ordai­ned from God, amongst his creatures, to his honor, & the defence of the feeble and in­nocent, without which hee esteemed nothing perfect, except it were guided by this vertue: wherefore he ought not to erre herein, nor dero­gate any thing from the pro­perty, being the fundation of [Page 179] all creatures. Therfore, as it were for the auerring of this saying, Manlius Torquatus shewed himself so iust in the executing of iustice, that he condēned his owne sonne, & caused him to be put to deth, being against equity a con­querour: deeming that hee owed more duty to maintain the rights of iustice, then ey­ther loue towards his sonne, or els to the triūph & glory of the cōquest that his sonne had gotten. Phocion also of Athens, being of Antipater requested, that hee would vse iniustice priuily, answe­red him, Thou canst not vse me both a friend and a flatterer: for a friend doth so long continue a friend, as Iustice and equity doe permit him. Meaning, that [Page 180] neither friends nor kinsmen should be an occasion to hin­der the execution of iustice, which being neglected, both the loue of God & mā is cō ­temned, and the destruction of the state of the Common wealth almost in a moment decaied and ruinated, as we may see in diuers cities and countries, and also in the go­uernours thereof: as King Philip was killed by Pausa­nias a gentleman, for deny­ing iustice at the marriage of his daughter Cleopatra, and diuers others by the trans­gression hereof. Wherefore let euery good christian, and especially gouernors, eschew iniustice, and be moued with zeale to discharge their du­tie, and execute with equity and iustice whatsoeuer they [Page 181] vndertake, for the reuerēce they do owe towards God, and the regard of their coū ­tries safety.

1 Iustice is the mother of vertues, the right spouse of fortitude, for which kings be created, and by whose vertue they rule.

2 Iustice allots no pardon to the wicked, which might bring the hazard of the coū ­trey.

3 Iustice requireth equi­ty, equity iudgeth with leni­ty, lenity procureth lawes which doe iudge with extre­mity.

CHarity is a vertue pro­ceeding from the high­est throne, attributed to all [Page 182] Christians, as an vndissoluble yoke, for the knitting & ioy­ning together with louing hearts of both body & soule in Christ; without which there is no certainty, saue onely in the full assurance herof: for hope & faith with­out charity are of no effect. This vertue in the middest of calamities is secure, that neither infinit toyles, nor cō ­tinuance of seruice abateth her courage, beeing in dis­pleasure meeke and humble, in concealing wrongs inno­cent, in trueth quiet; not like hatred, reioycing at o­thers calamity, and pining with their prosperity: But on the contrary doth as hu­mane nature is, Humanis ca­sibus ingemescere, at others misfortune shee bewayleth, [Page 183] & at their prosperity is ioy­full, obseruing the right pre­cepts of GOD, in obeying him, and louing her neigh­bours as her selfe. The Car­thaginians & Egyptians, of al vices hated immodesty, and of al vertues embraced chari­ty.Trogus Pomp. Thrasybilus was so cha­ritably deuoted towardes his countrey, that safely he defended it from the thir­ty tyrants. Ionathan so en­tirely loued Dauid, that hee tolde him all whatsoeuer his father entended against him. Likewise the Turkes, which are inferiour to all others, as Histories doe report, ne­uer vse to bee aboue tenne in a companie, in which so­cietie they are so maruey­lous louing, and charitable one towardes an other, that [Page 184] they neede of none other meanes to gouerne thēselues within the compasse of com­lines and decency, saue onely by signes of hand, & beck­ning of coūtenance, without vttering any word, which is to be wondered at, that there should be such loue and cha­rity amongst those, who doe wander in so great darkenes and obscurity of life, which is of no lesse maruaile thē truth as credible authors doe re­port. Seing they are so giuen to embrace this vertue, what should wee, that haue the cleerenes of the gospel, and the truth alwaies before our eyes? yea wee should be so fettered and linkt thereunto, as the onely patterns of cha­rity, whereby we might rest blamelesse before the pre­sence [Page 185] of our glorious God, aboūding with ioies, hearing that cōfortable voice of our blessed Lord, which shal soūd vnto vs: Come, O ye blessed of my father, inherite the king­dome prouided for you. For the attaining of this vertue we haue a good example of a certaine elderly mā amōgst the Egyptians, who being demaunded, why he refused to haue any thing in his house, which was eyther money, or els appertained to the vse of humane life? he answered, that the vse of those thinges auailed not to the atchiuing of charity, but charity was sufficient to pro­cure any other thing: cōclu­ding hereby, that it was im­possible for man, eyther to leuel his own life after a right [Page 186] line, or els to gouerne others within the compasse or limits to him prescribed according to duty, without charity; in accomplishing whereof hee might be called absolutely perfect, and a right vpholder of this vertue.

1 Charity ransometh vs from the fetters of iniquity, and deliuereth vs from the sting of death.

2 Charity is compared to an euerturning spie, alwaies prouiding and labouring for him in whom she resteth.

3 It is the point of a chari­table minded man, to inuite the poore, courteously to en­tertaine them, and speedily to let them depart.

4 Charity is commonly in the mouth of many, but regarded of a few.

OBedience is the finall pe­riod or end, whereunto true felicity tēdeth, & wher­upon it depēdeth, because it is a zeale and a testimony of an vpright and an hūble con­science, shewing in all enter­prises that we should obserue decency and honesty, which constraineth the soule, Intus & incute, willingly and wit­tily, without instigation to yeeld euery one his proper duty; as honor to whom ho­nor belongeth, reuerence to to whom reuerence, tribute and succour, to whom they belong; which is an infal­lible obseruation to guide our steps vnto eternal blisse: for first, the neglecting of [Page 188] this dutie sheweth our re­bellion, and in accomplish­ing it, we leaue an example of the feare and diligent care we haue in the obseruing & effecting of that, that we are commaunded. The diuersity of this vertue is manyfold, as belonging vnto diuers per­sons. First, our obedience towards God, vnto whom belongeth all honor, dutie, and obedience, whereupon all our stay, hope, and felici­ty is built: secondly, our obe­dience towards our king and superiors, to whom we ought in all humblenes and submis­sion, to shew our selues obe­dient and loyall, as wee are commaunded by the holy scriptures in these words, Let euery one submit himself vn­to the higher power. Third­ly, [Page 189] wee are bound to obey our parents; for as Tully say­leth in his booke of the an­swere of southsaiers, that na­ture in the beginning had made a concord betweene vs and our parents: so then it were detestable to infringe the rights of nature, and not to obey them. Fourthly, and lastly, is the obedience of ser­uants towards their masters, whom in all honest & meeke sort they should obey & re­uerēce. In neglecting of this generall duty, wee shew our selues bastards & reprobates deseruing the curse of our sa­uiour, & the seuerity of law, not imitating the example of Christ, who obeyed his fa­ther, euen to death. Is it not thē the duty of subiects, with all humblenes to obey their [Page 190] superiors, holding them in such high estimatiō, and ser­uing them both with life and goods, which is the proper duty of euery naturall sub­iect? for therein consisteth the stay and state of al coun­treys, because nothing thri­ueth where there is strife & contention; and on the con­trary side all things doe flo­rish, where there do remaine loue, vnity, and obedience. When Salomon deliberated with himselfe in this behalfe, viz. after what sort a citie might be safely preserued: he answered, If the citizēs obey the magistrates, and the ma­gistrates obserue the lawes: meaning, that obedience in the subiects was a signe of great loue and loyalty, and a cause why the cōmon wealth [Page 191] should lōg flourish, as hauing notice and sufficient know­ledge of the ruine & wracke of many Cities, because of disobedience. Wherefore we should vtterly detest this kind of vice, which hath bred so many calamities, & engen­dred sundry depopulatiōs & destructions of countreys, & ought to endeuour and shew our selues obediēt, imitating the exāple of Abraham, who obeied the will of God, in of­fering his sonne Isaac as a sa­crifice: so ought we with all might and maine, to behaue our selues obediētly toward our gouernours, so that nei­ther the banishment of Ari­stides, neither the imprison­ment of Anaxagoras, nor yet the destruction of Phocion should terrifie or cause vs to [Page 192] desist from the executing of our obediēce. But leuing this generall duty, I meane to ex­presse somwhat in particular of our seueral duties & obe­dience towards our parents, whereof we haue diuers and sūdry exāples. First, of Christ himselfe, which obeyed his mother Marie and her hus­band Ioseph: then of Dauid, who after hee was anointed King, obeyed his parents, and followed their direction in all domesticall affaires. Wherby we may gather, the great duty we owe vnto our parents, to be no lesse then a firme bond of nature, fixt in the minds & bowels of euery one:Cicer. pro Plan. the which obedience Cicero so highly commen­ded, that he said, The obe­dience of children towardes [Page 193] their parents, is the fundation of all vertue. Of which mind Torquatus sonne was, who thought nothing so wicked, as to disobey the will of his parents: wherfore being vp­on the displeasure of his fa­ther banisht, he killed him­selfe. So likewise the duety which seruants doe owe to their masters, is not much in­ferior to this, whom they are to serue with al lowlines and seemely demeanure, sustay­ning with patience all corre­ctions, though I deeme them not so much subiects, as the seruants of Frēchmen were, ouer whome their masters had power of life and death; and as Gellius saieth in his 15. booke and 19. chapter, The ten wisemen thought, that authority not onely of [Page 194] masters ouer their seruants, but also of parents ouer their children, was very necessary throughout al dominions, by which means they report the Cōmon wealth long to haue stood. Doutles, if parents o­uer their children, & masters ouer their seruants, had such authority, that in respect therof the cōmon welth flou­rished: then the supreme go­uernour should in equitie haue farre greater preemi­nence, being of both parents, children, masters & seruants a commaunder, vnto whom all should bee most obedi­ent, wherby the state of the Common wealth might per­fectly stande, and that it might bee sayed in respect of this obedience, as it was of a certaine man comming [Page 195] to Sparta, who beheld what honour, obedience, and re­uerence, the yonger sort did to the elders, and the elders to their superiors, & said, It is expedient in this citie to be­come an old man, and of au­thority: meaning, that the Magistrates being so much regarded by the cōmunalties the Common wealth should of necessity long continue. Herin I cōclude of obediēce, determining to passe further.

1 Obediēce formeth peace, establisheth cōmon wealths, & preuents discords: wicked men obey for feare, but good men for loue.

2 It is a cōmendable ver­tue in a seruant, to know how to obey well.

3 That countrey is well kept where the prince gouer­neth [Page 196] rightly, and the people are submissiue & obedient.

HOpe is a sure ground of future things wished for, whether they be diuine or trāsitory, extolling the mind of man with great extacy, being grounded vpon good fundation, & hauing laid an vnfallible anchor, depen­ding thereon with a sure cō ­fidence to effect and accom­plish his desire; which means is a sure remedy to helpe our fraile nature being ful of mi­strust and diffidency, where­by the spirite of man putteth great trust in weighty affairs, reposing such certainty and confidence in himself, which [Page 197] otherwise would be vaine & vnperfit: for he that is voyd of all hope, may be accoūted to be partaker of the incidēt mishap to an vnhappy man. Hauing then so sure a soue­raine kindling our desire, & emboldening our courage, wee cannot possibly misse a good effect proceding from so heauenly a stay, & so sure a safegard, who resēbleth the pure Indian spice, which the more it is pund, the more fra­grant smell it yeeldes: so the more our hope is, the greater is our comfort to enioy that happines which we expect; for a good and vertuous man should alwaies hope wel and feare no mishap, especially beeing grounded vpon the grace of God. Such a man was one of Rhodes, who was [Page 198] cast of a tyrant into a hollow caue, wherein hee was fedde after the manner of a beast, being enforced to sustain re­uiles and torments, his face being mangled & martyred with woundes: who being admonished of one of his friēds, that he shuld seeke an end of his torments, answe­red, All things are to be ho­ped of man, as long as he en­ioyeth life. Euen so Thales Milesius, being demaunded what was cōmon to all men, answered, Hope: meaning, it was a soueraine good, and a confederate to faith, which whosoeuer hath, may wel as­sure himself, that he in con­tinuāce of time, may attaine any thing how difficult so e­uer. Wherupō Socrates the Philosopher said, that it was [Page 199] impossible, that either womā without man should bring foorth good fruite, or good hope without labor: wherby hee iudged, that good hope should not be groūded vpon any vncōstancy, which is the subiect of a vaine and licen­tious life, wherupō euil hope which taketh no toile is plan­ted: therefore Socrates said, hope without labor could ef­fect no good thing; which like a careful nurse should be alwaies imploid or busied a­bout some affaires or other, which hinder the increase of vice: for security and idlenes are accounted the mother of al enormities & lewdnes: by which means true hope is ex­cluded out of doores, which in whosoeuer it remaineth, neuer fayleth them in the [Page 200] greatest extremity. Such a man was Daniel, who hoped so much in the mercy of God, that being throwen into the Lions denne, yet escaped harmeles onely by his meere hope. Likewise also Iob, a man that was full of good hope, who in his greatest di­stres mistrusted not, saying, Loe, though the Lord slay me, yet will I put my trust in him. Wherby it may appere, that he that hopeth well, shal neuer be frustrated of his ex­pectation.

1 Hope groūded on God, neuer faileth, but built on the world, it neuer thriueth.

2 Hope, of al the passi­ons yeeldeth the sweetest sa­uour, and the most pleasant delight: wherof it is said, that hope onely comforteth the [Page 201] miserable.

3 A dastardly louer shall neuer without hope gaine faire loue, without frowning fortune.

4 Mellifluous words pro­cure hope, large protestati­ons cherish it, and contempt spils it.

5 Hope is the fooles so­ueraine, the Marchants com­fort, the Souldiors confede­rat, and the ambitious mans poyson.

FAith (as Cicero saieth) is a constant & firme bond of all sayinges, and con­tracts, appointed for the ac­complishing of promises, and what should be assuredly de­creed vpon, or as Diuines [Page 202] terme it, is a sure stay and rocke of all Christians, whereuppon consisteth all their felicity, and if it bee firmly setled, it neuer decei­ueth: the which to infringe, there can be nothing worse vnto any man, especially to him that ruleth, because this blemish by how much the more excellent the party is wherein it resteth, by so much the more openly it is to be seene, and more hard­ly to bee rooted out. Ennius reprehended the Carthagi­nians, because they viola­ted their faith and fidelity, which was the first cause of the subuersion of their city, who contended for the em­pire of the whole world, with the Romanes, which of al na­tions, were a people of most [Page 203] prowesse and valour. But what maruaile is it that these were so slender in obseruing of faith, which is the funda­tion of all equity, when in all places it is litle regarded, and vtterly excluded out of doones, begging her bread with teares, as a vagabond of no reputation, that I am almost ashamed to speake of the diffidency of men, and the litle regard which they haue of their faith, which ought to be of effect amōgst enemies, vnlesse it bee vn­lawfull, by constraint and compulsion assured? And yet wee haue experience of many, that would rather die, then vpon compulsion or constraint pawne their faith and credite: as for example, Pōtius Cesar the Centurion, [Page 204] being taken of Scipio, the father in law of Pompey, to whom Scipio promised par­don, vpon condition that he would be the Souldiour of Cnaius Pompeius: to whom Pontius answered, Scipio, I yeeld thee thankes; but I need no such condition of life, for I had rather die, then to violate my faith. Whose fi­delity may be vnto vs a most liuely patterne to imitate: in so doing wee purchase our selues eternity, and the safe­ty of our realme hereby is maintained: for what else doth cause the cōmon welth to bee ouerwhelmed, but where the people are vnloial and disobedient towardes their gouernours? But on the contrary side, happy is that estate, wherein the subiects [Page 205] are most louing and faithfull vnto their gouernour, and where the gouernour studi­eth his communalties securi­ty, and is full of clemency, which is the nexte way to binde and vnite affection in duty: seing thē nothing kee­peth together a Common wealth as faith, which is both the originall, and as it were the chiefe constitutor & ser­uator thereof: therefore it is a reproch, eyther to promise lightly without performing, or in firmely promising to in­fringe and neglect it: as Al­phonsus king of Aragon was often wont to say, that the very bare worde of a king to the performing of his fideli­ty, was so much reckoned, as the othe of priuate men, and saied, It was an vnseemely [Page 206] thing for any man to proue vnfaithful, much more for a king. But omitting many o­ther notable exāples, which both in writing and of late remembraunce are extant, I will onely speake of the diuersity and difference of this word Faith, how it is ta­ken. Sometimes it is called faith, sometimes credance, somtimes trust, after the imi­tation of the Latines, faith, by the Frenchmen, loialty. First, in the assured beliefe of the precepts of God, it is ter­med faith: in contracts be­tweene man and man, it may be called credance: between persons of equal degrees, it is called trust: in respect of the seruāt or subiect to his soue­raigne or master, it is proper­ly named fidelity. And so [Page 207] much touching the differēce hereof.

1 Faith being honest, may reape disdaine, but no dis­grace.

2 Faith is the daughter of destiny, the Sympathy of af­fections is foreappointed by the starres.

3 Faith moueth moun­taines, vanquisheth tyrants, conquereth the malice of the enuious, reconcileth mortall foes, to perfect loue & amity.

4 Faith is not to be sup­prest by wisedome, because it is not to be comprehended by reason.

TRueth is the iust perfor­mance of speach, obser­uing [Page 208] integrity, & y^e true mes­senger of God, which euery one ought to embrace for the loue of his master, as be­ing an infallible way to rea­son, which reuealeth the cre­atiō of the world, the power of our creator, the eternall crowne of blisse, which wee hope for, & the punishment due for our transgressions. It is also termed a vertue, whereby we attaine to speak no otherwise with our toūgs, then our harts do conceaue: which consisteth not in glo­sing speaches, or sugred me­lody, proceeding onely from the brimme of the mouth. This excellent champion li­eth not hidden nor obscured with any cloudy mist, but shineth in the greatest dark­nes, yet hiddē vnder a Chaos [Page 209] like the Mineral, which lieth not vpō the face of the earth, that euery one should care­lesly without any paines find it: but in the bowels of the earth secretly hidden, to that purpose, that those which were willing to attaine it, should toyle & labour in the getting therof. So is this ver­tue enclosed and compassed within the vale of blessed­nes, to the which, what man soeuer wil knock at that hea­uenly palace, shall haue en­terance. This is the right square of speach, which effe­cteth stratagems in the harts of men: wherfore let all chri­stians endeuour to the artai­ning thereof, that they may boldly approch before the tribunal seate, & be accepted before God: otherwise they [Page 210] shall be disinherited as ba­stards and vnlawfull heires. For none is accepted before God, but hee that hath no guile, and speaketh the truth from his hart.Elia. lib. 12. When as Py­thagoras the Philosopher di­sputed of diuers matters, hee said, that two thinges were diuinely giuen to man: the one was to embrace trueth, the other to do good turnes, which both were to bee compared to the workes of the immortal gods.Maxi­mius. So like­wise Demosthenes beeing demaunded what men had, that most resembled God, he answered, To be charita­ble and embrace the trueth. Concluding, that in all e­states, and amongst all de­grees, nothing could bee rightly established, or by due [Page 211] course obserued, without this vertue, which needeth no help of any eloquēt Orator, but is sufficient of it selfe to effect all things.Mat. 14 Mark. 6 Iohn Bap­tist was such a louer of this truth, that he doubted not to tell King Herod openly of his incest, the which of all mē ought in like maner to be of so great account and repu­tation, that neither losse of goods, hazard or dammage of life, should cause them to forsake it; by which meanes they might bee acceptable seruants vnto their masters.

1 Trueth hath no need to impaire: for it is a sure pledge, a shield that is ne­uer pearced, a flower that neuer dieth, a stately stay that feares no frowne, a port that yeelds no daunger.

[Page 212]2 Truth is the onely an­chor whereon all things de­pend, the Carde whereby wee saile, the sweete balme whereby wee are cured, the strong towre whereon wee rest, the glistering light, that lighteth vs, & the only shield of our defence.

3 Trueth may incurre blame, but neuer shamed, whose priuiledge is such, that whē time may seeme to crop her wings, then as immortall she taketh her defence.

4 Trueth is a sure pledge to maintaine iustice, to go­uerne a common weale, to kill hate, to nourish vnity, & to disclose secrets.

[Page 213]FRiendship,Aristo. Ethic. ingenerall is a mutuall and secrete good will of those, which do affe­ctionat each other, and en­deuor to profit and better the good: more particularly, it is termed a vertue, by which good and learned men, for conformity and likenes of maners, are conglutinated & vnited in charity and loue. This connection of sundry willes and mutual consent of minds, is hardly to be found, vnlesse it be betweene good men, and withall cannot be found without vertue: be­cause as Aristotle saieth, Friendship is a vertue ioyned to vertue, & requireth equa­lity. Wherfore in all that be good this friendship cannot be, except they be of like cō ­dition, equal degree, and not [Page 214] exceeding one an other in age; for where there is repug­nance of nature, there may be no amity, because it is an entire consent of willes and degrees. In respect hereof, Aristotle saith, that friend­ship hath three obiects, that is, Honesty, profit, and plea­sure. According to the first, the friendship of good men consisteth (as I haue afore mentioned) that there could be no friendship but amongst good men: according to the secōd, proceedeth a familia­rity of daily conuersion, and that is betweene marchants, and diuers other mercena­ry trades men, giuen to the world, and regarding pro­fit, amongst whom there is no friendship: for as Cicero saieth, Amicus est alter ego: [Page 215] that is, I esteeme my friend as my selfe: but they regard more their welth, thē friend­shippe, which they thinke may procure them sufficient friends euery where. Is not this an odious thing in a Cō ­mon wealth, that friendship should be contemned, which procureth concord and vni­ty, vnity peace, peace tran­quillity, tranquillity securi­ty of life, which are the one­ly causes of the maintayning and long continuance of the good estate of the Common wealth? The third, & last ob­iect, is pleasure, according to which, the friendship of yōg youthes & children depen­deth, for the delight they en­ioy in pleasure and pastime together; which is not to be termed friendship, because in [Page 216] such there wantes constancy and discretion, as it euident­ly appeareth: for this friend­ship endureth but for a time. The like vnto this (though a worse) is that of theeues, rob­bers, conspirators, and diuers other malefactors, who, as birds of the same feathers, do flocke and resort together, not for any loue they owe one the other, but for the good will they beare vnto those lewde practises which they do vse. Wherefore they are excluded of all men, and in respect hereof, they con­sort together for friendship sake, as they terme it, which is no friēdship, but carrieth a shewe of friendship: because friendship onely is said to be amongst good and vertuous mē, which is the necessariest [Page 217] thing that should be estee­med amongst men. For as Socrates was woont to say,Erasm. lib. 3. there could not bee a more excellent possession enioyed of any mā thē a good friend; wherein Epaminōdas much delighted, and was wont to glory, that he neuer returned from any towne, before hee had gotten the friendship of some man or other. Wherby hee coniectured, that there could be nothing of greater efficacy & force, then friend­ship: which was well appro­ued by Lucullus & Volum­nius, who were such intimate friendes, that when Marcus Anthonius had the Empire of Rome after the death of Cesar, and also had put Lu­cullus to death, for his con­spiracy against Cesar, Volū ­nius [Page 218] hearing of his friend Lucullus death, came with sobs and teares before An­thony, requesting on his knees one graunt, and desi­ring Anthony to sende his souldiors to kil him vpon the graue of his friend Lucullus: which being denied of the Emperour, then immediatly he wrote vpon a piece of pa­per, the which hee caried in his hand, vntil he had accesse vnto the graue wherein Lu­cullus was layed; and there holding fast the paper in one hand, and his dagger in the other hande, imbrued his hand with his owne bloud, vpon the very graue of his friend, hauing also clasped his hand fast vpon the piece of paper, wherein was writ­ten this worthy sentence, [Page 219] Thou that knowest the loyal friendship betwixt Volum­nius and Lucullus, linke our bodies together, as our minds were one, being aliue. Such friendshippe was betweene Pomponius and Cesar, that the one wanted nothing that the other had: whose exam­ples wee should ingenerall imitate: for though wealth decay, fortune frowne, and we be of honours and digni­ties depriued: yet shall not fortune with all her troupes change or alter friends, who in prosperity or aduersity might reioyce one with an other, or else in bewayling, ease one an others calamity, which is the chiefest sacrifice that may bee offered vnto God, and the greatest terror vnto our enemies.

[Page 220]1 The smile of a foe that proceedeth of enuy, is worse then the teares of a friend flowing with pitie.

2 Wee make experi­ence of a friend, as the gold­smith doth of his gold, in trying him before wee haue need.

3 To set on forwards in folly, argueth no discretion, & to disswade a mā in course of honour, were not the part of a friend.

4 The counsell and per­swasiō of a friend are alwaies fortunate in prosperity, and his company in misery is al­waies delightfull.

[Page 221]LIberality is a vertue, grate­fully bestowing gifts vpon others, and is saied to be the encrease and yerely fruits or annuities, of those blessings which God hath bestowed vpon vs, for the relieuing of the distressed. For the chie­fest honor thereof cōsisteth in helping of the poore. And as Ambrose saith, this ver­tue is in league with iustice: wherefore it should be ru­led by moderation and rea­son, ayming at her reuenues, and thereof giuing freely: as Bion Borystenite was wont to say, it was good to bestow a portion of that talent wee haue, vpon others, yea farre better then to receiue any gift, though bestowed. So Demosthenes beyng asked, what was most possessed of [Page 222] men, that resembled GOD, answered, To bestow boun­tifully, and to effect good things. Neuerthelesse in be­stowing we must be circum­spect, and consider where, when, and to whom; because liberality consisteth not in the quantity of the thing be­stowed, but in the true mea­ning and natural inclination and disposition of the giuer. For he is neuer said to giue in vaine, as Augustine saith, that giueth with a zeale and deuotiō: & they are accoūted liberall and bountiful, which bestow giftes vpon him that deserueth well, & requesteth nothing. For doubtlesse, that gifte is double to bee accep­ted, which proceedeth from a free hand and a liberall hart: because Plautus saieth, [Page 223] that he giueth too late, that giueth when he is asked: for the request of the thing that is giuen, deserueth the gift: wherfore he is rightly accoū ­ted liberal, that giueth of his owne accord, and receiueth not, and withall the benefite of the giuer doth more profit him that giueth, then the re­ceiuer; which Phocion, the whole credit of Athens, did esteeme rightly to be no o­therwise, who when Alexan­der the great had presented him with giftes, and sundry costly Iewels frō Persia, did shew a liuely example here­of in refusing the gift, adding this sentence, I wil not learne to take, lest I forget to giue. Wherein hee shewed him­selfe a patterne of liberalitie, well befitting the worthines [Page 224] of his person. Herby we may coniecture, that to be liberal, is a signe of an excellēt mind. This property of bestowing, is a commendation in noble persons: for in liberall giuing & beneficial doing, are prin­ces compared vnto God. For what may be more cōmen­dable in subiectes towards their Prince, then to be faith­full and loyall? or what may deserue greater praise, thē li­berality and clemency in a prince towards his subiects? What made Iulius Cesar to be beloued of his souldiers, but magnificēce and libera­lity? who vanquished Darius, whose treasure and substance were brought before him, which amounted in ready coine, to two hundred thou­sand pounds, beside infinite [Page 225] treasures and iewels, wherof he tooke nothing from his souldiers, but a litle book, na­med Homers Iliades, in which he delighted much, onely to note the exploits of the Gre­cians, and the worthy feates of the Troians. This mā ex­ceeded so much herein, that happy was that souldier, that could be a souldier to Cesar. O liberal hart, O passing po­licy, O happy estate, and glo­rious stay of such a Common wealth, wherein like liberali­ty of Princes towards their subiects is found, & such loi­alty and fidelity of subiects is shewed and performed. Se­ing liberality is a vertue that deserueth so great praise, what man is he that carieth neuer so base and abiect a mind, that hauing any posses­sions [Page 226] or wealth, and would not be moued with some re­morse of cōscience, to bestow a smal portion thereof, vpon the poore distressed and nee­dy? if not as being addicted to liberality, yet as being moo­ued with pity, he would glad­ly imparte some of the en­crease therof, for his sake that bestoweth the stocke, and yeeldeth the encrease.

1 Liberality hath a zea­lous hart, opē hands, inuinci­ble faith in earth, and a per­petual dwelling in heauen.

2 The liberall man re­cōcileth displeasure, the vn­liberall engendreth hate.

3 A liberall man begin­ning to decay, shal in his fee­blenesse and want, finde his friends and foes.

4 He that is liberal, con­cealeth [Page 227] nothing from them whom he doth affectionate, by which meanes true loue encreaseth, & amity is made more firme, and stable.

CLemēcy is a vertue which belongeth to the inuin­cible part of the soule, wher­by we are slowly addicted to any kind of vices, which all decay in processe of time: only this mercy or clemency encreaseth. Haughtinesse seing this vertue to be hono­red, desireth oftentimes to be couered with the cloke ther­of, fearing, lest appearing in her own shape, she should be litle regarded. The property [Page 228] of this matchles virgine, is to sustaine those crimes which are layed vpon her, not tole­rating her selfe to be hastily carried to reuenge, nor easily spurred to wrath: but enfor­cing him in whō she resteth, to be of a setled & staied re­solution, and to carry a milde and gracious mind: for hee that purchaseth otherwise, wanting clemency, is saied to cary dust against the winde. Wherefore let all Gouer­nours, which do know for a certainty they haue their power from aboue, pōder in their minds in what case they themselues be daily, if God did not abounde in mercy, who would speedily, assoone as they had grieuously offen­ded, smite them with his rod of correction, although as the [Page 229] Scripture saieth, the purest man liuing passeth not one howre, which deserueth not some punishment: but God being infinit in mercy, vpon hope of amendemēt pardo­neth. As therefore imitating his example, and following his steps, let all mē most wil­lingly embrace clemency, which is of such excellency, that the hart of man cannot conceiue, nor his tongue vt­ter either the infinit goodnes thereof, or how admirably it linketh humane society. Wherfore as Demonax was wont to say, mē ought not to want clemency, nor to waxe angry in correcting faultes, vsing the example of Physiti­ons, which are not moued to fret at their sicke patiēts, but mildly to cure the disease: [Page 230] meaning hereby, that the only remedy, and surest way to winne the good will of the subiects, is alwaies for the ru­ler to be courteous and gen­tle, which causeth loue in the subiects, and procureth the good of the Cōmon wealth. Of such clemency was Pom­pey the great, who, when Ti­granes king of Armenia by him conquered, kneeled be­fore him, yeelding vp his Crowne and Scepter at his feete, and himself to his mer­cy as a captiue, tooke him vp in his armes, embraced him, put on his crowne on his head, and restored him to his kingdome againe. Was there euer Monarch more feared of his enemies, thē A­lexander the great, inuinci­ble in al enterprises he attēp­ted, [Page 231] in so much that he could not onely force all humane powers, but also time & place themselues? & yet who hath left greater proofe of meek­nesse then he? for as he was on his voiages, vndertakē for the conquest of the Indians, he & Taxilles might not war one against the other. If thou (saith this king vnto him) art lesse then I, receiue benefits: if greater, I will take them of thee. Alexander greatly cō ­mending, & withal admiring the grauity and courteous speach of this Indian, answe­red thus, At the least we must cōbat for this, namely whe­ther of vs twaine shalbe most beneficial vnto his cōpanion. So loath was this noble Mo­narch to yeeld to the other the superiority in clemency. [Page 232] What can more stir vp hu­mane harts to great affecti­ons? what more maintaineth loue? what ioyneth the harts of subiectes vnto their soue­raigne? Nothing so much as clemency. Adrian a noble Romane, conceyued great hatred against a famous gen­tlemā of Rome: but assoone as this noble Adrian was made Emperour, by chaunce meeting his enemy in the street, that very day that hee was created Emperour, said with a loud voice, in the pre­sence of all the people, Eua­sistime, Thou hast wōne the conquest: meaning, that he being made a Prince, might in no sort reuēge the wrongs that he conceiued before. O vnspeakable humanity, and passing clemēcy in a Prince. [Page 233] Iulius Cesar was also of such courteous behauior, that ha­uing conquered Pompey, & all his enemies, hee wrote to his friends in Rome, that the greatest and most estimable fruit, which he of his victory conceiued, cōsisted in sauing daily the life of men, being his owne countrey men, who had borne armes against him. For especiall proofe of this meeknesse and gentlenesse, that speach may serue which he vttered, when he vnder­stoode, that Cato returning vnto the towne of Vtica, af­ter the losse of the battel, had violated his owne life. O Ca­to (saith this Monarch beyng then very pensiue) I enuy thee for this thy death, seing thou hast enuied me the glo­ry of sauing thy life: I neuer [Page 234] yet denied clemency (said that good Emperour Marcus Aurelius) to him that de­maunded it of mee, much lesse haue I euil entreated, or offered dishonor to any that reposed any confidēce in me: affirming, that there could be no victory, which should enioy the name of a true and perfect victory, excepting that which harboureth cle­mency, alleadging, To ouer­come, was humane, but to pardon, was diuine. Wher­fore, saith this Prince, of whō we made mention, that wee ought to esteeme the mag­nificence of the immortall Gods, not so much for the chastisement, as for the mer­cy which they vse.

1 Clemency is the chara­cter of an vnspotted soule, [Page 235] which neuer lightly suffereth innocency to be troden vn­der feet.

2 Pride is vaine, cruelty is hated, but clemēcy alone for her meekenes is canonized.

3 Clemency ouermuch vsed, is no clemēcy: to be too submissiue and humane in­generall, is to proue humane to none, because that gene­rality can neuer at any time proue particular.

4 Clemency in maiesty, is the rightest path to binde affection in duty.

PEace is a vertue, that pur­chaseth the security and quietnes of kingdomes, sup­pressing al tumults, vprores, and factions, planting quiet­nesse [Page 236] and tranquillity of life▪ But as Cicero saieth, Peace is the end of warre; dignity & renowne, the ioy of peace; and in a well established go­uernmēt, an anchor to both, without which no life is qui­et, no estate well staied, nor no affaires rightly managed. Wherefore, they that wish the want hereof, and refuse the conditions, may rightly be said to deserue the sword of warre, which no man, ex­cept he be void of reason & senceles, would willingly de­sire: for as Cicero saith, there is nothing so much to bee wished, as peace, by which, not onely those things which haue sence in thē by nature, but also the very walles and houses do seeme to glory & reioyce thereat: for when [Page 237] there is no trouble of warre, the spirit is quiet, & fitte for euery kind of honest rest, iu­stice florisheth, vertue shew­eth her effects, vice languish­eth, the zeale of pity encrea­seth, the discipline of the Church is authorised, both the noble and meane man preserueth & gouerneth his wealth, trade and trafficke is free: briefly, euery one recei­ueth good and commodity, & so cōsequently the whole body of the common welth. Archidamus king of Lace­demonia, knowing well the effects of peace and warre here briefly touched by vs, and hearing that the Elians sent succour to the Archa­dians, to warre against him, tooke occasion to write vnto them, after the Laconicall [Page 238] maner, in steade of a long discourse, Archedamus to the Elians: peace is a goodly thing. And an other time he gaue a notable testimony, how farre he preferred peace before warre, when he made answere to one that cōmen­ded him, because he had ob­tained a battaile against the foresaid Archadians, It had bene better if wee had ouer­come them by prudence, ra­ther then by force: euery prince that desireth war, stir­reth vp against himself, both the hatred & weapons of his neighbor, he vexeth his sub­iects vnworthily; seeking ra­ther to rule ouer them by vi­olence, then to gaine their good wil by iustice, he quite ouerthroweth his countrey.

1 Peace triūpheth, where [Page 239] reason ruleth, and security raigneth, where wisdome di­recteth.

2 It is a signe of godlines, to be at peace with men, and at warre with vices.

3 Peace from the mouth of a tyrant, is often promised, but seldome performed.

IDlenes is a feare of labour, desisting from necessary [Page 240] actions, both of body and mind: it is the onely nurse & norisher of sensual appetite, and the sincke which enter­taineth all the filthy chanels of vices, and infecteth the mind with many mischiefes, and the sole maintainer of youthly affectiōs. They ther­fore that doe nothing, saieth Cicero, learne to do ill, and through idlenesse the bodies & mindes of men languish away, but by labour great things are obtained; yet tra­uaile is a worke that continu­eth after death: therefore it was well ordeined in the pri­mitiue Church, that euery one should liue of his owne labour, & sweat of his owne brow, that the idle & slouth­full might not consume vn­profitably the goods of the [Page 241] earth: which reason brought in that auncient Romane e­dict mentioned by Cicero in his booke of Lawes, that no Romane should go through the streets of the citie, vnlesse he caried with him the badge of that trade whereby he li­ued; insomuch that Marcus Aurelius speaking of the di­ligence of the Romanes, wri­teth, that all of thē followed their labour. It is our duty therefore, to abide firme and constant in that good & cō ­mendable kind of life, which we haue chosen from the be­ginning, so that the end ther­of be to liue well: and let vs shunne idlenes in such sorte, as to say with Cato, that it is one thing whereof we ought to repent vs most, if we know that we haue spent a whole [Page 242] day, wherin we haue neither done nor learned any good thing. Phocilides minding to instruct vs in this matter, saide, that in the euening we ought not to sleepe, before we haue thrise called to me­mory whatsoeuer wee haue done the same day, repen­ting vs of the euill, and re­ioycing in our well dooing. Apelles the chiefest paynter that euer was, would not suf­fer one day to passe, without drawyng some line: mea­ning thereby (as hee saide) to fight against idlenesse, as with an enemy. Eleas King of Scythia, saide, That hee deemed himself to differ no­thing from his horse-keeper when hee was idle. Dioni­sius the elder, being deman­ded if hee was neuer idle, [Page 243] answered, God keepe mee frō that horrible vice: for as a bow (according to the com­mon Prouerbe) is broken, by keeping it in too much ben­ding: so is the soule through too much idlenesse. This is that which Masinissa the A­phricā would learnedly teach vs, of whō Polibius writeth, that he died when hee was fourescore and 10. yeeres of age, leauing behind him a sonne that was but foure yeeres old a little before hee died, after he had discōfited the Carthaginians in a maine battell, hee was seene the next day eating of course browne bread, saying, to some that maruailed therat, That as yron is bright and shineth as long as it is vsed by the hande of man, and [Page 244] as a house falleth to decay wherein no man dwelleth (as Sophocles saith) so fareth it with this brightnesse and glistring light of the soule, wherby we discourse, vnder­stand, and remember. The same reason moued Xerxes father to say to Darius, that in perilous times and dange­rous affaires he increased in wisdome. Likewise politicall knowledge, is so excellent a prudence, settled minde, iu­stice, & experience, as know­eth full well how to make choise of, and to take fit time and opportunity in all things that happen, which cannot be maintained but by pra­ctise & managing of affaires, by discoursing and iudging. Now to conclude our pre­sent treatise, seing we know [Page 245] that we are borne to all ver­tuous actions, let vs flie from idlenes and slouth, the wel­spring of al iniustice, and po­uerty, the stirrers vp of infi­nite passions in the soule, and the procurers of many disea­ses in the body, euen to the vtter destructiō of men: And let vs embrace diligēce, care, trauell, and study, which are sure guides to lead vs to that end, for which wee ought to liue, wherin consisteth all the happines and cōtentation of the life of good men: and let vs not dout, but that all time otherwise spent, is lost time, knowing that all times in re­spect of themselues are like: but that which is imploied in vertue in regard of vs, and that which is vnprofitably wasted, & in vices, is naught.

[Page 246]1 Idlenes maketh of men women, of women beasts, of beasts monsters.

2 To fly with idlenes frō that wee should follow, is to follow our own destruction.

3 To idlenes belongeth correction, to correction a­mendment, to amendment reward.

DElight is a pleasure, that moueth and tickleth our senses, raysing our hopes on hilles of high desire, which quickly fadeth & vanquish­eth away, and rather leaueth behinde it an occasion of re­pentaunce (how delectable soeuer these pleasures bee) then any reason to call it againe to remembrance, al­beit [Page 247] amongst the pleasures & delights which men haue in this worlde, some are de­cent, holy & honest; as those which we cōceaue in the rea­ding and meditation of the law of God, in our obedience towards him, and of the faith and hope we haue in his pro­mises. All which (as Dauid saith) are more to be desired then gold, yea thē fine gold, & are sweeter then the hony & hony cōbe. It is also a sin­gular pleasure to behold the prouidence, wisedome and goodnes of God towards his creatures, and to consider how euery one of them, and euery part of them, are ap­pointed to some good pur­pose, and ordained for the vse, pleasure and profite of man: in these plesures there is [Page 248] neyther shame, sorrow, nor repentāce: for euery thing is holy, and there is no euil, vn­lesse it be, that wee are not greatly desirous to fall into these considerations, or be­cause we are ouer-weary of them. There are other plea­sures which are natural, as to eate when we are hungry, to drinke when we are thirsty, to rest when we are weary, & such like; by the sweetnesse wherof, our good God, which is a louer of our welfare, would stirre vs vp to be care­full of our selues. There are also some which are super­fluous & vnprofitable, as that of Socrates, which was accu­stomed to stand in one place gazing at the Sunne, frō the rising therof vntill Sunne set: or as the Deere that deligh­teth [Page 249] to gaze so long on the bowe, vntil he is hit with the bolt: or that of sundry o­thers, which they take in tric­king toyes, as in engrauing or such like: othersome spend the most parte of the day at the dore, to shew their beau­ties, & to behold the passen­gers by: not vnlike y^e wolues of Syria, which delight to barke against the Moone, spēding their time about no­thing, which euery mā ought to hold most precious, and especially gouernours, who are alwaies to be emploied in matters of great consequēce, whereof the charge is such, that if they discharge their duty, they shall hardly haue so much leasure, as to eat their meat, & take their rest, vnlesse they omit some of [Page 250] that time which should bee emploied in publike affaires. Moreouer there are other pleasures which are lewd, & are termed by the name of carnall & worldly pleasures, & these are they whereof at this present I purposed to dis­course. Herein let vs resolue our selues, that it is not suffi­ciēt to do our endeuour, that according vnto the example of S. Paul, & following his aduice & coūsaile, we do ap­ply our selues to the persons with whom we liue, and that we transforme our selues vn­to them, though that their natures be oftentimes diffe­rent & disagreeing from vs; but withall, wee must apply our selues to the suddaine chaunces and sundry acci­dents of this life, and keepe [Page 251] our minds alwaies in one e­state and condition, whether wee be poore or rich, as it is said of Socrates, that vnto what house soeuer he came, were it to the Kings palace, or the beggers cottage, were he in Silkes, Veluet or Frise, he alwaies kept a decorum & a comlines in his behaui­or, beseeming such a philoso­pher as he was. So in like ma­ner must we apply our selues & learne to vse al alterations and changes, whether they should be ease or labour, ho­nour, or dishonor, pouerty & riches, friends and enemies, health & sicknes, imprison­mēt & liberty, rest & paines, sorrow and gladnes, without doing any thing vnprofitable or not befitting a Christian, or disagreeing, & not besee­ming [Page 252] our estate & conditions and in so doing, a man that shal moderately & wisely en­ioy any pleasure as God shall minister him occasiō, giuing thanks vnto him, & acknow­ledging his goodnes, ought much more to be cōmended, thē he that refuseth his grace and fauour, depriuing him­selfe of those giftes & talents which God hath giuen and offered him: for he doth it ei­ther through contempt, su­perstitiō, or detestable pride, thinking himselfe to be more wise in reiecting, then accep­ting the goodnesse that God hath offered him.

1 Worldly gladnesse ri­deth vpon the wings of time, but he that sitteth surest, may be ouerthrowne.

2 Conceale thy delights [Page 253] in thy heart, lest shamefully they be discouered.

3 Delight is the brook of euils, quenching the light of the soule, & hindering coun­sell, turning men aside from the right way.

4 The delight of the hart addeth length to life, but sor­row of life hasteneth death.

INtemperance is an enemy to frugality, a daughter to excesse, a foe to tempe­rance, & a fauourit to im­moderate appetite, that cra­ueth daily more then it nee­deth, like an vnthākful beast, vnwilling to gratify the plea­sure done it, which liues as a slaue to the mouth & belly: for what can be more vile & [Page 254] loathsom, thē is the drūkard, whose mouth is the lodge of poisoned sauors, whose body through excesse doth trēble & shake, whose promises are large, whose tongue bewrai­eth secretes, whose minde is soone changed, whose coun­tenance is transformed: for where drunkennes raigneth there secretie beareth no sway: for cōmonly when the head is ful of wine, the tōgue is set at liberty; besides, this wine doth not onely suffice a drunkard, neither is he con­tēt with many sorts of wine, as sacke, bastard, hipocras, & such like, but hee drowneth his senses in all variety of li­quor, making himself the mō ­ster of excesse. O desire insa­tiable, O fire inquenchable. This is the nursery of al cōtē ­tion [Page 255] and strife: for as the wise man saith, Much drinking of wine kindleth the coales of wrath, and is the roote of all misbelief & ruine, and the se­quel therof is fornication, yea fornication, wine, & drūken­nes, bereue noble minds of al strength and courage, cor­rupt the bloud, dissolue the whole man, & finally make him forgetfull of himselfe al­together. Therefore the A­postle writeth, Be not drūk▪ with wine, wherein is lasci­uious wanton lust. And that wise king saith, That wine is a leacherous thing, and that drunkennes is full of strife & dissentiō. The childrē of Ra­chab, & the sons of Zachary dranke no wine, nor no other kinde of strong drinke that might ouercome their sēses, [Page 256] Gluttony the mother of vn­cleannesse, bringeth foorth a more vncleane daughter: for it is very agreable to rea­son, that what is already vn­cleane, should become as it were more disparged with vncleannesse. For all those which commit fornication, are like vnto the bakers ouen made hote with fire. The princes & rulers begā to rage through wine: for the belly which is daintily fed, most willingly of it self embraceth carnall pleasures, & extreme rage of vncleane lust, which doth not only effeminat the mind, but also weakneth the body, and indaungereth the person in this life, and bring­eth both body and soule in peril of damnation in the life to come: for al the sinne that [Page 257] a mā committeth, is without the body, but he that offen­deth infornication, commit­teth an offence against his owne body. Heate & lust are the harbingers of fornicatiō, & it is alwaies combinat and accōpanied with vncleānes, & vndecentnesse, but sorrow & repentance do speedily o­uertake it: for the lippes of an harlot (saith Salomon) or like vnto a dropping hony cōbe, and her throat is more neate and cleaner then oile, but the and & latter daies of her are as bitter as wormwood, and her tongue is as sharpe as a two edged sword. Let al men therefore eschue this odious vice, which though at the first it seeme pleasant, yet in the end it will wound like Basi­ [...]icocks, which slay & kil men [Page 258] with the poyson of their sight.

1 Sobriety cōteineth that in a wise mans thought, which a foole without discre­tion hath in his mouth.

2 Gluttony stirreth vp lust, drieth the bones, and more die by it, then perish by the sworde.

3 Intemperance is a root proper to euery disease, and he that too much pampereth himselfe, is a heauy foe to his owne body.

4 Intēperance increaseth anger, & anger in extremity extinguisheth vnderstāding opinion and memory.

[Page 259]LVst is a desire against rea­son, that enforceth vs to couet beyōd our power, a fu­rious and an vnbridled ap­petite, which procureth vs to act beyond our nature, & to die before our time, in that it rooteth al good motions out of the minde of man, leauing no abode for vertuous acti­ons: for in the beginning of mans life bread & water was his foode, & a simple garmēt with a poore cottage were thought sufficiēt to couer his deformity: but now the fruits of trees, the sundry sortes of graines, the rootes of hearbs, the fishes of the sea, the beasts of the land, the foules of the ayre, doe not satisfie the greedy appetites of glut­tons, and rauening men; now they seeke for pleasant [Page 260] dishes with painted colours, they procure delicates and hoat spices, choice meats, su­gred morsels for their dainty mouths, those things do they feed vpon, which be curious­ly wrought by the art of coo­kery & other officers: one by stamping & straining chan­geth some things from their proper nature, labouring by arte to make that accident, which of it selfe is a substāce: an [...]er compoūdeth things together, to make that deli­cate, which of it self is vnple­sant: & all this is to turne ex­cesse to hunger, to bring an appetite to the stomacke op­prest with saturity, and to fill the greedy desire of glutto­ny, rather thē to sustaine the weaknes of nature. Glutto­ny is an enemy to health, a [Page 261] friend to sicknes, the mother of wanton lust, and the in­strument of death. Bee not greedy, saith the wise man, at any banquet, nor feede not on euery dish: for with the diuersity of dishes the health is indangered, and through surfet of wine many haue pe­rished: meate is ordained for the belly, and the belly to re­ceiue the meat, but God shal destroy both the one and the other. Gluttony requireth a costly & chargeable tribute, but yet yeeldeth a very base and vile rent: for how much more delicate the meate is, so much more odious are the fruits thereof. Gluttony di­stēpereth the body, corrup­teth the stomacke, and ma­keth al partes noisome:Gen. 3. glut­tony did shut vp the gates of [Page 262] Paradise against mankind: gluttony caused Esau to sell his inheritāce:Gen. 25. gluttony was the maine path which ledde Pharaos baker to the gal­lowes:Gen. 40. Mat. 14 gluttony was the in­strument that wrought Iohn Baptist his death: Nabuzar­don the chiefe cooke of the king of Babilon, burnt the temple, and destroied the ci­ty Ierusalem.Dan. 5. Balthasar the king of Babilon in his great and sumptuous banquet, saw a hand writing on the wall, Mane, Thekel, Phares, & the same night he was killed by the Caldeans. The people o [...] Israel sate downe to make good cheere, and rose vp to play: but whilest the meate was yet in their mouthes, the wrath of God fell vpō them, and destroied them all, for [Page 263] their voluptuous and lewd kind of liuing. The rich man which did feast, banquet, and abound in worldly pompe & vanity, is buried in hell. Vi­tellius also was so much gi­uen to gluttony and excesse, that at one supper he was ser­ued with two thousand seue­rall kind of fishes, and with 7000. flying foules. Also A­ristotle mocking the Epi­cures, said, That vpon a time they went all to a temple to­gether, beseeching the gods, that they would giue them necks as long as Cranes and Herons, that the pleasures & taste of meat might be more long, cōplaining against na­ture for making their neckes too short.

1 Lechery is a strong tower of mischiefe, and hath [Page 264] many vpholders, as needi­nes, palenesse, anger, lust, dis­cord, loue, and longing.

2 Concupiscence in de­crepit olde age, is loath­somnes, in youth excesse, & betweene both, the fruite of idlenes.

3 Concupiscence is an e­nemy to the purse, and a foe to the person, a canker to the mind, procuring blindnesse to the vnderstanding, hard­nes of hart, & want of grace.

4 Cōcupiscence is a sinne finished with sorrow, a lust that groweth by cōtinuance, an infamy nourished by las­ciuiousnes.

ENuy is a griefe arising of other mens prosperity, to [Page 265] which vice malignity is al­waies a confederat: this hate or enuy springeth of certaine pleasure or delight, concea­ned by other mens harme, al­though it reapeth nor enioy­eth pleasure or profite there­by, yet as being an enemy to vnity, reioyceth thereat. This triuiall vice is said to be the mother of wickednes, and accounted to sit in an imma­ginary theater, her palace is a dim & hollow vaute, wher­in she waxeth pale & wanne, as hauing the cōsumption of the liuer, looking askwint, as borne vnder Saturne, flow­ing with gall, as hauing no affinity with the doue, neuer reioycing, being conceaued without a splene, yet smileth at other mens misfortune, being in a league with the [Page 266] Crocodile: shee is alwaies carefull, and neuer resting, as though she were an arme of Ixions wheele. This vice, as the Poets doe say, is a mon­strous vermine, and an ene­my to concord, engendred and hatched by the vgly Me­gera of hell, that feedes and crāmes her gorge with dra­gons, and fomes out againe deadly poyson; then which vice, nothing is more perni­cious to the estate of the cō ­mon welth: for what may be more vnseemely and dete­stable, then one man to pine away at an others good e­state, or reioyce at an others harme? The causes that doe bring foorth this vile bratte, are many, (as diuers doe re­hearse) whereof one, as I my self by experiēce haue partly [Page 267] knowne, is, that wheras some springing from base stocke, and withall like the Scaribe, bearing lowe thoughts, yet haue enuied and grudged at others, that both by nature and nurture, were well qua­lified, & of good deserts, be­cause they were not willing to see any other prosper or of any estimation and dignity; not because they hate praise or dignity themselues, but because they haue nothing in themselues worthy of fame, nor any sparkle left by their posterities, that might right­ly chalēge any prerogatiue: and this is the meanest sort of enuy. Some other are en­uied by the better sort, for their hauty & insolent pride, who will admit no coequall, or second. Such a one was [Page 268] Sesostris, who was so proud & haughty, that whensoeuer he went to the temple or any whither in publike, caused his chariot to be drawne by foure tributary Kinges or great Lords, instead of hor­ses: shewing thereby, that none of the other kings or captaines were to be com­pared to him in vertue and prowesse. And this sorte of enuy is somewhat tolerable. Some others are enuied, be­ing promoted to honour and dignity, or increasing in wealth & substance: so like­wise the good of the euill & lewd sort, are hated for their goodnes and vertue, which vice is intolerable, and as vnsit to be in the Common weale, as a coward in warres: wherfore saith a worthy man [Page 269] named Demor [...]s, that the lawes did not forbid euery man to liue according to his owne wished desire, vnlesse the one were enuious & in­iurious to the other: mea­ning, that enuy was the one­ly beginner and stirrer vp of hatred, and of other vices. Such was the enuy of The­mistocles, who repined and was puffed vp with great en­uy, when he perceyued Mel­ciades to be honoured for his conquest, that he could not take quiet rest, and beyng demaunded what might be the cause thereof, answered, that the triumphes of Mel­ciades would not suffer him to take any rest. Wherein he shewed himself a vitious man and worthy of reproch. But on the cōtrary side, Socrates [Page 270] being told that he was enui­ed of one, appeased his anger and answered, It is not ma­terial: alleadging, The harme will be his, and not mine: for both his owne ill hap, and my good successe, shall torment and put him to paine: Ad­ding that of Horace, Inuidus alterius rebus macrescit opi­mis: The enuious man pines away, to see an others pros­perity.

1 A discreet man had ra­ther be enuied for prouident sparing, then pitied for his prodigall spending.

2 Enuy is the daughter of pride, the companiō of mag­nificence, the beginner of se­crete sedition, & the perpe­tual corrupter of vertue.

3 Enuy swalloweth vp the greatest part of her own poi­son.

[Page 271]4 The enuious man that carieth hatred in his face, and folly in his head, is combred with two wormes, the one fretteth life, the other consu­meth goods.

COuetousnes is a defor­mity of the soule, wherby a man most greedily desireth to heape riches frō all partes without measure, regarding not how vniustly hee detai­neth goods belonging vnto others, so that he may aug­mēt his riches, which he ga­thereth with great trauailes, & keepeth them with more dāger. The couetous man is alwaies ready to aske, but slow to giue, and bold to de­ny: all that hee spendeth, he [Page 272] thinketh it lost, and after ex­pense he is full of sorrow, full of complaints, froward and hard to please, hee is prest with care, & sigheth through the remembraunce of that which is spent, he is troubled in minde, tormented in bo­dy, & if ought goe from him, it is much against his will, GOD wote, hee maketh his owne gifts glorious, and em­braceth not that which hee receiueth from others, he gi­ueth in hope to receiue, and of his giftes he maketh his gaine, he is free of expense where others beare y^e charge, very sparing in spending of his owne, he forbeareth his food, his treasure to encrease, he pineth his body, to mul­tiply his gaine, hee putteth backe his hand, when hee [Page 273] ought to giue, but he stretch­eth it farre forth, when he is to receiue any thing: how­beit, the wealth & substance of the vnrighteous shalbe dried vp as a riuer, because goods euill gotten are soone againe consumed; for it is a iust iudgement, that wealth of euill beginning, should haue an euill ending, & that those things which be vniust­ly gathered, should bee vn­iustly and vnthriftily scatte­red: The couetous man hath therefore his condemnation in this life, and in the life to come. Tantalus, as the poet saieth, thirsteth amidst the waters; euen so the couetous man stādeth in need amōgst all his great wealth, to whom that which hee hath, doth as much good, as that which he [Page 274] hath not, because hee neuer vseth it, but alwaies gapeth after things not as yet obtai­ned: hee is, saieth the Wise man, as though, hee were rich, when he hath nothing, and is as though hee were poore, when he flourisheth in welth. The couetous man & the pit of hell do both of thē deuoure, but they do not di­gest, they receiue both, but they doe not render againe: the niggard doth neither pi­tie those that suffer afflicti­on, nor yet haue compassion of those that are in misery, but hee forgetteth his dutie to GOD, and the due to his neighbour, seeking his owne harme and disquietnesse: for hee holdeth backe the due vnto God, he denyeth to his neighbour things necessary, [Page 275] and withdraweth from him­selfe things that be needfull, he is vnthankfull to GOD, vnkinde to his neighbour, & cruell to himselfe. To what vse hath the couetous man substaunce, and to what end hath the spitefull & malitious man gold? how can he that is euill to himselfe, be good to others? Or he that taketh no profite of his owne gotten goods? He that hath the sub­staunce of this worlde, and seeth his brother in necessi­ty, and shutteth vp his com­passion from him, howe dwelleth the loue of GOD in him? For hee loueth not his neighbour as himselfe, whom he suffereth to perish for hunger, and consume for neede, neyther doth he loue God aboue all thinges, who [Page 276] more then God, respecteth gold and siluer.

1 The couetous man bet­tereth no man, and worse be­friendeth himselfe.

2 A couetous mans purse is the deuils mouth, his life is to liue a begger, and his end to die in want.

3 Riches gathered by the couetous, are lightly wasted by the prodigall person.

4 The couetous man can learne no truth, because hee lotheth the truth.

VSury is an actiue element that consumeth all the fewell that is layed vpon it, gnawing the detters to the bones, and sucketh out the [Page 277] bloud & marrow from them, ingendring money of mony, contrary to the disposition of nature, and holding a disor­dinate desire of wealth; of which it may be said, as it was to Alexander, of the Scythi­ans, What needest thou of riches which constraine thee alwaies to desire? thou art the first, which of abūdance hast made indigence, to the end that by possessing more, thou mightest with more ease by vnlawfull vsury enioy that thou hast not. This vice is so lothsome, and contrary to e­quity and reason, that all na­tions, which were led by the instinct of nature, haue al­waies abhorred and cōdem­ned it, in so much as the conditiō of theeues hath bin more tolerated, then vsury: [Page 278] for theft was wont to be pu­nished but with double resti­tution, but vsury with qua­druple: and to speake truly, these rich & gallant vsurers do more robbe the people, & purloine from them, then all the publike theeues that are made examples of iustice in the world. It is to be wished, that some would examine v­surers books, & make a bon­fire of their obligatiōs, as that Lacedemonian did, whē A­gesilaus reported, that he ne­uer saw a cleerer fire: or that some Lucullus would deliuer Europe frō that contagion, as that Romane did Asia in his time. Licurgus banished this canker worme out of Sparta, Amasis punished it seuerely in Egypt, Cato banished it out of Sicilia, & Solon con­demned [Page 279] it in Athens. How much more should it be held in detestation amongst Chri­stians? S. Chrysostome com­pareth it fitly to the biting of an Aspe: as he that is stung with an Aspe, falleth asleepe as it were with delectation, but dieth yer he awaketh: so money takē in vsury, deligh­teth & contenteth at the first, but it infecteth all his posses­sours, & sucketh out the mar­row of them suddenly. Se­ing that it is so abominable by the lawe of God and na­ture, let vs shūne it as a toad, & fly from it as from a Coc­katrice. But if these perswa­sions will not serue, let them turne their eies to these ex­amples following, wherein they shal see the manifest in­dignation of GOD vpon it. [Page 280] Sergius Galba, before hee came to be Emperour, being president of Affrica vnder Claudius, when as through penury of vitailes, corne, & other food were very spa­ringly shared and deuided a­mongst the army, punished a certaine souldier, that solde a bushell of wheate to one of his fellowes, for a hundred pence, in hope to obtaine a new share himselfe: in this maner he commaunded the Questor or treasurer to giue him no more sustenāce, since he preferred lucre before the necessity of his owne body, and his friends welfare, ney­ther suffred he any man else to sell him any, so that he pe­rished with famine, and be­came a miserable example to all the army of the fruites of [Page 281] that foule dropsie couetous­nesse.

1 Vsury is like a whirle poole, that swalloweth what so euer it catcheth.

2 The serpent hidden in the grasse, stingeth the foote, & the vsurer vnder shadow of honesty, deceiueth the simple.

3 Vsury deceiues the belly, taketh away the ti­tle of gentry, and becom­meth carelesse of the soules safety.

4 Couetousnes findeth out vsury, vsury nourisheth idlenes, idlenes is the brin­ger foorth of euils.

[Page 282]AMbition is an vnmeasu­rable desire to enioy ho­nors, preferments, estates & great places of dignity; it is a vice of excesse, and contra­ry to modesty: repugnant to this, amongst the Romanes there was decreed a law, to this end or purpose, viz. that none might obtaine any dig­nity, or other function, by proouing liberall, bestowing giftes, or in vsing any other vnlawfull meanes; which law yeelded no fauour to the of­fender: For whosoeuer were found guilty & condemned, should assuredly suffer death. Which law, doubtlesse, was needfull, waying what sun­dry calamities by ambition happen: for they that be am­bitious, are, as it were, with Iccarus wings carried with [Page 283] an vnsatiable desire of suffe­raignty, admitting of no pe­riod, or stay, from the lowest centure, to the highest hea­uēs. If they that are with this vice attainted, doe obtaine any authority, then as suppo­sing the rights of law to bee in their owne handes, they will effect what they list, deeming whatsoeuer is plea­sing vnto them, is lawfull. By reason hereof, they do seuer themselues, as though they were by nature melācholike, & giuen to embrace solitari­nesse, fearing contradicti­ons, or censure of any others touching their enormities, wherby diuers iniuries haue risen: For as Osorius saieth, The more hawtie mind and noble a man hath, that is desi­rous of glory & estimatiō, the [Page 284] more easie hee is to and fro carried by euery blast, to accomplish any thing against equity. To this lothsome vice couetousnes, must needes be annexed a property, other­wise the vaine glory of am­bition and prowde ostenta­tion of the ambitious man, could not bee suggested: whose summū decus & chiefe decorū of honor, do consist in being imperious, & carie a great port, & sway: to the vnderpropting whereof, his authority must needes bee a means to procure him coine, to cure his care, and vphold his calling, which is contrary both to the law of God and man, & against the right rule of modesty. Aristotle ter­meth him modest, who desi­reth honour as he ought, and [Page 285] no otherwise then it becom­meth him: but he that desi­reth it more then he ought, by an vnlawfull meanes, is ambitious, & is carried away with the perturbation of in­temperācy. Ambition neuer suffreth those that haue once entertained it, as a ghest, to enioy their present estate quietly, but maketh them al­waies empty of goods, and needy, it causeth them to cō ­temne that which they haue gotten by great paines and trauaile, and which not long before they desired very ear­nestly, by reason of their new imaginations and conceites of great matters, which they continually practised, but haue neuer their minds satis­fied and contented: the in­crease of power & authority [Page 286] is the cause whereby they are induced, and carried head­long to commit all kinde of iniustice, flattering them­selues in furious and frantike actions, that they may haue accesse to the end of their in­finite plottes, and enioy that proud and tirannicall glory, which contrary to all dutie they haūt after. Spurius Me­lius a Senatour of Rome was murthered for his ambition, and his house rased by Tici­mātus the dictator of Rome, because he sought by meanes of certaine dole or distribu­tion of wheat, to make him­selfe king of Rome. Marcus Manlius was also for the like occasion, throwen downe from the toppe of a rocke. Therfore it appeareth suffici­ently vnto vs, how perniti­ous [Page 287] this vice of ambition is in the soules of great men, and woorthy of perpetuall blame.

1 Ambition is a serpent, which pryeth into euery mans thoghts, & slily insinu­ateth her selfe into the bow­els of men.

2 The ambitious man, that endeuoureth to plunge and depresse another, to en­ioy prefermēt, in stead of su­periority, attaineth indignity.

3 Men that are enuious, placing their thoughts in the hiest theater of honour, their fortune beyng lowe, must needs liue a male-contented life.

4 An ambitious person will alway wander astray out of the right way, to attaine to the height that his hart desi­reth.

[Page 288]5 The ambitious is of such vnacquainted fittes, and mouing spirites tempered, that he neuer contents him­selfe in any vocation.

ANger is furor brenis, a shortfury, or as Aristotle saieth, the suddaine inflama­tion of the bloud, causing the motions of the spirits, and al­teration of the hart: it is also a desire of reuēge, or a rech­lesse care of friendship, and an enemy to reason; wherby springeth such a hurly burly in the mind, that reason, du­ring this fury, cānot be heard, nor vnderstanding obeyed, no more then lawes or ma­gistrates are regarded in a [Page 289] state torne and rent with euil dissentiō: but in this trouble, the passions, which do waxe most mutinous and trouble­some to the quiet rest of the spirites, doe first arise in the appetible and concupiscible part: that is to say, in that part where the soule doth exercise his facultie of desi­ring or reiecting things pre­sented vnto her, as being things contrary to her wel­fare and preseruation. Chol­ler knoweth not how to be silēt, but is very rash, vnwa­ry & vnaduised in all things: whereby it happeneth, that those headlong persons rūne often into such daunger, as they neuer gette out, by rea­son of their anger. Clitus & Calisthenes were the occa­sion of their owne destru­ction, [Page 290] for that they had bene ouerbold in reproouing A­lexander; wheras by modest & humble admonition they might haue reclaimed him, saued themselues, and got­ten the grace and fauour of their lord and master. C. Fla­minius, and M. Marcellus, two consuls of Rome, both valiant and hardy souldiers, were notwithstāding surpri­sed and ouerthrowen in the end by Hannibal, by reason of their ouermuch froward­nes, & making too hasty trial of their fortune: wheras con­trarywise, Fabius Maximus being a more sober and tem­perate Captaine, neuer en­terprised any thing, but with great aduisednesse, and with such deliberation conside­red of the circumstance of [Page 291] each thing, that Hannibal could neuer entrappe him in his ambushes, though he pla­ced them neuer so cunning­ly. When Hieron king of Si­cilia had murthered certaine of his friendes, and the re­port knowne thorowe the countrey, Epicharmus, who vnderstood of the matter, within a while after was bid­dē to supper with the king, and by reason of his aboun­dāce of choller he could not dissemble, but cried out as­soone as hee saw the king, and reproued him for his in­fidelity and horrible mur­ther, saying, Why didst thou not call mee to the sacrifice that thou madest of thy friends? which was the cause that he lost his owne life al­so, and by this meanes made [Page 292] the tyraunt more fearce and cruell then hee was before. Plutarch also reporteth, that when Dionysius the tyrant asked the wise men of his Court, which copper was the best, Antiphon answe­red very readily, that in his opinion that was the most excellent, whereof the A­thenians had made the pi­ctures of the two tyraunts, Armodius & Aristogitō. This was a quicke answere, & spo­ken in anger; which not­withstanding so stucke in the minde of the tirant, that hee could neuer bee appeased, but with the life of him that vttered it: which verifieth the saying of Quintilian, cō ­cerning those bitter and cho­lerike natures, viz. that had rather lose their liues, then [Page 293] haue a bitter girde.

1 There is no safe coun­ssell to bee taken from the mouth of the angry man.

2 He detaineth himselfe frō anger, that remembreth his ende, and feareth GOD: the one restraineth presump­tion, the other appeaseth im­patience.

3 Anger is an inwarde griefe, and vexation of the minde, thirsting after re­uenge.

4 With the angry man we must not be importunate in matters of consequence, but should deferre our peti­tion vntill a cōuenient time, which might mitigate his an­ger.

SEdition is an euill quality, which so much troubleth the quiet rest, & passions of y^e soule, & is accompanied with most dangerous effects, and yet nothing so dangerous as those which follow after. For why? These first motiōs, be­ing bred and formed in that part, by meanes of the obiect which presenteth it selfe, doe passe forth in continently in­to the irascible part of the minde, that is to say, to that part, where the soule seekes all meanes possible of obtai­ning or auoyding that which seemeth vnto her good or bad: for the auoiding hereof we must not imitate nature, [Page 295] which, as Empedocles saieth, vseth no other means to de­stroy, ruinate and ouerthrow her creatures, then discord, & sedition, and (as Thucidi­des saith) comprehendeth in it al kind of euils. Seditiō thē being taken generally, is no­thing els but an euill impo­stume, so hurtfull to al estates and Monarchies, that it is the seed and roote of all kind of euils, euen of those that are most execrable, it ingen­dreth & nourisheth want of reuerence towards God, dis­obediēce to magistrates, cor­ruption of maners, change of lawes, contempt of iustice, & base estimatiō of learning & science. Thucidides spea­king of the generall dissen­tion amongst the Grecians, for diuersitie of gouernmēts, [Page 296] which they sought to bring in among themselues, some desiring to be gouerned in a Democratie, others in an O­ligarchie, rehearseth incredi­ble euils that arose of that warre. As soone (saith he) as any mutinies, disturbāces or vprores were knowen to be cōmitted in one place, others were encouraged to doe worse, as to enterprise some new Stratageme, to shewe that they were more froward then others, or more inso­lent & hote in reuēging thē ­selues. This is that which Di­amades obiected to the A­thenians by way of reproch, that they neuer intreated of peace, but in mourning gownes: namely after they had lost many of their kins­folks in battels & skirmishes [Page 297] after long sedition.

1 Sedition is a hell to the minde, a horror to the con­science, suppressing reason, and inciting hatred.

2 There is no greater cru­elty then sedition, whereby a man continually murthereth himselfe liuing.

3 A seditious man wax­eth leane, with the fatnes of his neighbour.

4 Hidden seditiō is more daungerous, then open en­mity.

WArre is of two sortes; ey­ther ciuill, or forraine: ci­uill warre is the ouerthrower of all estates & monarchies, and the very roote of al euil, [Page 298] which ingēdreth want of re­uerence towards God, diso­bedience to Magistrates, cō ­tēpt of iustice, being sprung of the diuersitie of religion; but in effect, ambition. And forreine warre is a more law­full contention, as being or­dained for religion sake, and to procure peace and vnitie. This ciuil war stirreth vp a­gainst himselfe, both the ha­tred & weapōs of his neigh­bours, to him that desireth it. For hee that vexeth his sub­iects vnworthily, seeking ra­ther to rule ouer them by vi­olence, then to gaine their good wil with iustice, he quite ouerthroweth his countrey, preferring dominion and greatnes of his power, before the benefit of the same: he is brought oftentimes in sub­iection [Page 299] to his enemies, and diminisheth his owne autho­ritie, whiles he laboureth to possesse another mans right by violence. Augustus the Emperour said, That to haue lawfull warre, it must bee commended by the gods, and iustified by the philoso­phers. And Elius Spartianus affirmeth, that Traian one­ly of the Romanes, was neuer ouercome in battel, because hee vndertooke no warre, except the cause thereof was very iust. But wee may well say, that no warres betweene Christians a so iustified, but that still there remaineth some cause of scruple. Moreouer wee see, that the famine and pe­stilence most commonly fol­low war: for the abundance [Page 300] of all things being wasted, want of victuals must needes follow, wherupon many dis­eases doe growe. Briefly it bringeth nothing with it, but a heape of miseries, and easi­ly draweth and allureth the violence and euill dispositiō of many, to follow the estate of time: for they that desire a chaunge, are very glad of such an occasion, to ground their platformes vpon, which they could not do in time of peace, because men are then of better iudgement and af­fection, as well in publike, as also in priuate matters. It was for these considerations, that Phocion the great Cap­taine of the Athenians la­boured to stoppe the warre, which the people of Athens determined to make against [Page 301] the Macedonians, at the per­swasion of Leosthenes: and being demāded, whē would he counsaile the Athenians to warre? When I see (quoth he) that the yoong men are fully resolued to leaue their riot, that rich men contribute money willingly, and Ora­tors abstaine from robbing the Common welth. Neuer­theles, the crime was leuied against his counsell: and ma­ny wondring at the greatnes and beauty thereof, asked him, how hee liked that pre­paration. It is faire for one brunt, said Phocion: but I feare the returne and conti­nuance of the warre, because I doe perceyue, that the city hath no other meanes to get money, or other furniture, or men of warre besides those. [Page 302] And his foresight was ap­proued by the euent: for al­though Leosthenes prospe­red in the beginning of his enterprise, (wherupon Pho­cion being demaūded, whe­ther hee would not gladly haue done al those great and excellent things, answered that he would, but not haue omitted that counsell which he gaue) yet in the end hee was slaine in the voyage, the Grecian army ouerthrowne by Antipater & Crateres too Macedonians, and the city of Athens brought to that extremity, that it was con­strained to send a blanke for capitulatiō of peace, & to re­ceiue within it a garrison of strangers. Thus it falleth out cōmonly to those, that seeke for warre by al means, either [Page 303] by right or by wrong.

1 Warre should be con­siderately begū, but speedily ended.

2 The euents of warre are doubtfull, but the dammage certaine.

3 Warre by might maketh his ancestors whō he pleseth.

4 Where there is confu­sion, there is diuision, & both are the procurers of warre.

TO further the gouernmēt of a cōmon welth, many prouisoes may be inuented, which must be aswell noted to the simple, as to the careful magistrate, vpon whō relieth the charge hereof, not apply­ing himselfe outwardly to [Page 304] that which his conscience in­wardly reprooueth, lest hee should be said, wilfully to re­sist the lawe of God. What greater felicity can happen to any earthly wight, when hee is by the highest Father pressed with care of ciuil re­giment, that wholy depen­deth vpon vertue, and onely for the accōplishment therof is put in vre, then as beyng surcharged with this great burden, or ouerladen with it, to find a comfort to mitigate his distresse, tempered with a mild medicine of hope, that rooteth out the cākred flesh of despaire, with the plaster of trust? In this forme of go­uernment, & in the floorish­ing state of all people, by the reforming of all degrees, it is good to strike the stith whilst [Page 305] the yron is hote, and amend al faults while they are green and fresh, which may not be but by the seruitude of laws; & also to prouide, that in all points, the common sort bee tractable and obedient, and the magistrates diligent and careful to rule, as conscience and duty bindeth thē: which being once stained with in­iustice, is alwaies tied with a guilty remorse. Otherwise if they practise discreetly & reuerently those things that are godly and lawfull, that their consciences may bee cleere, and others by their doings not offended, then it may bee said generally, as it was of the great king of Mus­couy, (who was thought to controll all the Monarches of the world, hauing gotten [Page 306] such authority ouer his owne subiects, as well ecclesiasti­call as secular, to whome it was lawfull to dispose, as it were, at his pleasure, of their liues and goods: no man be­ing willing to gainesay him, they also confessing publikly & openly his imperiall regi­ment, alledging withall, that the will of their Prince was the will of God, and all what soeuer he did, they acknow­ledging it to bee done by diuine prouidence. Hee is (said they) The porter of Paradise, The chamberlain of God, and the executor of his will. By which meanes he grewe so mighty within a litle while, that all his neigh­bours, which were the Tar­tarians, Sueuians, yea and the Turks themselues, canoniz'd [Page 307] him. Where such loue and obediēce is wrought in sub­iects towardes their soue­raigne, and of the soueraigne towards his subiects, there shall vertue enioy her free­dome, and possesse her priui­ledge by the rights of law, & all the people shall flourish with equity: Iustice shall maintaine peace, peace shall procure security, security shall nourish wealth, wealth felicity. Where want hereof breedes a flatte denial or not like sufficiency to all, in re­spect of this defect, let none be dismaied, at his small ta­lent, or grudge at an others greater prosperity: for with­out doubt, nature hath by her secrete motion, denied none some perfect quality to supply that want, which in [Page 308] himselfe breedes discontent or mislike: for euē as the fish hauing no eares, hath most cleere eyes, so though want of dignity bee a disgrace to some, though want of coyne discontent diuers, & though lacke of wealth impaires the credite of many, yet nature hath supplied that outward ornamēt, with such an inter­nall guerdon, as a loyall and a louing heart guided with constancy, willingly dyeth for the good of the common wealth, or spendeth all his time in the procuring of the security thereof. But on the contrariside, if the commu­nalties continue rude, & stif­necked in behauiour, reclai­ming against the precepts of vertue; or if officers or ma­gistrates securely neglect the [Page 309] execution of lawes: then will the want of gouernment breed licētious liberty, liber­ty procure opē wrong, wrōg doing escape scotfree: wher­by the people, as taking hart at grasse, are encouraged vn­to lasciuious lewdnes, & the most part shall be oppressed with violēce, by lawlesse pra­ctises, robberies, & intolera­ble oppressions; & the silly simple shall be quelled with extremities, and pressed with open wrōgs, & the chiefest of all shall enioy securely ney­ther life, nor goods, to the great dishonour of officers, and vtter disparagement and scandall of the Common wealth.