for love needs no teaching nor precept. On the other side, be not sour or stern to thy wife; for cruelty engendereth no other thing than hatred: let her have equal part of thy estate whilst thou livest, if thou find her sparing and honest; but what thou givest after thy death, remember that thou givest it to a stranger, and most times to an enemy; for he that shall marry thy wife will despise thee, thy memory, and thine, and shall possess the quiet of thy labours, the fruit which thou hast planted, enjoy thy love, and spend with joy and ease what thou hast spared and gotten with care and travel: yet always remember, that thou leave not thy wife to be a shame unto thee after thou art dead, but that she may live according to thy estate; especially if thou hast few children, and them provided for. But howsoever it be, or whatsoever thou find, leave thy wife no more than of necessity thou must, but only during her widowhood; for if she love again, let her not enjoy her second love in the same bed wherein she loved thee, nor fly to future pleasures with those feathers which death hath pulled from thy wings; but leave thy estate to thy house and children, in which thou livest upon earth, whilst it lasteth. To conclude; wives were ordained to continue the generation of men, not to transfer them and diminish them, either in continuance or ability; and therefore thy house and estate, which liveth in thy son, and not in thy wife, is to be preferred. Let thy time of marriage be in thy young and strong years; for believe it, ever the young wife betrayeth the old husband, and she that had thee not in thy flower, will despise thee in thy fall, and thou shalt be unto her but a captivity and sorrow. Thy best time will be towards thirty; for as the younger times are unfit either to choose or to govern a wife and family; so if thou stay long, thou shalt hardly see the education of thy children, which being left to strangers, are in effect lost; and better were it to be unborn than ill-bred; for thereby thy posterity shall either perish, or remain a shame to thy name and family. Furthermore, if it be late ere thou take a wife, thou shalt spend thy prime and summer of thy life with harlots, destroy thy health, impoverish

thy estate, and endanger thy life; and be sure of this, that how many mistresses soever thou hast, so many enemies thou shalt purchase to thyself; for there never was any such affection which ended not in hatred or disdain: remember the saying of Solomon, There is a way which seemeth right to a man, but the issues thereof are the wages of death; for, howsoever a lewd woman please thee for a time, thou wilt hate her in the end, and she will study to destroy thee. If thou canst not abstain from them in thy vain and unbridled times; yet remember that thou sowest on the sands, and dost mingle thy vital blood with corrup tion, and purchasest diseases, repentance, and hatred only. Bestow therefore thy youth so, that thou mayest have comfort to remember it when it hath forsaken thee, and not sigh and grieve at the account thereof: whilst thou art young, thou wilt think it will never have an end; but behold, the longest day hath his evening, and that thou shalt enjoy it but once, that it never turns again; use it therefore as the spring-time, which soon departeth, and wherein thou oughtest to plant and sow all provisions for a long and happy life.

CHAP. III.

Wisest men have been abused by flatterers.

TAKE care thou be not made a fool by flatterers, for even the wisest men are abused by these. Know therefore, that flatterers are the worst kind of traitors; for they will strengthen thy imperfections, encourage thee in all evils, correct thee in nothing, but so shadow and paint all thy vices and follies as thou shalt never, by their will, discern evil from good, or vice from virtue. And because all men are apt to flatter themselves, to entertain the additions of other men's praises is most perilous. Do not therefore praise thyself, except thou wilt be counted a vainglorious fool, neither take delight in the praises of other men, except thou deserve it, and receive it from such as are worthy and honest, and will withal warn thee of thy faults: for flatterers have never any virtue, they are ever base, creep

ing, cowardly persons. A flatterer is said to be a beast that biteth smiling; it is said by Isaiah in this manner; My people, they that praise thee, seduce thee, and disorder the paths of thy feet: and David desired God to cut out the tongue of a flatterer. But it is hard to know them from friends, they are so obsequious and full of protestations; for a wolf resembles a dog, so doth a flatterer a friend. A flatterer is compared to an ape, who, because she cannot defend the house like a dog, labour as an ox, or bear burdens as a horse, doth therefore yet play tricks, and provoke laughter: thou mayest be sure that he that will in private tell thee thy faults is thy friend, for he adventures thy mislike, and doth hazard thy hatred; for there are few men that can endure it, every man for the most part delighting in self-praise, which is one of the most universal follies which bewitcheth mankind.

CHAP. IV.

Private quarrels to be avoided.

BE careful to avoid public disputations at feasts, or at tables among choleric or quarrelsome persons; and eschew evermore to be acquainted or familiar with ruffians; for thou shalt be in as much danger in contending with a brawler in a private quarrel as in a battle, wherein thou mayest get honour to thyself and safety to thy prince and country; but, if thou be once engaged, carry thyself bravely, that they may fear thee after. To shun therefore private fight, be well advised in thy words and behaviour; for honour and shame is in the talk, and the tongue of a man causeth him to fall.

Jest not openly at those that are simple, but remember how much thou art bound to God, who hath made thee wiser. Defame not any woman publicly, though thou know her to be evil for those that are faulty cannot endure to be taxed, but will seek to be avenged of thee, and those that are not guilty cannot endure unjust reproach. And as there is nothing more shameful and dishonest than to do wrong, so truth itself cutteth his throat that carrieth her

publicly in every place. Remember the divine saying; He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life. Do therefore right to all men where it may profit them, and thou shalt thereby get much love; and forbear to speak evil things of men, though it be true, (if thou be not constrained,) and thereby thou shalt avoid malice and revenge.

Do not accuse any man of any crime, if it be not to save thyself, thy prince, or country; for there is nothing more dishonourable (next to treason itself) than to be an accuser. Notwithstanding, I would not have thee for any respect lose thy reputation, or endure public disgrace; for better it were not to live, than to live a coward, if the offence proceed not from thyself; if it do, it shall be better to compound it upon good terms than to hazard thyself; for if thou overcome, thou art under the cruelty of the law; if thou art overcome, thou art dead or dishonoured. If thou therefore contend or discourse in argument, let it be with wise and sober men, of whom thou must learn by reasoning, and not with ignorant persons; for thou shalt thereby instruct those that will not thank thee, and utter what they have learned from thee for their own; but if thou know more than other men, utter it when it may do thee honour, and not in assemblies of ignorant and common persons.

Speaking much also is a sign of vanity; for he that is lavish in words is a niggard in deeds; and, as Solomon saith, The mouth of a wise man is in his heart, the heart of a fool is in his mouth, because what he knoweth or thinketh he uttereth. And by thy words and discourses men will judge thee for as Socrates saith, "Such as thy "words are, such will thy affections be esteemed; and such "will thy deeds as thy affections, and such thy life as thy "deeds." Therefore be advised what thou dost discourse of, and what thou maintainest, whether touching religion, state, or vanity; for if thou err in the first, thou shalt be accounted profane; if in the second, dangerous; if in the third, indiscreet and foolish: he that cannot refrain from much speaking is like a city without walls, and less pains

in the world a man cannot take, than to hold his tongue; therefore if thou observest this rule in all assemblies, thou shalt seldom err: restrain thy choler, hearken much, and speak little; for the tongue is the instrument of the greatest good and greatest evil that is done in the world.

According to Solomon, Life and death are in the power of the tongue: and as Euripides truly affirmeth, “Every "unbridled tongue in the end shall find itself unfortunate;" for, in all that ever I observed in the course of worldly things, I ever found that men's fortunes are oftener made by their tongues than by their virtues, and more men's fortunes overthrown thereby also, than by their vices. And to conclude; all quarrels, mischief, hatred, and destruction arise from unadvised speech, and in much speech there are many errors, out of which thy enemies shall ever take the most dangerous advantage. And as thou shalt be happy if thou thyself observe these things, so shall it be most profitable for thee to avoid their companies that err in that kind, and not to hearken to talebearers, to inquisitive persons, and such as busy themselves with other men's estates, that creep into houses as spies, to learn news which concerns them not; for assure thyself, such persons are most base and unworthy, and I never knew any of them prosper, or respected amongst worthy or wise men.

Take heed also that thou be not found a liar; for a lying spirit is hateful both to God and man. A liar is commonly a coward; for he dares not avow truth. A liar is trusted of no man, he can have no credit, neither in public nor private; and if there were no more arguments than this, know that our Lord in St. John saith, that it is a vice proper to Satan; lying being opposite to the nature of God, which consisteth in truth; and the gain of lying is nothing else but not to be trusted of any, nor to be believed when we say the truth. It is said in the Proverbs, that God hateth false lips; and he that speaketh lies shall perish. Thus thou mayest see and find in all the books of God how odious and contrary to God a liar is; and for the world,