tion of many well tuned birds: each pasture stored with sheep, feeding with sober security, while the pretty lambs with bleating oratory craved the dams' comfort, here a shepherd's boy piping, as though he should never be old: there a young shepherdess knitting, and withal singing, and it seemed that her voice comforted her hands to work, and her hands kept time to her voice-music. As for the houses of the country (for many houses came under my eye) 10 was the most excellent medicine of the mind. the tenor of thy father's testament, and thy heart fired with the hope of present preferment? By the one thou art counseled to content thee with thy fortunes, by the other, 5 persuaded to aspire to higher wealth. Riches, Saladin, is a great royalty, and there is no sweeter physic than store. Avicen2 like a fool forgot in his aphorisms to say that gold was the most precious restorative, and that treasure they were all scattered, no two being one by the other, and yet not so far off as that it barred mutual succour: a show, as it were of an accompanable solitariness, and of a civil wildness. I pray you (said Musidorus, then 15 first unsealing his long silent lips) what countries be these we pass through, which are so divers in show, the one wanting no store, the other having no store but of want? Oh Saladin! what, were thy father's precepts breathed into the wind? hast thou so soon forgotten his principles? did he not warn thee from coveting without honor, and climbing without virtue? did he not forbid thee to aim at any action that should not be honorable? and what will be more prejudicial to thy credit, than the careless ruin of thy brothers' prosperity? and wilt thou become the subversion of their concord, or a more precious jewel than amity? are you not sons of one father, scions of one tree, birds of one nest? and wilt thou become so unnatural as to rob them whom thou The country (answered Claius) where you 20 fortunes? Is there any sweeter thing than were cast ashore, and now are passed through, is Laconia, not so poor by the barrenness of the soil (though in itself not passing fertile) as by a civil war, which being these two years within the bowels of that estate, between the 25 shouldst relieve? No, Saladin, entreat them gentlemen and the peasants (by them named Helots) hath in this sort as it were disfigured the face of nature, and made it so unhospitable as now you have found it: the towns neither with favors, and entertain them with love, so shalt thou have thy conscience clear and thy renown excellent. Tush, what words are these, base fool, far unfit (if thou be wise) for of the one side, nor the other, willingly opening 30 thy honor. What though thy father at his their gates to strangers, nor strangers willingly entering for fear of being mistaken. But this country (where now you set your foot) is Arcadia: and even hard by is the house death talked of many frivolous matters, as one that doated for age and raved in his sickness, shall his words be axioms, and his talk be so authentical, that thou wilt (to observe of Kalander, whither we lead you. This coun- 35 them) prejudice thyself? No, no, Saladin, sick men's wills that are parole, and have neither hand nor seal, are like the laws of a city written in dust, which are broken with the blast of every wind. What, man! thy try being thus decked with peace, and (the child of peace) good husbandry, these houses you see so scattered, are of men, as we two are, that live upon the commodity of their sheep: and therefore in the division of the Arcadian 40 father is dead, and he can neither help thy estate are termed shepherds; a happy people, wanting little, because they desire not much. fortunes nor measure thy actions; therefore bury his words with his carcase, and be wise for thyself. What, 'tis not so old as true: "Non sapit, qui sibi non sapit."3 Thy brother is young, keep him now in awe, make him not cheekmate with thyself: for "Nimia familiaritas contemptum parit."4 Let him know little, so shall he not be able to execute much; suppress his wits with a base estate, and though he be a gentleman by nature yet form him anew, and make him a peasant by nurture; so shalt thou keep him thy father's possessions. As for Fernandine, 1 Sir John of Bordeaux divided his estate among his 55 as a slave, and reign thyself sole lord over all three sons; Saladin, Fernandine, and Rosader. After his father's death, Saladin was discontented, because, although he was the eldest, he considered that he had inherited less than either of his brothers. At the beginning of the selection, we find Saladin brooding over his supposed wrongs. 2 Avicenna (980-1037) a celebrated Arabian physician and philosopher. He knows nothing, who is not wise for himself, 4 Too much familiarity breeds contempt. thy middle brother, he is a scholar, and hath no mind but on Aristotle; let him read on Galen' while thou riflest with gold, and pore on his book till thou dost purchase lands: wit is great wealth; if he have learning it is enough, and so let all rest. for such office; I am thine equal by nature, though not by birth, and though thou hast more cards in the bunch, have as many trumps in my hand as thyself. Let me question with thee, why thou hast felled my woods, spoiled my manor houses, and made havoc with such utensils as my father bequeathed unto me? I tell thee, Saladin, either answer me as a brother, or I will trouble thee as an enemy." At this reply of Rosader's, Saladin smiled as laughing at his presumption, and frowned as checking his folly: he therefore took him up thus shortly: "What, sir! well I see early pricks familiar conversing with you made you coy,7 or my good looks drawn you to be thus contemptuous? I can quickly remedy such a fault, and I will bend the tree while it is a In this humor was Saladin, making his brother Rosader his foot-boy for the space of two or three years, keeping him in such servile subjection, as if he had been the son of any 10 country vassal. The young gentleman bore all with patience, till on a day walking in the garden by himself, he began to consider how he was the son of John of Bordeaux, a knight renowned for many victories, and a gentleman 15 the tree that will prove a thorn: hath my famous for his virtues; how, contrary to the testament of his father, he was not only kept from his land, and entreated as a servant, but smothered in such secret slavery, as he might not attain to any honorable actions. Alas, 20 wand. In faith, sir boy, I have a snaffle for quoth he to himself (nature working these effectual passions), why should I, that am a gentleman born, pass my time in such unnatural drudgery?" were it not better either in Paris to become a scholar, or in the court a 25 courtier, or in the field a soldier, than to live a foot-boy to my own brother? Nature hath lent me wit to conceive, but my brother denied me art to contemplate: I have strength to perform any honorable exploit, but no liberty 30 his best safety, and took him to a loft adjoining to accomplish my virtuous endeavors: those good parts that God hath bestowed upon me, the envy of my brother doth smother in obscurity; the harder is my fortune, and the more such a headstrong colt. You, sirs, lay hold on him and bind him, and then I will give him a cooling card for his choler." This made Rosader half mad, that stepping to a great rake that stood in the garden, he laid such load upon his brother's men that he hurt some of them, and made the rest of them run away. Saladin seeing Rosader so resolute, and with his resolution so valiant, thought his heels the garden, whither Rosader pursued him hotly. Saladin, afraid of his brother's fury, cried out to him thus, "Rosader, be not so rash, I am thy brother, and thy elder, and his frowardness. With that casting up his 35 if I have done thee wrong, I'll make thee amends: revenge not anger in blood, for so hand he felt hair on his face, and perceiving dirge for your father's soul? what, is my dinner 118 that he laid down his weapons, and upon the faith of a gentleman assured his brother he would offer him no prejudice: whereupon Saladin came down, and after a little parley, they embraced each other and became friends, and Saladin promising Rosader the restitution of all his lands, and what favor else, quoth he, anyways my ability or the nature of a brother may perform. 7 Disdainful, contemptuous. The word is used in this sense by Shakespeare. (Tam. Shr. II, 245.) 8 The anger of lovers is the restoration of love. This saying is the theme of a well-known poem, the Amantium irae of Richard Edwards, which appeared in 1576. In this poem the proverb recurs as a kind of refrain. 1 ill as Julian: and wilt thou, my friend, be his Disciple? Look unto me, by him persuaded to that liberty, and thou shalt find it an infernal bondage. I know the least of my de5 merits merit this miserable death, but wilful striving against known truth, exceedeth all the terrors of my soul. Defer not (with me) till this last point of extremity; for little knowest thou how in the end thou shalt be visited. 10 With thee I join young Juvenal,' that biting Satyrist, that lastly with me together writ a comedy. Sweet boy, might I advise thee, be advised, and get not many enemies by bitter words: inveigh against vain men, for thou thou hast a liberty to reprove all and none more; for one being spoken to, all are offended, none being blamed no man is injured. Stop shallow water still running, it will rage, tread on a worm and it will turn: then blame not scholars vexed with sharp lines, if they reprove thy too much liberty of reproof. If woeful experience may move you (Gentlemen) to beware, or unheard of wretchedness 15 canst do it, no man better, no man so well: entreat you to take heed: I doubt not but you will look back with sorrow on your time past, and endeavor with repentance to spend that which is to come. Wonder not, (for with thee will I first begin, thou famous gracer of trage-20 dians, that Greene, who hath said with thee like the fool in his heart "there is no God," should now give glory unto his greatness: for penetrating is his power, his hand lies heavy upon me, he hath spoken unto me with a voice 25 of thunder, and I have felt he is a God that can punish enemies. Why should thy excellent wit, his gift, be so blinded, that thou shouldst give no glory to the giver? Is it pestilent Machiavellian policy2 that thou hast studied? 30 O punish folly! What are his rules but mere confused mockeries, able to extirpate in some small time the generation of mankind. For if Sic volo, sic jubeo,3 hold in those that are able to command: and if it be lawful Fas et nefas 35 to do anything that is beneficial, only Tyrants should possess the earth, and they striving to exceed in tyranny, should each to other be a slaughter man; till the mightiest outliving all, one stroke were left for Death, that in one age 40 man's life should end. The brother of this Diabolical atheism is dead, and in his life had never the felicity he aimed at; but as he began in craft, lived in fear, and ended in despair. Quam inscrutabilia sunt Dei judicia!5 45 This murderer of many brethren, had his conscience seared like Cain: this betrayer of him that gave his life for him, inherited the portion of Judas: this Apostuta perished as 1 Christopher Marlowe. Charges against Marlowe as a free-thinker and scorner of God's word had been laid before Elizabeth's council, but further procedure was interrupted by the poet's sudden death. 2 The policy, or doctrine, popularly attributed to the Italian statesman and writer Niccolo Machiavelli, 1469-1527. Machiavelli was commonly supposed to teach that treachery, deceit, or even crime, were justified by political expediency. He was opposed by the Church, and was generally believed to have died utterly bitter and blasphemous. Thus I will, thus I command. Right or wrong. How inscrutable are the judgments of God. And thou no less deserving than the other two, in some things rarer, in nothing inferior; driven (as myself) to extreme shifts, a little have I to say to thee; and were it not an idolatrous oath, I would swear by sweet St. George, thou art unworthy better hap, sith thou depended on so mean a stay. Base minded men all three of you, if by my misery ye be not warned: for unto none of you (like me) sought those burrs to cleave, those Puppets (I mean) that speech from our mouths, those anticks9 garnished in our colors. Is it not strange that I, to whom they all have been beholding:10 is it not like that you, to whom they all have been beholding, shall (were ye in that case that I am now) be both at once of them forsaken? Yes, trust them not: for there is an upstart Crow, 11 beautiful with our feathers that with his Tigers heart wrapt in a Players hide, supposes he is as well able to bumbast out a blank verse as the best of you! and being an absolute Johannes fac totem, 12 is in his own conceit the only Shake-scene in a county. O that I might entreat your rare wit to be employed in more profitable courses; and let those Apes imitate your past excellence, and never more acquaint them with your admired inventions. I know 50 the best husband 13 of you all will never prove an Usurer, and the kindest of them all will 6 Julian, Roman Emperor from 361-363, called "the Apostate." 7i. e. Thomas Nash (1567-c. 1601), poet and dramatist, was also author of various satirical pamphlets, and hence here referred to as a follower of the great Latin Satirist. 8 George Peele (c. 1558-c. 1598.) 10 Beholden. 11 Shakespeare. 12 i. e. Jack-of-all-trades. 13 i. e. the one who takes best care of his own, who husbands it the most carefully. never prove a kind nurse: Yet whilst you may, seek you better masters; for it is a pity men of such rare wits should be subject to the pleasures of such rude grooms. wages of sin, and passage to another world, is holy and religious; but the fear of it, as a tribute due unto nature, is weak. Yet in religious meditations there is sometimes mixture 5 of vanity and of superstition. You shall read in some of the friars' books of mortification, that a man should think with himself what the pain is, if he have but his finger's end pressed, or tortured, and thereby imagine what the In this I might insert two more, that both have writ against these buckram Gentlemen: but let their own works serve to witness against their own wickedness, if they persevere to maintain any such peasants. For other new comers, I leave them to the mercy of these 10 pains of death are when the whole body is painted monsters, who (I doubt not) will drive the best minded to despise them, for the rest, it skills not though they make a jest at them. corrupted and dissolved; when many times death passeth with less pain than the torture of a limb-for the most vital parts are not the quickest of sense: and by him that spake only as a philosopher and natural man, it was well said, "Pompa mortis magis terret quam mors ipsa." Groans, and convulsions, and a discoloured face, and friends weeping, and blacks,2 and obsequies, and the like, show death ter But now return I again to you three, knowing my misery is to you no news; and let me 15 heartily entreat you to be warned by my harms. Delight not (as I have done) in irreligious oaths; for from the blasphemers house, a curse shall not depart. Despise drunkenness, which wasteth the wit, and maketh men all 20 rible. It is worthy the observing, that there is no passion in the mind of man so weak, but it mates and masters the fear of death; and therefore death is no such terrible enemy when a man hath so many attendants about him, equal unto beasts. Fly lust, as the deathsman of the soul, and defile not the Temple of the Holy Ghost. Abhor thou Epicurus, whose loose life hath made religion loathsome to your ears; and when they soothe you with terms 25 that can win the combat of him. Revenge of mastership, remember Robert Greene, whom they have so often flattered, perishes now for want of comfort. Remember, Gentlemen, your lives are like so many lighted Tapers, that are triumphs over death; love slights it; honour aspireth to it, grief flieth to it; fear pre-occupateth it; nay, we read, after Otho the emperor had slain himself, pity (which is the with care delivered to all of you to maintain; 30 tenderest of affections) provoked many to die out of mere compassion to their sovereign, and as the truest sort of followers. Nay, Seneca adds, niceness and satiety: "Cogita quamdiu eadem feceris; mori velle, non tantum fortis, these with wind-puffed wrath may be extinguished, which drunkenness put out, which negligence let fall: for man's time of itself is not so short, but it is more shortened by sin. The fire of my life is now at its last snuff, and 35 aut miser, sed etiam fastidiosus potest." “A the want of wherewith to sustain it, there is no substance left for life to feed on. Trust not then (I beseech ye) to such weak stays; for they are as changeable in mind, as in many attires. Well, my hand is tired, and I am forced 40 to leave when I would fain begin; for a whole book cannot contain these wrongs, which I am forced to knit up in some few lines of words. Desirous that you should live, though himself be dying, ROBERT GREENE. Francis Bacon 1561-1626 OF DEATH (Essays, 1597, 1612, 1625) Men fear death as children fear to go into the dark; and as that natural fear in children is increased with tales, so is the other. Certainly, the contemplation of death, as the man would die, though he were neither valiant nor miserable, only upon a weariness to do the same thing so oft over and over." It is no less worthy to observe, how little alteration in good spirits the approaches of death make; for they appear to be the same men till the last instant. Augustus Cæsar died in a compliment: "Livia, conjugii nostri memor vive, et vale." Tiberius in dissimulation, as Tacitus saith of him, "Jam 45 Tiberium vires et corpus, non dissimulatio, deserebant:' .115 . . . Galba with a sentence, "Feri, si ex re sit populi Romani," holding forth his neck: Septimus Severus in despatch, "Adeste si quid mihi restat agendum," and the like. Certainly the Stoics bestowed too much cost 1 The trappings of death terrify more than death itself. 2 Hired mourners, or mutes, who were dressed in funeral black. Marcus Salvius Otho, Emperor of Rome, who committed suicide A. D. 69, after his overthrow by Vitellius, who succeeded him. 4 Livia, mindful of our wedlock, live, and farewell. 5 Already the mental powers and bodily strength were leaving Tiberius, but not his dissimulation. 6 Strike, if it be for the benefit of the Roman people. Dispatch, if there is anything left for me to do. upon death, and by their great preparations made it appear more fearful. Better, saith he, "qui finem vitæ extremum inter munera ponat naturæ." "8 It is as natural to die as to be born; and to a little infant, perhaps, the one is as painful as the other. He that dies in an earnest pursuit is like one that is wounded in hot blood; who, for the time, scarce feels the hurt; and therefore a mind fixed and bent upon somewhat that is good, doth avert the 10 works and embroideries, it is more pleasing to dolours of death: but, above all, believe it, the sweetest canticle is, Nunc dimittis, when a man hath obtained worthy ends and expectations. Death hath this also, that it openeth the gate to good fame, and extinguisheth 15 envy: "Extinctus amabitur idem." 10 benediction, and the clearer revelation of God's favour. Yet even in the Old Testament, if you listen to David's harp, you shall hear as many hearse-like airs as carols; and the pencil 5 of the Holy Ghost hath laboured more in describing the afflictions of Job than the felicities of Solomon. Prosperity is not without many fears and distastes; and adversity is not without comforts and hopes. We see in needle OF ADVERSITY (From the same) have a lively work upon a sad and solemn ground, than to have a dark and melancholy work upon a lightsome ground: judge, therefore, of the pleasure of the heart by the pleasure of the eye. Certainly virtue is like precious odours, most fragrant where they are incensed, or crushed; for prosperity doth best discover vice, but adversity doth best discover virtue. OF WISDOM FOR A MAN'S SELF (From the same) It was a high speech of Seneca (after the manner of the Stoics), that the "good things which belong to prosperity are to be wished, An ant is a wise creature for itself, but it is but the good things that belong to adversity 25 a shrewd1 thing in an orchard or garden; and certainly men that are great lovers of themselves waste the public. Divide with reason between self-love and society; and be so true to thyself as thou be not false to others, especially to thy king and country. It is a poor center of a man's actions, himself. It is right earth; for that only stands fast2 upon his own center; whereas all things that have affinity with the heavens move upon the center of another, which they benefit. The referring of all to a man's self is more tolerable in a sovereign prince, because themselves are not only themselves, but their good and evil is at the peril of the public fortune: but it is a desperate evil in a servant to a prince, or a citizen in a republic; for whatsoever affairs pass such a man's hands, he crooketh them to his own ends, which must needs be often eccentric, to the ends of his master or State: therefore, let princes or States chuse such servants as have not this mark, except they mean their service should be made but the accessary. That which maketh the effect more pernicious is, that all proportion is lost. It were disproportion enough are to be admired"-"Bona rerum secundarum optabilia, adversarum mirabilia." Certainly, if miracles be the command over nature, they appear most in adversity. It is yet a higher speech of his than the other (much too high 30 for a heathen) "It is true greatness to have in one the frailty of a man, and the security of a God"-"Vere magnum habere fragilitatem hominis, securitatem Dei." This would have done better in poesy, where transcendencies1 35 are more allowed; and the poets, indeed, have been busy with it-for it is in effect the thing which is figured in that strange fiction of the ancient poets, which seemeth not to be without mystery; nay, and to have some approach to 40 the state of a Christian, "that Hercules, when he went to unbind Prometheus (by whom human nature is represented), sailed the length of the great ocean in an earthen pot or pitcher, lively describing Christian resolution, that 45 saileth in the frail bark of the flesh through the waves of the world. But to speak in a mean,3 the virtue of prosperity is temperance, the virtue of adversity is fortitude, which in morals is the more heroical virtue. Prosperity is the 50 for the servant's good to be preferred before blessing of the Old Testament, adversity is the blessing of the New, which carrieth the greater |