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About Google Book Search Google's mission is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web at jhttp : //books . qooqle . com/ PETRAR-CH's VIEW O F HUMAN LIFE. By Mrs. DOBSON. CO, LITTLE BOOK ! TO THI FRIENDS OF HUMANITY, AND TO THE LOVERS OP PETRARCH, AND LET THEIR HONOURABLE AND UNITED SUFFRAGE SPREAD THE FAME OF HIS EX- ALTED KNOWLEDGE, AND IMPRESS THE VIRTUES OF HIS BENEVOLENT HEART ! LONDON: PRINTED FOR JOHN STOCKDALB, PICCADILLY. r MDCCXCI. * s* &R?>2JL T O ANDREW STUART, Esq* DEAR SIR, IN doing myfelf the honour of addrefling this work to you, I cannot but add to the privilege by remarking the fimilarity that I have myfelf witnened to fome parts of the character which it has been and is my delight to make known to the public, in the clear judgment of your writ- ings and difcourfe, and in that mildnefs and courtefy of converfa- tion which rendered Petrarch fo dear to his friends and fo eftimable to the world. Intrinfic as the work is in itfelf, it could not need A3 an t,v DEDICATION. an apology, if I was not juftly apprehennve that a fhade might be drawn over it by the feeblenefs of my reprefentation ; but as thofe moft capable of difcerning defects are always the moft ready to over- look them, I will join this con- viction with the lincerity of my own endeavour, and they mall be my honourable anchor of de- fence. I have the honour to be, dear Sir, With the moft perfect refpecl:, Your obliged arid obedient fervant, SUSANNAH DOBSON, APRIL 5, I790. PREFACE, JL HE celebrity of Petrarch's chara&er has fo juftly obtained the efteem and admiration of all thofe who have made refearches into his philofophical works, that I cannot but prefume thefe reflec- tions of his on the viciflitudes of human life will meet with approbation. In page 339 of the Life of Petrarch, vol. ii. I gave a fliort account of this work ;' but it was not till many years after that publication I obtained the work itfelf, which I now offer to the public, in the full conviction that if I have been fo a 4 happy Vlll PREFACE* happy to adhere in any degree to the folidity of the reafoning and the true point of the fatire, it will not fail to pleafe, inftrud, and confole the mind of every reader. Among the learned in Italy the prpfe works of Petrarch were the higheft in eftimation, and were wrote in the Latin tongue, as was the treatife above mentioned. His great friendship for the noblemen to whom it was addrefled, is proved in a moft ftrik-* ing manner; for at the time Petrarch compofed this piece, he was in the ze- nith of his fame and glory, inftruft- ing and ciharming all Italy by his works, and united in friendfhip to the greateft men, not only of that country, but of that age \ yet' did he retire from thefe fcenes of honour and renown, fb flattering to human nature, and em- ployed PREFACE. IX ployed himfelf, it is faid, above the fpace of a year in private ftudy f to charm away the cares and footh the forrows of a friend enconipafled not only with diftrefs, \but imprifbned, reviled, and exiled. It is allowed that no one ever furpaffed Petrarch in love, and furely few will prove his competitors, and no one his fuperior, in humanity. I truft, therefore, this converfation on human life, colledled from Petrarch's great ftore- houfe of knowledge and genius, may have the power to difpenfe the fupport he defigned for his friend to all under trouble, and that as none are fecured from the viciffitudes of life, all may be cheered and benefited by this view of them, and may confider themfelves in company and converfing with Petrarch himfelf PREFACE. himfelf (an honour which popes and kings afpircd to) ! and I think they can fcarcely fail of doing this, if I have not failed in the reprefentation. PETRARCH'S PREFACE TO HIS NOBLE FRIENP AZON DE CORREGE. DEAR FRIEND, * ORTUNE, or rather our own lightnefe, tofles us to and fro like a tennis-ball. We are creatures of very (hort life, of infinite carefiilnefs, and yet ignorant unto what fhore to fail with our little (hip : but to the induftry of a mind courageous as yours, nothing is hard, nothing impregnable. To this end I have thought it convenient, in the way of familiar difcourfe, wherein argu- ments Ihall be produced, and the wit whetted on *ii Petrarch's preface on both fides of the queftion, to adjoin fun- dry thoughts, and a&ions, aad mifhaps of wife men, the chief earthly fountain, as I conceive, of good and fruitful advice j for among the perpetual furges which lift and deprefc the foul, they may be faid to be bright fhining liars from the firmament of Truth, fweet and refrefliing gales of wind, to direfk the flittering fails, and guide pur wandering barks, driven about by tettipefts, to the haven of Peace. I have mingled with thefe thoughts of others a few Hitters touching the excellencies of virtues; and the power of vices, wherein how I have behaved myfelf you {hall be judge. My intent was, to give thee a fcort medicine, ready at hind at all times and in all places, and, as it were, an effe&ual remedy, that might be contained in a portable box. Thy PET&AR.CH S PREFACE, Xlll Virtue hath this property, that all good men love it, and the evil are aftonifhed ; for for- titude fhineth moft confpicuous in the tur- moils of fortune and the darknefs of terrible things, and thou mayeft cry out with the poet, " O virgin ! there is no new or fudden fhew of troubles can arife unto me ; I have thought upon all matters, and forecaft them already in my mind," I will now, dear friend hold thee no longer in difcourfe : but this much was needful, that thou mighteft underftand my book, and perceive* that as an over- grown preface to a fhort book is like a great head burthening a litde body, fo there is nothing well favoured without due mea- fure and proportion of parts- FareweL YOUTH. OHOW joyful are the days of youth ! the days of youth are mine. My years are flourishing $ I fliall yet live a long time ! A vain joy and a fhort : while ye be fpeaking your flower fadeth — My age is found — Who will call that found, of which what remaineth is uncertain ? But there is a certain propofed time and law of living. Who made that, law? Not he that received it ; with the giver it refteth, even with God. But the life of young men are more aflured, in that they l6 Y O V T tf. they arc further off from old age, and ib from death. Thou art deceived: that is the moil dangerous part of life which much carelefsnefs maketh unadvifed; there is nothing nearer than death to life, even tvhen they feem the furtheft afunder. Well, at the leaft wife, Youth is now prefent, and Age abfent. In darkilefs and filence creepeth Age foftly in, and ftand- cth at the door, ftriking unawares* But v mine age is now riling* To thofe that enter, years feem infinite; to thofe who depart, nothing* Mine age i6 nothing, fpent. How is that unipent which waft- eth every moment ? The Heavensf turn /about with perpetual motion; minutes confume hours, and hours the day j that day thrufteth forth another, fo time fleeth away ; but, as Virgil fays, never feemeth to wag her fwift wings. As thofe BEAUTY. 17 thofe that go in (hips come to their voyage end before they be aware, fo within the fpace of this fhort life, no- thing is far off. , But there, is no part further from the end than the beginning ! None indeed, if all men lived like fpace of time; but even little children end when fcarcely begun. I am far paft their danger. , Time is the chariot of all ages to carry men away, and beauty can- not bribe this charioteer. If it could," he would have no power over me;, : fbr my beauty is lingular. It will prove Angu- lar indeed, if the froft does not nip it, or the wind beat it down, if it, is not pinched with the nail of fome enemy's hand, or demolifiied by the rough heel of fome ficknefs pafling by: neither doth the delight it bringeth equal the horror that oft enfues at. its departure, B as |8 BIAUTT, , as the beautiful Roman Prince Domkiaii proved; for he whofe form was moft admirable, and who vied in height with the lofty cedar, and did at firffc give great promife of modefty, temperance, and fweetnefs; he who publkhed feme good - laws, embetlifhed Rome with ftately edi- fices, re-eftablifhed the libraries that were corifurned, and was fuccefsful agamft the northern nations, yet became fiich a moiv- fter of cruelty and debauchery, and fignal* ized himfelf, fo to fpeak, in barbarity, ' that he was killed by the freed man of his wife Domitia. From this example let the moft promifing youth beware of the pride pf beauty * lethimdired his eo&rfe fafe and ftraight through virtue* for |fliort is the proeefs of youth, &nd m it w to be learnt the art of fo holding tran- sitory Rights as to depart from them wil- willingly, which cannot continue with you long, and to forfake them in heart before they forfake you in reality, But fuppofe the contrary, that beau- ty doth remain, what is this glitter- ing beauty ? It is only the uppermoft part of the mere body, a iimplc and flight overcafting of the fkin. A veil for the eyes, a fnare for the feet, a depref~ (ion of the mind# its hindrance from atchieving honeft exploits, and turning it to the contrary. Yet is this beauty of the body moft fweet and wonderful I Thou doft fay well ; the vanity of it is aftonifhing ! what travels does it fuftain, what comforts forego, what punUhments fuffer, what health, what time is loft, what worthy and profitable labours are negle&ed for this vain beauty; to fet it forth what pinching of the feet, twift- B z ing 40 BEAUT Y. ing of the curls, gorging at one feafon, for having been obliged to faft, in order to get time for trimming and decking at another, and tricking out the body with the nicer care ; art enemy at home, ever corroding thy mind, provoking it to un- manly trifles or unlawful paflions, and confequently to fufpicion, hatred,* and jealoufy* As to jealoufy in wedlock, beauty is the firebrand that doth light it into flames; fo that it doth plainly ap- pear, that while nothing is coveted more forcibly, nothing is fufpe&ed more ve- hemently, I will endeavour that my beauty fhall be adorned with honefty ; if thou doft bring that about, then lhalt thou be indeed renowned; if thou doft ufe this enfnaring beauty to the advance- ment of thy modefty, thy fobriety, and thy chaftity, thy virtue £hall be accept- able LOVE. 21 a&le to all men* nay, by this thou (halt merit, and by this alone thou canft merit a true and worthy affe&ion, that refiner of the mind — that ftay of the heart of youth. — Glad is this fentence to my ears; for I love with fondnefs, and I have met with a moft faithful return in a wife :— thou art a notable fowler, thou haft found a white crow — the choice of a wife ijs hard; a fair one is hardly kept, and an honeft one, if rich, is likely to bring pride into thy houfe. Is not an honeft marriage honourable ? A chafte marriage i$ alone honourable; but remember thofe who marry have gained guefts, not for a day, but for life; great are its cares, art thou prepared for them? — 1 am delighted with my wife! Haft thou ever looked into families, and obferyed the infinite difputes, poor jealoufies, and endlefs toils therein; the noife of chil- B 3 dren, 21 LOVE. dren, the babble of fervants, the jcfts and clamour of nuries ? Ardent love is iny choice, and love can bear all diffi- culties. Thou haft well &id ardent; love is a fire at firft; but the fire is apt to go out, and chilly weariibmenefs to come in : if thou thinkeft there be any truft in love, bring forth the bill of thy lover's hand, which was written in the brittle ice whereunto the foutbern winds do bear witnefs. Let them hate that lift; I will love. Two extremes are at an equal diftance from virtue, cold hatred, and burning love! What, fhafl I not love with arduor, if I meet with that which is lovely? Some men have loved God, who alone is worthy of adoration, fo fervently, as fredy to lofe their lives : others have not looked fi> high; but have done the feme for virtue and for their MARRIAGE. 2 J country. I was never in Heaven, nor have I feen virtue: I love the. things that can be feen. Then thou oppofeth the command- ment love not the things that are fctn ! Why wilt thou turn all the pleafures of youth to (lander : far be that from m6, I only tell thee among what rocks thou doll drive thy (lender boat. I would have . thee engage in wedlock, not for the love I of beauty, but for the love and protec- \ tion of merit: for a companion, to help thee through thy cares, and wor- thily and holily to breed up thy children, that they may not, like unpruned trees, bear thee no fruits of gratitude and love in youth, after having wearied out thy patience in childhood, above all if beau- tiful : if females, the danger will be ex- ceffive : many failors do pafs every day on the calm fea — merchants do travel fafe B 4 through 24 CHILDREN. through the dcfarts with their merchan- difes, neither pirates affault the one, nor thieves the other *, but what woman with beauty hath riot been eflayed, the fcaling ladder of fugared words ar? with fecret deceit fet againft them; and if thefe fail, horrible intents are often formed. Is there, think you, but one Jafon, one Thefeus, one Paris ? yea there be a thoufand. Say thou doft marry thy daughter, thou doft only tranflate thy fear to another, or if thy fon bringeth a wife home to thy domeftic caftle, her expence and folly may be the bane of thee and thine. What muft I love no one then but live in fear continual- ly ? Certainly thou muft love both pa- rents, wives, and children ; but you muft love thefe and all, in him, in whom all live and are brethren, with wifdom and fub- CHILDREN. 25 fubmiffion ; .that neither the innumerable chances that happen to each, nor the death of children, nor the alteration of their conduct towards thee, if they live, fhall compel thee to anger or defpair, for it is folly to conceive great joy of things fo uncertain, fo unproved. Hedtor waa idolized by Priam, Achilles proved hixn to be mortal. But to fome, children have proved comforts and the fup- port of life; they are then moil preci- ous jewels in the fight of all men, and even fome brought into a houfe have proved fo : Auguftus Caefar found this treafure in Matcus Agrippa, and Anto- ninus Pius in MarcCis Aurelius, to whom they married their daughters : the latter for twenty- three years fo demeaned him- felf, that he deferyed the fucceflion to his empire: thefe are the rewards of a' fafe 26 CHILDREN. fefe and quiet modefty, and children who poflefs it do honour to their friends whether they fend them out or keep them at home, I have a dear prattling and flat- tering infant ! O take heed that thofe flatterings turn not into tears ; the fight and prattle of a young child is very plea- fant, and as fays Popinius, their heaven- ly looks, and interrupted words, after the / manner of verfes or metre whilft heard do delight, but when heard no more do grieve intenfely ; bitternefs is wifely fet againft fweetnefs, to guard thee; I am delighted in my moil pleafant infant ! I forbid thee not to be delighted, I may not withstand nature, but I feek for a me- dium. I would have thee rejoice more fparingly CHILDREN. %J Sparingly, that if thou have occafion to grieve, thou mayft grieve patiently j and I wifh thee to forefee, that thou doft truft to a broken reed, or lean to a fall- ing wall, which faid the Emperor Adrian, who had adopted Ochus, a fair but weak child. The deftinies faith he {ball fhew him to the earth in his bud: alfo re- fledt, that thy pleafant child may become a very uppleafan* and difobedient young pian ; for a multitude of children, fweet to behold, have fo proved themfelves ; I yet muft rejoice in my <:hUd, there is no Jiufbafcdman fo fbolifb who will rejoice much in the flower, the fruit is to be looked for; in the mean time tempefts, hail, and bladings are to be feared, and fo thy joy muft be moderated with dread. If thy fon is valiant have a coffin in readhiefs, if thy daughter is beauteous, however honeft, 28 CHILDREN, honcft, think of Lucretia, for the wick- ednefe of the reprobate abufeth the ornaments of the virtuous. If thy fon is a "valiant man, hemaypurchafe to his country liberty to his enemy's flaughter, to himfelf honour, and to thee daily fears and tears: how did Creon bewail in his fon that was flain his courageous defire of martial praife — whereof did fearful Priam admonifh his fon Hedtor that he fhould not venture alone to expert Achilles — and his careful mother, but to fhun that dread champion; the wife of Hedtor fpoke in this beautiful wife ; Doth thy valour fo bewitqh thee, that thou takeft compaffion neither upon thy fon nor upon me his mo- ther who (hall fhortly be thy widpw ! And the mother of the brave Achilles ; — Now jnuft I feek for my fon Achilles. by DOWRY. 29 by land and by fea, and I would he would follow me,.whilft in vain fhe took him, being, feeble, out of the prefs of the hot wars, and carrying him into the palace of the calm old man hid him in his fecret clofet. All thefe lamentations and fears were for thofe fweet in child- hood but unquiet in youth : fortitude is no- ble and magnanimity deferves praife, but pain is procured by the one and trouble by the other, while modefty and calmnefs are fafe and quiet; and the parents of much good. I have all things neceflary for the fettlement of a family; my houfe is magnificent, and my wife has enriched me with a great dowry. Peradventure with a great tyranny alfo: for beauty and dowry are the two fteeples of women's pride. My wife has rn^de me very ; rich and has fhe not taken away thy liberty, foK where 30 DOWRY. where riches come in, liberty oft goeth out. Lycurgus knowing this, made a law that maidens ihould be married without a dowry; adding a good reafon, look to the wife not the money. A dowry is the wife's licenfe, and the huf- band's bridle: would not the wife be many times fhut out think ye, if, with- out her the dowry could be kept — in ? With thofe who bafely feeka virgin from covetoufnefs, not love, (he furely would. The true dowry of women is modefty, truth, and chaftity, and a poor one with thefe is a treafure, a rich one without them a vain and ftrutting peacock. The emperor Antonius Aiirelius, when exhorted to put away his wife for her incontinence, anfwered, if I put her away I muft reltore her dowry, which DOWRY. 31 which was the empire: thus was the mind of this great man and wife philo- sopher, for he loft not the name al- though an Emperor, cruelly bridled with the dowry of his wife. Dowries were devifed at firft to fupport charges, not to provoke covetoufnefs j it ikilleth dot how great the dowry, but what manner of Woman the wife is, and even in the dowry not fo much the quantity as the quality is to be confidered, from whence it came, and by what means it was gotten. A great dowry got by ill means is a horrible attainment, witnefs the Heliopolitan and Punic cuftoms, where marriages were not made by the religion of their country, but the dow- ries gained by the incontinence of their women, fuch riches will never cure the fkknefs that (hall a&i& the mind. 32 DOWRY* mind. Julius Caefar after conquering France, Germany, Britain, and Spain, Armenia, Italy, TheiTaly, and Egypt, was conquered at Alexandria by the fplendid lures of Cleopatra. Hannibal that great conqueror humbled himfelf to a harlot — not to fpeak of thofe old tales of heroes raifed to gods, as Ju- piter transformed to a beaft caught in a ridiculous net — Hercules fpinning upon the diftaff — Leander ftriving with the furges of the fea — Biblis killed by his tears — Procry by her hufband's dart — Pyromus by his own weapon — and Hyphis by the halter. — More cer- tain than thefe fables are the Grecian captains fighting for evil afFedtions and Troy burning with avenging fire. — But thefe w^re not married for a dowry; no truly, but evil paffions are fimilar in their DOWRY. 33 their nature; and alfo though under dif- ferent appearances in their efFedts; for what wafte, riot, noife> and intemper- ance, cometh not in with a great dowry, and therefore I pointed thee out as be- longing to thefe ; for a woman married only for her dowry is not a legal wife : thou doft underftand me, — My wife is as good as fhe is rich, (he will then join with thee not in fpending her riches in evil, but in applying them to virtue; in feeding the poor, cloathing the nak- ed, railing the humble, ftrengthening the weak, and caufing thy children to blefs and not to curfe thee, as they furely will, if thou bringeft them up in pride and extravagance. My wife is good : if by good thou doft mean that (he is humble and faithful; thou mayeft indeed rejoice; a chafle and humble C woman, 34 HOUSE. woman, with a great dowry, is in truth a Phoenix, nor > do I fay it of women only, youth, bred up to expedt riches, are flattered, not nurtured, trifled with, not taught; all ftoop to them, and they lord it over all: but in a woman k works the greater ill, as the more quiet life breeds the more idlenefs, and the lefs knowledge the greater pride. Let not therefore thy fpacious houie and thy fine furniture lift them up to pride, as it hath ^lone thee, for it is the praife of the ar- tificer and the workmen, not thine. I dwell in a wide houfej where theives may be hid, where thou mayft wander, and where thy ffervants may riot. To the happy life it ikilletti not how wide, but how merrily thou liveft : I dwell in a high and princely houfe. Doth Death require FURNITURE. 35 require a Udder to climb up to the top of it? Tullius Hoftilius was ftruck with lightning from heaven in his court; and Tarquin the Superb, was driyen from thence out of his kingdom. IVfy dwelling is mine own forever. — Of whom haft thou received the deed ? at heft thou art hut a renter, and one may come who will thrufl: tfyee out naked, then ftalt thou exchange thy gorgeous palace for a dark jmd narrow manfion — I enjoy it now, and have plenty of furni- ture and fine things in my fpacious houfe : A great burthen, if you ever wifli to change place op remove for a feaibn, and while in it a continual war, not only with thieves, but with mice and moths, fpiders alfo, and ruft, fmpke^ and dufl and rain. My furniture is Tq &>e it is envied at — Theteis nothing more hungry than Envy, C2 nothing 36 PICTURES. nothing more miferable than covetouf- nefs : greedinefs is provoked by feeking many things, and when obtained they have no longer relifti; admit thou have them ftill; what care to look to, to number, to fold, to beat, to brufh, to dipleafe as well as to pleafe thine eyes. I delight in my pidtures. Among the Grecians, Pliny tells us, the art of paint- ing was efteemed above all handy-crafts, and the chief of all the liberal arts; and the proof of this is the ma4 prices, wherewith thefe have been bought and placed at Rome, either in the bedcham- bers of the Emperors, or in public porches or galleries, or in the temples of the Gods ! . If thefe things that are counterfeited and fhadowed with fading colours do fo STATUES. 37 fo much delight thee, caft thine eyes up to him that hath made the originals; who adorned town's face with fenfes, his mind with understanding, the heaven with ikrs, and the earth with flowers, and fo. cbmpare real and' vifionary beauties. I take great pleafure alfo in images; they are folid, thefe come in fhew more near unto nature than pi&ures, for they do but appear, but thefe are felt to be fubftantkl, and their bodies are more durable:, but both the arts fpring from One fountain : the art of drawing, Ap- pelles, Pyrgoteles and Lyfippus, flourish- ed at the fame time. Alexander of Ma- cedon, chofe thefe three, the one to paint him; the other to engrave him; and the third to carve him : forbidding all others to meddle with, or exprefs the king's face any manner of way. How 38 STATUES. great the dignity hath been of ftatues, 4 and hbto fervently the ftudy and defire of men have repofed in fuch pleafures* Anguftus and Vefpafian* emperdts and kings and other nbbie perfonages; nay, even perfohs of inferior degfee, have fhewrt, in their indtiftrious keeping of them when obtained, and the dedication they have made of thetti. Hereunto may be added the great fame of the workmen, not rafhly fpread abroad by the unjudging multitude, but celebrated - in the Soiinding books of learned and approved writers. I do conceive wdn- drous pleafure in flatties and images- one of thefe arts worketh With #air* plafter of Paris, ittd dfeaVfag tky> which m thi? I take to be niOre frfetid* ly to virttie, aftd comes n&Jrer io Wa- hire, in thfct it is ltaft -enemy tp mo* defty IMAGES. 39 defty and thriftinefs^ which tvro virtues do more allow images to be made of earth and fuch like matter, than of gold and precious ftones : but this would not firit with a covetous dtefire of what is fine; which the valuation of things now % fequireth, and which expendeth on fuch things, that which belongeth to want. Haft thou not heard of the image of a king of Aflyria made of gold, threefcore cubits long, which it was death not to adore $ and how many of this day would adore it to have it thdtf own ! or the topaz of four cubifs long, of which a queen of Egypt's" image was made. Oh, the delight of images thus cunningly wrought f — I fuppofe thou wouldeft not much en- quire after the workman, if thou hadft the pebble of which it is made, to fpeafc C4 the 40 I M AG E S. the truth* Images were formerly tokens of virtues erected in honour of. fuch as fyad done worthy deed?, or died for their country's . weal ; as thofe fet up in memory of the Ambaffadors flain hy the Vetii, and for Scipio Africanus the deliverer of Italy, which his moft va- liant courage, and his worthy modefty would not receive living; but which, after his death, he could not refufe. It is from the anvil* the hammer, the tongs, the coal, the handy-labour, but above all, the , invention, thefe things are wrought : they employ great time and manifold anxiety $ and are therefore only to be loved as they prove the- excellent wit. of the maker, and as they preferve the memory of virtuous deed$ ; but they are not to be loved above rea- fon, or ^bove prudence, or above duty. In CORINTHIAN. VESSELS. 41 In this laft fenfe the apoftle commands, keep yourfelves from Images, for many have rebelled againft their faith and their religion by adoring tjiem inftead of the Creator, to whom in all your contem- plations you fhould rife as alpne adorable ! At leaft I may be raviflied with the beauty of Corinthian veffels. When Mummius had taken the city of Co- rinth, and after the lpoil confumed it with fire, all manner of images of gold, -and filver, and brafs, whatfoever by chance had efcaped the hands of the conquerors, whereof that city in old time was full, were with like fire molten together : all kinds of metals run as it were flowing into one channel, and from thence arofe one noble metal of which was made thefe precious veffels : thus 42 CORINTHIAN VESSELS. from the deftru&ion of that city, mat- ter Was prepared for the madnefs that fhould follow, and from Damafcus now cometh veflels which will foon bring on a new ravifhment to your eyes. But fee the evil of fuch delights ; Auguftus the emperor, though a modeft and grave pt iftce, was fo driven headldng with this paffion, that he was thought tdliave condemned certain in the criminal prd- fecution only becaufe he defired their fine veflels ; and a libel was fattened upon the ftatue of this prince, wherein, to his perpetual ignominy, he was term-' ed a Corinthiarion, the greatnefs of the offender from Example and obfervaw tion, increafeth the evil of the offence: the pratling multitude fear kings in pre- fence, but they hifs in dens, bark in darknefs, and fend forth doubtful voices to PRECldUS STONES. 4J to the clduds. If this vice could hap* pen to fo great a riiari as Auguftus, what may not private men be aefcufed of, who ought to abandon all fuperfluity, and thofe who nourlfli it. Corinth is revenged! fhe burns thetn with her flames, afrd rt^esi the walls of their riiiflds with the fptrils file once boafted ; thai thou mayft cttre this ficknefs of thy mind and iidt havfe it broken down thereby* inftead 6f the care of unprofit- able Vfeflfelsi takfe orie friore wholefome tfpofl ihkbf know £s it is written, how to poflfefi tity cfrrh vfeflel in juftice and hblihefs, which the paflioh and define of having will incetfaiitly colittteradt. I muft yet own, t\izt precious ftones delight nie!-^I grieve they do, for JtoW uncertain their yalue are, rtiay be 44 CARBUNCLE. fcen ill what chanced of late; a Gentle- man of greater fortune than wifdom, bought a little ftone, faid to be a carbuncle, for ten thoufand crowns,— Its uncommon brightnefs and beauty brought in fufpicion the truth of it, on which he (hewed it to a lapidary, who faid, indeed, it was no true (tone, but glafs, xlevifed with wonderful art: thus it proved that glafs was more beautiful than any ftone. Let this be an exam- ple to thofe who caft away their money . on fuch things; for fbme there have been, who have carried their love of what is rare, both in ftatues, (tones, and pictures, tomadnefs. Nonius was a fenator of Rome, a very rich gentleman, he had a pre- cious ftone efteemed at twenty thou- fand OPAL ITS. 45 fend crowns; its name Was Opalus, it groweth in India, glittering with variety of all colours: now, Antonius the Triumvir, defiring this jewel, to whom whatever was coveted was law- ful, published the name of Nonius among thofe he profcribed. Nonius departed, but he took his jewel with him ; caring neither for .banifhment, nor the lofs of his country, nor beg- gary, nor if need be, to die, fo he could but clafp his dear Opal to his heart. • Nature made not thefe pailions, and even opinion changeth them : fome giving the prize to one, and fome to another; diamonds in old times were wont to be the gems of kings alone, and that not of all, but the chief only, now it is fet on the fingers of common people: the Arabian pearl is held next in.efti- jnation, and after thefe the emerald. — Pompey, 46 PEARLS. Pompey, who conquered the Wjeft, re- turned from the Eaft another man; adorned, not with humility as before, but with exquifite pearl$, and on the fhoulders of one man was laid the fpoil of the Eaft; which, with the infulting of the conquered people, was no fmall rebuke. Nor did any thing more tarnifh Pompey's glory or impair his fame, than yielding to fuch vain delights : not the lofs of life but this vanity was his fall. In truth no captains have governed themfelves uprightly among the plea- fures of Afia, which have vanquished them in their own foil. In the judgment of king Pyrrhus, who made war againft the Romans, the agate wa& efteemed of all Aones the moJft preci- ous; he pofldSed one as xeport goath, in which AGATE. 47 which was reprefented the fhapes of fua*. «dry things; as beafts, rivers, forefts, and birds, formed by the hand of nature. But what good, I pray thee, did this agate do to Pyrrhus ? did it make him invincible in battle, or deliver him from the ftonc with which he was afterwards crufhed to death ? Fabricius and Curius, I dare affirm, by whom he was driven out of Italy, would not have made exchange of their rough iron .helmets, for his glittering fword befet with gold and pre- cious ftones, or for his icingly ring, hi* precious agate \ It is alfo recorded of king Poiycrates, that he had a beautiful fardonyx, counted in his time the jewel of jewels ; and wifhing to appeafe for- tune, whom having never felt, he fear- ed; he took his ring, launched forth into the deep, and with his own hand threw 48 SARDONIC threw it into the fea ; but Fortune being neither eafily deceived, nor eafily pleafed, fent a filh as it were on a meflage for the ring, which receiving into his mouth, and being foon after taken by the. fifh- ermen, was by chance ferved to the king's table, when, to the aftonifhment of the beholders, and his difinay, the jing appeared in its ftomach ! It is faid that Auguftus Caefar hearing of. this ring, paid the rare price demanded for it, caufed it to be* fet in a crown of gold, and dedicated it in the temple of Concord. O how I fhould have been charmed with that ring ! yet Pythagoras, without it, died in peace, was worfliipped for his goodnefs, and his houfe efleemed holy; while Polycrates was put to death by Orontes, governor of Sardis. And of late lafe days, king John of France* wofft & carbuncle as little tifeful to him, as the fafdonix of Potycrates ! But theft ftones have real beauty: X deny it not; it were to deny the maker, I only fay they Avail not to felicity, nor detract from mifery: But gold and preciotis ftones are delightful to drink Out of j They are excellent for poifoning, and for gathering dirt, that fhaH impair the health* Well, then, I may fafely ttfe Cup? of cryftal ? Ye that befpangle ycttf Very floors with gold, like the altars erf churches, and would repine at the beau- ty of heaven if it glittered more fenfibfy in your eyes than yottr gems, may well covet this frozen ice dbg out of the hard clhfs and rocks of the Alps', Sit the hazard of life, by haiigfog doWft . ' D from 50 AMBER AND GQLD VESSELS. from them by a rope. A certain Empe-. ror envying that any fhould drink out of his rare cryftal vefiels, too enchant- ing he thought, for any lips but his own, dafhed them againft each other, and thus wreaked his fury on his moft beloved cups. Amber cups were the pride of our anceftors; to have pots, kettles, bafbns, and difhes, and even common utenfils of gold are yours ! do the radiant carbuncle, the green eme- rald, the bright fapphire, the white pearl, the yellow amber, the clear cryf- tal, fo much allure thee? and neither the brightnefs of the fun and the ftars, the greennefs of the grafs and trees, nor the lucid and pure air of the clear morn- ing Iky. move thy n.ind to that great Creator who made all thefc, and the. hands that fhould cunningly work, and the APPAREL, 51 the eyes that fhould delightedly behold him in his works, and who cloaths both theme and thee ! I am indeed bravely ap- pared, Thou mayft, perhaps, be afham- ed of thy outward trirnnefs, if thou look- eft within, and beholdeth what a banner of pride thou hangeft out. I will not fet againft thee godly poor fouls, half naked, and ftiff with cold, arid fcarce able to keep off the winter's bitternefs with their fimple mantle: of. rug.: I know too well, that finful wealth dif- daineth holy poverty: yet 'Auguftus, a. great man, and a great example in many things, as I have told thee, though not without blame, he ufed to wear none other garments but fuch *&s were fpun and wrought by his wife, r his lifter, his- daugh ter- and. nieces : for it is written of him, thus he who was Lord of all,. D 2 wearied 5* C At T tf I a 0. Waaricd a few women but they Were niear of kin* whilft thou, a fubjeft* per- haps a fervant, doft weary nations that are a great way off. For thee the Flemings fpin, card, and weave ; for thee the Per-* fians, the Indians, do toil ; for thee the Syrian Murrey fwimmeth ; for thee the foft grain hangeth on the fhrubsj for thee the fleecy fheep of Britain browfe on their white cliffs ; both oceans fweat for thy fake : — r for Auguftus only his ! family labour. My garments are, in- \ deed, exquifite: Goftly apparel, both by fufpicion of diligent trimming* and fitting forth the beauty, oft diminHhcth the grace, and by the brightnefs be* wrayeth every bkmifii of the wearer, and that which is done to win fame pro* yokcth envy, and not feldom, lattghter, I am decked forth in moil choice colours; the ORNAMENTS, 53 the colours of nature cannot be fur- pafled by art, who difdairting tb* competition, to which fhe is provoke ed, by the greater force fhe is preff* «d and covered, fb much the more fhe rifeth up and fheweth lierfelf. As for the natural deformities of. any mortal body, they cafl neither be altered with colour nor covered with odour*, but ard by them made more evident to be {can, Or mojre doubtful to be fufpe&ed, I am carried away with the love of precious and valuable attire : lay a dead carcafe in a coffin of gold, and kt H round about with pearls and cloth o§ gold $ the more thou trirtftrieft if, tbtf ' more horrible it is> and that thou m&yfc not be offended at what I fayv kt \& fcek ©ut the original, of the word Carcafe, P 3 * 54 HEAD DRESS. 1 it cometh of the verb cado, which fig- fieth to fall ; if fo, why may not the body of a living man be alfo fo called, as well as of a dead ; for the one is al- ready fallen, the other fhall fall, and is falling continually. My apparel is made after the neweft fafhion; 1 have not time nor place to lament the counter- feiting mockery of outlandifh attire which this prefent frantic age hath brought in amongft you ; with braided and frizzled hair, with hard and uncivil manners, bewraying the emptinefs of the head, by the impudence of the demeanor, and the lightnefs of the mind, by the wavering of the feathers on the top, whether the vigilance of the devifers, or the aptnefs of the fcholars, do enforce fuch folly, it comes to pafs, that between buffoons and dulses^ TRAIN OF SERVANTS. $$ dukes, honeft women and harlots, there is in fight almoft no difference at all. , Thou wilt furely allow a great train is refpe&able. I will fay, thou art de- lighted with thy own impediments to eafe many fervants are many enemies, from whom thou canft not efcape ; who behold the fecrfcts of thy houfe, and betray the difcourfes of thy table ; who, while they are cloathed and fed by thee, if they do not thieve, as is like, yet caufe dif- cord and ftrife, and many domeftic evils, of which thou mull either he a fhameful beholder, or a painful appeafer. With many fervants there is much noife and little fervice, or none, or even work, and damage made by their carelefsnefs ; they ftand in one. another's way; and when called refufe to anfwer : they have D 4 wide $6 aiUANTS, wide ftctm&chf and flippery throat a ^ whatfoever they hear runneth through, them as a fieve — to govern a few fer- / vants is hard, hut to CQntroul many im-. [ poflibte; a quantity of evil is worfe then a fmall portion — nothing more lowly than fervant* on their entrance* nothing more afluming on their conti-* nuance, nothing more infolcnt at theit departure ; they will rail even when thou art paying them, and greedily watch to take fome memento of thy folly along with them -, fomething that is not their own. What haft thou dpne, wretch \ that thou fhouldft need fo many keepers to watch and to ruin thee ! Better had it been for, thee thou, hadft been poor* then wouldft thou have been delivered from a remedilefs evil. But are there no ibtvaitfs, true and faithful? andis not the igno«» SUMPTUOUS TABLE. fy ignorance of others % great excufe: r% certainly is; and the ill examples of thei* matters a. greater. Some there are, ng doubt, found worthy of truft, and when thefe jewels are met with, they are of far more value than the agate of Pyrrhus, or the fardonix of Polycates j in a large train there is little hope of fucb. But how is a furaptuous table to be kept without much attendance ? A fumptuous tablp may appear to Ace a great matter, anct as far as hofpitality is concerned, thct plenty but not the grandeur of it is defirablej this is better fhewn by a few good difhes than by a multitude, and a few well managed fervants, than an idle gaping train, and thy guefts will £eel more at their eafc at this hofpitabk board. I keep a moii plentiful table % |h& fcerocth to tbec ft great matter* but 58 DAINTY DISHES. but indeed it is little, and foon will be nothing. Will the worms therefore fpare thee more than the hard hufband- man ? or rather, will they not feed on thy fofter meat the more greedily ? I do neither jeft with, nor mean%to terrify thee ; well thou knoweft, although thou do difTcmble it, that thou art food pre- paring for that banquet. Perhaps it is now near fupper time, or at leaft not far off; for the day is fhort, the guefts be , hungry, and death, which layeth the table, is ready. — Oh ! evil begun in childhood, wherein neglecting the ftudy of good arts, for exquifite fare and deli- cate foreign drinks, thou art grown up to a worthy expedition, to know their taftes and fmells, to reverence the glit- tering courfe. When fo many holy fa- thers have hungered . in the wildernefs, and WINE, 59 and fo many famous captains have lived Sparingly, thou art befet with thy dainty difhes, and gems to ornament them. I do, indeed, fare moft delicately ! Thou furpaffeth then Auguftus Caefar ; hedieted on fimple cheefe and a few fmall fifhes ; Curius .Fabricius eat out of earthen veffels, on herbs gathered with his own hands $ and Cato the Cpnfor drank none other wine than his foldiers did. My wines are moft choice. Auguftus ufed feldom^o drink wine, not above thrice at fupperj but now ye quaff before meat, and at meat, and yotir caroufes, cannot be numbered. He, when he was athirft, eat bread dipped in cold water, or a moift apple, or a cucumber ; but ye inflame your thirft, inftead of quenching it, nor remember that ye drink the blood of the earth, and the poifon (JO FEAST $. poifbn of hemlock, as did Alexander, who flew his friends and perifhed himfelf in wine : thus are foula and the bodies, made to ferve them* de- ftroyed together. Among all the plea- / furcs which creep from the body to the | foul, they are accounted moil vile which ! are accompliflied by feeding, forafmuch ! as thefe fenfes are common tp us with beafls y and crook down the reafonabk creature jf alfo loathibmenefs is next neighbour to fallncfs, difeafe? follow, find death haftens to the manfion of gluttons. Feafts are a pompous frenzy, they call together a great many rich folks, who had better have been empty j if thou pleafe one man, thou fhalt be fure to difpleafe the many. Good fare, well beftowed, appertains to pleafure; but a jnultitude aflfembled will ever difagree : this Leasts. 6t this diih had an ill tafte, that an ill finell ; the other fliould have been fet down firft; this comes cold to the table* that was out of feafon ; that meat was raw* the other parched up ; this waiter Was too flow, that too quick ; that fel- low there is deaf, how ftupid the other* With fuch like complaints the halls and tables refound. To what purpofe all this coft and labour ? I imagine that if one of the guefts the next day flood in need of fo much as the di£h of meat he eat of was worth, he fhould ftever be able to obtain it at the matter's band. I love fociable meals ; fuch only can be juftly loved and coveted; the mqekfty of a man's look will fhew hi* moderation in diet; the, puffing, Wow- ing, irk&roenef$ t and quarrelfome tem-> pef qf othws, their luxury, and, as one may 62 FEASTS. may truly fay, difpofition to be furfeitv ed; the horfe will kick thofe who over- load him; he is not to be trufted with too great a charge. At feafts fome are loud, others ftupid; the wine, fay others* Was fmall, not genuine. To what end fuch a parade of banquets, but to create difcontent; to what purpofe thy trumpets and thy fhalms founding to- gether to proclaim thy pomp and thy | pride. — In truth the feaft is made not I for the good of the guefts, but for tafeed \ the vanity of the giver ; hot to benefit friends, but to gain flatterers; not to fuccour the needy or entertain worthy and impoverifhed guefts, foi fuch are feldom or never invited; feafts where to blazen out the table?, and prefs -m As many of thofe who fhall fhine at then* as pofTible, is the eager rage of the invr- tor* TEMPERANCE 63 tor. To fay howerouded was their fump- tuous board, how delicately apparalled their guefts. To a learned or a good man, what a folly does this feem : to him to think is to live: Ao him the conference of a few valued friends, not the banquets of the rich is a feaft indeed ! Julius Cae- far was Angularly abftemious in diet, and he had fo clear a head and fc found a judgment, that he could didtate and write at the fame time. .Epicurus, though fince prophaned, commended a fpare diet as the foundation of philofo- phy, and what we* afcribe to fobriety and modefly, he called pleafure, and truly fo ; for there is no lafting pleafure beyond the bounds of temperance, and multitudes have perifhed from forfaking her wholefome laws. It is obferved of the Perfians, that the rigour and auftere living $4 F E A S f S* living in which they were bred, caiifect them to prove fo fierce in war, and fo fearlefs of death. It is pleafant for friends to fhare the goods of life ; but ye call banquetings friendfhip, a thing quite foreign to har* taony : I &tk glory by fcafts ; Alexander fought this glory ; arid Lucius, who loft his empire : but what prince that is wife or king that is fober, doth the like 5 fliew them to me* By feafts I gain favour among the common people; fine price for vile ware, to become a cook, to pleafe other men's ftomachs, who will magnify thee while thou giveft, but When thou witholdeft, they will ceafc to exalt thee, nay, deform thee, as covet- ous, wretched, and miferablc, and if poor, they will fay truly, there is no harm FRIENDSHIP* 65 harm in the man, faving that he is a fool; and they will fhun thee and thy houfe as a rock ; then fhalt thou prove the faying of Horace, when the lees wax dry in the cafk: the friends depart; thefe dry fcoffers with their babling and tittle tattle, forfake in time, for there, is no place for upright men or found judgment ; follow not a name thus prophaned by evil means, which is in-- famy, but obtain for thyfelf friends who will follow thee in adverfity, and who do moll diligently frequent thofe houfes which fortune hath forfaken. I abound in friends: It is ftrange that thou only fhouldft abound and have fuch plenty of that thing whereof all other . men have fuch fcarcity : whofo finds one good friend in a ldng life, is accounted a very E • ' diligent 66 FRIEN0SfiiP, diligent traveller in fuch matters.— I ant , fortunate in friendfhipj thou eanft not know that, unlefs thou be unfortunate in other things. My friendfhips are aflured — then thy advfcrfity is afTured alfo. — Thou mayft think thy friendfhips allured, thou mayft joy with one and grieve with another; or if debates hap- pen among them, break thy faith with either or with all : But thou fpeakeft of acquaintance not friends* and to have a multitude of meer acquaintance, is un- worthy a mind capable of employment : J One approved friend is a precious jewel, ; but common friends bury themfelves in- worldly matters, and will not know thee but in profperity; for, led by vile iate- reft, and envious opinions, they negledt , fo dear, fo precious a commodity. — 1£ thou haft fo divine a thing as a friend, fee FRIENDSHIP. 67 be diligent to preferve fuch a treafure $ love thyfelf if thou wilt be beloved, and never fhrink from fuch a jewel: But fome are fo difcourteous they cannot love I their cankered minds when much made of, do the more difdain ; and the better they are dealt with the more dogged they are. jkfothipg w faJb^^gLJg known as ^ the J^Jrtjof nian^ it is in many cafes an impenetrable as well as an ungrateful foil : Plenty will come to plenty, but in need, the friend is def- criedj fearch therefore the depth of the mind •> a good mind is a moft excellent thing, it is gentle and loving, fincere and candid, if fuch did inhabit the world it would be holy, quiet, and virtu- ous: if thou haft one fuch, it will be fcarcely found in thy houfehold, for a friend is oft nearer than a brother. Thou E 2 mayeffc 68 BIRDS IN CAGES. may eft feaft the birds of thy woods and the fifties of thy rivers with joy, and they will repay thee with the* re- fponfive gratitude of their fweet notes, and bring more melody to thy heart than the tranfports of feigned friends and the noife of many guefts. I (hut up my birds in cages to entertain me within my walls: Why doft thou deprive them of that fpacious and wide country Provi- dence has given them to range in ; § why of that fweet liberty fb dear to every living thing, and thus dull their notes by finking their fpirits, and caufing them to pine and flutter continually for want of room and air* Gluttony hath found out hunting* hawking, and fifliing; it feemeth to me that to leave the wild beafts to the ; . „ WOOds, BIRDSINCAGES. 69 woods, the places formed for them, un- lefs they roam out and invade thee, the fifhes to the fea, and the fowls to the air, were better than to bellow fo much trouble on them ; which labour, if em- ployed to catch virtues, ye might then plant them in the clofets of your minds, and they would not fly away, nor could they be purloined from thence. I have filled a large cage with birds : above a thoufand years ago Lelius, furnamed Strabo, not Lelius the Wife, who had loft his name had he been the devifer, contrived thefe wooden houfes for birds. I have fpeaking crows : fo had Auguftus Cnefar, to celebrate his triumph, for which he gave large fums; but when more fuch were prefented to him, he anfwered, he had enough of thefe fa- luters at home already. One of thefe E 3 crows 70 SPEAKING CROW81 crows was fo docile that he ufed to fly abroad into the open ftreet and falute Tiberius Caefar, Drufus and Germa- nicus, by name, and the people of Rome, which wrought fuch love in them all f that when a neighbour, moved either with envy or anger for the difturbance* killed him, the killer was driven away and (lain, and the crow with diligent exequies and folemn funeral was buried: while in the fame city neither Africanus the Great, had a fepulchre ; nor Afri- canus the Lefs a revenger. Thus the falutation of crows was more efteemed than the deeds, the virtues, and the be- nefits, of valiant men. I have a moft eloquent pye: it has been faid of this bird, that if (he forget the word fhe is taught, (he is much vexed and grieved, which fhe fheweth by mufing mourn- fully; PYES AND PARR0TTS. 71 fully ; and if fhe chance to recal it again, then becometh fhe wondrous merry; which if fhe can no ways do, fhq dieth for forrow; the poet Homer's death, if this be fo, is the lefs ftrange ; but all pyes are not of fuch aptnefs:— • as to finging birds, their notes .are far pleafanter and only perfed: on their own boughs; they mufe oft like the pye in your prifons, for the lofs of air and li- berty, two things moft fweet to all be- ings, whether on the earth or in the air: but ye, tyrants like, difcomfit all nature, and never rejoice fo much as in forbidden pleafures. I have a fair parrot: this bird, above all, is famous for his golden chain : the Phcenix alone befides hath this emblem E4 v of 72 NIGHTINGALE AND THRUSH. of nature, who hath feemed to image in him a flatterer, as faith the diftich, I parrot will learn other men's names of you, but I have learned this of my- felf, to fay, hail Caefar ! and I prat- tling parrot do call thee mafter, with fo perfed: a voice that if thou looked not on me thou wouldft deny that I was a bird. Among my birds I have alfo a moft pleafant finging nightingale : — Pliny the Second reporteth, that there were nightingales and darlings found, that are to be taught different tongues, and that in his time there was a thrufh in Rome, that did imitate the voice of man; nor is this incredible, for we know that parrots, befides doing this, will laugh in fuch fort, as to caufe all the ftanders by to join in the fame ex- ercife. But among all the birds haft thou PEACOCKS. 73 thou the Phoenix of whom I mention- ed the report; whether there be fuch a bird or not, I think thou doft lack this among thy rare colledtion : . it is written, that on the four hundredth year after the building of the city, this bird flew out of Arabia into Egypt, and being taken there was brought to Rome, and at an aflembly was fliewn to the people* I have no Phoenix, indeed, but I have ftore of Peacocks : by their tails I would advife thee to think upon Argus's eyes, leaft the evil, that followeth negledt of good rules fhould light upon thee. I confefs it is a beautiful and comely bird to behold, but this pleafure of the eyes is requited with great wearifomenefs of the ears, again ft which it were needful for men to run away, fo horrible it is, or to 74 PEACOCKS. to flop their cars with Ulyfles's wax ; pot to add the grief of neighbours, and their juft complaints. It is reported, that Hortenfius the orator, was the firft that ever killed a peacock at Rome to be eaten for meat, a man of great elo- quence, though in manners delicate and foft as a woman ; whofe manners very many, but whofe eloquence very few, do imitate, of whom the poet thus fpeaks : Thou putteft off thy cloaths, being full, and carryeft thy undigefted peacock inttf the bath; thus rawnefs, that is not di~ gefted, cometh by the enticement to eat, and bringeth on ficknefs and death. Leave every animal to their proper places and their proper ufes ; thqfe that are wild, to the woods, and the direction of Providence for their haunts and their deftination ; and domeftic animals to thofe whofe DOMESTIC ANIMALS, 75 whofe wide grounds and fields can with wholefome and true care nourifh them for thy table, and coop them not up to fret, and wafte, and fcrape, and litter, in thy fomll inclofures or narrow courts: fuffer alfo the little birds to live in the open air; there to feed, to multiply, to fing, to ftretch out their wings, and fmooth their little breafts in joy : and ye, little babes, as faith Solomon, turn ye at my rebuke, bring them not to you to pine and die in your domeftic prifons ; but rather go to them, ftretch forth your flothful minds unto heaven, and join in the full choir of praife to that Power who created the birds of the air, and the fifhes of the fea, and man to govern them all, wifely and kindly, for his good. In making $ ware to have fifh the more readily at h$nd I furely have not tranfgreifcd ; — ■ this j6 WARES FOR FISHES. this folly is ancient alfo. — Murena made wares for fifh, and Sorgius, and had the names of thefe fifhes beftowed on them forfo doing: a worthy caufe of a fur- name, to wit, that one did love a gilt- head, the other a lamprey: doubtlefs they took no lefs pains in taking and beftowing their fifh, than Scipio and Paulus did in delivering and beautifying their country ; and therefore came that juft proverb, in quantity all mens cares are almoft equal ; but in quality far un- equal. Lucullus caufed a hill to be cut away to inclofe fifhes, for which Pom- pey the devifer of kingdoms, called him the Roman Xerxes, that is to fay, a digger away of hills. — One Curius, otherwife unknown, had fo many lam- preys that he furnifhed fix thoufand of them for the triumphant fupper of Julius Caefar. LAMPREYS. 77 Csefar. Hortenfius the ofator (for learn- ing doth not always abate fuch madnefs) loved fo dearly one certain lamprey, that he mourned for him when he was dead as for a dear relatipn: he, that as we read, neither bewailed the civil wars of his time, nor the profcriptions of the citizens, yet did he weep for the death of a lamprey ! oh worthy love, meet to provoke fuch a man to tears ! This lightnefs is fo great in fuch a man as almoft excufes the folly of later days* Antonia, it is alfo faid, decked forth a lamprey with rings and jewels of gold, which ftrange fight brought many to the village of Paulo lying on the confines of Baai; fhe being young was excufable, and alfo from her fex. There were alfo wares made for fifhes between the two bridges of the Tyber : I 'do not for-* 78 • M O N It £ Y* forbid thee the ufe of fifties from the feas and from the rivers, their natural and wholefome habitation; but I cen- fure thy abufe, in imprifoning them, as well as birds, and depriving them of their liberty, and the enjoyment of their fhort lives. But may not one have a monkey for entertainment within doors? If thou canfl delight in filthinefs thou mayeft, and in havock, for whatfoever he find- eth in thy houfe he will caft it about and fpoil it, as I have told thee of other ani- mals much more of this : a houfe is not its natural place, and beafts that are beautiful and proper in their native woods, or in large farms, are noifome when inclofed in ftraiter places, and abo- minable in houfes. You will not fay this this of dogs : If you mean fporting dogs ? Truly I will ; and as to others, though ,a pleafant creature, and near to man as it fhquld feem in thought^and love, yet they breed care and caufe anger in the houfe, fo that oft malice helps them away for the trouble they caufe. Adrian the emperor, ere&ed monuments for dogs, and builded a city in the lame place where in prolperous hunting he had (lain a bear with his own hand, and ufed many times to kill a lion. I delight touch in hunting and in hawking $ the exercife of hunting was peculiar fome time' to the Latins, but now to the t^renchrfcen ; to fpeak nothing of thole kings whofe whole life was one perpe- tual hunting : the chief king of thertt aH, whenfoever he had any reft from battle, hunted daily. At length toward death, Bo fiUNTIKG. death, he fought to relieve the difcom-* modify and wearifomenefs of age with this exercife ; a ftrange relief, as it feems to me, for laying error afide, which gives honour to this employment, let us reafon the matter : Is dwelling, as it were, in woods with wild beafts, for hunting may be faid fo to do, or with dogs and birds, is this the true glory and magnificence of foul ? They which renounce liberal' ftudies let them repair to the camp; but they are not quali- fied, for ftudy and a foldier go together; ye fhall read how Plato ftudied philofo- phy ; how Homer travelled and obferv- ed mankind; how Tully pleaded; and how Caefar triumphed ; but ye never read that they hunted; it feems great labour indeed, and fo it is, of body, but it argues a flothful mind :^ ye rife indeed before ft tJ N T I M 6. $t before day, the ftir is as great as if the enemy was at the threfhold; ye run or ride about ponds and waters, lands tilled and untilled, the hufbandman\« honeft diligence ye overthrow ; ye beat the woods and bu flies, terrify their in- habitants, and even fill the air with your noife and outcry; and at night. wh^n ye come home, ye fit .within doors caroufing and tell your, mighty deeds, what you have maimed and what, you have killed. — Thus you requite, your Creator that made you; your country that bred you; this is the way you fhew your love for your parents, your friends, and your family, by keeping from .them all day, and rendering yourfelves ftttpid and blockifli at night, when .you mould delight them with pleafant and ufeful con- vention; Livy's hiftory, TuUy's.ora- F — tions, ~$2 HORSES. tions, and the Divine Scriptures, are as unknown to you, as the cannibals whofe lives you imitate. Oh lay afide this ) folly, and contend not with barbarians 1 for fame, but with men. Horfes are excellent creatures, arid horfes are made tt) ride. There are many conditions of horfes, and many dangers for the horfe- men ; but riding with moderation ought not to be condemned, it is good for health, . while hard exercife is bad both for thee and thy beaft, though much fought by the great. There are many examples of love to this noble animal : Alexander of Macedon, eredted a tomb for his horfe, and named a city after him ; Auguftus did not build a tomb, but he made a grave ; Antonius Verfus loved his horfe fo immoderately that he caufed a ftatue of gold to be made like him while he was HORSES. 83 was alive, and when dead, a fepulchre builded in the Vaticum to bury him among thofe holy bones: this feems as incredible as monftrous, but it is true; and the great poet Virgil, alludes to it when he reprefents the fouls of fuch men delighted with their horfe&in Hell. Thefe vanitios are not the lefs but the greater that can allure all minds thus to them; nor is it only of old time, for a Lord dwelling in Italy, whofe name I will not utter to pofterity, becaufeof his folly in this, and his good judgment.and wit in better things, who, notwhhftand- ing his weighty affairs, when his.horfe, which he loved, was fick, he had him laid upon a bed of filk, and a golden pil- low put under his* head, while he him- felf, being confined by appointment of F 2 his 'his j^fi dans fdr the -gout, he.-iKfikirang 'dieif(©relefS f««himfcl£f from jesltrenie * an&riety- fbirllis beaf£ being borne in, the : iHristofhisfeWante^ ficians ' with , him,/ wen* twice o? ; ^thrice every -day to vififc hisrfickt Jwrfo; apdad- minifter medicine fo hihv fofr&wfully iighing and gently ftroaking him with his hand, and comforting him wkh kind fpeeches; ao means; of phyfic .left he uneflayecl that might relieve his .fick friends Pbfterity ■ will call this a tale, but it is tnie and .known of many; and alfo that, a? this noble gentleman was more careful for the good health of his horfe than for his own, fo when the poor beaft died, when his life could not "be faved, either by the art of his phyfi- cians confultiiig, br his friendship moft ardently H O -R 8 E S* 85 ardently exerted, and omitting not earth- , ly things id his behalf; he farrowed, for him, and mourned as for a beloved foR. -"' - : .:-" - "' ■" * * V •.:.. , Doth ndt the wife man defcribe, with an energy fuited to this p&he|tic tale; the fpirit, the mann£s$, 3ttg the carriage of a noble horfe? In the moft eloquent language he dotli:;.and I pray th?ey re- adied -dfo. that ikying of the Hc^w prophet, .it may .check thee 5 #* thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, have they fallen afleep that have got upon, their horfes: weigh all things well, examine every point, the fiercenefs of fomp horfes, , and their danger, . as well as the good-: ne& and beauty of others : coiifider not only the pleafant but alfo the rough paf* Age* and thus preferve in thy condudt F 3 toward 86 BOOK s. toward this animal the golden mean. — I poflefs an amazing collection of books, for attaining this and every virtue, great is my delight in beholding fuch a trea- fure : Some get books for learning fake; and many for the pleafure of boafting they have them; and Who do fornifh their chambers with what was invented to fornifli their minds ; who ufe them no otherwife than they do their Corinthian , veffels, or their painted tables and ima- / ges, to look at : there be Others who ^ efteem not the true price of books as they are indeed, but as they may- fell them : a new pra&ice crept in among the rich, whereby they attain one art more of concupifcence. I have great plenty of books; where fuch fcarcity has been lamented, this is no fmall pof- fcffion; it is a pleafant but a painful burthen, BOOKS. 87 burthen, and a delegable diftra&ion of the mind ; for if thou doft ufe them thy wit muft be bufied this way and that, way 5 and thy memory troubled with this matter and that matter. I delight paf- ffionately in my books ; books have brought fome men to knowledge, and fome to madnefs ; whilft they drew out of them more than they could digeft : as fiillnefs fometimes hurteth the fto- mach more than hunger; £0 faretht it with wits : and as of meals, fo of books ; the ufe ought to be limited according to the ability : in all things that which is a little for one is too much for an- other: and therefore, a wife man feeketh not quantity but fufficiency : for the one of thefe is many times hurtful, the other always profitable. I have an ineftima.- ble many of books ! What thoufands F 4 com- 88 BO OK s. compofed the libraries of Ptolemy, and the Alexandrian colle&ion, which were all confumed. The great jpraife of Pto- lemy, as I cteem, was, his eaufing the Holy Scriptures, with great travel and charge to be tranflated out of the He- brew into the Greek tongue : not that I cenfure the collections of great men, but fay, that books were to be de- stroyed, 'this one retained, would be a greater treafure' than all the millions put together that ever were published by mortalman. But it is a great mark of diftin&ion to be the pofleffor of a nume- rous ftore of books : Truly, it is a gfeat inheritance; fiifficient for many v^Its, but 'well able to overthrow oiie ! Sdm- monkiis,'wh!o was a man of wonderful knbwledge, gave, when he died,- to . Gordiiritis the younger, from the r friend- ' {hip B O O K S. £9 (hip he bore his father,' threefcorc anfl : two thoufand books * arid v this difpofi- tion of them was fuperior to all the learn- ing they contained, as much as gratitude and friendfhip exceeds all the forms of la'-i boured ftudy. But it might be ftudy that led him to this aft of virtue; well-advif- ed ftudy leads to &li virtue. But as for fuch a quantity of books, I pray thee if this good man had done nothing elfe in all his lifetime, if he had never written any thing, nay, had he never read a fingle book, Xvould he not have had, doft thou think, biifinefs enough to know what the hooks were; their titles, their nartes, the authbrs, and number of the vo- lumes; fo that inftead of being a philo- foph'er, he would have been a book- keeper. But with many books many ppihidns kre to be learned: yes, truly;' gO HOLY SCRIPTURES. and with them many errors, and much wicked knowledge; fome repugnant to nature, to equity, and to good manners; fome oppofite to the liberal fciences, to the truth of things really done in hiftory, to virtu*, godlinefs, and the Holy Scrip- tures : and where fo many matters are handled, and falfehood is fo intermingled with the fpecioufhefs of truth, the dif- cerning of the latter becomes the more hard and dangerous. But many authors have wrote truly— Admit the integrity of authors are not all fallible, and is not ignorance and flothfulnefs the lot of humanity ? I would not be thought to cavil which I abhor; but among the ruins of human inven- tions* the Holy Scripture alone remain- cth* both by means of the more fpecial watch- HOLY SCRIPTURES. 9-? watchfulnefs and jealoufy of men over it, but chiefly by the exprefs working of God, its great author, who defended* his holy word; his facred hiftory and divine laws, and giveth continuance unto his records of mercy. But the pu- rity of this divine book does not exclude the excellence of others. The excellence of others I have fhewn thee is doubtful and mutable : it does not exclude, but it fo far overpaffes them both in matter, didtion, and above all, in truth and per- fection : of knowledge that their excel- lence fhould be in comparifon moderately efteemed, and ultimately proved by them. By this would, not human learning be loft or at leaft be difcouraged ? Haft thou he^rd of one of late, not living in the fields or woods 3 but which is the more marvel, in a great arid flourifhiDg city of 9« BOOK S. " of Italy i o^ot a fhepheird, nor a plough- man, btit a nobleman, ancl pne of great credit alfo among th& pe&ple .where he dwelt, whofwore that he- would give a great fum of money, upon condition there would never any learned dhan come and dwell in the country where he inhabit- ed. I truft thou doft not* accdfe me of fuch a fiony heart and wicked voice as this ? my aim is, thou fhouldeft hot vaunt thee of books' thou haft not read ; and like 9. gentleman 'puffed up with conceit, and wfcH kndwri, that book, faith he, is in- my ftudy;- iiieanihg' the perfons prefent fhould underft'and a6 if ht faid, , the feook isin my breaft^afid fo with a'pfduiliaok call for- the rfft6ffikhfed fuf- fmge of the gaping beholders at hte wif- dam: Ala ^vho-pofltfs thefe pompous jQoks,:;ahd'^ are a ri- diculous k& B O O K s. 93 diculous kind of people, and are fo held by the truly wife. .". \ % . .' ...... Reckop not therefore the, tale of thy books how long that will reach; but feled: thofe that will-heft inform thee * what thou art thyfel£ ;and , what thofe **^ who live in the world thou doft inhabit, : Caft not the reft away, there may be a ; feafon for fon# others of them; for the ; mind has its feafons as well as the earth; and fpme variety in booksf is as neceffary j to it as to all other things in life; it is the too great [multitude 'that create im- pediments to true knowledge, from the difficulty of choice : : the diverfity of ways many times deceive the traveller ; and while one book maybe read with profit, perhaps many may be turned; over to no account : the pne trapflation of the king *f 94 BOOKS. of Egypt was the diadem of his mind; in that he raifed a bleffing for pofterity; to thy memory commit thy knowledge, and fhut not up thy mind with the co- verings of thy books ; and as to thofe thou haft tied in chains, if they could break away and ipeak, they would bring thee to the judgment of their private prifon ; there will they privily weep, and that for fundry things; but efpecially for this, that one covetous perfon hath fuch abundance which he hides and ufes not, while many that are really ftudious are perilling in mind, for the lack of what is fo dear, not merely to their eyes, but moil precious to their hearts! , The end of all reading fhould teach thee to be patient with thofe manners around thee thou canft not cure ; and to leave unto the world the remedies thereof: to wit, 95 to eiftbracc love, to reverence the worthy, and mildly to everpafs the reft as fo many little flies, who, if thou doft not mind, they will have not the power to annoy thee : that thy life is for the care of thy own proper bufinefs, not for the care over the lives of others : fo fhalt thou neither fear any, nor will any have caufe to fear thee ! Many may fear my wit, for it is very quick— I pray God it be quick unto vir- tue; otherwife ldok how much the "quicker the nearer to deftru&ion. I have a moft ready wit ; if applied unto good arts it is a precious furniture of the mind! My wit is fharp: it is not the - fharpnefs but the brightnefs and flaid- riefs of the wit that deferves commenda- tion : fmall wita appear keen, but they are $6 W 1 T. are rebated with a .final! -force*, and fail at the firft rencounters alfo, t;here is no- thing more odious unt(> wifiiom than fharpnefs, nothing fnore grievous to a philofopher than & fophift* fo that it . was anciently faid, that Pallas could not •abide fpiders, whofe curious work and fine webs being fo brittle, ferved to no purpofe. ' My wit is propipt; take heed it be not crafty ; for Salluft writeth that Cataline was a man of notable cou- rage, but of a corrupt and ready wit. I require in thee a good and a modeffc wit, rather than a great and a iharp one? for a keen wit hath produced .many evils, and feldom were there any many errors but they fprung from great wits- — I may fucely pride myfelf in my fwiftnefs of body: Tell me whither thy running tendeth ? My fwiftnefc is won- derful! SWIFTNESS. 97 derful! Run ye mortal men whither yc lift, the fwiftnefs of Heaven outrunneth you. Such fwiftnefs as mine hath fcarcely been heard of! the fpace on which it can exercife, will foon in- clofe thee in thy running: and ad- mit the whole earth were thine, thy ilownefs would become no lefs certain! My fwiftnefs at the prefent is ineftima- ble, and is praifed by thoufands. — The commendation of fwiftnefs may be due to the foul, imt° which the feas, the heavens, and eternity; the. fpaces of nature, the hidden places, and fecrets - of all things lie open : as for thy body, whither its fwiftnefs tendeth when the earth is, as it were, only a point in na- ture, is known without aftrological con- jecture or geometrical demonftration. — I may well ufe it while I can, for I am now G incre- 98 SWIFTNESS. incredibly fwift ! — However thou mayft excel all men, I doubt whether thou canft match a hare in this fine quality of fwift- nefs ? — Indeed my fwiftnefs is marvel- lous ! — The fame accompanying many, upon hanging hills and broken moun- tain fides, hath difappointed them of the plain ground; and many alfo that would run* or as it were fly, by vaulting or otherwife, upon the walls or battlements of towers; upon the tacklings of fhips, and upon the crags of hills: {hortly after by fome little trippings or Hidings of the foot, have been found dead in the high- ways. To be true with thee, it is againft the courfe of nature, that there fhould be fuch uncommon lightnefs, in heavy bodies ; and if this nimble feculty is pur- fued, it will not long continue; for, fhould a man cfcape unhurt, which is a great MEMORY. 99 great chance, yet it is an oUtftretch too mighty for the nerves ; and will bring much wearinefs, if not fccret damage to the delicate fprings of life ! AD thp fjpurs of youth are dangerous ; they ra- ther need thofe bridles that come in with age ; which by the former may be leap- ed before-hand to deftru&ion. If it be needful to moderate this extreme fwift- nefs of body, can the memory be too fwift ? — The memory may alfo be too quick, and caufe thy mind to be a gal- lery full of fmoaky images for want of clearnefsj among fo many things* the arrangement is difficult ; and but a few can truly delight ! Is it not griev- ous enough to have fcfcn or fuffered evils, but they muft continually haunt thy mind with their dreadful re-appear- ances ? — I am indeed full of remem-* G 2 brances ! 100 MEMORY. , brances ! What man can take delight in thofe that are painful unlefs wholly free from them : and of whom can this be faid, I pray you ? No man can think on poverty with eafe, but he that is rich ; on ficknefs, but in health ; on prifon, but at liberty; on labour, but in quiet; on banifliment, but in freedom ! — My memory is manifold, and containeth much time. — Some things then muft prick thy confcience, fome wound thy heart, fome confound, fome terrify, fome overthrow thee ! fo that thy face fhall in filence mark the interchangeable red and pale of thy foul, and this is frequent- ly difcerned as well as felt. When one offered to teach Themiftocles the art of memory, he, in confeious humility an- fwered, I had rather learn the art of for- getfulnefs. What man fhould learn is, to VIRTUE. 101 to rejed all that is ufelefs in re mem- / brance; and to retain, with cheerful-l nefs, all that can profit and amend. — ■ Forget not thy fins, that thou mayft forrow and repent; remember death, that thou mayft fin no more; remember the judgment of God, that thou mayft juftly fear; and never forget his mercy, that thou mayft never be led to defpair ! Is it not then lawful for me to boaft of virtue ? — Admit it be lawful, yet it is only fo to boaft of it in him who is the giver. JBut the virtue I have gained by improve- ment is my own. : — It is the property of virtue to doubt, rather than to believe all things of itfelf ; and to rife to the caufes \ that produced, rather than to glory in I the things obtained. — The virtue of my mind is great ! — Take heed, left the G 3 greater j 102 VIRTUE. greater it be fuppofed, the lefs it be in- deed : weigh thou not what is done, but what ought to be done; not what ye * have, but what ye want : true virtue thirfteth continually, burneth, as it were, \ to rife, and the more it doth fo, the 1 poorer it ieemeth to itfelf ; for in this afcent, hill beyond hill appears; and when ye think ye are at the fummit, ye have yet a vaft fpace to penetrate. I feel that my virtue is greater than is accuftomable to obtain. — I fear me, Jeaft this boafting proceed rather from pride than from virtue $ no renown is fo •great that pride will not obfcure : this doth he know to be true, who being created bright, fhining, and renowned, became from an angel of light, the prince of darknefs. In this fhort life virtue cannot be perfect, for life is a war- Virtue. . 103 warfare, not a throne! and whoever thinketh he is come to the top, is the loweft of all, as by fo doing he forfaketh the path that leadeth thereto ; for there is nothing fo contrary to profit as the opinion of perfe&ion. No man endea- voureth to do that, which he fuppofeth done already. — My virtue is real; as far as the capacity of man reacheth.— Take thy paft life and lay it down \ before thine eyes; and, being an uncor- \ tupt judge in thy own caufe, require of thyfelf an account of all thy words, thoughts, and deeds, through every day, and then (halt thou fee how little real there k in thy mind : perhaps it is filled with vices, or at beft with errors; if thou have any goodnefs rejoice humbly therein, and know, that if thou thinkeft thyfelf great, thou muft have rode on G 4 fome 104 W I S DO M. fome flying horfe to be fo foon wife be- fore thy time. As for me, fays a great man, I do not think I have attained, or am become perfedt! and another 5 thine eyes have feen my imperfection ! many are learned, but few are wife; ye have heard what is included in that wifdom that cometh from above ! Can ft thou fay all this of thyfelf? Solomon could not, though reputed the wifeft of men ; but how he failed in one part of his life, his many wives and concubines, and his worshipping of falfe gods, fheweth. Socrates, of meer men was alone judged wife, by the Oracle; and he was near to it ; but even he offered to a falfe god, knowing, as it is thought, and believ- ing in the true ! So that it has been juftly faid, no man has been wife or perfect ij} this world: they have exercifed, but WISDOM. I05 but have not completed : as for our age, it is more happy than the age of the wife men ! they could reckon up but feven they thought truly deferving of that name; but in every town now, there are fiich multitudes, that they are like to flocks of fheep: nor is it any marvel there fhould be fuch numbers; feeing they are fo eafily made ! There cometh a foolifh young man to the church, his matters praife and extol him, either from love or ignorance: he fwelleth and marcheth proudly; the people gaze *at him aftonied, his kinsfolks and friends can fcarce contain their joy! he being willed, getteth up into the pulpit, and overlooking all from on high, murmureth out, no one can tell what! but they ex- tol him with praife to heaven as one that hath fpokeh like a god ! In the mean time 106 RELIGION. time the bells jingle, the trumpets rattle, rings fly about, kifles are given, and a piece of a black round cloth is hung on his fhoulders ; wlien all this is finifhed, down cometh the wife man, that went up a fool ! Thus are wife men made now-a- days ; but a wife man indeed, is made otherwife. I myfelf entered once into holy orders ; I glory in my perfect Re- ligion ! the roclf of true Religion is Chrift, by which man is tied to God; it - ingrafteth humility and rooteth out pride : | here thou canft not rejoice tod much ! ■ for the diredfc path from this mortal life to the life everlafting is here fhewn thee— ^ I thank God for it — Thou haft faid well ; be thankful indeed, by keeping it from the errors of negligence, and the guilt of fin ; then fhall the controverfy ceafe what is Religion ? I poffefs j and all men (hall K E L I GI O N. IO7 (hall behold it in me ! It is not the ring " of gold, the fcarlet veftment, or the im- perial purple ; it is not accoutring - the body with the burnifhed harnefs, or the hand with the glittering fword ! it is not building the coftly temple or fplendid pa- lace, pleading the niceft caufe, managing , the fierceft courfer 5 fleering the nobleft fhip through the daunting tempeft; plunging into the bottomlefs ocean for its conceal'd ftores ; or rufhing into the fmoke of the fierceft battle, to maintain or to advance to empire ! that will give Religion and wi£bm ! or fcve from de- finition, with a proud heart feeking its own applaufe ! But to be well reported of by others, (hews defert and gains friends, even of thofe that are abfent. My good fame hath done this. Report lo8 GOOD REPORT. Report made Mafiniflb known to Scipio ; fo that he that was wont to be the leader of all the Carthagenian horfe- men againft the Romans, became, after- ter wards, General of the Roman horfe- men againft the Carthagenians ; and not only gained the hearts of his private enemies, but alfb of thieves and of . pirates ; the common enemies of all : for the glory of his name drew them to the place of his exile, where, according to their ufual roughnefs, forcibly rufh- ing in upon him, they appeared to him at the firft fight moft terrible ; but per- ceiving themfelves to be fufpedted, lay- ing afide their fierce looks, fetting apart their weapons, and fending away their guard, they conformed themfelves to unaccuftomed mildnefs; and only the chief of thefe thieves came up to him, to GOOD REPORT. IO9 to»the intent to worfhip him as a God ! and make a church of his houfe ! They wearied his victorious right hand with many kifles, hung up their gifts , in the porch of his houfe, as if of- fered upon the altars of their Gods, according to their country cuftom, and rejoicing, as if they had feen a heavenly vifion, they departed in tranfports of content ! This happened, indeed, unto Scipio from report; but where wilt thou find a Scipio now ? Report hath won me friends beyond the Alps, and beyond the feas ! Thou muft then have acquaintance in the mid- way between earth and heaven ! I pray thee, what colonies are thofe thou fpeakeft of; for no travellers have conveyed to me the account of fuch. It may be, the moon may have Jiad tidings of thee alfo ; for the 110 AMPHITHEATRE. the vanity of man reacheth, indeed, be- yond the furface of the earth \ If fame is of no ufe, why are the plaudits in the amphitheatres, and the admiration of their fuperftrudtures, fo general ? The cruelties done there, and the grievous accidents, ought rather to have furniflied groans and tears ; and yet the great and good Prince Auguftus, a ftrange error in fuch a mind, appointed a place thpre for the vcftal virgins, whofe chaftity was fuch, that nothing was more perfect, no fame fo tender, none fo revered ! infomuch, that all geftures, almoft all motion, all trimming of the body, all talk -not divine, was in theni feverely reprehended and punilhed, A thoufand couple of fencers appeared at once at the amphitheatre for the fight ; flocks MARBLE PILLARS. Ill flocks of elephants and tigers, lk>ns f leopards, wild afles, and rampant horfes, with other ftrange beafts fent out of de- farts, parks, and forefts, from every part of the world; and fiich was the fumptuoufnefs of the building for thefe fhews, that huge pillars of marble were brought by land and by fea, carved with infinite fkill, proudly polifhed on the tops, and their branches glittering with fine gold. Three hundred and three- fcore of thefe monftrous pillars wert brought in to finifh a work the greateft ever made by the hands of man ; info- much that the amazement and the loud outcries of joy from the throng, ftunned, and almoft petrified the numberlefs fpec- tators : nor did this madnefs ceafe here ; for fuch was the number of works that arofe in imitation, that there was no- thing 112 ROME* thing, in all the whole world fo to be wondered at as Rome. To aggrandize this famous city the very bowels of the earth were pierced, the flints digged up, the hidden rocks difcovered, rivers taken out of their foft beds, and conveyed away in pipes, the fretting fea fhut in or out as was required, and with great banks torn from itfelf ! the mountains, being undermined, their tops were left hanging, as it werq, in the air, without fupport, and the bottom of the fea, with all its inhabitants, fporting in freedom ; this was alfo fearched and in- vaded. Moreover, to the end there may want no kind of mifchief, what bloody (laughter, not only of private men, but of whole multitudes, do hap- pen at thefe fhews. The profufe laugh- ter at the beginning, turned into griev- ous AMPHITHEAT RE. 1 1 3 ous forrow in the end, when the dead* bodies were carrying along with the weepers that belonged to them, follow- ing in woe. There is alfo much danger in fuch a weighty mafs of people ; and it hath happened more than once, that the buildings ftrength, though it appeared great, was not equal to the load placed on it ; as chanced under Tiberius, the Emperor, at a notable fhew at the city Tidena, thou muft have heard how, by the fall of theampitheatre there, twenty thoufand perfons were killed in one day, , The expences that by thefe ftrudtures were brought on the common wealth, were incredible, and no lefs the toiling care of the builders, and the agonies and death of the workmen by accidents and by cruel fatigue; alfb pofUy pleafent odours, £0 much cried up by the delicate, H might, 114 ODOURS. might, how ftrange foever it may appear, be well included in this view of folly and expence : for on fuch occafions they were the more profufely ufed ; it may be, as is their general intent, to put away other fmells, and on this account they are always to be fufpedted. The Afly- rians, the Arabians, and the Sabei, when they were vanquifhed by your weapons, overcame you with their odours $ which the rough and invincible fobriety of your forefathers refifted fo long, that the five hundred, three fcore, and fifth year after the founding of the city of Rome, pro- vifion was made by a ftridt edidfc of the cenfbr, that no man fhould bring fweet foreign ointments or odours into the city. Lacedamon alfo, which I call the Grecian Rome* refifted thjs infection of odours, as if they had been aa army coming ODOURS* II5 coming againft,them. I thought Tweet odours kept off infe&ion. Thofe who think odours wholefome, are deceived : all fmells, even the perfume of inclofcd flowers, that call forth the nerves tod ftrongly, are hurtful, and are known to be^lb by well judging men in thefe mat- ters ; and as a covering for other fmells are offenfive to the fenfes of many, and above all to the valiant : a young man fo perfumed coming before the Emperor Vefpafian, to give him thanks for the office which he had beftowed upon him, as he flood before him, the Emperor perceiving the fmell, and difdaining the wearer, with a ftern countenance and rough voice, I had rather, faid he, thou jiadft fmelt of garlick ; - and, fo well checked (cancelling the letters Wherein he had granted him his good will) he "' Ha fent Il6 ODOURS. fcnt him away fruftrate of his appoint- ment, in foil liberty to enjoy his plea- fant odours. To fome they have brought another fort of danger; this happened fo Plautius, a fenator in the trium viral profcription, who, for fear of death, hiding himfelf in the falernitone 4ens, was bewrayed there, by the fmeli of his ointments, purchafing thereby to himfelf definition ; and to the profcri- bers excufe of their cruelty \ for who would not judge that he wa6 juftly (lain, who, in fuch troubles of the common wealth, and fo great danger of private men, would fpend time in decking him- felf up with fweet fmelling odours ? I cannot but lay I am well affe&ed to thefe pleafant odours ! Leave them off, if thou wilt follow my council, both for thy health and thy horiefty ; for every artificial ODOURS. I17 artificial ufe is fomething againft nature, I and not quite forcing with a true mind. * Read what is written ^concerning this, both by the Greeks and the Latins, and confider the legions of vices that came in with fweet odours. But may Inot with reverence notice, that Jefus Chrift allowed his feet to be bathed with pre- cious ointment ! Verily it was not the delight of odours, but the delight in the affe&ion and tears of the offerer, that caufed Jefus to permit this anoint- ing : he faw the humility of the giver, and he would not repulie the gift dire&- ed by the cuftom of die country as pre- cious, and a witnefs of the heart that prefented it ; to whom a mine of gold , would have been drofs for the love of Chrift : be then, like her, lowly, hum- ble, and difinterefted, and odours ihall H 3 not II& WRITING OF BOOKS. not be required to give thee glory. I defire no praife for trifling ornaments. But fay that I write well, fhall not that bring me glory ? There is no end of books, faith the wife man, and in much ftudy is much wearinefs -, yet they fhould write that have Ikill and are able ; and thofe who have not, fhould read and hear. If there is fome danger in giv- ing the fenfe of others, what is it to compofe and fet forth the 'hidden thoughts of the mind* We may in- fedt, or affedt, but can we refrefh ? can we inform ? can we lighten the heavy burthen of the mind ? fubdue the ftuh- born purpofe of the will ? if we can, we write glorioufly \ otherwife it may be faid with Cicero, dried puddles, and no fountains, fpring from their pens. — • There are fome who writer who would have WRITING- OF BOOKS. II9 have done well to go to plough, to keep fheep, to drive the fhuttle, or to play the, mariner ; and likewife many handi- crafts men have been worthy to become philofophers ; and lome that were born in the fields, or under hedges, or on ftalls, and in fhops ; on the wallet of the foldier, or on the netting of ihips, were deferving of everlafting fame ! whereby it cometh to pafs, that they who are ignorant of thefe hidden caufes, do wonder if in the. middle of the fea, in the village, in the* woods; there be found fharp and quick wits, while in the fchools many are dull and blockifh. If writing be to profit pofterity, there is nothing better ; if to get a name only, there is nothing worfe ; fuch feek wind without fails; and to them it maybe iaid, Sailors, not thee, fhould defire the H 4 conveyance 120 FREEDOM. conveyance of that element. My writ- ing fhall be accounted of, for that which gives vigour to the fpirit is my lot. I was born in freedom. He is not free that is born, but he that dieth ; fortune hath power over him that cometh into the world, but none over him that is gone out of it — fhe, overthroweth ftrong cities, /he, vanquifheth valiant armies : fhe, fubdueth mighty kingdoms! the grave is an impregnable caftle, there the worms bear rule, and not fortune -, whofo therefore hath ftept into that liberty, of all men they are alone free from the in- fults of this life : thou boafteth thyfelf to be free, and knoweft not whether thou (halt enter this day a freeman, I fay not into thy grave/ but into thy chamber; thy liberty hangeth by a weak thread; as do all things wherein ye firmly FREED O M. 121 firmly truft. I am a free man ! For this caufe, I fuppofe thou caljeft thyfelf a free man, becaufe thou haft no matter ; but hear what Seneca faith; Knoweth' thou not at what age Hecuba and Crefus, and the mother of Darius, and Plato, and Diogenes; came into bondage ? Or doft thou forget Reguhis and Valerianus, the one made Have to the Carthagenians; the other to the Perfians; the one con- fumed with fervitude, the other put to a cruel death* What (hall I lay of Syphax and Perfius, the kings of Mace- don and Numedia, who fell down from the top of their kingdoms, into the Roman fetters. How many in thy own age have been thurft out of the court into prifon ; how many kings made b6nd Saves, the happier in freedom, the more miferable in bondage; be not p^oud, therefore, 122 FREEDOM. therefore, of thy liberty, it is a moft fweet thing indeed to enjoy, but the lofs of it is the more to be doubted ; for the face of human things change daily. Neither think thyfelf a free man be- caufe thou haft no matter, art born of free parents, waft never taken prifoner in war, nor fold for a flave. Ye have invin- cible matters of your minds, hidden ene- mies and inward wars ! x for a fmall price ye miferably fell your fouls to fin, and are tied to vile pleafures with indiffolu- *ble chains. Go your way, vaunt of your freedom, judge him to be bound, fubjedt to one mortal mafter ; but as for * him that is opprefled with a thoufand immortal tyrants, him ye account free ! Even finely as ye do make judgment of other things; verily it is not fortune FREEDOM. 123 that maketh a man free, it is virtue : if , thou be wife, if thou be juft, if thou be modeft, if thou be patient, if thou be intrepid, if thou be godly, then thou art free indeed ! I am not only free myfelf, but I was born in a free and famous country: thou haft alfo known countries, and cities that have been en- flaved as well as men. Of ancient ex- amples, the moft free cities of Lacede- mon and of Athens, firft fuffered a civil, and afterward a foreign yoke. The holy city of Jerufalem, the mother of everlafting liberty, was in temporal fub- je<3ion to the Romans and the Aflyrians j and is now in captivity to the Egypt- ians ; and Rome itfelf, not only a free city, but the lady of nations, was firft en- slaved to her own citizens, and after- ward to the moft vile perfons : fo that no man can ever truft to his own free- 124 NOBLE COUNTRY. dom, or to the freedom of his empire. I was born in a glorious country, then will it be fo much the harder for thee to face the light, for the fmall ftars do fhine by night, but they are dull in the beams of the fun. My country is noble. By what nobility, is the ques- tion ? for a country is made noble, by the number of inhabitants, by the abundance of wealth, by the fertility of the foil, and the commodious fituation ; by wholefome air, and clear lprings ; the fqa nigh, fafe havens, and convenient rivers. That is commonly called a noble country, that is fruitful of wine and other commodities, as corn, cattle, flocks of fheep, herds of udder beafts ; and mines of gold and filver. We call that a good country wherein are bred ftrong hades, fat oxen, tender kids, and plea- fant NOBLE COUNTRY. 12$ fant fruits: but where good men are bred, yc neither enquire after nor think it worthy the enquiring; howbeit, it is the virtue of its citizens that conftitutes the glory and fafety of a country; and therefore Virgil, in defcribing the Ro- man glory, did not fo much as touch upon the former; but fpoke of the might of the empire, the valour of the people, and the ftrength of their children, I rejoice in my noble country. — What if thou art obfcure in fuch a noble country, or perhaps vile; thou ihalt then be the fooner marked. — - My country is very, famous. r Cataline had not been fo infamous, or Nero, had they not been born in fo famous a country.— I am of a well- known 126 GLORIOUS COUNTRY. known country. — Unlefs thou glifbr of thyfelf this will bring thee into darknefs. v Among fo many eyes there is no lurking; knoweft thoi* not the faying, I had ra- ther thy country were known by thee than thou by thy country; nay, even then, there is no fame without the con- tempt of the ignorant or the envy of the proud, the firft is the fafer, the other the more famous evil : many that might be named, had they remained buried in fbme poor corner, would have been great there, who, fhewing themfelves, were difparaged. The anfwer of The- miftocles to a man who afcribed his fame to his city is pertinent : verily I, fhould not be obfcure there ; nor thou renown- ed: Plato, on the contrary, as great Y?its fometimes have great errors, gave thanks for many things and in that he did GLORIOUS COUNTRY. 12J did well : he gave thanks to nature for making him a man and not a beaft ; of the male kind, and not a Woman ; an Athenian, not a Theban;. and laftly, that he was born in the time of So- crates. Some learned men have thought this an error in Plato, ' and I do in part agree with them ; for I pray thee to what purpofe is it to rejoice in thefe things, as if Providence governed only fuch and fuch times, and loved only fuch and fuch perfons ! Does not he go- vern all ? is not the Barbarian and the Scythian, great cities and fmall villages, the wife and unwife, the bond and the free, all his ? Have there not been many Barbarians that have excelled many Gre- cians, both in virtue and in wit? have jiot fome women furpafled in» glory and in invention certain men, and been more com- 128 NOBLE CITIES. commendable ? and to be fhort, fuppof- ing Plato had been an ox or an afs, how fhould that have belonged! to Plato, who would not then have been Plato, but that thing which nature had framed : unlefs perhaps, he gave credit to the opinion of Pythagoras, that fouls pafled out of one body into another, which his deep philofophy muft furely queftion; and which our religion does deny, Alfo why was it fo noble a matter to be born at Athens, that no other place was equal, no not Thebes ! Were not Homer and Pythagoras himfelf, Democrates and Anexagoras, and Ariftotle, and thou- fonds of great men, born elfewhere; and if they feek for wit, was not the poet Pindarus born at Thebes ; who, as Ho- race fayeth, cannot poffibly be matched by imitation: and though Thebes was. , defpifed THESE 3. t2<$ defpifed by the Grecians, did it not pro- dace Epaminondas, that excellent phi- lofophcr, and molt valiant captain, And in the opinion of all mien, through every age, prince and' chief of all the Grecians. He Who alnioft utterly fub- Verted the Lacedemonians, and put Plato's countrymen, the Athenians, intb ftff h fear, that when he w&s dead, being' delivered of z great terror, they gave tfiemfelves up to licentidufnefs aiad floth, and while this great man adorned Thebefr, hoW many thoufands of fools lived at Athens* Plato ought there- fort to have given thanks, not that he was born at Athens, but born with, fuch a wit, fuch a mind, fuch good liking of his parents, and ih fuch plen- ty> that- they were enabled to get hifti itfftiMed iii all goodnefs^; for theffc IJO ATHENS, things it behoved fo learned a man zea- loufly to have given thanks unto that God which had beftowed them on him : not for Socrates or Athens, Let it be alfp recolle&ed, that in that fchool, among many others, were Alcibiades and Cre- tias; the one an enemy to his coun- try, the other a moft cruel tyrant, to whom how much their mailer So- crates availed let Plato anfwer me ; or elfe underftand that the dodtrine of an earthly fchoolmafter, however great, as was Socrates, by univerfal confent, is not to be vaunted as beyond all things, fince that only belongs to the gracious an eafy to overthrow nobility ! The wheel of mortal things turns fwift ; but its courjfe being Long, this Abort life perceiveth it not ; elfe the fpades of longs, and th^. jfcepters of clowns might be well dif- perned ; leave of therefore to colour thy narafi with other men's virtues, leaft if eyery one require his ,pwn thou be laughed at for thy own nakednefs. I fpeak it not willingly, but experience iheweth, that feldom the ion of an ex- cellent man is excellent ! I enjoy in this admirable country, a great eftate, and I have a very fruitful land. Underftand the power of him that maketh it fruitful, and fo ufe the heavenly gifts then thou difpleafe not the giver of them. Let not thy plenty driv^ away thy fobriety and the modefty of I38 FRUITFUL LAND. I of thy mind : but let thy friends and the poor partake of thy fruitfulnefs. I hufband moft excellently my land. Hus- bandry in old times was the moft holy and innocent life. It is likely that huf- bandmen were the laft that did become wicked; but now I fear that townifh villanies have crept intocountry cottages. The art of hufbandry was in great ef- teem among wife men ; and the poet fays, When juilice forfook the earth, fhe left her laft footfteps among hufband- men. Gato the Cenfbr was held to be the moft excellent hulbandman in his time, though a fenator, orator, and cap- tain : who will then be afhamed to till the ground with Cato who had triumph- ed for conquering Spain ! Who would be afhamed to call to his oxen when that revered voice drove them along the fur- row! FRUITFUL LAND. I39 row ! who would' difdain the plough and the harrow made noble by hands that had wielded the fword, wrote on phllo- fophy, and gathered together the pre- cepts of hufbandry ! I will not prefer this occupation however to the liberal arts : yet it feemeth to me, that if Cato could find time for it, other excellent perfons may, for recreation, graft the tender twig upon the budding ftock, or corredt the lank leaves with the; crooked hook, or lay'quickfets into the dyke in hopes of encreafe, or bring the iilver ftreams by new digged furrows into the thirfty meadows : but not dig and delve as if it were their trade, feeing their minds may be framed for more noble exercifes; that good mother nature gave many arts unto men, and with them the different wits and dif- pofitions; 149 HUSBANDRY. petitions ; and every one ihould follow that to which fhc has inclined him. A philofopher may not contend with him that fails over the feas at his own art : induftry here would be vain, however fuperior in great matters thou wouldft be overcome in final!, and be a bootlefs contender. I have trimmed my vine- yard exquifitely. Ancient men were of opinion that hu&andry ftiould be well followed, but not too well ; the profit not being equal to the charge of fuch over doing: this may feem incredible, but it is true : they compare a man and a, field, thefe twain, fay they, if they be fumptuous are profitable at firft, but af- terward become barren and poor. This fummer my field hath been very fruit- ful } mark the next : haft thou made agreement with the froft, or with the hail ; HUSBANDRY". 14! hail \ with the* cranes, and the wiid geefe, with the mice and the rats ; thou fhalt be hoft to fowls and worms, and at fervant to thy reapers and thy threfliers: plenty this year is oft a token of fcarcity the next. Thy corn will belong to many ; the carefulnefs to thee : the fields t6 fpeak truly, fhould be thy mind ; the tillage thy intent: I had rather thou didft till thy felf ; for thou fhalt make fat that earth thou now talleth. Till what compafs of it thou wilt, thotf fhalt have but a few feet of ground fop thy inheritence : and as Horace faith, among the trees thou haft planted,, none fhall follow thee their fhort-lived maftery but the difinal cyprefs ! I have ftore oB pleafant green walks, with trees fhading themmoftfweetly! Thofethatbeftudiou* of virtue, and thofe who give themfelve* up 142 . GREEN WALKS. up to voluptuoufnefs do equally, though differently, delight in ftiadowy with- drawing places : when a great orator objected adultery againft a vile man, he defcribed the pleafantnefs of the place where it was committed* Aim thou at a mind, that fhall beautify the place thou doth refort to: all felicity lieth in this.— -Who hath not heard of the fecret walks of Tiberius, and the withdrawing place of Caprea, which I gtrieve to men- tion ! how glorious was a poor banifhed man, one Scipio, he breathed the air of liberty, he had that delicious ftate of mind, on the hills and in the valleys of his banifhment, that made it a paradife : therefore thofe that commend folitary places, which are indeed delightful, flbould add, if the mind is clear enough to enjoy them. Truly I walk in moft pleafant places. And what are the cares that GREEN WALKS. 143 that walk with thee,; what fkilleth it to put unfavouiy ointments into ivory boxes, or foul minds into fair places. How many holy fathers have flourifh- ed among craggy mountains; how many vile adulterers have rotted in the green meadows ! befides, to vaunt thyfelf of any place is folly ; they were as yefter- day not thine, and may be another's to- morrow; they are to thee in hazard, as places out of thy reach : doft thou praife the Alps becaufe they are cold in fum- mer ? or the mountain Olympus becaufe it is higher than the clouds ? or the hill Appenine becaufe it beareth fine trees ? truly no ; they are not thine ! no more are the places thou praifeft allured: fome by tarrying too long, and taking too much air in them, have loft their lives ; they are alfo the chofen fpots of murder- ers! 144 GREEN WALKS. ers ! Who readethnot in Quintus Cur-* tius, of the mofl: pleafant groves and woods; the fecret walks and arbours which the kings of die Medes planted with their own hands ; for in thefe took they chief delight, and all their nobles; howbeit, at the command of a drunken and frantic young kirig, the ancient and noble Parmenio was flain, the chief of the Dukes and Captains of the Mace- donians ! Who knoweth not Cajeta and the bending of the fhore there, a fairer and pleafanter place there is not under the cope of Heaven ; but it was in this pleafant place alfo, the noble Cicero was murdered, at the command of thedrunken and cruel Anthony* Perhaps this great man* whofe like is moil fearce, meant to afliiage the grief of SHADY WALKS. I45 of his mind for the commonwealth, by the delight of his eyes ; when he was fallen upon by his cruel butchers. — Thus it happeneth that delegable places are moft apt for treafbn and deceit, as men live there more carelefsly, and have leaft view to danger, for wild beafts are fooneft fnared in the thickeft woods, and birds moft eafily limed in the green twigs. I do take delight to be abroad in my walks : — Not more delight thaa the wild boars and the bears; which proveth, that not where thou art, but what thou doft is the great matter of diftindtion between thee and brutes ! the place fhall never make thee either noble or happy; it is by employing thy mind to fome wife ftudies, and thy ftudics to fome valuable end, thou fhalt attain unto both. — But I love not ftudy, I love reft K of I46 REST AND QUIETNESS. r/- of mind and eafe. — Reft and quietnefs are mine ! two moft acceptable commo- dities of man's life, unlefs immoderate ufe have made them into moft grievous mifchiefs, as hath happened to many; procuring plagufes to the body and dif- eafes to the mind ; fwelling to the one, *' f and ruft to the other. This quietnefs is very pleafant to me. — * There are two kinds of quietnefs, one is even in very ^ reft doing fomewhat, bufy about honeft . affairs; and this is very fweet: the other is flothful and idle, than which there is nothing more laathfome: fluggifhnefs is like to the grave. From the firft fpring great works, profitable to the world, and glorious to the writers; from the fe- cond, dull and fleepy floth. — I enjoy my wifhed reft.—- That reft which we muft enjoy fhall never have an end; consi- der SLEEP. I47 der therefore in what reft thou doft take delight ! — I fleep fweetly : thou art then approaching a near kinfman, not in thy love, for thou knoweft that fleep is the image and brother of death. — In my fleep I reft : Many that move do reft in mind, and many that fit and lie are troubled ; fleep itfelf, which is called the reft of all living things, hath its own fecret troubles, vifions,and fantafies ! My toils being paft, I refrefh myfelf with pleafant fleep: toil and labour are the bafe of virtue and glo-^ ry ! too much fleep is the fource of vice and infamy, which driveth many headlong and throweth them into perpetual fleep ! for it nourifheth luft, maketh heavy the body, weakeneth the mind, dulleth the wit, extinguifheth the memory, dimi- nifheth knowledge, and breedeth ftu- pidity; fo that it is not without caufe It 2 that I48 SLEEP. that wakeful and induftrious perfons are commended: fleep is called death, and wakefulnefs life; take heed then of life and death which thou doft choofe ! thofe who wake early do live the longer. Au- guftus Caefar, of all princes the great- eft, ufed but fhort fleep, and that alfo often interrupted. — I fleep profoundly — So do gluttons , voluptuaries, wrathful perfons, when their paflions have done boiling over, and moft brute beafts ! — I do enjoy my long fleep. — It is well that the prince wake th, while the people fleep, and that captains are diligent while the army refteth; as fays Homer, upon noble minds vigilant cares do depend: they are fober, they are toilfome for others; and not only kings and generals, but philofophers, poets, and houfehold- ers, do oft rife in the night: and ye need SLEEP. I49 need not be told that merchants and mariners do watch whole nights abroad in the open air, among furges and rocks, more fierce than any enemy. Ariftotle fayeth, rifing in the night, for a time, is good for health; and not only do thofe mentioned rife for fervice, good hufbandry, and philofophy, but thieves and pilferers alfo ; and which is more marvellous, mad men and lovers, who do in part belong to that clafs ; they ftir themfelves in the night feafon, and will not thou do that for the love and ufe of virtue they do for the love of vice ? and as Horace excellently faith, Seeing thieves rife in the night to kill true men, wilt not thou rife to preferve thyfelf ! — I fleep all night, and no man troubleth me.— Ariftotle attributed half a man's Jife to fleep, half to waking ; I fuppofe K 3 he I50 SLEEP. he meant not to fay it fhould be £o, but that it was lb ; it were a ftrange fay- ing otherwife for fo great a man, for the wife know np thoughts are more fharp, no cogitation more deep, than the night- ly. God forbid that a well-inftrudted mind fhould give half their time to fleep; above all in youth, ages make a difference : winter and fummer j yet as wintry nights are long, in part of them it were expe- dient to ftudy, to write, to read, and to pray. — St. Jerome faith, rife once or twice in the night, lie not on your pil- low like buried carcafes, but by the comely ftirring up of your bodies de- clare that ye are alive ! When I wake from my fweet fleep all things go with me as I would wifh. — Thou fayft well, they go all, for nothing ftandeth ftill; and even thy hard head that feemeth to reft, lieth PERFECT DESIRE OP HEART- I51 Hcth between an iron pair of fheets ! and thou moveft on a pillow of thorns ! — My affairs go profperoufly, I ftand fafe, and I have all my heart's defire. — Diagoras Rhodius rejoiced like thee ; on which Lacon faid to him, die now, Dia- goras, for thou canft not climb into heaven ! and it happened indeed fb to Diagoras; for amidft the fhoutings of the people, and the embracings of his fons, his joy was too mighty for him, and he gave up the ghoft. Many more have perifhed through extreme joy than forrow : thou mayeft not die on the fpot with thy joyous cogitations, yet thy laft day is at hand ; deceive not thyfelf with dreams of perfect reft and quiet here : the tomb will alone give it to thee ! — thofe that would rife to the true haven of everlafting reft muft not weigh them- K 4 fclves I52 EASE AND QUIET. felves down to the earth with the bur-r then of mortal things ! thou art like the fowl that flieth between the line and the fnare ; the fifli that playeth among the hooks ; and the wild beafts leaping among the toils ! I have toiled all my lifetime for to enjoy this quiet, — Thou haft well pro- vided then for the phyficians j they will thank thee, and will fhortly come thick about thy bed with much prattle and little wifdom ! thou haft done well for the lawyers, who will run to make thy teftament with folemn fpeed: and ftill better for thofe who are gaping for thy money: they will try to diflemble their fecret joy, by counterfeit tears, and curfe thee within that thou ftayeft yet a little fpace alive; yea, they will mark thy crifis, EASE AND WEALTH. I53 crifis, and catch at the figns and tokens pfit with greedinefs; watch with in- tenfe looks over thy golden carcafe; and give inftant notice of thy laft breath ! — Thus, truly, the trappings thou art about to leave, fhall get thee merry company; and thou (halt not wholly lofe thy la- bour for joy, nor thy pinching cares for wealth; it will furnifh the fuperfluous pomp of thy burial, and then will thy neft of hope be demolished quickly (if, indeed, as with many, it perifh not be- fore it be fledged) and thou fhalt find that awful fentence verified 6n thee : — Thou fool, this night will I take thy foul from thee. Where, then, will the goods be thou haft gathered together ? think of this, break off fleep, and mo- derate thy intemperate joy, — When I am reftored by fleep, I delight in mufic, in 154 DANCING. in dancing, and in the fong. — By fing- ing there is fome fweetnefs concerned, which many times is profitable, and fome- times is holy ; but dancing is a vain, a voluptuous, and hurtful thing, I delight to be at dancings ! The body covereth and difcovereth the mind; the cafting of the hands, the prancing of the feet, the rolling of the eyes, declare that there is fome like wanton folly in the mind, as thefe do defcribe ; and therefore it be- hoveth fuch as be lovers of true modefty to take heed both of what they fpeak and what they do; for the hidden things of the heart are many times defcried by fmall tokens; in moving, fitting, lying, gefture, laughing, going, fpeech: all thefe are the bewrayers of the mind. — I do much defire to be at dancings : — Foolifh defire ! do but imagine thyfelf leading DANCING. 155 leading forth a dance, or beholdeft others dancing without hearing any inftrument, and feeft foolifh women and effeminate men turning and twifting about, jump- ing backward and forward, and on all fides, like perfons bereaved of wit; I pray thee could any thing more abfurd be witnefled ? but thou wilt fay, the found of the inftrument covereth the unbecom- ingnefs; that is to fay, one madnefs hideth another : dancings are generally performed in the night, and in hope, as is well known, of leading filly women about till they are won j under colour of courtefy they are thus courted, clafp- ed, and, not feldom, undone ; or if they efcape thro' more chance than wifdom : Are not fuch freedoms againft temperance of mind, and the true and chafte mo- defty 1 56 DANCING. defty of that fex ? there the hands are free, the eyes free, and the fpeech free ! there the heat of motion overdoes nature, prompts to evil deeds ! and Jin dufl and noife deprives the virgin of that fhamefacednefs that is her golden fecurity ! — Well, I do love dancing ! — I know thou doft ; yet fay, leaving the above moft weighty arguments, which thou canft not deny, is it not an exercife abfurd in itfelf, and unnatural, becaufe extreme ? Doth it not bring wearinefs of the whole body, as well as giddinefs of the head ; and are not furfeits and death moft common effedts. Believe me, all ve- hement motion, efpecially if accompanied with noife, is hurtful, and beareth hard upon the fprings of life ! know ye not what was faid, and poflibly this was meant; the wicked walk round about. For DANCING. 157 For to return to my great aim, the truth cannot be denied, dancing hath been the caufe of moft fhamefiil deeds, and be- witched many to evil; who have not partaken of it ; for not only the honeft matron, and unfortunate virgin, have loft their fame and innocence, but adtual murder has enfued : wottefl thou of the diih bore to Herod, no lefsthan the head of the holy Baptift; oh horror! won by a dance ! — Did not David dance ? — All that good men do are not examples ; this feems to have been a tranfport of reli- , gion j I have faid before, all excefs is wrong, and believe me no man will dance before the Lord with king David ; left per- adventure his wife laugh him to fcorn, as we are told the wife of David did; which feems to mark the abfurdity. I would neither dance madly nor difhoneftly; but t$$ DANCING. but I do think dancing a moft dele&abfe thing ! and I am willing to exercife my- felf in honeft dancing. — I had rather thou wouldft choofe fome wholefomer, and better excercife : but I perceive thy meaning ; thou canft not bear to be re- ftrained from any thing, however hurt- ful : I grieve thou art fo minded ; but would fain help thee to efchew mifchief. If fuch be the manner and cuftom there- fore, that dancing muft be allowed, let it be a relaxation to thy wearied fpirits, and a moderate exercife to thy body; but in no way, nor by no means, a weakener and corrupter of thy mind ! and let it be feldom and moft modeftly ufed : there be other recreations far more wholefbme than this ; be circumfpeft in all ; what- foever thou doeft, do it as though thy enemy beheld thee ; it is better to live the DRINKING- 159 the wonder of thy enemies for thy ab- ftemioufnefs, than the contempt of thy friends for thy careleffnefs ! I would gladly abftain from examples : imitation of great men is not always fafe ; every feathered fowl is not able to follow the eagle ! The younger Cato when his mind was overpreffed with cares of the commonwealth, was wont to refrefh himfelf with wine; the like did Solon, among the -Greeks i tbey have many imitators ; but that which they did for a remedy of great labour, and for the good of their country, thofe who do no good to any, and much evil to them- felves, abufe to drunkcnnefs. Scipio, it is alfo faid, moved his triumphant and martial body to the jfound of warlike in- ftxuments, not mincing and prancing as is now wantonly done, and to evil in- l66 DRINKING. tent ; but recognizing' thus as it werd their famous deeds, f as in former times men of renown were wont to do gravely and ufefully, at plays and great feftivals ; which fhould have honoured, if their enemies had beheld them; yea, have made them terrible in peace ! but I had rather in the point of fobriety thou wert like Caefar, who was a man his enemies could not deny, of little wine ; and that thou fhouldft not dance at all ; but if thou wilt dance, and if thou wilt drink ; as I well fuppofe, and give thy mind to what I would not have thee,, let my w r ords have fome efFedt ; drink wine fo as Cato drank, and dance fo as Scipio danced. ! Thou muft allow mufic is fweet. There have been fundry. opinions of great wits about mufic and finging; Atha- music. 161 Athanafius for bad finging in churches ; St. Ambrofe appointed that men fhould ling: in old time who could not fing or play on fqme inftrument, was counted unlearned, which judgment fell upon Themiftocles. Epaminon- das is faid to have played excellent- ly; and Socrates, grave as he was, would learn to play; I will let others pafs : there is fome delight of the ear wherewith to be honeftly and foberly entertained is a certain humanity; but to fpend all the precious hours of life, claimed for other ftudies, to be caught by, and wedded to it, is vanity !— I take pleafure in fongs and harmony : — Wild beafts it is faid, and fowls may be de- ceived by mufic, and fifties delighted ! thou knoweft the pretty fable of Orion and the dolphin, it is chronicled as truth L by l6l MUSIC. by Herodotus; fyrens are faid to deceive by finging ; this is not believed ; but it is true by (experience, for the voice is the moil deceiving of all inftruments. — I am charmed with mufic ! — The fpider appinteth before he biteth ; and the phy- fician before be ftriketh; the fowler alfo, and a woman flattereth when they mean to entice; a thief embraceth whom be will kill ; and the polypus fifh huck- leth whom he meaneth to drown : and many evil-minded perfons are never more to be feared than when they fhew them- felves moft courteous and their voice is moll foft : the emperor Dpmitian, knc\y well to pra&ife this.-— I fing fweetly myfelf ! — Thou knoweft not whether it be tby laft fang; the fwan fingeth fweet- ly before her death; and Statius fays, ^vhofc cuftom is the tender fouls with . . .pipes MUSIC. 163 pipes they bring to the grave ! but to pais this. Some are moved by mufic to mirth; fome to holy and devout joy; fome to tears of the world ; and fome to godly tears ; which variety of affec- tions hath caufed fuch variety of opi- nions in great wits. Alcibiades was, by his uncle Pericles, fet to learn this art : The love of mufic invades all minds, but the idle more efpecially, and thofe unaccuftomed to noble deeds, and deep fludies. Caius the emperor was much given to finging and dancing : As to Nero, what regard he had to his voice is incredible ; the fame night which was the laft of his life, and the firft therefore for the world to breathe; one thing he moft miferably bewailed, that not fo great a prince, but fo great a mu- fician as he was, fhould perifh ! I am L z de- 164 MUSIC, detayned with the pleafure of fweet notes ! Oh that thou didfl hear the hymn of the godly! Oh that thou couldft be pene- trated \yith the groans of the wicked ! t Oh that thou wouldft Men to the fighs of the diftreft! but above all, oh that thou couldft catch the rejoicing bf blefled fouls, and the finging of angels, who wkhout end do praife the firft and eternal caufe! then wouldft thou truly difcern which were the fweeter, which the holier mufic; and fo difcern ing, wouldft aflimilate thy humble tribute of praife to the diviner notes and to the ce- leftial harps of angels ! I do not give up wholly to thefe re- creations, for I follow the king's bufi- nefs. — It is painful for a man to follow his own bufinefs ; what is it then to follow PRIME MINISTER. 165 follow another's, efpecklly thdfe who are of weight. — I folicit the king's bu-» finefs. — Take heed that whilft thy folU citing be difficult, thy account be not much harder; and fo inextricable, that it entrain not thy patrimony, thy fame, and thy life ; for thou muft needs difpleafe many, and may difpleafe thy matter, or which is moft dangerous, God, the maf- ter of all ! for the great damages that may enfue to- the people through theej or if not this, aflure thyfelf fear, for- i;ow, and biting cares, fhalf be thine ! now art thou not alive although thou* do breathe quick ; for the life of fuch as are in heavy care is a perpetual death ! — > I have great power: And not a little envy, and much peril.— 1 may do much good — take heed that thou doft not ccm- L 3 mit 166 fRiME minister; mit much evil ; for ftrong are its incite-' merits in power i in great things for- tune bringeth force to the trial, but in fmall things (he a£s mildly. — I am in power and riches. — I will fuppofe thy coffers full, thy meadows fruitful, thy hall proudly furnifhed, thyfelf fumptu- oufly arrayed! I will fuppofe thou haft well married thy fon, and given thy daughter a notable dower; and with all this, that thou haft the favour of the people and the ear of the prince : but why doft thou fwell, whofe life as well as power the flighteft fpring of nature fnapt afunder ; the fmalleft bite of any venomous animal, the fecret bafenefs of a falfe friend, in a moment may bereave thee off. Where then, I pray thee, is thy power? on the fend within the wind J or in fortune's wheel ? — But I pour forth benefits JUDGE. 167 Benefis upon many. — Then haft thou the ingratitude of many to fear; fome will forget, others will revile thee.— They dare not, for I am a governor. ~ - Thou art the more likely to meet with difgrace ; for. thou leadeft an unbridled beaft that hath many heads with a fmaU twine; and governeft alone a great Ihip that is tofled with huge waves. — « But I am alfo a judge ! — Judge fo, if thou art, as though thou fhouldeft forth- with be judged of another : there is one judge of all men, and one incorrupt judgment feat. What need thofe wha think of this to have the judges fkia nailed on the bench, to provoke them to do juftice? Every judge fitteth in that feat, where, if falfe judgment be given, neither money, nor favour, nor falfe witnefles, nor finifter engagements, L 4 nor l68 JUDGE. nor vain threats, nor eloquent patrons, fhall avail him ! the ftate of all public officers of juftice is bitter and trouble- fbme 5 their doors are fhut againft peace, and open to contentions; they cannot have time to attend the noble Dramas of Efchylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, or the cheerful focieties of friends ; and even on holy days, their houfes are void of in- nocent paftimes : — in the provinces, are chidings and fpleen ; in the family, buftle and vexation, and every thing out of order ! all muft be handled, righted, and amended ! But time and fpirits fail, and how hard a matter it is to amend many, appeareth in 'this; that very few indeed do amend themfelves ; lay down, therefore, my friend, thy confidence in power, there is no power ftable; na power but what is of power — And fo is mine, for I ferve a good lord and king. To KING,. 169 To the power I meant, that Lord and King is as much a fervant as thou art ; but I will fuppofe thy earthly ruler good; and a moft acceptable thing is a good de- fender of the people's laws. Remem^ ber that prefence diminifheth fame, and that one well faid, he hath lived well, who hath lain well hid. My Lord is good, I fear not his fight ; he. is then moft pleafant in the eyes of God; but if to fulfil covetoufnefs, and heap kingdom on kingdom, a hunger which no meat can fatisfy/ he can behold thou- ftnds facrificed, and ten thoufands in mifery ! although he be liberal and affable to a few, he is only an execu- tioner, not a King ! My Lord is mighty good ! there is only one in Heaven who of his own right is mighty, of his own nature good. Auguftus Csefar, who wis Lord 1J6 KING. Lord of the earth, proclaimed, that none! fhould call him Lord ; the true Lord is God of Gods ! the Kings of earth, Em- perors of men. Auguftus, in what he Ordained, proclaimed the majefty of the Heavenly King, and preferved his own modefty ; and his fucceflbr, though in- ferior to him, obferVed this moderation- alfo : but the petty tyrants of after rimes would all be called Lof ds ; yea, if they had only a town or two in poffeffion : to them it is a fhame to be reputed men, find they take it as an injury to be fb termed, as unfit are they to bear the image of the Supreme Lord, whofe fer- vice is more felicity than the brighteft earthly diadem, as they are unlike him in thofe attributes of juftice and mercy which are the encirclements of his im- mortal crown ! I am a great man with my general; Iff my King— Art thou greater than Lyfima- chus was with Alexander, or Sejanus with Tiberius ? Their fall thou knoweft. I have, with great pain and hazard, ob- tained the favour of my King ! Oh ! how much more fafely and eafily mighteft thou have purchafed the favour of the King of all Kings ? — I have been a faith- ful foldier to my King; — thou haft theft heard in thy ear ; learn to ftrike ; learn to die ! to kill or be killed is the art of war ; and therefore it behoveth thee in all places, and at all times, to make thy- felf ready : thy fword and thy fhield, thy bows and thy arrows, and thy goldea fpurs, is thy inheritance, and fhall be that of thy >fon ; for it is moft com- monly feen, that the fon of a foldier is a foldier. — I am famous for my vi<5torie& and my triumphs !— then thou haft be- reaved I72 GENERAL, rcaved many of reft, and not a few of life, who was their joy and their hope. Many times evil is more known than good* and a dark tempeft more fpoken of than a fair fun-fhine day ; the grieved will lament, the widow will weep for her hufband and her fbn. Thus thou wilt be talked of; it is well, if to de- fend juft rights, thou becomeft thus known, otherwife thou haft provided difcourfe of bitternefs againft thee ; vain titles for thy earthly tomb, and extinc- tion at the feat of unbribed juftice, from the manfions of the upright. Moft of the people do love me. If the many are evil, and the few good, the fimilitude of friendfhip is againft thee ; the love of evil men is purchafed by evil means. — I do them right, and the people love me ; a fair winter day, a hot fummer's air, calm- KING AND PRIME MINISTER. I7J calmnefs of the fea, the moon's ftate, and the love of the people ; if thefe were compared for inconftancy, the laft would bear the bell ; of which the Scipios, and a thoufand among the great, too furely proved. • I poffefs the chief place over the citizens — thy houfe is then upon fand, thy bed upon the briars, and thy feat on a hollow, fhrinking away to give thee a fall. Thy King, if good, is the fervant of the public, thou the flave of the multitude ; the firft day thy King was made one, he began to die to himfelf, and to live for all ; and which, is the hardeft , cafe, for many unjuft confiderers of his pains; but when he is gone, they oft wifh him again. A virtuous King is the felicity of a tranfitory kingdom; but doubtful tra- vel and heavy burthen oh him whom he commiffions*: the King, and the King's I76 PRIME MINISTER. and level hills to plains ; to add earth to earth, by the violence of labour and the death of men, for fome humour of the brain. In all this did Caius confume the treafuries of Tiberius, and then took to rapine; witnefs his houfes of gold which he alfo built; his mules fhod with filver ; his golden nets with which he fifhed ; his ropes and cords made of purple filk ; the fifh pond that was be- gun from the bridge. Mifenus, and that was to reach to the lake Avernus, com- pafl"ed and covered with wonderful gal- • leries ; the ditch that dug through hills was to have the fea brought into it for the fpace of an hundred and threefcore miles, on which he might fail, the breadth being fuch, that two gallies might pafs and not touch one another; which work, if he had finifhed, he had beggared all Italy, PUBLIC EXPENCES. * ijj ■ Italy, and the whole commonwealth; but death took him from fuch mifchiev- ous works, and refcued the ftate from ruin, Thefe are not the employments of kings and their counfellors; were they even pro- fitable, neither fuch a fupper as Aurelius Verrus gave, who had he made the like dinner, muft have gone without here- after, which thing the wife and modeft Marcus Aurelius, his brother, did juftly lament. This madnefs of fools is a pro- per warning even to the wife, to refrain from all excefs ; for in all cafes of emi- nence, example will be followed to great evil : the deep den of expences I have traced to thee, feemeth to me like the gaping gulph of Curtius, it cannot be filled with riches : thy king indeed hath M not 1J& DECEITS OF EMPIRE. not wealth towaftc; it is the people's, not his; for their good, not his folly or thine. My king is famous for his empire : if for his adtions well ; elfe fa- mous names are obfeured by adtions like thofe of Caius ; deceits of the world ; credulity of men ; thefe are the hooks whereby flexible minds are plucked hi- ther and thither : the whole earth is but a dot in the univerfe, and what are the men on it ? kings and ploughmen, rich men and beggars, all pafs as fmoke dri- ven by a ftrong blaft ; and too late fhall underftand that this world was but an highway to pafs through, and no coun- try to remain in : no afcent fixed and certain j to the wheel and to the gallows, as well as to the empire, men are {aid to afcend ; but climbing as it hath been (haine unto fome, and punishment to many, ft i v'fi n t ' 179 toany, fb is it painful to all, and thofe {peak the truth who own it, however hard of belief. But the great can be re- venged while they do live of thofe wh6 hate them. The bounds of that little power men have is one thing, and ho- teefty another. Revenge k fweet : I mar- vel any one can fay, revenge is fweet j when anger is (6 bitter ; but if thou doft feel any fweetnefs in it, it is furdy 4 favage fweetnefs, unmeet for a man and proper to beafts, and that only the fierceft t nothing lefs belongeth to a man than cruelty and wildnefa ; nothing more fitting than mercy and gentlenefs : but I will tell thee how thoU mayft ufe re* \ Venge with glory) to fpare and be mer* ciful ) no forgetfulnefc is honourable but thai; of offences : a mofk excellent orator a&ribed this to a moil excellent captain, M a that l8o REVENGE. that he ufed to forget nothing but inju- ries : take thou therefore upon thee this moft noble revenge. — I. take pleafure in revenge. — That pleafure, if it can be one will be fhort; but the delight of mercy will be everlafting ! of two de- legable things, that is to be preferred that continueth longeft; do thou that this day whereof thou mayft receive per- petual delight ! there is no joy fo great, none fo allured, as that which fpringeth from purenefs of confeience, and re- membrance of things well done. — It is honeft to revenge: But it is more ho- neft to forgive : mercy hath commended many, but revengement none ; nothing among men fo neceffary as forgivennefs ; for no man but offendeth, and no man but hith need of mercy, which being de- nied, who fhall take away faults heaped on R E V E N G E.--. l8l on heap to the clouds ! Man fhall be u againft.man, and God againft all ! there fhall 1 be* no end of contention and pu- nifhment: horror fhall ftalk over the earth, and * the lightenings of Heaven fhall blazon her cruelties. Spare thou,; therefore, that God may fpare thee! Arrogant, indeed, is he, that afketh par-i don of his Lord, and denieth forgive-*, nefs to his fellow- fervant :/ nay, fo far from revenging thyfelf On thy enemy, thou muft pray that God may not re- mejnber his fin to thee; and how canft thou pray in fuch : a temper ? Will God hear thee? Slake thy heat, bridle thy pailion, or thou cahft not pray to be heard ; I and waft thou to revenge, I pray thee, what then? thou wilt revenge on thyfelf.* » r The body or the riches of an- other thou mayft; indeed, deftroy ; but M 3 in iBl DUELLING, in doing it, thou (bait utterly cafl away thy own foul ! But my enemy will never leave to injure-^the fitteft inftnjment to take away an enemy's hardnefs is lenity r many examples thou mayft read of; ffa>ve all remember the laid things. The man fhall die who hath hurt thee f or thou mayft die before him; moderate thyfelf: that (hall come to pafs which of him in thy paffion thou thirfteth for, his death! Why embrue thy hands, which fhall fhortly fail thee, with the blood of him that ihall fail alfo ! it is as fleedlefs as wicked : let him die whole and found, that thou thyfelf mayft die pure, and reflect on thofe who have not only forgiven, but fcrved thofe who have injured them on one fide, and thofe who have hewed them down on the other, pay, have wreaked their cruelty on their fenfe- DUELLING. 183 fenfelefs cat-cafes; and then confider which of thefe thou wouldft be like, and confer, not only their deeds, but alfo their words ; for there refteth no fmall part of cruelty in the words. Cruel is the foot, more cruel the hand; but above all, moft cruel is the tongue! Many times that cruelty of the mind which the hand could not match, the tongue hath furpafled ; as of cruelty £0 of mercifulnefs, the tongue is the beft witnefe. Tiberius, hearing that one he had condemned Had prevented his revenge, by flaying himfelf, cried out in a rage, Cornelius hath efcaped my hands !" -Hadrian faid to his enemy prefent, Thou haft efcaped my hands, I for- give thee!"— *The one envied and M 4 grieved €€ t* 184 DUELLING. grieved at his enemy's death, the other pardoned and prolonged his enemy's life. Choofe which of thefe twaine fhall be reported of thee ; the merciful faying of the good prince, or the bloody voice pf the cruel butcher! I am not igno- rant it is eafier to advife good things than to do them, and to be mild for another than for one's felf. Hard it is, I con- fefs, but good ; and thou canft not deny but that every virtue cenfifteth in that which is good ; that it is difficult to the ft ranger to virtue to pratSife goodnefs ; but to them that love her, all things be- come eafy. Raife thyfelf, therefore, to her by the gentlenefs thou haft ' before trodden under foot, and fhe will reach out her hand and fave thee from wrath, that cruel, that devouring monfter ! To rejoice in a man's death may be per- mitted REVENGE. 185 mitted to. -in immortal perhaps, with their 1 wide, knowledge of caufes and events ; but for a man dying himfelf, to wifli his fellow's death is aftonifhing L When two go to execution, does one of them rejoice that his fellow is going to the fame port. Czefar bewailed Pompey in. death, .though, he vexed him in life ; Alexander lamenteft Darius $ and couldfc thou then rejoice ixu thy neigh-: hour's death, whom thou art command^ ed to lpye, as wrought by the great Ar- tificer in the fame .mould. So many are the natural and accidental iflues out of life, that Revenge may very well be fpared her tremenduous point. The earth finkcth and openeth, and the burn- ing air oft exhaleth the vapours of pef-. tilential difeafes. At this time the air is clear and pure ; dp thou then take pat-r tern 1 86 CLEAR AIR. tern from its mildnefs. This bright clear air is delightful ! To take delight in the creation of God is juft, if thy mind is in a ftate to do it honourably, and to center the praife in God himfelf, the fountain of all mercy, which thou canft not do without mercy to them that bear his image, whatever be their offence. Charming is this air of Heaven, I would it might always continue fo ! Then wouldft thou die. The alteration of feafons, fays Cicero, is fpecially ufeful to man, I feel well in this air — there is nothing £o plcafant; which, being continued, becometh not hurtful and wearifome. There is no medicine more effe&ual againft all tedioufnefs in life, than va- riety of places and feafons ; Wi*h this man's life is nourished and fed ; and, as Bt f Auguftine feith, he that cannot be filled CLEAR AIR. 187 filled with the quality of things, at lead - may be fatisfied with their variety. How pleafent is this clear air to fail in, how jfweet the fea in fuch air ! It is 3 fuf- picious fweetnefs, like to the flattering of thieyes threatenings ; foon will it appear fo altered that thou wilt fay,- from whence come thefe horrible piountains of water that rife to the clouds ! from whence this flooring of tha huge waves ! None know but tbofe who have proved it, what the fea is ; which moved the poet to call it an unruly mon- ger. Nothing fo often and fo danger- oufly transformed j noticing more ibft #nd enchanting, while it refteth ; no- thing more fierce or unmerciful, when troubled , The The fea is now quiet and fit to fail upon : Upon fuch an element canft thou hope for firmnefs ? — Surely now I may fail happily. — Perhaps a little fpace thy fails may wanton in wild and refrefbing breezes ; but knowefl: thou what whirl- pools may ftart up beneath, or what ftorms may crufh thy veflfel from above, which yet may, not be able to reach the fhore to fave thee! I am firm at land at leaft, for I fit fafe on the fhore : more men inhabit the land than the fea; and many are the dangers alfo there; the ppor fearcher under, waters, on the fands in Statius when he died, commended the wintry and fouth winds, and the danger of the fea, as lefs. painful than his flavery, I am firm on land at leaft that v/ill ftand fteady under foot. — But many times it liath not fo flood ; CITIES DESTROYED. 189 whole cities have been fwallowed up at once; to omit your own hills jiEtna and Vefuvius always fhaking over your heads with fiery portents ! Rome itfelf tottered, the Alps trembled marvel- oufly ; the high rocks being torn away, gave licence to the fun-beams to view fuch places' as were never before difcover- ed. Towns and ftrong caftles in Ger- many and Spain, have been laid flat on the earth ; yea, the river Rhine itfelf ran forth from his channel as if weeping for the ruins wherewith on each fide his banks were fo miferably and fearfully defaced ; efpecially that fide which was fometime moft beautified with buildings, whofe rubbifh he wafheth now with his rattling whirlpools : ceafe thou therefore to be carelefs where there is no fecu- curity; the earth on which thou treadefl is igO WAR AND PEACE* is not Co certain a place of dwelling, at of burial i thou art now fafe on the earth, but under it (halt tbou very fliortly rc- pofe. — I hope for reft and peace in this world — An excellent good thing, if it were fincere or could be perpetual^ but fhutability hangs over the awnings of peace wherewith ye fhelter yoorielres : in moft refpe&s peace, public and pri- vate, is better than war and contentions, but the latter bringing experience, oft produceth warinefs and firmer peace by being redoubted: the Roman prowefs had never decayed, if the Carthaginian war had continued ; that peace was the deftrudtion of Rome, and a document to all other cities, that peace is not al- ways beft for nations and empires. Wer6 men good and reafonable, peace. might be maintained without war; but covet- oufnefs, WAR AND PEACE. I9I oufnefs, envy, anger, and pride, lift up the banners of war both in cities and in families j and ye, like wilful and ftub- born children mifft be whipped into wifdom : as &ith the apollle, whence cometh wars an fighting amongft you ? when ye enjoy all things ye value? Nothing; and idlenefs, and lufl produce fecret hatred, and open tyranny ! What availeth, faid one, to pray to the gods, either for public or private peace, when the owners of the veflels are freighted for war! peace muft be ufed ipodeftlyj proud and negligent manners offend her gentle nature ; fhe wings her flight, and will not ftay to behold the overthrow of humanity. Sylla in war was like Sci- pio ; but in peace a very Hannibal : -~ Marius, fo valiant in war, was fo pefti- lent in peace, that what he had preferr- ed I92 WAR AND PEACE, ed in the firft he overthrew by all kind cf treachery in the latter: if good man- ners are exiled, pleasures bear rule; Virtues are trodden down, and minds at rage within : farewel that peace which is an heavenly gift ! fhe will not dwell in a fomented foul: Let fuch put on the breaft plate rather than the white robe ! let them march into the field, for they cannot reft in the chamber! let them blow the trumpet of difcord, not found the pipe of harmony ! let them difplay their glittering fpears and polifh- ed helmets in the fun's fcorching beams, not feek the fweet retreat of domef- tic fhade ! let them rejoice in the death of others, and forfake their own life ! but let them take heed of the time ap- proaching, and the everlafting reft into *W»ch the 'turbulent atad evil friay not abide, TROUBLES OF KIN&S, 193 abide, or even be allowed to enter ; yet cannot they efcape either by fword or War, from the retribution of that great day ! Who then are the happy on earth, if not kings and heroes ? they are ftiled great and happy on earth at leaft ? — Things which are full of cares and dan- gers muft be the root of miferies, not happinefs. — - Sylla was called happy I grant, but with fo heinous a life and death how could he be proved fo ? — < Alexander and Julius Caefar were faid to have moft profperous fortune $ yet their lives were ever unquiet and troublefome, and their deaths violent and dreadful!— nay, even the martial felicity of the Scipios in th§ one, by his unworthy exUe in the other, by his fhameful N and ig4 TROUBLES OF CESAR. and unrevenged death, were furely di- minifhed. Auguftus Caefar feemed to be happy, for the excellency of his go- vernment, the continuance of peace, the length of years, and the tranquillity of his manners ; but indeed he was far otherwife, for the inward ftate of his do- meftic life hindered the enjoyment of his outward glory: the untimely death of his adopted children and nephews, and the untowardnefs of fome of them worfe than death : — Moreover, the treafon and fecret practices of many moft vile per- ions ; the confpiracies of his kinsfolks, the dreadful lufts of his moft dearly be- loved and only daughter, and of his niece; finally, an heir that was none of his own, and a fucceflbr that he liked not ; and whom he chofe rather out of neceffity than of judgment, far unworthy of fuch an TROUBLES OF MEM. \g$ an emperor and of fuch an empire. *— If then none of thefe were happy, fhew me the hero that is fo, or any man, till death do prove his lot ? Be not blind any longer ; the trade of honour is the laft, inftead of the firfl;, for happinefs; and how many things are wanting to every man, every man can alone judge within himfelf, knowing the things that he hath, which another knoweth not of: happinefs may be accomplifhed by vir- tue ; but in error it muft fail ; and there- fore moft men muft go without it ; for it never happened to any to rejoice long in error : truth alone is found and fub- ftantial! a time fhall come that will drive away ftiadows, uncover and dis- cover falfe joys, bring them to that light from whofe rays they muft fhrink, and which will diflipate them as the fun N 2 beams I96 HOPE. * beams diffipate the vapours of the mom-* ing ! let thofe men be witneffes of this truth whom you placed iir joy, where arc they now ? in what ftate do they re- main j what do they now think of their ihort glory and moil interrupted felicity ? Howfoever the world goeth, no man (hall take hope from me. — Indeed no man is able to take it from thee: but fhe will take herfelf away by little and little, and wafteth away with many un- forefeen events. It is a fweet thing to hope. — Truly I hear many fay £0 $ but I cannot perceive the fweetneft $ for if ' it be fweet to hope, it is alfo fweet to lack that which a man would have, which whofoever will affirm, he muft want feeling, to live in doubt, to ber affe&cd, is hope$ nay, to fear, for thofe who hope. tgy who hope muft fear ; they go together : nothing fo much wearieth the mind, nothing fo much hafteneth old age :— * Let fortune look to the event. — I rejoice in hope t-r-Take heed of thy hope, what it is; if evil or impoffible thou wilt repent thee: many have been overthrown, many perifhed, by their hope, when effected. None fhall take hope from me. — None (hall take from thee wearifbmenefs in hoping ; the deceit, the doubt, the tirou* ble, the readinefs to give credit to all you wifli ; the lightnefs and folly of embracing every argument : yea,, when it ha6 for- iaken you, ye forget how ye have been deceived, and again go forth to embrace it !*— I will not forfake my hope unto the iaft. *-*> What if it forfake thee, canft thou call it back, or follow it, or ftay for its return ? but go to ; hope in God's N 3 name, I98 HOPE. name, fince it is fo pleafant to thee to be deceived ; I would not pluck good purpofes from thee if thou defiredft them : to purpofe well* and to hope for what thou doft call good things, are widely oppofite : the moft wicked hope for good, while they know not what good is, for they hope not for that which is good: this is the only honeft hope ! he that hath this hope, let him hold her faft, and not let her depart; but gain her other fifters alfo, Faith and Charity: thefe are the precious guefts of human life, they never fail, never con* found ! they will chear the foul, fmooth the pillow, break the yoke of that in- conftant and unmild lady Fortune, who beareth rule in the breaft given to falfc hope. Mine underftanding is human gnd I hope for things humanely called good* HOPE OF MANY THINGS. I99 good : Heretofore it hath been, and to the world's end, there will be contention about what is good- I have caft the anchor of good hope, and I will not re- move. Sailors ufe mzr\y times, when a tempeft rifeth, to cut their cable and loofe their anchor if they cannot weigh him up and depart without him| for in great troubles and ragings of the fea, the anchor doth not hold faft without endangering the veffel ; and fo in worldly affairs, . fettled and tough hope hath deftroyed, which if cut off had pre- ferred, in well hoping and ill, having life pafleth : but I will be honeft and tell thee, the feveral fubje&s of thy hope : Thou hopeft for an inheritance, x and gladly thinkeft on another's death. How knoweft thou whether thy little may not fall to him whofe wealth thou grudgeth N 4 and 20O HOPE OF INHERITANCE. and coveteth : if made the heir, hath thy patron engraved his donation on tables of diamond ? At the end of life much is blotted out, marked firmly in life ; the laws therefore call the wills of teftators walking wills : doft thou forget to whom it happened, they were not only promif- ed inheritance but alfo received kiffes, rings, and the laft embracing of the party which lay a dying, when there Were other heirs appointed, and no men* tion made of them in the will. Bafe conduft, grievous cenfure on the honefty. of the mind ! if not diftraught or abuf- ed by deceit. That moft honourable gentleman, Lucius Lucullus, fuffered fbme time this kind of mock reproach ; and alfo the great Auguftus himfelf, an horrible and- moft ftrange delight in de-» chiving, which will not fbrfake wretched fouls HOPE OF WINNING AT GAMES. 20| fouls at the point of death! this hope refteth on a carcafe, and the burial $ and doth refemble the hunger of a wolf. Thou fay, thou haft this thy hope: thy fuccefTor, for whom thou haft been care-; ful, may be negligent in love i and as thou haft hoped of another, fa will he hope of thee : but to wave this difmal ftate of mind; to which thou obje&eft not. Thou hopeft for fuccefs alfo at iMttiy and various games j at tennis, ye weary your bodies, and no way exercife your minds $ when walking, according to'ftrehgth, anfwerfc to the health of both, and ii the inoft falutary exercife in human life : from the honeft ftirring up of the mind by walking, the moft fa- mous fed: t and Paulus i£meliiis, conquerors of the Macedonian kings pofleft : the firft were £q poor as to be buried by the public; and the latter was obliged to fell his , fends to reftore his wife's dower, Atti- lius JRegulus, . Quintus Cincinnatus, and Cnaeu&- Scipio, were fo poor, yea in houfe- hold provifions, that the one of them becaufe GREAT MINDS TN POVERTY. 235 becaufe of Ac death of his farmer, the other, for the dower of his daughter, were conftrained to beg their difcharge feom the fenate; but the- fenate, con- . fill ting better for the commonwealth, did relieve thefe moft excellent citizens; and while throne was tilling hisfour pooracre? of land; to him was the ftate committed ; thefe did contemn riches, and having no- thing but iron weapons, right, hands, and moft rich minds, vanquifhed their ene- mies^ wSith their fuppofed invincible goldl Nor only $ few citizens, but all Rome, while poor, was the fountain of truo riches: but Nero, and Heliogabulus, who would forfooth ufe* Ao veffel but of gold for- the burthen of hi* ftomach to be received in* when he well knew that the meats of the firft glorious men* and even the facrifices of the Gods! were 236 GREAT MINTDS IN POVERTY, were wont to be ferved in earthen vef- fels, they did overthrow that mighty empire ! — Thou doft well fee, that to pafs life in travel has been the lot of the beft, and the prefervation of empires ! Cleanthes was conftrain- ed by need to draw water to water the herbs his garden fupplied for his food ; and Plautus to lift up loads of corn upon a hand engine : how great a philofopher was the one, how admired a poet the other ; and when their work was done, part of the night wherein they fhould have taken their reft, fuch was the courage of their minds, the one applied to philofbphy, the other to the writing of comedies to fell them for bread. Horace was born poor though raifed $ Pacunius lived poor 5 Virgil was fometime a poor man ; until contrary to CHRIST OUft LORD ! IN POVERTY. 237 to the common cuftpm, riches happened unto his wit ; but more courage is fctn in thofe pious men, who gladly chofe not only poverty, but hunger, thirft, naked- nefs, and mifery, to preferve their in- tegrity ! If by thefe ye are not moved, behold him by whom kings do reign ; born in poverty, living in poverty, bearing all mifery but fin, and fattened to the bitter crofs ! He whom all the elements obeyed — dying for the love of men ! And yet they infolently contemn, or foolifhly arraign, that very poverty which was thus glorified ! But beggary muft needs give difmay ? Even from beggary, a ftate feldom needful but through idle- nefs. or accident, men have rifen : Caius Marcus on a time hid himfelf in the fens, 238 ADVANTAGES OF POVERTY. fens, and begged a little morfel of bread ; and Julius Caefar, who left fo rich a teftament, was in the greateft ftraights when a young man. All this may be, but great poverty is a heavy thing ! I trow not: fince it makes the poffeflbr humble, light, and full of liberty. ■ They that go on a dangerous journey fhould not be incumbered, they fhould go light : thieves indeed thou fhalt want; and ftubborn fervdnts, and feigned friends, and fawning parafites, perad- venture a dilcontented wife, and all the houfehold flock of thofe that will laugh with thee to thy face, but mock at thee behind thy back ! Surely to fpeak no- thing of fecurity, humility, modefty, and fobrietyj if poverty brought nona '^■bther good than thy deliverance from the tyranny of proud fervante and de- ceitful SPARE DIET. 239 ceitful friends ; there were caufe fuffici- ent not only to fuffer but to wifh for 1 poverty ! But no one can wifh for a fpare diet, that cannot be commended! — Yet the lovers and patrons of virtue have delighted in it ? Plato advifed againft filling the ftomach twice in one day: Epicurius fet his pleafureon Jaerbs and fallads ; and Cicero enforces this : beafts are faid to devour : but indeed, it is ac- cording to due meafure : not fo the lords of beafts who exceed all propor- tion and all meafure. But fome men may be faid to come into the world poor, to be indeed poor before they are born. They muft have a good memory if they did remember it 5 and a moft delicate feeling if they did perceive it! However thou waft bora thou Z/p A COMPANY OF CHILDREN* thou fhalt die poor, unlefs the hung chamber and the golden funeral may warm thee in the laft fhivering fit of the ague; or the feathers that wave over thy bier, recal thee with their pomp from thy dark inclofure. Is it fo, that as trappings and gallant furniture pleafeth an horfe, they will likewife pleafe the cheft that is borne to thy fepulchre ! Poverty hath alfo this final and great ad- vantage ; it will make thee depart with a calm and indifferent mind ! Thofe can- not fb live, or fo depart ; who are over-bur- thened with a world of children. To call children a burthen ! who are ever ac - counted the chief gifts of felicity, hap- peneth only unto covetous and unthank- ful men. But to have a company of children, and live in need is dreadful X If they be made good and ufeful by their parents, I CHILDREN. 24I parents, it is always feen they are an eafe and a fervice to them; otherwife it is not their number but their manners that is to be complained of : but to be hemed in by an army of children ? And why not fay accompanied, defended, and beautified ! truely, not fathers only but mothers alfo have termed children their jewels: as did the famed Cornelia, when . a very rich gentlewoman of Campania womanifhly fpread forth her fair orna- ments before her: and wilt thou call them impediments? Camelia was rich; but how can a poor man feed fuch a poffe of children ? He that feedeth not only men, but fifhes, beafts, and fowls, ihall give meat to the induftrious : he that cloatheth the fheep with wool, the fields with grafs and flowers, and the woods with leaves and branches, CL fhall 242 CHILDREN. fhall cloathe them ? And who can tell but ,they (hall not only feed and cloathe, but defend and honour their parents. The plentiful poverty of many I grant ; but it is needful : what but this produces the fundry trades, and the manifold arts of life- O y how many children: have I ? Not more than King Priam* who had fifty j or Orodes,. King of the Parthians, who had thirty ; or Artaxeraxes, a hundred and fifteen:: But thefe were the children of kings,* and they lacked no- thing. They wcarevrfieir power and force, and fo may thine be : was Appius Clau- dius a. king:? no, he was poor and alio blind y yet Tully writing of ham, faith,. five fbns and five daughters, a great fa- mily, and a great refort of fuitors did Appius govern, being both blind and ci: human, defe&s conlift in the man- ners, C I* 1 L DREtl, 343 ners, not in the things: Appius had no ftate nor riches, neither did he defire them ; but being content with his own calling, he decked up his fmall htfufe, not with rich furniture, but with many virtues, and maintained his family with a temperate diet ; thus wifely conform- ing his appetite to his ability; he was neither Croefus nor Craflus, but happier than either. He lived not after the pa- tern of others, but as all good men dd f after the patern of his own revenue : princes feed daintily, and drefs bravely ! but it is not feen they live longer*- no nor* pleafanter : and fb fafe, fb honeft, and fo virtuous, they may fcarcely live ; but to fay truth far more foolifhly : and there- fore not merrily ! it is a proverb from fad; merry in a cottage, fad in the court. But fuch a profufion of children driveth Q^2 away 244 DAUGHTERS, mirth, and bringeth knawing care. What have the poor children done that they fhould have all thy reftlefs mind heaped on them ? A ftrange impatience to be opprefled with the real fource of felici- ty: believe it, thine is the defedt, not thy children. What can a man do with fo many daughters ? who will give them dowrys ? There is one God of all -, he feedeth his fons and his daughters, all are his children, and he will endue all with the gifts and arts whereby they may live, and become honourable: truft in him and he will do it ! What thou haft to do, is to bring up thy daughters, that they may be well liked, loved, and fought by thofe of upright judgment, without a dower. — Fauftina had the Roman em- pire DAUGHTERS. 245 pire to her dower : yet how many wo- men without dower have been more chafte, and more fortunate. Endeavour thou that thy, daughters not their money, may be defired ; that their honcfty, their modefly, their integrity, their patience, their humility, their faithful obedience to thee, may be the precious jewels which adorn them, and attradt others to them : with this fine gold ! with thefe modeft vir- tues, they will haveafweeter life in houfes of honeft hufbands than is to be found in the palaces of kings and the courts of princes ! But gold is defirable and ne- ceflary. As to that gold, that is drofs and meer metal, though good for many purpofes 1 yet is it converted to fad ufes; to the fale of innocence, to the dejedtion of modefty, and to the moft (hameful nig- gardlinefs of fpirit ! as it were fire to hang CU the 246 STINGY SON. the nofe over, rather then for diftribu- tion. A certain noble and worthy gen-r tleman in Italy, rich in ancient poffef- fions but richer in virtues, howbeit not if hard, fo was thy motive ; the more caufe for thy patience: learn of Socrates and Hadrian, and Auguftus, that moft ex-^ cellent and courteous prince ; who were troubled with crabbed and unquiet peices in Sabina and Scribonia ; nay, and alfo with rough behaviour, well deferring to be divorced as man thinketh, but meet for patience in the eyes of a better judge, who commandeth no one to put away his wife for fuch matters ! To 252 WIVES. To whom may not this happen, feeing the motives to marriage are often fo bafe, and the wifeft err : even Cato, of a Yevere and invincible mind, unquietly married with a fierce and proud woman, and of a low ftock ; which I mention, that no man may hope to efcape fuch trouble by thus matching, any more than by the rich and the proudly nurtur- ed; for 'all lieth in the mind in both ftates ; if that is unfought, quietnefs is vainly hoped for; but the love of going from home is moft certainly purchafed; diflike to return, and the tongue and the flick will be kept in continual exercife. — Yet may a man be patient feeing his wife is not unfaithful: — An evil far more bit- ter, fince it marks with doubt the chil- dren thou irayft breed up for thine own, HUSBANDS. 253 own, and a company of fuch fufpe&ed innocents would be a difmay to thee indeed ! There are hufbands alfo of very hard tempers, who require that virtue in their wives they will not take care of in them- felves ; they roam about and prey upon their neighbours ; but if their wives are feen in the open ftreet, or any man doth but look at them, or the poor wife glances an eye on one fide, they cannot abide it, and ftraight accufe them of guilt! while they ftile their own corrupt manners gallantry; and giving all liber- ty to themfelves deny any to their wives, as though they were their tyrants not their hufband's, and women not their fellow creatures in the houfe and family both of God and man ; but rather their hand- 254 F A T ft £ k 8, handmaids, taken prifoners in battle, or bought for money ; and as though the wife owed more fervice or fidelity than the hufband, when there ought to be like duty, equal love, and mutual fide- lity in marriage : but theft follies, this injuftice in man, is fb much the more cenfurable by how much the example of gravity and wifdom is more required in them; yea, it hath happened and that not feldom: that for want of fuch an example in a father, a whole family has been ruined, and the daugh- ters have been let to wander about without guard ; whofe beginnings ought to have been well looked to : the fashion- ing of young things at firft is eafy ; they fhould never be fuffercd to be idle, or allowed the trappings of luxury, .to make them vain andinfolcnt: they fhould be fet M (XT VL E K S. 2$$ fetto fe wing, and houfhold afiairs, and whatever can employ and improve their minds : they fhould be* taught filence, humility, and attention^ and fhouki have a beloved wknefs, as a judge of their manners always near, not interefted per- fons, ufing- gentle encouragement and mild warnings ; and then it is probable feverity w21 not be : needed. Labour and bufinefs, courtefy, and obedience; thefe are the doors, and bars, of honefty, induftry, aftid chaftky in thy feveral chil- dren; but a vile example in the parent, that is* at the head, is deftrudtion ! Ibme- tknes it caufeth the wife to go aftray herfelf, or to abandon a houfe rendered fo melancholy ; or peradventure to die for gritff in it: or if fhe lives, it is a life of daily death fb to fpeak, with a dif- Qrdered family, and a faithlefs hufband ! There •m 2$6 HUSBANDS AND WIVES. there are thofe who would almoft allow the injuftice of wives, rather than the want of children to inherit their patrimony ? Truly there are of all forts, both huf- bands and wives ! fome that are hemed in with an army they want to get rid off; and others who wail for their de- privation: and others that they never had any! all fuch complaints are wretch- ed folly: if the latter had bore the wifhed for fon, what manner of man might he have proved ! fuch an one, perhaps, as might have caufed the father to wifh he had never feen the light. Had the mother of Nero, Caius Caligula, and Commodus, been barren, the earth, which could hardly bear them, would have been freed from fuch monfters ! What a daughter alfo had Auguftusj what ENVY OF MERIT. 2tf what a fon the beloved Germanicus I Thus infamy fometimes fpringeth out of light ! But this .is not the ordinary courfe of Providence, nor does fuch in- famy afcend in fuch cafes : and though it m^y be refle&ed by fome weak or ill minds, it will vanifh quickly as the^ beams of the fetting fun. Confcience under all the winds of {lander is the haven, the clofet of peace, to which every good man may retire and rejoice in his own bofom. The ftain of infamy is more often the work of envy, than of defert : if fuch a man as Scipio Africanus could receive it, why fhould others com- plain ? fools love to infult and to jeer over thofe they know their fuperiors r but their jeers arc the praife of the vir- tuous, (hewing their .diftajice from fuch (landerers whofe whirlwinds of ignorance R ihaketh 2$$ ENVY OF MERIT. fhakcth hot them j or if it fhake, over- throweth not : It is a certain token of excellence to fall by the tongues of thofe barkers, for common minds muft have fomething to prattle about, fome one to growl at : But for a time only their din lafteth : pofterity will judge more juftly than the prefent age, of all wife men ! Endure all things therefore for virtue's fake ! That noble queen who will reftore the true luftre to every man's fame ! to be cenfured unjuftly, is an advantage : but to be praifed unworthily brings no re- medy : and therefore it is faid, whofo offendeth not in words, is a perfeft man ; but alfo adds the fame writer, no man can tame the tongue, that unquiet mif~ chief — hence the proverb, flow to praife but more flow to difpraife. This pre- ferves from «mfaithful friends ! Surely the - evii INGRATITUDE. 4$£ wil will of friends is very unnatural for fpeaking well of them ! Yet is it a moft common thing, yea among relations ; and which is more, among parents and chiU dren, brothers and fillers, nay hufbands and wives ! there is no degree of kindred exempt from ill-will, at fome time or other of their lives : thofe who lived well together in childhood, in youth fall out for inheritance; and when old, for legacies . As to intimates proving unthankful and hard, they may well be dropped who appear to be of fuch a nature; as JCato advifes, rip up, faith he, thpfe common friendships that do not anfwer, and plague not thy felf perpetually. A thank- ful temper is praifed by barbarians : no people, fo favage, who do not commend it. I will have nothing to do with the unthankful ! Take heed that thou art not R a one 26o A CENSORIOUS TEMPER. one of them thyfelf! do not love finding fault, and diffe&ihg as it were the qua- lities of thy friend : which (harp cau- terifing will more hurt thy friend than thy kindnefs may have done him good. . It is a common but moft unpleafant evil to be preffing upon the errors of others ; unveiling and laying them bare : a man gains a moment's repute hereby to himfelf, with years of difcontent from thofe he ufes fo roughly. Of all tempers this is the moft unfriendly to aflfe&ion, and is this unthankfulnefs in thee if thou art guilty of it : and by indulging it : thy former benefits will becotae void* But what is to be done with import tunate neighbours, who are proud and tattling, and who, do what I can, will break in upon me ?-^The Satirick poet faith. TROUBLESOME NEIGHBOURS. 26l faith, there is greater agreement among . ferpents and wild beafts, than among men ; forbeafts are fbmetimes at quiet, but men never ! and it oft happeneth, that where there is moft plenty, of near neighbours, there is the greateft diftance of minds and good will; fpite goes not fo far as the kings of Arabia or India : flie is blear eyed, and cannot fee afar off, therefore fhe takes up her abode among near neighbours $ and if thou wouldft be entirely difcharged of this mifchief thou muft go hide thyfelf in the wildernefs ! indeed it is better to live in a defart than to wound others or be wounded ones felf continually, hut all fhould hate in this world even their bittereft enemies, as if they were to love and rejoice in them, in the next : and therefore gentlenefs and fu- perior curtefy is the proudeft diftindion 262 CONTEMPTUOUS NEIGHBOURS. of a man, who is forbidden to revenge him on any, and to bear patiently what he cannot amend : much of the envy there is among neighbours muft therefore be borne, if thou wilt live among men ; for it is as univerfal as their abodes : look into all lands, all ages, perufe all hiftories, thou flialt fcarcely find a man of any excel- cellency free from this peftilence. Cow- ardice and mifery may efcape envy, but AC degree of excellence, however fmalL — * But it is hard to endure contempt for virtue ! .— - It is hard then to be joined with great men ! Therfites contemned Achilles; Zoilus, Homer, Auguftus, Virgil, and Cicero : but above all,; He- rod, the moft vile and miferable of all men, contemned Chrift our Lord ! but what did this contempt hurt either the contemned, or $yail t"he contemner ? — But •SCOXHFUL NEIGHBOURS* 263 Butfcorn is not to be borne ! — By him that would have God to love hiiii, it is not only to be borne, but to be pitied ! for he that defpifeth his brother, can he expedtthat God will be his friend ?~-r Surely, then, no one can be more piti- able than fuch a forlorn wretch : alfo by foftnefs, hatred maybe appealed : i mo- defty lias melted down eftvy* and worthy deeds muft in the end oVierbear contempt r than Brutus none more contemned, at the beginning, but afterward -no man more highly efteemed.~~But is a tyrant alfo to be borne-? — Perhaps the ftate hath need of punifhmentj and then he will be the executioner of God's juftica Punifhment, furely, is an evil thing ! But it is profitable againft vice; and as a foridle to the unbridled $ and thole who R 4 know 264 WRETCHED STATE OF TYRANTS. know not how to love virtue muft be taught to fear her by calamity: for this end are tyrants permitted by God ! as alfo for their own punifhment ; for no- thing is more miferable than a tyrant, which if thou doubt, behold Damocles with his pendant fword ! But there is a difference in this point! — The mifery of the people doth appear, but the mifery of the tyrant lyeth clofely hidden. Doth the wound that is covered with a purple robe gall with lefs fharpnefs ? Do fetters of gold pinch a man lefs than fetters of iron? or do tyrants efcape the hiffings of the people while yet un- revenged ? yet is this revenge by no means to be taken without clear difcern- ment of its juftice and neceflity : the in- nocent are not to be driven headlong out -SEVERE FATHER, 265 out of life to punifh the guilty: but where more would perifh if the latter were continued, which is very difficult of .difcernment, and appertains not to weak Judgments and violent fpirits I The philofophers have laid, nothing vio- lent continues long, which if true, vio- lent evils cany their own remedies, and the intervention of men muft follow, not force the tumult. — But if for die quiet of the ftate a tyrant is to be fbme time borne with, is a hard father alfo to be fubmitted to ?- — What may he have fuf- fered from thy obftinacy while a child j or thy folly when a youth ! fee that by oppofing thou be not hard unto him, and an evil example to his family: his troubles may have caufed him to be four ; perhaps his troubles for thee, — If thy father is hard, thy mother may be moil gentle .266 A LOVING MOTHER. gentle and kind, and may need thy ut- moft care to foftenf hit anguifli, which difobedience to thy father would increafe : believe me, nothing fo loving > r to a i parent's care as the gentfenefs of a child; if parent and child contend fweetly which fhall excel in love, let them, have the victory upon whom the fountain of hea-» venly charity is moft copioufly flied. I have a loving mother. — Remember then well, that thou waft firft a burden, afterward a^ bitter pain, and; laftly, a continual carefulnefs unto her : think of the fleeps, the meals, the pleafures thou haft broken, by thy crying, thy falling, thy tricks in childhood, and the dread of thy death : in youth ! how many wretched mothers have ended their . lives from their fears in after ; as well as from their agonies at the be- brethren's divisions. 267 ginning of a child's life. — After the (laughter of Thrafymene, two mothers, who'believing their fons flain in the bat- tle, ran forth to be affured how the mat- ter was, perceived them coming in fafe- ty; but not being able to fuftain fuch a flood of joy, they died on the fpot. — * By fuch examples it is verified,, that amongft men there is no greater ingra«* titude than that which is fhewed againft the mother. I have alfo good brethren 2 A marvel ! the firft that were in this world was evil; and were we to fpeak of the after-comers in fraternity, what horrors or ill treatment muft we relate — But to pafs thefe, few brethren do love ., truly, owing, poffihly to the great equa- lity : as to brothers, they fhould be pa- rents to their fitters, if they lofe their CWthiy parent y but they too often anfwer as *6& MOTHER-IN-LAW. as did furly Cain, and though they do not till with a weapon they flay the heart. — How few children can abide a ftep dame £ this alfo is an evil that Wants remedy, lor indeed thofe who take the care of a. fcmily, not their own ; are more worthy of companion and love than of repulfe if they adt juftly ; for all eyes are on them, and all tongues againfl: them : and with thefe the humours of children combine to weary them out of their lives ; and every ill in the children is imputed to them : but the wife, judge otherwife, and when the father is gone, the truth is beheld. When he that was wont to care for all is gone, then muft the care^ lefs care for themfelvea ! I could not endure the lofs of my mo- ther ! Yet nature tells thee thou muft endure ADOPTED CHILD, 269 endure it t mild and good thou doft fay (he has been, and couldft thou grudge her refting from labour, and afcending to everlafting peace ! Moft likely her death would be acceptable to her, fear- ing flie might fee thofe fo before her whom fhe fo loved : and then would fhe depart in forrow and grievous lamentation. I marvel from what I feel and behold, that any one can bring up a child not their own ! he is -child to the common father, and charity is the fofterer -, and therefore the deed is precious to God ! Why love the children born in the private houfe, and not the children born in God's houfe ? Innocence is its prote&ion $ whatever was the deed of its parents, it is dear to the good. But many fufped their wives, and ill-treat their own children on this account : Grie- vous 27O „ JEALOUSY. vous folly worthy of punifhmeilt ! There was a certain nobleman who had to wife, a gentlewoman of equal beauty and parentage, but fomewhat doubted ; by her he had one moft beau- tiful fon, whom, when his mother held in her lap, on a time perceiving her hufband figh and look careful, (he de- manded of him what was the caufe of his heavinefs : he fighing again replied, I had rather than one half of my lands that I were as fure this boy were mine, as thou art that he is thine: whereto flie anfwered, not a whit, moved either in mind or countenance : truly the mat- ter fhall not coft thee fo great a price, give me an hundred acres of pafture land whereon I 1 may feed my cattle, and I will refolve thee in this matter : then fend- ing for fuch noblemen and gentlemen as dwelt JEALOUSY. 27T dwelt near at hand,, and caufing her hufband to give his word for the per- formance of his promife, fhe held up her young Ion in her arms, and turning him to the company; Is this my child indeed, faid (he ? And when they all an- fwered, Yea, ftieftretched forth^herarms^ and delivered him unto her hufband * Here, faid file, take him, I give him thee freely y and now be affured that he is thine ! Then all that ftood by broke^ forth in laughter, gave judgment on the , woman's fide, and condemned the huf- band by all their verdidts. The like to this is oft titties feen; the firft days of marriage are fpent in revels, the refidue of life in fufpicion and brawls: In both to blame ; for as die beginning was un r feemly, the end cannot be well ; at leaft furely the firft year fhould be dedicated to / 2J2 NECESSITY OF DOMESTIC VIRTUES to domeftic peace and honefty, if all others fhould wretchedly fail : of which there is a memorable ftory and a merry one on a fhore near to the ocean, and lying right over againft Britain, a certain poor woman, fair and well favoured, but a notable harlot, who had twelve fmall children by as many feveral men, each of them but a year older than the other, being lick, when flie perceived that the hour of death was come, fbe caufed her hufband to be called unto her: this is no time to diffemble, faid fhe, there is none of all thefe children thine, but the eldeft only : for the firft year that we were married I lived honeftly : it chanced that at the fame time, all the children fate on the ground, round about the fire, eating, according to the manner of the country : •—at which words the good man was amazed* SUSPICION USELESS. 273 amazed, and the children heard their mother's words, whofe fathers fhe rec- koned up all by name as they were in or- der of years ; which thing the youngeft of thefe children hearing, he immediate- ly laid down his bread, which was in his right hand, and the rape root which he had in his left, upon the ground before him, trembling with fear and holding up his hands, after the manner of them that pray ; Now good mother, quoth he, give me a good father: and when end- ing her fpeech, fhe told who was father to the youngeft, namely.a certain famous rich man : — the child taking up his bread and meat again into his haods : that is well, faid he, I have got a good father ! All fufpicion is ufelefs ; fropi whence is faid, better to be deceived than to doubt. And truly if happinefs is'defiredit is lb, ' S for 274 FRIENDSHIP. for doubt is an endlefs pain : and when thofe we doubted die, the grief is fharp- er. But true friends are never doubted ! Indeed meft are more delicate with friends than thofe born in the houfe, or united in . wedlock ; and the reafon feemeth this, they may depart at a mo- ment in grief or quarrel, and therefore greater care is ufed. But even thefe be- came at fometimes wearifome, and at others feel offended for trifles : and if the offence is fmothered, it anon blazeth out the more ftrongly j but when the friend is gone all his good is remembered, all thefweetnefs, and none of the cares and anxieties : no more anger or forrow for ihort ftaysor fordepartings; but all is alive to the heart, and alive in reality, though abfent for a fhort fpace : wherefore Lelius laid, my friend Scipio liyeth ftill to me. But FRIENDSHIP. 275 But death doth moft certainly take away the friend ! His body he taketh ; but asfor firiendfhip and friend, that, he reacheth not ; who could not be of fo great price if he could be fo loft : abfent he is for a time, and in the v fame manner as on a jpurney to thee;- but far different to himfelf, for he is freed from all the rocks and fhelves to which thou art yet fub- je&, a matter of joy to a true friend, Jlowmany, in parts of the world diftant, do feem to pofTefs their friends, though the delight is taken from the eyes, but not from the mind : and a poet faid of fuch, they all ftand before my eyes : in both cafes plenty and comfort dulleth; fcarcity and Jofs fharpeneth the fenfe of good : how much to be preferred is the fweetnefs of fuch remembrance, than knowing thy friend on earth, thou didft S 2 hear Ij6 FklEND AfiSENf. hear of his grievous fhipwreck on fome barren land ; of that he were drenched in the forges of the bottomlefs fea ! how wouldft thou then fee the mountains of water framing ; their waves up to hea- ' ven fwelling ; what fearful tales hear in the wintry night, whilft thou, though warm and fafe by thy firefide felt no- thing but chilling horror ! — Or fuppofe thy friend, by accident or conflagration, had fuffered the more fearful death of burning, as did Tullus Hoftilius, who was confumed with fire in the palace at Rome ; and Charus the emperor, in his tents near unto the Tigris, for what a multitude of perfons and edifices have pcriftied by fire; the great temple of Diana at Ephefus, a goodlier piece of work was never feen : the temple of Jerufaiem, to fay nothing of little cities and WALKING. «77 and innumerable other places ; fo that a friend may as well peritfi by this fo cqm- mon mifhap as by any other accident* And fay not 1 am hard, but it is ftill only death: — which muft coral; and if it come by fbfter means take refuge in that, and reflect, that jt is oft the re- medy for great labour of mind and wea- rifbmenefs of body. To omit philofo- phprs and poets, who fcarcely earn, in their nightly vigils, their fcanty mor^ fels ! The rifing early and watching late of artificers and labourers, of kinga and others, I have fhewn thee; and hpw- ever painful, it is the bafe of virtue : but fbme men's floth is fo great they fret at all things, and all things to thqm is a fore mortification ; nay, a fmall journey to them is worfe than death ! — And^ if to be taken on their feet certainly it S3 * 278 WALKING. is fb. — Would they then go on the feet of another ? — Such would not, it fhould feem, fee with their own eyes, or handle with their own hands; would they have another alfo tafte for them, would they fmell with the nofe of another ; or have them enjoy for them their mean plea- fures : what a ftrange matter is this ! — But it is painful to fome to ufe the labour of walking, — Did they come then into the world on horfeback: or will they fo ride out of it ? is it not a madnefs thus to make the ufe of a four-footed beaft, always uncertain and often danger- ous, the means of lofing and foregoing the Angular benefit of nature, the ufe of their own feet: unto fuch men what might one wifh better than the rich gout ; that is to fay, unprofitable feet and many horfes ! A journey on foot. hath W A-L K I N G. 279 hath moft pleafant commodities j a man may go at his pleafure; none fhall ftay him, none fhall carty him beyond his wifh; none fhall trouble him; none fhall fhake, joftle, throw him down : he has but one labour, the labour of nature — to go; no bufinefs to tranfad:, no trou- ble to fettle with his bearer : he fhall not be conftrained to bridle and rein in ' his horfej to fpur and beat him, to water and litter him ; to walk and rub him, to feed and curry him; to anoint his fore back, or to feel his dry hoofs and dangerous fhoes ; and in the night to have his fleep difturbed on his ac- count. But to take a long journey on the feet is very wearifome. ! — The Apoftles, the meflengers of Almighty God, walk- ed about the world ! — Sometimes they went by water : — I grant it, but fel- S 4 dom; 28o WALKING. dom; and when the fituation of the place rendered it neceffary ; but I have not heard of their riding on horfeback, except St. John once, with godly hafte, to recover the foul of a loft young man, as St. Clements writeth : as to the Lord* of glory, he rode once on a poor afs ; but his life was worn out on foot ; — Thefe are divine not human examples ! The Apoftles were human, but if their goodnefs doth burden thee, look at the Roman armies, who were for the moft part footmen, who not only carried their armour and weapons on foot, but alfb as much victuals as fhould ferve them *nany -days; alfo munition whereby they defended their camp in the day- time, and their tents at night, when they entered their enemy's bounds ! — Unto Roman ibldiers only faid Cicero, their WALKING. 28l their armour and weapons ftood them in ftead of arms and (houlders, and when they put on thefe warlike burthens, then only they^ thought themfelves ap- parelled ! — Thou, I fuppofe, doft think it hard to walk in (hoes when the holy fa- thers went hare in the wildernefs ? — A lofty mind will afpire after what others have done in much greater things, ev$ii in difficulties, pains, and death ; but when it is for the moft pleafant of all sxercifes, and the moft wholefome to man's body, where is the diftrefs ? But the mind feels its cares in walking! « — Noble and fweet cares of the mind are charming company to a wife and good man ; and if he may add to this, the pleafant fociety of fome merry and eloquent companion the journey fhall not only feem fhort and light, but de- lightful* 282 W A t K I « C, lightful ! Many have been fo delighted with fuch pleafant communication under the bright canopy of heaven, and the re- frefhing breezes of air* wafting on all fides, that they have felt no tedioufnefs in travel though the way was long; but have cried out they did not feem to go but to be carried along; and Publius faid, a pleafant companion on the way is as good as a waggon. But perfons muft have ftrength to do this. — Strength cometh by ufe, and will increafe by habit, it is general- ly idle lazinefs, that renders men weak in body as well as weak in mind ; to flir and be ftirred up continually is meet for men, and labour will ceafe to terri- fy when an intimate, but as a ftranger it is very formidable to pufallanimity. — But the great dangers of fuch travels thou wilt allow both from men and wild .' .*• beafts. ORfiAD OF DAGGER. 283 beafts. — I will allow the flothful mail faith there is a lion in the way ! thieves live in cities as well as roam on the high- ways; Julius Caefar fell into their hands in the capitol : in what place art thou fafe from evil ? truly in none that I know of: not with fo great ftudy do hunters fet gins for wild beafts, or fowlers nets for birds, as crafty men to deceive the fimple: this hath its good; it produces circumfpe&ion.— I have told thee how Auguftus was deceived by the dying, though an emperor; and fuch have been the dread of thieves that men have for- faken houfes and palaces for cots ; a very inconvenient change, and pinching to the mind : — No houfe is fo narrow but that a liberal mind will add to its dimenfions : Julius Casfar was born in fuch a one; Romulus and Remus brought 284 CONVENIENCE OF A COTTAGE. brought up in a fhepherd's cottage; Diogenes lived in a tub; and Hilorian under a fhed; the Holy Fathers, in caves under ground for ftillnefs; as thieves have alfo done for concealment. — If the walls are able to keep out thieves, and the wind, and the tumults of the people 1 if the roof will fence from cold and heat, fun and rain; let the lofty towers become as they are fit ; dwellings for the fowls of the air, for pride to lift itfelf up in ; for covetoufnefs to ftow its drofs, and for luxury to de- ftroy the health ! but virtue hath fcorn of no habitation unlefs it be pofleffed with vices. How many have fuilained not only a fmall houfe but baniihment from a great one with courage ; their trouble hath oft gained fingular fame, as flints ty knocking together produce bright fparks E X I L t. 185 fparks of fire. Caniillus was one of thefe • who faved his ungrateful country that had banifhed him. Marcellus and Ci- cero employed their hours of exile as they had been Tent to a fchool of virtue, riot a prifoh. I think they have fuffered great hardship to be put away from their own country. That is accounted a bafe mind that it fo bound to one fiHy corner of the earth that when out of tbat, he bewaileth: when Socrates was afked of his country, he replied, I was born in the world ! Every land, faith Ovid, is to a valiant man his native country : and Statius faith, every country is the natu- ral foil of a man ; this is the bounty of heaven, for it is nat *fo with meer ani- mals who generally dwindle or perifli in other climes. The three Sctpios went voluntarily into banifhment, but thei* names 286 BANISHMENT. names remain on an everlafting founda-* tion. The wings of the Almighty ftretch Qver all fpace, extend beyond all time, and cover as with a fhield the virtuous^ whether exiled abroad, imprifoned, or be- fieged at home ! Troy was befieged, Tyre, and Carthage; Saint Ambroife, and Saint Auguftin, within their walls. Who is pot befieged ? I pray thee ? fom? are be- fieged with fin, fome with ficknefs, fome with enemies, fome with cares, fome with bufinefs, fome with idlenefs, fome with riches, fome with poverty, fome with flander, and fome with tedious re- nown : refledt on Archemedes, when be- fieged, how he was fheltered, his mind was not vulnerable to fear; a poor man, at Aretum alfo becoming very old, was heard to fay, he had never paifed • the DEATH OF CITIES. 287 the city gates : it is probable if the plaGe had been befieged, this fame quiet man would have known no more of it than Archemedes. But what fayeft thou if a country is totally dcftroycd? I have mentioned fuch to thee, when I fpoke; of Troy and Tyre ! can a country be immortal, when the whole world is tran- fitory ! when the heaven and the earth fhall fail, when the mountains and the feas fhall be moved ? Cities have their dying days as well as men, but they are fewer and it happeneth feldomer ; only fouls are unperifhing, and therlfore the difagreement of a wavering mind is worfe than any outward confli&s. The factions of the ftreets are nothing like the- factions of the foul ! thefe befiegers admit no relief from without. — lacking this quietnefs within, ye muft'be mifcrable^ Then l88 UNIFOMITY OF LIFE. Then none can be happy; for all arc ibmetimes unquiet — Vice is always vari- able, and therefore the many arc fo; and are tofled about as {hips in a ftorm* Uniformity of life k beautiful; So- crates poffefled it among the Grecians ; Lelius among your countrymen; even the wounds of the body have been kifled, and honoured. Scena, a captain of Caefar, received this homage, as if paid to relics : Marcus Sergius lofibg his right hand in the Punic war, had one made of i*>n wherewith he went to many bat- tles* — Ciniger the Athenian, when both hands were cut off, held his ene- mies fhips with his teeth : thefe perfons thought nothing of the parts of their bodies, but of immortal fame, the only friend SfcCONB MARRIAGE* 2$£ friend and fafe manfion for the foul is virtue ; flie has neither caftle nor tower* town nor turret ! in earthly caftles all men are fcmetime bewrayed j in this never ! prudence and fortitude are her centinels; juftfce, hiduftry* itid humanity are her ftrong liries of cifciimvaUation t none will envy, none invade this houfe of humanity, this domicil of faith and love! Alas! I am far from this fearlefsf quiet, I dread the lofs of my wife ; the unruly temper of a wretched fon, or that dying myfelf, my wife fliduld marry again ! If a phyficiari fhould free fhee from a tertian feter, thou wouldft give him both thanks and money; but what reward wouldft thou tkihk. iufficient' T' for 29O SECOND MARRIAGE. for him that would rid thee of a quo- tidian? If thou go alone, and without luggage, thou (halt go the readier whi- therfoever thou art going* But fhould I die firft; what will my beloved wife do? Perhaps (he will marry again: what is that to thee? — What will my dear wife do when I am gone ? — Being difcharged from thy yoke, fhe will either go again into bondage, or being free, fcek how to pafs her life quietly and at liberty.— What will my moll loving wife do if I die ? — Doft thou afk what fhe will do when fhe hath efcaped from thee ? and knoweft not what fhe did when ihe was under thy fubjedion; the moft part of mortal men being ignorant what is done in their own houfes, hearken to what is done in heaven and in earth! truly, what fhall become of thy SECOND MARRIAGE. 29I thy wife, let herfelf or her next hufband look to that, fince the care when thou art gone will no longer appertain to thee. — I am terrified leaft after my de- ceafe my wife do marry again. — Why doft thou bind thy wife to thy cold and fenfelefs afhes ! if (he have lived faithful and true to thee to the laft day of thy life, then hath (he accomplished the duty and faith ihe promifed. — O I dread left my dear wife (hould marry again. — Perhaps that fhe firft married {he ought to have feared more than thou feareft her marrying again ; that fhall appertain to another, not to thee. — I would not, I ponfefs, have my wife marry again. — For a woman of an exadt and delicate mind, I grant, although permitted by law, it is moft corpmonly wifdom to abftain; but there is oft occafion and T 2 neceC- 292 SECONB MARRIAGE. neceffity to run this hazard ; above all if the hufband's life is fhort feeing the perif of widows left young is great. — My fweet ' wife will marry another I forefee it ! — - Not thy wife, for when death diffolves the tie, (he is no longer thine : and fay fhe marry for virtue or for affe&ion, fo have the wives of the Roman captains, of dukes, and emperors, and many of them widows alfo. King David took to wife two widows, and it may happen that one greater than thou art, may marry her that is now thy wife; thou ought readily to refign to hkn thy care- fulnefs, feeing thou goeft where there is no marrying at all ! — I fear me I fhall go; and fhe will marry! — If death difiblveth the bands whereby the foul and body are kept together* wril may it diflblve thofc of man and ••=•--: -wife; A BAD SON* 293 wife : ,if flae inariy a good hufband thou ought to rejoice at her prosperity whom thou loveflr; if a worfe than tfoyfelf, fhe will think the more upon thee, and hold thee more dear ; and then thou wiit ob- tain what thou lookeft for, which is not unlikely; for many women have learnt the value of their firft husbands by the involving themfelves in fecond marriages, Befides this, I have much to fear from the ftubborn temper of my jfon. — It is meet that thou who couldft not bear with the temper of thy own father, ihouldefl: fuffer from that of thy fon, all things come back in the courfe of time to the a&or in human life ! every injus- tice recoils and rebounds as it were on itfelf, either fecretly or openly : of this truth all would be convinced, if they Wpuld put their eyes at the back of their T.3 head! . 4 294 SEDUCTION OF THE MIND. head ! I fuffer grievoufly ! for that my fon by his fecret wiles has beguiled the affe&ions of innocence without any view to the holy rites of marriage : and thus bereaved of peace, though not of virtue ! The paw of the lion, and the tufks of the wild boar are lefs cruel ! I fuffer from an infolent fon ! At length, perhaps thou doft underftand what thy father might have caufe to think of thee, by whom he was defpifed. — I fuiFer from a rebellious fon. — Thou art not alone; Mithridates that was king of Pontus ; Severus the em- peror of Rome ; and David the king of Ifrael, had all rebellious fons ; and many years after a feditious young prince as the bruit goeth, difturbed the common quiet of the realm of Britain. — My fon is ungodly. — A little time will fhew him this fin; for verily no youth liveth pro- fanely but his punifhment is at hand ; it A BAD SON. 295 it may be the gnawing of his heart is already begun ! — My fon is of a flothful mind. — Didft thou not forget what I ad- vifed thee; the making him diligent from a child ; haft thou taught him the right way, or let his mind through thy own careleffnefs go unpruned? Scipio Africanus had a very degenerate fon, yet he loved him ; and in truth, the want of virtue is fo wretched a thing, that it . has need of all thy mercifulnefe and pity ! if virtue be not in thy fon, love him be- caufe he is thy fori; if not for that caufe, becaufe he is a man ; if thou wilt hold to neither of thefe, yet have companion on his wretched ftate ! — - The bad life my fon leads obliges me to feverity. *-* If there remaineth the leaft /park of hope, incline thyfelf unto mercy, and remem- ber thou art a father, not a judge! for- get not that faying of Terence, even for T 4 a great tg6 GRIEF FOR A GOOD SON,. * great fault a father ought to. punilh lightly, for the father with the ion muft afcend the tribunal of God !— How la* inentablc to me was the fon I loft ! that fon loved and obeyed me ! — Mourn not for him who is only gone before thee j thy waggon is pacing on in the fame road. — I am grieved for the lack of this jny fon. — Not to be able to fuffer a want for a fhort time is the. part of a child ; unto a man nothing fhort is wor- thy of grief; foon (halt thou findjhim thou defireft; Plato will inftrud *thee in this matter;. Cato himfelf ; Pericles, and Xenophon, fcholars unto Socrates, and fchool-fellows with Plato; they will teach thee. Go to him that was both ?i prophet and a king ! he wept for his child when it was lick ; but when it was (lead he was comforted. To lament for things irrecoverable is folly, not affec- tion ; DEATH OF C3&JC.9JLBK. %yj tiqnj impatience, not piety! the Spartan woman when told her (on was flain i*r battle, nobly replied, therefore .did I bear him that he fhould not fear to ^ for his eoufttry f Linia laid down her mourning when J*e* fpn of honourable birth, and wh0 ha4 right to the empire, was pnce laid jnto the ground. She left off weeping, but fhe never lfcft off the dear remem-r braace of her child ! Cornelia the El- der" having loft many children, yea all that fhe had ; fomfe of whom fhe beheld flain by the people and laying on theear tk unburied, when as, pther wonten moft ruefully bewailed her woeful cafe, an* fwered them iri this wife $ Judge me not unhappy ! that I have borne fuch fon$ is my glory. A worthy and noble Wo* man ! that was not ftunped with the prefenl 298 WEAKNESS OF GRIEF. prefcnt mifery, but comforted herfelf *with the forepaft felicity, and the re- membrance of enjoyed good : far unlike her fex, who impatiently moan at every trifling grievance, and like the common multitude, as they are forgetful and un- thankful in profperity, fo they are whin- ing and impatient under adverfity, an evil condition moft injurious to prudence moft fatal to the health both of foul and body. And /halt not thou, being a man, bear thy fingle grief! I am far from fuch unheard of courage. I have loft my fon ! If he were a dutiful fbn, there is no caufe to fear his eftate : he is well ! Death hath taken away my fon before his time. That cannot be faid to be done out of due time which belongeth to no diftinft period of it • into all ages, I have told thee, death hath a direft en- trance, CHIEF* 299 trance, but into youth innumerable ! I remain without toy fon ! Had he turn- ed againft thee as the beautiful Ablblam did againft his father, given thee days of care, and nights of inextricable anguifh, and fell leagued with thy enemy ! had he, as many children do, watchecj for the coming of thy grey hairs ; told thy wrinkles ; examined thy living ; found fault with thy expences, as leflening his patrimony, and blamed the flaying of death from thee I Wouldeft thou have had lefs caufe for the mourning thou now makeft ? I am caft down by the grievous lofs of my fon, I weep con- tinually ! death hath deceived me — I did not think he would have died fo foon— great love promifeth itfelf every thing, and will not believe but that its pleafures are pverlafting ; this infirmity of the mind with- JOO GRIEF FRUITLESS. withdraweth from the light of truth -the greater part of human actions are fuper-* flous: of what avail is weeping ? it may hurt thee, hut it cannot bring thy fon again ; as that king conceived right well of whom I fpoke before ! Hear what Aa* axagores faith, old men ftagger, young men make hafte, children run headlong, and infants at their entrance flip out of life ! one man more fpecdily, another more flowly ; one more ripe, another green : but death is the goal pf all !— * I cannot ceafe to weep for the death of my fon. — Thou fhouldeft rather have /wept at his birth, it was then he Ijegan ^ / • / to die 5 now, he begins to live ! weep no / more, his perils txc pafled : place him before thy eyes in bleffed fecurity ! every burthen dropped, every fweetnefs per-. fedted : yea reflect that if tears had any fpring ftVIL O* REPINING. $<>l ipring above, his would flow for the mifery he doth caufe unto thee ! believ- ing him, thy witnefs difturb not his blifs ! believing what is certain, . that God beholds thee, ceafe thou to repine at his holy mandate ! I can fcarcely fpeak or niove I am £o heavy with grief! Apply to fome labour, all virtue lieth oa high ; many a crag, many a ftone, mull be removed to attain her fummit! alt things that produce floth are evil* I anv weary through excels of gjrief I Thou wilt not become light by indulging it; if thou canft not at this prefent, labour with thy mind, labour Wkh thy body j that fhall help to reftorc thee > at all times labour is good and proper: indeed . there is nothing commendable, nothing excellent* without travel either of mind or body. It was labour oa which was founded 392 USES OF LABOUR. founded, the praife of Hercules, and the commendation of Ulyffes ; it was labour advanced the Roman captains ; the Sci- pios and Camillus, the Fabii and the Curii, the Fabricus and the Metelli! and did not labour exalt Pompey, Hannibal, and Julius Caefar to honour ! I have mentioned to thee Cato and Marius : as to philofophers, what is their whole life but a pleafant labour of mind ! and what the travel of artificers, who rife up early and oft fet up late ! perufe over all forts of men, where there is cither virtue or fame acquired there muft be labour : the world feemeth to be divided into labour, pleafure, and idleness : wouldeft thou know the difference, compare Sardana- pulus with Hercules ; Sargius with Regulus; Apicius with Marius ; and Nabal wirth. Uriah! Of all flothful things GRIEF. 303 things grief is the firft to be difcour- aged, for no man indulging it is fit for ought. Grief enfeebles the body, finks the foul, and burys it as, it were alive in the earth ! Labour alone will cure thi9 cruel difeafe, this enemy of com- fort ! — Neither private men nor the fons of kings can afcend to glory, with- out labour : add to this, there is not time for grief in this fliort life \ and if thou wilt gain the next, thou muft not grudge at that thy maker willeth thee to bear. How beautiful was David's fub- miflion, how wife his return to his pub- lic duties ! Thou alfo haft duties, though not thofe of a king, that it be- hoves thee to attend ! rife up, fhake off thy lethargic forrow, give an example of fubmiflion to thofe around thee ; chear up the temper of thy foul: fretfulnefs fits 3$4 A! * OPPRESSED MlNfl. fits with grief/ and oft weatys out cdril- paffion ! let the friendly* the grateful fhower fall t but deny not the gladden* ing fun beams their refroring power! be no longer thy own exile from peace, and conceive thou truly there is no mif- chief, nor any real evil in the whole world hut fin. I do confefs at all times I am filbjedt to an opprefled mind, doubtful and wavering withki itfelf: then the parts of thy foul are in a civil war, I know no greater evil : it may be faid of thy mind as of the war between Pompey and Czefar, here flood brethren, and there was fhed the parents' blood f much more may this be faid of a mind diftra&ed with everlafting cares, wound- ing and flaying itfelf. My mind is be-* come wavering with affliftions. As the ague of bodies cometh through contrary and WAVERING MLNB. 305 and!;corrupt humour," fo contrary and dulling affedtions engender .the ague of minds: the more dangerous by how much the mind is: nioite noble thah thtt body: my mind is ever -at* defeat*— - and choofeth not what it would v: Let it once begin to chpofe,iand chobfe right,,! the debate will end.; this is ! the; begiiaoingyof con-* cord, and the endlofoftcife/ M thy felf- dbbnfel: fails, cj&mpcl Ithy ignoble part to obey r its .rightful ifowreign,! for : tijl that tebroiight abdwt.^qycr. look for peace ; and hckmg .quictneferof .mind, what is woiJth; thy . having I lam diftra&ed, I know 1 not I what : I : -would J HNo new thing : I venture :. . and thou Jhaft. com - panions enough imthts jdifeafe $ troubled not once or twice/ butralb their, life- time, thus ifefled about kri^l ..torineftted I Oh how -heavily mf -ffiftpfsy oppr^fs . mfe i U Like 306 SELF MURDER. Like a fhip without its anchor tKou danceft on the waves even in the fight of port, and art a notable gazing ftock for all men ! You are fallen from your native feat of royalty, the dignity of your own mind ! Why wilt thou not return to it again! I find it impoffible; and therefore I mean to rid me of a life of which I am fb weary! — At one time to fear a tiling, and at another to wifh for it, is all the conftancy you have, erewhile womanifhly fearing death; now unmanly feeking the fame, I am en- forced to feek this remedy of woe ! — If thou be enforced then is it not a vo- luntary ad of thy own ; truly it is no free will; but I would fain know by whom thou art enforced; whofo is un- willing may have violent hands laid upon him ; but thou canft do thyfelf no vio- SELF MUftDER. 307 lenCe unlefs thou wert willing thereto* There are great caufes that force me thus to will ! — They be great indeed if they enforce thee; but they could not enforce thee if thou wert a man ! hearken if I Cannot guefs the caufes even at once: anger, difdain, impatience, a kind of furious forgetfulnefs what thoti aft, and to whom thou doft belong ; for if fhott didft remember thou wert a man, thou wouldft take all worldly chances in good part, and not for one fmall evil* or Wi- ther no evil at all, leap into the gfeateft that can befei thee, defperation ! for which no reiiiedy fhall be found* as faith Virgil • thefe, without caufe, procured their own death, and hating the light poured out their own fouls! and Jie addeth of their late repentance; how U 2 glad 308 SELF MURDER. would they now be to . return into this world again, to abide poverty and all ad- verfity ! Unquiet creature that thou art ! you muft kill yourfelf or kill another if everything fall not out as ye would have it : — J have fpoken to thee of revenge and its horrible eflje&s [ The murder of another froa* cov^toufhefs, paffion, or luft; and the murder, of thyfelf, froip. real cowardice, angry vexation, or unfub- dued grief, have the famefource, and for the- l^aft : caufe, or rather apprehended caufe alone, both areroftimes perpe- trated'!— thus blafpheming your Maker, and as it were arming yourfelves and others againft him ! *+* ye rufh * into his holy > prefence, and* without per- miffion quit his appointed ftanda^d I— It is not contempt of God, it ^ex- treme SELF MURDEH. 309 treme mifery that makes mc choofe to die. — Rather fay, the loathing of life, and cowardly impotence, a common fault among evil men and fools ! for unto the wife and good every kindof life is pleafant ; the happy, they accept cheerfully, the fad they endure patiently and courageoufly ; yea, they are delighted in the exercife of this patience ; it is fweet ! it is precious ! it affiiageth grief; it amendeth what is amifs ; it moilifieth that which is hard ; mitigateth that which is fharp ; fmooth- eth that which is rough ; and levelleth that which is uneven! thus complaints furceafe ; hafty and ftubborn paflions de^- part: and all the cloudy and ftorms which driveth thy bark on the rocks dis- appear and vanifh away for ever ! — My aim is death! — Thy aim is proud and weak I didft thou make the timber and U 3 ftone £?Q CATO AND SENECA. {tone of thy own building ? lookcft thou for more authority over it than the lord and maker, who hath not only created the {pint, but alfo the fleih, the blood, and the bones ; and all out of nothing ! Where is thy dominion then over thy body; is it not the Lord's? Verily thou art but a tenant, no mailer over this houie of clay; he that made thee and all, i» Lord of all! attend his command; anfwer when thou art called, and not before! I have Cato for my example, and Seneca for my defence. — I grieve to condemn fuch great men; but I have ftrangely wondered indeed, how fb cruel an opi- nion could enter into the heart of (b wor- thy a man as Seneca, who does indeed fay I will leap out of this ruinous build- ing of my body — but O Seneca, thou fayfjb not well F and with one disgraceful fentence CATO AND C-«SAR> 3II Sentence haft clouded thy better paflages and the brightnefs of thy mind 5 for thou haft fpoken contrary to the command of the moft high Lord ! — againft which l nothing can be well done. As for Cato, though his death was commended by many; yet by others it was fharply re- prehended ; among whom was Saint Au- guftin, a moft acute fearcher after truth : who faith it was not becaufe Cato would not live under the empire of Csefar, he killed himfelf, but envy of his greatnefsl for he thought Caefar worthy to grant life to his Ion, why then not to himielf ? What terror was there in Cae&r that he fhould feek to avoid him by death, who not only of all princes, but of all men was the moft merciful ! — And another great writer faith, Cato fought occafion to die, not fo much to efcape Caefar's U 4 hands 312 EXAMPLE OF COURAGE. hands as to follow the principles of the Stoicks ; 2nd by fome notable deed to give his name to/ pofterity: briefly then, as thou hail advanced Gato in this mat- ter of whom I have fpoken, I will ad- vance to thee one of worthier imitation in conclufion. There was of late days one Stephanus Columnenfus, a gentleman of ancient virtue, who being befieged by a mighty enemy of hifc, unto whom he was in power far unequal; he committed the defence of one turret, wherein there feemed to be moft danger, unto one of his captains, of whofe truft he was af- fured : this turret being undermined fo that it was in danger of falling, when the refidue of the garrifon perceived and forfook it; they ciefired this captain to EXAMPLE OF COURAGE. 313 come down alfo, and provide for his fafety, fince it was bootlefs to tarry; and to himfelf very dangerous, or rather certain death. — I will not come down, faid he, unlefs he call me away who fet me here ! Such a firm keeper ought thou to be of thy body, which is committed unto thee for the wifeft purpofes, as he was of his turret ; it may not be forced by thee till the due time for its furrender. But fay that thy reafonings overpower me in jhis matter ! how fhall I bear, added to all my forrows, the grievous fears* of declining life; blindnefs, deaf* nefs, unweildinefs of body and mind, trembling and failure in fpeech; and the fecret pride thus rebuked and laid low, that I will own has accompanied - mc £14 BLINDNESS, me through life under every oppofing trial ! and above all, how {hall I endure the fear of fuddcn death by fome dread ac- cident ! what may chance to my body af- ter death, and all the fearful confli&s to be polled in the laft hours of old age! I vriXL reply to thy catalogue of terrors when I have fet them in battle array before me as thoo hail recounted them ; and Blind- nefs I perceive is thy firft caufe of difmay. I do indeed fear I (hall be blind, my eyes do begin tofeil me. — Then (halt thou not fee the heavens and die earth! but to behold the Lord of heaven and earth ability is not taken from thee but ren- dered the clearer r thou fhalt not fee the woody vallics, the aerial mountains, the fiouridung coafts, the fbadowy caves, the filver fprings* the crooked rivers, the green meadows^ or the portraiture _ $f man's vifage, more beautiful than all BLINDNESS. 315 all thcfe ! but if thou fhalt not fee things beautiful, Co neither fhalt thou behold things that are obnoxious to thy fenfes, that offend thy ftomach, or that annoy thy mind; the jeers of the fcornful, the kna wings of the envious, the aflumptions of the proud, or the deceit and foeers of the treacherous \ * But to lofe the brighteft part of all the body ! — That brightnefs has caft the foul of fome into darknefs ; perchance the lofs may call the fpirit into light ! as faid Tuefias, God doth blindfold the face to turn light into the heart ! But to fee no outward light ! Some men have been merry in blindnefs. Antipater the Phi- lofbpher being lamented by certain friendly women, for that he was blind: anfwered gaily : That fleep which ye have 316 BLINDNESS. have at nights, feemeth it no pleafure unto you ? briefly and wittily anfwered. For there are inward joys in the gloom of darknefs; and inward griefs in the beams of light! Thy foul not thy eyes is to bring thee inta Heaven ; that will never be kept back or taken away by God I If therefore thou aimeft at Heaven, join with Didimus, who being blind, and vi- fited by the holy man Aritonius, he told him to be of good comfort,* and not to be moved in that he had loft his eyes ; for they were common to flies, mice, and lizards, as well as to him: but to rejoice ; in that thofe eyes which were common to him with the angels, were fefe and found : this' faying was worthy to come from the fcholar 6f a divine Teacher ! But how can I purfue liberal ftudies ? If thou dbft fe^k for fame by • .; •: them, B L I N D N B $ 9* 317 them, behold Homer and DemOcritus, the one quick as a lynx is faid to be without eyes ; the other plucking out his eyes that they might riot hinder the fight of his foul ! .:• * . ; - - •-• •JG do notrfxeaife this, but the-fad proves thkt^ths ul has been confidered in fu- periority tp the; body: Diodbrus the Blihd applied bot^i} to : philofppjly and mufic; by books read ? to liim ; .and -which was more wonderful, to the praftice of geo- metrical descriptions ;•; and caufing lines to be drawn by others-, men's hands, he difcourfed on them by his own under- ftanding.-^-rCaius Drufus had no human eyes, but he had fuch ikill in the civil laws that hi$ houfe was every day full of troops of civilians : they could fee better the way to the court than he could ; but he , could 318 BLIKDN *SS* could fee better how to cany away the caufe. But themoft famous of all that wai ever renowned for blindnefs,was Appiug Claudius who being both blind and old, gave counfel in every doubt, rated the i fenate and governed the whole common* , wealth. Hedidnotasyedo; when you lofc one fcnfe caft away all the reft, and thy mind to boot, by giving way to fadnefs. But I cannot fee to walk ! Canft thou $pt none then to guide and direft thy fteps ? m the loft of human helps, doth not the blind beggar find a dog to befriend him ; why wilt thou groan and grieve at that; which many have borne and improved. But no noble exploits can be done by the blind ! Haft thou then forgot Samp- fon ? haft thou not heard in the civil wars defcribed by Lucan, what Tirrhe- nus did upon the fea ; or in thy own time, JOHN KINO OF BOHEMIA. 319 time, how John King of Bohemia, fen unto one King of the Romans, and fa- ther to another, in the war between the Kbg of France, whofe part he took* and the King of England ; in that (harp conflict, in which bath thefc princes were in perfon ; underftanding that his party began to give way, though very old and blind of both his eyes, he called unto his captain, with a raifed voice, faying, direft me quickly toward that part of the army where the King of our enemies ftandeth, and the greateft force of his whole army which when they forrowfully and fearfully had done, £et* ting fpur to his horfe, he puihed thither with all his might, whither they that had eyes durft not follow him that was blind, not fcarcely with thsir fight: and fighting violently md dhnrtbiy againft his * enemies, $20 DBA F N fc S «.' enemies, he was there flain after making a great flaughter, they that over-came him at laft, ftahding amazed at his va- lour, and founding his praife with peals of honour! I would hot have fuch a glorious faF ■rtiE ancients. ner to rife from death to life : — Chrifip- pus finifhed in extreme old age that witty and profound volume which, he began in youth : — Homer fet forth his heavenly work in age : — Simonides at fourfcore, with youthful fervency of mind, but with aged ripenefs of difcre- tion : and Socrates, in the ninety-fourth year of his age, wrote their wonderful works ! Sophocles, the flower of all- tra- gic writers, at near an hundred finiftied his famed Oedipus : — Cato, at fourfcore and ten, with no change of voice or alteration of ftrength, or default of me- mory, both defended himfelf, and accus- ed moft famous orators in open judg- ment. Diligence did all that I have re- corded ; and diligence will do much for thee. — It will not make me eloquent. — It is but a few to whom that, belongeth; and DEFECTS OF WORDS. 327 and where found it is the more envied ! I am fhort of words alfo. — Apply thy mind unto deeds, for in words there is eft labour and forrow ; but in good deeds real felicity ! ^- I cannot fpeak : . Many that know little take much upon them ; fet a fool on horfeback and thou ihalt have much ado to get him down again : there is as much judgment (hewn in filence as in fpeech : a good underftandr ing and a magnificent mind is oft fhewn by the former, in the lineaments of the face, no lefs than by the latter in elo- quence of words ; there is a more fecret I and delicate pleafure in underftand- ( . .ing and exprefling truly by gefture and / look, than by utterance. — I am afhamed to fpeak what I feel before many : This hath chanced to men of great eftimatidn; what thou canft nojt fpeak before many, X 4 fpeak 328 COMMUNION OP HEART. fpeak before a few, or in the prefencc of . one only. — This private talk is very fweet : commune alfo with thyfelf ; be thy own domcftic companion, then thou % fhalt never lack an aflbciate, one that will be always with' thee; who will not loath thee ; who will not lie in wait for thee ; who will not mock thee ; who will not envy thee ; who will not look for exadt or laborious eloquence from thee $ whb will be pleafcd with thy famiMat talk, or contented if thou do hold thy peace; learn to .build up a moil honeft theatre* a theatre in the midft of thy heart ; re- joice there without noife, vain pomp, or fading glory ! learn not to live for fhtew, not to fpeak for pride, but like Mofes, poflefs the meeknefs, that under every impediment, will render thee eloquent in the fight of God ! I poflefs jiot this meek- PRIDE. 329 meeknefs; I feel that I am fomewhat proud. — Earth and afhes proud ! thou that art oppreffed with fo many defe&s, canft thou be proud ? wert thou free from them all, and lifted up upon the wings of all other virtues, if that could be with pride, yet would the latter drive thee down to perdition ! — By this fell he that Was created in a moft excellent eftate, even Lucifer himfelf ! and think- eft thou fo arife being a (inner : having that, by which an angel fell ! — Has not Homer faid, the earth nouriftieth no- thing more wretched than a proud man. I would fain know which of thefe things that follow do moft chiefly fpur thee on to this Wretched pride : whether the im- becillity of thy body, which is wearing away 5 the whole army of fickneffes that are belieging thee 5 the blindnefs of thy mind, \ 33° PRIDE- mind, which continually wavcreth be- tween vain hope and ufelefs fear: the forgetfulnefs of that which is paft ; the uncertainty of that which is prefent; or the ignorance of that which is to come ! the treachery of friends, the malice of enemies ; the death of thofe thou doft love or art related to -, flattering profpe- rity, or galling adverfity: by thefe lad- ders that go downward is it, ye afcend unto pride ? by thefe do ye rife to ruin ? Some fins have a fhadow of excufe, but pride and envy no colour at all ! — I am* forry that I am proud. — To be forry for fin is the firft degree to falvation ; and the very firft to that humility that cafteth down the falfe banners of pride !. When thou doft begin to turn truly thine eyes on thyfclf pride (hall furccafe ; thou /halt blow the retreat, and retire to thine enfigo* \ P R I D £• 33I cnfigns: as touching this mifchief, I will only fay to thee therefore; that pride is a ficknefs of wretches and fools ; for they muft be fuch, that are proud ; otherwife I am fure they would never be fo : and thus is it written in the Book of Wifdom, that the proud of foul are foolifh and miferable : and again, he that is a king . to-day fhall die to-morrow ; and when a man dieth he fhall have fer- pents, and beafts, and worms, for his inheritance ! how foul a monfter a proud man is can never be doubted, fince he forfaketh him that made him ; this is the beginning of all fin and the worft of all crimes >, it Js the falling from God and re- jecting his mercy ! — I dread dying before my time.-^-This is another folly ! None dieth before his time ! it might be true if 332 FEAR OF SUDDEN DEATH. if thou didft owe thy death only at a certain time, which the proudeft cannot maintain ; the good and pure owe it every day, and therefore look it fhould be called for; and have always in readinefs that they owe ; and they gave thanks, inafmuch as for the payment of this debt they need no great intreating, no great riches, no pawn, no ufury of their own; which were the laft words the valiant un- known Spartan is reported to have faid when he was led to execution* to fatisfy the laws of Lycurgus. — The time of life is too fhort. — Art thou the judge of time? feek after that which will be longer than any time ! — In the midft of my endeavour to do good I fhall die, — This is thy fault, who doft begin only to weave the web of thy life when the fciflras FEAR OF DEATH. 333 fcifTars begin to cut it off! this happen- eth unto many who thinketlj hifnfclf na- ture's white fon ! or to be plainer, that they are beyond accident.— J dread death in every fhape ! I fear leaft I fhould be murdered in the way ! that an enemy fhould kill me by poifon : I fear I may die by fire ; or by the flow gnawing of worms; or by ttie fudden overwhelming of water as I fail in my pleafure boat, or on the f^a, or on accufation that I fhould fuffer, or that J fall down dead as I walk : all thefe fears encompafs me at different times and bring me to grief. — The man who thus fears always; (hall never want difmaying fhadows, and horrible vifions ! , if the ftrength of life be taken away, what great matter whether it be by an ague or by the fword? whether the body do open alone, or be brbkfe open. Some 334 FEAR OP DEATft. ' Some have thanked thek murderers ; and the Prince of Peace prayed for their fouls ! Wouldft thou have been Euripides, to have been torn to pieces by dogs ? or like Lucretius point at thy own breaft; or be devoured by mice as a great per- fonage experienced ; but thou feareft to be burnt by fire! Some philofophers have fuppofed the foul to be compofed of fire, if fo, that death muft be the eafieft that appertains to its own ele- ment ! and thy body being thus deli- vered from the worms will not corrupt. But thou alfo feareft being over- whelmed in water: then doft thou grudge the fifhes who have fo often feafted thee, the return they may claim: and thyfelf a place of burial, large, clear, and magnificent ! and though many are per- FEAR OF DROWNING. - 33^ perfuaded that to be drowned in water, being contrary to the etherial and burn- ing fpirit of the foul, muft needs be mi- ferable ; yet I rather like well the an- fwer of a certain failor, of whom, when on a time, one demanded where his fa- ther died ? he anfwered, upon the fea : and where his grand-father, and great grand-father, and great, great grand- father ? on the fea all, he replied : and art thou then not afraid to go to fea ? The failor cunningly anfwered, I pray thee tell ipaalfo where thy father, and his father, and great father, and great father, to him, died? Even he, faid the quef- tioner, and the other, and all my ancef- tors died in their beds : the failor an- fwered quickly, art thou not afraid then to go into thy bed I Trimly anfwered, failor like and even more ; for no good man. 336 FUNERAL RITfiS. man dieth evil, nor no evil man well.— It is not the attendance and waiting of fervants and officers aflembled round the body, the rich garments that cover it; / the fpoils of the enemy, nor the fhields and fwords turned down, and dragged after; nor the whole family mourning for their mafter, nor the howlings of the multitude, nor the wife drenched in tears, nor the children diffolved in for- row; nor the chief mourner holding down his head, and walking before the corpfe with bedewed face; norgfre preacher's oratory on the dead; nor the golden images and pictures on the fe- pulchre ; nor the titles given him which being engraven in marble ihall live only till death confume the ftones themfelves: it is not thefe that maketh the death honeft ! neither the outward prepara- tion DEATH BY TORTURES. 331 tion for execution ; the trumpets, the terrible looks of the hangman and tor- men ters ; nor the whips, gallows, wheels, carte with wild horfes to tear the body afunder ; neither fire nor fag- got -, gridirons fet upon glowing coals ; cauldrons of fweating with hot fcalding oil ; the fharp teeth of wild beafts whit- ted with hunger ; nor the hooks and engines to drag the mangled carcafes, can render death (hameful if innocence goes along with it ! All thefc are the fhadows but not the things : virtue that ean look death in the face feareth neither ( /word, nor axe, nor halter, nor poifoned cups, nor the executioner dropping with gore! thefe are the furniture and en- figns only, and great fouls have view- ed them calmly, but to drop aH other; that moft excellent light of heaven and Y of 332 WANT OF BURIAL. of earth ! fo fuffered, to the end that no condition or ftate of man whatfoever fhould be judged reproachful with in- nocence to guard it ! And forafmuch as there is none higher than the Higheft in this example I to this point make an end : virtue alone is able to make any kind of death honeft, and there is no death that can blemifli virtue ! Say that I could compofe my fears of fudden. death, which I cannot find myfelf able, to do ; I never could bear the idea of be- ing thrown forth unburied. In fome of the cafes I have anfwered, thou couldeft not be fo expofed ; but where thou mighteft be fubjedt to this fuppofed dif- grace, provide one to guard thee, or a ilaff kid by thee to drive them away that may aflail thee. Thou doft jeft at my mifery, for truly I fhaU feel nothing ! Why LYING UNBURIEP. 333 Why then doft thou fear that which thou fhalt not feel? and knoweft thou not the faying, him heaven hides that hath none other grave ; and that alfo, to lack a grave is a flender lofs indeed! Surely it is a woeful thing to lie un- buried! Believe me it is much more tolerable to be turned out of a grave, or •prevented going ifrto one, than out of a bed. But what a wretched fight!-— Wretched perhaps to others, but no- thing at all unto thee : the learned have agreed that all manner of burial was de- vifed not fo much for the fake of the dead, as for the living, which the out- ward fhew of tpmbs and graves doth prove: being within fide evil favoured and horrible, enclofing their tenant, within, rough and rude rubbifh; but on the outfide, are wrought with gt^at cunning Y 2 and / 334 LYING UNBURIED. and coft, where the workmen for the moft part deck them forth to the view with carved pictures of marble, and fta- tues of gold, and arms beautifully de- painted ! — I (hall lie unburied, a loath- fome fight to behold. — Let them look to that who look on thee ; thou fhalt not fee this loathfomenefs : Pompey the Great, as worthy a perfonage as he was, lay unburied, or rather lay not ftill, but was tofled about with the furging waves: neither was Marcus Craflus interred : — and was Caefar the more happy or for- tunate becaufe he was fet up to be feen, upon the head of a moft lofty and beau- tiful coloflus, overlooking the tops of ' the higheft churches and fteeples; Co that I may truly fay, the ftone is beau- tified by him, but he no whit the hap- pier : were it otherwife, and that a grave or BODIES PEFACED. 335 or tomb made a man fortunate, Maufo- lus, we may fuppofe, would be the moll fortunate of all men. Cyrus, that was king of Perfia; lay unburied; neither that, nor yet his Scythian bottle were any reproach; that fell on the cruel and la- vage inen that fo treated him. But why do I gather together fo many fing^e bo- dies lying uninterred, while fo magy foreign kings and Roman emperors were bereaved not only of the wifjied folencini- ty of burial, and the vain honours of fe- pulchral rites, but torn, and plucked, and thrown about in pieces to animals, and to the fowls of the air !— So that a man might judge it an envious matter to lay ftill with an whole carcafe ; and feeing alio, that thofe who are con- verfant with the memory of times will fee fuch maflkcres of men and of nations, V 3 that 336 ARMIES UNBURIED. that he may be led to cry out, here is the whole world unburied! for with king Cyrus, of whom I fpoke, there were two hundred thoufand Perfians flain :— with Craflus, fixteen moft valiant le- gions : — at the overthrow of Canse, four- fcore and five thoufand citizens of Rome and their confederates: fix and fifty thoufand Carthaginians, Spaniards, Li- gurians, and Frenchmen, at the river Metaurus : and again, at Aquas Sextas, not far from the Alps, two hundred thoufand Germans, Marius being gene- ral, in both places. Moreover, at Philippi, the aids of all confederate kings and nations, and the flower and ftrength of the Italian youth; wanting the honour of burial made fat the Aemonian fields, and luxuriantly feafted the VARIOUS .KINDS OF DESTUCTION. 337 the wild beafts and the carrion crows ! fhall I pafs over the Carthaginian fleet, utterly deftroyed at the Egate Iflands, or the Maffilian navy at -their veiy havens mouth, and within fight of their faith- fill country; -or the Athenian power drowned before the city of Syracufe ! — I pafs Salamis and Marathon, I pafs the confli&s of the Hebrews and the Scythians, of the Arabians, Parthians, and Medes ! I fly over the conquefts and flaughters of Alexander king of Mace- don made in the Eaft among the naked, unarmed, harmlefs people there ! I fpeak nothing of plagues, woeful to hear of, where many dearly-beloved bodies were pitifully defeced and made away with; neither of the incurfions of wild beafts, whofe fudden invafions have produced Y 4 the 338 VARIOUS DESTRUCTIONS. the fame, and fattened on kindred and people with remorfelefs rage ! nor of tempefts, nor of fliipwrecks ; and as to thofe that have perifhed by the fire of public incendiaries, or from the private accidents of ravaging flames through careleflhefs or malice ! No man will fay they had need of any grave ! — I omit civil furys and outrages ; domeftic broils and contentions, ending in flaughter: — neither ftand I on the ruin of cities and towns, as Troy, Jerufalem, Carthage, Corinth, Numantia, and Saguntufn:— where the moft part of the citizens be- ing overthrown with the fall of walls and buildings, were crufhed and buried within them ! and laft of all, I flip over earthquakes, by which the whole earth itfelf, as it were, became to them the place of fepulchre, which both of old time LYING UNBUR1ED. 339 time* and of late days have difmayed and terrified with their fudden deftru&ion : and in Afia twelve cities were thus de- voured among many in other places, Thefe awful and various matters have J recited to thee to take away thy fingle ridiculous fear, who feemeth to me to fear the lofs of a grave more than the lofs of life ; and takeft grievoufly to heart, • that thy poor body fhould want that, which it is manifeft, fo many gallant men, fo many valiant warriors, fo many wor- thy thoufands, fo many holy faints, have been deprived of ! - — What will become of my dear, my tender body ?-~What is become of the parings of thy nails, and clippings of thy hair, and the blood that was let out of thy veins for fome fever or other difeafe, and the fkin that may have 340 LYING UNBURIED, have peeled off from thy outward rind, or the change of the internal parts of thy body which are never the fame for any length of time, as the wife examiner wilK tell thee ! Haft thou forgotten the anfwer of Theodorus in Tully, whom Lyfimachus threatened t6 hang up :— with the found of thefe terrible things quoth he, difmay thy gorgeous courtiers, as for Theodorus, he careth not whe-> ther he rot aloft; or upon the ground! if not in, the bofom of the earth, flie (hall entertain thee on her face, where the grafs fliall cloathe, the flowers deck thee, and fmile at fuch a gueft; the rain moiften, the froft combine, the fun warm, the wind fan thee ! and perhaps this is a more natural meane whereby the body, which is formed of the four elements LYING UNBURIEIU 34! elements, may be refolved into them again.— I have horror at laying unbu- ried !— There have been thofe who hav6 thought it an horrible matter to be co-» vered with earth, and a very fair death to be confumed with fire : to die by wild beafts foroe have deemed moft honour- able j fo that it is clear, all lieth in opi- nion : cuftoms on this point having fo varied; one lieth under a elod, another is prefled with a rough ftotie, another bathed in the water, or foaked in the fait fea ; fome fritter to and fro in the wind, and fome are fluffed full of fpices and perfumed with odours, and cloath- ed with purple; but even they fhall fall to duftv— I cannot rid me of this fear of lying unburied on the cold earth! I do fuppofe from thy repeated clamour on 342 PERILS OP A SICK BED. on this point, thou doft fway to a fa- blifh error, and thinketh that the fouls of them that lie unburied do wander an hundred years about the Stygian lake * which flories truly might fort with little Children, or the fuperftition of heathen ignorance, but which a found knowledge and a chriftian belief muft certainly re- ject: but perhaps thou wiiheft not to die at once, or to lay ftfely on the lap of thy mother earth, but to fuftain a long and tedious ficknefs: thou don xiotchooie a clear exit, with none to trouble thee f and a certain aflurance that thy breath is fairly departed out of thy body, but preferred rather % thy own wearinefs and that of thofe gathered round thee, care- ful for themfelves and carelefs x>f thee ! or peradventure, as hath happened to any, thy pillow's caught from thy liking PERILS OF A SICK BED. 343 finking head, and thyfelf fent packing and haftily clofed up, with the life's blood yet moving within thee ! — How many thinkeft thou have thus gaped after the burial, and flocked about the dying, fo to pluck him away, under colour of good will ! — O the needlefs and vain cares of men! their fond and fhort-fightcd fears, their weak and fenfelefs com- plaints ; hadft thou any wifhes to be ufe- ful in death or in burial I would com- mend thee ! this is the ^whole purpofe of living and dying ! I would commend thee if thou didft fear to die, fo as to give pain to af&dion, and wearinefs to the aching heart, tenderly watching thy bed, arid foftening thy laft agonies with* the firm fupport of exerted compaflion ! or I would commend thee if thou didft fear thy body lhould be laid within the walls 344 AGAINST BURYIN6 IN CHURCHES* walls of fome facred temple, polluting the air of holy confeflion, and inj uring the liv- ing vainly to aggrandize the dead ! — But thy cares are little for others, they are centered wholly in thyfelf ! and if the order of Providence went with thee, that fublime paflage would be reverfedj no man liveth to himfelf, and no man dieth to himfelf !— Ah me ! I do indeed fear death in every fhape, and old age above all, as the forerunner of all diftrefs ! — Old age, the fearful mark of the wicked, and the downfal of the proud, neither fhaketh nor fhattereth the virtuous mind, for in the boforn of the juft- there are pleafures more pre- cious in age than any delights of youth ! Can the- wrinkles that furrow the face bring pleafure? Yea verily, for thofe O.L D AGE. 345 thofe that feek for truftinefs, for cbn- ftancy, for wifdorn ! do hope more affuredly to find them among thefe wrinkles than where the forehead and the cheeks be plain, and fmooih, and foft. But the fweeteft part of life is left be- . hind in age ? Nay furely the foureft, if ignorance, difappointment, imperti- nence, guilt, and ficknefs; are not wrongly named. But fay that youth is virtuous ! A rare thing fo befet with dangers; evefr then youth cannot but be always fubjeft to danger and error, feeing it knoweth not the high road to life !— As to days and years, they are all good, both young and old ; for the Creator of all is good : and though in nature fome be hot, fome cold, fome dry, fome moift, fome cloudy, fome clear, fome troubkfome, and fome calm; yet in re- fped 346 OLD AGE. fpeft to the beauty of the whole world they are all good, and fuch is the cafe of human life. O that one could be twice * young, and only once old in this life ! — Thou wilt be only once old, and for evwr young if thou wilt ! for thy youth fhall be renewed as it were the youth of an eagle, and old age is the joyful ambaiTa- dor of this renewal! Ah, why doth pleafant youth fo foon pafs away ? For the intermediate fpace to find room; that age may come on with the dignity it meriteth ! and that none may complain, when the end of all complaint is at hand ! the varied journey clofed, and the fhifting comedy ended ; thou fliouldeft clap thy hands for joy, and cry plaudit ! An ancient and ridicu- lous man in Rome, being commanded by his prince to furceafe from labour oa account o h d age* 347 afccount of his great age and riches put on mourning for himfelf and made his fami- ly mourn for him as dead, grieving moft fadly that he could no longer fret and toil: the reft fo feemly, difdained this carking old man, when his years ought V to have been a pattern of quietnefs and tranquillity : for this is the fweetnefs of age ! But old age is furely a four time ! Say rather it is a ripe time : if apples could feel and fpeak, would they com- plain of their ripenefs and perfection ? As in all other things fo in age: there is this ripenefs which is termed old age, while the agednefs and death of young men is called bitter, and is oft bitter, indeed I Contrary to which is the ripenefs which belongeth to man, and as the corn, fitteth him for the fickle of the Z mowcr# 34^ OLD AGE. fpe* fflay « nonn ^ cal1 k a •/• • /Aould rather think a hard young if the . l i. --i/ but to voyage in the gentle be rencwr./ 7 . 6 i „ . '/old age, fmoothly to fail into the do J* P ort °^ ^ ecur ^ t y * f ure ty tkk can ~ • . f be called hard, but by the wretched- fc ungrateful ! to blame fuch a calm and pleafant fhore, given thee, on which to moor thy ufed bark, is indeed to blame . the moft gracious mother of peace and reft! But fuppofe the agonizing gout my portion ! I promifed thee remedies for the mind, not for the body : if procured the? by folly it will give thee time to for* row juftly, and to pradtice the heavenly virtue old A6H* 349 ^patience. Biit fay> that fleep is y age ! When Auguftus could *eej> he had fome to read or tell him -iftories— all things are to be remedied by a good mind. But to live to obferve evil manners in all around me ! Art thou obliged fo to cafe for the lives of others as to loft all comfort in thy own ? Who can abide in age deceitful, uncivil, contemp- tuous and unruly minds?* Wouldft thou vex another man who was fick or worfe apparalled thail thee ? wouldft thou not try rather to cure or to cloath him ? But &e envious cannot be cured : leave them to themfelves then : they need no other tormentor, if torment will cure them, than that of confuming envy! But rioifes and cries are very unpleafant to bear in old age: then make much of % Z the UO TRIFLES MADE IN EVILS. the woods, and repair to the ftill village; but even there I fear for thee, fomc barking cur; or peradyenture the fweet- ly moaning nightingale with, her tender cjomplaints may aniioy thee I Q or the owl letting in the next lone turref : fpr luch an one did difquiet Auguftus^ and cared not for his being lord of the. world !— Nay the mice who were bred in the chamber where thou lieth, and who complain perhaps of thee more juftly for invading their native foil ! Shall I dif- cend to fpeak of flies and of fleas : for verily a mind prone to be difturbed will never want caufe of trouble from the fmalleft things : and fo much lieth ia opinion, that thefe follies may well be laughed at. Some complain of heat, others of cold ; fome of wearinefs, others of TRIFLES MADE INTO EVILS. "• 35 1 of reft ; feme of winds, others of flag- nated air. A itory went of a father and fon who were condemned to be boiled to death in a cauldron, for treafon! — Now when they were both put naked and bound into the cold water, the young man began to quake and chatter for cold ; but when the water began to be hot then did he lament mod grie- voufly : but the old man, with a coun- tenance unmoved in both, looking at him with a ftern vifage — thou fon of a vile mother, faid he, canft thou abide neither cold nor heat ? Thus do ye curfe the fummer fun like the Atlanti ; and in the winter feafon ye wprfliip the fire as the Chatdee ! Alexander could nei- ther bear profperity nor adverfity, cold nor heat 5 but was faid to be moft im- Z 3 patient 35* SADNESS WORSE THAN DEATH. patient of heat, agreeable to his tarbq* lent teitaper. Many fear; thunderings and light-t flings, which being the Weapon* of the Almighty are to be reverenced ; for he thundereth in heaven that men may well live on earth, and his earthquakes are awful ! frpm them no Heights can ferve t no lurking places prevail \ and yet even that is only death, and therefore not to be feared ! no not even the plague, that mower down of whole cities ;'-*- nothing indeed is worthy of fadnefs ; for fadneft itfelf is worfe than death ! — 'All troubles of the body, blindnefs, tooth -ache, that knawing fore, whefe the fmall bones do begin to fail; and tell man his little fruft in his fofte? aq4 nipre plia- ble NOTHING TO B» GftI&VEI> AT. 353 ble ftom^ch : deafnefe* weight of limbs, the fhivering ague, the torinfcrtting and fatal cholic ; naturally, or by poa&n }■*** nay, death in» every fhape, either more violent or more flow : ficknefs 3n every fhapi ; leaving many children behind or none } a faithful wife, and fame fo pre- cious and defired: all, all are nothing » companion erf" grief and fear, no not even infanity itfelf ; for infanity knows hot its difmay; and dies an innocent! — Clouds and brightneflefs, both in the na* fural and moral World follow each other : the &verfity of the earth followeth the diverfity of heaven; there i9 not One drop of water falleth on the earth, more orlefe than is expedient * and fo of mo- ral events 5 whofo knoweth caufes fhall iftfver bewail efFefts : the ignorant may *' v Z4 groan 354 ALL events OP USB. groan and lament * but as in profpcrity I have told thee there is matter for true humility and grateful moderation ; fo in what men call adverfity, is there na lefs reafon for hope and triumph : flow and lengthened griefs bring repentance and virtue ; vehement and Jhort trials everlafting reft !-~ Rejoice therefore, O man ! in the true fum of all refle&ioo, that you are made in the image of God, which is the foul within you ; then rejoice fop your memory; for fpeech, for (o many inventions, fo many arts attending upon that foul ; for fo many neceflities of the body engaging to induftry and all virtue, the fingular benefit and providence of God ; for fo many fundry and beautiful fhews of divers things for your delight, $e virtues of roots, the juice qf h c rbs t KICHES OP PROVIDENCE. 355 herbs, > the plcafant variety of flowers ; the great concord of fmells and taftes* and of founds rifing out of contraries; £0 many living creatures in the air, upon the land, and in the fea : add hereto the pf ofpedt of the hills, the opennefs of the vallies, the fweet fhady woods, the cold and bracing mountains, the warm fliores, the wholefome ftreams of water and cool fountains, the fpacious lakes, and the wide feas within and round about the earth; ponds in its bottoms, and rivers falling down headlong from the tops of hills with their brinks, and heaths of flowers, the green meadows, thofe bedchambers of the fhores that coaft them, and the foaming rocks, rifing as it were in fundry parts from, pld Ocean's bed ! nor will we pafs ther moift $$6 BLESSINGS OF LIFE AND DEATH. moift caves, the fields yellow with corn, the budding vineyards, the focial joys and commodities of cities, the fweet ftillnefs of the country, and range the liberty of foreftsr; the ftarry firmament, in which is faftened the fixed ftars, and thofe wandering lights, the planets* which produce the fruits of the earth, the ftrength of life, and th§ variety of feafons to gladden it ! But above all, the hope of riling from death, to have the body quickened again; made lively* bright, fhining, and impaflable in glo- ry and majefty, and like unto the tall and fpreading trees that grow from dirty roots, yet cover the green fields with their expanding branches, and the corn fpringing from corrupt manure; fo (hall ye be cleaqfed on the floor of the M oft High! FORTITUDE IN DEATH. gjy High ! fo Jhall ye pafs from thefc delights and thi trials kindly mixed with them* to thofe joys that are incffkble and everlafting : thefe I deferred recording till the end ; fo great are they as to fill up the fum of love, and leave no room for a fingle complaint! what could ma* trifh, what God beftow beyond the ed«* cation of life, and the rewards of mercy! to be honourable in old age, cheered 6tt his parage, and tranfported td eternity f Thus is life the fchodl of experience* the fields of repentance, afcd the paffport to glory! when the king calls, *nareh willingly, rife up and depart valiantly; lie not down to receive his meffage, k is good to pafs on to yoter ^eftrndtiftn irt a feerpiy and ready fort, aftd calling fcpart his 358 JOYS OF HEAVEN. his holy name with bleffing for your ad- vancement ! he is loving, gentle, and merciful! he will hear you, he will em- brace your fleeting foul with the arms of love, convey it to the manfions of con- cord and to the fpirits of the juft! and then fay, O man, when thou lookeft through the chink of heaven to earth, if fo thou art permitted, fay truly, have the living dying caufe to complain! have they not all fet before them both in fum and in fubftance for good ; is not God the God of love ! is not heaven open to til ! and are not purified fouls collecting before the throne of God, from the hea- venly regions, and the fublunary world's, a multitude that no man can number, under Chrift their fhepherd! where to trace the ftupendous works of creating wifdom, JOYS OF THE BLESSED. 359 wifdom, to adore the wondrous grace of renovating power, and to found the ten der mercies of everlafting love ! is the divine employment of re-united fouls, the tranfporting chorus of faints of angels, and of the celeftial hoft for ever ! '.\ INDEX, I N D EX. Dedication . — Page — s Preface _ _ — 7 Petrarch's Preface to his noble Friend, Azon de Correge ■ — ' ~ it Youth m -ai — - •**• • *S Beauty- ** *- — 17 Love ~* -mm •— • . — *t Marriage _ — , — 23 Children _ M — ' 24 Dowry —* ~- » - 29 Houfe *mm — . - — 34 Furniture -—* «~ *- 35 Pictures *- —. - 36 Statues — MM Images INDEX. Page Images ^ — _ — 39 Corinthian Veflels — 41 Precious Stones — — — 43 Carbuncle — — — 44 Ophales — — — 45 Pearls — — — 46 Agate — _ — 47 Sardonix — — — 48 Cups of Chryftal — — — 49 Amber and Gold Veffels — — 50 Apparel — — — gi Clothing — — . — £2 Ornaments * — — ' _ r* Head Drefs — — — 54 Train of Servants — - — — 55 Sumptuous Table — — 57 Dainty Diftics ■ — — — 58 Wine — — — 59 Feafts — — — 60 Temperance — — — 63 Feafts — — — 64 Friendfhip — — L ! — 65 Birds and Cages — — 68 Speaking Crows — -*— — 70 PVes and Parrots - — — - — 71 Nightingale and Thrufh — — . 72. Peacocks «~ — __ . 7* Domeftic Animals — - — « „ *— . 75 Ware* for Fifties — — 7& Lampreys . 1— — - — 77 Money ~ »-. 78 Dogs . _. _ — 79 Hunting — * — _ 80 Horfes -p* . — - —.82 Books — -^ _ _ 86 Holy Scriptures — -*» oo Books I N D E X. Page Books — — *- 9« Wit — — - — 95 Swiftnefs — .— -■ — 97 Memory — — - 99^ , Virtue -— »— » ■ *- 101 ' \ Wifdom •— — — IO4''" 1 J* ^Religion — — — 106^ Good Report r— ' — — 108 Amphitheatre . . — — — JIO Marble Pillars — — — Ill Rome — *- — — 112 Amphitheatre — — — "3 Colours — — — 114 Writing of Books . -— — — 118 Freedom — — — 120^ Noble Country — — — 124 Glorious Country -^ — 126 Noble Cities — — — 128 Thebe§ — — — ?29 Athens — — — 13° Great Cities — *^. — 13* Noble Blood — — — ' I3 S Fruitful Land — — — I3 8 Hufbandry -— — - — 140 Green Walks — — — 142 Shady Walks — — w — 145 Reft and Quietnefs «■ — 146 Sleep — — — 147 Perfeft Defire of Heart —f — 151^ £afe and Quiet — — . — 15* Eafe and Wealth — — — 153 Dancing — -!— — 154 Drinking — — — 49 Mufic . — ~_ — 161 Prime Minifter -»- — - 165 Judge — A* mmm — 167 King INDEX. Page King — — — 169 General «— — -~ 17 j King and Prime Minifter — — 173 Prime Minifter — — — 174 King and Prime Minifter — - — ijc Prime Minifter — ± — — 176 Public Expences — — — 177 Deceits of Empire — — - < — 178 Revenge — — — 179 Duelling — — „ 182 Revenge — — — 185 Clear Air — — — 186 Sea — ■ _ — 188 Cities deftroyed — - ~ — 189 War and Peace — — 19 j Troubles of Kings — «— 193 Troubles of Caefar — — 194 Troubles of Men — — iqj -Hope — _ — 196 Hope of many Things «— — ing Hope of Inheritance — — m 200 Hope of winning at Games — ' — , 201 Tennis, Dice, &c. — — 202 Game of Lotts _, _ 202 Inhumanity of Gaming — ' 204 Wretchednefs of Gaming — __ 20c Saturnalia of the Greeks — ^ 207 Wreftling _ _ -208 Shews of the Gladiators — 210 Jefters _ _ — ail Dangers — - — 212 Drufus and Germanicus — — 212 Germanlcus ■ _ 214 All Times good -_ 21c Definition of Buildings — — 216 Glory by Buildings — _ ^7 Renown 1NDU Renown — «*•* Fame — — Hope of many Things — Peace of Mind » ■■ . ■ • ■ Hope of everlafting Life % •*• Patience in Diftrefs - % •— Deformity of Body — Low Stature ■■ r Sicknefs ~~ — —- Sicknefs and Poverty • — * Poverty — •> — - Prefence of Mind in Diftrefs Poverty of Great Perions — "Great -Minds in Poverty — *Chrift our Lord ! in Poverty Advantages of Poverty — > Spare -Diet — -— * A.Company of Children ■—• fChildren «•*- ..— • JDaughters — Stingy-Son ~ ■ Suretyship .— Wives •— Hufbands — * ■Fathers ." •— ■ .Mothers — ^Hufbands and Wives jEnvy of Merit ■— Ingratitude . ■ ■ A cenforious Temper Troublefome Neighbours Contemptuous Neighbours Scornful Neighbours Wretched State of Tyrants Severe-Father — • A loving Mother •— A a a Page 218 219 320 222 223 224 225' 236 228 229 230 m 234 235 237 2*38 *39 240 -v — 244 — ■ ~ 246 24 249 2S4 250 *57 *S9 2^0 .261 26a — 2te — 26* — 265 - *« Brethren's ■\ I N D E X. Page Brethren's Divifions — — 267 Mother-in-law — — — 268 Adopted Child — — 169 Jealoufy — — . — 270 fteceffity of Domeftic Virtue — 272 Sufpicion ufelefs ■ — 273 Friendship — — — 274 Friend abfent — — — 276 Walking ■ — - — — 277 Dread of Danger " - ■ — 283 Convenience of a Cottage — — 284 Exile — — - — 285 Banifhment . .— 286 Death of Cities — - — 287 Uniformity of Life — — 288 Second Marriage ■ — 289 A bad Son — — Sedu&ion of the Mind — A bad Son — — — 295 Grief for a good Son — — 296 Death of Children — — 297 ^Weaknefs of Grief *— - 298 Grief -— - ' — — - 299 Grief fruitlefs — — — • 300 Evil of repining — — — 301 Ufes of Labour —.—,—. 302 — 293 — 294- Grief — _ — . 003 An oppreffed Mind — — * — 304 Wavering Mind ~ -** — — 30c Self Murder — — ' — 306 Cato and Seneca ■ — 316 Cato and Caefar — — ^.311 Example of Courage — — — 312 Blindnefs — — — 314 John King of Bohemia — — 319 Deafnefs M M ^. 320 Weight INDEX. Page Weight of Body — — — 323 Dullnefs of Mind — — — 324 Weak Memory -r— — 325 Works of the ancients — «— 326 Defefts of Words ■ — 327 Communion of Heart ■ — 328 Pride __ — 3 2 9^ Fear of fudden Death . «a— 332^ Fear of Death ■ — 333 / Fear of Drowning ■ — 335 Funeral Rites ■ — 336 Death by Tortures ■ — 331 Want of Burial ■ — ^332 Lying unburied — — *333 Bodies defaced — — — *335 Armies unburied — — — *33& Various Kinds of Deftruftion — 337 Various Deftru&ions — — 338 Lying unburied — — — 339 Perils of a Sick Bed — — 342 Againft burying in Churches - — 344 Old Age — — — 345 Trifles made into Evils — — 350 \ Sadnefs worfe than death — — 35a \ Nothing to be grieved at — — 353 i All Events of ufe " — — • 354 Riches of Providence -— — 355 Bleffings of Life and Death — — 356 Fortitude in Death -•• — 357 Joys of Heaven — — — 358 . Joys of the BlefTed — — — 359 * STANFORD UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES STANFORD AUXILIARY LIBRARY STANFORD, CALIFORNIA 94305-6004 (650) 723-9201 saIcirc@sulmc3lLstanford.edu All books are subject to recall. DATE DUE JUN2 8J999 'y tfcWM "\ <