From 5c75fd71d10bdeb586f8c5fd560ebbe31b922f83 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: lcerrato Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2022 17:30:30 -0400 Subject: [PATCH] adding files --- Renaissance/Sidney/opensource/defense.xml | 2074 +++ Renaissance/Wilson/opensource/arte.xml | 13508 ++++++++++++++++++++ 2 files changed, 15582 insertions(+) create mode 100644 Renaissance/Sidney/opensource/defense.xml create mode 100644 Renaissance/Wilson/opensource/arte.xml diff --git a/Renaissance/Sidney/opensource/defense.xml b/Renaissance/Sidney/opensource/defense.xml new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9bff99d --- /dev/null +++ b/Renaissance/Sidney/opensource/defense.xml @@ -0,0 +1,2074 @@ + + + +%PersProse; +]> + + + + +Defence of Poesie +Sir Philip Sidney +&responsibility; + +&Perseus.publish; + + +The Defence of Poesie +Sir Philip Sidney +William Ponsonby +London +1595 + + + + + + + + + + + + +English +Latin +Greek> + + + + +12-Apr-01 +Anne Mahoneyed. + +$Log: defense.xml,v $ +Revision 1.1 2009-12-09 18:48:07 rsingh04 +moved more xml files around based on copyright status + +Revision 1.2 2004/04/22 14:30:09 cwulfman +Fixed log entry in item element + +Revision 1.1 2004/04/22 13:36:45 cwulfman +Making xml version primary; archiving sgml version + +Revision 1.3 2003/07/01 22:17:57 yorkc +Updated texts to TEI P4 and Perseus P4 extensions; minor cleanup (esp. character encodings and typos.) + +Revision 1.2 2001/04/12 22:12:37 amahoney +fix spacing around punctuation + +Revision 1.1 2001/04/12 21:33:11 amahoney +new file, just for fun + + + + + + + + + +

When the right vertuous E. W. and I were +at the Emperours Court togither, wee gaue our selues to learne +horsemanship of Ion Pietro Pugliano, one +that with great commendation had the place of an Esquire in his +stable: and hee according to the fertilnes of the Italian wit, did not +onely affoord vs the demonstration of his practise, but sought to +enrich our mindes with the contemplations therein, which he thought +most precious. But with none I remember mine eares were at any time +more loaden, then when (either angred with slow paiment, or mooued +with our learnerlike admiration) hee exercised his speech in the +praise of his facultie. He said souldiers were the noblest estate of +mankind, and horsemen the noblest of souldiers. He said they were the +maisters of warre, and ornaments of peace, speedie goers, and strong +abiders, triumphers both in Camps and Courts: nay to so vnbleeued a +point he proceeded, as that no earthly thing bred such wonder to a +Prince, as to be a good horseman. Skill of gouernment was but a +Pedanteria, in comparison, then would he +adde certaine praises by telling what a peerlesse beast the horse was, +the onely seruiceable Courtier without flattery, the beast of most +bewtie, faithfulnesse, courage, and such more, that if I had not bene +a peece of a Logician before I came to him, +I thinke he would haue perswaded me to haue wished my selfe a horse. +But thus much at least, with his no few words he draue into me, that +selfeloue is better then any guilding, to make that seem gorgious +wherin our selues be parties. +

 + + +

Wherin if Pulianos strong affection and weake arguments +will not satisfie you, I wil giue you a nearer example +of my selfe, who I know not by what mischance in +these my not old yeares and idlest times, hauing slipt +into the title of a Poet, am prouoked to say somthing +vnto you in the defence of that my vnelected vocation, which if I handle with more good will, then +good reasons beare with me, since the scholler is to +be pardoned that followeth the steps of his maister. +And yet I must say, that as I haue more iust cause to +make a pittifull defence of poore Poetrie, which +from almost the highest estimation of learning, is +falne to be the laughing stocke of children, so haue +I need to bring some more auaileable proofes, since +the former is by no man bard of his deserued credit, +the silly later, hath had euen the names of Philosophers, vsed to the defacing of it, with great daunger +of ciuill warre among the Muses. +

 + +

And first truly to +all them that professing learning enuey against Poetrie, may iustly be obiected, that they go very neare +to vngratefulnesse, to seeke to deface that which in +the noblest nations and languages that are knowne, +hath bene the first light giuer to ignorance, and first +nurse whose milke litle by litle enabled them to feed +afterwards of tougher knowledges. And will you +play the Hedge-hogge, that being receiued into the +den, draue out his host? Or rather the Vipers, that +with their birth kill their parents? Let learned Greece +in any of his manifold Sciences, be able to shew me +one booke before Musæus, Homer, & Hesiod, all three +nothing else but Poets. Nay let any Historie bee +brought, that can say any writers were there before +them, if they were not men of the same skill, as Orpheus, Linus, +and some other are named, who hauing +bene the first of that country that made pennes deliuerers of their knowledge to the postertie, +nay iustly challenge to bee called their Fathers in learning. +For not onely in time they had this prioritie, (although in it selfe antiquitie be venerable) but went +before them, as causes to draw with their charming +sweetnesse the wild vntamed wits to an admiration +of knowledge. So as Amphion, was said to mooue +stones with his Poetry, to build Thebes, and Orpheus +to be listned to by beasts, indeed stonie and beastly +people. +

 + +

So among the Romans, were Liuius Andronicus, +and Ennius, so in the Italian language, the first +that made it aspire to be a treasure-house of Science, +were the Poets Dante, Bocace, and Petrach. So in our +English, were Gower, and Chawcer, after whom, +encoraged & delighted with their excellent foregoing, +others haue folowed to bewtify our mother toong, +aswel in the same kind as other arts. +

 + +

This did so notably shew it self, thatt the Philosophers +of Greece durst not a +long time apear to ye world, but vnder ye mask of poets. So Thales, +Empedocles, and Parmenides, sang their naturall +Philosophie in verses. So did Pithagoras and +Phocillides, their morall Councels. So did Tirteus in +warre matters, and Solon in matters of pollicie, or rather +they being Poets, did exercise their delightfull +vaine in those points of highest knowledge, which +before them laie hidden to the world. For, that wise +Solon was directly a Poet, it is manifest, hauing writ- +ten in verse the notable Fable of the Atlantick Iland, +which was continued by Plato. And truely euen Plato +who so euer well considereth, shall finde that in +the body of his worke though the inside & strength +were Philosophie, the skin as it were and beautie, +depended most of Poetrie. For all stands vpon Dialogues, wherein hee faines many honest Burgesses +of Athens speak of such matters, that if they had bene +set on the Racke, they would neuer haue confessed +them: besides his Poeticall describing the circumstances of their meetings, as the well ordering of a +banquet, the delicacie of a walke, with enterlacing +meere Tales, as Gyges Ring and others, which, who +knowes not to bee flowers of Poetrie, did neuer +walke into Appollos Garden. +

 + +

And euen Historiographers, although their lippes sound of things done, +and veritie be written in their forehead, haue bene +glad to borrow both fashion and perchance weight +of the Poets. So Herodotus entituled his Historie, by +the name of the nine Muses, and both he and all the +rest that followed him, either stale, or vsurped of +Poetrie, their passionate describing of passions, the +many particularities of battels which no man could +affirme, or if that be denied me, long Orations put +in the mouthes of great Kings and Captains, which +it is certaine they neuer pronounced. So that truly +neither Philosopher, nor Historiographer, could at the +first haue entered into the gates of populer iudgements, if they had not taken a great pasport +of Poetrie, which in all nations at this day where learning +flourisheth not, is plaine to be seene: in all which, +they haue some feeling of Poetry. +

 + +

In Turkey, besides +their lawgiuing Diuines, they haue no other writers but Poets. In our neighbour Countrey Ireland, +where truly learning goes verie bare, yet are their +Poets held in a deuout reuerence. Euen among the +most barbarous and simple Indians, where no writing is, yet haue they their Poets who make & sing +songs which they call Arentos, both of their Auncestors deeds, and praises of their Gods. A sufficient +probability, that if euer learning come among them, +it must be by hauing their hard dull wittes softened +and sharpened with the sweete delights of Poetrie, +for vntill they finde a pleasure in the exercise of the +minde, great promises of much knowledge, wil little persuade them that know not the +frutes of knowledge. In Wales, the true remnant of the auncient +Brittons, as there are good authorities to shew, the +long time they had Poets which they called Bardes: +so thorow all the conquests of Romans, Saxons, Danes, +and Normans, some of whom, did seeke to ruine all +memory of learning from among them, yet do their +Poets euen to this day last: so as it is not more notable in the soone beginning, then in long continuing. +

 + +

But since the Authors of most of our Sciences, +were the Romanes, and before them the Greekes, let vs +a litle stand vpon their authorities, but euen so farre +as to see what names they haue giuen vnto this now +scorned skill. Among the Romanes a Poet was called +Vates, which is as much as a diuiner, foreseer, or +Prophet, as by his conioyned words Vaticinium, +and Vaticinari, is manifest, so heauenly a title did +that excellent people bestowe vppon this hart-rauishing knowledge, and so farre were they +carried into the admiration thereof, that they thought +in the chanceable hitting vppon any of such verses, great foretokens of their following fortunes, +were placed. Whereupon grew the world of Sortes Vergilianae, +when by suddaine opening Virgils +booke, they lighted vppon some verse of his, as it +is reported by many, whereof the Histories of the +Emperours liues are full. As of Albinus the Gouernour +of our Iland, who in his childhood met +with this verse Arma amens capio, nec sat rationis in armis: and in his age performed it, although +it were a verie vaine and godlesse superstition, as +also it was, to thinke spirits were commaunded by +such verses, whereupon this word Charmes deriued +of Carmina, commeth: so yet serueth it to shew +the great reuerence those wittes were held in, and +altogither not without ground, since both by the +Oracles of Delphos and Sybillas prophesies, were +wholly deliuered in verses, for that same exquisite +obseruing of number and measure in the words, +and that high flying libertie of conceit propper to +the Poet, did seeme to haue some diuine force in it. +

 + +

And may not I presume a little farther, to shewe the +reasonablenesse of this word Vatis, and say that the +holy Dauids Psalms are a diuine Poeme? If I do, I shal +not do it without the testimony of great learned men +both auncient and moderne. But euen the name of +Psalmes wil speak for me, which being interpreted, +is nothing but Songs: then that it is fully written in +meeter as all learned Hebritians agree, although the +rules be not yet fully found. Lastly and principally, +his handling his prophecie, which is meerly Poeticall. For what else is the awaking his musical +Instruments, the often and free chaunging of persons, his +notable Prosopopeias, when he maketh you as it were +see God comming in his maiestie, his telling of the +beasts ioyfulnesse, and hils leaping, but a heauenly +poesie, wherin almost he sheweth himselfe a passionate louer of that vnspeakable and euerlasting bewtie, +to be seene by the eyes of the mind, onely cleared +by faith? But truly now hauing named him, I feare I +seeme to prophane that holy name, applying it to +Poetry, which is among vs throwne downe to so +ridiculous an estimation. But they that with quiet +iudgements wil looke a litle deeper into it, shal find +the end & working of it such, as being rightly applied, deserueth not to be scourged out of the Church +of God. +

 + +

But now let vs see how the Greekes haue +named it, and how they deemed of it. The Greekes +named him poih/thn which name, hath as the most excellent, gone through other languages, it commeth +of this word poiei=n which is to make: wherin I know +not whether by luck or wisedome, we Englishmen +haue met with the Greekes in calling him Maker. +Which name, how high and incomparable a title it +is, I had rather were knowne by marking the scope +of other sciences, then by any partial allegation. There +is no Art deliuered vnto mankind that hath not the +workes of nature for his principall obiect, without +which they could not consist, and on which they so +depend, as they become Actors & Plaiers, as it were +of what nature will haue set forth. So doth the Astronomer looke vpon the starres, and by that he seeth +set downe what order nature hath taken therein. So +doth the Geometritian & Arithmititian, in their diuers +sorts of quantities. So doth the Musitians in times tel +you, which by nature agree, which not. The natural Philosopher thereon hath his name, and +the morall Philosopher standeth vppon the naturall vertues, +vices, or passions of man: and follow nature saith he +therein, and thou shalt not erre. The Lawier saith, +what men haue determined. The Historian, what +men haue done. The Gramarian, speaketh onely of +the rules of speech, and the Rhetoritian and Logitian, considering +what in nature wil soonest prooue, +and perswade thereon, giue artificiall rules, which +still are compassed within the circle of a question, according to the proposed matter. The Phisitian wayeth +the nature of mans bodie, & the nature of things +helpfull, or hurtfull vnto it. And the Metaphisicke +though it be in the second & abstract Notions, and +therefore be counted supernaturall, yet doth hee indeed build vpon the depth of nature. +

 + +

Only the Poet +disdeining to be tied to any such subiection, lifted vp +with the vigor of his own inuention, doth grow in +effect into an other nature: in making things either +better then nature bringeth foorth, or quite a new, +formes such as neuer were in nature: as the Heroes, +Demigods, Cyclops, Chymeras, Furies, and such like; so +as he goeth hand in hand with nature, not enclosed +within the narrow warrant of her gifts, but freely +raunging within the Zodiack of his owne wit. Nature neuer set foorth the earth in so rich Tapistry as +diuerse Poets haue done, neither with so pleasaunt +riuers, fruitfull trees, sweete smelling flowers, nor +whatsoeuer els may make the too much loued earth +more louely: her world is brasen, the Poets only deliuer a golden. +

 + +

But let those things alone and goe to +man, for whom as the other things are, so it seemeth +in him her vttermost comming is imploied: & know +whether she haue brought foorth so true a louer as +Theagenes, so constant a friend as Pylades, so valiant a +man as Orlando, so right a Prince as Xenophons Cyrus, +so excellent a man euery way as Virgils Aeneas. Neither let this be iestingly conceiued, bicause the works +of the one be essenciall, the other in imitation or fiction: for euerie vnderstanding, knoweth the skill +of ech Artificer standeth in that Idea, or fore conceit +of the worke, and not in the worke it selfe. And that +the Poet hath that Idea, is manifest, by deliuering +them foorth in such excellencie as he had imagined +them: which deliuering foorth, also is not wholly +imaginatiue, as we are wont to say by them that build +Castles in the aire: but so farre substancially it worketh, not onely to make a Cyrus, which had bene but +a particular excellency as nature might haue done, +but to bestow a Cyrus vpon the world to make +many Cyrusses, if they will learne aright, why and how +that maker made him. Neither let it be deemed too +sawcy a comparison, to ballance the highest point of +mans wit, with the efficacie of nature: but rather +giue right honor to the heauenly maker of that maker, who hauing made man to his owne likenes, set +him beyond and ouer all the workes of that second +nature, which in nothing he sheweth so much as in +Poetry ; when with the force of a diuine breath, he +bringeth things foorth surpassing her doings: with +no small arguments to the incredulous of that first +accursed fall of Adam, since our erected wit maketh +vs know what perfection is, and yet our infected will +keepeth vs from reaching vnto it. +

 + +

But these arguments +will by few be vnderstood, and by fewer graunted: +thus much I hope wil be giuen me, that the Greeks +with some probability of reason, gaue him the name +aboue all names of learning. Now let vs goe to a +more ordinarie opening of him, that the truth may +be the more palpable: and so I hope though we get +not so vnmatched a praise as the Etimologie of his +names will graunt, yet his verie description which +no man will denie, shall not iustly be barred from +a principall commendation. Poesie therefore, is an +Art of Imitation: for so Aristotle termeth it in the +word mi/mhsis, that is to say, a representing, counterfeiting, or figuring forth to speake Metaphorically. A +speaking Picture, with this end to teach and delight. +

 + +

Of this haue bene three generall kindes, the chiefe +both in antiquitie and excellencie, were they that +did imitate the vnconceiueable excellencies of God. +Such were Dauid in his Psalmes, Salomon in his song +of songs, in his Ecclesiastes and Prouerbes. Moses +and Debora, in their Hymnes, and the wryter of +Iobe: Which beside other, the learned Emanuell, +Tremelius, and F. Iunius, doo entitle the Poeticall +part of the scripture: against these none will speake +that hath the holie Ghost in due holie reuerence. In +this kinde, though in a full wrong diuinitie, were +Orpheus, Amphion, Homer in his himnes, +and manie other both Greeke and Romanes. And +this Poesie must be vsed by whosoeuer will follow S. Paules +counsaile, in singing Psalmes when they are mery, +and I knowe is vsed with the frute of comfort by +some, when in sorrowfull panges of their death +bringing sinnes, they finde the consolation of the +neuer leauing goodnes. +

 + +

The second kinde, is of +them that deale with matters Philosophicall, either +morall as Tirteus, Phocilides, Cato; +or naturall, as Lucretius, and Virgils Georgikes; or Astronomicall +as Manilius and Pontanus; or Historicall as Lucan: which +who mislike the fault, is in their iudgement quite +out of tast, & not in the sweet food of sweetly vttered knowledge. But bicause this second sort is wrapped +within the folde of the proposed subiect, and +takes not the free course of his own inuention, whether they properly bee Poets or no, let Gramarians +dispute; and goe to the third indeed right Poets, of +whom chiefly this question ariseth: betwixt whom +and these second, is such a kinde of difference, as +betwixt the meaner sort of Painters, who counterfeyt onely such faces as are set before them, and +the more excelent, who hauing no law but wit, bestow that in colours vpon you, which is fittest for +the eye to see, and the constant, though lamenting +looke of Lucretia, when shee punished in her +selfe anothers faulte: wherein hee painteth not +Lucretia whom he neuer saw, but painteth the outward bewty of such a vertue. For these third be they +which most properly do imitate to teach & delight: +and to imitate, borrow nothing of what is, hath bin, +or shall be, but range onely reined with learned discretion, into the diuine consideration of what may +be and should be. These be they that as the first and +most noble sort, may iustly be termed Vates: so these +are waited on in the excellentest languages and best +vnderstandings, with the fore described name of Poets. For these indeed do meerly make to imitate, and +imitate both to delight & teach, and delight to moue +men to take that goodnesse in hand, which without +delight they would flie as from a stranger; and teach +to make them know that goodnesse wherunto they +are moued: which being the noblest scope to which +euer any learning was directed, yet want there not +idle tongues to barke at them. +

 + +

These be subdiuided +into sundry more speciall denominations. The most +notable be the Heroick, Lyrick, + Tragick, Comick, Satyrick, Iambick, + Elegiack, Pastorall, and certaine others: +some of these being tearmed according to the matter they deale with, some by the sort of verse they liked +best to write in, for indeed the greatest part of +Poets, haue apparelled their poeticall inuentions, in +that numbrous kind of writing which is called vers. +Indeed but apparelled verse: being but an ornament +and no cause to Poetrie, since there haue bene many +most excellent Poets that neuer versefied, and now +swarme many versefiers that need neuer answere to +the name of Poets. For Xenophon who did imitate so +excellently as to giue vs effigiem iusti imperii, the +pourtraiture of a iust Empyre vnder the name of Cyrus, +as Cicero saith of him, made therein an absolute +heroicall Poeme. So did Heliodorus, in his sugred inuention +of that picture of loue in Theagenes & Chariclea, and +yet both these wrote in prose, which I +speake to shew, that it is not ryming and versing that +maketh a Poet, (no more then a long gown maketh +an Aduocate, who though he pleaded in Armour, +should be an Aduocat and no souldier) but it is that +faining notable images of vertues, vices, or what els, +with that delightfull teaching, which must be the +right describing note to know a Poet by. Although +indeed the Senate of Poets hath chosen verse as their +fittest raiment: meaning as in matter, they passed all +in all, so in maner, to go beyond them: not speaking +table talke fashion, or like men in a dreame, words +as they chanceably fall from the mouth, but peasing +each sillable of eache word by iust proportion, according to the dignitie of the subiect. +

 + +

Now therfore +it shal not be amisse, first to way this latter sort of poetrie by his workes, and then by his parts, and if in +neither of these Anatomies hee be condemnable, I +hope we shall obteine a more fauourable sentence. +This purifying of wit, this enriching of memorie, +enabling of iudgement, and enlarging of conceit, +which commonly we cal learning, vnder what name +so euer it come forth, or to what immediate end soeuer it be directed, the finall end is, to lead and draw +vs to as high a perfection, as our degenerate soules +made worse by their clay-lodgings, can be capable +of. This according to the inclination of man, bred +many formed impressions. For some that thought +this felicity principally to be gotten by knowledge, +and no knowledge to be so high or heauenly, as acquaintance with the stars; gaue themselues +to Astronomie: others perswading themselues to be Demygods, +if they knew the causes of things, became naturall +and supernaturall Philosophers. Some an admirable +delight drew to Musicke; and some the certaintie of +demonstration to the Mathematicks: but all one and +other hauing this scope to know, & by knowledge +to lift vp the minde from the dungeon of the bodie, +to the enioying his owne diuine essence. But when +by the ballance of experience it was found, that the +Astronomer looking to the stars might fall in a ditch, +that the inquiring Philosopher might be blind in him +self, & the Mathematician, might draw forth a straight +line with a crooked hart. Then lo did proofe, the ouerruler of opinions make manifest, that all these are +but seruing sciences; which as they haue a priuate +end in themselues, so yet are they all directed to the +highest end of the mistresse knowledge by ye Greeks +a)rxitektoni/kh +which stands as I thinke, in the knowledge +of a mans selfe, in the Ethike and Politique consideration, with the end of well doing, and not of well +knowing onely. +

 + +

Euen as the Sadlers next ende is to +make a good Saddle, but his further ende, to serue a +nobler facultie, which is horsmanship, so the horsemans to souldiery: and the souldier not onely to haue +the skill, but to performe the practise of a souldier. +So that the ending end of all earthly learning, being +verteous action, those skils that most serue to bring +forth that, haue a most iust title to be Princes ouer al +the rest: wherin if we can shew, the Poet is worthy to +haue it before any other competitors: among whom +principally to challenge it, step forth the moral Philosophers, whom me thinkes I see comming towards +me, with a sullain grauitie, as though they could not +abide vice by day-light, rudely cloathed, for to witnesse outwardly their contempt of outward things, +with bookes in their hands against glorie, whereto +they set their names: sophistically speaking against +subtiltie, and angry with any man in whom they see +the foule fault of anger. These men casting larges as +they go of definitions, diuitions, and distinctions, +with a scornful interrogatiue, do soberly aske, whether it be possible to find any path so ready to lead a +man to vertue, as that which teacheth what vertue +is, & teacheth it not only by deliuering forth his very being, his causes and effects, but also by making +knowne his enemie vice, which must be destroyed, +and his combersome seruant passion, which must be +mastred: by shewing the generalities that contains +it, and the specialities that are deriued from it. +

 + +

Lastly by plaine setting downe, how it extends it selfe out +of the limits of a mans owne little world, to the gouernment of families, and mainteining of publike +societies. The Historian scarsely giues leisure to the +Moralist to say so much, but that he loaden with old +Mouse-eaten Records, authorising himselfe for the +most part vpon other Histories, whose greatest authorities are built vppon the notable foundation +Heresay, hauing much ado to accord differing writers, & to pick truth out of partiality: +better acquainted with a 1000 . yeres ago, then with the present age, +and yet better knowing how this world goes, then +how his owne wit runnes, curious for Antiquities, +and inquisitiue of Nouelties, a wonder to yoong +folkes, and a Tyrant in table talke; denieth in a great +chafe, that any man for teaching of vertue, and vertues actions, is comparable to him. +I am Testis temporum, lux veritatis, vita memoriae, magistra vitae, nuncia vetustatis. +The Philosopher saieth he, teacheth a disputatiue vertue, but I do an actiue. His +vertue is excellent in the dangerlesse Academy of Plato: but mine +sheweth forth her honourable face in the battailes +of Marathon, Pharsalia, Poietiers, and Agincourt. Hee +teacheth vertue by certaine abstract considerations: +but I onely bid you follow the footing of them that +haue gone before you. Old aged experience, goeth +beyond the fine witted Philosopher: but I giue the +experience of many ages. +

 + +

Lastly, if he make the song +Booke, I put the learners hand to the Lute, and if he +be the guide, I am the light. Then would he alleage +you innumerable examples, confirming storie by +stories, how much the wisest Senators and Princes, +haue bene directed by the credit of Historie, as Brutus, Alphonsus +of Aragon, (and who not if need be. ) +At length, the long line of their disputation makes a +point in this, that the one giueth the precept, & the +other the example. Now whom shall we find, since +the question standeth for the highest forme in the +schoole of learning to be moderator? Truly as mee +seemeth, the Poet, and if not a moderator, euen the +man that ought to carry the title from them both: +& much more from all other seruing sciences. +

 + +

Therfore compare we the Poet with the Historian, & with +the morall Philosopher: and if hee goe beyond them +both, no other humaine skill can match him. For as +for the diuine, with all reuerence it is euer to be excepted, not onely for hauing his scope as far beyond +any of these, as Eternitie exceedeth a moment: but +euen for passing ech of these in themselues. And for +the Lawier, though Ius be the daughter of Iustice, the +chiefe of vertues, yet because he seeks to make men +good, rather formidine poenae, then virtutis amore: or +to say righter, doth not endeuor to make men good, +but that their euill hurt not others, hauing no care +so he be a good citizen, how bad a man he be. Therfore as our wickednes maketh him necessarie, and +necessitie maketh him honorable, so is he not in the +deepest truth to stand in ranck with these, who al endeuour to take naughtinesse away, and plant +goodnesse euen in the secretest cabinet of our soules: and +these foure are all that any way deale in the consideration of mens manners, which being the supreme +knowledge, they that best breed it, deserue the best +commendation. The Philosopher therefore, and the +Historian, are they which would win the goale, the +one by precept, the other by example: but both, not +hauing both, doo both halt. For the Philosopher set- +ting downe with thornie arguments, the bare rule, +is so hard of vtterance, and so mistie to be conceiued, +that one that hath no other guide but him, shall +wade in him till he be old, before he shall finde sufficient cause to be honest. For his knowledge +standeth so vpon the abstract and generall that happie is +that man who may vnderstand him, and more happie, that can apply what he doth vnderstand. On the +other side, the Historian wanting the precept, is so +tied, not to what should be, but to what is, to the +particular truth of things, and not to the general reason of things, that his example draweth no +necessarie consequence, and therefore a lesse fruitfull doctrine. +

 + +

Now doth the peerlesse Poet performe both, +for whatsoeuer the Philosopher saith should be done, +he giues a perfect picture of it by some one, by whom +he presupposeth it was done, so as he coupleth the +generall notion with the particuler example. A perfect picture I say, for hee yeeldeth to the powers of +the minde an image of that whereof the Philosopher +bestoweth but a wordish description, which doth +neither strike, pearce, nor possesse, the sight of the +soule so much, as that other doth. For as in outward +things to a man that had neuer seene an Elephant, or a +Rinoceros, who should tell him most exquisitely all +their shape, cullour, bignesse, and particuler marks, +or of a gorgious pallace an Architecture, who decla- +ring the full bewties, might well make the hearer able to repeat as it were by roat all he had heard, yet +should neuer satisfie his inward conceit, with being +witnesse to it selfe of a true liuely knowledge: but +the same man, assoon as he might see those beasts wel +painted, or that house wel in modell, shuld straightwaies grow without need of any description to a +iudicial comprehending of them, so no doubt the Philosopher with his learned definitions, be it of vertues +of vices, matters of publike policy or priuat gouernment, replenisheth the memorie with many infallible +grounds of wisdom, which notwithstanding lie +darke before the imaginatiue and iudging power, if +they be not illuminated or figured forth by the +speaking picture of Poesie. +

 + +

Tully taketh much paines, and +many times not without Poeticall helpes to make vs +know the force, loue of our country hath in vs. Let +vs but heare old Anchices, speaking in the middest of +Troies flames, or see Vlisses in the fulnesse of +all Calipsoes delightes, bewaile his absence from barraine +and beggerly Ithecæ. Anger the Stoickes said, was a +short madnesse: let but Sophocles bring you Aiax on +a stage, killing or whipping sheepe and oxen, thinking them the Army of Greekes, with their Chieftaines +Agamemnon, and Menelaus: and tell me if you +haue not a more familiar insight into Anger, then +finding in the schoolemen his Genus and Difference. +See whether wisdom and temperance in Vlisses and +Diomedes, valure in Achilles, friendship in Nisus and +Eurialus, euen to an ignorant man carry not an apparant shining: and contrarily, the remorse +of conscience in Oedipus; the soone repenting pride in Agamemnon; the +selfe deuouring crueltie in his father +Atreus ; the violence of ambition in the two Theban +brothers; the sower sweetnesse of reuenge in Medea; +and to fall lower, the Terentian Gnato, and our Chawcers Pander so +exprest, that we now vse their names, +to signifie their Trades: and finally, all vertues, vices, and passions, so in their owne naturall states, +laide to the view, that we seeme not to heare of +them, but clearly to see through them. +

 + +

But euen in the most excellent determination of goodnesse, +what Philosophers counsaile can so readely +direct a Prince, as the feined Cirus in Xenophon, +or a vertuous man in all fortunes: as Aeneas in +Virgill, or a whole Common-wealth, as the Way +of Sir Thomas Moores Eutopia. I say the Way, because where Sir Thomas Moore erred, it was the +fault of the man and not of the Poet: for that Way +of patterning a Common-wealth, was most absolute +though hee perchaunce hath not so absolutely +performed it. For the question is, whether the fained Image of Poetrie, or the reguler instruction +of Philosophie, hath the more force in teaching ? +Wherein if the Philosophers haue more rightly shew- +ed themselues Philosophers then the Poets, haue atteined to the +high toppe of their profession(as in truth +Mediocribus esse poetis non Dii, non homines, non concessere columnae, ) it is (I say againe) not the fault of the +Art, but that by fewe men that Art can be accomplished. Certainly euen our Sauiour Christ could as +well haue giuen the morall comon places of vncharitablenesse and humblenesse, as the diuine +narration of Diues and Lazarus, or of disobedience and +mercy, as that heauenly discourse of the lost childe +and the gracious Father, but that his through searching wisdome, knew the estate of Diues burning +in hell, and of Lazarus in Abrahams bosome, would +more constantly as it were, inhabit both the memorie and iudgement. Truly for my selfe(mee seemes) +I see before mine eyes, the lost childs disdainful prodigalitie, turned to enuy a Swines dinner: which by +the learned Diuines are thought not Historical acts, +but instructing Parables. For conclusion, I say the +Philosopher teacheth, but he teacheth obscurely, so as +the learned onely can vnderstand him, that is to say, +he teacheth them that are alreadie taught. +

 + +

But the Poet is the food for the tendrest stomacks, the Poet +is indeed, the right populer Philosopher. Whereof +Esops Tales giue good proofe, whose prettie Allegories stealing vnder the formall Tales of beastes, +makes many more beastly then beasts: begin to hear +the sound of vertue from those dumbe speakers. But +now may it be alleadged, that if this imagining of +matters be so fit for the imagination, then must the +Historian needs surpasse, who brings you images of +true matters, such as indeed were done, and not such +as fantastically or falsly may be suggested to haue bin +done. Truly Aristotle himselfe in his discourse of Poesie, plainly +determineth this question, saying, that Poetrie is +filosophw/teron, and spoudaio/teron, +that is to say, it is more +Philosophicall and more then History. His reason is, +because Poesie dealeth with kaqo/lou, that is to say, with +the vniuersall consideration, and the Historie with +kaq' e)/kaston, +the particular. Now saith he, the vniuersall +wayes what is fit to be said or done, either in likelihood or necessitie, +which the Poesie considereth in +his imposed names: and the particular onely marketh whether Alcibiades did or suffered this or that. +Thus farre Aristotle. Which reason of his, as all his +is most full of reason. +

 + +

For indeed if the question were, +whether it were better to haue a particular act truly +or falsly set downe, there is no doubt which is to be +chosen, no more then whether you had rather haue +Vespacians Picture right as he was, or at the Painters +pleasure nothing resembling. But if the question be +for your owne vse and learning, whether it be better to haue it set downe as it should be, or as it was ; +then certainly is more doctrinable, the fained Cyrus +in Xenophon, then the true Cyrus in Iustin: and the +fained Aeneas in Virgill, +then the right Aeneas in Dares Phrigius: as to a Ladie that desired to fashion her +countenance to the best grace: a Painter shuld more +benefite her to pourtrait a most sweete face, writing Canidia vppon it, +then to paint Canidia as shee +was, who Horace sweareth was full ill fauoured. If +the Poet do his part aright, he wil shew you in Tantalus Atreus, +and such like, nothing that is not to +be shunned; in Cyrus, Aeneas, Vlisses, each thing +to be followed: where the Historian bound to tell +things as things were, cannot be liberall, without +hee will be Poeticall of a perfect patterne, but as in +Alexander, or Scipio himselfe, shew doings, some to +be liked, some to be misliked; and then how wil you +discerne what to follow, but by your own discretion +which you had without reading Q. Curtius. And +whereas a man may say, though in vniuersall consideration of doctrine, the Poet preuaileth, yet that the +Historie in his saying such a thing was done, doth +warrant a man more in that he shall follow. The answere is manifest, that if he stand vpon that was, as +if he should argue, because it rained yesterday, therfore it should raine to day, then indeede hath it +some aduantage to a grosse conceit. But if hee +knowe an example onely enformes a coniectured +likelihood, and so goe by reason, the Poet doth so +farre exceed him, as hee is to frame his example +to that which is most reasonable, be it in warlike, +politike, or priuate matters, where the Historian in +his bare, was, hath many times that which we call +fortune, to ouerrule the best wisedome. Manie +times he must tell euents, whereof he can yeeld no +cause, or if he do, it must be poetically. +

 + +

For that a fained example hath as much force to teach, as a true +example (for as for to mooue, it is cleare, since the +fained may be tuned to the highest key of passion) +let vs take one example wherein an Historian and a +Poet did concurre. Herodotus and Iustin doth both +testifie, that Zopirus, King Darius faithfull seruant, +seeing his maister long resisted by the rebellious Babilonians, fained +himselfe in extreame disgrace of his +King, for verifying of which, he caused his owne +nose and eares to be cut off, and so flying to the +Babylonians was receiued, and for his knowne valure so farre creadited, that hee did finde meanes +to deliuer them ouer to Darius. Much like matter +doth Liuy record of Tarquinius, and his sonne. +Xenophon excellently faineth such an other Stratageme, +performed by Abradates in Cyrus behalfe. +Now would I faine knowe, if occasion be presented vnto you, to serue your Prince by such an honest +dissimulation, why you do not as well learne +it of Xenophons fiction, as of the others veritie: and +truly so much the better, as you shall saue your nose +by the bargaine. For Abradates did not coun- +terfeyt so farre. +

 + +

So then the best of the Historian +is subiect to the Poet, for whatsoeuer action or +faction, whatsoeuer counsaile, pollicie, or warre, +stratageme, the Historian is bounde to recite, that +may the Poet if hee list with his imitation make his +owne ; bewtifying it both for further teaching, +and more delighting as it please him: hauing all +from Dante his heuen to his hell, vnder the authority of +his pen. Which if I be asked what Poets haue don for +as I might wel name some, so yet say I, and say again, +I speake of the Art and not of the Artificer. +

 + +

Now to that which commonly is attributed to the praise of +Historie, in respect of the notable learning, is got by +marking the successe, as though therein a man shuld +see vertue exalted, & vice punished: truly that commendation is peculier to Poetrie, and farre off from +Historie ; for indeed Poetrie euer sets vertue so out +in her best cullours, making fortune her well-wayting handmayd, that one must needs be enamoured +of her. Well may you see Vlisses in a storme and in +other hard plights, but they are but exercises of patience & magnanimitie, to make them shine the more +in the neare following prosperitie. And of the contrary part, if euill men come to the stage, they euer +goe out (as the Tragedie writer answered to one +that misliked the shew of such persons) so manicled +as they litle animate folkes to follow them. But the +Historie beeing captiued to the trueth of a foolish +world, is many times a terror from well-doing, and +an encouragement to vnbrideled wickednes. For +see we not valiant Milciades rot in his fetters ? The +iust Phocion and the accomplished Socrates, put to +death like Traytors? The cruell Seuerus, liue prosperously? +The excellent Seuerus miserably murthered? Sylla +and Marius dying in their beds? Pompey +and Cicero slain then when they wold haue thought +exile happinesse? See we not vertuous Cato driuen +to kill himselfe, and Rebell Cæsar so aduanced, that +his name yet after 1600 yeares lasteth in the highest honor? And marke but euen Cæsars owne words +of the forenamed Sylla, (who in that onely, did +honestly to put downe his dishonest Tyrannie) Litteras nesciuit: as if want of learning caused him to doo +well. He ment it not by Poetrie, which not content +with earthly plagues, deuiseth new punishments in +hell for Tyrants: nor yet by Philosophy, which teacheth Occidentos esse, but no doubt by skill in History, +for that indeed can affoord you Cipselus, Periander, +Phalaris, Dionisius, and I know not how many more +of the same kennell, that speed well inough in their +abhominable iniustice of vsurpation. +

 + +

I conclude therfore that he excelleth historie, not onely in furnishing the minde with knowledge, but in setting it +forward to that which deserues to be called and accounted good: which setting forward and mouing +to well doing, indeed setteth the Lawrell Crowne +vpon the Poets as victorious, not onely of the Historian, but +ouer the Philosopher, howsoeuer in teaching it may be questionable. +For suppose it be granted, that which I suppose with great reason may be +denied, that the Philosopher in respect of his methodical proceeding, +teach more perfectly then the Poet, yet do I thinke, that no man is +so much philophilosothos, +as to compare the Philosopher in moouing with the +Poet. And that moouing is of a higher degree then +teaching, it may by this appeare, that it is well nigh +both the cause and effect of teaching. For who will +be taught, if hee be not mooued with desire to be +taught? And what so much good doth that teaching +bring foorth, (I speake still of morall doctrine) as +that it mooueth one to do that which it doth teach. +

 + +

For as Aristotle saith, it is not +gnw/sis, but pra/cis must be +the frute: and how pra/cis can be without being +moued to practise, it is no hard matter to consider. The +Philosopher sheweth you the way, hee enformeth +you of the particularities, as well of the tediousnes +of the way, as of the pleasaunt lodging you shall +haue when your iourney is ended, as of the many by turnings that may diuert you from your way. +But this is to no man but to him that will reade +him, and reade him with attentiue studious painfulnesse, which constant desire, whosoeuer hath in +him, hath alreadie past halfe the hardnesse of the +way: and therefore is beholding to the Philosopher, but for the other halfe. Nat truly learned +men haue learnedly thought, that where once reason hath so much ouer-mastered passion, as that +the minde hath a free desire to doo well, the inward light each minde hath in it selfe, is as good +as a Philosophers booke, since in Nature we know +it is well, to doo well, and what is well, and what +is euill, although not in the wordes of Art which +Philosophers bestow vppon vs: for out of naturall +conceit the Philosophers drew it ; but to be moued +to doo that which wee know, or to be mooued +with desire to know. Hoc opus, hic labor est. +

 + +

Now therein of all Sciences I speake still of humane (and +according to the humane conceit) is our Poet the +Monarch. For hee doth not onely shew the way, +but giueth so sweete a prospect into the way, as +will entice anie man to enter into it: Nay he doth +as if your iourney should lye through a faire vineyard, at the verie first, giue you a cluster of grapes, +that full of that taste, you may long to passe further. Hee beginneth not with obscure +definitions, which must blurre the margent with interpretations, and loade the memorie with +doubtfulnesse: but hee commeth to you with words +set in delightfull proportion, either accompanied +with, or prepared for the well enchanting skill of +Musicke, and with a tale forsooth he commeth vnto you, with a tale, which holdeth children from +play, and olde men from the Chimney corner ; and +pretending no more, doth intend the winning of the +minde from wickednes to vertue; euen as the child +is often brought to take most wholesome things by +hiding them in such other as haue a pleasaunt taste: +which if one should begin to tell them the nature of +the Alloes or Rhabarbarum they should receiue, wold +sooner take their phisick at their eares then at their +mouth, so is it in men (most of which, are childish +in the best things, til they be cradled in their graues) +glad they will be to heare the tales of Hercules, Achilles, Cyrus, Aeneas, and hearing them, must needes +heare the right description of wisdom, value, and iustice; which if they had bene barely (that is to say +Philosophically) set out, they would sweare they be +brought to schoole againe ; that imitation whereof +Poetrie is, hath the most conueniencie to nature of al +other: insomuch that as Aristotle saith, those things +which in themselues are horrible, as cruel battailes, +vnnatural monsters, are made in poeticall imitation, +delightfull. +

 + +

Truly I haue knowne men, that euen +with reading Amadis de gaule, which God knoweth, +wanteth much of a perfect Poesie, haue found their +hearts moued to the exercise of courtesie, liberalitie, and especially courage. Who +readeth Aeneas carrying old Anchises on his backe, that wisheth not +it were his fortune to performe so excellent an Act? +Whom doth not those words of Turnus mooue, +(the Tale of Turnus hauing planted his image in the +imagination) fugientem haec terra videbit? Vsque adeone mori miserum est? Wher +the Philosophers as they think +scorne to delight, so must they be content little to +mooue ; sauing wrangling whether Virtus be the +chiefe or the onely good ; whether the contemplatiue or the actiue life do excell; which Plato & Poetius +well knew: and therefore made mistresse Philosophie verie often borrow the masking raiment of +Poesie. For euen those hard hearted euill men who +thinke vertue a schoole name, and know no other +good but indulgere genio, and therefore despise the +austere admonitions of the Philosopher, and feele not +the inward reason they stand vpon, yet will be content to be delighted, which is all the good, fellow +Poet seemes to promise; and so steale to see the form +of goodnes, (which seene, they cannot but loue) ere +themselues be aware, as if they tooke a medicine of +Cheries. +

 + +

Infinit proofes of the straunge effects of +this Poeticall inuention, might be alleaged: onely +two shall serue, which are so often remembred, as +I thinke all men know them. The one of Menemus +Agrippa, who when the whole people of Rome had +resolutely diuided themselues from the Senate, with +apparant shew of vtter ruine, though he were for +that time an excellent Orator, came not among them +vpon trust either of figuratiue speeches, or cunning +insinuations, and much lesse with farre fet Maximes +of Philosophie, which especially if they were Platonicke, they +must haue learned Geometrie before +they could well haue conceiued: but forsooth, he +behaueth himselfe like a homely and familiar Poet. +He telleth them a tale, that there was a time, when +all the parts of the bodie made a mutinous conspiracie against the belly, which they thought deuoured +the frutes of each others labour: they concluded +they would let so vnprofitable a spender starue. In +the end, to be short, for the tale is notorious, and as +notorious that it was a tale, with punishing the belly they plagued themselues ; this applied by him, +wrought such effect in the people, as I neuer red, +that onely words brought foorth: but then so suddaine and so good an alteration, for vpon reasonable +conditions, a perfect reconcilement ensued. The other is of Nathan the Prophet, who when the holie +Dauid, had so farre forsaken God, as to confirme Adulterie with murther, when he was to do +the tendrest office of a friend, in laying his owne shame before his eyes; sent by God to call againe so chosen a +seruant, how doth he it? but by telling of a man +whose beloued lambe was vngratefully taken from +his bosome. The Application most diuinely true, +but the discourse it selfe fained; which made Dauid +(I speake of the second and instrumentall cause) as +in a glasse see his owne filthinesse, as that heauenly +Psalme of mercie well testifieth. By these therefore +examples and reasons, I thinke it may be manifest, +that the Poet with that same hand of delight, doth +draw the mind more effectually then any other Art +doth. +

 + +

And so a conclusion not vnfitly ensue, that as +vertue is the most excell't resting place for al worldly learning to make his end of, so Poetry being the +most familiar to teach it, and most Princely to moue +towards it, in the most excellent worke, is the most +excellent workeman. But I am content not onely +to decipher him by his workes (although workes +in commendation and dispraise, must euer hold a +high authoritie) but more narrowly will examine +his parts, so that ( as in a man ) though altogither +may carrie a presence full of maiestie and bewtie, +perchance in some one defectuous peece we may +finde blemish. +

 + +

Now in his parts, kindes, or species, as you list to tearme them, it is to be noted, +that some Poesies haue coupled togither two or three +kindes, as the Tragicall and Comicall, whereupon +is risen the Tragicomicall, some in the maner haue +mingled prose and verse, as Sanazara and Boetius; +some haue mingled matters Heroicall and Pastorall, +but that commeth all to one in this question, for +if seuered they be good, the coniunction cannot +be hurtfull: therefore perchance forgetting some, +and leauing some as needlesse to be remembred. It +shall not bee amisse, in a word to cite the speciall +kindes, to see what faults may be found in the right +vse of them. Is it then the Pastorall Poeme which is +misliked ? (For perchance where the hedge is lowest they will soonest leape ouer) is the poore pipe +disdained, which somtimes out of Mælibeus mouth, +can shewe the miserie of people, vnder hard Lords +and rauening souldiers? And again by Titerus, what +blessednesse is deriued, to them that lie lowest, from +the goodnesse of them that sit highest ? Sometimes +vnder the prettie tales of Woolues and sheepe, can +enclude the whole considerations of wrong doing +and patience; sometimes shew that contentions for +trifles, can get but a trifling victory, wher perchance +a man may see, that euen Alexander & Darius, when +they straue who should be Cocke of this worldes +dunghill, the benefit they got, was, that the afterliuers may say, +Haec memini et victum frustra contendere Thirsim. +Ex illo Coridon, Coridon est tempore nobis. +

 + +

Or is it the lamenting Elegiack, which in a kinde +heart would mooue rather pittie then blame, who +bewaileth with the great Philosopher Heraclitus, +the weakenesse of mankinde, and the wretchednesse of the world: who surely is to bee praised +either for compassionate accompanying iust causes of lamentations, or for nightlie painting out +how weake be the passions of wofulnesse ? Is it +the bitter but wholesome Iambick, who rubbes the +galled minde, in making shame the Trumpet of +villanie, with bolde and open crying out against +naughtinesse ? Or the Satirick, +who Omne vafer vitium ridenti tandit amico, who sportingly, neuer +leaueth, till he make a man laugh at follie; and at +length ashamed, to laugh at himself; which he cannot auoyde, without auoyding the follie ? who +while Circum præcordia ludit, giueth vs to feele how +many headaches a passionate life bringeth vs to? +How when all is done, Est Vlubris animus si nos non deficit aquus. +

 + +

No perchance it is the Comick, whom +naughtie Play-makers and stage-keepers, haue iustly made odious. To the arguments of abuse, I will +after answer, onely thus much now is to be said, that +the Comedy is an imitation of the common errors of our +life, which he representeth in the most ridiculous & +scornfull sort that may be: so as it is impossible that +any beholder can be content to be such a one. Now +as in Geometrie, the oblique must be knowne as well +as the right, and in Arithmetick, the odde as well as +the euen, so in the actions of our life, who seeth not +the filthinesse of euill, wanteth a great foile to perceiue the bewtie of vertue. This doth the Comædie +handle so in our priuate and domesticall matters, as +with hearing it, wee get as it were an experience +what is to be looked for of a niggardly Demea, of a +craftie Dauus, of a flattering Gnato, of a +vain-glorious Thrasa: and not onely to know what effects are +to be expected, but to know who be such, by the +signifying badge giuen them by the Comædient. +And litle reason hath any man to say, that men learne +the euill by seeing it so set out, since as I said before, +there is no man liuing, but by the force truth hath in +nature, no sooner seeth these men play their parts, +but wisheth them in Pistrinum, although perchance +the sack of his owne faults lie so behinde his backe, +that he seeth not himselfe to dance the same measure: +wherto yet nothing can more open his eies, then to +see his owne actions contemptibly set forth. So that +the right vse of Comædie , will I thinke, by no bodie +be blamed; and much lesse of the high and excellent +Tragedie, that openeth the greatest woundes, and +sheweth forth the Vlcers that are couered with Tissue, that +maketh Kings feare to be Tyrants, and Tyrants manifest their tyrannicall humours, that with +sturring the affects of Admiration and Comiseration, +teacheth the vncertaintie of this world, and vppon +how weak foundations guilden roofes are builded: that maketh +vs know, Qui scæptra sæuus duro imperio regit, Timet timentes, metus in authorem redit. +

 + +

But how much it can moue, Plutarch yeeldeth a notable +testimonie of the abhominable Tyrant Alexander +Pheræus, from whose eyes a Tragedie well made and +represented, drew abundance of teares, who without all pittie had murthered infinite numbers, and +some of his owne bloud: so as he that was not ashamed to make matters for Tragedies , yet could not +resist the sweete violence of a Tragedie. And if it +wrought no further good in him, it was, that he in +despight of himself, withdrew himselfe from hearkening to that which might mollifie his hardened +heart. But it is not the Tragedie they do mislike, +for it were too absurd to cast our so excellent a representation of whatsoeuer is most woorthie to be +learned. +

 + +

Is it the Lyricke that moste displeaseth, +who with his tuned Lyre and well accorded voice, +giueth praise, the reward of vertue, to vertuous +acts ? who giueth morall preceptes and naturall +Problemes, who sometime raiseth vp his voyce to +the height of the heauens, in singing the laudes +of the immortall God ? Certainly I must confesse +mine owne barbarousnesse, I neuer heard the old +Song of Percy and Duglas, that I founde not my +heart mooued more then with a Trumpet ; and +yet is it sung but by some blinde Crowder, with +no rougher voyce, then rude stile: which being +so euill apparelled in the dust and Cobwebbes of +that vnciuill age, what would it worke, trimmed +in the gorgious eloquence of Pindare? In Hungarie I haue +seene it the manner at all Feastes and +other such like meetings, to haue songs of their ancestors valure, which that right souldierlike nation, +think one of the chiefest kindlers of braue courage. +The incomperable Lacedemonians, did not onelie +carrie that kinde of Musicke euer with them to the +field, but euen at home, as such songs were made, +so were they all content to be singers of them: when +the lustie men were to tell what they did, the old +men what they had done, and the yoong what they +would doo. And where a man may say that Pindare many times praiseth highly Victories of small +moment, rather matters of sport then vertue, as it +may be answered, it was the fault of thePoet , and +not of the Poetrie; so indeed the chiefe fault was, +in the time and custome of the Greekes, who set +those toyes at so high a price, that Phillip of Macedon +reckoned a horse-race wonne at Olympus, among his three fearefull felicities. But as the +vnimitable Pindare often did, so is that kind most +capable and most fit, to awake the thoughts from +the sleepe of idlenesse, to embrace honourable enterprises. +

 + +

Their rests the Heroicall, whose verie +name I thinke should daunt all backbiters. For by +what conceit can a tongue bee directed to speake +euil of that which draweth with him no lesse champions then Achilles, +Cirus, Aeneas, Turnus, Tideus, +Rinaldo, who doeth not onely teache and +mooue to a truth, but teacheth and mooueth to +the most high and excellent truth: who maketh +magnanimitie and iustice, shine through all mistie +fearefulnesse foggie desires. Who if the +saying of Plato and Tully bee true, that who could +see vertue, woulde bee woonderfullie rauished +with the loue of her bewtie. This man setteth +her out to make her more louely in her holliday +apparrell, to the eye of anie that will daine, not to +disdaine vntill they vnderstand. But if any thing +be alreadie said in the defence of sweete Poetrie, all +concurreth to the mainteining the Heroicall, which +is not onelie a kinde, but the best and most accomplished kindes of Poetrie. For as the Image +of each Action stirreth and instructeth the minde, +so the loftie Image of such woorthies, moste enflameth the minde with desire to bee woorthie: +and enformes with counsaile how to bee woorthie. Onely let Aeneas bee worne in +the Tablet of your memorie, how hee gouerneth himselfe in the ruine of his Countrey, in the +preseruing his olde Father, and carrying away his religious Ceremonies, +in obeying Gods Commaunment, to leaue Dido , though not onelie all +passionate kindnesse, but euen the humane consideration of vertuous gratefulnesse, would haue +craued other of him: how in stormes, how in sports, +how in warre, how in peace, how a fugitiue, +how victorious, how besieged, how besieging, +how to straungers, how to Allies, how to enemies, how to his owne. Lastly, how in +his inwarde selfe, and howe in his outward gouernment, and I thinke in a minde moste preiudiced +with a preiudicating humour, Hee will bee +founde in excellencie fruitefull. +

 + +

Yea as Horace +saith, Melius Chrisippo et Crantore: but truly I imagin it falleth out with these Poet-whippers, as with +some good women who often are sicke, but in faith +they cannot tel where. So the name of Poetrie is odious +to them, but neither his cause nor effects, neither the summe that containes +him, nor the particularities descending from him, giue any fast handle to +their carping dispraise. Since then Poetrie is of al humane learnings the most ancient, +and of most fatherly antiquitie, as from whence other learnings haue +taken their beginnings ; Since it is so vniuersall, that +no learned nation doth despise it, nor barbarous nation is without it; +Since both Romane & Greeke gaue +such diuine names vnto it, the one of prophesying, +the other of making ; and that indeed that name of +making is fit for him, considering, that where all other Arts retain themselues within their subiect, and +receiue as it were their being from it. The Poet onely, onely bringeth his own stuffe, and doth not learn +a Conceit out of a matter, but maketh matter for a +Conceit. Since neither his description, nor end, containing any euill, the thing described cannot be euil; +since his effects be so good as to teach goodnes, and +delight the learners of it; since therein (namely in +morall doctrine the chiefe of all knowledges) hee +doth not onely farre passe the Historian, but for instructing +is well nigh comparable to the Philosopher, +for mouing, leaueth him behind him. Since the holy scripture (wherein there is no vncleannesse) hath +whole parts in it Poeticall, and that euen our Sauior +Christ vouchsafed to vse the flowers of it: since all +his kindes are not onely in their vnited formes, but +in their seuered dissections fully commendable, I +thinke, ( and thinke I thinke rightly ) the Lawrell +Crowne appointed for tryumphant Captaines, doth +worthily of all other learnings, honour the Poets triumph. +

 + +

But bicause we haue eares as well as toongs, +and that the lightest reasons that may be, will seeme +to waigh greatly, if nothing be put in the counterballance, let vs heare, and as well as we can, ponder +what obiections be made against this Art, which +may be woorthie either of yeelding, or answering. +First truly I note, not onely in these misomou=soi, Poet-haters, +but in all that kind of people who seek a praise, +by dispraising others, that they do prodigally spend +a great many wandring words in quips and scoffes, +carping and taunting at each thing, which by sturring the spleene, may staie the brain from a through +beholding the worthinesse of the subiect. Those +kind of obiections, as they are full or a verie idle easinesse, since there is nothing of so sacred a maiestie, +but that an itching toong may rub it selfe vpon it, so +deserue they no other answer, but in steed of laughing at the ieast, to laugh at the ieaster. We know a +playing wit can praise the discretion of an Asse, the +comfortablenes of being in debt, and the iolly commodities of being sicke of the plague. So +of the contrary side, if we will turne Ouids +verse, Vt lateat virtus, prox imitate mali, that good lye hid, in nearnesse +of the euill. Agrippa will be as mery in shewing the +vanitie of Science, as Erasmus was in the commending of folly: neither shal any man or matter, escape +some touch of these smiling Raylers. But for Erasmus +and Agrippa, they had an other foundation then +the superficiall part would promise. Marry these other pleasaunt fault-finders, who will correct the +Verbe, before they vnderstand the Nowne, +and confute others knowledge, before they confirme their +owne, I would haue them onely remember, that +scoffing commeth not of wisedome ; so as the best +title in true English they get with their meriments, +is to be called good fooles: for so haue our graue +forefathers euer tearmed that humorous kinde of +iesters. +

 + +

But that which giueth greatest scope to their +scorning humor, is ryming and versing. It is alreadie said (and as I thinke truly said) it is not ryming +and versing that maketh Poesie: One may be a Poet +without versing, and a versefier without Poetrie. But +yet presuppose it were inseperable, as indeed it seemeth Scalliger iudgeth truly, it were an inseperable +commendation. For if Oratio, next to Ratio, Speech +next to Reason, be the greatest gift bestowed vpon +Mortalitie, that cannot bee praiselesse, which doth +most polish that blessing of speech ; which considereth each word not onely as a man may say by his +forcible qualitie, but by his best measured quantity: +carrying euen in themselues a Harmonie, without +perchance number, measure, order, proportion, be +in our time growne odious. But laie aside the iust +praise it hath, by being the onely fit speech for Musicke, +(Musicke I say the most diuine striker of the senses). Thus much is vndoubtedly true, +that if reading be foolish without remembring, Memorie being the onely treasure of knowledge, those words +which are fittest for memory, are likewise most conuenient for knowledge. +

 + +

Now that Verse far exceedeth Prose, in the knitting vp of the memorie, the +reason is manifest, the words (besides their delight, +which hath a great affinitie to memorie) being so set +as one cannot be lost, but the whole woorke failes: +which accusing it selfe, calleth the remembrance +back to it selfe, and so most strongly confirmeth it. +Besides one word, so as it were begetting an other, +as be it in rime or measured verse, by the former a man +shall haue a neare gesse to the follower. Lastly euen +they that haue taught the Art of memory, haue shewed nothing so apt for it, as a certain roome diuided +into many places, well & throughly knowne: Now +that hath the verse in effect perfectly, euerie word +hauing his natural seat, which seat must needs make +the word remembred. But what needes more in a +thing so knowne to all men. Who is it that euer was +scholler, that doth not carry away som verses of Virgil, Horace, +or Cato, which in his youth hee learned, +and euen to his old age serue him for hourely lessons; +as Percontatorem fugito nam garrulus idem est, Dum tibi quisque placet credula turba sumas. But +the fitnes it hath for memorie, is notably prooued by all deliuerie of +Arts, wherein for the most part, from Grammer, to +Logick, Mathematickes, Phisick, and the rest, the Rules +chiefly necessarie to be borne away, are compiled in +verses. So that verse being in it selfe sweet and orderly, and being best for memorie, the onely handle of +knowledge, it must be in iest that any man can speak +against it. +

 + +

Now then goe we to the most important +imputations laid to the poore Poets, for ought I can +yet learne, they are these. First that there beeing +manie other more frutefull knowledges, a man +might better spend his time in them, then in this. +Secondly, that it is the mother of lyes. Thirdly, that +it is the nurse of abuse, infecting vs with many pestilent desires, with a Sirens sweetnesse, drawing the +minde to the Serpents taile of sinfull fansies ; and +herein especially Comedies giue the largest field to +eare, as Chawcer saith, how both in other nations and +in ours, before Poets did soften vs, we were full of +courage giuen to martial exercises, the pillers of manlike libertie, and not lulled a sleepe in shadie idlenes, +with Poets pastimes. And lastly and chiefly, they cry +out with open mouth as if they had ouershot Robin-hood, +that Plato banished them out of his Commonwealth. +

 + +

Truly this is much, if there be much truth +in it. First to the first. That a man might better spend +his time, is a reason indeed: but it doth as they say, +but petere principium. For if it be, as I affirme, that +no learning is so good, as that which teacheth and +moueth to vertue, and that none can both teach and +moue thereto so much as Poesie, then is the conclusion manifest ; that incke and paper cannot be to a +more profitable purpose imployed. And certainly +though a man should graunt their first assumption, +it should follow (mee thinks) very vnwillingly, that +good is not good, because better is better. But I still +and vtterly deny, that there is sprung out of earth a +more fruitfull knowledge. To the second therfore, +that they should be the principall lyers, I answere +Paradoxically, but truly, I think truly: that of all +writers vnder the Sunne, the Poet is the least lyer: and +though he wold, as a Poet can scarcely be a lyer. The +Astronomer with his cousin the Geometrician, can +hardly escape, when they take vpon them to measure the height of the starres. How often thinke you +do the Phisitians lie, when they auerre things good +for sicknesses, which afterwards send Charon a great +number of soules drownd in a potion, before they +come to his Ferrie? And no lesse of the rest, which +take vpon them to affirme. +

 + +

Now for the Poet, he nothing affirmeth, and therefore neuer lieth: for as I +take it, to lie, is to affirme that to bee true, which is +false. So as the other Artistes, and especially the Historian, +affirming manie things, can in the clowdie +knowledge of mankinde, hardly escape from manie +lies. But the Poet as I said before, neuer affirmeth, the +Poet neuer maketh any Circles about your imagination, to +coniure you to beleeue for true, what he writeth: he citeth not authorities of other histories, but +euen for his entrie, calleth the sweete Muses to inspire +vnto him a good inuention. In troth, not laboring to +tel you what is, or is not, but what should, or should +not be. And therefore though he recount things not +true, yet because he telleth them not for true, he lieth not: without we will say, that Nathan lied in his +speech before alleaged to Dauid, which as a wicked +man durst scarce say, so think I none so simple, wold +say, that Esope lied, in the tales of his beasts: for who +thinketh that Esope wrote it for actually true, were +wel worthie to haue his name Cronicled among the +beasts he writeth of. What childe is there, that comming to a play, +and seeing Thebes written in great letters vpon an old doore, doth beleeue that it +is Thebes? If then a man can arriue to the childes age, to +know that the Poets persons and dooings, are but +pictures, what should be, and not stories what haue +bin, they will neuer giue the lie to things not Affirmatiuely, but Allegorically and figuratiuely written; +and therefore as is historie looking for truth, +they may go away full fraught with falshood. +

 + +

So in Poesie, looking but for fiction, they shall vse the +narration but as an imaginatiue groundplat of a +profitable inuention. But hereto is replied, that the +Poets giue names to men they write of, which argueth a conceit of an actual truth, and so +not being true, prooueth a falshood . And dooth the +Lawier lye, then when vnder the names of Iohn of +the Stile, and Iohn of the Nokes, hee putteth his +Case? But that is easily answered, their naming +of men, is but to make their picture the more liuely, and not to build anie Historie. Painting men, +they cannot leaue men namelesse: wee see, wee +cannot plaie at Chestes, but that wee must giue +names to our Chessemen ; and yet mee thinkes he +were a verie partiall Champion of truth, that would +say wee lyed, for giuing a peece of wood the reuerende +title of a Bishop. The Poet nameth Cyrus and +Aeneas, no other way, then to shewe +what men of their fames, fortunes, and estates, +should doo. Their third is, how much it abuseth mens wit, training it to wanton sinfulnesse, +and lustfull loue. For indeed that is the principall +if not onely abuse, I can heare alleadged. They say +the Comedies rather teach then reprehend amorous +conceits. They say the Lirick is larded with passionat +Sonets, the Elegiack weeps the want of his mistresse, +and that euen to the Heroical Cupid hath ambitiously +climed. Alas Loue, I would thou couldest as wel defend thy selfe, as thou canst offend others: I would +those on whom thou doest attend, could either put +thee away, or yeeld good reason why they keepe +thee. But grant loue of bewtie to be a beastly fault, +although it be verie hard, since onely man and no +beast hath that gift to discerne bewtie, graunt that +louely name of loue to deserue all hatefull reproches, although euen some of my maisters +the Philosophers spent a good deale of their Lampoyle in setting foorth the excellencie of it, graunt I say, what +they will haue graunted, that not onelie loue, but +lust, but vanitie, but if they list scurrilitie, possesse +manie leaues of the Poets bookes, yet thinke I, +when this is graunted, they will finde their sentence may with good manners put the last words +foremost ; and not say, that Poetrie abuseth mans +wit, but that mans wit abuseth Poetrie. +

 + +

For I will not denie, but that mans wit may make Poesie, +which should be ei)kastikh/ which some learned haue +defined figuring foorth good things to be qanastikh/ +which doth contrariwise infect the fancie with vnwoorthie obiects, as the Painter should giue to +the eye either some excellent perspectiue, or some +fine Picture fit for building or fortification, or +containing in it some notable example, as Abraham sacrificing his +sonne Isaack, Iudith killing Holofernes, Dauid fighting +with Golias, may leaue those, +and please an ill pleased eye with wanton shewes +of better hidden matters. But what, shal the abuse of a +thing, make the right vse odious? Nay truly though +I yeeld, that Poesie may not onely be abused, but that +being abused by the reason of his sweete charming +force, it can do more hurt then anie other armie of +words: yet shall it be so farre from concluding, that +the abuse should giue reproach to the abused, that +contrariwise, it is a good reason, that whatsoeuer being abused, doth most harme, being rightly vsed (and +vpon the right vse, ech thing receiues his title) doth +most good. +

 + +

Do we not see skill of Phisicke the best +ramper to our often assaulted bodies, being abused, +teach poyson the most violent destroyer ? Doth not +knowledge of Law, whose end is, to euen & right +all things, being abused, grow the crooked fosterer +of horrible iniuries? Doth not (to go to the highest) +Gods word abused, breede heresie, and his name abused, become blasphemie? Truly a Needle cannot +do much hurt, and as truly (with leaue of Ladies be +it spoken) it cannot do much good. With a swoord +thou maist kill thy Father, and with a swoord thou +maist defende thy Prince and Countrey: so that, as in +their calling Poets, fathers of lies, they said nothing, +so in this their argument of abuse, they prooue the +commendation. They alledge herewith, that before +Poets began to be in price, our Nation had set their +hearts delight vppon action, and not imagination, +rather doing things worthie to be written, then writing things fit to be done. What that before time +was, I think scarcely Spinx can tell: since no memerie is +so ancient, that hath not the precedens of Poetrie. And certain it is, that in our plainest homelines, +yet neuer was the Albion Nation without Poetrie. +Marry this Argument, thou it be leuiled against +Poetrie, yet is it indeed a chain-shot against all learning or bookishnes, as they commonly terme it. Of +such mind were certaine Gothes, of whom it is written, that hauing in the spoile of a famous +Cittie, taken a faire Librarie, one hangman belike fit to execute the frutes of their wits, who had murthered a +great number of bodies, would haue set fire in it. +No said an other verie grauely, take heed what you +do, for while they are busie about those toyes, wee +shall with more leisure conquere their Countries. +This indeed is the ordinarie doctrine of ignorance, +and many words sometimes I haue heard spent in +it: but bicause this reason is generally against al learning, as wel +as Poetrie, or rather all learning but Poetrie, because it +were too large a digression to handle +it, or at least too superfluous, since it is manifest that +all gouernment of action is to be gotten by knowledge, and knowledge best, by gathering manie +knowledges, which is reading; I onely with Horace, +to him that is of that opinion, Iubio stultum esse libenter: for as +for Poetrie it selfe, it is the freest from this +obiection, for Poetrie is the Companion of Camps. +I dare vndertake, Orlando Furioso, or honest king Arthure, will +neuer displease a souldier: but the quidditie of Ens et Prima materia, will hardly agree with +a Corcelet. +

 + +

And therefore as I said in the beginning, +euen Turkes and Tartars, are delighted with Poets. +Homer a Greeke, flourished, before Greece flourished: +and if to a slight coniecture, a coniecture may bee +apposed, truly it may seem, that as by him their learned men tooke almost their first light of knowledge, +so their actiue men, receiued their first motions of +courage. Onely Alexanders example may serue, +who by Plutarche is accounted of such vertue, that +fortune was not his guide, but his footestoole, +whose Acts speake for him, though Plutarche did +not: indeede the Phoenix of warlike Princes. This +Alexander, left his Schoolemaister liuing Aristotle +behinde him, but tooke dead Homer with +him. Hee put the Philosopher Callisthenes to death, +for his seeming Philosophicall, indeed mutinous +stubbornnesse, but the chiefe thing hee was euer +heard to wish for, was, that Homer had bene aliue. +Hee well founde hee receiued more brauerie of +minde by paterne of Achilles, then by hearing +the definition of fortitude. And therefore if Cato misliked Fuluius +for carrying Ennius with him +to the field, It may be answered, that if Cato misliked it, +the Noble Fuluius liked it, or else he had +not done it ; for it was not the excellent Cato Vticencis, whose authoritie I would much more haue +reuerenced: But it was the former, in truth a bitter punisher of faultes, but else a man that had neuer +sacrificed to the Graces. Hee misliked and cried out against all Greeke learning, and yet being +foure score yeares olde beganne to learne it, belike fearing that Pluto vnderstood not Latine. Indeed +the Romane lawes allowed no person to bee +carried to the warres, but hee that was in the souldiers Role. And therefore though Cato misliked +his vnmustred person, he misliked not his worke. +And if hee had, Scipio Nasica (iudged by common +consent the best Romane) loued him: both the other +Scipio brothers, who had by their vertues no lesse +surnames then of Asia and Affricke, so loued him, +that they caused his bodie to be buried in their Sepulture. So as Catoes authoritie beeing but against +his person, and that answered with so farre greater then himselfe, is herein of no validitie. +

 + +

But now indeede my burthen is great, that Plato his +name is laide vppon mee, whom I must confesse +of all Philosophers, I haue euer esteemed most worthie of reuerence ; and with good reason, since of +all Philosophers hee is the most Poeticall: yet if hee +will defile the fountaine out of which his flowing +streames haue proceeded, let vs boldly examine +with what reasons hee did it . First truly a man +might maliciously obiect, that Plato being a Philosopher, +was a naturall enemy of Poets. For indeede +after the Philosophers had picked out of the sweete +misteries of Poetrie, the right discerning true points +of knowledge: they foorthwith putting it in methode, and making a Schoole Art of that which the +Poets did onely teach by a diuine delightfulnes, beginning to spurne at their guides, like vngratefull +Prentices, were not content to set vp shop for themselues, but sought by all meanes to discredit their +maisters, which by the force of delight being barred them, the lesse they could ouerthrow them, the +more they hated them. For indeed they found for +Homer, seuen Cities straue who should haue him for +their Cittizen, where many Cities banished Philosophers, as not fit members to liue among them. For +onely repeating certaine of Euripides verses, +many Atheniens had their liues saued of the Siracusans; +where the Atheniens themselues thought +many Philosophers vnworthie to liue. +

 + +

Certaine Poets, as Simonides, and Pindarus, had so preuailed with +Hiero the first, that of a Tyrant they made him a iust +King: where Plato could do so little with Dionisius, +that he himselfe of a Philosopher, was made a slaue. +But who should do thus, I confesse should requite +the obiections made against Poets, with like +cauillations against Philosophers: as likewise one should +do, that should bid one read Phaedrus or Simposium +in Plato, or the discourse of loue in Plutarch, and see +whether any Poet do authorise abhominable filthinesse as they doo. Againe, a man might aske, out of +what Common-wealth Plato doth banish them, in +sooth, thence where he himselfe alloweth communitie of women. So as belike this banishment grew +not for effeminate wantonnesse, since little should +Poetical Sonnets be hurtful, when a man might haue +what woman he listed. But I honor Philosophicall +instructions, and blesse the wits which bred them: +so as they be not abused, which is likewise stretched +to Poetrie. S. Paul himselfe sets a watch-word vppon +Philosophie, indeed vppon the abuse. So doth Plato +vppon the abuse, not vpon Poetrie. Plato found fault +that the Poettes of his time, filled the worlde with +wrong opinions of the Gods, making light tales of +that vnspotted essence ; and therfore wold not haue +the youth depraued with such opinions: heerein +may much be said ; let this suffice. +

 + +

The Poets did not +induce such opinions, but did imitate those opinions alreadie induced. For all the Greeke stories can +well testifie, that the verie religion of that time, stood +vpon many, and many fashioned Gods: Not taught +so by Poets, but followed according to their nature +of imitation. Who list may read in Plutarch, the +discourses of Isis and Osiis, of the cause why Oracles +ceased, of the diuine prouidence, & see whether the +Theology of that nation, stood not vpon such dreams, +which the Poets indeede superstitiously obserued. +And truly since they had not the light of Christ, did +much better in it, then the Philosophers, who shaking +off superstition, brought in Atheisme. Plato therfore, +whose authoritie, I had much rather iustly consture, +then vniustly resist: ment not in generall of Poets, in +those words of which Iulius Scaliger saith; Qua authoritate +barbari quidam atque hispidi abuti velint ad poetas et è rep. Exigendos. But only ment to driue out those +wrong opinions of the Deitie: wherof now without further law, Christianitie hath taken away all the +hurtful beliefe, perchance as he thought nourished +by then esteemed Poets. And a man need go no further then to Plato himselfe to knowe his meaning: +who in his Dialogue called Ion, giueth high, and +rightly, diuine commendation vnto Poetrie. So as +Plato banishing the abuse, not the thing, not banishing it, but giuing due honour to it, shall be our +Patron, and not our aduersarie. For indeed, I had +much rather, since truly I may do it, shew their mistaking of Plato, vnder whose Lyons skinne, they +would make an Aslike braying against Poesie, then +go about to ouerthrow his authoritie ; whome the +wiser a man is, the more iust cause he shall finde to +haue in admiration: especially since he attributeth +vnto Poesie, more then my selfe do ; namely, to be a +verie inspiring of a diuine force, farre aboue mans +wit, as in the forenamed Dialogue is apparant. +

 + +

Of the other side, who would shew the honours haue +bene by the best sort of iudgements graunted them, +a whole sea of examples woulde present themselues; Alexanders, +Cæsars, Scipioes, all fauourers +of Poets: Lælius, called the Romane Socrates himselfe +a Poet ; so as part of Heautontimoroumenon in +Terrace, was supposed to bee made by him. And +euen the Greeke Socrates, whome Appollo confirmed to bee the onely wise man, is said to haue +spent part of his olde time in putting Esopes Fables into verses. And therefore full euill should +it become his scholler Plato, to put such words in +his maisters mouth against Poets. But what needs +more? Aristotle writes the Arte of Poesie, and +why, if it should not bee written ? Plutarche teacheth the vse to bee gathered of them, and how, +if they should not bee reade ? And who reades +Plutarches either Historie or Philosophie, shall finde +hee trimmeth both their garments with gardes of +Poesie. But I list not to defend Poesie with the helpe +of his vnderling Historiographie. Let it suffice to +haue shewed, it is a fit soyle for praise to dwell vppon: and what dispraise may set vppon it, +is either easily ouercome, or transformed into iust commendation. So that since the excellencies of it, +may bee so easily and so iustly confirmed, and the +lowe creeping obiections so soone trodden downe, +it not beeing an Art of lyes, but of true doctrine; +not of effeminatenesse, but of notable stirring of +courage; not of abusing mans wit, but of strengthening mans wit;not banished, but honored by Plato; +Let vs rather plant more Lawrels for to ingarland +the Poets heads (which honor of being Lawreate, +as besides them onely triumphant Captaines were, +is a sufficient authoritie to shewe the price they +ought to bee held in ) then suffer the ill sauoured +breath of such wrong speakers once to blow vppon the cleare springs of Poesie. +

 + +

But since I haue runne so long a Carrier in this matter, methinkes +before I giue my penne a full stoppe, it shall be +but a litle more lost time, to enquire why England +the Mother of excellent mindes should be growne +so hard a stepmother to Poets, who certainely in +wit ought to passe all others, since all onely proceedes from their wit, beeing indeed makers of +themselues, not takers of others. How can I but +exclaime. Musa mihi causas memoria quo numine laeso, +Sweete Poesie that hath aunciently had Kings, +Emperours, Senatours, great Captaines, such as +besides a thousandes others, Dauid, Adrian, Sophocles, Germanicus, +not onelie to fauour Poets, but +to bee Poets: and of our nearer times, can present +for her Patrons, a Robert King of Scicill, the great +King Fraunces of Fraunce, King Iames of Scotland; +such Cardinalls as Bembus, and Bibiena ; suche famous +Preachers and Teachers, as Beza and Melanchthon; +so learned Philosophers, as Fracastorius, +and Scaliger ; so great Orators, as Pontanus, +and Muretus ; so pearcing wits, as George Buchanan; +so graue Cousailours, as besides manie, +but before all, the Hospitall of Fraunce ; then +whome I thinke that Realme neuer brought forth +a more accomplished iudgement, more firmly builded vpon vertue: I say these with numbers of others, +not onely to read others Poesies, but to poetise for others +reading ; that Poesie thus embraced in all other +places, should onely finde in our time a hard welcome in England. I thinke the verie earth laments it, +and therefore deckes our soyle with fewer Lawrels +then it was accustomed. For heretofore, Poets haue +in England also flourished: and which is to be noted, euen in those times when the Trumpet of Mars +did sound lowdest. +

 + +

And now that an ouer faint quietnesse should seeme to strowe the house for Poets. +They are almost in as good reputation, as the Mountebanckes +at Venice. Truly euen that, as of the one side +it giueth great praise to Poesie, which like Venus(but +to better purpose) had rather be troubled in the net +with Mars, then enioy the homely quiet of Vulcan. +So serueth it for a peece of a reason, why they are lesse +gratefull to idle England, which now can scarce endure the paine of a penne. Vpon this necessarily +followeth, that base men with seruill wits vndertake it, +who thinke it inough if they can be rewarded of the +Printer: and so as Epaminandas is said with the honor +of his vertue to haue made an Office, by his exercising it, which before was contemtible, to become +highly respected: so these men no more but setting +their names to it, by their own disgracefulnesse, disgrace the most gracefull Poesie. For now as if all the +Muses were got with childe, to bring forth bastard +Poets: without any commission, they do passe ouer +the Bankes of Helicon, till they make the Readers +more wearie then Post-horses: while in the meane +time, they Queis meliore luto finxit praecordia Titan, +are better content to suppresse the out-flowings of +their wit, then by publishing them, to be accounted +Knights of the same order. +

 + +

But I that before euer I +durst aspire vnto the dignitie, am admitted into the +companie of the Paper-blurrers, do finde the verie +true cause of our wanting estimation, is want of desert, taking vppon +vs to be Poets, in despite of Pallas. +Now wherein we want desert, were a thankwoorthie labour to expresse. But if I knew I should haue +mended my selfe, but as I neuer desired the title, so +haue I neglected the meanes to come by it, onely +ouer-mastered by some thoughts, I yeelded an inckie tribute vnto them. Marrie they that delight in +Poesie it selfe, should seek to know what they do, and +how they do: and especially looke themselues in an +vnflattering glasse of reason, if they be enclinable +vnto it. For Poesie must not be drawne by the eares, +it must be gently led, or rather it must lead, which +was partly the cause that made the auncient learned +affirme, it was a diuine gift & no humane skil; since +all other knowledges lie readie for anie that haue +strength of wit: A Poet no industrie can make, if his +owne Genius be not carried into it. And therefore is +an old Prouerbe, Orator fit, Poeta nascitur. +

 + +

Yet confesse I alwaies, that as the fertilest ground must +be manured, so must the highest flying wit haue a +Dedalus to guide him. That Dedalus they say both in +this and in other, hath three wings to beare it selfe +vp into the aire of due commendation: that is Art, +Imitation, and Exercise. But these neither Artificall Rules, nor imitatiue paternes, we much comber +our selues withall. Exercise indeed we do, but that +verie fore-backwardly ; for where we should exercise to know, we exercise as hauing knowne: and +so is our braine deliuered of much matter, which +neuer was begotten by knowledge. For there being two principall parts, Matter to be expressed by +words, and words to expresse the matter: In neither, wee vse Art or imitation +rightly. Our matre is, Quodlibet, indeed though +wrongly performing, Ouids Verse. Quicquid conabor dicere, Versus erit: +neuer marshalling it into anie assured ranck, +that almost the Readers cannot tell where to finde +themselues. +

 + +

Chawcer vndoubtedly did excellently in +his Troilus and Creseid: of whome trulie I +knowe not whether to meruaile more, either that +hee in that mistie time could see so clearly, or that +wee in this cleare age, goe so stumblingly after +him. Yet had hee great wants, fit to be forgiuen in so reuerent an Antiquitie. I account the +Mirrour of Magistrates, meetly furnished of bewtiful partes. And in the Earle of Surreis Lirickes, +manie thinges tasting of a Noble birth, and worthie of a Noble minde. The Sheepheards +Kallender, hath much Poetrie in his Egloges, indeed +woorthie the reading, if I be not deceiued. That +same framing of his style to an olde rusticke language, I dare not allow: since neither Theocritus +in Greeke, Virgill in Latine, nor Sanazara in Italian, +did affect it. Besides these, I doo not remember to haue seene but fewe (to speake boldly) printed, that haue poeticall sinnewes in them. +For proofe whereof, let but moste of the Verses +bee put in profe, and then aske the meaning, and +it will bee founde, that one Verse did but beget +an other, without ordering at the first, what should +bee at the last, which becomes a confused masse of +words, with a tingling sound of ryme, barely accompanied with +reasons. +

 + +

Our Tragidies and Commedies, not without cause cryed out against, obseruing rules neither of +honest ciuilitie, not skilfull Poetrie. Excepting Gorboducke, (againe I say of +those that I haue seen) which notwithstanding as it +is full of stately speeches, and wel sounding phrases, +clyming to the height of Seneca his style, and as +full of notable morallitie, which it dooth most delightfully teach, and so obtaine the verie ende of +Poesie. Yet in truth, it is verie defectious in the +circumstaunces, which greeues mee, because it +might not remaine as an exact moddell of all Tragidies. For it is faultie both in place and time, +the two necessarie Companions of all corporall +actions. For where the Stage should alway represent but one place, and the vttermoste time +presupposed in it, should bee both by Aristotles +precept, and common reason, but one day; there +is both manie dayes and places, inartificially imagined. But if it bee so in Gorboducke, howe much +more in all the rest, where you shall haue Asia of the one side, and Affricke of the other, and +so manie other vnder Kingdomes, that the Player when he comes in, must euer begin with telling +where he is, or else the tale will not be conceiued. +Now you shall haue three Ladies walke to gather +flowers, and then we must beleeue the stage to be a +garden. By and by we heare newes of shipwrack in +the same place, then we are too blame if we accept +it not for a Rock. Vpon the back of that, comes out a +hidious monster with fire and smoke, and then the +miserable beholders are bound to take it for a Caue: +while in the meane time two Armies flie in, represented with foure swords & bucklers, and then what +hard hart wil not receiue it for a pitched field. +

 + +

Now of time, they are much more liberall. For ordinarie +it is, that two yoong Princes fall in loue, after many +trauerses she is got with childe, deliuered of a faire +boy: he is lost, groweth a man, falleth in loue, and +is readie to get an other childe, and all this in two +houres space: which howe absurd it is in sence, euen sence may imagine: and Arte hath taught, +and all auncient examples iustified, and at this +day the ordinarie players in Italie will not erre in. +Yet will some bring in an example of Eunuche in +Terence, that conteineth matter of two dayes, yet far +short of twentie yeares. True it is, and so was it to +be played in two dayes, and so fitted to the time it +set foorth. And though Plautus haue in one place +done amisse, let vs hit it with him, & not misse with +him. But they will say, how then shall we set foorth +a storie, which contains both many places, and many times ? And do they not know that a Tragidie is +tied to the lawes of Poesie and not of Historie: not +bounde to follow the storie, but hauing libertie either to faine a quite new matter, or to +frame the Historie to the most Tragicall conueniencie. +Againe, many things may be told which cannot be shewed: +if they know the difference betwixt reporting and +representing. As for example, I may speake though I +am here, of Peru, and in speech digresse from that, to +the description of Calecut: But in action, I cannot +represent it without Pacolets Horse. And so was the +manner the Auncients tooke, by some Nuntius, to +recount things done in former time or other place. +

 + +

Lastly, if they will represent an Historie, they must +not (as Horace saith) beginne ab ouo, but they must +come to the principall poynte of that one action +which they will represent. By example this will +be best expressed. I haue a storie of yoong Polidorus, deliuered for safeties sake with great riches, +by his Father Priamus, to Polminester King of +Thrace, in the Troyan warre time. He after some +yeares, hearing the ouerthrowe of Priamus, for +to make the treasure his owne, murthereth the +Childe, the bodie of the Childe is taken vp, Hecuba, shee the same day, findeth a sleight to bee +reuenged moste cruelly of the Tyrant . Where +nowe would one of our Tragedie writers begin, +but with the deliuerie of the Childe ? Then should +hee saile ouer into Thrace, and so spende I know +not howe many yeares, and trauaile numbers of +places. But where dooth Euripides ? euen with +the finding of the bodie, the rest leauing to be told +by the spirite of Polidorus . This needes no further to bee enlarged, the dullest witte +may conceiue it . +

 + +

But besides these grosse absurdities, +howe all their Playes bee neither right Tragedies, nor right Comedies, mingling Kinges and +Clownes, not because the matter so carrieth it, but +thrust in the Clowne by head and shoulders to play +a part in maiesticall matters, with neither decencie not discretion: so as neither the admiration +and Commiseration, not the right sportfulnesse is +by their mongrell Tragicomedie obtained. I know +Apuleius, did somewhat so, but that is a thing +recounted with space of time, not represented in +one moment: and I knowe the Auncients haue +one or two examples of Tragicomedies, as Plautus +hath Amphitrio. But if we marke them well, +wee shall finde that they neuer or verie daintily +matche horne Pipes and Funeralls. So falleth it +out, that hauing indeed no right Comedie in that +Comicall part of our Tragidie, wee haue nothing +but scurrillitie vnwoorthie of anie chaste eares, +or some extreame shewe of doltishnesse, indeede +fit lift vp a loude laughter and nothing else: +where the whole tract of a Comedie should be +full of delight, as the Tragidie should bee still +maintained in a well raised admiration. But our +Comedients thinke there is no delight without +laughter, which is verie wrong, for though laughter may come with delight, yet commeth it not +of delight, as though delight should be the cause +of laughter. But well may one thing breed both +togither. Nay rather in themselues, they haue as +it were a kinde of contrarietie: For delight wee +scarcely doo, but in thinges that haue a conueniencie to our selues, or to the generall nature: +Laughter almost euer commeth of thinges moste +disproportioned to our selues, and nature. +

 + +

Delight hath a ioy in it either permanent or present. +Laughter hath onely a scornfull tickling. For example, wee are rauished with delight to see a faire +woman, and yet are farre from beeing mooued +to laughter. Wee laugh at deformed creatures, +wherein certainly wee cannot delight. We delight in good chaunces, wee laugh at mischaunces. We delight to heare the happinesse of our +friendes and Countrey, at which hee were worthie to be laughed at, that would laugh: we shall +contrarily laugh sometimes to finde a matter quite +mistaken, and goe downe the hill against the byas, +in the mouth of some such men as for the respect +of them, one shall be hartily sorie, he cannot chuse +but laugh, and so is rather pained, then delighted +with laughter. Yet denie I not, but that they +may goe well togither, for as in Alexanders picture well set out, wee delight without laughter, +and in twentie madde Antiques, wee laugh without delight . So in Hercules, painted with his +great beard and furious countenaunce, in a womans attyre, spinning, at Omphales commaundement, +it breedes both delight and laughter: for +the representing of so straunge a power in Loue, +procures delight, and the scornefulnesse of the +action, stirreth laughter . But I speake to this +purpose, that all the ende of the Comicall part, +bee not vppon suche scornefull matters as stirre +laughter onelie, but mixe with it, that delightfull teaching whiche is the ende of Poesie . +

 + +

And the great faulte euen in that poynt of laughter, +and forbidden plainly by Aristotle, is, that they stirre +laughter in sinfull things, which are rather execrable then ridiculous: or in miserable, which are +rather to be pitied then scorned. For what is it to make +folkes gape at a wretched begger, and a beggerly +Clowne: or against lawe of hospitalitie ; to ieast at +straungers, because they speake not English so well +as we do ? What doo we learne, since it is certaine, +Nil habet infelix paupert as durius in se, Quam quod ridiculos homines facit. But +rather a busie louing Courtier, and a hartlesse threatning Thraso; a selfe-wise-seeming +Schoolemaister, a wry transformed Traueller: these if we saw walke in Stage names, which +we plaie naturally, therein were delightfull laughter, and teaching delightfulnesse; as in the other +the Tragidies of Buchanan do iustly bring foorth a +a diuine admiration. But I haue lauished out too +many words of this Play-matter; I do it, because as +they are excelling parts of Poesie, so is there none so +much vsed in England, and none can be more pittifully abused: which like an vnmannerly daughter, +shewing a bad education, causeth her mother Poesies honestie to be called in question. +

 + +

Other sort of +Poetrie, almost haue we none, but that Lyricall kind +of Songs and Sonets ; which Lord, if he gaue vs so +good mindes, how well it might be employed, and +with how heauenly fruites, both priuate and publike, in singing the praises of the immortall bewtie, +the immortall goodnes of that God, who giueth vs +hands to write, and wits to conceiue: of which we +might wel want words, but neuer matter, of which +we could turne our eyes to nothing, but we should +euer haue new budding occasions. But truly many +of such writings as come vnder the banner of vnresistable loue, if I were a mistresse, +would neuer perswade mee they were in loue: so coldly they applie +firie speeches, as men that had rather redde louers +writings, and so caught vp certaine swelling Phrases, which hang togither like a man that once tolde +me the winde was at Northwest and by South, because he would be sure to name winds inough, then +that in truth they feele those passions, which easily +as I thinke, may be bewraied by that same forciblenesse or Euergia, (as the Greeks call it of the writer). +But let this be a sufficient, though short note, that +we misse the right vse of the materiall point of Poesie. +

 + +

Now for the outside of it, which is words, or (as I +may tearme it) Diction, it is euen well worse: so is it +that hony-flowing Matrone Eloquence, apparrelled, +or rather disguised, in a Courtisanlike painted affectation. One time with so farre fet words, that many +seeme monsters, but must seeme straungers to anie +poore Englishman: an other time with coursing of +a letter, as if they were bound to follow the method +of a Dictionary: an other time with figures and flowers extreemly winter-starued. But I would this +fault were onely peculiar to Versefiers, and had not +as large possession among Prose-Printers: and which +is to be meruailed among many Schollers, & which +is to be pitied among some Preachers. Truly I could +wish, if at least I might be so bold to wish, in a thing +beyond the reach of my capacity, the diligent Imitators of Tully & Demosthenes, most worthie to be +imitated, did not so much keepe Nizolian paper bookes, +of their figures and phrases, as by attentiue translation, as it were, deuoure them whole, and make +them wholly theirs. For now they cast Suger and +spice vppon euerie dish that is serued to the table: +like those Indians, not content to weare eare-rings +at the fit and naturall place of the eares, but they +will thrust Iewels through their nose and lippes, +because they will be sure to be fine. Tully when he +was to driue out Cataline, as it were with a thunderbolt of eloquence, often vseth the figure +of repitition, as Viuit et vincit, imo insenatum, Venit imo, in senatum venit, &c. +Indeede enflamed, with a well +grounded rage, hee would haue his words ( as it +were) double out of his mouth, and so do that artificially, which we see men in choller doo +naturally. And we hauing noted the grace of those words, +hale them in sometimes to a familiar Epistle, when +it were too much choller to be chollericke. +

 + +

How well store of Similiter Cadenses, doth sound with +the grauitie of the Pulpit, I woulde but inuoke +Demosthenes soule to tell: who with a rare daintinesse vseth them . Truly they haue made mee +thinke of the Sophister, that with too much subtiltie would proue two Egges three, and though he +might bee counted a Sophister, had none for his +labour. So these men bringing in such a kinde of +eloquence, well may they obtaine an opinion of a +seeming finenesse, but perswade few, which should +be the ende of their finenesse. Now for similitudes +in certain Printed discourses, I thinke all Herberists, +all stories of beasts, foules, and fishes, are rifled vp, +that they may come in multitudes to wait vpon any +of our conceits, which certainly is as absurd a surfet +to the eares as is possible. For the force of a similitude not being to proue any thing to a +contrary disputer, but onely to explaine to a willing hearer, +when that is done, the rest is a moste tedious pratling, rather ouerswaying the memorie from the +purpose whereto they were applied, then anie +whit enforming the iudgement alreadie either satisfied, or by similitudes not to be satisfied. For +my part, I doo not doubt, when Antonius and +Crassus, the great forefathers of Cicero in eloquence, +the one (as Cicero testifieth of them) pretended not +to knowe Art, the other not to set by it, (because +with a plaine sensiblenesse, they might winne credit of popular eares, which credit, is the nearest +steppe to perswasion, which perswasion, is the +chiefe marke of Oratorie) I do not doubt I say, but +that they vsed these knacks verie sparingly, which +who doth generally vse, any man may see doth dance +to his owne musick, and so to be noted by the audience, more careful to speak curiously +then truly. Vndoubtedly (at least to my opinion vndoubtedly ) I +haue found in diuers smal learned Courtiers, a more +sound stile, then in some professors of learning, of +which I can gesse no other cause, but that the Courtier following that which by practise he +findeth fittest to nature, therein(though he know it not)doth +according to art, thogh not by art: where the other +vsing art to shew art and not hide art (as in these cases he shuld do) flieth from nature, & indeed abuseth +art. +

 + +

But what? methinks I deserue to be pounded for +straying from Poetrie, to Oratory: but both haue such +an affinitie in the wordish consideration, that I think +this digression will make my meaning receiue the +fuller vnderstanding: which is not to take vpon me +to teach Poets how they should do, but only finding +my selfe sicke among the rest, to shew some one or +two spots of the common infection growne among +the most part of writers, that acknowledging our +selues somewhat awry, wee may bende to the right +vse both of matter and manner. Whereto our language giueth vs great occasion, being indeed +capable of any excellent exercising of it. I knowe some +will say it is a mingled language: And why not, so +much the better, taking the best of both the other ? +Another will say, it wanteth Grammer. Nay truly +it hath that praise that it wants not Grammer ; for +Grammer it might haue, but it needs it not, being so +easie in it selfe, and so voyd of those combersome +differences of Cases, Genders, +Moods, & Tenses, which +I thinke was a peece of the Tower of Babilons curse, +that a man should be put to schoole to learn his mother tongue. But for the vttering sweetly and +properly the conceit of the minde, which is the end of +speech, that hath it equally with any other tongue +in the world. And is perticularly happy in compositions of two or three wordes togither, neare the +Greeke, farre beyond the Latine, which is one of +the greatest bewties can be in a language. +

 + +

Now of versefying, there are two sorts, the one auncient, the +other moderne. The auncient marked the quantitie +of each sillable, and according to that, framed his +verse: The moderne, obseruing onely number, +with some regard of the accent; the chiefe life of it, +standeth in that like sounding of the words, which +we call Rime. Whether of those be the more excellent, wold bear many speeches, the ancient no doubt +more fit for Musick, both words and time obseruing +quantitie, and more fit, liuely to expresse diuers passions by the low or loftie sound of the well-wayed +sillable. The latter likewise with his rime striketh +a certaine Musicke to the eare: and in fine, since +it dooth delight, though by an other way, it obtaineth the same purpose, there being in either +sweetnesse, and wanting in neither maiestie. Truly the +English before any Vulgare language, I know is fit +for both sorts: for, for the auncient, the Italian is so +full of Vowels, that it must euer be combred with +Elisions. The Duch so of the other side with +Consonants, that they cannot yeeld the sweete slyding, fit +for a Verse. The French in his whole language, hath +not one word that hath his accent in the last sillable, +sauing two, called Antepenultima; and little more +hath the Spanish, and therefore verie gracelesly may +they vse Dactiles. The English is subiect to none of +these defects. Now for Rime, though we doo not +obserue quantitie, yet wee obserue the Accent verie +precisely, which other languages either cannot do, +or will not do so absolutely. That Caesura, or breathing +place in the midst of the Verse, neither Italian +nor Spanish haue: the French and we, neuer almost +faile off. Lastly, euen the verie Rime it selfe, the Italian cannot put it +in the last sillable, by the French named the Masculine Rime; but still in the next to the +last, which the French call the Female; or the next before that, +which the Italian Sdrucciola: the example +of the former, is Buono, Suono, of the Sdrucciola, is +Femina, Semina. The French of the other side, hath +both the Male as Bon, Son; and the Female, as Plaise, +Taise;but the Sdrucciola he hath not: where the English hath +all three, as Du, Trew, Father, Rather, + Motion, Potion , with much more which might be sayd, +but that alreadie I finde the triflings of this discourse +is much too much enlarged. +

 + +

So that since the euer praise woorthie Poesie is full of vertue +breeding delightfulnesse, and voyd of no gift that ought to be +in the noble name of learning, since the blames layd +against it, are either false or feeble, since the cause +why it is not esteemed in England, is the fault of Poet-apes, not Poets. Since lastly our tongue is most fit +to honour Poesie, and to bee honoured by Poesie, +I coniure you all that haue had the euill luck to read +this inck-wasting toy of mine, euen in the name of +the nine Muses, no more to scorne the sacred misteries of Poesie. +No more to laugh at the name of Poets, as though they were next inheritors to fooles; +no more to iest at the reuerent title of a Rimer, but +to beleeue with Aristotle, that they were the auncient Treasurers of the Grecians diuinitie; to beleeue +with Bembus, that they were first bringers in of all +Ciuilitie; to beleeue with Scalliger that +no Philosophers precepts can sooner make you an honest man, +then the reading of Virgil; to beleeue with Clauserus the +Translator of Cornutus, that it pleased the +heauenly deitie by Hesiod and Homer, vnder the vaile +of Fables to giue vs all knowledge, Logicke, Rhetoricke, Philosophie, +naturall and morall, and Quid non? +To beleeue with me, that there are many misteries +contained in Poetrie, which of purpose were written darkly, least by prophane wits it should be +abused: To beleeue with Landin, that they are so beloued of the Gods, +that whatsoeuer they write, proceeds of a diuine furie. Lastly, to beleeue themselues when they tell you they will +make you immortal by their verses. Thus doing, your name shall +florish in the Printers shops. Thus doing, you shall be +of kin to many a Poeticall Preface. Thus doing, you +shal be most faire, most rich, most wise, most all: you +shall dwel vpon Superlatiues. Thus doing, though +you be Libertino patre natus, you shall sodeinly grow +Herculea proles. Si quid mea Carmina possunt. Thus do- +ing your soule shall be placed with Dantes Beatrix, +or Virgils Anchises. But if (fie of such a but) you bee +borne so neare the dull-making Cataract of Nilus, +that you cannot heare the Planet-like Musicke of +Poetrie; if you haue so earth-creeping a mind that it +cannot lift it selfe vp to looke to the skie of Poetrie, +or rather by a certaine rusticall disdaine, wil become +such a mome, as to bee a Momus of Poetrie: then +though I will not wish vnto you the Asses eares of +Midas, nor to be driuen by a Poets verses as Bubonax +was, to hang himselfe, nor to be rimed to death as is +said to be done in Ireland, yet thus much Curse I +must send you in the behalfe of all Poets, that while +you liue, you liue in loue, and neuer get fauour, +for lacking skill of a Sonet, and when you +die, your memorie die from the earth +for want of an Epitaphe.

+

 + + + diff --git a/Renaissance/Wilson/opensource/arte.xml b/Renaissance/Wilson/opensource/arte.xml new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0f1e078 --- /dev/null +++ b/Renaissance/Wilson/opensource/arte.xml @@ -0,0 +1,13508 @@ + + + +%PersProse; +]> + + + + + Wilson's Arte of Rhetorique + Thomas Wilson + G. H. Mair +&responsibility; + + + &Perseus.publish; + + + + + Wilson's Arte of Rhetorique + Thomas Wilson + G. H. Mair + + Oxford + Clarendon Press + 1909 + + + + + + + + + +

Original source of this text is a transcription by Judy Boss, +Omaha, NE, September, 1998, from Wilson's Arte of Rhetorique +1560. Ed. G. H. Mair. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1909. HTML +edition prepared by Renascence Editions (http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~rbear/ren.htm). +Used with permission of Richard Bear and Renascence Editions. +

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + English + Greek + Latin + + + + + + cewmarkup + +$Log: arte.xml,v $ +Revision 1.2 2011-09-02 19:17:46 lcerrato +fixed empty bibl tags + +Revision 1.1 2009-12-09 18:48:07 rsingh04 +moved more xml files around based on copyright status + +Revision 1.2 2004/04/22 14:31:13 cwulfman +fixed problem with log file + + Revision 1.1 2004/04/22 13:21:34 cwulfman + Updated refsdecls, chunking schemes for new hopper. + +Revision 1.5 2003/07/01 22:19:01 yorkc +Updated texts to TEI P4 and Perseus P4 extensions; minor cleanup (esp. character encodings and typos.) + +Revision 1.4 2001/11/16 21:39:53 cwulfman +First fully parsing version. + +Revision 1.3 2001/09/28 20:49:44 cwulfman +now contains just the introduction, but is parsing + +Revision 1.2 2001/09/26 12:56:08 cwulfman +more conversion of html source + +Revision 1.1 2001/09/25 18:05:20 cwulfman +adding to repository; this version does not parse + + + + + + + + + +Introduction + + +

IN 1560 there was imprinted at London by John Kingston, and +now newlie sette forthe againe, with a prologue to the reader, The +Arte of Rhetorique, for the use of all such as are studious of +eloquence, set forthe in Englishe, by Thomas Wilson. This is not +the first edition. As is implied in the title the book had been +already issued; it had been published in 1553, beautifully printed in +black letter by Richard Grafton, the king's printer. For reasons +which will appear hereafter, the last year of Mary's reign had been +a stirring time for the author, and little leisure was left him for +literary tasks. But with the accession of Elizabeth security and +prosperity returned to him, and he set about preparing a new edition +of his successful textbook. Much was altered and much added; he +prefaced it by a new prologue of much personal interest. Towards +the end of the year the corrected and completed book was issued +from the press. It was reprinted in 1562, 1563, and 1567, and +indeed frequently down to about the year of the Great Armada, when +apparently, whether owing to the advent of newer textbooks or to +the changing taste of a more fastidious and sophisticated period we +cannot know, it fell out of demand and public esteem and gradually +ceased to be reprinted. The Arte of Rhetorique, then, was in its day +a work of great popularity; it passed through numerous editions and +was eagerly read by two generations of seekers after eloquence and +literary skill, and then slipped gently back into the night, gathering +the dust of unused bookshelves. But a day arrives when the obsolete +becomes again alive and interesting. A modern finds little to +choose between the book that has been superseded and its successor; +he loves them both for their strangeness and for the picture which +they suggest to him of forgotten habits of thought. Antiquity gilds +dullness; stupidity becomes amiable in dead men. It is not,however, +the undiscriminating zeal of the antiquary or the mere delight + + +vi +Introduction. + +in quaintness for quaintness' sake that has suggested the reprinting +of this book. It is in its way a landmark in the history of the +English Renaissance, and many passages in it are important and +indeed indispensable to the historian of English literature. This has +long been known; the book was styled by Warton The first +system of criticism in our language; but so far to all but a few it +has been accessible only in extracts and these not representative. +There is so much that is of interest in the mass that is forgotten, so +much that explains and interprets many aspects of Elizabethan art, +as to make this reprint of some service perhaps to those who are +studying the period. The book appeared in an age of busy and +eager experiment when many conflicting fashions were struggling for +the mastery both in prose and in verse. Its author was nopedagogue +remote from the live issues of the time. He was a courtier and +a statesman as well as a writer and a scholar; on many of the +problems which emerged from the turmoil of literary effort he had +strong opinions, and the mark of them is left on his work. The +student of Tudor literature may find it worth his while to hear what +an alert and cultured contemporary has [to] say on these matters.

+ +

Thomas Wilson, the author (dignified by many as Sir Thomas +Wilson, though he was never knighted) was born about the year +1525. He was a Lincolnshire man, the son of another Thomas +Wilson of Strubby in that county and Anne Cumberworth his wife. +He himself disclaims any pride in his native shire, and when +Lincoln folk are mentioned in his books it is generally for their +stupidity. He had all the Elizabethan's impatience of rusticity and +dullness, all the contempt which London and the court felt for the +country. It is better, he says, to be borne in London then in +Lincolne. For that the aire is better, the people more ciuill, and the +wealth much greater and the men for the most part more wise. +P. 13 inf. +Yet he owed much to the neighbours of his early home. One of +them, William Cecil, Lord Burghley, did much to promote Wilson +to the honourable state employment of his later years. There are +others who deserve no less mention -- Katherine Willoughby, + + +Introduction. +vii + +Duchess of Suffolk, with whom his friendship was firm and lifelong +and about whom we shall hear presently; and Sir Edward Dymock, +who helped him both at the University and later, and at whose +house The Arte of Rhetorique was written during a holiday visit.

+ +

Thomas Wilson was educated first at Eton; in 1541 he became +a scholar of King's College, Cambridge. The time and thecircumstances +were fortunate. During his residence there Sir John +Cheke was chosen provost, and Wilson was thus thrown into contact +with what was at once the most progressive and the most national +side of English Humanism. Through Cheke and Sir Thomas Smith +(himself a member of King's and afterwards his predecessor in the +Secretaryship of State) he gained the friendship of Roger Ascham; +through them, too, he became intimate with Walter Haddon, +another member of the coterie and the most distinguished Latinist of +his time. With him Wilson collaborated in his earliest book. +Before he left Cambridge he had become one of a school of men +who, by their scholarship and the individuality of their opinions, did +much to mould the course of the Renaissance in England on its +pedagogic side, and who had no inconsiderable influence on the +development of English prose. From them he learned the lesson of +simplicity and his horror of exaggerated Latinism. He fought side +by side with them in the crusade against inkhorn terms, and he bore +the brunt of the battle. For whereas Ascham confined himself to +the practice of teaching and the composition of dialogues which +contain precepts in style only by the way; whereas Haddon distilled +from his pen poetical effusions in the learned tongues and Cheke's +influence was exerted through personal contact only, Wilson set +himself in his textbooks on Logic and Rhetoric to provide sure +guidance for the aspiring student who was anxious to acquire what +the new learning had to give him. Through him the teaching of +Cheke and Ascham found its way to a wider circle of disciples than +either of these could command.

+ +

At Cambridge, Wilson formed an attachment which remained +throughout his life his most precious recollection. We have seen +that in Lincolnshire he enjoyed the friendship and patronage of + + + +viii +Introduction + +Katherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk. At the University he +became the tutor of her two sons. Henry and Charles Brandon, +both counted Dukes of Suffolk because in their death one survived +the other by a few hours, made by the brilliancy and high promise of +their talents and the bitter tragedy of their early death a remarkable +impression on their contemporaries. The elder for a time was +a fellow-pupil with King Edward under Sir John Cheke; but both +during the larger part of their education were under Wilson's care. +It is easy to see how deep was his regard for them; he returns +to their praise again and again, and there is nothing of theconventional +eulogy which is the due of patronage in his tone. When +they died, of the sweating sickness, in 1551, he published along +with Walter Haddon a volume of memorial verses and two letters +by way of biography. + +Vita et obitus duorum fratrum Suffolciensium, Henrici et Caroli Brandoni, +duabus epistolis [Gault. Haddoni et Tho. Wilsoni] explicata; adduntur epitaphia +et acroamata in eosdem Graece et Latine conscripta, cum Cantabrigiensium tum +Oxoniensium iugi commendatione et industria, etc. Edente Tho. Wilsono. +London. in ed. Rich. Graftoni. In The Arte of Rhetorique the examples 'Of +Commending a noble Personage', and 'Of Comfort', pp. 14, 66 inf. are both +tributes to their memory. He begins his commendation after the +manner of rhetoricians in vague phrases and high-sounding generalities. +Gorgias, Heliogabalus, and Phaphorinus the philosopher extolling +the feuer quartain, all have their place, but when he reaches the +matter in hand he forgets the precepts of the ancients and the +mannerisms of the schools. Of his own special pupil, the Duke +Charles, for the Greeke, the Latine and the Italian, I know he +could do more than would be thought true by my report. I leaue +to speake of his skill in pleasant instrumentes, neither will I utter +his aptnesse in Musicke, and his toward nature, to all exercises of the +bodie . . . if his brother were set aside there was not one that went +beyond him. A child that by his owne inclination, so much yeelded +to his ruler, that few by chastment haue done the like; pleasant of +speech, prompt of wit, stirring by nature, hault without hate, kind +without craft, liberall of heart, gentle in behauiour, forward in all + + + +Introduction +ix + +things, greedie of learning, and Loth to take the foil in any assemblie. +The second example, 'Of Comfort,' is addressed to their mother. +When God lately visited this relme with the sweating disease and +received the two worthie gentlemen, Henrie, Duke of Suffolk and his +brother Lord Charles: I, seeing my Ladies Grace their mother taking +their death most greeuously, could not otherwise for the dutie whiche I +then did, and euer shall owe unto her, but comfort her in that her +heauiness, the whiche undoubtedly at that time much weakened her +bodie. There is no mistaking the sincerity of his friendship. It is +pleasant to read his gratitude for her patronage who was 'by birthe +noble and witte great, of nature gentle and mercifull to the poore, and +to the Godlie and especially to the learned an earnest good patronesse, +and most helping ladie aboue all other'.

+ +

In the same year, 1551, which saw his first appearance as an author +in the two epistles, Wilson published his first famous book, The Rule +of Reason, conteyning the Arte of Logike, sette forthe in Englishe +by Thomas Wilson. In his dedication to King Edward he explains +the reasons which led to its writing and publication. Hitherto +students of logic have been obliged to have recourse to the ancient +tongues; his object is to provide a textbook in the vulgar tongue. +I take not upon me so cunningly and perfectlie to haue written of +the said arte, as though none could dooe it better; But because no +Englishman untill now, hath gone through with this enterprise, I haue +thought meet to declare that it may be dooen. The book is based +on Aristotle and makes no pretence at originality. I doe herein +take vpon me no more, he says, but to be as a poore meane +manne, or a simple persone, whose charge were to bee a Lodesman, +to conueigh some noble Princes, into a straunge lande. Thecomposition +of the book was apparently suggested by Richard Grafton, +the King's printer, who had already helped the author at Cambridge. + +The Printer hereof your Maiesties seruaunt, +prouoked me first hereunto, vnto whom I haue euer founde myselfe +greately beholdyng, not only at my being in Cambridge, but also at all +tymes else when I most needed helpe.Rule of +Reason, Ep. Ded., ed. 1567. Richard Grafton was the leading publisher of his +time and issued the First Book of Common Prayer, Hall's +Chronicles, and many other notable +works. + + + +x +Introduction. + +Despite his fears that this fruit being of a straunge kind (soche as +no Englishe ground hath before this tyme, and in this sorte by any +tillage brought forthe) maie perhaps in the firste tastyng, prouesomewhat +rough and harsh in the mouthe, because of the straungenesse, +the book had a considerable vogue. It was republished withcorrections +and additions in 1567, The 1567 edition is interesting as containing a passage cited from An +enterlude, made by Nicholas Udall. This is Ralph Roister Doister, the date of +which is fixed by the allusion. and frequently reprinted later. Immediately +after, encouraged by its success to continue his plan of +making the sciences accessible to the unlearned, Wilson published +The Arte of Rhetorique. It was dedicated to John Dudley, Earl of +Warwick and Master of Horse, to whom he tells us its inception was +due. For whereas it pleased you, emong other talke of learning, +earnestlie to wishe, that ye might one daie see the preceptes of +Rhetorike sette forthe by me in Englishe, as I had erste dooen the +rules of Logike: a hauyng in my countree this laste sommer, a quiete +tyme of vacacion with Sir Edwarde Dymoke knighte: I trauailed so +muche as my leasure might serve thereunto. The book was +published in 1553, + +The statement of one bibliographer (see D. N. B.) that it was published at +the same time as The Rule of Reason, is undoubtedly wrong. No such edition +exists; and the passage from the Dedication above quoted implies some time +between the dates of writing. and with its appearance his career as an author +ceased for the time being, and he fell under the ban of religious +persecution. Hard shift, says Fuller, +Fuller's Worthies, ed. 1840, vol. ii., p. 277. + he made to conceal himself +in the reign of Queen Mary. Eventually he was forced to quit the +country and fly over seas.

+ +

His subsequent career must be told in less detail. Its importance +belongs to political and diplomatic rather than to literary history; +it is written in his dispatches at the Record Office, in State papers +and the like, and could not be adequately treated within the limits +which a preface imposes. In 1555 the fall of Northumberland +drove him abroad, and he travelled to Italy. In the same year we +find him with Sir John Cheke in Padua. Two years later heproceeded + + +Introduction. +xi + +ceeded to Rome, and in December, 1557, he became implicated in +an intrigue at the Papal Court against Cardinal Pole. In January +he was summoned by Philip and Mary to return to England and +appear before the Privy Council. There can be no doubt what was +the fate they had in store for him; Wilson apparently recognized +the meaning of the summons; he paid no heed and was arrested in +Rome by the Inquisition on a charge of heresy. His position was +one of the greatest danger, and only the fortunate accident of an +insurrection in the city prevented his death; apparently he had been +already put to the torture. The incident is described in a passage +of gravity and dignity in 'The Prologue to the Reader', which he +added to The [Arte] of Rhetorique in 1560.See infra.1 + Twoo yeres past, at my +beyng in Italie, I was charged in Roome toune, to my greate +daunger and vtter vndoyng (if God's goodnesse had not been the +greater) to haue written this booke of Rhetorike and the Logike +also, for the whiche I was compted an heretike, notwithstanding the +absolution granted vnto all the realme, by Pope Julie the thirde, for +all former offences or practises, deuised againste the holie mother +Churche, as they call it . . . God be my Iudge, I had then as little +feare (although death was present and the tormente at hande,whereof +I felte some smarte) as euer I had in all my life before. For, +when I sawe those who did seeke my death to be so maliciously +sette, to make soche poore shiftes, for my readier despatche and to +burden me with these back reckeninges: I tooke soche courage, and +was so bolde, that the Iudges did moche maruaile at my stoutnesse. +The account is too long to quote in full; but it shows that the spirit +of Ridley and Latimer fired other men not less ardently though +martyrdom was only for a few. In the ende, he says, by God's +grace I was wonderfully deliuered, through plaine force of the +worthie Romaines (an enterprise heretofore in that sorte neuer +attempted) being then without hope of life, and moche lesse of +libertie. In 1559, before his return to England he was made an +LL.D. of Ferrara, an honour which he afterwards received from his +own university and from Oxford.

+ + +

+xii +Introduction. +

+

From 1560 to the end of his life, Wilson was employed in State +business. He was appointed Advocate of the Court of Arches and Master +of Requests; he enjoyed the patronage, like so many other men of +letters, of the Earl of Leicester, and he was employed with increasing +frequency on diplomatic missions. Amongst his other posts he held +that of Master of St. Catherine's Hospital in the Tower of London; his +conduct there seems to have aroused muchcontroversy. Under Queen Elizabeth, says +Fuller, Fuller, ibid. he was made master of +the hospital of St. Catherine's nigh the Tower of London, upon the +same token that he took down the choir, which my author saith (allow +him a little hyperbole) was as great as the choir of St. Paul's. I am +loath to believe it done out of covetousness to gain from the +materials thereof, but would rather conceive it so run to ruin that it +was past repairing. Fuller's author was Stowe in whose <bibl n="Perseus:text:2000.01.0047">Survey of London</bibl> + +the charge against Wilson is made. Whatever the motive which drew him into the +task of house-breaking, he was checked in his destructive career, and +the ancient privileges of the Hospital were apparently confirmed on +the presentation of an ernest address from the inhabitants to +Secretary Cecyl, complaining unto him against the said Master. Stowe, Survey of London, vol. 1, +p. 205. It is unlikely that Stowe is right in alleging his +action to have been for the sake of personal gain. Fuller's +conjecture is the more charitable. The trial for treason of the Duke +of Norfolk in 1571 State Trials, +vol. 1., pp. 957, 1017. Trial of the Duke of Norfolk. Wilson gave +evidence at the trial. and the detention and examination of the +prisoners (under torture) absorbed his attention as a Tower official +and he dates his letters 'from prison in the Bloody tower'. In the +following year he was sent along with Sir Ralph Sadler 'to expostulate +by way of accusation' with Mary, Queen of Scots. Two years later he +was ambassador to theNetherlands, and +in 1576 conducted the negotiations for the projected marriage of +Elizabeth with Anjou. On November 12, 1579, he was sworn Secretary of +State in place of Sir Thomas Smith.

+ + +

+Introduction +xiii +

+

Meanwhile, even under the pressure of State business (andElizabethan +officials were hardworked men) his pen was not idle. As early +as 1556 he and Cheke had formed the project of a translation of +Demosthenes into the English tongue. In 1570 there was published, +being dedicated on June 10 of that year to William Cecil, 'Three +Orations of Demosthenes, chiefe orator of the Grecians in fauour of +the Olynthians . . . with those his foure Orations against King Philip +of Macedonie; most nedeful to be redde in these daungerous dayes +of all them that loue their countries libertie and desire to takewarning +for their better auayle.' Wilson is responsible for the whole of +this translation, which is said to attain a high level of scholarship. +As is made clear on the title page the work was intended to have +a political significance. Philip of Macedon for the Englishman +meant Philip of Spain, and the lesson was enforced by a comparison +of Athens and England in the preface. It is possible that the +Government through Cecil commissioned Wilson to do the work; +if so, he is the earliest of the long line of English authors who have +used their pens in the service of politics. To be set side by side +with Milton, Dryden, and Swift, to name only a few, is to be in +no bad company. In his last publication he turned to the field +of Economics. In 1572 he dedicated to Leicester 'a discourse on +Usurye, by waye of Dialogue and Oracions'. The dialogue takes +place between 'a rich worldly merchaunt, the godlie zealous Preacher, +the Temporall and ciuil Lawyer', who in turn make the orations. As +might be supposed the rich and worldly merchant is confuted and +the godly and zealous preacher triumphs. Usury is condemned, as +it had been by Aristotle and the Canonists, on moral grounds. In +doing so the author is expressing the opinion held by his owngeneration; +an Act of Parliament utterly forbidding the practice was passed +the year before his treatise was published; at the end of the century +Shakespeare in The Merchant of Venice takes the same standpoint. +There is no wonder that the book was popular and much relished by +the Church. In a prefatory letter to the author which appeared in +the edition of 1584 Quoted in the Gentleman's Magazine, 1835, p. 471. +the Bishop of Salisbury eulogizes the work. + + + +xiv +Introduction. + +'If I were a usurer never so greedily bent to spoil and rapine, us +sunt foineratores, yet would I think myself most unhappy if such +persuasion could not move me.' The usurer did not prove sotractable +as the good bishop imagined, and modern ears remainaltogether +deaf to his appeal. These, with a Latin treatise which +perhaps was a translation of part of the preface to Demosthenes, are +all his published works. Antony Wood refers to 'other things +which I have not yet seen'. Antony Wood, Fasti Oxonienses, ed. 1721, p. 98. They have not come to the light +since his time.

+ +

Wilson became Secretary of State, as we have seen, in 1579; he +did not live above two years to enjoy the office. While he held it, +he obtained a reputation for great ability and deep policy. Despite +his long connexion with the Leicester party, he seems to have done +his best to dissuade Elizabeth from identifying herself with it at the +expense of Sussex. 'His peculiar knack,' we are told, 'was a politic +and artificial nourishing of hopes.' Lloyd, Statesmen and Favourites of England since the Reformation, 1665. Quoted +in Gentleman's Magazine, loc. cit. +'While he enjoyed the office of +Secretary,' says Antony Wood, 'He became famous for three things +(1) For quick dispatch and industry, (2) for constant diligence, and +(3) for a large and strong memory.' Antony Wood, loc. cit. His friendship and influence +were much sought after,Gabriel Harvey counts him as 'my honourable fauourer'; he was one of the +numerous friends from whom Harvey hoped advancement. and had he lived, he might have been +a guide and patron to the new generation of poets and writers. As +it was, he died while still in office in 1581, and his funeral wascelebrated +on June 17 in St. Catherine's Church, East Smithfield. His +portrait may be seen in the National Portrait Gallery.

+ +

His career presents him as a man closely in touch with the three +greatest forces in the England of his time -- the Renaissance, the +Reformation, and the revival of the State under the Tudors. The +last he served faithfully in many quarters. Whether we are to +believe or not the statement of a seventeenth-century biographerLloyd in Gentleman's Magazine, ibid. + + +Introduction. +xv + +that his parents designed him for a life of letters and his owninclination +drove him into business, there can be no doubt as to his +capacity. Says Fuller, speaking of his secretaryship, 'It argues his +ability for the place because he was put into it; seeing in those +active times, under so judicious a queen, weakness might despair +to be employed in such an office.' Fuller, ibid. There is no reason to quarrel +with this terse and just verdict. There is no mistaking his zeal for +the Reformation. It shines through everything he wrote, and the +reader of the Logike and the [Rhetorique] will have no cause to wonder +at the papal persecution of his works. No opportunity is lost of +driving a nail into the coffin of English catholicism. Examples will +be found on many pages of this book. The pre-Reformation period +is 'the doting world when stockes were saintes and dumme walls +spake'. He approves the marriage of priests and monks. 'And +I thinke the Bishops officers would have procured this matter long +agoe, if they had not found greater gaines by Priestes Lemmans then +they were like to haue by priestes wiues.' The Rule of Reason is one +long Protestant tract in which the doctrines of Geneva are enforced +by the apparatus of mediaeval logic. But though he loved Latimer +as 'the father of all preachers' he was not blind to abuses in his +own Church. 'Doe ye not see, how euery one catcheth and pulleth +from the Church, what thei can? I feare me one day, they wil +pluck doune Church and all. Call you this the Gospell, when men +seeke onely to prouide for their bellies, and care not a groate +whether their soules go to Hell? A patrone of a benefice, will have +a poore ymgrame soule, to beare the name of a Parson, for twentie +marke or ten pound: and the patron himselfe, wil take up for his +snapshare, as good as a hundred marke. Thus God is robbed, +learning decaied, England dishonoured, and honestie not regarded.'P. 36.

+ +

His part in the English Renaissance and the importance in it of +The Arte of Rhetorique must now be treated at more length.

+ + + +xvi +Introduction. + +II + +

The Renaissance did not come to pass in a night. The forms of +teaching and schemes of knowledge which we associate with the +Middle Ages subsisted for long side by side with the new learning. +It is the mediaeval division of arts and sciences which we find in +Wilson's work. When he says in his preface to the Arte of Logike, +that 'divers learned menne, of other countries, have heretofore, for +furtheraunce of knowledge, not suffered any of the sciences liberals, +to be hidden in the Greke or Latine tongue, but haue with most +earnest trauaile, made every of them familiare to their Vulgar +people', the liberal sciences he is thinking of are no other than the +famous seven of mediaeval pedagogy. Later on in the book, he +runs them into a rude kind of rime for the benefit of the learner. +

+ + Grammer doeth teach to utter wordes: + To speake both apt and plaine. + Logike by Arte, settes forthe the truthe, + And doeth tell what is vaine. + Rhetorike at large paintes well the cause, + And makes that seem right gaie + Which Logike spake but at a word + And taught us by the waie. + Musike with tunes, delites the eare: + And makes us thinke it heauen. + Arithmetike by nomres can make + Reckenynges to be euen. + Geometrie thynges thicke and broade, + Measures by line and square: + Astronomie by starres doeth tell; + Of foule and eke of faire. + + +

All that the new zeal for learning worked for in the first instance, +and all that Wilson pretended to do, was to make these accessible +in the vernacular. Along with this went the breaking up of the +older cyclopaedic system and the beginning of separate textbooks +for each subject. +

+

This is, however, only half the truth of the matter. Though + + +Introduction. +xvii + +the historian must needs deny the cleavage once imagined between +the old and the new, the theory of a kind of tropical dawn, a sudden +passage from light to darkness, he must admit that the change of +outlook and purpose of life which we call the Renaissance, though it +was gradual, was none the less complete. It meant a new beginning +for the artist and the author as well as for the theologian, the +adventurer, and the statesman. In the Middle Ages thegroundwork +of thought and letters was logic. It extended to everydepartment +of culture. Works of piety and the poetry of love, to take +two of the largest and simplest kinds of writing, were founded on a +logical attitude towards things. In the schools it was supreme; the +trivium was threefold only in name; dialectic overshadowed both +rhetoric and grammar. With the Renaissance, however, a complete +revolution took place. Logic gradually went under, and rhetoric, +reinforced by the reading of authors, took the highest place in the +curriculum. What happened in education happened also in literature. +The reading of the ancients awakened a new delight in the melody +of language: men became intoxicated with the beauty of words. +The practice and study of rhetoric was quickly universal and coloured +all literature. The new drama, with its preference for declamatory +speeches over dialogue; the new prose, with its fantasy and its +exuberance of figure; the new poetry, with its mythologicalallusiveness +and its sensuousness of imagery, all owe their origin to the fashion +of rhetoric. 'Unless the school and university training in rhetoric +are borne in mind, an important factor in accounting for the wealth +of imagery and expression in the English literature of the sixteenth +and seventeenth centuries is overlooked.'Prof. Foster Watson, The English Grammar Schools to 1660. Tamburlaine and Lucrece, +Arcadia and Euphues, a host of sonneteers -- all come to the mind. +It is no mere accident that Wilson's long translation of Erasmus's +epistle to persuade a young gentleman to marriage reminds one of +the first part of Shakespeare's sonnets. The same literary impulse +dictated both. The order of his two treatises and the greater +popularity of the Rhetorique represent a fact in the development of +literature and thought.

+ + +

+xviii +Introduction. +

+

This is hardly the place in which to attempt a detailed history of +the study of rhetoric in England,The thing has in some degree been done by Professor Foster Watson's recent +book, The English Grammar Schools to 1660. Most of the above was written before +I had an opportunity of reading it, but I have ventured to add one or two points +from it which had escaped my own reading. but some of the most prominent +books and writers may be briefly noticed. Of course a large part of +the study of rhetoric was carried on directly from the ancient +writers; notably Cicero whom Ascham praised and held superior to all +others of learning rhetoric, and Quintilian, the idol of the teachers of +that time. But the use of modern works was more usual. There +were two books in the vulgar tongue before Wilson's: Cox's Arte or +Crafte of Rhetorique and Sherry's Treatise of the figures of Grammar and +Rhetoric, profitable for all that be studious of eloquence. They were both +schoolbooks, pure and simple. Wilson does not seem to have known +them; at any rate, in writing his treatise in English, he professes an +innovation. Later Abraham Fraunce, author of several books for +lawyers, published his Arcadian Rhetoric (1588), designed to show +the beauties of Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia, and Richard Mulcaster +combined Grammar and Rhetoric in one of the most popular +treatises of the day. This combination was one of the most +fortunate features in Tudor Education. Grammar was studied +in the sixteenth century more broadly than it has been, perhaps, +before or since. Both Ascham in his Scholemaster and Elyot in his +Grammar minimize the importance of the formalities of grammatical +study. 'Back to Quintilian,' the great ideal for which the +Renaissance educationalists worked, means nothing so much as this, +that grammar could not be studied independently of literature. The +growth of rhetorical teaching went steadily on and for theseventeenth +century we have more information. Brinsley's Ludus<reg orig="Litter-arius">Litterarius</reg>, +or Grammar schoole (1612), and Hoole's New discovery of the old +art of teaching schoole (1659), give many interesting particulars. +We learn the way rhetoric was taught; how the pupils kept a book +with the headings of invention under which they entered subjects for +exercise. We learn, too, much regarding the textbooks generally + + + + +Introduction. +xix + +used in schools, none of which were in English. The most popular +(it was greatly admired by Gabriel Harvey) appears to have been +that of a Frenchman of the name of Talon who latinized himself as +Talaeus. 'For answering the questions of Rhetorike,' says Brinsley +in one place, 'you may if you please, make them perfect in Talaeus' +Rhetorike, which I take to be most used in schools.' He was run +hard by English competitors, the chief of whom was Charles Butler, +a member of Magdalen College, who published his Rhetoricæ Libri Duo +in 1598. In a later edition he quotes by way of preface the eulogy +bestowed upon him by Brinsley, 'Instead of Talaeus you may use +Master Butler's Rhetorike, of Magdalens in Oxford, being a notable +abridgement of Talaeus; making it most plaine and farre more easie +to bee learned of scholers: and also supplying many things wanting +in Talaeus . . . it is not of much greater price though the worth be +double.' Brinsley commends it further for its treatment of the +figures belonging to poetry, and for its rules as to metre. One +other famous book on Rhetoric deserves notice. This is Thomas +Farnaby's Index Rhetoricus, a small but exceedingly well-constructed +book. Like Wilson, its author had an adventurous career, for he +began life as a postmaster at Merton College, and after sailing with +Drake and Raleigh to the Main, and serving as a soldier in the Low +Countries, settled down to his profession as an usher in a Devonshire +school. Three years after he had commenced teaching, he washeadmaster +of a large school of his own in London, with three hundred +pupils and an educational system which was famous all over Europe. +His Index he dedicated to a senator of Venice; it had a continental +as well as an English reputation. Of the others, and they are legion, +there is no space here to deal at length and there is little profit and +much tedium in a mere catalogue. Many will be found treated in +Warton's History of Poetry, which is, much more than its name +implies, a history of all branches of literature, and which is +particularly well informed on this period.

+ +

All these textbooks owe their system and their terminology +to the ancient writers. Wilson is no exception to the rule. His +book is a judicious compilation from Quintilian as far as the first two + + +xx +Introduction. + +books are concerned, while the third owes almost as much to Cicero. +Yet the charge of plagiarism would be an idle one to prefer. The +Elizabethans had none of our modern squeamishness about literary +copyright, as the whole result of the study into Shakespeare's sources +sadly witnesses. The words of the Player king in Hamlet. + + Our thoughts are ours, their ends none of our own,shak. ham 3.2.223 + + +sum up the author's point of view. And in writing on such a subject +as Rhetoric there is a double excuse, for a science must have a +received terminology, and it lies not with every new artist to invent +new names for his colours or the processes that he uses. The terms +and divisions of Quintilian were common property among his +Renaissance imitators, and with this caveat we can turn to The Arte +of Rhetorique without the danger of unjust censure.

+ +

The first book treats of certain preliminaries, such as what is +an orator, what is rhetoric, with what subjects it deals and what is its +end. Three things are required of an orator: that he should teach, +that he should delight, and that he should persuade. The lessons of +plainness, order, and directness are duly enforced, without which it +is impossible either to delight or win over. The means by which +Eloquence is attained leads the author to point out that theknowledge +of the art is of no avail without practice, which came before +theory was invented; for 'Rhetorique was first made by wisemen, +and not wisemen by rhetorique'. Besides practice, five general +qualities are necessary for the perfect orator, Invention, Disposition, +Elocution, Memory, and Utterance. The first of these is now +systematically treated; and so a detailed account of the different +causes and the 'places' which confirm them completes the first book. +The bulk of it, and the part which is of most interest to readers, +is made up of the numerous examples which the author gives to +enforce his instruction. Many varied kinds of oration are provided +for the study of the pupil. Some of these are translated, but the bulk +are from the author's own hand. Those on comfort we have already +seen. The translation of Erasmus's epistle persuading a friend +to marriage, and the example of praising King David for killing +Goliath are perhaps the best of the statelier sort. Some of the + + +Introduction. +xxi + +judicial speeches, particularly that on p. 92, to prove by conjectures +the knowledge of a notable and heinous offence, committed by a Souldier, +when he forgets the solemnity of the occasion and begins to tell his +story, are not without a kind of merit, though they show an entire +ignorance of the rules of evidence. As a whole, however, the examples +are of no great worth, as even the writer of an essay in praise +of the book is bound to confess. His precept is unimpeachable, +but plainness and directness, at once the most sought after and +the most elusive of all literary qualities, are not so easily come by in +practice, and cannot be had save by much striving. Moderns when +they essay to write on the subject generally take their examples from +authors of standing. We may admire Wilson for his courage in +taking the bolder course of original composition, but we cannot help +questioning his discretion.

+ +

The second book deals with Disposition, and in it the author gets +to much closer grips with his subject. His method is to take each +different part of an oration and discuss the various ways in which it +may be treated. He begins with the Entrance, which may be +treated in two ways, either the orator may plainly set forth what +he is going to say and so win straight to the matter on hand or else +he may proceed by insinuation, gaining his hearers' attention by +some tale or by some strange thing, 'that they all may quake at the +onely hearing of the same'. His examples are aptest for pleading at +the bar, but many will serve for the clergy also, of whose preaching +he has a poor opinion; for often, he says 'they beginne as much +from the matter as it is betwixt Dover and Barwicke, whereat some +take pitie and many for wearinesse can scant abide their beginning, +it is so long or they speake anything to the purpose'. Next comes +Narration which should be brief, plain, and probable, and then +Division which should declare the points at issue between the orator +and his adversary. The Confirmation in which he must prove +his point and the Conclusion in which he should sum all up for +the benefit of the hearers complete the scheme. There follows +a discussion of the figure Amplification, that is a storing of sentences +and examples which shall help to win favour or move affections. + + +xxii +Introduction. + +Under this head we get Wilson's treatment of Mirth and Laughter +and the best means by which these may be used by the rhetorician. +Elocution, Memory, and Utterance are dealt with in the third +and last book. Of these the first consists in an account of the +Figures or Tropes, largely based on Cicero, each furnished with +examples, mainly from the classical writers. The sections on Memory +and Utterance, as they are the last, are also the best part of the +book. In them he is less bound by his models; his hand is freer and +has gained in expertness; the clumsiness of style which tries the +reader's patience in the earlier parts is absent, because his subject +holds him more imperiously than before. They may be commended +to those who wish to see Wilson at his best. It is not great prose, +but it is vigorous, living, and unaffected, and it comes nearer to +fulfilling the precepts of its author than anything else in the Arte of +Rhetorique.

+ +

The formalities of Rhetoric are no more cheerful reading in +Wilson than in any other author who treats of the subject. +Fortunately the space at his disposal allowed him much opportunity +for wandering a little from the matter at hand and giving his verdict on +men and things. Many of his friends are mentioned or alluded +to in his pages. A reference to Latimer we have already seen; +Walter Haddon is the best 'Latine man' in England. Sir John +Cheke's arrival at Cambridge from the court to take up theprovostship +of King's College gives occasion for one of the best anecdotes in +the book (p. 164). The proverbs of Heywood, 'whose paines +in that behalf are worthy immortal praise,' are mentioned with +eulogy more than once. Ascham is not named, but we learn that +'bowes are not esteemed as they haue beene among vs Englishmen, +but if we were once well beaten by our enemies, we should soone +know the want, and with feeling the smart, lament much our folly', +and it is plain enough where he learned these doctrines. Passing +from his personal references to his opinions and prejudices, the +reader is most struck, perhaps, by the Protestant zeal which we have +already noticed and which shines through every page of the book. +But the statesman is there as well as the reformer. The direction + + +Introduction. +xxiii + +and reorganization of industry which ended in the Statute of +Apprentices and the proceedings in check of vagrancy are both +treated of under the head of Justice or True Dealing. 'Thankes +be to God, wee hang them apace, that offend a lawe, and therefore, +wee put it to their choyce, whether they wilbe idle, and so fall +to stealing or no? they knowe their reward, goe to it when they wil. +But if therewithal some good order were taken for the education of +youth, and setting loyterers on worke (as thanks be to God, the +Citie is most godlie bent that way) all would sone be well, without +all doubt.' The inclosure of the Common Lands finds in Wilson +a strong supporter. 'Commons or Equalitie,' he says, 'is when the +people by long time have a ground . . . the whiche some of them will +keepe still for custome sake, and not suffer it to be fenced, and so +turned to pasture, though they might gain ten times the value: but +such stubburnesse in keeping of commons for custome sake, is +not standing with justice, bicause it is holden against all right.' To +comment, however, on the idiosyncrasies and tastes which he +displays to his reader is a work of too great magnitude to be +attempted here; the curious will find material enough on almost +every page.

+ +

Besides these the book is enlivened with many anecdotes. They +serve one of two purposes; either they are meant to enforce a point +or enliven the tedium of his discourse, or else they are given as samples +of the kind of entertainment an orator should interpose to lighten +the effect of the weightier message he has to tell. Some of them +are of historical or personal interest, such as that of the Spaniard who +watched the burning of a heretic at Smithfield (p. 138), or that of +the rebel priest in Norfolk, or the story of the Cambridge lecturer +who would not face his audience; others are of the perennial sort +which pass from age to age, and from country to country, which find +no difficulty in achieving a local habitation and a name in all climates, +and are not abashed or estranged by any kind of company. The +story of the sentry and the abbot, for instance, appears from time +to time even in our own day in newspapers; many others are under +the same category. The author's treatment of his stories is not always + + +xxiv +Introduction. + +free from carelessness of a disconcerting kind. He sometimes begins +a tale and fails to finish it. In this way perishes the story of the +archdeacon and the young man, which began with much promise; +the archdeacon had inveighed in the tone of Sir Andrew Aguecheek +against the multitude of heretic and vain preachers: 'You say euen +troth (quoth the yong man) and so went forth: but to tell all, I had +neede to haue time of another world, or at least to haue breath of +another bodie.' Sometimes he begins a tale for edification and +then his baser nature carries him away and the matter becomes one +of scurrility and jest. So the story of the poor hermit, perhaps the +best in the book, abruptly passes from a denunciation of the carnal +living of the Religious to a frank enjoyment of the favourite subject +of Elizabethan humour in which the laughter is all on the side of the +hermit. Wilson is catholic in the extreme as regards his sources. +For 'moving sport by old tales' he recommends the stories of +King Arthur and the Round Table, 'the which,' in the opinion of his +friend Ascham, 'are nothing else than open manslaughter and bold +bawdrie.' The bulk of his anecdotes, however, deal with the +ancients, and particularly with Diogenes and Cicero. These he took +bodily from a contemporary collection -- The Apophthegmes of Erasmus +-- translated into English by his friend Nicholas Udall and first +published in the year 1542. Udall designed his work to be for +'the most pleasant and the same most honeste, profitable and +holsome readyng of all maner men, and especially of nobel men', +and to this purpose Wilson borrowed the portions he used in +The Arte of Rhetorique. There can be no doubt as to the identity +of the source; most of the classical stories can be traced to this +book. Sometimes Wilson fills up his page by taking two together +as they follow one another in Udall's work, as for instance, the two +Cicero stories on p. 156, in the first of which he writes Vibius +Curius, where the original had Iubius Curtius, a fact which indicates +that his method was both hurried and unscrupulous. But these +stories, carelessly chosen and thrown in by haphazard as they are, +point to the future supremacy of the lives of the Greeks and Romans +as moral teachers to the modern world. Plutarch had not yet been + + +Introduction. +xxv + +translated and students had to be content with the casual and +secondhand information they gleaned from Erasmus. With the +coming of Amyot and North began that intelligent and anxious +study of the lives of the ancients from the most beautiful and +dignified account of them that the world possesses, which was to +have such momentous consequences in the next age, and was +destined to lead Europe a far cry from the path of social and +political advance which the sixteenth century trod.

+ +

The philologist will find little to interest him in this book; +unlike Mulcaster, Wilson touches not at all the study of language. +He does preserve a number of old and obsolete words -- 'snap<!->share,' +'yngrame,' 'haultie,' 'nesh,' are a few -- but his instinct +was to distrust any word not in daily use, and he hated archaism as +much as he did the inkhorn term. The student of style on the other +hand will find him an instructive example of a certain stage in the +development of English prose. The intention is plain enough; he +desired to write as men spoke; to use no words and no constructions +not already familiar to all his readers. Yet he utterly failed to +carry this out in practice. There is a clumsiness and ineffectiveness +of syntax which makes the expression of any abstract idea impossible +or at best halting; it shows itself most prominently in his constant +use of participial nouns, particularly in his definitions. Insinuation +is 'a priuie twining or close creeping in'; a conclusion is 'the +handsomely lapping vp together, and brief heaping of all that which +was said before, stirring the hearers by large vtteraunce, and plentiful +gathering of good matter, either the one way or the other'. It is +easy enough to see that prose as an instrument of instruction or +a means of expressing ideas is in its infancy here. The later +Elizabethans found that Latinism was a safer road than that which +Wilson and his fellows in their poverty trod, and the ideals of Cheke +had to wait for their acceptance and their success till the days of +Dryden. Yet Wilson was not free from extravagances of a kind +incident to the practice of his art, and these are worth looking into +as a possible clue to the origin of the most popular type of English +prose in the generation which followed him. The historians tell us + + + + +xxvi +Introduction. + +that Euphuism is older than Euphues, but they have failed to notice +that the English study of rhetoric provides a much better indication +of its origin than do the imagined influences of Italy and Spain. +It is very easy to exaggerate the cosmopolitanism of literary effort; +and an English source for this affectation is in the nature of things +more likely than a foreign. Now, the recipe, so to speak, of +Euphuism is to be found in The Arte of Rhetorique. By this is not +meant that we claim that Wilson's book taught Lyly his secret; +only that it was through the fashionable study of rhetoric in the +literary coteries of the time that this manner of writing was evolved. +Examples of what is meant abound in this book. One or two +characteristics may be noted here. In the first place, one of the +most prominent features of Lyly's style was its adornment with +metaphors drawn from natural history of a legendary kind; this is +recommended by Wilson when he talks of the use of similitudes: -- +'Oftentimes brute beasts and thinges which haue no life, minister +great matter in this behalf. Therefore those that delite to prove +thinges by similitudes, must learn to knowe the nature of diuers +beastes, of metailles, of stones, and all such as haue any vertue in +them, and be applied to man's life.' Passages such as the following +occur many times, and they all have the ring of Euphues about +them. 'For if felicitie should stand by length of time, some tree +were more happie than any man, for it liueth longer, and so likewise +brute beastes, as the Stagges, who liueth (as Plinie doth say) two +hundred years and more.' Here is both the natural history and the +ascription of the fact to the ancients, a favourite method with the +Euphuists. But other characteristics are also to be found in these +pages. The full-mouthed rhetoric of the later writer finds an +anticipatory echo, so to speak, in such a passage as this: -- 'For if they +that walke much in the sunne, and thinke not of it, are yet for the +most part sunne burnt, it can not but be that they which wittingly +and willingly trauail to counterfect other, must needes take some +colour of them and be like unto them in some one thing or other, +according to the prouerbe, by companying with the wise, a man shal +learn wisdome:' or in a translation such as that which Wilson + + +Introduction. +xxvii + +gives on p. 186, of Tully's invective against Verres, a passage which +shows that a large part of the Euphuistic manner was derived from +the imitation of Cicero practised by the teachers and students of +rhetoric in the schools. The connexion of Wilson with theLiterature +of the reign of Elizabeth must now (as he would say) be set +forth more at large.

+ +III + +

We talk too loosely when we extend the patronage of Elizabeth +forward and backward outside the limits of her actual reign. +Though Wilson served the queen faithfully as an ambassador and +counsellor for twenty most eventful years of peril and stress, hecannot +with any justice be termed an Elizabethan. The word fits best the +high sense of glory and achievement which sprang upon the nation +after the destruction of Spain and lasted till the inexplicable apparition +of unsought melancholy which saddened the reign of James. Wilson +died while the issue of the fight was still undecided; in truth he +belongs to an elder and graver age. His companions were no +splendid courtiers nor daring and hardy adventurers; still less were +they swashbucklers, exquisites or literary dandies. He was one of a +band of grave and dignified scholars, men preoccupied with morality +and citizenship as well as with the lighter problems of learning and +style. They fought for sound education, for good classicalscholarship, +for the purity of written English, and behind all these for the +strength and worth of the native English character which they felt +was menaced by the reckless orgy of assimilation which seized young +England face to face with the allurements which reached it from +abroad. It was not difficult to discern from which quarter the +danger came. Its eminence as the fount and origin of the revived +learning had led English scholars to Italy early in the sixteenth +century, and the path was worn hard with the steady stream of their +feet for over a hundred years after. This could not be without its +influence on the manners of the nation, and indeed the fears of the + + +xxviii +Introduction. + +prophets of evil did not prove groundless. There followed in the +train of the men of learning the men of fashion, eager to con and +copy the new manners of a society whose moral teacher was +Machiavelli, whose patterns of splendour were the courts of Florence +and Ferrara. The effect on England was not long in showing itself, +and it lasted for more than two generations. Coryat, writing well +within the seventeenth century, is as enthusiastic as the authors who +began the imitation of Italian metres, in Tottel's Miscellany; the rod +of censure is wielded as sternly in the satires of Donne and Hall as +it had been by Ascham fifty years before. The danger feared was +a real one no doubt, yet the evil was not unmixed with good, for +insularity will always be a foe to good literature. The Elizabethans +learned much more than their plots from their Italian models. +Improvements in dress, in the comforts of life and in the amenities +of society all came this way, nor were the worst effects dreaded by +the patriots ever planted on our shores. Italian vice stopped short +of real life; poisoning and hired ruffianism flourished in the theatre +merely. All this, however, is later than our author's period. He and +his companions only foresaw the danger ahead; they laboured to +meet it as it came. The brunt of the contest was borne by Ascham; +in the Scholemaster (the passage is too trite to make quotation +possible) he inveighs against the translation of Italian books and the +corrupt manners in living and the false judgement in doctrine which +they breed. Wilson, perhaps because he knew his Italy better, +perhaps with some memory of the service done him by the citizens +of Rome in his time of peril, is much less outspoken than his fellows. +The Italianate Englishman, instead of being specially singled out for +damnation, finds himself classed with all who have come out of +foreign parts. 'Some farre iourneyed gentleman at their returne +home, like as they loue to goe in forraine apparell, so wil thei +ponder their talke with ouersea language. He that commeth lately +out of Fraunce, will talke Frensh English and neuer blush at the +matter. An other chops in with English Italienated, and applieth +the Italian phrase to our English speaking, the which is, as if an +Oratour that professeth to vtter his mind in plaine Latine, would + + +Introduction. +xxix + +needes speake Poetrie, and farre fetched colours of straunge antiquitie.' +It is plainly only the man of letters who speaks here.

+ +

But if he was a laggard in the matter of the ItalianateEnglishman, +in the battle of style and language he fought in the van. In +estimating the influence of his book it must be observed thatwhatever +he and his party achieved of practical result was probably due +to his efforts. The Arte of Rhetorique not only treated the matter +much more systematically, but it reached a much wider public than +Cheke or Haddon or Ascham commanded. The attack wasdelivered +at three points. It was directed against undue Latinism, +against archaism, and against affectations borrowed from foreign +tongues. The last need not detain us; his attitude towards it +has already been noticed. But the question of 'inkhorn terms' +requires larger treatment. The word seems to have been first used +about the year 1543, and it speedily became popular as a nickname +for this vice in writing. The leader of this movement against +Latinism was Sir John Cheke, and his attitude need cause no surprise. +That the leading scholar of his day should be the chief opponent +of the triumph of the classics as a source of English vocabulary is +no more inexplicable a paradox than that which is presented by +the literary history of a century and a half later when Bentley +championed the cause of modern literature in the battle of the +books. Both fought against men of far less scholarship thanthemselves, +and Cheke, at any rate, knew and loved his own literature +and had its welfare deeply at heart. In the introductory letter to +Thomas Hoby, which he wrote as preface to the latter's translation of +Castiglione's Courtier, he gives a plain statement of his case. 'I am +of this opinion that our own tung shold be written cleane and pure, +vnmixt and vnmangeled with borowing of other tunges, wherein +if we take not heed by tijm, ever borowing and neuer payeng, +she shal be fain to kep her house as bankrupt. For then doth our +tung naturallie and praisable vtter her meaning, when she boroweth +no counterfeitness of other tunges to attire herself withall, but +vseth plainlie her owne, with such shift, as nature, craft, experiens +and folowing of other excellent doth lead her vnto, and if she want + + +xxx +Introduction. + +by any tijm (as being imperfight she must) yet let her borow with +suche bashfulness, that it mai appear, that if either the mould of our +own tung could serve us to fascion a woord of our own, or if the old +denisoned words could content and ease this neede, we wold not +boldly venture of vnknown wordes.'

+ +

Wilson entered on the campaign with vigour. 'I know them +that thinke Rhetorique standeth wholie vpon darke wordes, and +hee that can catch an inkhorne terme by the taile, him they coumpt +to be a fine Englisheman, and a good Rhetorician.' He inveighs +against the unlearned or foolish fantasticall, 'soch fellowes as haue +seen learned men in their daies,' who so Latin their tongue that the +simple think they speake by some revelation, and he gives as an +example his famous letter 'deuised by a Lincolnshire man, for +a voyde benefice'. -- 'Such a letter that William Sommer himselfe, +could not make a better for that purpose.' In his translation +of Demosthenes ten years later, he returns to the subject. 'I had +rather follow his veyne (he is speaking of Demosthenes) the which +was to speake simply and plainly to the common people'svnderstanding, +than to overflouryshe with superfluous speach, although +I might thereby be counted equall with the best that euer wrate +Englysh.' His model in writing was such a style as Latimer's, that +is to say, the pure speech of the common people. He was too wise +not to see that the avoidance of classicisms might be pushed to +extremes. 'Now whereas wordes be receiued as well from Greeke +as Latine, to set forth our meaning in the English tongue, either for +lack of store, or els because we would enrich the language; it +is well doen to use them, and no man therein can be charged +for any affectation, when all other are agreed to followe the same +waie. There is no man agreeued when he heareth (Letters Patents) +and yet patent is Latine, and signifieth open to all men.' There +can be no doubt as to the sanity and justice of his attitude and +doubtless many good Saxon words were saved in the crusade which +would otherwise have been lost, for their nature makes them +difficult to recover if once they fall out of use. But there were not +wanting strong opponents to Wilson and Cheke. George Pettie, + + +Introduction. +xxxi + +one of a number of writers who made their bread out of the detested +style of composition, boldly championed the cause of Latinism +and ornament. 'It is not unknown to all men,' he says, 'how +many words we have fetcht from hence within these few yeeres, +whiche if they should all be counted inkpot tearmes, I know not how +we shall speake anie thing without blacking our mouthes with inke.' +There is reason in the criticism; Cheke and his followers did go too +far, while safety, in this case as in most, lay in the mean. Yet their +efforts were not without fruit, for the worst excesses never took a +strong grip of English prose; that it was saved is not so much due +to their precepts as critics as to their work as translators.

+ +

The shafts which Wilson directs against archaism are no less keen +though their effect was less. He puts his arguments into the mouth +of an ancient philosopher.

+ +

Phauorinus the Philosopher (as Gellius telleth the tale) did hit +a yong man ouer the Thumbes very handsomely, for vsing ouer +old, and ouer straunge wordes. Sirha (quoth he) when our olde +great auncesters and Graundsires were aliue, they spake plainly in +their mothers tongue, and vsed olde language, such as was spoken +then at the building of Roome. But you talke me such a Latine, as +though you spake with them euen now, that were two or three +thousand yeres agoe, and onely because you would haue no man to +vnderstand what you say. Now, were it not better for thee +a thousande fold, (thou foolish fellowe) in seeking to haue thy +desire, to holde thy peace, and speake nothing at all? For then +by that meanes, fewe should knowe what were thy meaning. But +thou saiest, the olde antiquitie doth like thee best, because it is +good, sober, and modest. Ah, liue man, as they did before thee, +and speake thy mind as men doe at this day.

+ +

Now, the return to Chaucer is by far the most striking feature of the +revival of English letters. We are accustomed to hear from the +historians of the introduction and imitation of Italian metres by the +authors of Tottel's Miscellany, but in reality their indebtedness to +the older English poets is far more obvious and much better worth +noting. It is not merely the direct references to Chaucer nor the +acknowledged quotations from his work. The whole spirit of the +verse both of Surrey and Wyatt is caught from him. The opening + + +xxxii +Introduction. + +lines of the first poem in the volume, written by Surrey, are pure +Chaucer: -- +

+ + The sonne hath twise brought furth his tender grene, + And clad the earth in lustie loueliness. + + +

In the second we get the 'soote season' and all the Chaucerian +language of spring. Wyatt is no less firm in his allegiance. There +is no mistaking the source of the rhythm of such a passage as +this: -- +

+ + He knoweth, how grete Atride that made Troy freat, + And Hanniball, to Rome so troubelous: + Whom Homer honored, Achilles that great, + And Thaffricane Scipion the famous: + And many other, by much nurture glorious: + Whose fame and honor did bring them aboue: + I did let fall in base dishonest loue. + + +

The minor authors who contributed to the collection fell also under +the spell. +

+ + Full faire and white she is and White by name: + + +

There is no need to multiply instances. As Wilson scornfully says, +'The fine courtier wil talke nothing but Chaucer,' and the fine +courtier was to be the saving of English verse. Wilson and his +companions, in attacking Latinisms and language borrowed from the +older poets, were attacking the two most precious sources of the +Elizabethan poets' vocabulary. All the sonorousness, dignity, and +beauty of Spenser and the dramatists would have been lost had they +succeeded in their object, and English poetry would have been +starved into the warped and ugly forms of Sternhold and Tusser. +We cannot, then, regret that their efforts failed, as they did. For +all their learning and high morality, they were not fit teachers; +their moral preoccupations made it impossible that they should be +so. Their ideal reappeared and was fulfilled late in the seventeenth +century when fantasy and imagery had worn themselves out and the +greater richness of the language made simplicity possible and +adequate for poetic speech. + + +Introduction. +xxxiii +

+

There remains a matter of special interest. From time to time +there have been critics who suggested that traces of the reading of +The Arte of Rhetorique might be found in Shakespeare. Nathan +Drake, a student of Shakespeare whose wide knowledge of minor +Elizabethan literature should have saved him from the neglect into +which he has fallen, suggested that the character of Dogberry might +be derived from Wilson. 'An other good fellowe of the countrey +being an Officer and Maior of a toune, and desirous to speake like +a fine learned man, hauing just occasion to rebuke a runnegate +fellowe, said after this wise in a great heate. Thou yngrame an +vacation knaue, if I take thee anymore within the circumcision of +my dampnation: I will so corrupt thee, that all other vacation knaues +shall take illsample by thee.' There is sufficient similarity to warrant +the suggestion, but much more certain evidence of Shakespeare's +reading of Wilson is to be found; it lies, as might be expected, in +Love's Labour's Lost. There can be no doubt from this play that +Shakespeare had read some Rhetoric, that he found it tedious and +dull and fit matter only for ridicule and laughter. It is the formal +rhetoric which he satirizes; its schemes and its technical terms. +'I will look again on the intellect of the letter,' says Holofernes, +'for the nomination of the party writing to the person written +unto.' The word here is Wilson's Intellection, which is 'a trope, +when we gather or iudge the whole by the part, or part by the whole'. +But Holofernes was not the only student of The Arte of Rhetorique in +the company gathered in Navarre. Don Armado culled some of +the splendour of his speech from this source. His letter to Jaquenetta +is modelled on one of Wilson's examples. He is writing of King +Cophetua: -- + +He it was that might rightly say Veni, vidi, vici; which to +annothanize in the vulgar, -- O base and obscure vulgar! -- videlicet, +He came, saw, and overcame: he came, one; saw, two; overcame, +three. Who came? the king: why did he come? to see: why did +he see? to overcome: to whom came he? to the beggar: what +saw he? the beggar: who overcame he? the beggar. The +conclusion is victory: on whose side? the king's. The captive is +enriched: on whose side? the beggar's. The catastrophe is a nuptial: +on whose side? the king's: no, on both in one, or one in both. +I am the king; for so stands the comparison: thou the beggar: for +so witnesseth thy lowliness.(LLL 4.1.67)

+ + +

+xxxiv +Introduction. + +

+

All this follows the questions appended to the Example ofcommending +King David given below p. 21. It is quite possible that +other evidence of Shakespeare's acquaintance with Wilson's work +might yet be found; a certain knowledge of it can be proved beyond +doubt. The reference to Timon on p. 55 has been thought to have suggested <bibl n="shak. tim">Timon +of Athens</bibl>. It is possible that the panegyric of order on p. 157 may havesuggested +the speech of Ulysses in Troilus and Cressida, Act. I. Sc. iii. There is little +similarity between the two, save in idea, but the passage in Shakespeare looks as +though it were based on a particular reminiscence of his reading. Professor +Raleigh has pointed out (Shakespeare, E. M. L.) the similarity of some of Wilson's +speeches to those of Falstaff.

+ +

That sort of criticism which consists in the resurrection of dead +reputation, or in the re-erection of broken monuments, is not apt to be +the most sound. It is not pretended here that The Arte of Rhetorique +is a great book. But that it has an historical interest apart from, and +independent of, its real merits has perhaps been shown in these pages. +No treatise on Rhetoric can ever be anything more than a kind of +tool-box with whose contents the novice may try his hand, and in +a case of this sort there is neither best nor worst. If he has talent +and imagination he will use his tools well, however poor they be; if +not, he will be a botcher at the best, even if they are good. The +words of Theseus may be applied with greater truth in this matter than +in that of which he used them: 'The best of this kind are but +shadows; and the worst are no worse if imagination mend them.'

+ +

I have to acknowledge the help and suggestions of Professor +Raleigh, and of Professor Grierson of Aberdeen University, and the +courtesy of Mr. R. B. McKerrow, who kindly lent me his copy of the +very rare edition of 1560.

+ + +GEORGE HERBERT MAIR. +Oxford, December, 1908. + + + + +NOTE +

This book is a reprint of the edition of 1585, which is stated on +its title-page to be taken from that of 1567. As it contains many +errors (for the most part typographical and due to carelessness) it +has been collated with the edition of 1567, and with that of 1560 +(which is the editio princeps). The latter has so far been regarded as +non-existent; none of the great libraries contain a copy. I am +indebted to Mr. R. B. McKerrow for the loan of one in his possession. +The first edition (that of 1553) is quite incomplete, and was revised +and added to (see Prologue to the Reader).

+ + + + +The Epistle + +¶ TO THE RIGHT HO- +nourable Lorde Iohn Dudley, +Lorde Lisle, Erle of Warwicke, and +Maister of the Horse to the Kinges +Maiestie: your assured to +commaund, Tho- +mas Wilson. + +

WHen Pirrhus King of the Epirotes made +battaile against the Romaines, and could +neither by force of armes, nor yet by any policie winne +certaine strong Holdes: He vsed commonly to send one +Cineas (a noble Orator, and sometimes Scholer toDemosthenes) +to persuade with the Captaines and people +that were in them, that they should yeeld vp the +saide Hold or Townes without fight or resistaunce. +And so it came to passe, that through the pithieeloquence +of this noble Orator, diuers strong Castelles +and Fortresses were peaceably giuen vp into the +handes of Pirrhus, which he should haue found +very hard and tedious to winne by the sworde. And +this thing was not Pirrhus himselfe ashamed in his + +A.ij. + +The Epistle. + +common talke, to the praise of the said Oratoropenly +to confesse: alledging that Cineas through theeloquence +of his tongue, wanne moe Cities vnto him, +then euer himself should els haue beene able by force +to subdue. Good was that Orator that could doe so +much: & wise was that King which would vse such +a meane. For if the worthinesse of Eloquence maie +mooue vs, what worthier thing can there bee, then +with a word to winne Cities and whole Countries? +If profite maie perswade, what greater gaine can we +haue, then without bloudshed achiue to a Conquest? +If pleasure maie prouoke vs, what greater delite +doe wee knowe, then to see a whole multitude, with +the onely talke of man, rauished and drawne which +way he liketh best to haue them? Boldly then may I +aduenture, and without feare step forth to offer that +vnto your Lordship, which for the dignitie is soexcellent, +and for the vse so necessarie: that no man +ought to be without it, which either shall beare rule +ouer many, or must haue to doe with matters of a +Realme. Considering therefore your Lordships high +estate and worthie calling, I knowe nothing more +fitting with your Honor, then to the gift of good +reason and vnderstanding, wherewith we see you +notablie endued, to ioyne the perfection of Eloquent + + +The Epistle. + +vtteraunce. And because that aswell by yourLordshippes +most tender imbracing of all such as be +learned, as also by your right studious exercise: you +do euidently declare, not onely what estimation you +haue, of all learning and excellent qualities ingenerall, +but also what a speciall desire and affection, you +beare to Eloquence: I therefore, commend to your +Lordshippes tuition and patronage, this treatise of +Rhetorique, to the ende that ye may get somefurtheraunce +by the same, & I also be discharged of my +faithfull promise, this last yere made vnto you. For, +whereas it pleased you among other talke oflearning, +earnestly to wish, that ye might one day see +the preceptes of Rhetorique, set forth by me inEnglish, +as I had erst done the rules of Logicke: hauing +in my countrey this last Sommer, a quiet time ofvacation, +with the right worshipfull Sir EdwardDimmoke +Knight: I trauailed so much, as my leasure +might serue thereunto, not onely to declare my good +heart, to the satisfying of your request in thatbehalfe, +but also through that your motion, to helpe +the towardnesse of some other, not so well furnished +as your Lordship is.

+ +

For, as touching your selfe, by the time thatperfect +experience, of manifolde and weightie matters + +A.iij. + +The Epistle. + +of the Commonweale, shall haue encreased theEloquence, +which alreadie doth naturally flowe in you: +I doubt nothing, but you will so farre be better then +this my Booke, that I shall not onely blush to +chalenge you for a Scholer, in the Art of Rhetorique, +by me rudely set forth: but also be driuen to set this +simple treatise, to your Lordship to Schoole, that it +may learne Rhetorique of your daylie talke, finding you +such an Oratour in your speech, as great Clarkes do +declare what an Oratour should bee. In the meane + +season, I shall right humbly beseech your goodLordship, +so to be a patrone and defendour of these +my labours, to you dedicated: as I shall +be a continual petitioner vntoalmightie +God, for yourpreseruation, +and long +continuance +

+ A Prologue to the Reader. + +

GREAT may +their boldnesse bee thought, that seeke +without feare to sett foorth their knowledge: & suffer +their doinges to be sene, they care not of whom. For, not +onely thereby doe they bring men to thinke, that they stand +much in their owne conceipt, but also they seeme to assure +themselues, that all men will like whatsoeuer they write. +Wherein they commit two great faults: the one is, that they +are proud: the other is, that they are fond. For, what +greater pride can there be, then for any man to thinkehimselfe +to be wiser, then all men liuing? Or what greater folly +can be immagined, then for one to thinke, that all men will +like, whatsoeuer he writeth? Such are they for the most +part by all likelihood, that doe set forth Bookes. Wherein +they doe both betray them selues, and also giue great occasion +to the world, to talke largely of them. But al those that doe +write, are not such as I say, nor meane not as I thinke, as the +which are wise and learned men, writing onely vnder the +correction of others, to edifie their neighbour, and not seeking +in any wise their own glorie. Neither all that bee Readers +will talke their pleasures, but rather stay their iudgements, +and weye things with reason. Some perhappes may like the +writer, if his doinges bee good, but the most part vndoubtedly +must of force bee offended, as the which are corrupt ofiudgement, +because they are nought. Then such as seeke the +greatest praise for writing of Bookes, should do best in my +simple minde to write foolish toyes, for then the most part +would best esteeme them. And herein perhappes may I get +some aduauntage, that in my yong yeares, haue bene bold to +set forth my simple fantasies. For, in follie, I dare compare +with the proudest, and in pride I dare match with him that is +most foolish: not doubting to finde such fellowes, that not +onely will seeke to be egall vnto me, and perhappes excell me, +but also such as will therein right well esteeme me.

+ + +

+A.iiii + +A Prologue to the Reader. +

+

Cicero in his second Booke de +Oratore, bringeth in one Lucilius, a +pleasaunt and merie conceipted man, who saith, that he would not haue +such thinges as he wrote to bee read, either of those that were +excellently learned, or of them that were altogether ignoraunt. For, +that the one would thinke more of his doinges, and haue a farther +meaning with him, than euer the aucthour selfe thought: the other +taking the booke in his hand, would vnderstand nothing at all, being +as meete to reade Aucthours, as an Asse to play on the Organnes. This +man in thus saying, had some reason. But I being somewhat acquainted +with the world, haue found out an other sort of men, whom of all +others, I would bee loth should reade any of my doinges: especially +such things as either touched Christ, or any good doctrine. And those +are such malicious folke, that loue to finde faults in other mens +matters, and seuen yeares together wil keepe them in store, to the +vtter vndoing of their Christian brother: not minding to reade for +their better learning, but seeking to depraue whatsoeuer they finde, +and watching their time, will take best aduauntage to vndoe their +neighbour. Such men I say of all others, would I be loth to haue the +sight, of any myne earnest doinges, if I could tell how to forbid +them, or how to hinder them of their purpose.

+ +

Two yeares past at my beeing in Italie, I was charged in +Roome Towne, to my great daunger and vtter vndoing (if +Gods goodnesse had not bin the greater) to haue written this +Booke of Rhetorique, & the Logicke also, for the which I was +coumpted an Hereticke, notwithstanding the absolution, +graunted to al the Realme, by Pope Iulie the third, for alformer +offences or practises, deuised against the holie mother +Church, as they call it. A straunge matter, that thinges done +in England seuen yeres before, and the same vniuersallyforgiuen, +should afterwards be layd to a mans charge in Roome. +But what cannot malice doe? Or what will not the wilfull +deuise, to satisfie their mindes, for vndoing of others? God +be my Iudge, I had then as little feare (although death was +present, and the torment at hand, wherof I felt some smart) +as euer I had in all my life before. For, when I saw those that +did seeke my death, to bee so maliciously set, to make such +poore shifts for my readier dispatch, and to burden me with + +A Prologue to the Reader. + +those backe reckeninges: I tooke such courage, and was so +bolde, that the Iudges then did much maruaile at my stoutnesse, +and thinking to bring doune my great heart, told me plainly, +that I was in farther perill, then wherof I was aware, and +sought therupon to take aduauntage of my words, and to +bring me in daunger by all meanes possible. And after long +debating with me, they willed me at any hand to submit +my selfe to the holy Father, and the deuout Colledge of +Cardinalles. For otherwise there was no remedie. With +that beeing fully purposed, not to yeeld to any submission, +as one that little trusted their colourable deceipt: I was as +ware as I could bee, not to vtter any thing for mine owne +harme, for feare I shoulde come in their daunger. For +then either should I haue dyed, or els haue denyed both openly +and shamefully, the knowne trueth of Christ and his Gospell. +In the ende by Gods grace, I was wonderfully deliuered, through +plain force of the worthie Romaines (an enterprise heretofore +in that sort neuer attempted) being then without hope of life, +and much lesse of libertie. And now that I am come home, +this booke is shewed me, and I desired to looke vpon it, +to amend it where I thought meet. Amend it, quoth I? +Nay, let the booke first amende it selfe, and make mee +amendes. For surely I haue no cause to acknowledge it +for my booke, because I haue so smarted for it. For where I +haue beene euill handled, I haue much a doe to shewe my self +friendly. If the Sonne were the occasion of the Fathers +imprisonment, would not the Father bee offended with +him thinke you? Or at the least, would he not take heede how +hereafter he had to doe with him? If others neuer get more +by bookes then I haue done: it were better be a Carter, then +a Scholer, for [worldly] profite. A burnt child feareth the +fire, and a beaten dogge escheweth the whippe. Nowtherefore, +I will none of this booke from henceforth, I will none of +him I say: take him that list, and weare him that will. And +by that time they haue paid for him so dearely as I haue done, +they will bee as wearie of him as I haue beene. Who that +toucheth Pitch shall be filed with it, and he that goeth in the +Sunne shall bee Sunne burnt, although he thinke not of it. +So they that wil reade this or such like bookes, shall in the +ende be as the bookes are. What goodnesse is in this treatise, + +A.v. + +A Prologue to the Reader. + +I cannot without vainglorie report, neither will I meddle with +it, either hot or colde. As it was, so it is, and so bee it still +hereafter for mee: so that I heare no more of it, and that it +be not yet once again cast in my dish. But this I say to +others, as I am assured they will laugh that will reade it: So +if the world should turne (as God forbid) they were most like +to weepe, that in all pointes would followe it. I would bee +loth that any man should hurt himselfe for my doinges. And +therefore to auoyde the worst for all parts, the best were neuer +once to looke on it: for then I am assured no man shal take +harme by it. But I thinke some shal reade it, before whom +I doe wash my handes, if any harme should come to them +hereafter, & let them not say but that they are warned. +I neuer heard a man yet troubled for ignoraunce in Religion. +And yet me thinkes it is as great an heresie not to know God, +as to erre in the knowledge of God. But some perhaps may +say vnto me: Sir, you are much to be blamed that are sofearfull, +and doe cast such perrilles before hande, to discourage +men from well doing. I aunswere: My minde is not to +discourage any man, but only to shewe how I haue beene tried +for this bookes sake, tanquam per ignem. For in deede the +Prison was on fire when I came out of it, and where as +I feared fire most (as who is he that doth not feare it?) I was +deliuered by fire and sworde together. And yet now thus +fearfull am I, that hauing beene thus swinged, and restrained +of libertie: I would first rather hassard my life presentlyhereafter +to dye vpon a Turke: then to abide againe without hope +of libertie, such painfull imprisonment for euer. So that +I haue now got courage with suffering damage, and my selfe +as you see, very willing from henceforth to dye: being then +brought only but in feare of death. They that loue sorrowe +vpon sorrowe: God send it them. I for my part had rather +bee without sence of griefe, then for euer to liue in griefe. +And I thinke the troubles before death being long suffered, +and without hope continued are worse a great deale, then +present death it selfe can bee: Especially to him that maketh +litle accompt of this life, and is wel armed with a constant +mind to Godward. Thus I haue talked of my self more then +I needed, some will say, and yet not more (may I well say) +then I haue needed in deede. For I was without all helpe, + +A Prologue to the Reader. + +and without all hope, not onely of libertie, but also of life, +and therefore what thing needed I not? Or with what wordes +sufficiently could I set forth my neede? God be praised, +and thankes be giuen to him onely, that not onely deliuered +me out of the Lyons mouth, but also hath brought England +my deare Countrey, out of great thraldome and forraine +bondage.

+ +

And God saue the Queenes Maiestie, the Realme, and +the scattered flocke of Christ, and graunt, O mercifull +God, an vniuersall quietnesse of minde, perfect +greement in doctrine, and amendment of our +liues, that we may be all one Sheepefolde, and +haue one Pastour Iesus, to whom with +the Father, the Sonne, and the +holy Ghost, bee all honour +and glorie worldewithout +ende. Amen. +This seuenth of +December. +1560. + +

+The Preface +ELOQVENCE FIRST giuen by God, and after lost by man, and last repayred by God againe. +

MAn (in whom is +powred the breath of life) was made at +the first being an euerliuing creature, vnto the likenesse +of God, endued with reason, and appointed Lorde ouer all +other thinges liuing. But after the fall of our first Father, +sinne so crept in that our knowledge was much darkned, +and by corruption of this our flesh, mans reason andentendement +were both ouerwhelmed. At what time God being +sore greeued with the follie of one man, pitied of his mere +goodnesse the whole state and posteritie of Mankind. And +therefore (whereas through the wicked suggestion of our +ghostly enemie, the ioyfull fruition of Gods glorie was +altogether lost:) it pleased our heauenly Father to repaire +mankind of his free mercie, and to graunt an euerliuing +enheritaunce, vnto all such as would by constaunt faith seeke +earnestly hereafter. Long it was ere that man knewehimselfe, +being destitute of Gods grace, so that all thinges waxed +sauage, the earth vntilled, societie neglected, Gods will not +knowne, man against man, one against an other, and all +against order. Some liued by spoyle: some like brute beastes +grased vpon the ground: some went naked: some roomed +like Woodoses: none did any thing by reason, but most +did what they could by manhood. None almost considered +the euerliuing GOD, but all liued most commonly after their +owne lust. By death they thought that all thinges ended: +by life they looked for none other liuing. None remembred +the true obseruation of Wedlocke: none tendered theeducation +of their children: Lawes were not regarded: true +dealing was not once vsed. For vertue, vice bare place: +for right and equitie, might vsed authoritie. And therefore, +whereas man through reason might haue vsed order: man +through folie fell into errour. And thus for lacke of skill, +and for want of grace euill so preuailed, that the deuil was +most esteemed, and God either almost vnknowne among them +all, or els nothing feared among so many. Therefore, euen + +The Preface. + +now when man was thus past all hope of amendement, God +still tendering his owne workmanshippe, stirring vp hisfaithfull +and elect, to perswade with reason all men to societie. +And gaue his appointed Ministers knowledge both to see the +natures of men, and also graunted them the gift of vtteraunce, +that they might with ease win folke at their will, and frame +them by reason to all good order. And therefore, whereas +men liued brutishly in open feeldes, hauing neither house +to shroude them in, nor attire to clothe their backes, nor yet +any regard to seeke their best auaile: these appointed of +GOD called them together by vtteraunce of speech, and +perswaded with them what was good, what was bad, & what +was gainful for mankind. And although at first the rude +could hardly learne, and either for the straungenesse of the +thing, would not gladly receiue the offer, or els for lack +of knowledge, could not perceiue the goodnesse: yet being +somewhat drawne, and delited with the pleasantnesse of reason, +and the sweetnesse of vtteraunce: after a certaine space they +became through Nurture and good aduisement, of wilde, +sober: of cruell, gentle: of fooles, wise: and of beastes, men: +such force hath the tongue, and such is the power of Eloquence +and reason, that most men are forced euen to yeeld in that +which most standeth against their will. And therefore the +Poets doe feine, that Hercules beeing a man of greatwisedome, +had all men lincked together by the eares in a chaine, +to drawe them and leade them euen as he lusted. For his +witte was so great, his tongue so eloquent, and his experience +such, that no one man was able to withstande his reason, but +euery one was rather driuen to doe that which he would, and +to will that which he did: agreeing to his aduise both in word +and worke in all that euer they were able. Neither can I see +that men could haue beene brought by any other meanes, +to liue together in fellowship of life, to maintaine Cities, to +deale truely, and willingly obeye one an other, if men at the +first had not by art and eloquence, perswaded that which they +full oft found out by reason. For what man I pray you, +beeing better able to maintaine himself by valiaunt courage, +then by liuing in base subiection, would not rather looke +to rule like a Lord, then to liue like an vnderling: if by +reason he were not perswaded, that it behoueth euery man + +The Preface. + +to liue in his owne vocation: and not to seeke any higher +roume, then wherunto he was at the first appointed? Who +would digge and delue from Morne till Euening? Who +would trauaile and toyle with ye sweat of his browes? Yea, +who would for his Kings pleasure aduenture and hassarde +his life, if witte had not so won men, that they thought +nothing more needfull in this world, nor any thing whereunto +they were more bounden: then here to liue in their duetie, and +to traine their whole life according to their calling. Therefore, +whereas men are in many thinges weake by Nature, and +subiect to much infirmitie: I thinke in this one poinct they +passe all other creatures liuing, that haue the gift of speech +and reason. And among all other, I thinke him most worthie +fame, and amongst all men to bee taken for halfe a GOD: +that therein doth chiefly and aboue all other excell men, +wherein men doe excell beastes. For he that is among the +reasonable of al most reasonable, and among the wittie, of all +most wittie, and among the eloquent, of all most eloquent: +him thinke I among all men, not onely to be taken for a +singuler man, but rather to be coumpted for halfe a God. For, +in seeking the excellencie hereof, the soner he draweth to +perfection, the nyer he commeth to God, who is the +cheefe wisedome, and therfore called God, because he is most +wise, or rather wisedome it self.

+ + +

+Now then, seing that God giueth his heauenly grace, vnto al +such as call vnto him with stretched handes, and humble heart, +neuer wanting to those, that want not to themselues: I purpose by +his grace and especiall assistence, to set forth such precepts +of eloquence, and to shewe what obseruation the +wise haue vsed, in handeling of their matters: +that the vnlearned by seeing the practise +of others, maie haue someknowledge +themselues, and learne by +their neighbours deuise, +what is necessarie for +them selues in +their owne +case.

+ + +Gaulterus Haddonus D. Iuris +Ciuilis, Et Reginæ Maiestatis, àLibellis supplicibus. + +REtoricem Logice soror, est affata sororem: +Quem didicit nuper, sermo Britannos erat. +Retorice tacuit, magno perculsæ dolore: +Nam nondum nostro nouerat ore loqui. +Audijt hæc, Logices, Wilsonus forte, magister: +Qui fuerat, nostros addideratque sonos. +Retoricem mutam, verbis solatus amicis: +Seuocat, & rogitat num esse Britanna velit? +Deijciens oculos respondit velle libenter: +Sed se, qua possit, non reperire, via. +Ipse vias (inquit) tradam, legesque loquendi: +Quomodo perfecte verba Britanna loces. +Liberat ille fidem, nostro sermone politur: +Retorice, nostra est vtraque facta soror. +Anglia nobilium si charus sermo sororem. +Est tibi, sermonis charus & author erit. +Thomas Wilsonus in Anglicam Rhetoricem suam. + + +ANglia si doceat, quod: Græcia docta: quid obstat +Quo minus ex Anglis Anglia, vera sciat. +Non (quia Greca potes, vel calles verba Latina) +Doctus es, aut sapiens: sed quia vera vides. +Aurea secreto tegitur sapientia sensu. +Abdita sensa tenes Anglus? es ergo sciens. +Sed me Rhetoricem nequeat cùm lingua polire: +Cui vacat, hoc vnum quod valet, oro velet. + + + + + + +The arte of Rhetorique. + +What is Rhetorique. + +

RHetorique is an Arte to set foorth by vtteraunce of words, +matter at large, or (as Cicero doth say) it is a learned, or +rather an artificiall declaration of the mynd, in the handling of any +cause, called in contention, that may through reason largely be +discussed.

 + +The matter whereupon an Oratour must speake. +Rhetorique occupied +about all lawes, +concerning man. +

AN Orator must be able to speake fully of al those questions, +which by lawe & mans ordinance are enacted, and +appointed for the vse and profite of man, such as are thought +apt for the tongue to set forwarde. Nowe Astronomie is +rather learned by demonstration, then taught by any great +vtterance. Arithmetique smally needeth the vse of Eloquence, +seeing it may be had wholy by nombring only. Geometrie +rather asketh a good square, then a cleane flowing tongue to +set out the art. Therefore an Orators profession, is to speake +only of all such matters, as may largely be expounded for +mans behoue, and may with much grace be set out, for all +men to heare them.

 + +Of questions. +Questions of two sort. +

EVery question or demaund in things, is of two sortes. +Either it is an infinite question, & without end, or els +it is definite, and comprehended within some ende.

+ +

Questions infinite. +Those questions are called infinite, which generally are +propounded, without the comprehension of tyme, place, and +persone, or any such like: that is to say, when no certaine +thing is named, but onely words are generally spoken. As +thus, whether it be best to marrie, or to liue single. Which +is better, a courtiers life, or a Scholers life.

+ +

Questions definite. +Those questions are called definite, which set forth a matter, +with the appointment and naming of place, time, and person. +As thus. Whether now it be best here in Englande, for a +Priest to Marrie, or to liue single. Whether it were meete + + +2 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +for the kings Maiestie that nowe is, to marrie with a stranger, +or to marrie with one of his owne Subiects. Now the definite +Questions definite, belong +properly to an Orator. +question (as the which concerneth some one person) is most +agreeing to the purpose of an Orator, considering particuler +matters in the law, are euer debated betwixt certaine persons, +the one affirming for his parte, and the other denying as fast +againe for his parte.

+ +

Thinges generally spoken without all circumstaunces, are +more proper vnto the Logician, who talketh of thinges vniuersally, +Questions infinite, +proper vnto +Logicians. +without respect of person, time, or place. And yet +notwithstanding, Tullie doth say, that whosoeuer will talke of +particuler matter must remember, that within the same also +is comprehended a generall. As for example. If I shall aske +this question, whether it bee lawfull for William Conquerour +to inuade England, and win it by force of Armour, I must +also consider this, whether it bee lawfull for any man to +vsurpe power, or it bee not lawful. That if the greater +cannot be borne withall, the lesse can not bee neither. And +in this respect, a generall question agreeth well to an Orators +profession, and ought well to bee knowne for the better +furtheraunce of his matter, notwithstanding the particuler +question is euer called in controuersie, and the generall only +thereupon considered, to comprehend and compasse the same, +as the which is more generall.

+ +The ende of Rhetorique. + +

Three thinges are required of an Orator. +Orators bound +to performe +three thinges. + +To teach. +To delight. +And to perswade. + +

+

FIrst therefore, an Orator must labour to tell his tale, +that the hearers may well knowe what he meaneth, and +vnderstand him wholy, the which he shall with ease vse, if he +Plaine words +proper vnto +an Orator. +vtter his minde in plaine words, such as are vsually receiued, +and tell it orderly, without going about the bush. That if he +doe not this, he shall neuer doe the other. For what man +can be delited, or yet be perswaded with the only hearing of +those thinges, which he knoweth not what they meane. The +tongue is ordeined to expresse the minde, that one may +vnderstand an others meaning: now what auaileth to speake, +when none can tell what the speaker meaneth? Therefore + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +3 + +Phauorinus the Philosopher (as Gellius telleth the tale) did hit +a yong man ouer the Thumbes very handsomely, for vsing ouer +old, and ouer straunge wordes. Sirha (quoth he) when our olde +great auncesters and Graundsires were aliue, they spake +plainly in their mothers tongue, and vsed olde language, such +A Philosophers +wittie saying to a +yong man that +sought to speake +dark language. +as was spoken then at the building of Roome. But you talke +me such a Latine, as though you spake with them euen now, +that were two or three thousand yeres agoe, and onely +because you would haue no man to vnderstand what you say. +Now, were it not better for thee a thousande fold, (thou foolish +fellowe) in seeking to haue thy desire, to holde thy peace, and +speake nothing at all? For then by that meanes, fewe should +knowe what were thy meaning. But thou saiest, the olde +antiquitie doth like thee best, because it is good, sober, and +modest. Ah, liue man, as they did before thee, and speake +thy mind now as men doe at this day. And remember that +which Cæsar saieth, beware as long as thou liuest of straunge +wordes, as thou wouldest take heede and eschue great Rockes +in the Sea.

+ +

The next part that he hath to play, is to chere his geastes, +and to make them take pleasure, with hearing of thinges +Orators must vse delitefull +wordes and sayinges. +wittely deuised, and pleasauntly set foorth. Therefore euery +Orator should earnestly labour to file his tongue, that his +words may slide with ease, and that in his deliueraunce he +may have such grace, as the sound of a Lute, or any such +Instrument doth giue. Then his sentences must be wel +framed, and his words aptly vsed, through the whole discourse +of his Oration.

+ +

Thirdly, such quicknesse of witte must bee shewed, and such +pleasaunt sawes so well applied, that the eares may finde +much delite, whereof I will speake largely, when I shall +intreate of mouing laughter. And assuredly nothing is more +needfull, then to quicken these heauie loden wittes of ours, + +Preachers not so diligently +heard as common Players. + +and much to cherish these our lompish and vnweldie Natures, +for except men finde delite, they will not long abide: delite +them, and winne them: wearie them, and you lose them for +euer. And that is the reason, that men commonly tarie the +ende of a merie Play, and cannot abide the halfe hearing of +a sower checking Sermon. Therefore euen these auncient +Preachers, must now and then play the fooles in the pulpit, to + + +4 +The arte of Rhetorique + +serue the tickle eares of their fleting audience, or els they are +like sometimes to preach to the bare walles, for though their +spirite bee apt, and our will prone, yet our flesh is so heauie, +and humours so ouerwhelme vs, that we cannot without + +Preachers must sometimes be +mery when they speake +to the people. +Deliting needful. +Scurrilitie odious. +Affections must be moued. + +refreshing, long abide to heare any one thing. Thus we see, +that to delite is needfull, without the which weightie matters +will not be heard at all, and therefore him cunne I thanke, +that both can and will ever, mingle sweete among the sower, +be he Preacher, Lawyer, yea, or Cooke either hardly, when +hee dresseth a good dish of meate: now I need not to tell +that scurrilitie, or ale-house iesting, would bee thought odious, +or grosse mirth would be deemed madnesse: considering that +euen the meane witted do knowe that alreadie, and as for +other that haue no wit, they will neuer learne it, therfore +God speede them. Now when these two are done, hee must +perswade, and moue the affections of his hearers in such wise, +that they shalbe forced to yeeld vnto his saying, whereof +(because the matter is large, and may more aptly be declared, +when I shall speake of Amplification) I will surcease to speake +any thing thereof at this tyme.

 + +By what meanes Eloquence is attained. +

FIrst needfull it is that hee, which desireth to excell in this +gift of Oratorie, and longeth to proue an eloquent man, +must naturally haue a wit, and an aptnesse thereunto: then +must he to his Booke, and learne to bee well stored with +knowledge, that he may be able to minister matter for al +causes necessarie. The which when he hath got plentifully, +he must vse much exercise, both in writing, and also in +speaking. For though hee haue a wit and learning together, +Practise maketh +al things perfect. +yet shall they both little auaile without much practise. What +maketh the Lawyer to haue such utteraunce? Practise. What +maketh the Preacher to speake so roundly? Practise. Yea, +what maketh women goe so fast awaye with their wordes? +Mary practise I warrant you. Therefore in all faculties, +diligent practise, and earnest exercise, are the onely things +that make men proue excellent. Many men know the art very +well, and be in all points throughly grounded and acquainted +with the precepts, & yet it is not their hap to proue eloquent. +And the reason is, that eloquence it selfe, came not vp first + + + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +5 + +by the art, but the arte rather was gathered vpon eloquence. +For wisemen seeing by much obseruation and diligent practise, + +Rhetorique first made by wise +men, and not wisemen +first made by Rhetorique. + +the compasse of diuers causes, compiled thereupon precepts +and lessons, worthy to be knowne and learned of all men. +Therefore before arte was inuented, eloquence was vsed, and +through practise made perfect, the which in all things is +a soueraigne meane, most highly to excell.

+ +

Now, before we vse either to write, or speake eloquently, +wee must dedicate our myndes wholy, to followe the most +wise and learned men, and seeke to fashion as wel their + +Imitation or following the +waies of wisemen, is needfull. + +speache and gesturing, as their witte or endyting. The which +when we earnestly mynd to doe, we can not but in time +appere somewhat like them. For if they that walke much +in the Sunne, and thinke not of it, are yet for the most part +Sunne burnt, it can not be but that they which wittingly +and willingly trauayle to counterfect other, must needes take +some colour of them, and be like vnto them in some one +thing or other, according to the Prouerbe, by companying +with the wise, a man shall learne wisedome.

 + +To what purpose this arte is set forthe. +

TO this purpose and for this vse, is the arte compiled +together, by the learned and wisemen, that those which +Rhetorique to what +purpose it serueth. +Arte a surer guide +then Nature. +are ignorant might iudge of the learned, and labour (when +time should require) to followe their woorkes accordingly. +Againe, the arte helpeth well to dispose and order matters +of our owne inuention, the which wee may followe as +well in speaking as in writing, for though many by nature +without art, haue proued worthy men, yet is arte a surer +guide then nature, considering we see as liuely by arte +what we do, as though we read a thing in writing, where +as Natures doings are not so open to all men. Againe, +those that haue good wittes by Nature, shall better encrease +them by arte, and the blunt also shall bee whetted through +arte, that want Nature to helpe them forward.

 + +Fiue things to be considered in an Oratour. +

ANy one that will largely handle any matter, must fasten +his mynde first of all, vppon these fiue especiall pointes +that followe, and learne them euery one. + + +6 +The arte of Rhetorique. + + + Inuention of matter. + Disposition of the same. + Elocution. +Memorie. + Utteraunce. + + +Oratours must have v. things +to make them perfite.

+ +

THe finding out of apt matter, called otherwise Inuention, +is a searching out of things true, or things likely, the +which may reasonablie set forth a matter, and make it appeare +probable. The places of Logique, giue good occasion to finde +out plentifull matter. And therefore, they that will proue any +cause, and seeke onely to teach thereby the trueth, must search +out the places of Logique, and no doubt they shall finde much +Inuention, what it is. +Disposition, what it is. +plentie. But what auaileth much treasure and apt matter, if +man can not apply it to his purpose. Therefore, in the second +place is mentioned, the setling or ordering of things inuented +for this purpose, called in Latine Dispositio, the which is +nothing els but an apt bestowing, and orderly placing of +things, declaring where euery argument shall be set, and in +what maner euery reason shalbe applied for confirmation of the +purpose.

+ +

But yet what helpeth it though wee can finde good reasons, +and knowe how to place them, if wee haue not apt words and +picked Sentences, to commende the whole matter. Therefore, +Elocution, what it is. +Memorie, what it is. +this point must needes followe to beautifie the cause, the which +being called Elocution, is an applying of apt wordes and +sentences to the matter, found out to confirme the cause. +When all these are had together it auaileth little, if man haue +no Memorie to containe them. The Memorie therefore must +be cherished, the which is a fast holding both of matter and +words couched together, to confirme any cause.

+ +

Be it now that one haue all these fower, yet if he want the +fift all the other doe little profite. For though a man can +finde out good matter and good wordes, though hee can +handsomely set them together, and carie them very well awaie + +Pronunciation, +what it is. +in his minde, yet it is to no purpose if he haue no vtterance, +when he should speake his minde, and shewe men what he +hath to saie. Vtterance therefore, is a framing of the voyce, +countenaunce, and gesture after a comely maner.

+ +

Thus we see, that euery one of these must goe together, to +make a perfite Oratour, and that the lack of one, is a hinderance + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +7 + +of the whole, and that as well all may be wanting as one, +if wee looke to haue an absolute Oratour.

+ +Orations in general +consist vpon seuen +partes[.] +There are seuen partes in euery Oration. + The Enterance or beginning. + The Narration. +The Proposition. + The Deuision or seuerall parting of things. + The [C]onfirmation. + The [C]onfutation. +The Conclusion. + + +

Entraunce, what it is. +The Entraunce or beginning is the former parte of the +Oration, whereby the will of the standers by, or of the +Iudge is sought for, and required to heare the matter.

+ +

Narration. +The Narration is a plaine and manifest pointing of the +matter, and an euident setting forth of all things that belong +vnto the same, with a breefe rehersall grounded vpon some +reason.

+ +

Proposition. +The proposition is a pithie sentence comprehended in a +small roome, the somme of the whole matter.

+ +

Deuision. +The Deuision is an opening of things, wherein we agree +and rest vpon, and wherein we sticke and stand in trauers, +shewing what we haue to say in our owne behalfe.

+ +

Confirmation. +The Confirmation is a declaration of our owne reasons, +with assured and constant proofes.

+ +

Confutation. +The Confutation is a dissoluing, or wyping away of all such +reasons as make against vs.

+ +

Conclusion. +The Conclusion is a clarkly gathering of the matter spoken +before, and a lapping vp of it altogether.

+ +

Now, because in euery one of these greate heede ought to +bee had, and much arte must be vsed, to content and like all +parties: I purpose in the second booke to set foorthe at large +euery one of these, that both we may know in all partes what +to followe, and what to eschue. And first, when time shalbe +to talke of any matter I would aduise euery man to consider the +nature of the cause it self, that the rather he might frame his +whole Oration thereafter.

 + +Euery matter is contained in one of these fower. +

EIther it is an honest thing whereof we speake, or els it is +filthie and vile, or els betwixt both: and doubtfull what +Matters in generall stand in +fower pointes. + +8 +The arte of Rhetorique. + + +it is to bee called, or els it is some trifeling matter, that is +of small weight.

+ + + +That is called an honest matter, when either we take in +hande such a cause that all men would maintayne, or els +gainsaie such a cause, that no man can well like. + + +Then doe wee holde and defend a filthie matter, when either +we speake against our owne conscience in an euill matter, or +els withstand an upright trueth. + + +The cause then is doubtfull, when the matter is halfe +honest, and halfe vnhonest. + + +Such are trifling causes when there is no weight in them, +as if one should phantasie to praise a goose before any other +beast liuing, (as I knowe who did) or of fruite to commende +Nuttes chiefly, as Ouid did, or the Feuer quartaine as Phauorinus +did, or the Gnat as Virgil did, or the battaile of Frogges +as Homer did, or dispraise beardes, or commend shauen +heddes. + + +Good heede to be taken at the first, vpon the handling +of any matter in Iudgement. + + +Circumstances necessarie in +all causes to be noted. +Fauor winning, and affections +mouing when they are most +necessarie. +Aduersaries reasons when +they should best be confuted. + +

NOT onely it is necessarie to knowe what maner of cause +we haue taken in hande, when we first enter vppon any +matter, but also it is wisedome to consider the tyme, the place, +the man for whom we speake, the man against whom we +speake, the matter whereof we speake, and the Iudges before +whom wee speake, the reasons that best serue to further our +cause, and those reasons also that may seeme somewhat to +hinder our cause, and in nowise to vse any such at all, or els +warely to mitigate by protestation the euill that is in them, +and alwaies to vse whatsoeuer can be saied, to win the chief +hearers good willes, and to perswade them to our purpose. If +the cause goe by fauour, and that reason can not so much +auaile, as good will shal be able to doe: or els if mouing +affections can doe more good, then bringing in of good +reasons, it is meete alwaies to vse that way, whereby wee may +by good helpe get the ouerhand. That if myne aduersaries +reasons, by mee being confuted serue better to helpe forward +my cause, then myne owne reasons confirmed, can be able to +doe good: I should wholy bestowe my tyme, and trauaile to +weaken and make slender, all that euer he bringeth with him. +But if I can with more ease proue mine own sayings, either with + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +9 + +Arguments when they should +chiefly be vsed. +witnesses, or with wordes, then bee able to confute his with +reason, I must labour to withdrawe mens mindes from mine +aduersaries foundation, and require them wholy to harken +vnto that which I haue to say, being of it selfe so iust and so +reasonable, that none can rightly speake against it, & shew them +that great pitie it were, for lacke of the onely hearing, that +a true matter should want true dealing. Ouer & besides al +these, there remaine two lessons, the which wisemen haue +alwaies obserued, and therefore ought of all men assuredly to +bee learned. The one is, that if any matter be laied against + +Matters hard to auoyde +should alwaies be past +ouer, as though wee sawe +them not at all. +Good to be bold in most +daunger, if otherwise +we cannot escape. +vs, which by reason can hardly be auoyded, or the which is +so open, that none almost can deny: it were wisedome in +confuting all the other reasons, to passe ouer this one, as +though we saw it not, and therefore speake neuer a word of +it. Or els if necessitie shall force a man to say somewhat, he +may make an outward bragge, as though there were no matter +in it, euer so speaking of it, as though he would stand to +the triall, making men to beleeue he would fight in the +cause, when better it were (if necessitie so required) to run +cleane awaie. And therein though a man do flie and giue +place, euermore the gladder the lesse rauing there is, or +stirring in this matter: yet he flieth wisely and for this ende, +that being sensed otherwise, and strongly appointed, hee may +take his aduersarie at the best aduauntage, or at the least +wearie him with much lingering, and make him with oft such +flying, to forsake his cheefe defence.

+ +

The other lesson is, that whereas we purpose alwaies to +haue the victorie, we should so speake that we may labour, +rather not to hinder or hurt our cause, then to seeke meanes + +Better not to hurte +a good matter by ill +speeche then to further +it by good talke. +Warenesse in speaking, +and forbearing to speake[.] + +to further it. And yet I speake not this, but that both these +are right necessary, and euery one that will doe good, must +take paines in them both, but yet notwithstanding, it is a +fouler fault a great deale for an Orator, to be found hurting +his owne cause, then it should turne to his rebuke, if he had +not furthered his whole entent. Therfore not onely is it wisedome, +to speake so much as is needefull, but also it is good +reason to leaue vnspoken so much as is needelesse, the which +although the wisest can doe and neede no teaching, yet these +common wittes offende now and then in this behalf. Some +man being stirred, shall hurt more our cause then twentie + + +10 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +other. Taunting woordes before some men, will not bee +borne at all. Sharpe rebuking of our aduersarie, or frumpes +giuen before some persons, can not be suffered at all. Yea, +sometymes a man must not speake all that he knoweth, for if +he do, he is like to find small fauour, although he haue iust +The persone before +whom we speake must be +well marked. +Time must be +obserued. +cause to speake, and may with reason declare his mynd at +large. And albeit that witlesse folke, can sooner rebuke that +which is fondly spoken, then redily praise that which is wisely +kept close, yet the necessitie of the matter must rather be +marked, then the fond iudgement of the people esteemed. +What a sore saying were this: When a Lawier should take +in hande a matter concerning life and death: and an other +should aske how he hath sped, to heare tell that the Lawyer +hath not only cast away his client, but vndoen himself also, in +speaking thinges, inconsideratly, as no doubt it often happeneth +that wisemen and those also that be none euill men neither, +may vnwares speake things, which afterward they sore repent, +and would call backe againe with losse of a great somme. +Now what folly it is, not to remember the time, and the men. +Or who will speake that which he knoweth will not be liked, +if he purpose to finde fauour at their hands, before whome he +speaketh, what man of reason, will praise that before the +Iudges (before whom he knoweth the determination of his +cause resteth) which the Iudges them selues cannot abide to +heare spoken at all? Or doeth not so much hinder his owne +matter, that without all curtesie or preface made, will largely +speake euill of those men, whom the hearers of his cause +tenderly do fauour? Or be it that there be some notable fault +in thine aduersarie, with which the Iudges also are infected, +were it not folly for thee to charge thine aduersarie with the +same. Considering the Iudges thereby may think, thou speakest +against them also, and so thou maiest perhaps lose their fauour, +in seeking such defence made without all discretion. And in +framing reasons to confirme the purpose, if any be spoken +plainly false, or els contrarie to that which was spoken before, +doeth it not much hinder a good matter? Therefore in all +causes this good heed ought to be had, that alwaies we labour +to do some good in furthering of our cause, or if we cannot so +doe, at the least that we do no harme at al.

+ + +

+The arte of Rhetorique. +11 +

 +There are three kindes of causes or Orations, which serue for euery matter. +Orations or causes +of iii. kinds. +

NOthing can be handled by this arte, but the same is +conteined within one of these three causes. Either the +matter consisteth in praise, or dispraise of a thing or els in +consulting, whether the cause be profitable, or vnprofitable: +or lastly, whether the matter be right or wrong. And yet this +one thing is to be learned, that in euery one of these three +causes, these three seuerall endes, may euery one of them be +conteined in any one of them. And therefore, he that shall +haue cause to praise any one bodie, shall haue iust cause to +speake of Iustice, to entreate of profite, and ioyntly to talke of +one thing with an other. But because these three causes, are +commonly and for the most part seuerally parted, I will speake +of them one after an other, as they are set forth by wise mens +iudgements, and particularly declare their properties all in +order.

+ +Oration demonstratiue. + + +

The Oration demonstratiue standeth either in praise, or +dispraise of some one man, or of some one thing, or of some +one deed doen.

 + +The kind Demonstratiue, wherein cheefly it standeth. +

THere are diuers things which are praised and dispraised, +as men, Countries, Cities, Places, Beastes, Hilles, Riuers, +Houses, Castles, deedes doen by worthy men, and pollicies +euented by great Warriors, but most commonly men are +praised for diuers respectes, before any of the other things are +taken in hande.

+ +

Noble persones, how +they should be praised. +Now in praysing a noble personage, and in setting foorth +at large his worthinesse: Quintillian giueth warning, to vse +this threefold order. +

+

To obserue things: + + Before this life. + In his life. +After his death. + +

+

Before a mans life, are considered these places. + +The Realme. +The Sheire. +The towne. +The Parentes. +The Auncesters. + + + +12 +The arte of Rhetorique. +

+

IN a mans life, praise must bee parted threefolde. That is +to say, into the giftes of good things of the mynde, the +body, and of fortune. Now the giftes of the body & of fortune, +are not praise worthy of their owne nature: but euen as they +are vsed, either to or fro, so they are either praised, or dispraised. +Giftes of the mind deserue the whole trompe & +sound commendation aboue all other, wherein we may vse the +rehearsal of vertues, as they are in order, and beginning at +his infancie, tel all his doings till his last age.

 + +The places whereof are these. +

+The birthe, and infancie. Whether the persone be a man or a woman. +The childhood. The brynging vp, the nurturing, and the behauour of his life. +The Striplyng age, or Spring-tide.To what study he taketh himself vnto, what company he useth, how he liueth. +The mannes state. Prowesse doen, either abrode, or at home. +the olde age. His pollicies and wittie deuises, in behoufe of the publique weale. +The tyme of his departure, or death.Things that haue happened about his death. +
+

+

NOw to open all these places more largely, as well those +that are before a mannes life, as such as are in his life, +and after his death, that the Reader may further see the +profite will I doe the best I can.

+ +The house or auncestrie +whereof a noble +personage commeth. + +

The house whereof a noble personage came, declares the +state and natures of his auncesters, his alliance, and his +kinsfolke. So that such worthie feates as they haue hertofore +done, & al such honors as they haue had for such their good +seruice, redounds wholy to the encrease and amplifying of his +honor, that is now liuing.

+ +

ij. The Realme. +The Realme declares the nature of the people. So that +some Countrey bringeth more honor with it, then an other +doth. To be a French man, descending there of a noble +house, is more honor then to be an Irish man: To bee an + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +13 + +English man borne, is much more honor then to bee a Scot, +because that by these men, worthie Prowesses haue beene done, +and greater affaires by them attempted, then haue beene done +by any other.

+ +

iij. The Shire +or Towne. +The Shire or Towne helpeth somewhat, towardes the +encrease of honor: As it is much better to bee borne in Paris, +then in Picardie: in London then in Lincolne. For that +both the ayre is better, the people more ciuill, and the wealth +much greater, and the men for the most part more wise.

+ +

iiij. The sexe or kinde. +To bee borne a manchilde, declares a courage, grauitie, +and constancie. To be borne a woman, declares weakenesse of +spirit, neshnesse of body, and ficklenesse of minde.

+ +v. Education. + + +

Now, for the bringing vp of a noble personage, his nurse +must bee considered, his play fellowes obserued, his teacher +and other his seruaunts called in remembraunces. How euery +one of these liued then, with whom they haue liued afterwards, +and how they liue now.

+ +vi. Inclination of nature. + +

By knowing what he taketh himselfe vnto, and wherein hee +most delighteth, I may commend him for his learning, for his +skill in the French, or in the Italian, for his knowledge in +Cosmographie: for his skill in the Lawes, in the histories of +all Countries, and for his gift of enditing. Againe, I may +commend him for playing at weapons, for running vpon +a great Horse, for charging his staffe at the Tilt, for vawting, +for playing vpon Instruments, yea, and for painting, or +drawing of a Plat, as in old time noble Princes much delighted +therein.

+ +vij. Attempts worthie[.] + + +

Prowesse done, declare his seruice to the King, and his +Countrey, either in withstanding the outward enemie, or els +in aswaging the rage of his owne Countreymen at home.

+ +

viii. +His wise counsaile, and good aduise giuen, sets forth the +goodnesse of his wit.

+ +

ix. Time of departing +this world. +At the time of his departing, his sufferaunce of all sicknesse, +may much commende his worthinesse. As his strong +heart, and cherefull pacience euen to the ende, cannot want +great praise. The loue of all men towards him, and the +lamenting generally for his lacke, helpe well most highly to set +forth his honour.

+ +After departure. + + +

After a mans death, are considered his Tombe, his Cote +armour set vp, and all such honours as are vsed in Funeralles. + + +14 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +If any one list to put these precepts in practise, he may doe +as him liketh best. And surely I doe thinke, that nothing so +Duke of Suffolke, +and Lorde Charles. +much furthereth knowledge as dayly exercise, and enuring +our selues to doe that in deede, which we knowe in worde. +And because examples giue great light, after these precepts are +set forth, I will commend two noble Gentlemen, Henry Duke +of Suffolke, and his brother Lord Charles Duke with him.

+ +An example of commending a noble personage. +

BEtter or more wisely can none do, then they which neuer +bestowe praise, but vpon those that best deserue praise, +rather minding discretely what they ought to doe, then +vainely deuising what they best can doe, seeking rather to +praise men, such as are found worthie, then curiously finding +meanes to praise matters, such as neuer were in any. For +they which speake otherwise then trueth is, minde not the +commendation of the person, but the setting forth of their +owne learning. As Gorgias in Plato, praysing vnrighteousnesse, +Gorgias. +Heliogabalus +Paphorinus. +Heliogabalus Oratours commending whoredome, Phaphorinus +the Philosopher, extolling the Feuer quartain, thought not to +speake as the cause required, but would so much say as their +witte would giue, not weighing the state of the cause, but +minding the vaunt of their braine, looking how much could +bee sayd, not passing how little should bee sayd. But I both +knowing the might of Gods hande, for such as loue Fables, +and the shame that in earth redoundeth to euill reporters, +will not commend that in those, which neede no good praise, +but will commend them that no man iustly can dispraise, nor +yet any one is well able worthely to praise. Their towardnesse +was such, and their giftes so great, that I know none which +loue learning, but hath sorrowed the lacke of their being. +And I knowe that the onely naming of them, will stirre +honest hearts to speake well of them. I will speake of two +bretheren that lately departed, the one Henry Duke of Suffolke, +and the other Lord Charles his brother, whom GOD thinking +meeter for heauen, then to liue here vpon earth, tooke from +vs in his anger, for the bettering of our doinges, and amendment +of our euill liuing. These two Gentlemen were borne +in noble Englande, both by father and mother of an high +parentage. The father called Duke Charles, by Mariage + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +15 + +Henry Duke of +Suffolke and +Lorde Charles +his brother. +beeing brother to the worthie King of famous memorie Henry +the eight, was in such fauour, and did such seruice, that all +England at this howre doth finde his lacke, and France yet +doth feele that such a Duke there was, whom in his life time +the Godly loued: the euill feared, the wise men honoured for +his witte, and the simple vsed alwaies for their counsaile. +Their mother of birth noble, and witte great, of nature gentle, +and mercifull to the poore, and to the Godly, and especially +to the learned an earnest good Patronesse, and most helping +Ladie aboue all other. In their youth their father died, the +eldest of them beeing not past nine yeares of age. After whose +death, their mother knowing, that wealth without wit, is like +a sworde in a naked mans hande, and assuredly certaine, that +knowledge would confirme iudgement, prouided so for their +bringing vp in all vertue and learning, that two like were not +to bee had within this Realme againe. When they began +both to ware somewhat in yeares, being in their primetide and +spring of their age, the elder wayting on the Kings Maiestie +that now is, was generally wel esteemed, and such hope was +conceiued of his towardnesse, both for learning and al other +things, that fewe were like vnto him in al the Court. The +other keeping his booke among the Cambrige men profited +(as they well knowe) both in vertue and learning, to their great +admiration. For the Greeke, the Latine, and the Italian, I +know he could do more, then would be thought true by my +report. I leaue to speake of his skill in pleasant Instrumentes, +neither will I vtter his aptnesse in Musicke, and his toward +Nature, to all exercises of the body. But his elder brother +in this time (besides his other giftes of the minde, which +passed all other, and were almost incredible) following his +fathers nature, was so delited with ryding, and runnyng in +armour vpon horsebacke, and was so comely for that fact, and +could dooe so well in charging his Staffe, beeing but xiiii. +yeeres of age, that men of warre, euen at this howre, mone +much the want of such a worthy Gentleman. Yea, the French +men that first wondered at his learning, when he was there +among them, and made a notable oration in Latine: were +much more astonied when they sawe his comely riding, and +little thought to finde these two ornaments ioyned both in +one, his yeares especially being so tender, and his practise of + + +16 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +so small tyme. Afterward comming from the Court, as one +that was desirous to be among the learned, he lay in Cambridge +together with his brother, where they both so profited, +and so gently vsed themselues, that all Cambridge did reuerence, +both him and his brother, as two Iewels sent from God. +The elders nature was such, that hee thought himself best, +when he was among the wisest, and yet contemned none, but +thankfully vsed al, gentle in behauiour without childishnesse, +stout of stomack without al pride, bold with all warenesse, and +friendly with good aduisement. The yonger being not so ripe +in yeres, was not so graue in looke, rather cherefull, then +sad: rather quicke, then auncient: but yet if his brother were +set aside, not one that went beyond him. A child, that by his +owne inclination, so much yeelded to his ruler, as few by +chastment haue done the like: pleasant of speech, prompt of +wit, stirring by nature, hault without hate, kind without craft, +liberall of heart, gentle in behauiour, forward in all things, +greedie of learning, & loth to take a foile in any open assembly. +They both in all attempts, sought to haue the victorie, +and in exercise of wit, not only the one with the other, did +oft stand in contention, but also they both would match with +the best, and thought them selues most happie, when they +might haue any iust occasion, to put their wittes in triall. +And now when this greene fruite began to waxe ripe, and all +men longed to haue a taste of such their great forwardnesse: +God preuenting mans expectation, tooke them both about +one howre, and in so shorte time, that first they were knowne +to be dead, or any abroad could tel they were sicke. I neede +not to rehearse, what both they spake, before their departure +(considering, I haue seuerally written, both in Latine and in +English, of the same matter) neither will I heape here so much +together, as I can, because I should rather renew great sorrow +to many, then doe most men any great good, who loued them +so well generally, that fewe for a great space after, spake of +these two Gentlemen, but they shewed teares, with the only +vtterance of their wordes, and some through ouer much +sorrowing, were faine to forbeare speaking. GOD graunt vs +all to liue, that the good men of this world, may bee alwaies +loth to forsake vs, and God may still be glad to haue vs, as no +doubt these two children so died, as all men should wish to + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +17 + +liue, and so they liued both, as al should wish to dye. Seeing +therefore, these two were such, both for birth, nature, and all +other giftes of grace, that the like are hardly found behind +them: Let vs so speak of them, that our good reporte may +warne vs, to followe their godly natures, and that lastly, we +may enioye that inheritance, whereunto God hath prepared +them and vs (that feare him) from the beginning. Amen. + +The partes of an Oration made in praise of a man. +The Enteraunce. +The Narration. +Sometimes the confutation. +The Conclusion. + +

+

IF any one shall haue iust cause, to dispraise an euill man, he +shall sone doe it, if he can praise a good man. For (as +Aristotle doth say) of contraries, there is one and the same +doctrine, and therefore, hee that can doe the one, shall soone +bee able to doe the other.

 + +Of an Oration demonstratiue, for some deede done. + +Oration demonstratiue +of a deede. + +

THe kind demonstratiue of some thing done, is this, when +a man is commended, or dispraised, for any act committed +in his life.

 + +The places to confirme this cause, why any one is commended, are sixe in number. +The places of confirmation. +It is honest. +It is possible. +Easie to be done. +Hard to be done. +Possible to be done. +Impossible to be done. + + +

Seuen circumstaunces, which are to bee considered in diuers +matters. +The circumstaunces. +Who did the deede. +What was done. +Where it was done. +What helpe had he to doe it. +Wherefore he did it. +How he did it. +At what time he did it. + +

+The circumstaunces in Meter. +

Who, what, and where, by what helpe, and by whose: + Why, how, and when, doe many things disclose.

+ + +

+18 +The arte of Rhetorique. +

+

THese places helpe vonderfully to set out any matter, and +to amplifie it to the vttermost, not onely in praysing, or +dispraysing, but also in all other causes, where any aduisement +is to bee vsed. Yet this one thing is to be learned, that it +shal not be necessarie to vse them altogether, euen as they +stand in order: but rather as time and place shall best require, +they may be vsed in any part of the Oration, euen as it shall +please him that hath the vsing of them. Againe, if any man +be disposed to rebuke any offence, he may vse the places +contrary vnto them, that are aboue rehearsed, and applie +these circumstaunces, euen as they are, to the proofe of his +purpose.

 + +An example of commending King Dauid, for killing great Goliah, +gathered and made, by obseruation of circumstances. + +Dauid commended +for killing Goliah. + +

GOD being the aucthour of mankinde, powring into him +the breath of life, and framing him of clay, in such a +comely wise as wee all now see, hath from the beginning, +beene so carefull ouer his elect and chosen, that in al +daungers, he is euer readie to assist his people, keeping them +harmlesse, when they were often past all mans hope. And +among all other his fatherly goodnesse, it pleased him to shewe +his power to his chosen seruaunt Dauid, that al might learne +Who? Dauid +against Goliah. +to knowe his might, and recken with themselues, that though +man giue the stroke, yet God it is that giueth the ouerhand. +For wher as Dauid was of small stature, weake of bodie, poore +of birth, and base in the sight of the worldlings, God called +him first to match with an huge monster, a little bodie, +against a mightie Gyaunt, an abiect Israelite, against a most +valiaunt Philistine, with whom no Israelite durst encounter. +These Philistines, trusting in their owne strength so much that +they feared no perrill, but made an accompt, that all was theirs +before hand. Now, when both these armies were in sight, +the Philistines vpon an hill of the one side, and the Israelites +vpon an hill of the other side, a vale beeing betwixt them both, +there marched out of the Campe, a base borne Philistine, +called Goliah of Geth, a man of sixe Cubites high. This +Souldier, when through his bignesse and stature of his bodie, +and also with great bragges, and terrible threatninges, he had +wonderfully abashed the whole Armie of the Israelites, so that + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +19 + +no man durst aduenture vpon him. God to the end he might +deliuer Israell, and shew that mans helpe, with all his armour, +litle auaile to get victorie, without his especiall grace: and +againe, to the end he might set vp Dauid, and make him +honourable among the Israelites, did then call out Dauid, the +sonne of Ephrateus, of Bethleem Iuda, whose name was Isaie, +What? Dauid +killed Goliah. +Where? About +the vale of + Terebinthus. +who being but a childe in yeres, did kill out of hand, by Gods +might and power, Goliath the most terrible enemie of all +other, that bare hate against the children of Israell. When +this mightie fellowe was slaine, about the vale of Terebinthus, +betwixt both the Armies, the Israelites reioysed, that before +quaked, and wondered at him then, whom they would scant +knowe before, and no doubt this deede was not only wonderfull, +but also right godly. For in battaile to kill an enemie, +is thought right worthie, or to aduenture vpon a Rebell +(though the successe followe not) is generally commended, yea, +to put one to the worse, or to make him flie the ground, is +called manly, but what shal we say of Dauid, that not onely +had the better hande, not onely bet his enemie, but killed +streight his enemie, yea, and not an enemie of the common +stature of men, but a mightie Gyant, not a man, but a +Dauids enterprise, honest +& godly. By what help, +& by whose, alone and +without the helpe of +any man liuing. +monster, yea, a deuill in heart, and a beast in bodie? Can any +be compted more honest then such as seeke to saue their +Countrey, by hassarding their carcasses, and shedding of their +bloud? Can loue shew it self greater, then by yeelding of life, +for the health of an army? It had been much, if halfe a dosen +had dispatched such a terrible Giaunt, but now, when Dauid +without helpe, being not yet a man but a boye in yeares, +slewe him hand to hand, what iust praise doth he deserue? If +we praise other, that haue slaine euil men, and compt them +haultie, that haue killed their matches, what shall wee say of +Dauid, that being wonderfully ouermatched, made his partie + +Dauids enterprise, +praise worthie. +good, and got the Gole of a Monster. Let other praise +Hercules, that thinke best of him: let Cæsar, Alexander, and +Hanniball, bee bruted for Warriers: Dauid in my iudgement, +both did more manly, then all the other were able, and serued his +Countrey in greater daunger, then euer any one of them did. +And shall we not call such a noble Captaine, a good man of +warre. Deserueth not his manhoode and stout attempt, +wonderfull praise? If vertue could speake, would she not sone + + +20 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +Why? for the sauegard +of his Countrie. + +confesse, that Dauid had her in full possession? And therefore, +if well doinges, by right may chalenge worthie Brute, Dauid +will be knowne, and neuer can want due praise, for such an +honest deede. And what man will not say, but that Dauid did +minde nothing els herein, but the sauegarde of his Countrey, +thinking it better for himselfe to dye, and his Countrey to +liue, then himselfe to liue, and his Countrey to dye. What +gaine got Dauid, by the death of Goliath, or what could he +hope, by the death of such a Monster, but onely that the loue +which he bare to the Israelites, forced him to hassarde his +Dauids enterprise, profitable +to himself and his Countrey. +owne life: thinking that if the Philistines should preuaile, the +Israelites were like to perrish, euery mothers sonne of them? +Therefore, hee hassarding this attempt, considered with himselfe, +the sauegarde of the Israelites, the maintenaunce of +Iustice, his duetie towards GOD, his obedience to his Prince, +and his loue to his Countrey. And no doubt, God made +Dauids enterprise, appereth +easie to himselfe. +this enterprise appere full easie, before Dauid could haue the +heart to match himselfe with such a one. For though his +heart might quake, being voyde of Gods helpe, yet assuredly he +wanted no stomacke, when God did set him on. Let Tyraunts +rage, let Hell stande open, let Sathan shewe his might, if God be +with vs, who can be against vs? Though this Goliah appeared +so strong, that ten Dauids were not able to stande in his +hande: yet tenne Goliahs were all euer weake for Dauid alone. +Man can not judge, neither can reason comprehend the +mightie power of God.

+ +

When Pharao with all his Armie, thought fully to destroye +the children of Israell in the red Sea, did not God preserue +Moses, and destroyed Pharao? What is man, and all his power +that he can make, in the handes of GOD, vnto whom all +creatures both in heauen and in earth, are subiect at his +commaundement? Therefore, it was no masterie for Dauid, +beeing assisted with GOD, aswell to match with the whole +Dauids enterprise +accompted of his +friends hard and +impossible. +Armie, as to ouerthrow this one man. But what did the +Israelites, when they sawe Dauid take vppon him such a +bolde enterprise? Some sayd he was rash, other mocked him +to scorne, and his brethren called him foole. For thought +they, what a mad fellowe is he, being but a lad in yeares, to +match with such a monster in bodie? How can it be possible +otherwise, but that he shall be torne in peeces, euen at the + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +21 + +first comming? For if the Philistine may once hit him, he is +gon though he had ten mens liues. Now what should he +meane, so vnegally to match himselfe, except he were wearie +of his life, or els were not well in his wittes? Yea, and to +giue his enemies all the aduauntage that could be, he came +vnarmed, and whereas the Philistine had very strong Armour, +both to defende himselfe, and a strong weapon to fight +withall: Dauid came with a Sling onely, as though he would +How? with +a Sling. +kill Crowes, whereat, not onely the Philistine laughed and +disdained his follie, but also both the Armies thought he was +but a dead man, before he gaue one stroke. And in deede, +by all reason and deuise of man, there was none other way, +but death with him out of hande. Dauid notwithstanding, +beeing kindeled in heart, with Gods might, was strong +enough for him, in his owne opinion, and forced nothing +though all other were much against him. And therefore, +made no more a doe, but being readie to reuenge in Gods +name, such great blasphemie, as the Philistine then did vtter: +marched towarde his enemie, and with casting a stone out of +a Sling, he ouerthrew the Philistine at the first. The which +when he had done, out with his sworde and chopt of his head, +carying it with his armour, to the Campe of the Israelites: +whereat the Philistines were greatly astonied, and the Israelites +much praised GOD, that had giuen such grace to such a one, +to compasse such a deede. And the rather this manly act, is +highly to bee praised, because he subdued this huge enemie, +when Saull first reigned King of Israel, and was sore assailed +with the great armie of the Philistines. Let vs therefore that +be now liuing, when this act or such like, come into our +mindes: remember what God is, of how infinite power he is, +and let vs praise God in them, by whom he hath wrought such +wonders, to the strengthning of our faith, and constaunt +keeping of our profession, made to him by euery one of vs in +our Baptisme.

+ +Examining of the circumstaunces. + + +DAuid beeing an Israelite, did this deede, beeing the +sonne of Isaie, of the tribe of Iuda, a boye in yeares. +This circumstaunce was vsed, not onely in the narration, but + + +22 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +also when I spake of the honesty and godlinesse, which Dauid +vsed, when he slue Goliah. + + +He slue Goliah, the strongest Giaunt among the Philistines. +This circumstance I vsed also, when I spake of the honestie, +in killing Goliah. + + +About the vale of Terebinthus. + + +He had no help of any man but went himself alone. And +whereas, Saull offered him Harnesse, he cast it away, and +trusting only in God, tooke him to his Sling, with fower or +fiue small stones in his hand, the which were thought nothing +in mans sight, able either to doe little good, or els nothing at +all. This circumstaunce I vsed, when I spake of the easinesse +and possibilitie, that was in Dauid to kill Goliah, by Gods +helpe. + + +He aduentured his life, for the loue of his Countrey, for +the maintenance of iustice, for the aduauncement of Gods +true glorie, and for the quietnesse of all Israel, neither seeking +fame, nor yet looking for any gaine. I vsed this circumstance +when I shewed what profite he sought in aduenturing this +deede. + + +Marie, he put a stone in his Sling, and when he had cast +it at the Philistine Goliah fell downe straight. I vsed this +circumstaunce, when I spake of the impossibilitie of the thing. + + +This deede was done, when Saull reigned first King ouer +the Israelites, at what time the Philistines came against the +Israelites. Thus by the circumstaunces of things, a right +worthie cause may be plentifully enlarged. + + +Of the Oration demonstratiue, where things are set forth, and matter commended. + +

THE kind demonstratiue of things, is a meane wherby +we doe praise, or dispraise things, as Vertue, Vice, +Townes, Cities, Castelles, Woodes, Waters, Hilles and +Mountaines.

+ + +

+The arte of Rhetorique. +23 +

 +Places to confirme things are fower. + +Places of confirmation. +Things honest. +Profitable. +Easie to be done. +Hard to be done. + + +

MAny learned will haue recourse to the places of Logicke, +in steede of these fower places, when they take in hand +to commend any such matter. The which places if they +make them serue, rather to commende the matter, then onely +to teach men the trueth of it, it were wel done, and Oratour +like, for seing a man wholly bestoweth his witte to play the +Oratour, he should chiefly seeke to compasse that, which he +entendeth, and not doe that only which he neuer minded, for +by plaine teaching, the Logician shewes himselfe, by large +amplification, and beautifying of his cause, the Rhetorician is +alwaies knowne.

 + +The places of Logicke are these. + +Definition. +Causes. +Parts. +Effects. +Things adioyning. +Contraries. + + +

I Doe not see otherwise, but that these places of Logicke are +confounded with the other fower of confirmation, or rather +I thinke these of Logicke must first bee minded, ere the other +Logicke must be learned for + confirmation of causes. +can well be had. For what is he, that can cal a thing honest, +and by reason proue it, except he first know what the thing +is: the which he cannot better doe, then by defining the +nature of the thing. Againe, how shall I know, whether +mine attempt be easie or hard if I know not the efficient +cause, or be assured how it may be done. In affirming it to +bee possible, I shall not better knowe it then by searching the +ende, and learning by Logicke, what is the finall cause of euery +thing.

+ +An example in commendation of Iustice, or true dealing. + +Iustice commended. + +

SO many as looke to liue in peaceable quietnesse, being +minded rather to follow reason, then to be led by wilfull +affection: desire Iustice in all things, without the which no + + +24 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +countrey is able long to continue. Then may I be bolde to +commende that, which all men wish, and fewe can haue, +which all men loue, and none can want: not doubting, but +as I am occupied in a good thing, so al good men will heare +me with a good will. But would God I were so well able, to +perswade all men to Iustice, as all men knowe the necessarie +vse thereof: and then vndoubtedly, I would bee much bolder, +and force some by violence, which by faire wordes cannot bee +entreated. And yet what needes any perswasion for that thing, +which by nature is so needfull, & by experience so profitable, +that looke what we want, without Iustice we get not, looke +what we haue: without Iustice wee keepe not. God graunt +vs his grace so to worke in the hearts of al men, that they +may aswell practise well doing in their owne life, as they +would that other should followe Iustice in their life: I for my +part will bestowe some labour, to set forth the goodnesse of +vpright dealing, that all other men the rather may doe +thereafter. That if through my wordes, GOD shall worke +with any man, then may I thinke my selfe in happie case, and +reioyce much in the trauaile of my witte. And how can it +be otherwise, but that all men shalbe forced inwardly to + +Iustice naturally in +euery one of vs. +allow that, which in outwarde act many doe not followe: +seeing God powred first this lawe of nature, into mans heart, +and graunted it as a meane, whereby wee might knowe his +will, and (as I might saye) talke with him, grounding still his +doinges vppon this poinct, that man should doe as he would +bee done vnto, the which is nothing els, but to liue vprightly, +without any will to hurt his neighbour. And therefore, +hauing this light of Gods will opened vnto vs, through his +mere goodnesse, we ought euermore, to referre all our actions +vnto this ende, both in giuing iudgement, and deuising Lawes +Iustice what it is, +and how largely it +extendeth. +necessarie for mans life. And hereupon it is, that when men +desire the Lawe, for triall of a matter, they meane nothing +els but to haue Iustice, the which Iustice is a vertue that +yeeldeth to euery man his owne: to the euer liuing God loue +aboue all things: to the King obedience: to the inferiour +good counsaile: to the poore man, mercy: to the hatefull and +wicked, sufferaunce: to it self, trueth: and to all men, +perfite peace and charitie. Now, what can be more saied, in +praise of this vertue, or what thing can be like praised? Are + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +25 + +not all things in good case, when all men haue their owne? +And what other thing doth Iustice, but seeketh meanes to +content all parties? Then how greatly are they to be praised, +that meane truely in al their doinges, not onely doe no harme +to any, but seeke meanes to helpe al. The Sunne is not so +wonderfull to the world (saith Aristotle) as the iust dealing of +Aristotle. +a gouernour, is marueilous to all men. No, the earth yeeldeth +no more gaine to all creatures, then doth the Iustice of a +Magistrate, to his whole Realme. For by a Lawe, we liue, +and take the fruites of the earth, but where no Lawe is, nor +Iustice vsed: there nothing can bee had, though all thinges be +at hand: for in hauing the thing, we shall lacke the vse, and +liuing in great plentie, wee shall stande in great neede. The +meane therefore, that maketh men to enioye their owne, is +Iustice, the which being once taken away, all other thinges +are lost with it, neither can any one saue that he hath, nor +Wrong dealing +deserueth death. +yet get that he wanteth. Therefore, if wrong doing should +be borne withall, and not rather punished by death, what man +could liue in rest? Who could bee sure either of his life, or of +his liuing one whole day together? Now, because euery man +desireth the preseruation of himselfe, euery man should in like +case desire the sauegard of his neighbour. For if I should +wholly minde myne owne ease, and followe gaine without +respect, to the hinderaunce of myne euen Christian: why +should not other vse the same libertie, and so euery man for +himselfe, and the Deuill for vs al, catch that catch may? The +which custome if all men followed, the earth would sone be +voyd, for want of men one would be so greedy to eate vp an +other. For in seeking to liue, wee would lose our liues, and +in gaping after goodes, wee should soone goe naked. Therefore, +to represse this rage, and with wholsome deuises to +traine men in an order, GOD hath lightened man with knowledge, +that in all thinges he may see what is right, and what +Iustice necessarie +for all men. +is wrong, and vpon good aduisement deale iustly with all +men. God hath created all thinges for mans vse, and ordeined +man, for mans sake, that one man might helpe an other. +For though some one haue giftes more plentifully then the +common sorte, yet no man can liue alone, without helpe of +other. Therefore wee should striue one to helpe an other by +iust dealing, some this way, and some that way, as euery one + + +26 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +From the lesse +to the greater. +shal haue neede, and as we shalbe alwaies best able, wherein +the lawe of nature is fulfilled, and Gods commaundement +followed. Wee loue them here in earth, that giue vs faire +wordes, and wee can bee content, to speake well of them, +that speake well of vs? and shall we not loue them, and take +them also for honest men, which are contented from time to +time, to yeeld euery man his owne, and rather would dye +then consent to euill doing: If one be gentle in outward +behauiour, we like him well, and shall we not esteeme him +that is vpright in his outward liuing? And like as wee desire, +that other should bee to vs, ought not wee to bee likewise, +Young Storkes. +affected towardes them? Euen among brute Beastes, nature +hath appointed a lawe, and shall wee men liue without a lawe? +The Storke being not able to feede her self for age, is fed of her +young ones, wherein is declared a naturall loue, and shall wee +so liue that one shall not loue an other? Man should be vnto +man as a God, & shal man be vnto man as a deuil? Hath + + + + +Vnnaturalnesse in +man towards God. + +God created vs, and made vs to his owne likenesse, enduing vs +with all the riches of the earth, that wee might bee obedient +to his will, and shall wee neither loue his, nor like his? How +can we say that we loue God, if there be no charitie in vs? +Doe I loue him, whose minde I will not followe, although it +be right honest? If you loue me (sayth Christ) followe my +Commaundements. Christes will is such, that wee should +Ihon xiiii. +Math. xix. +Mark. x. +Prouer. xvi. +Prouer. iiii. +Psal. xcvi. +Profite of Iustice. +loue God aboue all things, and our neighbour as our self. +Then if we doe not iustice (wherein loue doth consist) we +do neither loue man, nor yet loue God. The Wiseman saith: +The beginning of a good life, is to doe Iustice. Yea, the +blessing of the Lord, is vpon the head of the iust. Heauen is +theirs (saith Dauid) that doe iustly from time to time. What +els then shall we doe, that haue any hope of the generall +resurrection, but doe the will of God, and liue iustly all the +daies of our life? Let euery man, but consider with himselfe, +what ease he shall finde thereby, and I doubt not, but euery +one deepely waying the same, will in heart confesse, that +Iustice maketh plentie, & that no man could long hold +his own if lawes were not made, to restraine mans will. +We trauaile now, Winter and Sommer, we watch and take +thought, for maintenaunce of wife and children, assuredly +purposing (that though God shall take vs immediatly) to + + + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +27 + +Sauegard had +by Iustice. +Gradation. +leaue honestly for our familie. Now, to what ende were all +our gathering together, if iust dealing were set a side, if Lawes +bare no rule, if that the wicked list, that they may, and what +they may, that they can, and what they can, that they dare, +& what they dare, the same they doe, & whatsoeuer they doe, +no man of power is agreeued therwith? What maketh wicked +men (which els would not) acknowledge the King as their +soueraigne Lord, but the power of a law, & the practise of +Iustice for euill doers? Could a Prince maintaine his state + + + +The necessitie +of Iustice. + +royall, if law and right had not prouided, that euery man +should haue his owne? Would seruaunts obeye their maisters, +the sonne his father, the Tenaunt his Landlord, the Citezein +his Maior or Sherief if orders were not set, & iust dealing +appointed for all states of men? Therfore, the true meaning +folke in al ages giue themselues some to this occupation, and +some to that, seking therin nothing els but to maintain a poore +life, and to kepe themselues true men, both to GOD and the +world. What maketh men to performe their bargaines, to +stand to their promises, and yeeld their debtes, but an order +of a law grounded vpon Iustice? Where right beareth rule, + +Where iustice is +executed, vice is +exiled. +there craft is compted vice. The liar is much hated, where +trueth is well esteemed. The wicked theeues are hanged, +where good men are regarded. None can hold vp their +heads, or dare shewe their faces, in a well ruled common +weale, that are not thought honest, or at the least haue some +honest way to liue. The Egiptians therefore, hauing a worthy +and a wel gouerned commonweale, prouided that none should +liue idly, but that euery one monthly should giue an accompt, +Egiptians, what order +they vsed to banish +idlenesse. +how he spent his time, and had his name regestred in a booke +for the same purpose. But Lord, if this law were vsed in +England, how many would come behind hand with their +reckenings at the audite day. I feare me their doings would +be such, that it would be long ere they got their quietus est. +Therfore the worse is our state, the lesse that this euill is +looked vnto. And surely, if in other thinges wee should bee +as negligent, this Realme could not long stand. But thankes +be to God, wee hang them a pace, that offend a lawe, and +therefore, wee put it to their choyce, whether they wilbe +idle, and so fall to stealing or no? they knowe their reward, +goe to it when they wil. But if therewithal some good order + + +28 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +were taken, for education of youth, and setting loyterers on +worke (as thanks be to God, the Citie is most godly bent +that way) all would sone be well, without all doubt. The +wise and discrete persons in al ages, sought all meanes possible, +to haue an order in all thinges, and loued by Iustice to direct +all their doinges, whereby appeareth both an apt will in such +men, and a naturall stirring by Gods power, to make all men +Iustice, easie to +be obserued if will +be not wanting. +good. Therefore if we do not well, we must blame our +selues, that lack a will, & do not call to God for grace. For +though it appere hard to do wel, because no man can get +perfection, without continuance: yet assuredly to an humble +mind that calleth to God, & to a willing heart that faine +would do his best, nothing can be hard. God hath set al +things to sale for labor, & keepeth open shop come who wil. +Therefore in all ages, whereas we see the fewest good we +must well thinke, the most did lacke good will to aske, or +seeke for the same. Lord what loue had that worthie Prince + +Seleucus to maintaine Iustice, and to haue good lawes kept, of +whom such a wonderfull thing is written. For whereas he +established most wholesome lawes, for sauegard of the Locrensians, +and his owne sonne thereupon taken in adultery, should +lose both his eyes, according to the lawe then made, and +yet notwithstanding, the whole Citie thought, to remit the +necessitie of his punishment, for the honour of his father, +Valer. li. vi. +Seleucus would none of that in any wise. Yet at last, through +importunitie being ouercome, he caused first one of his own +eyes to be pluckt out, and next after, one of his sonnes eyes, +leauing onely the vse of sight, to himselfe and his sonne. +Thus through equitie of the law, he vsed the due meane of +chastisement, shewing himselfe by a wonderfull temperature, +both a mercifull father, and a iust law maker. Now happie +are they that thus obserue a Lawe, thinking losse of bodie, +lesse hurt to the man, then sparing of punishment, meete for +the soule. For GOD will not faile them, that haue such +a desire to followe his will, but for his promise sake, he will +rewarde them for euer. And now, seing that Iustice +naturally is giuen to al men, without the which he could not +liue, being warned also by GOD, alwaies to doe vprightly, +perceiuing againe the commodities, that redounde vnto vs, +by liuing vnder a Lawe, and the sauegarde, wherein we stand, + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +29 + +hauing Iustice to assist vs: I trust that not onely all men, will +commend Iustice in worde, but also will liue iustly in deede, +the which that we may doe: God graunt vs of his grace. +Amen.

 + +An Oration deliberatiue. +Oration + deliberatiue. +

AN Oration deliberatiue, is a meane, whereby we doe perswade, +or disswade, entreate, or rebuke, exhorte, or dehort, +commend, or comforte any man. In this kind of Oration, +wee doe not purpose wholy to praise any bodie, nor yet to +determine any matter in controuersie, but the whole compasse +of this cause is, either to aduise our neighbour to that thing, +which wee thinke most needefull for him, or els to call him +backe from that follie, which hindereth much his estimation. +As for example, if I would counsaile my friend to trauaile +beyond the Seas, for knowledge of the tongues, and experience +in forraine Countries: I might resort to this kinde of Oration, +and finde matter to confirme my cause plentifully. And the +reasons, which are commonly vsed to enlarge such matters, +are these that followe. + + +The thing is honest.Saufe. +Profitable.Easie. +Pleasaunt.Hard. +Lawfull and meete. +Praise worthie. +Necessarie.
+ +Honestie comprehendeth +all vertues. +

+

NOW in speaking of honestie, I may by deuision of the +vertues make a large walke. Againe, looke what lawes, +what customes, what worthie deedes, or sayinges haue been +vsed heretofore, all these might serue well for the confirmation +of this matter, lastly where honestie is called in to establish +a cause: there is nature and GOD himselfe present, from + +Profite how largely it +extendeth. Profite beareth +the name of goodnesse, +which is three folded. + +whom commeth all goodnesse. In the seconde place, where +I spake of profite, this is to be learned, that vnder the same +is comprehended the getting of gaine, and the eschuing of +harme. Againe, concerning profite (which also beareth the +name of goodnesse) it partly perteineth to the bodie, as +beautie, strength, and health, partly to the minde, as the +encrease of witte, the getting of experience, and heaping +together of much learning: and partly to fortune (as Philosophers +take it) whereby both wealth, honour, and friends are + + +30 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +gotten. Thus he that deuideth profite cannot want matter. +Thirdly, in declaring it is pleasant, I might heape together +Pleasures, largely +set out. +the varietie of pleasures, which come by trauaile, first the +sweetnesse of the tongue, the wholesomnes of the ayre in other +Countries, the goodly wittes of the Gentlemen, the straunge +and auncient buildings, the wonderfull Monuments, the great +learned Clarkes in al faculties, with diuers otherlike, & +almost infinite pleasures.

+ +

Easinesse of +trauaile. +The easinesse of trauaile, may thus be perswaded, if we +shewe that free passage is by wholesome lawes appointed, for +al straungers and way fairers. And seeing this life is none +other thing but a trauell, and we as Pilgrimes, wander from +place to place, much fondnesse it were to thinke that hard, +which nature hath made easie, yea, and pleasaunt also. None +are more healthfull, none more lustie, none more merrie, none +more strong of bodie, then such as haue trauailed Countries. +Trauaile vnto whom +it is hard. +Mary vnto them, that had rather sleepe al day, then wake one +houre (chosing for any labor, slothfull idlenesse) thinking this +life to be none other, but a continuall resting place, vnto such +pardie, it shall seeme painefull to abide any labour. To learne +Logicke, to learne the Law, to some it seemeth so hard, that +nothing can enter into their heades: and the reason is, that +they want a will, and an earnest minde, to doe their endeuour. +Good will makes great +burdeines light. +For vnto a willing heart, nothing can be hard, lay lode on +such a mans back and his good heart, may soner make his +backe to ake, then his good will can graunt to yeeld, and +refuse the weight. And now where the sweete hath his sower +ioyned with him, it shalbe wisedome to speake somewhat of it, +to mitigate the sowernesse thereof, as much as may be possible.

+ +

Lawefull. +That is lawfull and praise worthie, which Lawes doe graunt, +good men doe allowe, experience commendeth, and men in +all ages haue most vsed.

+ +

Necessary two +waies taken. +A thing is necessarie two maner of waies. First, when +either wee must doe some one thing, or els doe worse. As +if one should threaten a woman, to kill her if she would +not lye with him, wherein appeareth a forcible necessitie. +As touching trauaile we might say, either a man must bee +ignoraunt of many good thinges, and want great experience, +or els he must trauaile. Now to be ignoraunt, is a great +shame, therefore to trauaile is most needfull, if we will auoyde + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +31 + +shame. The other kind of necessitie is, when wee perswade +men to beare those thinges paciently, when wee perswade +men to beare those crosses paciently, which God doth send vs, +considering, will we, or nill we, needes must we abide them.

 + +To aduise one, to studie the lawes of England. +Lawes of England. +

AGaine, when we see our frend enclined to any kind of +learning, we must counsaile him to take that way still, and +by reason perswade him, that it were the meetest way for him +to doe his Countrie most good. As if he giue his minde to +the lawes of the Realme, and finde an aptnesse therunto, we +may aduise him, to continue in his good entent, and by reason +perswade him, that it were most meete for him so to do. +Vertues especiall & +chief, fower in number. +And first we might shewe him that the studie is honest and +godly, considering it onely foloweth Iustice, and is grounded +wholy vpon naturall reason. Wherein we might take a large +scope, if we should fully speake of all thinges, that are +comprehended vnder honestie. For he that will knowe what +honestie is, must haue an vnderstanding, of all the vertues +together. And because the knowledge of them is most +necessarie, I will briefly set them forth. There are fower +especiall and chief vertues, vnder whom all other are comprehended. + + +Prudence, or wisedome. +Iustice. +Manhood. +Temperaunce. + +

+

Prudence, +what it is.

+

PRudence, or wisedome (for I will here take them both +for one) is a vertue that is occupied euermore in searching +out the trueth. Now, we all loue knowledge, and haue a +desire to passe other therin, and think it shame to be ignoraunt: +and by studying the lawe, the trueth is gotten out, by knowing +the trueth, wisedome is attained. Wherefore, in perswading +one to studie the lawe, you may shewe him, that he shall get +wisedome thereby. Vnder this vertue are comprehended. + + +Memorie. +Vnderstanding. +Foresight. + +

+

Partes of Prudence. +THE memorie, calleth to accompt those things, that were +done heretofore, and by a former remembraunce getteth +an after wit, and learneth to auoyde deceipt.

+ + +

+32 +The arte of Rhetorique. +

+

Vnderstanding, seeth thinges presently done, and perceiueth +what is in them, weighing and debating them, vntill his minde +be fully contented.

+ +

Foresight, is a gathering by coniectures, what shall happen, +and an euident perceiuing of thinges to come, before they doe +come.

+ +Iustice. +Iustice, what it is. +

Iustice is a vertue, gathered by long space, giuing euery one +his owne, minding in all thinges, the common profite of our +Countrey, whereunto man is most bound and oweth his full +obedience.

+ +

Now, Nature first taught man, to take this way, and would +euery one so to doe vnto an other, as he would be doen vnto +himselfe. For whereas Raine watereth al in like, the Sunne +shineth indifferently ouer all, the fruite of the earth encreaseth +equally. God warneth vs to bestowe our good will after the +same sorte, doing as duetie bindeth vs, and as necessitie shall +best require. Yea, God graunteth his giftes diuersly among +men, because hee would man should knowe and feele, that +man is borne for man, and that one hath neede of an other. +And therefore though nature hath not stirred some, yet +through the experience that man hath, concerning his commoditie: +Nature, what it is. +many haue turned the lawe of nature into an +ordinarie custome, and followed the same as though they +were bound to it by a law. Afterward, the wisedome of +Princes, and the feare of Gods threate, which was vttered +by his worde, forced men by a lawe, both to allowe things +confirmed by nature, and to beare with old custome, or els +they should not onely suffer in body temporall punishment, +but also lose their soules for euer. Nature is a right that +phantasie hath not framed, but God hath graffed and giuen +man power thereunto, whereof these are deriued. + + +Religion, and acknowledging of God. +Naturall loue to our children, and other. +Thankfulnesse to all men. +Stoutnesse, both to withstand and reuenge. +Reuerence to the superiour. +Assured and constaunt trueth in things. + +

+

Religion. +REligion, is an humble worshipping of GOD, acknowledging +him to be the creatour of Creatures, and the +onely giuer of all good things.

+ + +

+The arte of Rhetorique. +33 +

+

Naturall loue. +Naturall loue, is an inward good will, that we beare to +our parents, wife, children, or any other that be nigh of +kinne vnto vs, stirred thereunto not onely by our flesh, +thinking that like as we would loue our selues, so wee should +loue them, but also by a likenesse of minde: and therefore +generally we loue all, because all be like vnto vs, but yet we +loue them most, that both in bodie and mynd be most like +vnto vs. And hereby it commeth, that often we are liberall +and bestowe our goodes vpon the needie, remembring that +they are all one flesh with vs, and should not want when we +haue it, without our great rebuke and token of our most +vnkind dealing.

+ +

Thankefulnesse. +Thankfulnesse is a requiting of loue, for loue, and will, for +will, shewing to our freendes, the like goodnesse that we finde +in them: yea, striuing to passe them in kindnesse, losing +neither time nor tide to doe them good.

+ +

Stoutnesse. +Stoutnesse to withstand and reuenge euil, is then vsed when +either we are like to haue harme, & doe withstand it, or els +when we haue suffered euill for the trueth sake, and thereupon +doe reuenge it, or rather punish the euill, which is in +the man.

+ +

Reuerence. +Reuerence, is an humblenesse in outward behauour, when +we doe our duetie to them, that are our betters, or vnto such +as are called to serue the King in some greate vocation.

+ +

Assured and + constant trueth. +Assured and constant trueth is, when we do beleeue that +those things, which are, or haue bene, or hereafter are about +to be, can not otherwise be, by any meanes possible.

+ +

Right by custome. +That is right by custome, which long time hath confirmed, +being partly grounded vpon nature, & partly vpon reason, as +where wee are taught by nature, to knowe the euer liuing +God, and to worship him in spirite, we turning natures light, +into blind custome, without Gods will, haue vsed at length + +Custome with our +natures ground +vngodly. +to beleeue, that he was really with vs here in earth, and +worshipped him not in spirite, but in Copes, in Candlesticks, +in Belles, in Tapers, and in Censers, in Crosses, in Banners, +in shauen Crownes, and long Gownes, and many good +morowes els, deuised only by the phantasie of man, without +the expresse will of God. The which childish toyes, time +hath so long confirmed, that the trueth is scant able to trie +them out, our hearts be so hard, and our wits be so far to + + +34. +The arte of Rhetorique. + +seeke. Again, where we see by nature, that euery one should +deale truely, custome encreaseth natures wil, & maketh by +auncient demeane things to be iustly obserued, which nature +hath appointed. + + + +As +Bargaining. +Commons, or equalitie. +Iudgement giuen. + +

+

BArgaining is, when two haue agreed for the sale of some +one thing, the one will make his fellowe to stand to the +bargaine though it be to his neighbours vndoing, resting vpon +this point, that a bargaine is a bargaine, and must stande +without all exception, although nature requireth to haue +things doen by conscience, and would that bargaining should +be builded vpon iustice, whereby an vpright dealing, and +a charitable loue, is vttered amongst all men.

+ +

Commons. +Commons or equalitie, is when the people by long time +haue a ground, or any such thing among them, the which +some of them will keep still for custome sake, and not suffer +it to be fenced, and so turned to pasture, though they might +gaine ten times the value: but such stubburnesse in keeping +of commons for custome sake, is not standing with Iustice, +because it is holden against al right.

+ +

Iudgement giuen. +Iudgement giuen, is when a matter is confirmed by a +Parliament, or a Lawe, determined by a Iudge, vnto the +which many hedstrong men will stand to dye for it, without +sufferaunce of any alteration, not remembring the circumstaunce +of things, and that time altereth good actes.

+ +

Right by Lawe. +That is right by a law, when the trueth is vttered in +writing, and commaunded to be kept, euen as it is set forth +vnto them.

 + +Fortitude or manhood. +Manhood. +

FOrtitude, is a considerate hassarding vpon daunger, and +a willing heart to take paines, in behalfe of the right. +Now, when can stoutnesse be better vsed, then in a iust maintenaunce +of the Lawe, and constaunt trying of the trueth: +Of this vertue, there are fower branches. + + +Honourablenesse. +Stoutnesse. +Sufferance. +Continuance. + + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +35 +

+

Honorablenesse. +HOnorablenesse is a noble ordering of weightie matters, +with a lustie heart, and a liberall vsing of his wealth, to +encrease of honour.

+ +

Stoutnesse. +Stoutnesse, is an assured trust in himselfe, when he mindeth +the compasse of most weightie matters, and a couragious +defending of his cause.

+ +

Sufferance. +Sufferaunce, is a willing and a long bearing of trouble and +taking of paines: for the maintenaunce of vertue, and the +wealth of his Countrey.

+ +

Continuance. +Continuance, is a stedfast and constaunt abiding, in a +purposed and well aduised matter, not yeelding to any man +in quarell of the right.

 + +Temperaunce. + Temperance. +

TEmperance, is a measuring of affections according to +the will of reason, and a subduing of lust vnto the Square +of honestie. Yea, and what one thing doth soone mitigate +the immoderate passions of our nature, then the perfect +knowledge of right & wrong, & the iust execution appointed +by a law, for asswaging the wilfull? Of this vertue there are +three partes. + + + + +Sobrietie. +Gentlenesse. +Modestie. + +

+

Sobrietie. +Sobrietie, is a brideling by discretion, the wilfulnesse of +desire.

+ +

Gentlenesse. +Gentlenesse, is a caulming of heate, when we begin to rage, +and a lowly behauiour in al our bodie.

+ +

Modestie. +Modestie, is an honest shamefastnesse, whereby we keepe a +constant looke, & appere sober in all our outward doings. Now, +euen as we should desire the vse of al these vertues, so should +we eschue not only the contraries hereunto, but also auoid al such +euils, as by any meanes do withdrawe vs from well doing.

 + +It is profitable. +Hope of reward +maketh men take paines. +

AFter we haue perswaded our freend, that the lawe is +honest, drawing our arguments from the heape of vertues, +wee must goe further with hym, and bryng him in good beleeue +that it is very gainfull. For many one seeke not the knowledge +of learning for ye goodnes sake, but rather take paines +for the gaine, which they see doeth arise by it. Take away +the hope of lucre, and you shall see fewe take any paines: no + + +36 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +not in the Vineyard of the Lorde. For although none should +followe any trade of life for the gaine sake, but euen as he +seeth it is most necessarie, for the aduauncement of Gods +glorie, and not passe in what estimation things are had in +this worlde: yet because we are all so weake of witte in our +tender yeres, that we can not weigh with our selues what is +best, and our bodie so nesh, that it loketh euer to be +cherished, we take that which is moste gainefull for vs, and +forsake that altogether, which wee ought most to followe. +So, that for lacke of honest meanes, and for want of good +order: the best way is not vsed, neither is Gods honour in +our first yeeres remembred. I had rather (sayde one) make +my child a Cobler, then a Preacher, a Tankerd bearer, then +a Scholer. For what shal my sonne seeke for learning, when +hee shall neuer get thereby any liuing? Set my sonne to that, +whereby he may get somewhat? Doe ye not see, how euery +one catcheth and pulleth from the Church what thei can? +I feare me one day, they wil pluck doune Church and all. +Call you this the Gospell, when men seeke onely to prouide +for their bellies, and care not a groate though their soules go +to Hell? A patrone of a Benefice, will haue a poore yngrame +soule, to beare the name of a Parson, for twentie marke or +ten pound: and the patrone him self, will take vp for his +snapshare, as good as an hundred marke. Thus God is +robbed, learning decaied, England dishonoured, and honestie +not regarded. The old Romaines not yet knowing Christ, and +yet being led by a reuerent feare towards God made this lawe. +Sacrum sacroue commendatum qui clepserit, rapseritue, paricida est. +The Romaines lawes +for Church dignities. +He that shall closely steale, or forciblie take awaie that thing +which is holy, or giuen to the holy place, is a murderer of his +countrey. But what haue I said? I haue a greater matter in +hande, then whereof I was aware, my penne hath runne ouer +farre, when my leasure serueth not, nor yet my witte is able +to talke this case in such wise, as it should bee, and as the +largenesse thereof requireth. Therefore, to my Lawyer againe, +whom I doubt not to perswade, but that he shal haue the +Deuill and al, if he learne a pace, and doe as some haue doen +before him. Therefore, I will shewe how largely this profite +extendeth, that I may haue him the soner take this matter in +hande. The law therefore, not onely bringeth much gaine + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +37 + +with it, but also aduaunceth men, both to worship, renowne, +and honour. All men shall seeke his fauour for his learning +sake, the best shall like his company for his calling: and his +wealth with his skill shall be such, that none shal be able to +work him any wrong. Some consider profite, by these circumstances +following. + + +To whom. +When. +Where. +Wherefore. + +

+

Circumstances in +obseruing profite. +NEther can I vse a better order, then these circumstaunces +minister vnto mee. To whom therefore is the +Law profitable? Marie, to them that be best learned, that +haue readie wittes, and will take paines. When is the law +profitable? Assuredly, both now and euermore, but especially +in this age, where all men goe together by the eares, for this +matter, and that matter. Such alteration hath beene heretofore, +that hereafter needes must ensue much alteration. +And where is al this a doe? Euen in little England, or in +Westminster hall, where neuer yet wanted businesse, nor yet +euer shal. Wherefore is the Law profitable? vndoubtedly, +because no man could hold his owne, if there were not an order +to staie vs, and a Lawe to restraine vs. And I praie you, who +getteth the money? The Lawiers no doubt. And were not +Folly in many that +go to the Lawe. +Land sometimes cheaper bought, then got by the triall of +a Law? Do not men commonly for trifles fall out? Some for +lopping of a Tree, spendes all that euer they haue, an other +for a Gose that graseth vpon his ground, tries the lawe so +hard, that he proues himself a Gander. Now, when men be +so mad, is it not easie to get money among them? Undoubtedly, +Lawyers, neuer +dye beggers. +the Lawier neuer dieth a begger. And no maruaile. +For an C. begges for him, and makes awaie all that they haue, +to get that of him, the which, the oftener he bestoweth, the +more still he getteth. So that he gaineth alwaies, aswel by +encrease of learning, as by storing his purse with money, +whereas the other get a warme Sunne oftentimes, and a flappe +with a Foxe taile, for all that euer they haue spent. And why +would they? Tush if it were to doe againe, they would doe +it: therefore, the Lawyer can neuer want liuing till the earth +want men and all be voyde.

+ + +

+38 +The arte of Rhetorique. +

+The Lawe easie to many, and hard to some. +

I Doubt not, but my Lawyer is perswaded that the Lawe is +profitable, now must I beare him in hand that it is an easie +matter to become a Lawier. The which, if I shall bee able +to proue. I doubt not, but he will proue a good Lawyer, +and that right shortly: the Lawe is grounded vpon reason. +And what hardnesse is it for a man by a reason, to finde out +reason. That can not be straunge vnto him, the ground +whereof is graffed in his breast. What, though the Lawe be +in a straunge tongue, the wordes may bee gotte without any +paine, when the matter it self is compast with ease. Tush, +a little Lawe will make a greate shewe, and therefore, though +it bee much to become excellent, yet it is easie to get a taste. +And surely for getting of money, a little will doe asmuch +good oftentymes, as a great deale. There is not a word in +the Law, but it is a grote in the Lawiers purse. I haue +knowne diuers, that by familiar talking and mouting together, +haue come to right good learning, without any great booke +skill, or much beating of their braine, by any close studie or +secret musing in their Chamber. But where some saie the +Lawe is very hard, and discourage yong men from the studie +thereof, it is to bee vnderstande of such as will take no paines +at al, nor yet mind the knowledge thereof. For what is +not hard to man, when he wanteth will to doe his best. As +good sleepe, and say it is hard: as wake and take no paines. + +The Lawe. +Godlie. +Iuste. +Necessarie. +Pleasaunt. + +

+

WHat needeth mee, to prooue the Lawe to be Godly, +iust, or necessarie, seeing it is grounded vpon Gods +will, and all Lawes are made for the maintenaunce of Iustice. +If we wil not beleeue that it is necessarie, let vs haue Rebels +againe to disturbe the Realme. Our nature is so fonde, that +we knowe not the necessitie of a thing, till wee finde some +lacke of the same. Bowes are not esteemed, as they haue +beene among vs Englishmen, but if we were once well beaten +by our enemies, we should soone knowe the want, and with +feeling the smart, lament much our folly. Take away the + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +39 + +Lawes maintaine +life. +Law, and take away our liues, for nothing maintaineth our +wealth, our health, and the sauegard of our bodies, but the +Law of a Realme, whereby the wicked are condemned, and +the Godly are defended.

 + +An Epistle to perswade a yong Gentleman to mariage, deuised by Erasmus, in the behalfe of his freend. +

ALbeit, you are wise enough of your selfe, through that +singulare wisedome of yours (most louing Cosine) and +litle needes the aduise of other, yet either for that olde +freendshippe, which hath bene betwixt vs, and continued +with our age, euen from our Cradles, or for such your great +good turnes, shewed at all times towardes me, or els for that +fast kinred and aliaunce, which is betwixt vs: I thought my +self thus much to owe vnto you, if I would be such a one in +deed, as you euer haue taken mee, that is to say, a man both +freendly and thankfull, to tell you freely (whatsoeuer I iudged +to appertaine either to the sauegard or worship of you, or any +of yours) and willingly to warne you of the same. Wee are +better seen oftentimes in other mens matters, then we are in +our owne. I haue felt often your aduise in mine owne +affaires, and I haue found it to be fortunate vnto me, as it +was frendly. Now, if you will likewise in your owne +matters, follow my counsaile. I trust it shall so come to +passe, that neither I shall repent me, for that I haue giuen you +counsaile, not yet you shall forethinke your selfe, that you haue +obeyed and followed mine aduise.

+ +

There was at supper with me the twelue day of Aprill, when +I laie in the Countrie, Antonius Baldus, a man (as you +knowe) that most earnestly tendereth your welfare, and one +that hath been alwaies of great acquaintaunce, and familiaritie +with your sonne in Lawe: a heauie feast wee had, and full of +much mourning. He tolde me greatly to both our heauinesse, +that your mother that most Godly woman, was departed this +life, and your sister being ouercome with sorowe and heauinesse, +had made her self a Nunne, so that in you only +remaineth the hope of issue, and maintenance of your stocke. +Whereupon your freends with one consent, haue offered you +in Mariage, a Gentlewoman of a good house, and much +wealth, faire of bodie, very well brought vp, and such a one +as loueth you with all her heart. But you (either for your + + +40 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +late sorowes, which you haue in fresh remembraunce, or els +for religion sake) haue so purposed to liue a single life, that +neither can you for loue of your stock, neither for desire of +Issue, nor yet for any entreatie of your freendes can make, +either by praying, or by weeping: be brought to chaunge +your minde. And yet notwithstanding all this (if you will +followe my counsayle) you shall be of an other minde, and +leauing to liue single, whiche both is barraine, and smally +agreeing with the state of mans Nature, you shal giue your +selfe wholy to most holy Wedlocke. And for this parte, +I will neither wish, that the loue of your freends (which els +ought to ouercome your nature) nor yet mine authoritie that +I haue ouer you, should doe me any good at all, to compasse +this my request, if I shall not proue vnto you by most plaine +reasons, that it will be both much more honest, more profitable, +and also most pleasant for you to marrie, then to liue +otherwise. Yea, what will you say if I proue it also, to be +necessary for you at this tyme to marrie. And first of all, if +honestie may moue you in this matter (the which among all +good men, ought to bee of much weight) what is more honest +then Matrimonie, the which Christ himselfe did make honest, +when not onely hee, vouchsaued to bee at the Mariage with +Praise worthy +to marrie. +his mother, but also did consecrate the Mariage feast, with +the first miracle, that euer hee did vpon earth? What is more +holy then Matrimonie, which the Creatour of all things did +institute, did fasten and make holy, and nature it selfe did +establish? What is more prayse worthie, then that thing, the +which, whosoeuer shall dispraise, is condemned straight for an +Heretique? Matrimonie, is euen as honourable, as the name +of an Heretique is thought shamefull. What is more right +or meete, then to giue that vnto the posteritie, the which we +haue receiued of our auncesters? What is more inconsiderate, +then vnder the desire of holinesse, to eschue that as vnholy, +Right and meete +to marrie. +which God himself, the fountaine and father of all holinesse, +would haue to be compted is most holy? What is more +vnmanly then that man should goe against the lawes of +mankind? What is more vnthankfull, then to denie that vnto +younglings, the which (if thou haddest not receiued of thine +elders) thou couldest not haue bene the man liuing, able to +haue denied it vnto them. That if you would knowe, who + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +41 + +Mariage first +made by God. +was the first founder of Mariage, you shall vnderstande, that +it came not vp by Licurgus, nor yet by Moses, nor yet by +Solon: but it was first ordeined and instituted, by the cheefe +founder of all things, commended by the same, made honourable, +and made holy by the same. For, at the first when he +made man of the earth, he did perceiue that his life should be +miserable and vnsauerie, except he ioyned Eue as mate vnto +After man was made, +the woman was ioyned +vnto him. + Matrimonie renewed +after the flood. +him. Whereupon he did not make the wife vpon the same +clay, whereof he made man: but he made her of Adams +Ribbes, to the end we might plainly vnderstande, that nothing +ought to be more deare vnto vs then our wife, nothing more +nigh vnto vs, nothing surer ioyned, and (as a man would saie) +faster glewed together. The self same God, after the generall +flood being reconciled to mankinde, is said to proclaime this +law first of all, not that men should liue single, but that they +should encrease, bee multiplied and fill the earth. But howe +I pray you could this thing bee, sauing by Mariage and +lawfull comming together? And first least we should alledge +here, either the libertie of Moses lawe, or els the necessitie of +that tyme: what other meaning els, hath that common and +Natures worke, +allowed by Gods +worde. +commendable report of Christ in the Gospell, for this cause +(saieth he) shall man leaue father and mother, and cleaue to +his wife. And what is more holy then the reuerence and +loue due vnto parents? And yet the trueth promised in +Matrimonie, is preferred before it, and by whose meanes? +Marie by God himself, at what time? Forsooth not only +among the Iewes, but also among the Christians. Men +forsake father and mother, and takes themselues wholy to +their wiues. The sonne being past twentie yeeres, is free and +at libertie. Yea, the sonne being abdicated be commeth no +sonne. But it is death onely that parteth maried folke, if yet +death doth parte them. Nowe, if the other Sacraments +(whereunto the Church of Christ chiefly leaneth) be reuerently +vsed, who doeth not see, that this Sacrament, should +haue the most reuerence of all, the which was instituted of +God, and that first and before all other. As for the other, +they were instituted vpon earth, this was ordeined in Paradise: +the other were giuen for a remedie, this was appointed for +the felowship of felicitie: the other were applied to mans +nature, after the fal this only was giuen, when man was in + + +42 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +most perfite state. If we coumpt those Lawes good, that +mortall men haue enacted, shall not the lawe of Matrimonie +bee most holy, which wee haue receiued of him, by whom we +haue receiued life, the which Lawe was then together enacted, +when man was first created? And lastly, to strengthen this +Lawe, with an example and deede doen, Christ being a yong +man (as the storie reporteth) was called to Mariage, and came +Mariage beautified +by a miracle. +thether willingly with his mother, and not only was he there +present, but also he did honest the feast with a wonderfull +maruaile, beginning first in none other place, to worke his +wonders and to doe his miracles. Why then I praie you (will +one saie) how happeneth it, that Christ forbare Mariage? As +though good sir, there are not many things in Christ, at the +which we ought rather to maruaile, then seeke to follow. +He was borne, and had no father, he came into this world, +without his mothers painfull trauaile, he came out of the +graue when it was closed vp, what is not in him aboue +nature? Let these things be proper vnto him. Let vs that +liue within the bounds of nature, reuerence those things that +are aboue nature, and followe such things as are within our +reache, such as wee are able to compasse. But yet (you say) +hee would bee borne of a virgin: of a virgin (I graunt) but +yet of a maried virgin. A virgin being a mother did moste +become God, and being maried, she shewed what was best for +vs to do. Virginitie did become her, who being vndefiled +brought him forth by heauenly inspiration, that was vndefiled. +And yet Ioseph being her housbande, doeth commend vnto +vs the lawe of chast Wedlock. Yea, how could he better set +out the societie in Wedlocke, than that willing to declare the +secrete societie of his Diuine nature, with the bodie and soule +of man which is wonderfull, euen to the heauenly Angels, +and to shewe his vnspeakable and euer abiding loue toward +his church: He doth call himself the Bridegrome, and her the +bride. Greate is the Sacrament of Matrimonie (saieth Paule) +betwixt Christ and his Church. If there had been vnder +heauen, any holier yoke, if there had bene any more religious +Mariage +honourable. +couenaunt, then is Matrimonie, without doubt the example +thereof had bene vsed. But what like thing to you reade in +all scripture of the single life? The Apostle S. Paule in the +thirteene Chapter of his Epistle to the Hebrues, calleth + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +43 + +Matrimonie honorable among all men, and the bed vndefiled, +& yet the single life is not so much as once named in the +same place. Nay, they are not borne withall that liue single, +except they make some recompence, with doing some great +thing. For els, if a man following the law of Nature, doe +labour to get children, he is euer to be preferred before him, +that liueth still vnmaried, for none other end, but because +he would bee out of trouble, and liue more free. We doe +reade, that such as are in very deede chast of their body, and +liue a virgines life, haue bene praised: but the single life was +neuer praised of it selfe. Now, againe the law of Moses, +accursed the barrennesse of maried folk: and we doe reade +that some were excommunicated, for the same purpose, and +banished from the Altar. And wherfore I praie you? Marie + +Deut. vi. +sir, because that they like vnprofitable persons, and liuing +onely to themselues, did not encrease the worlde with any +issue. In Deuteronomi, it was the cheefest token of Gods +blessinges vnto the Israelites, that none should be barren +among them, neither man, nor yet woman. And Lia is +Lia. +thought to be out of Gods fauour because she could not bring +forth children. Yea, and the Psalme of Dauid. 128. it is +coumpted on of the cheefest partes of blisse, to be a fruitfull +woman. Thy wife (saieth the Psalme) shalbe plentifull like +a Vine. And thy children like the branches of Oliues, round +about thy table. Then if the law doe condemne, and vtterly +disalowe barren Matrimonie, it hath alwaies muche more +condemned the single life of Batchlars. If the fault of nature +Hebrues law for +maried folke. +hath not escaped blame, the will of man can neuer want +rebuke. If they are accursed that would haue children, and +can get none, what deserue thei which neuer trauaile to escape +barrennes? The Hebrues had such a reuerence to maried +folke, that he which had maried a wife, the same yeere should +not be forced to goe on warfare. A Citie is like to fal to +ruine, except there be watchmen to defend it with armor. +But assured destruction must here nedes folow, except men +through the benefite of mariage supplie issue, the which +through mortalitie, doe from time to time decaie.

+ +

Plutarchus in the +life of Cato. + Ouer and besides this, the Romaines did laie a penaltie +vpon their backe, that liued a single life, yea, they would not +suffer them to beare any office in the Commonweale. But + + +44 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +they that had encreased the world with issue, had a rewarde +by common assent, as men that did deserue well of their +countrey. The olde foren lawes did appoint penalties for +such as liued single, the which although, they were qualified +by Constancius the Emperour, in the fauour of Christes +Religion: yet these lawes doe declare, how little it is for the +common weales aduauncement, that either a Citie should be +lesned for loue of sole life, or els that the Countrey should be +Augustus Cæsar. +filled full of Bastards. And besides this, the Emperour +Augustus, being a sore punisher of euill behauiour, examined +a soldiour because he did not marie his wife, according to +the lawes, the which soldiour had hardly escaped iudgement, +if he had not got three children by her. And in this point +doe the lawes of the Emperours, seeme fauourable to maried +Miscella. +folke, that they abrogate such vowes, as were proclaimed to +be kept, and brought in by Miscella, and would that after the +penaltie were remitted, such couenaunts being made against +all right and conscience, should also be taken of none effect, +and as voyde in the lawe. Ouer and besides this, Vlpianus +Vlpianus. +doth declare, that the matter of Dowries was euermore, and +in al places the chiefest aboue all other, the which should +neuer haue been so, except there came to the Common weale, +some especiall profite by Mariage. Mariage hath euer beene +reuerenced, but fruitfulnesse of body, hath been much more, +for so soone as one got the name of a father, there discended +not onely vnto him inheritaunce of land, but all bequestes, and +Iuuenall. +goods of such his freendes, as dyed intestate. The which +thing appeareth plainly, by the Satyre Poet. +

+ +Through me thou art made, an heire to haue lande, +Thou hast all bequestes one with an other: +All goodes and cattell are come to thy hande, +Yea goodes intestate, thou shalt haue sure. + + +

Now he that hath three children, was more fauoured, for +he was exempted from all outwarde ambassages. Againe, hee +that had fiue children, was discharged & free from all +personall office, as to haue the gouernaunce, or patronage of +young Gentlemen, the which in those daies was a greate +charge, and full of paines, without any profite at al. +He that had thirtene children, was free by the Emperour +Iulianus lawe, not onely from being a man of armes, or + + + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +45 + +a Captaine ouer horsemen: but also from all other offices in +the common weale. And the wise founders of al lawes, +giue good reason why such fauour was shewed to maried folke. +For what is more blesseful then to liue euer? Now, where as +nature hath denied this, Matrimonie doeth giue it by +a certaine sleight, so much as may be. Who doth not desire +to bee bruted, and liue through fame among men hereafter? +Now, there is no building of Pillers, no erecting of Arches, +no blasing of Armes, that doth more set forth a mans name, +then doth the encrease of children. Albinus obteined his +purpose of the Emperour Adrian, for none other desert of his, +but that he had begot an house full of children. And +therefore the Emperour (to the hinderance of his treasure) +suffered the children to enter wholy vpon their fathers +Licurgus law against +vnmaried folke. +possession, for asmuch as he knewe well, that his Realme was +more strengthened with encrease of children, then with store +of money. Againe, all other Lawes are neither agreeing for +all Countries, not yet vsed at all time. Licurgus made a lawe, +yt they which maried not, should be kept in Sommer from the +sight of stage Plaies, and other wonderfull shewes, and in +Winter, they should go naked about the Market place, and +accursing themselues, they should confesse openly that they + + +Punishments appointed +for breaking of Wedlock. +The Grecians reuengement +for aduoutry. +had iustly deserued such punishment, because they did not +liue according to the Lawes. And without any more adoe, +will yee knowe how much our olde auncesters heretofore +esteemed Matrimonie? Weigh well, and consider the punishment +for breaking of wedlock. The Greekes heretofore +thought it meete, to punish the breach of Matrimonie with +battaile, that continued ten yeres. Yea, moreouer not onely +by the Romaine Lawe, but also by the Hebrues and straungers, +aduouterers persons were punished with death. If a theefe +paied fower times the value of that which he tooke awaie, he +was deliuered: but an aduouterers offence, was punished with +The Hebrues stoned + aduouterers. +ye sword. Among the Hebrues, the people stoned the +aduouterers to death with their owne handes, because they +had broken that, without which the worlde could not continue. +And yet they thought not this sore Law sufficient enough, +but graunted further to run him through without Lawe, that +was taken in aduoutrie, as who should say, they graunted that +to the greefe of maried folke, the which they would hardly + +Lawfull for the +maried man among the +Hebrues, to kill +the aduouterer. + + +46 +The arte of Rhetorique. +graunt to him, that stood in his owne defence for saufegard +of his life, as though he offended more hainously that tooke +a mans wife, then hee did that tooke away a mans life. +Assuredly Wedlocke must needes seeme to be a most holy +thing, considering, that being once broken, it must needes +bee purged with mans bloud, the reuenger whereof, is not +forced to abide, either Lawe or Iudge, the which libertie is +not graunted any, to vse vpon hym that hath killed, either +his father or his mother. But what doe wee with these +Lawes written? This is the law of nature, not written in the +Tables of Brasse, but firmely printed in our mindes, the which +Lawe, whosoeuer doth not obeye, he is not worthie to be +called a man, much lesse shall he be compted a Citezen. For, + Matrimonie +naturall. +if to liue well (as the Stoikes wittely doe dispute) is to followe +the course of nature, what thing is so agreeing with nature, +as Matrimonie? For there is nothing so naturall, not onely +vnto mankind, but also vnto all other liuing creatures, as it +is for euery one of them, to keepe their owne kind from +decaie, and through increase of issue, to make their whole +kinde immortall. The which thing (all men knowe) can +neuer be doen without Wedlocke, and carnall copulation. +It were a foule thing that brute beastes should obey the Lawe +of nature, and men like Giauntes should fight against Nature. +Whose worke, if we would narrowly looke vpon, we shall +perceiue that in al things here vpon earth, she would there +should be a certaine spice of Mariage.

+ +

I will not speake now of Trees, wherein (as Plinie most +certainly writeth) there is found Mariage, with some manifest +difference of both kindes, that except the houseband Tree, +Mariage among +trees. +doe leane with his boughes, euen as though he should desire +copulation vpon the women Trees, growing round about him: +They would els altogether waxe barraine. The same Plinie +also doeth reporte, that certaine Authours doe thinke there +is both Male, and Female, in all things that the earth yeeldeth.

+ +

Mariage among +precious stones. +I will not speake of precious Stones, wherein the same +Authour affirmeth, and yet not he onely neither, that there +is bothe Male, and Female among them. And I pray you, +hath not GOD so knitte all things together with certaine +linkes, that one euer seemeth to haue neede of an other? + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +47 + +What say you of the Skie or Firmament, that is euer stirring +Mariage betwene the + firmament and +the earth. +with continuall moouing? Doth it not plaie the part of +a houseband, while it puffeth vp the earth, the mother of all +things, and maketh it fruitfull, with casting seede (as a man +would say) vpon it. But I thinke it ouer tedious, to runne +ouer all things. And to what end are these things spoken? +Mary sir, because we might vnderstande, that through Mariage, +all things are and doe still continue, and with out the same, +all things doe decay and come to naught. The olde auncient +The fable of Giauntes +that fought against +Nature. +and most wise Poets doe feigne (who had euer a desire vnder +the colour of fables, to set forth precepts of Philosophie) that +the Giauntes, which had Snakes feete, and were borne of the +earth, builded great hilles that mounted vp to heauen, +minding thereby to bee at vtter defiance with God, and all +his Angels. And what meaneth this fable? Marie, it sheweth +vnto vs, that certaine fierce and sauage men, such as were +vnknowne, could not abide wedlock for any worlds good, and +therefore they were striken doune hedlong with lidghtning, +that is to say: they were vtterly destroyed, when they sought +to eschue that, whereby the weale and saufegard of all mankind, +onely doth consist.

+ +

Orpheus. +Now againe, the same Poets doe declare that Orpheus the +Musition and Minstrell, did stirre and make soft with his +pleasaunt melodie, the most harde Rockes and stones. And +what is their meaning herein? Assuredly nothing els, but that +a wise and well spoken man, did call backe harde harted men, +such as liued abrode like beastes from open whoredom, & +brought them to liue after the most holy lawes of Matrimonie. +Thus we see plainly, that such a one as hath no mind of +mariage, seemeth to be no man but rather a stone, an enemie +to nature, a rebell to God himselfe, seeking through his owne +folly, his last ende and destruction.

+ +

The most wicked can +not chose but allow +mariage. +Well, let vs goe on still (seeing we are fallen into fables, +that are not fables altogether) when the same Orpheus, in +the middes of Hell, forced Pluto himselfe and all the Deuils +there, to graunt him leaue, to cary away his wife Euridice +what other thing doe we thinke, that the Poets meant, but +onely to set forth vnto vs, the loue in wedlocke, the which +euen among the Deuilles, was coumpted good and godly.

+ +

And this also makes well for the purpose, that in olde tyme + + +48 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +they made Iupiter Gamelius, the God of Marriage, and Iuno +Lucina, Lady Midwife, to helpe such women as laboured in +childbed, being fondly deceiued, and supersticiously erring in +naming of the Gods: and yet not missing the trueth, in declaring +that Matrimony is an holy thing, and meete for the worthinesse +therof, that the Gods in heauen should haue care ouer +it. Among diuers Countries and diuers men, there haue +beene diuers lawes and Customes vsed. Yet was there neuer +any Countrey so sauage, none so farre from al humanitie, +where the name of Wedlocke was not coumpted holie, and +All Nations euer +estemed Mariage. +had in great reuerence. This the Thracian, this the Sarmate, +this the Indian, this the Grecian, this the Latine, yea, this the +Britaine that dwelleth in the furthest part of all the world, or if +there be any that dwell beyond them? Marie, because that thing +must needes be common to all, which the common mother vnto +all, hath graffed in vs all, and hath so throughly graffed the +same in vs, that not only Stockdoues and Pigions, but also +the most wilde beasts, haue a Naturall feeling of this thing. +For the Lions are gentle against the Lionesse. The Tygers +fight for safegarde of their young whelpes. The Asse runnes +through the hot fire (which is made to keepe her away) for +safegarde of her issue. And this they call the lawe of Nature, +the which as it is of most strength & force, so it spreadeth +abroad most largely. Therefore, as he is coumpted no good +Gardener, that being content with thinges present, doth +diligently proyne his olde Trees, and hath no regarde either +to ympe or graffe yong Settes: because the selfe same Orchard +(though it bee neuer so well trimmed) must needes decay in +time, & all the Trees dye within fewe yeares: so he is not +to be coumpted halfe a diligent Citizein, that beeing content +with the present multitude, hath no regarde to encrease the +number. Therefore, there is no one man, that euer hath +been coumpted a worthie Citezein, who hath not laboured to +get children, and sought to bring them vp in godlinesse.

+ +The Hebrues and Persians +had a number of wiues. +Abraham. +

Among the Hebrues and the Persians, he was most commended +that had most wiues, as though the Countrey were +most beholding to him, that encrease the same with the +greatest number of children. Doe you seeke to be coumpted +more holy then Abraham himselfe? Well, he should neuer +haue beene coumpted the Father of many Nations, and that + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +49 + +through Gods furtheraunce, if he had forborne the companie +of his wife. Do you looke to be reckened more deuout +then Iacob. He doubted nothing to raunsome Rachell from +Iacob. +Salomon. +Socrates. +her great bondage. Will you bee taken for wiser then +Salomon? And yet I pray you, what a number of wiues kept +he in one house? Will you bee coumpted more chast then +Socrates, who is reported to beare at home with Zantippe, that +very shrowe, and yet not so much therefore (as he is wont to +iest, according to his olde maner) because he might learne +pacience at home, but also because he might not seeme to +come behinde with his duetie, in doing the will of Nature. +For he being a man, such a one (as Appollo iudged him by his +Oracle to bee wise) did well perceiue that he was got for this +cause, borne for this cause, and therefore bounde to yeeld so +much vnto Nature. For, if the olde auncient Philosophers +have said well, if our Diuines haue proued the thing not +without reason, if it be vsed euery where, for a common +Prouerbe, and almost in euery mans mouth, that neither +GOD, nor yet Nature, did euer make any thing in vaine. +Why did he giue vs such members, how happeneth wee haue +such lust, and such power to get issue, if the single life and +none other, bee altogether praise worthie? If one should +bestowe vpon you a very good thing: as a Bowe, a Coate, or +a Sworde, all men would thinke you were not worthie to +haue the thing, if either you could not, or you would not +vse it and occupie it. And whereas all other thinges, are +ordeined vpon such great considerations, it is not like that +Nature slipt, or forgat her selfe when she made this one thing. +And now here will some say, that this foule and filthie desire +and stirring vnto lust, came neuer in by Nature, but through +sinne: for whose wordes I passe not a strawe, seeing their +sayinges are as false as God is true. For I pray you was not +Matrimonie instituted (whose woorke cannot bee done without +these members) before there was no sinne. And againe, +whence haue all other Beastes their prouocations? Of Nature, +or of sinne? A man would thinke they had them of Nature. +But shall I tell you at a worde, wee make that filthie by our +owne immagination, which of the owne Nature is good and +godlie. Or els if wee will examine matter (not according to +the opinion of men, but waigh them as they are of their owne + + +50 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +Nature) how chaunceth it, that we thinke it lesse filthie to +eate, to chewe, to disgest, to emptie the bodie, and to sleepe, +then it is to vse carnall Copulation, such as is lawfull and +permitted. Now sir (you may say) wee must followe vertue, +rather then Nature. A gentle dish. As though any thing +can bee called vertue, that is contrary vnto Nature. Assuredly +there is nothing that can bee perfectly gotte, either through +labour, or through learning, if man grounde not his doinges +altogether vpon Nature.

+ +

But you will liue an Apostles life, such as some of them did +that liued single: and exhorted other to the same kinde of life. +Tush, let them followe the Apostles that are Apostles in +deede, whose office seeing it is both to teach, and bring vp +the people in Gods doctrine: they are not able to discharge +their dueties, both to their flocke, and to their wife and +familie: although it is well knowne, that some of the Apostles +had wiues. But be it that Bishoppes liue single, or graunt we +them to haue no wiues. What, doe ye followe the profession +of the Apostles, beeing one that is farthest in life from their +vocation: being both a Temporal man, and one that liueth +of your owne. They had this Pardon graunted them to be +cleane voyd from Mariage, to the end they might bee at +leasure, to get vnto Christ a more plentifull number of his +children. Let this be the order of Priestes and Monkes, who +belike haue entred into Religion and rule of the Essens (such +as among the Iewes lothed Mariage) but your calling is +an other way. Nay, but (you will say) Christ himself hath +coumpted them blessed, which haue gelded themselues for the +kingdome of God. Sir, I am content to admit the aucthoritie, +but thus I expound the meaning. First, I thinke that +this doctrine of Christ, did chiefly belong vnto that time, +when it behoued them chiefly to be voyde of all cares and +businesse of this world. They were faine to trauaile into all +places, for the persecutors were euer readie to lay hands on +them. But now the world is so, that a man can find in no +place, the vprightnesse of behauiour lesse strained, then among +married folke.

+ +

Let the swarmes of Monkes and Nunnes, set forth their +order neuer so much, let them boast and bragge their bellies +full, of their Ceremonies and Church seruice, wherein they + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +51 + +chiefly passe all other: yet is Wedlocke (beeing well and +truely kept) a most holy kinde of life. Againe, would to +God they were gelded in very deede, whatsoeuer they bee +that colour their naughtie liuing, with such a ioylie name of +gelding, liuing in much more filthie lust, vnder the cloake and +pretence of Chastitie. Neither can I reporte for very shame, +into how filthie offences they doe often fall, that will not vse that +remeadie, which Nature hath graunted vnto man. And last +of all, where doe you reade, that euer Christ commaunded any +man to liue single, and yet he doth openly forbid diuorcement.

+ +

Then he doth not worst of all (in my iudgement) for the +Common weale of mankinde, that graunted libertie vnto +Priestes: yea, and Monkes also (if neede bee) to marrie, and to +take them to their wiues, namely, seing there is such an +Priestes mariage. +vnreasonable number euery where, among whom I pray you, +how many bee there that liue chast. How much better were +it, to turne their Concubines into wiues, that whereas they +haue them now to their great shame, with an vnquiet +conscience, they might haue the other openly with good +reporte, and get children, and also bring them vp godlie, of +whom they themselues, not onely might not be ashamed, but +also might be compted honest men for them. And I thinke +the Bishops officers would haue procured this matter long +agoe, if they had not found great gaines by Priestes Lemmans, +then they were like to haue by Priestes wiues.

+ +

Virginitie. +But virginitie forsooth is an heauenly thing, it is an Angels +life. I answere: Wedlocke is a manly thing, such as is meete +for man. And I talke now as man vnto man. I graunt +you, that virginitie is a thing praise worthie, but so farre I am +content to speake in praise of it, if it bee not so praised, +as though the iust should altogether followe it. For if men +commonly should begin to like it, what thing could be +inuented more perilous to a common weale then virginitie? +Now, bee it that other deserue great praise for their maidenhead, +you notwithstanding cannot want great rebuke, seeing +it lieth in your handes to keepe that house from decay, +wherof your lineally descended, and to continue still the name +of your auncesters, who deserue most worthely to bee knowne +for euer. And last of all, he deserueth as much praise as they +which keepe their maidenhood: that keepes himselfe true to + + +52 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +his wife, & marieth rather for encrease of children, then to +satisfie his lust. For if a brother be commaunded to stirre vp +seede to his brother that dieth without issue, will you suffer ye +hope of al your stocke to decay: namely, seeing there is none +other of your name and stocke but your self alone, to continue +the posteritie. I know well enough, that the auncient Fathers +haue set foorth in great volumes the praise of virginitie, +Hieromes praise +vpon Virginitie. +among whom Hierome doth so take on, and praiseth it so much +aboue the Starres, that he fell in maner to depraue Matrimonie, +and therefore was required of godlie Bishops, to call +backe his words that he had spoken. But let vs beare with +such heate for that time sake, I would wish now, that they +which exhort young folke euery where, and without respect +(such as yet knowe not themselues) to liue a single life, and to +professe virginitie: that they would bestowe the same labor +in setting forth the discription of chast and pure wedlocke. +And yet those bodies that are in such great loue with +virginitie, are well contented that men should fight against +the Turkes, which in number are infinitely greater then we +are. And now if these men thinke right in this behalfe, it +must needes be thought right, good, and godly, to labour +earnestly for children getting, and to substitute youth from +time to time for the maintenance of warre. Except peraduenture +they thinke that Gunnes, Billes, Pikes, and Nauies +should be prouided for battaill, and that men stand in no +steede at all with them. They also allowe it wel, that we +should kill miscreant and Heathen Parents, that the rather +their children not knowing of it, might bee Baptized and +made Christians. Now if this bee right and lawfull, how +much more gentlenesse were it to haue children baptized, +being born in lawfull mariage. There is no Nation so +sauage, nor yet so hard harted within the whole worlde, but +the same abhorreth murdering of Inphants, and new borne +babes. Kings also and head rulers, doe likewise punish most +streightly, all such as seeke meanes to be deliuered before +their time, or vse Phisicke to waxe barraine, and neuer to +beare Children. What is the reason? Marie they coumpt it +small difference betwixt him that killeth the childe, so sone +as it beginneth to quicken: & the other that seeketh all meanes +possible, neuer to haue any childe at all. The self same thing + + + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +53 + +that either withereth and drieth awaie in the bodie, or els +putrifieth within thee, and so hurteth greatly thy health, yea, +that selfe same which falleth from thee in thy sleepe, would +haue beene a man, if thou thy selfe haddest beene a man. The +Hebrewes abhorre that man, and wish him Gods cursse, that +Hebrewes. +(being commaunded to marrie with the wife of his dead brother) +did cast his seede vpon the grounde, least any issue should be +had, and he was euer thought vnworthie to liue here vpon +earth, that would not suffer that childe to liue, which was +quicke in the mothers wombe. But I praie you, how little +doe they swarue from this offence, which binde them selues to +liue barraine all the daies of their life? Doe they not seeme to +kill as many men as were like to haue beene borne, if they +had bestowed their endeuours to haue got children? Now I +pray you, if a man had lande that were very fat and fertile, +and suffered the same for lacke of mannering, for euer to +waxe barraine, should he not, or were he not worthie to be +punished by the Lawes, considering it is for the common +weales behoue, that euery man should well and truely husband +his own. If that man be punished, who little heedeth the +maintenaunce of his Tillage, the which although it bee neuer +so well mannered, yet it yeeldeth nothing els but Wheate, +Barley, Beanes, and Peason: what punishment is he worthie +to suffer, that refuseth to Plowe that land which being Tilled, +yeeldeth children. And for plowing lande it is nothing els, but +painfull toyling from time to time: but in getting children +there is a pleasure, which being ordeined as a readie rewarde +for paines taking, asketh a short trauaile for all the Tillage. +Therfore if the working of Nature, if honestie, if vertue, if +inward zeale, if godlinesse, if duetie maie moue you, why can you +not abide that which God hath ordeined, Nature hath established, +reason doth counsaile, Gods worde and mans worde doe commende, +all Lawes doe commende, the consent of all Nations +doth allowe, whereunto also the example of all good men doth +exhort you. That if euery honest man should desire many thinges +that are most painfull for none other cause, but only for that +they are honest, no doubt but Matrimony ought aboue all +other, most of all to be desired, as the which wee may doubt, +whether it haue more honestie in it, or bring more delight +and pleasure with it. For what can be more pleasant then to + + +54 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +liue with her, with whom not onely you shall be ioyned in +fellowship of faithfulnesse, and most heartie good will, but +also you shall be coupled together most assuredly, with the +company of both your bodies: If we count that great pleasure, +which we receiue of the good will of our friends and acquaintance, +how pleasant a thing is it aboue all other to haue one, +with whom you may breake the bottome of your heart, with +whom you may talke as freely as with your self, into whose +trust you may safely commit your self, such a one as thinketh +all your goodes to bee her charge. Now what an heauenly +blisse (trowe you) is the companie of man and wife together, +seeing that in all the world there can nothing bee found, +either of greater weight & worthines, or els of more strength +and assurance. For with friends we ioyne onely with them +in good wil, and faithfulnesse of mind, but with a wife we are +matched together, both in heart and mind, in body and soule, +sealed together with the bond & league of an holy sacrament, +and parting all the goods we haue indifferently betwixt vs. +Againe, when other are matched together in friendship, doe +we not see what dissembling they vse, what falshod they +practise, & what deceiptful parts they play? Yea, euen those +whom we thinke to be most assured friends: as Swalowes flie +away when Sommer is past, so they hide their heads when +fortune gins to faile. And oft times when wee get a new +frend, we straight forsake our old. We heare tel of very few +that haue continued friends euen till their last end: whereas +the faithfulnes of a wife is not stained with deceipt, nor +dusked with any dissembling, nor yet parted with any charge +of the world, but disseuered at last by death only, no not by +death neither. She forsakes and sets light by father & mother, +sister & brother for your sake, and for your loue only. She +only passeth vpon you, yea, she desires to dye with you. Haue you +any worldly substaunce? You haue one that wil maintaine it, +you haue one wil encrease it. Haue you none? You haue +a wife that will get it. If you liue in prosperitie, your ioye is +doubled: if the world goe not with you, you haue a wife to +put you in good comfort, to be at your commaundement, and +readie to serue your desire, and to wish that such euill as hath +happened vnto you, might chaunce vnto her selfe. And doe + + + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +55 + +you thinke that any pleasure in all the world is to bee +compared, with such a goodly fellowshippe and familier liuing +together? If you keepe home, your wife is at hand to keepe +your companie, the rather that you might feele no wearines +of liuing al alone: if you ride forth, you haue a wife to bid +you farewell with a kisse, longing much for you beeing from +home, and glad to bid you welcome home at your next +returne. A sweete mate in your youth, thankfull comfort in +your age. Euery societie or companying together is delightfull, +& wished for by Nature of al men, for asmuch as Nature +hath ordeined vs to be sociable, friendly, & louing together. +Now how can this fellowship of man and wife be otherwise +then most pleasaunt, where all things are common together +betwixt them both. Now I thinke he is most worthie to bee +despised aboue all other, that is borne as a man would say for +himself, that liueth to himself, that seeketh for himself, that +spareth for himself, maketh cost onely vpon himselfe, that +loueth no man, and no man loueth him. Would not a man +thinke that such a monster, were meete to be cast out of all +mens companie (with Tymon that careth for no man) into the +Tymon a deadly +hater of all +companie. +middest of the Sea. Neither doe I here vtter vnto you these +pleasures of the body, the which whereas Nature hath made +to bee most pleasant vnto man, yet these great witted men +rather hide them and dissemble them (I cannot tell how) then +vtterly contemne them. And yet what is he that is so sower +of witte, and so drouping of braine (I will not say) blockheaded, +or insensate, that is not mooued with such pleasure: +namely, if hee may haue his desire without offence: either of +God or man, and without hinderance of his estimation. +Truly I would take such a one not to be a man, but rather +bee a stone. Although this pleasure of the body, is the least +part of all those good things that are in wedlocke. But be it +that you passe not vpon this pleasure, and thinke it vnworthie +for man to vse it, although in deede wee deserue not the name +of man without it, but coumpt it among the least and +vttermost profites that Wedlocke hath. Now I pray you, +what can bee more hartely desired then chast loue, what can +bee more holie, what can bee more honest? And among all +these pleasures, you get vnto you a ioyly sort of kinsfolk, in +whom you may take much delite. You haue other parents, + + +56 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +other bretherne, sisterne, and nephewes. Nature in deed can +giue you but one father, and one mother: by Mariage you +get vnto you an other father, and an other mother, who +cannot chuse but loue you with all their hearts, as the which +haue put into your handes, their owne flesh and blood. Now +againe, what a ioye shall this be vnto you, when your most +faire wife shall make you a Father, in bringing forth a faire +Childe vnto you, where you shall haue a pretie little boye, +running vp and downe your house, such a one as shall expresse +your looke, and your wiues looke, such a one as shall call you +dad with his sweete lipsing wordes. Now last of all, when +you are thus lincked in Loue, the same shall bee so fastned +and bounde together, as though it were with an Adamant +stone, that Death it selfe can neuer bee able to vndoe it. +Thrise happie are they (quoth Horace) yea, more then thrise +happie are they, whom these sure bands doe holde: neither +though they are by euill reporters full oft set asunder, shall +Loue bee vnlosed betwixt them two, till Death them both +depart. You haue them that shall comfort you in your latter +daies, that shall close vp your eyes when God shall call you, +that shall burie you, and fulfill all thinges belonging to your +Funerall, by whom you shall seeme to bee newe borne. For +so long as they shall liue, you will neuer bee thought dead +your selfe. The goodes and lands that you haue got, goe not +to other heires then to your owne. So that vnto such as +haue fulfilled all thinges, that belong vnto mans life, Death it +selfe cannot seeme better. Old age commeth vpon vs al, will +we, or nill we, and this way Nature prouided for vs, that we +should waxe yong again in our children & nephewes. For +what man can be greeued that he is old, when he seeth his +owne countenance, which he had being a childe, to appeare +liuely in his sonne? Death is ordained for all mankind, & yet +by this meanes only, Nature by her prouidence, mindeth vnto +vs a certain immortalitie, while she encreaseth one thing +vpon an other, euen as a yong graffe buddeth out, when the +old Tree is cut doune. Neither can he seeme to dye, that +when God calleth him, leaueth a yong childe behind him. +But I know well enough, what you say to your self al this +while of my long talke. Mariage is an happie thing, if all +thinges hap well, what if one haue a curst wife? What if she + + + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +57 + +be light? What if his children bee vngracious? Thus I see you +remember all such men, as by Mariage haue beene vndone. +Well, goe to it, tell as many as you can, and spare not: you +shall finde all these were the faults of the persons, and not the +Euill wiues happen +to euil men only. +faultes of Marriage. For beleeue me, none haue euill wiues, +but such as are euill men. And as for you sir, you may chuse +a good wife if you list. But what if she bee crooked and +mard altogether, for lacke of good ordering. A good honest +wife, may be made an euill woman by a naughtie husband, and +an euill wife hath beene made a good woman, by an honest +man. Wee crye out of wiues vntruely, and accuse them +without cause. There is no man (if you will beleeue me) that +euer had an euill wife, but through his owne default. Now +againe, an honest Father, bringeth forth honest children, like +vnto himselfe. Although euen these children, howsoeuer +they are borne, commonly become such men, as their education +Ielousie vnknowne +to wisemen. +and bringing vp is. And as for Ielousie, you shall not +neede to feare that fault at all. For none bee troubled with +such a disease but those only that are foolish Louers. Chast, +godlie, and lawfull loue, neuer knewe what Ielousie ment. +What meane you to call to your minde, and remember such +sore Tragedies, and dolefull dealinges, as haue beene betwixt +man and wife. Such a woman beeing naught of her bodie, +hath caused her husband to lose his head: an other haue +poysoned her good man, the third with her churlish dealing +(which her husband could not beare) hath beene his vtter +Cornelia. +vndoing, and brought him to his ende. But I pray you sir, +why doe you not think vpon Cornelia, wife vnto Tiberius +Graccus? Why doe ye not minde that most worthie wife, or +that most vnworthie man Alcestes? Why remember ye not +Iulia Pompeies wife, or Porcia Brutus wife? And why not + +Alcestes' Wife. Iulia. +Porcia. Artemesia. +Hipsicratea. +Tertia Aemilia. +Turia. Lucretia. +Lentula. Arria. +Artemesia, a woman most worthie euer to bee remembred? +Why not Hipsicratea, wife vnto Mithridates King of Pontus? +Why doe you not call to remembraunce, the gentle nature of +Tertia Aemilia? Why doe ye not consider the faithfulnesse +of Turia? Why commeth not Lucretia and Lentula to your +rememberaunce? And why not Arria? Why not a thousand +other, whose chastitie of life, and faithfulnesse towardes their +husbands, could not bee chaunged, no not by death. A good +woman (you will say) is a rare bird, and hard to bee found in + + +58 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +all the world. Well then sir, imagine your selfe worthie to +haue a rare wife, such as fewe man haue. A good woman +(saith the wiseman) is a good portion. Be you bold to hope +for such a one, as is worthie your maners. The chiefest +point standeth in this, what maner of woman you chuse, +how you vse her, how you order your selfe towards her. +Prouer. x. +But libertie (you will say) is much more pleasaunt: for +whosoeuer is married, weareth fetters vpon his legges, or +rather carieth a clog, the which he can neuer shake of, till +Death part their yoke. To this I aunswer, I cannot see what +pleasure a man shall haue, to liue alone. For if libertie bee +delightfull, I would thinke you should get a mate vnto you, +with whom you should part stakes, and make her priuie of +all your ioyes. Neither can I see any thing more free, then +is the seruitude of these two, where the one is so much +beholding and bound to the other, that neither of them both +would be lose though they might. You are bound vnto him, +whom you receiue into your friendship: but in Marriage +neither partie findeth fault, that their libertie is taken away +from them. Yet once againe you are sore afraied, least when +your children are taken away by death, you fall to mourning +for want of issue. Well sir, if you feare lack of issue, you +must marie a wife for ye self same purpose, the which only +shalbe a meane, that you shal not want issue. But what doe +you search so diligently, nay so carefully, all the incommodities +of Matrimonie, as though single life had neuer any +incommoditie ioyned with it at all. As though there were +any kinde of life in al the world, that is not subiect to al +euils that may happen. He must needes goe out of this +world, that lookes to liue without feeling of any greefe. +And in comparison of that life, which the Saincts of God shall +haue in heauen, this life of man is to bee coumpted a death, +and not a life. But if you consider things within the +compasse of mankinde, there is nothing either more safe, +more quiet, more pleasaunt, more to be desired, or more +happie then is the married mans life. How many doe you +see, that hauing once felt the sweetnesse of Wedlocke, doth +not desire eftsones to enter into the same? My friend +Mauricius, whom you knowe to be a very wiseman, did not he +the next Moneth after his wife died (whom he loued dearely) + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +59 + +get him straight a newe wife? Not that he was impacient of +his lust, and could not forbeare any longer, but hee saied +plainly, it was no life for him to be without a wife, which +should bee with him as his yokefellowe, and companion in all +things. And is not this the fourth wife that our friend +Iouius hath maried? And yet he so loued the other when +they were on liue, that none was able to comfort him in his +heauinesse: And now he hastened so much (when one was +dead) to fill vp and supplie the voyde roume of his Chamber, +as though he had loued the other very little. But what doe +Necessitie enforceth +Mariage. +we talke so much of the honestie and pleasure herein, seeing +that not onely profite doth aduise vs, but also neede doth +earnestly force vs to seeke marriage. Let it bee forbidden +that man and woman shall not come together, and within +fewe yeares all mankinde must needes decay for euer. When +Xerxes King of the Persians, beheld from an high place that +Xerxes. +great Armie of his, such as almost was incredible: Some +saied he could not forbeare weeping, considering of so many +thousands, there was not one like to bee aliue within seuentie +yeares after. Now, why should not wee consider the same +of all mankinde, which he ment only of his armie. Take +away mariage, and how many shall remaine after a hundred +yeares, of so many Realmes, Countries, Kingdomes, Cities, +& all other assemblies that be of men throughout the whole +world? On now, praise we a Gods name, the single life aboue +the Rocke, the which is like for euer to vndoe all mankinde. +What Plague, what infection can either Heauen or Hell, +sende more harmefull vnto mankinde? What greater euil +is to be feared by any flood? What could bee looked for more +sorowfull, although the flame of Phaeton should set the world +on fire againe? And yet by such sore tempestes, many thinges +haue beene saued harmelesse, but by the single life of man, +there can be nothing left at al. We see what a sort of +diseases, what diuersitie of mishappes doe night and day lye +in wait, to lessen the small number of mankind. How +many doth the Plague destroye, how many doe the Seas +swallowe, how many doth Battaile snatch vp? For I will not +speake of the daylie dying that is in all places. Death +taketh her flight euery where rounde about, she runneth ouer +them, she catcheth them vp, she hasteneth as much as she + + +60 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +can possible to destroye all mankinde: and now doe we +so highly commend single life, and eschue Mariage? Except +happelie we like the profession of the Essens (of whom Iosephus +speaketh, that they will neither haue wife nor seruauntes) or +Essens hated +mariage. +Iosephus 18. +Cap. lib. 12. +the Dolopolitans, called otherwise the rascalles and slaues of +Cities, the which companie of them is alwaie encreased, +& continued by a sort of vagabond peasants that continue, +and bee from time to time still together. Doe wee looke +that some Iupiter should giue vs that same gift, the which he +is reported to haue giuen vnto Bees, that he should haue +issue without procreation, and gather with our mouthes out +of the flowers, the seede of our posteritie? Or els doe wee +desire, that like as the Poets feine Minerua, to be borne out +of Iupiters head: in like sort there should children leape out +of our heads? Or last of all doe wee looke, according as the +old Fables haue bene, that men should be borne out of the +earth, out of Rockes, out of stocks, stones, and old Trees. +Many things breed out of the earth, without mans labour at +all. Young shrubbes growe and shoute vp, vnder the shadowe +of their graunsire Trees. But Nature would haue man to +vse his owne waye of encreasing issue, that through labour +of both the Husbande and wife, mankinde might still bee +kept from destruction. But I promise you, if all men tooke +after you, and still forbeare to marie: I cannot see but that +these things which you wonder at, and esteeme so much, +could not haue beene at all. Doe you yet esteeme this single +life so greatly? Or doe wee praise so much virginitie aboue +all other? Why man, there will bee neither single men, nor +Virgines aliue, if men leaue to marrie, and minde not +procreation. Why doe you then preferre virginitie so much, +why set it you so hye, if it bee the vndoing of all the whole +world? It hath beene much commended, but it was for that +time, and in fewe. God would haue men to see, as though +it were a patterne, or rather a picture of the heauenly +habitation, where neither any man shall be married, nor yet +any shall giue theirs to Marriage. But when thinges bee +giuen for example a fewe may suffice, a number were to no +purpose. For euen as all groundes, though they be very +fruitfull, are not therefore turned into tillage for mans vse +and commoditie, but part lieth fallowe, and is neuer + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +61 + +mannered, part is kept & cherished to like the eye, and for +mans pleasure: And yet in all the plentie of thinges, where +so great store of Land is, Nature suffereth very little to waxe +barren: but now if none should be tilled, & Plowmen went +to play, who seeth not but that we should all starue, and bee +faine shortly to eate Acornes: euen so it is praise worthie, if +a fewe liue single, but if all should seeke to liue single, so +many as be in this world, it were too great an inconuenience. +Now againe, be it that other deserue worthy praise that +seeke to liue a virgins life, yet it must nedes be a great fault +in you. Other shalbe thought to seke a purenesse of life, +you shalbe coumpted a Parricide, or a murtherer of your +stocke, that whereas you may by honest Mariage, encrease +your posteritie: you suffer it to decay for euer through your +wilfull single life. A man may hauing an house full of +children, commend one to God to liue a virgin all his life. +The plowman offereth to God the tenthes of his owne, and +not his whole Crop altogether: but you sir, must remember +that there is none left aliue of all your stocke, but your self +alone. And now it mattereth nothing whether you kill, or +refuse to saue that creature, which you onely might saue and +that with ease. But you will followe the example of your +sister, and liue single as she doth. And yet me thinketh you +should chiefly, euen for this selfe same cause bee afraied to +liue single. For whereas there was hope of issue heretofore +in you both, now you see there is no hope left but in you +only. Bee it that your sister may bee borne withall, because +she is a woman, and because of her yeares: for she being but +a gerle, and ouercome with sorrowe for losse of her Mother, +tooke the wrong way, she cast her selfe doune headlong +& became a Nunne, at the earnest sute either of foolish +women, or els of doltish Monkes: but you beeing much +elder, must euermore remember that you are a man: She +would needes dye together with her auncesters, you must +labour that your auncesters shall not dye at all. Your Sister + +Daughters +of Loth. +would not doe her duetie, but shrinke away: thinke you now +with your self, that you haue two offices to discharge. The +daughters of Loth neuer stucke at the matter, to haue +adoe with their dronken Father, thinking it better with +wicked Whoredome and Incest, to prouide for their posteritie, + + +62 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +then to suffer their stocke to dye for euer. And will not you +with honest, godlie, and chast Marriage (which shall bee +without trouble, and turne to your great pleasure) haue +a regarde to your posteritie, most like els for euer to decay? +Therefore, let them on Gods name, followe the purpose of +chast Hippolitus, let them liue a single life that either can be +maried men, and yet can get no children, or els such whose +stocke may bee continued, by meanes of other their kinsfolke, +or at the least whose kindered is such, that it were better for +the Common weale they were all dead, then any of that +name should be a liue, or els such men as the euerliuing God +of his most especiall goodnesse hath chosen out of the whole +world, to execute some heauenly office, whereof there is a +marueilous small number. But where as you, according to + +The conclusion. + + +the report of a Phisitian, that neither is vnlearned, nor yet +is any lyar, are like to haue many children hereafter, seeing +also you are a man of great Lands and Reuenues by your +auncesters, the house where of you came being both right +honorable, and right auncient, so that you could not suffer +it to perish, without your great offence, & great harme to +the Common weale. Againe, seeing you are of lustie yeares, +and very comely for your personage, and may haue a Maide +to your wife, such a one as none of your Countrey hath +knowne any, to be more absolute for all thinges, comming of +as noble a house as any of them, a chast one, a sober one, +a godly one, an excellent faire one, hauing with her +a wonderfull dowrie: seeing also your friendes desire you, your +kinsfolke weepe to win you, your Cousins and Aliaunce are +earnest in hande with you, your Countrey calles and cries +vpon you: the ashes of your auncesters from their graues +make heartie sute vnto you, do you yet holde backe: doe you +still minde a single life? If a thing were asked you that were +not halfe honest, or the which you could not well compasse, +yet at the instaunce of your friends, or for the loue of your +kinsfolke, you would be ouercome, and yeeld to their requests: +then how much more reasonable were it, that the +weeping teares of our friends, the heartie good wil of your +Countrey, the deare loue of your elders might win that thing +at your hands, vnto the which both the law of God and man +doth exhort you. Nature pricketh you forwarde, reason + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +63 + +leadeth you, honestie allureth you, so many commodities cal +you, and last of al, necessitie it self doth constraine you. But +here an ende of all reasoning. For I trust you haue now, and +a good while agoe chaunged your mynd through mine aduise, +and take your self to better counsaile.

 + +Of Exhortation. +Exhorting. +

THe places of exhorting, and dehorting are the same +which wee vse in perswading, and disswading, sauing +that hee which vseth perswasion, seeketh by arguments to +compasse his deuise: he that labours to exhort, doth stirre +affection.

+ +

Erasmus sheweth these to bee most especiall places, that +doe pertaine vnto exhortations. + + +Praise or commendation. +Expectation of all men. +Hope of victorie. +Hope of renowne. +Feare of shame. +Greatnesse of reward. +Rehearsall of examples in all ages, and especially of things lately done. + +

+

Praysing a deede. +PRaysing is either of the man, or of some deede done. +Wee shall exhort men to doe the thing, if wee shewe them +that it is a worthie attempt, a godly enterprise, and such as +fewe men hetherto haue aduentured. In praising a man, wee +shall exhort him to goe forward, considering it agreeth with +Praysing a man, +the rather to +encourage him. +his wonted manhood, and that hetherto he hath not slacked +to hazard boldly vpon the best and worthiest deedes, requiring +him to make his ende aunswerable to his most worthie +beginninges, that he may ende with honor, which hath so +long continued in such renowme. For it were a foule shame +to lose honour through follie, which haue bene got through +vertue, and to appeare most slacke in keeping it, then he +seemed carefull at the first to attaine it.

+ +

Againe, whose name is renowmed, his doinges from time +to time, will be thought more wonderfull, and greater +promises will men make vnto themselues of such mens +aduentures, in any common affaires, then of others whose +vertues are not yet knowen. A notable Master of Fence, is +marueilous to behold, & men looke earnestly to see him do + + + + +64 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +some wonder: how much more will they looke, when they +heare tel, that a noble Captaine and an aduenturous prince, +shall take vpon him the defence and sauegard of his Countrey, +against the raging attemptes of his enemies? Therfore + Expectation of all +men. Hope of victorie. +a noble man cannot but goe forward with most earnest will, +seeing all men haue such hope in him, and coumpt him to be +their onely comfort, their fortresse and defence. And the +rather to encourage such right worthie, we may put them in +good hope to compasse their attempt, if we shewe them that +God is an assured guide vnto al those, that in an honest +quarell aduenture themselues, and shew their manly stomack. +Sathan himselfe the greatest aduersary that man hath, yeldeth +like a captiue when God doth take our part, much soner shal +al other be subiect vnto him, & crie Peccavi, for if God be +with him, what mattereth who be against him?

+ +

Fame foloweth worthie +factes. Shame foloweth + fearefulnesse, when +manhood is thought +needfull. +Now, when victorie is got, what honour doth ensue? Here +openeth a large field to speak of renoume, fame and endlesse +honour. In al ages the worthiest men, haue alwaies +aduentured their carcases, for the sauegard of their countrey, +thinking it better to die with honor, then to liue with shame. +Again, ye ruine of our realme should put vs to more shame, +then the losse of our bodies should turn vs to smart. For +our honestie being stained, ye paine is endles, but our bodies +being gored, either the wound may sone be healed, or els our +paine being sone ended, the glory endureth for euer.

+ +Heauen the reward of +hault Captaines. + + +

Lastly, he that helpeth the needie, defendeth his poore +neighbours, and in the fauour of his Countrey bestoweth his +life: will not God besides all these, place hym where he shall +liue for euer, especially, seeing he hath done all these enterprises +in faithe and for Christes sake?

+ +

Now in al ages, to recken such as haue been right +Soueraine and victorious, what name got the worthie Scipio, +that withstood the rage of Haniball? What brute hath Cæsar, +for his most worthie Conquestes? What triumph of glory +doth sound in al mens eares, vpon the onely naming of +mightie Alexander, and his father King Philip? And now to +come home, what head can expresse the renowmed Henrie the +fifth King of Englande of that name, after the Conquest? +What witte can set out the wonderfull wisedome of Henrie +the seuenth, and his great foresight to espie mischiefe like to + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +65 + +ensue, and his politique deuises to escape daungers, to subdue +Rebelles, and to maintaine peace?

 + +Of mouing pittie, and stirring men to shewe mercie. +

LIkewise, we may exhorte men to take pitie of the fatherlesse, +the widowe, & the oppressed innocent, if we set +before their eyes, the lamentable afflictions, the tyrannous +wrongs, and the miserable calamities, which these poore + +Mouing of pittie. +wretches doe sustaine. For if flesh and bloud moue vs to loue +our children, our wiues, and our kinsfolke: much more should +the spirite of God, and Christes goodnesse towardes man, stirre +vs to loue our neighbours most intierly. These exhortations +the preachers of God may most aptly vse, when they open his +Gospel to the people, & haue iust cause to speake of such +matters.

 + +Of Commending. +The maner of + commending. +

IN commending a man, wee vse this report of his wit, +honestie, faithfull seruice, painfull labour, and carefull +nature to doe his Maisters will, or any such like, as in the +Epistles of Tullie, there are examples infinite.

 + +Of Comforting. +

NOw after all these, the weake would be comforted, and +the sorowfull would be cherished, that their grief might +be asswaged, and the passions of man brought vnder the +obedience of reason. The vse hereof is great aswell in priuate +The maner of + comforting. +troubles, as in commen miseries. As in losse of goods, in +lacke of freendes, in sicknesse, in darth, and in death. In all +which losses, the wise vse so to comfort the weake, that they +giue them not iust cause euen at the first, to refuse all +comforte. And therefore, they vse two waies of cherishing +the troubled mindes. The one is, when we shewe that in + Comforting two +waies vsed. +some cases, and for some causes, either they should not +lament at all, or els be sorie very little: the other is when we +graunt that they haue iust cause to be sad, and therefore we +are sad also in their behalfe, and would remedie the mater if it +could be, and thus entering into felowship of sorowe, we +seeke by a little and litle to mitigate their greefe. For all +extreme heauinesse, and vehement sorowes can not abide +comfort, but rather seeke a mourner that would take parte +with them. Therefore, much warinesse ought to be vsed, + + +66 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +when we happen vpon such exceeding sorowfulnesse, least we +rather purchase hatred, then asswage griefe.

+ +

Those harmes should be moderatly borne, which must +needes happen to euery one, that haue chaunced to any one. +As Death, which spareth none, neither King nor Keisar, neither +poore nor riche. Therefore, to be impacient for the losse of +our frends, is to fall out with God, because he made vs men +and not Angels. But the Godly (I trust) will alwaies remit +the order of things, to the will of God, and force their +passions to obeie necessitie. When God lately visited this +Sweating disease. +Realme with the Sweating disease, and receiued the two +worthie Gentlemen, Henry Duke of Suffolk, and his brother +Lord Charles: I seeing my Ladies Grace, their mother, +taking their death most greeuously, could not otherwise for +the duetie which I then did, and euer shall owe vnto her, but +comfort her in that her heauinesse, the which vndoubtedly at +that tyme much weakened her bodie. And because it may +serue for an example of comfort, I haue bene bolde to set it +foorth, as it foloweth hereafter.

+ +An example of comfort. +

THough mine enterprise may bee thought foolish, and my +doinges very slender, in busying my braine to teache the +expert, to giue counsaile to other, when I lacke it my selfe, +and whereas more neede were for me to be taught of other, +to take vpon mee to teache my betters, yet duetie binding me +to doe my best, and among a number, though I can doe least, +yet good will setting me forth with the formost: I can not +chuse but write what I am able, and speake what I can +possible, for the better comforting of your Grace, in this your +great heauinesse, and sore visitation sent from GOD, as +a warning to vs all. The Phisition then deserueth most +thankes, when he practiseth his knowledge in time of +necessitie, and then trauaileth most painefully, when hee feeleth +his Pacient to bee in most daunger. The souldiour at that +time, and at no time so much, is thought most trustie when +hee sheweth at a neede his faithfull heart, and in time of +extreme daunger doth vse, & bestow his most earnest labour. +In the wealth of this worlde, what valiaunt man can want +assistence? What mightie Prince can misse any helpe to +compasse his desire? Who lacketh men, that lacketh no + + + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +67 + +money? But when God striketh the mightie with his strong +hande, and displaceth those that were highly placed: what +one man doeth once looke backe, for the better easement of +his deare brother, and Godly comforting his euen Christen, +in the chiefe of all his sorowe. All men commonly more +reioyce in the Sunne rising, then they doe in the Sunne +setting. The hope of lucre and expectation of priuate gaine, +maketh many one to beare out a countenaunce of fauour, +whose heart is inwardly fretted with dedly rancour. But +such frendes euen as prosperitie doeth get them, so aduersitie +doth trie them. God is the searcher of euery mans thought, +vnto whose iudgement, I deferre the assuraunce of my good +will.

+ +

And though I can doe little, and therefore deserue as little +thanke, as I loke for praise (which is none at all) yet will +I endeuour earnestly at all times, as well for mine owne +discharge, to declare my duetie, as at this present to say +somewhat, for the better easement of your Grace in this your + Passions work +diuersly. +heauines. The passions of the minde haue diuers effectes, +and therefore worke straungely, according to their properties. +For, like as ioye comforteth the heart, nourisheth bloud, and +quickeneth the whole bodie: So heauinesse and care hinder +digestion, ingender euill humours, waste the principall partes, +and with time consume the whole bodie. For the better +knowledge therof, & for a liuely sight of the same, we +neede not to seeke farre for any example, but euen to come +straight vnto your Grase, whose bodie as I vnderstand +credibly, and partly see my selfe, is sore appaired within +short time, your minde so troubled, and your hart so heauie, +that you hate in a maner all light, you like not the sight of +any thing, that might bee your comfort, but altogether +striken in a dumpe, you seeke to be solitarie, detesting all ioy, +and delyting in sorrowe, wish with harte (if it were Gods +will) to make your last ende. In which your heauinesse, as +I desire to be a comforter of your Grace, so I can not blame +your naturall sorowe, if that now after declaration of the +same, you would moderate all your griefe hereafter, and call +backe your pensiuenesse, to the prescript order of reason.

+ +

And first, for the better remedie of euery disease, and +troubled passions, it is best to knowe the principall cause and + + +68 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +chiefe occasion of the same. Your Grace had two sonnes, +how noble, howe wittie, how learned, and how Godly, many +thousands better knowe it, then any one is able well to tell +it. GOD at his pleasure hath taken them both to his mercie, +and placed them with him, which were surely ouer good to +tarie here with vs. They both died as your Grace knoweth +very yong, which by course of Nature and by mans estimation, +might haue liued much longer. They both were together in +one house, lodged in two seuerall Chambers, and almost at +one time both sickened, and both departed. They died both +Dukes, both well learned, both wise, and both right Godly. +They both gaue straunge tokens of death to come. The +Elder sitting at Supper and very merie, sayd sodainly to that +right honest Matrone, and Godly Gentlewoman, that most +faithfull and long assured seruaunt of yours, whose life God +graunt long to continue: O Lorde, where shall we suppe to +morowe at night, whereupon she being troubled, and yet +saying comfortably, I trust my Lorde, either here, or els +where at some of your freends houses: Nay (quoth he) we +shal neuer Suppe together againe in this worlde be you well +assured, and with that, seeing the Gentlewoman discomfited, +turned it vnto mirth, and passed the rest of his Supper with +much ioye, and the same night after twelue of the Clocke, +being the fowerteene of Iulie sickned, and so was taken the +next morning, about seauen of the clocke, to the mercie of +God, in the yere of our Lorde, a thousande fiue hundred fiftie +and one. When the eldest was gone, the younger would not +tarie, but tolde before (hauing no knowledge thereof by any +bodie liuing) of his brothers death, to the greate wondering +of all that were there, declaring what it was to lose so deare +a freend, but comforting himselfe in that passion, said: well, +my brother is gone, but it maketh no matter for I will goe +straight after him, and so did within the space of halfe an +hower, as your Grace can best tell which was there present. + +Nowe I renewe these wordes to your Graces knowledge, that +you might the more stedfastly consider their time, to be then +appointed of GOD, to forsake this euill worlde, and to liue +with Abraham, Isaac, and Iacob in the kingdome of Heauen. +But wherefore did GOD take two such awaie, and at that +time? Surely, to tell the principall cause, wee may by all + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +69 +The cause why God +taketh away the +most worthiest. +likenesse affirme, that they were taken away from vs for our +wretched sinnes, and most vile naughtinesse of life, that +thereby wee being warned, might be as ready for God, as +they now presently were, and amend our liues in time, whom +God will call, what time wee know not. Then as I can see, +we haue small cause to lament the lacke of them, which are in +such blessed state, but rather to amend our owne liuing, to +forthinke vs of our offences, and to wish of God to purge our +hearts from all filthines and vngodly dealing, that we may be +(as they now be) blessed with God for euer. Notwithstanding, +the workes of God are vnsearchable, without the compasse of +mans braine, precisely to comprehend the very cause, sauing +that this perswasion ought surely to bee grounded in vs, +euermore to thinke that God is offended with sinne, and that +hee punisheth offences, to the third and fowerth generation, +of all them that breake his commaundements, beeing iust in all +his workes, and doing all things for the best. And therefore, +when God plagueth in such sorte, I would wish that our faith +might alwaies be staied, vpon the admiration of Gods glorie +through out all his doings, in whom is none euill, neither yet +was there euer any guile found. And I doubt not, but your +Grace is thus affected, and vnfainedly confessing your owne +offences, taketh this scourge to come from God, as a iust +punishment of sinne for the amendement, not onely of your +owne selfe, but also for the amendement of al other in +generall. The lamentable voyce of the poore (which is the +mouth of God) throughout the whole realme declares full well, +the wickednesse of this life, and shewes plainly that this euill +is more generally felt, then any man is able by worde, or by +writing at full to set forth.

+ +

When God therefore, that is Lorde, not onely of the riche +but also of the poore, seeth his ground spoyled from the +wholsome profite of many, to the vaine pleasure of a fewe, +and the yearth made priuate, to suffice the lust of vnsaciable +couetousnesse, and that those which be his true members, can +not liue for the intollerable oppression, the sore enhaunsing, +and the most wicked grasing of those throughout the whole +Realme, which otherwise might well liue with the onely value +and somme of their landes, and yerely reuenues: he striketh +in his anger the innocentes and tender younglings to plague + + +70 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +vs with the lacke of them, whose innocencie, and Godlinesse +of life, might haue been a iust example for vs, to amende our +most euill doings. In which wonderfull worke of GOD, +when hee receiued these two most noble impes, and his +children elected to the euerlasting Kingdome, I can not but +magnifie his most glorious name, from time to time, that +hath so graciously preserued these two worthy Gentlemen, +from the daunger of further euill, and most vile wretchednesse +most like right shortly to ensue, except we all repent, and +forethinke vs of our former euill liuing. And yet I speake +not this as though I knewe any crime to bee more in you, +then in any other: But I tel it to the shame of al those +vniuersally within this Realme, that are giltie of such offences, +whose inward consciences condemne their owne doings, and +their open deedes beare witnesse against their euill nature. +For it is not one house that shall feele the fall of these two +Princes, neither hath God taken them for one priuate persons +offences: but for the wickednesse of the whole Realme, which +is like to feele the smarte, except God be mercifull vnto vs.

+ +

But now that they be gone, though the flesh be fraile, +weake, and tender, and must needes smart, being wounded or +cut: yet I doubt not but your grace, lacking two such +portions of your owne flesh, and hauing them (as a man +would say) cut away from your owne body, will suffer the +smart with a good stomacke, and remember that sorowe is but +an euill remedy to heale a sore. For if your hand were +Where necessitie +ruleth, sorowe is +needelesse. +detrenched, or your bodie maymed with some sodaine stroke, +what profite were it for you to weepe vpon your wound, and +when the harme is done, to lament stil the sore? Seing that +with weeping it will not be lesse, & may yet through weeping +ful sone be made more. For the sore is increased, when +sorowe is added, and the paine is made double, which before +was but single. A constaunt Christian should beare all +miserie, and with pacience abide the force of necessitie, +shewing with sufferaunce the strength of his faith, and +especially when the change is from euill to good, from woe to +weale, what folly is it to sorrowe that, for the which they +ioye that are departed? They haue taken now their rest, that +liued here in trauaile: They haue forsaken their bodies, +wherin they were bound to receiue the spirit, whereby they + + + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +71 + +are free. They haue chosen for sicknesse, health: for earth, +heauen: for life transitorie, life immortall: and for man, +God: then the which, what can they haue more? Or how is +it possible they can be better? Vndoubtedly if euer they were +happie, they are now most happie: if euer they were well, +they are now in best case, being deliuered from this present +euill worlde, and exempted from Sathan, to liue for euer with +Christe our Sauiour.

+ +

Then what meane wee, that not onely lament the want of +other, but also desire to tarie here our selues, hoping for +a short vaine, and therewith a painefull pleasure, and refusing +to enioye that continuall perfect, and heauenly enheritaunce, +the which so sone shall happen vnto us, as Nature dissolueth +this earthly body. Trueth it is, we are more fleshly then +spirituall, soner feeling the ache of our body, then the greefe +of our soule: more studious with care to be healthfull in +carkasse, then seeking with praier, to bee pure in spirite. +And therefore, if our freendes bee stained with sinne, we doe not +or we will not espie their sore, we coumpt them faultlesse, when +they are most wicked, neither seking the redresse of their euill +doing, nor yet once amending the faultes of our owne liuing.

+ +

But when our freend departeth this world, and then +forsaketh vs, when sinne forsaketh him: we begin to shewe +our fleshly natures, wee weepe and we waile, and with long +sorrowe without discretion, declare our want of Gods grace, +and all goodnesse. Whereas we see that as some be borne, +The folly of such +as sorrow the want +of their freendes. +some doe die also, men, women and children, and not one +hower certaine to vs of all our life, yet we neuer mourne, we +neuer weepe, neither marking the death of such as we knowe, +nor regarding the euill life of those whom we loue. But +when such depart as were either nighest of our kinred, or els +most our freendes, we then lament without all comfort, not +the sinnes of their soules, but the chaunge of their bodies, +leauing to doe that which we should, and doing that only +which we should not doe at all. Wherein not onely wee +declare much want of faith, but also wee shewe greate lacke of +witte. For as the other are gone before, either to heauen or +els to Hell: so shall our freends and kinsfolke folowe after. +We are all made of one mettall, and ordeined to dye so many +as liue. Therefore what folly is it in vs, or rather what + + +72 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +fleshly madnesse immoderately to wayle their death, whom +GOD hath ordeined to make their ende, except we lament +the lacke of our owne liuing? For euen as well wee might at +their first birthe bewaile their natiuitie, considering they must +Death common +to all. +needes die, because they are borne to liue. And whatsoeuer +hath a beginning, the same hath also an ending, and the ende +is not at our will, which desire continuaunce of life, but at +his will which gaue the beginning of life. Now then seeing +GOD hath ordeined all to dye, according to his appointed +will, what meane they that would haue theirs to liue? Shall +God alter his first purpose, for the onely satisfying of our +foolish pleasure? And where GOD hath minded that the whole +worlde shall decaie, shall any man desire that any one house +may stande? In my minde, there can be no greater comfort to +any one liuing for the lacke of his freend, then to thinke that +this happened to him, which all other either haue felt, or els +shall feele hereafter: And that God the rather made Death +common to all, that the vniuersall Plague and egalnesse to all, +might abate the fiercenesse of death, and comfort vs in the +crueltie of the same, considering no one man hath an ende, but +that all shall haue the like, and die we must euery mothers +sonne of vs at one time or other. But you will say: my +children might haue liued longer, they died young. Sure it +Euill to liue +among the euill. +is by mans estimation they might haue liued longer, but had +it bene best for them thinke you, to haue continued still in +this wretched worlde, where Vice beareth rule, and Vertue is +subdued, where GOD is neglected, his lawes not obserued, +his word abused, and his Prophetes that preach the iudgement +of God, almost euery where contemned? If your children +were a liue, and by the aduise of some wicked person, were +brought to a Brothell house, where entising Harlots liued, and +so were in daunger to commit that foule sinne of whoredome, +and so led from one wickednesse to another: I am assured, +your grace would call them backe with labour, and would +with exhortations induce them to the feare of God, and vtter +detestation of all sinne, as you haue ful often heretofore done, +rather fearing euil to come, then knowing any open fault to +be in either of them. Now then seeing God hath done the +same for you himselfe, that you would haue done for them if +they had liued, that is, in deliuering them both from this + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +73 + +present euill worlde, which I coumpt none other then +a Brothell house, and a life of all naughtinesse: you ought to +thanke God highly, that he hath taken awaie your two sonnes, +euen in their youth, being innocentes both for their liuing, +and of such expectation for their towardnesse, that almost it +were not possible for them hereafter, to satisfie the hope in +their age, which al men presently had conceiued of their +youth. It is thought and in deede it is no lesse then a great +point of happinesse, to dye happely. Now, when could your +To die happely, +is great happinesse. +two noble Gentlemen haue died better, then when they were +at the best, most Godly in many things, offending in fewe, +beloued of the honest, and hated of none (if euer they were +hated) but of such as hate the best. As in deede, noble +vertue neuer wanted cankard enuie to followe her. And +considering that this life is so wretched, that the best are euer +most hated, and the vilest alwaies most esteemed, and your +two Sonnes of the other side, being in that state of honestie, +and trained in that path of godlinesse (as I am able to be +a liuely witnesse, none hath bene like these many yeres, or at +the least, none better brought vp) what thinke you of God, +did he enuie them, or els did he prouidently forsee vnto them +both, when he tooke them both from vs. Assuredly, whom +God loueth best, those he taketh sonest, according to the saying +of Salomon: The righteous man (meaning Enoch, and other +Wised. iiii. +the chosen of God) is sodainly taken away, to the intent, that +wickednesse should not alter his vnderstanding, and that +hypocrisie should not begile his soule. For the craftie +bewitching of lyes, make good things darke: the vnstedfastnesse +also, and wickednesse of volupteous desire, turne aside +the vnderstanding of the simple. And though the righteous +was sone gone, yet fulfilled he much time, for his soule pleased +God, and therefore hasted he to take him awaie from among the +Psal. lxxxiiij. +Psalm .xlij. +wicked. Yea, the good men of God in all ages, haue euer +had an earnest desire to be dissolued. My soule (quoth +Dauid) hath an earnest desire to enter into the courtes of the +Lord. Yea, like as the Hart desireth the water brookes, so +longeth my soule after thee O God. My soule is a thirst for +God: yea, euen for the liuing God, when shall I come to +appeare before the presence of God? Paule & the Apostles +wished and longed for the day of the Lord, & thought euery + + + + +74 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +day a thousand yere, till their soules were parted from their +bodies. Then what should we waile them, which are in that +place where we al should wish to be, and seeke so to liue, that +we might be ready, when it shall please God of his goodnesse +to cal vs to his mercy. Let us be sicke for our own sinnes +that liue here on earth, and reioyce in their most happie +passage, that are gone to heauen. Thei haue not left vs, but + +Life, the right +way to death. +Death purchaseth +rest. +gone before vs to inherite with Christ, their kingdom +prepared. And what should this greue your grace that thei +are gone before, considering our whole life is nothing els but +the right waie to death. Should it trouble any one, yt his +frend is come to his iourneis end? Our life is nothing els, +but a continuall trauaile, & death obtaineth rest after all our +labor. Among men that trauaile by the hye waie, he is best +at ease (in my minde) that sonest cometh to his iourneis end. +Therefore, if your grace loued your children (as I am well +assured you did) you must reioyce in their rest, and giue God +hartie thanks, that they are come so sone to their iourneis +ende. Mary, if it were so that man might escape the daunger +of death, & liue euer, it were an other matter: but because + +Death more frendly, +the soner it commeth. +we must al die, either first or last, & nothing so sure in this +life, as we are al sure to die at length, & nothing more +vncertaine vnto man, then the certaine time of euery mans +latter time, what forceth when we die, either this daie or +to morowe, either this yere or the next, sauing that I thinke +them most happie that dye sonest, and Death frendly to none +so much, as to them whom she taketh sonest. At the time of + +Thracians. +an Execution done, for greuous offences, what mattereth who +die first, when a dosen are condemned together by a Lawe, +considering they must all die one and other. I saie still, +happie are they that are sonest ridde out of this world, and +the soner gone, the soner blessed. The Thracians lament +Children by weeping, +declare our wo. +greatly at the birth of their children, and reioyce much at the +buriall of their bodies, being well assured that this world is +nothing els but miserie, and the world to come ioye for euer. +Nowe againe the childe now borne, partly declareth the state +of this life, who beginneth his time with wayling, and first +sheweth teares, before he can iudge the cause of his woe. If +we beleeue the promises of God, if wee hope for the generall +resurrection, and constantly affirme that God is iust in all his + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +75 + +workes: we can not but ioyfully say with the iust man Iob. +The Lorde gaue them, the Lorde hath taken them againe, +as it pleased God so may it be, and blessed be the name of the +Lord for now & euer. God dealeth wrongfully with no man, + +Iob. +but extendeth his mercie most plentifully ouer all mankind. +God gaue you two children, as the like I haue not knowden, +happie are you most gracious Ladie that euer you bare them. +God lent you them two for a time, and tooke them two againe +at his time, you haue no wrong done you, that he hath taken +them: but you haue receiued a wonderfull benefite that euer +you had them. He is very vniust that boroweth and will not +paie againe but at his pleasure. He forgetteth much his +Lent goods must +restored at the +owners will. +duetie, that boroweth a Iewell of the Kings Maiestie, and will +not restore it with good will, when it shall please his Grace to +cal for it. He is vnworthie hereafter to borowe, that will +rather grudge because he hath it no longer, then once giue +thanks because he hath had the vse of it so long. He is ouer +couetous, that coumpteth not gainefull the time of his borowing: +but iudgeth it losse to restore things againe. He is vnthankfull +that thinkes hee hath wrong done, when his pleasure is +shortned, and takes the ende of his delight to be extreme +euill. He loseth the greatest part of his ioye in this worlde, +that thinketh there is no pleasure but of thinges present: that +can not comfort himselfe with pleasure past, and iudge them +to be most assured, considering the memorie of them once +had, can neuer decaie. His ioyes bee ouer straight, that bee +comprehended within the compasse of his sight, and thinketh +nothing comfortable, but that which is euer before his eyes. +All pleasure, which man hath in this worlde, is very shorte, +and sone goeth it waie, the remembrance lasteth euer and +is much more assured, then is the presence or liuely sight of +any thing. And thus your Grace may euer reioyce, that you +had two such, which liued so verteously, and dyed so Godly, +and though their bodies bee absent from your sight, yet the +remembraunce of their vertues, shall neuer decaie from your +mind. God lendeth life to all, and lendeth at his pleasure +for a time. To this man he graunteth a long life, to this +a short space, to some one, a daie, to some a yere, to some +a moneth. Now, when GOD taketh, what man should be +offended, considering he that gaue freely, may boldly take his + + +76 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +owne when he will, and doe no man wrong. The Kings +Maiestie giueth one .x. li. an other .xl. li. an other .lx. li. +shal he be greeued that receiued but, x. li. and not rather +giue thankes, that he receiued so much? Is that man happier +that dieth in the latter ende of the moneth, then hee is that +dyed in the beginning of the same moneth? Doeth distaunce +of time, and long tarying from God, make men more happie +when they come to God? By space of passage we differ much, +and one liueth longer than an other, but by death at the last +we all are matched, and none the happier that liueth the +longer: but rather most happie is he that died the sonest, +and departed best in the faith of Christ. Thinke therefore +your selfe most happie, that you had two such, and giue God +hartie thankes that it pleased him so soone to take two such. +Necessitie is lawlesse, and that which is by God appointed, no +man can alter. Reioyce we, or weepe we, dye we shall, how +soone no man can tell. Yea, we are all our life time warned +before, that death is at hande, and that when we goe to bed, +we are not assured to rise the next day in the morning, no, +not to liue one hower longer. And yet to see our folly, we +would assigne God his tyme, according to our sacietie, and +not content our selues with his doings, according to his +appointment. And euer wee saie when any die yong, he +might haue liued longer, it was pitie he died so sone. As +though forsoth, he were not better with God, then he can be +with man. Therefore, whereas for a time your Grace much +bewailed their lacke, not onely absenting your selfe from all +companie, but also refusing all kind of comforte, almost dead +with heauinesse, your bodie being so worne with sorrowe, that +the long continuaunce of the same, is much like to shorten +your daies: I will desire your Grace for Gods loue, to referre +your wil to God's will, and whereas hetherto nature hath +taught you, to weepe the lacke of your naturall children, let +reason teach you hereafter to wype awaie the teares, and let +not phantasie encrease that, which nature hath commaunded +moderatly to vse. To be sory for the lack of our dearest, +we are taught by nature, to be ouercome with sorow, it +commeth of our owne fonde opinion, and great folly it is, +with natural sorowe to encrease al sorowe, and with a little +sicknesse, to purchase readie death. The sorowes of brute + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +77 + +beastes are sharpe, and yet they are but short. The Cowe +lacking her Caulf, leaueth lowing within three or fower daies +at the farthest. Birds of the Aire, perceyuing their young +The nature of +brute beastes. +ones taken from their neast, chitter for a while in Trees +there about, and straight after they flye abroade and make no +more adoe. The Dow lacking her Faune: the Hind her +Calfe, braie no longer time after their losse, but seing their +lacke to be without remedy, they cease their sorow within +short space. Man onely among all other, ceaseth not to +fauour his sorowe, and lamenteth not onely so much as +nature willeth him, but also so much as his owne affection +moueth him. And yet all folke doe not so, but such as are +subiect to passions, and furthest from fortitude of mind, as +women commonly rather then men, rude people rather then +Immoderat sorowe, +not naturall. +Godly folke: the vnlearned soner then the learned, foolish +folke soner then wise men, children, rather then yong men. +Whereupon we may well gather, that immoderate sorowe, is +not naturall (for that which is naturall, is euer like in all) +but through follie mainteined, encreased by weakenesse, and for +lack of reason made altogether intollerable. Then I doubt +not, but your Grace wil rather ende your sorowe by reason: +then that sorowe should ende you through follie, and whereas +by nature, you are a weake woman in bodie, you will shewe +your selfe by reason, a strong man in heart: rather endyng +your greefe by Godly aduertisements, and by the iust consideration +of Gods wonderfull doings: then that time and space, +Time, a remedie for +fooles to take awaie +their sorowe. Math. vi. +Iohn. v. +should weare awaie your sorrowes, which in deede suffer none, +continually to abide in any one, but rather rid them of life, +or els ease them of griefe. The foole, the vngodly, the weake +harted haue this remedie, your medicen must be more heauenly, +if you doe (as you professe) referre al to Gods pleasure, and +say in your praier. Thy will be done in earth as it is in +heauen. Those whom God loueth, those he chasteneth, and +happie is that bodie, whom God scourgeth for his amendment. +The man that dyeth in the faieth of Christ is blessed, and the +chastened seruaunt if he doe repent and amend his life, shalbe +blessed. Wee knowe not what we doe when we bewaile the +death of our dearest, for in death is altogether al happinesse, +and before death not one is happie. The miseries in this +world declare small felicitie to be in the same. Therefore, + + +78 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +many men being ouerwhelmed with much woe and wretched +wickednesse, haue wished and praied to God for an ende of +The greate miserie of +this worlde, makes +wearinesse of life. +this life, and thought this worlde to be a let, to the heauenly +perfection, the which blisse all they shall attaine hereafter that +hope well here, and with a liuely faith declare their assuraunce. +Your Graces two sonnes in their life were so Godly, that their +death was their aduauntage: for, by death they liued, because +in life thei were dead. They died in faith, not wearie of this +world, nor wishing for death, as ouer loden with sinne: but +paciently taking the crosse departed with ioy. At whose +dying, your grace may learne an example of pacience and all +thankes giuing, that God of his goodnesse, hath so graciously +taken these your two children to his fauourable mercie. +God punished partly to trie your constancie, wherein I wish +that your grace may now bee as well willing to forsake them, +Impacience without +comfort. +as euer you were willing to haue them. But such is the +infirmitie of our flesh, that we hate good comfort in wordes, +when that cause of our comfort in deede (as we take it) is +gone. And me thinkes I heare you crie notwithstanding al +my words: alacke my children are gone. But what though +they are gone? God hath called, and nature hath obeyed. +Yea, you crie still my children are dead: Marie therefore they +liued, and blessed is their ende whose life is so Godly. Woe +worth they are dead they are ded. It is no new thing, thei +are neither the first that died, not yet the last that shall die. +Many went before, and all shal folow after. They liued +together, they loued together, & now they are made their ende +both together. Alas they died that were the fruite of myne +owne body, leauing me comfortles, vnhappie woman that + +Trees, not cursed, +because Apples fall +from them. +I am. You doe well, to call them the fruite of your bodie, +and yet you nothing the more vnhappie neither. For is the +tree vnhappie, from which the Apples fall? Or is the earth +accursed, that bringeth forth greene grasse, which hereafter +notwithstanding doth wither. Death taketh no order of yeres, +but when the time is appointed, be it earely or late, daie or +night, away we must. But I praie you, what loue hath your +Grace. They dyed, that shoulde haue died, yea, they that +could liue no longer. But you wished them longer life. Yea, +[b]ut God made you no such promise, and meete it were not, +that he should be led by you, but you rather should bee led by + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +79 + +him. Your children died and that right Godly, what would +you haue more? All good mothers desire that their children +may dye Gods seruauntes, the which your Grace hath most +assuredly obtained. Now againe, mans nature altereth, and +hardly tarieth vertue long in one place, without much circumspection, +and youth may sone be corrupted. But you will say. +These were good and Godly brought vp, and therefore, most +like to proue Godly hereafter if they had liued still. Well, +though such things perhaps had not chaunced, yet such things +might haue chaunced, and although they happen not to al, +yet do they hap to many: and though they had not chaunced +to your children, yet we knew not that before: and more +wisedome it had bene, to feare the worst with good aduisement, +then euer to hope, and looke still for the best, without +all mistrusting. For such is the nature of man and his corrupt +race, that euermore the one followeth soner then the other. +Commodus was a vertuous childe, and had good bringing vp, +Commodus. +Nero. +and yet he died a most wicked man. Nero wanted no good +counsaile, and such a Master he had, as neuer any had the +better, and yet what one aliue was worse then he? But now +death hath assured your Grace, that you may warrant your +selfe of their godly ende, whereas if God had spared them +life, things might haue chaunced otherwise. In wishing longer +life, we wish often times longer woe, longer trouble, longer +folly in this world, and weigh all things well, you shall +perceiue we haue small ioye, to wish longer life. This +imagination of longer life, when the life standeth not by the +number of yeres, but by the appointed will of God, maketh +our folly so much to appeare, and our teares so continually +to fall from our cheekes. For if we thought (as wee should +doe in deed) that euery day rising, may be the end of euery +man liuing, and that there is no difference with GOD, +betwixt one day and an hundreth yeares, wee might beare all +sorrowes a great deale the better. Therefore it were most +wisedome for vs all, and a great part of perfection, to make +euery day an euen reckening of our life, and talke so with +God euery howre, that we may be of euen boord with him, +through fulnesse of faith, and readie to goe the next howre +following at his commaundement, and to take alwaies his +sending in good part. The Lorde is at hand. We knowe + + +80 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +not when he will come (at midnight, at Cock crowe, or at +noone daies) to take either vs, or any of ours. Therfore, the +rather that we may be armed, let vs follow the examples of +other godly men, and lay their doings before your eyes. +And among al other, I know none so meete for your Graces +ii. Reg. xii. +Dauid. +comfort, as the wise & godly behauour of good King Dauid. +Who when he was enformed that his sonne was sicke, praied +to God hartely for his amendement, wept, fasted, and with +much lamentation declared great heauinesse. But when word +came of his sonnes departure, hee left his mourning, he called +for water, and willed meate to be set before him, that he +might eate. Whereupon, when his men marueiled why he +did so, considering he tooke it so greeuously before, when his +child was but sicke, and now being dead tooke no thought +at all, he made this answere vnto them: so long as my childe +liued I fasted, and watered my plants for my yong boye, and +I saied to my self, who can tel but that God perhappes will +giue me him, and that my childe shall liue: but now seing he +is dead, to what ende should I fast? Can I call him againe +any more? Nay, I shall rather goe vnto him, he shall neuer +come againe vnto me. And with that Dauid comforted his +wife Bethsabe, the which example, as I trust your Grace hath +read for your comfort, so I hope you will also followe it for +your health, and be as strong in pacience as euer Dauid was. +The historie it selfe shal much delight your grace, being read +as it lieth in the booke, better then my bare touching of it + +Iob. +can doe a great deale. The which I doubt not, but your +Grace will often reade and comfort your self, as Dauid did +his sorrowfull wife. Iob losing his children and all that he +had, forgat not to praise God in his extreame pouretie. +Tobias. +Tobias lacking his eye sight, in spirit praised God, and with +open mouth confessed his holy name, to be magnified throughout +the whole earth. Paule the Apostle of God, reproueth +them as worthie blame, which mourne & lament the losse of +their dearest. I would not brethren (quoth he) that you should + +i. Thessa. iiii. +bee ignoraunt concerning them which be fallen on sleepe, +that you sorrowe not as other doe, which haue no hope. If +we beleeue that Iesus dyed and rose again, euen so they also +which sleep by Iesus, wil God bring againe with him. Then +your grace either with leauing sorowe, must shewe your self + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +81 + +faithfull, or els with yeelding to your woe, declare your self +to be without hope. But I trust your grace being planted in +Christ, will shewe with sufferance the fruite of your faith, and +comfort your self with the wordes of Christ, I am the +Iohn. xi. +resurrection & the life, he that beleueth on me, yea, though he +were dead, yet should hee liue, and whosoeuer liueth and +beleeueth in me shall neuer dye. We reade of those that +had no knowledge of God, and yet they bare in good worth +the disease of their children. Anaxagoras hearing tell, that +Anaxagoras. +Pericles. +his sonne was dead: no maruel (quoth he) I knowe well +I begot a mortall bodie. Pericles chief ruler of Athens, +hearing tel that his two sonnes being of wonderfull towardnesse, +within fower daies were both dead, neuer greatly +changed countenance for the matter, that any one could +perceiue, nor yet forbare to goe abroade, but according to his +wonted custome, did his duetie in the Counsaile house in +debating matters of weight, concerning the state of the +Cornelia. +common peoples weale. But because your grace is a woman, +I will shewe you an example of a noble woman, in whom +appered wonderfull pacience. Cornelia a worthy Lady in +Rome, being comforted for the losse of her two children +Tiberius, and Caius Gracchus, both valiaunt Gentlemen, although +both not the most honest men, which died not in +their beds, but violently were slaine in ciuill battaile, their +bodies lying naked and vnburied, when one among other said: +oh vnhappie woman, that euer thou shouldest see this day. +Nay (quoth she) I will neuer thinke my selfe otherwise then +most happie, that euer I brought forth these two Gracchions. +If this noble Ladie could thinke her self happie, being mother +to these two valiaunt Gentlemen, and yet both Rebelles, & +therefore iustly slaine: how much more may your Grace +thinke your self most happie, that euer you brought forth two +such Brandons, not onely by naturall birth, but also by most +godly education in such sort, that the like two haue not beene +for their towardnesse vniuersally. Whose death, the generall +voyce of all men, declares how much it was lamented. So +Bibulus. +that, whereas you might euer haue feared some daungerous +end, now are you assured, that thei both made a most godly +ende, the which thing is the full perfection of a Christian +life. I read of one Bibulus, that hearing of his two children + + +82 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +to die in one day, lamented the lack of them both for that +one day, and mourned no more. And what could a man doe +lesse, then for two children to lament but one day, and yet +in my minde he lamented enough, and euen so much as was +reason for him to doe: whose doinges if al Christians would +followe, in my iudgement they should not onely fulfill Natures +rule, but also please God highly. Horatius Puluillus being high +Horatius +Puluillus. +Priest at Roome, when he was occupied about the dedication +of the Temple, to the great God Iupiter, in the Capitolie, +holding a post in his hand, & heard as he was vttering the +solemne wordes, that his sonne was dead euen at the same +present: he did neuer plucke his hand from the post, least he +should trouble such a solemnitie, neither yet turned his +countenaunce from that publique Religion, to his priuate + +Paulus Emilius. +sorowe, least he should seeme rather to doe the office of +a Father, then the duetie of an high Minister. Paulus Emilius, +after his most noble victorie had of King Perse, desired of +God that after such a triumph, there were any harme like to +happen to the Romaines, the same might fall vpon his owne house. +Whereupon, when God had taken his two children from him, +immediatly after he thanked God, for graunting him his +bound. For in so doing he was a meane, that the people +rather lamented Paulus Emilius lacke, then that Paulus or any +bewailed any misfortune that the Romaines had. Examples be +Quintus Martius. +Iulius Cæsar. +Tiberius Cæsar. +innumerable of those which vsed like moderation, in subduing +their affections, as Zenophon, Quintus Martius, Iulius Cæsar, +Tiberius Cæsar, Emperors both of Roome. But what seeke +I for misfortunate men (if any such be misfortunate) seeing +it is an harder matter and a greater peece of worke to finde out +happie men. Let vs looke round about, euen at home, and +we shall finde enough subiect to this misfortune: for who +liueth that hath not lost? Therfore I would wish your grace +euen now, to come in againe with God, and although he bee +angrie, yet shewe you your selfe most obedient to his will, +considering he is Lord ouer Kinges, Emperours, and ouer all +that bee, both in heauen and in earth, and spareth none whom +he listeth to take, and no doubt he will take all at the last. +His Darte goeth dayly, neither is any Dart cast in vaine, +which is sent amongst a whole Armie, standing thicke +together. Neither can you iustly lament that they liued no + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +83 + +longer, for they liued long enough, that haue liued well +enough. You must measure your children by their vertues, +not by their yeares. For (as the Wiseman saith) a mans +wisedome is the greye heares, and an vndefiled life is the +Sapi. iv. +old age. Happie is that mother that hath had godlie children, +and not she that hath had long liuing children. For, if +felicitie should stand by length of time, some Tree were more +happie then any man, for it liueth longer, and so like wise +brute beastes, as the Stagge, who liueth (as Plinie doth say) +Trees liue longer +then men. +The Stag how long +he liueth. +Man what he is + concerning his +bodie. +two hundred yeres and more. If wee would but consider +what man is, wee should haue small hope to liue, and little +cause to put any great assuraunce in this life. Let vs see him +what he is: Is his bodie any thing els, but a lumpe of earth, +made together in such forme as we doe see? A fraile vessel, +a weake carion subiect to miserie, cast doune with euery +light disease, a man to day, to morowe none. A flowre that +this day is fresh, to morrowe withereth. Good Lord doe wee +not see, that euen those thinges which nourish vs, doe rotte +and dye, as hearbes, birds, beastes, water, and al other, +without the which we cannot liue. And how can we liue +euer, that are sustained with dead thinges? Therefore, when +any one doth dye, why doe wee not thinke, that this may +chaunce to euery one, which now hath chaunced to any one. +We bee now as those that stand in battaile ray. Not one +man is sure of himself before an other, but al are in daunger +in like maner to death. That your children dyed before +other that were of riper yeres, we may iudge that their +ripenesse for vertue, and al other gifts of nature were brought +euen to perfection, whereby Death the soner approached, for +nothing long lasteth that is sone excellent. God gaue your +grace two most excellent children: God neuer giueth for any +long time, those that bee right excellent. Their natures +were heauenly, and therefore more meet for God then man. +Ripe things last +not long. +Among fruite we see some apples are sone ripe, and fal from +the Tree in the middest of Sommer, other be still greene and +tary til Winter, and hereupon are commonly called Winter +fruite: euen so it is with man, some die yong some die old, +and some die in their midle age. Your sonnes were euen +two such alreadie, as some hereafter may be with long +continuaunce of time. They had that in their youth for the + + +84 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +gifts of nature, which all men would require of them both +scarcely in their age. Therefore being both now ripe, they +were most readie for God. There was a childe in Roome of +a mans quantitie, for face, legges, and other parts of the +body, whereupon wise men iudged he would not be long +liuing. How could your grace thinke, that when you saw +auncient wisedome in the one, and most pragnant wit in the +other, marueilous sobrietie in the elder, & most laudable +gentlenesse in the yonger, them both most studious in learning, +most forward in al feates, aswel of the body as of the mind, +being two such and so excellent, that they were like long +to continue with you. God neuer suffereth such excellent +and rare Iewels long to inherite the earth. Whatsoeuer is +nie perfection, the same is most nye falling. Vertue being +once absolute, cannot long be seene with these our fleshly +eyes, neither can that tary the latter ende with other, that +was ripe it selfe first of al, and before other. Fire goeth out +the soner, the clearer that it burneth: & that light lasteth +longest, that is made of most course matter. In greene wood +we may see, that where as the fuell is not most apt for burning, +yet the fire lasteth longer, then if it were nourished with +like quantitie of drye wood. Euen so in the nature of man, +the minde being ripe, the body decaieth straight, and life +goeth away being once brought to perfection. Neither can +there be any greater token of short life, then full ripenesse of +natural wit: the which is to the body, as the heate of the +Sunne is to things earthly. Therefore iudge right honorable +Ladie, that euen now they both died, when they both were +most readie for God, neither thinke that they died ouer sone +because they liued no longer. They died both Gods seruaunts, +and therefore they dyed well and in good time. God hath +set their time, and taken them at his time, blessed children +as they bee, to reigne with him in the kingdome of his +Father, prepared for them from the beginning. Vnto whose +will I wish, and I trust your Grace doth wholie referre your +will, thanking him as hartely for that he hath taken them, as +you euer thanked him for that he euer lent you them. I knowe +the wicked wordes of some vngodly folke haue much disquieted +your grace, notwithstanding, GOD being Iudge of +your naturall loue towards your children, and al your faithful + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +85 + +friends and seruaunts, bearing earnest witnesse with your +Grace of the same: their vngodly talke the more lightly it is to +be esteemed, the more vngodly that it is. Nay, your grace +may reioyce rather, that whereas you haue done well, you +here euill, according to the words of Christ. Blessed are you +Math. v. +when men speake all euill thinges against you. And againe, +consider GOD is not led by the reporte of men, to iudge his +creatures, but perswaded by the true knowledge of euery +mans conscience to take them for his seruaunts, and furthermore, +the harme is theirs which speake so lewdly, and the +blisse theirs which beare it so paciently. For looke what +measure they vse to other, with the same they shall bee +measured againe. And as they iudge, so shall they be iudged. +Be your Grace therefore strong in aduersitie, and pray for +them that speake amisse of you, rendring good for euill, and +with charitable dealing, shewe your selfe long suffering, so +shal you heape coales on their heads. The boystrous Sea, +trieth the good Mariner, and sharpe vexation declareth the +Pacience praise +worthy in +aduersitie. +true Christian. Where battaile hath not bene before, there +was neuer any victorie obtained. You then beeing thus +assailed, shewe your selfe rather stoute to withstand, then +weake to giue ouer: rather cleauing to good, then yeelding to +euill. For if God be with you, what forceth who be against +you. For when all friends faile, God neuer faileth them +that put their trust in him, and with an vnfained heart call to +him for grace. Thus doing, I assure your Grace God will be +pleased, and the godly will much praise your wisedome, +though the world full wickedly say their pleasure. I pray +God your grace may please the godlie, and with your +vertuous behauiour in this your widowhood, winne their commendation +to the glorie of God, the reioysing of your friends, +and the comfort of your soule. Amen.

+ +

Thus, the rather to make precepts plaine, I haue added +examples at large, both for counsaile giuing and for comforting. +And most needfull it were in such kinde of Orations, +to bee most occupied, considering the vse hereof appeareth +full oft in all parts of our life, and confusedly is vsed among +all other matters. For in praising a worthie man, we shall +haue iust cause to speake of al his vertues, of thinges profitable +in this life, and of pleasures in generall. Likewise in trauersing + + +86 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +a cause before a Iudge, we can not want the aide of +perswasion and good counsaile, concerning wealth, health, +life, and estimation, the helpe whereof is partly borowed of +this place. But whereas I haue set forth at large, the +places of confirmation, concerning counsaile in diuers +causes: it is not thought, that either they should all bee vsed +in number as they are, or in order as they stande: but that +any one may vse them, and order them as he shall thinke best, +according as the time, place, and person shall most of all +require.

 + +Of an Oration iudiciall. +

THe whole burdein of weightie matters, and the earnest +triall of all controuersies, rest onely vpon Iudgement. +Therefore, when matters concerning land, goodes, or life, +or any such thing of like weight are called in question, wee +must euer haue recourse to this kinde of Oration, and after +iust examining of our cause by the places thereof, looke for +iudgement according to the lawe.

 + +Oration iudiciall what it is. +

ORation Iudiciall, is an earnest debating in open assemblie, +of some weightie matter before a Iudge, where the +complainaunt commenseth his action, and the defendant +thereupon aunswereth at his perill, to all such thinges as are +laied to his charge.

+ +Of the foundation, or rather the principall point in euery +debated matter, called of the Rhetoricians the +state, or constitution of the cause. + +

NOt onely it is needefull in causes of iudgement, to +consider the scope whereunto we must leauell our +reasons, and direct our inuention: but also we ought in +euery cause to haue a respect vnto some one espesiall point +and chiefe article: that the rather the whole drift of our +doinges, may seeme to agree with our first deuised purpose. +For by this meanes our iudgement shalbe framed to speake +with discretion, and the ignoraunt shall learne to perceiue +with profite, whatsoeuer is said for his instruction. But they +that take vppon them to talke in open audience, and make +not their accompt before, what they will speake after: shall +neither be well liked for their inuention, nor allowed for their +wit, nor esteemed for their learning. For what other thing + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +87 + +doe they, that boult out their wordes in such sort, and without +all aduisement vtter out matter: but shew themselues to +play as yong boyes or scarre Crowes doe, which shot in the +open and plaine fieldes at all aduentures hittie missie. The +Definition of a +thing must first +be knowen ere we +speake our minde +at large. +learned therfore, and such as loue to be coumpted clerkes of +vnderstanding, and men of good circumspection and iudgement, +do warely scan what they chiefly minde to speake, and +by definition seeke what that is, whereunto they purpose to +direct their whole doinges. For by such aduised warenesse, +and good eye casting: they shall alwaies bee able both to +knowe what to say, and to speake what they ought. As for +example, if I shal haue occasion to speake in open audience, +of the obedience due to our soueraigne King, I ought first to +learne what is obedience, and after knowledge attained, to +direct my reasons to the onely proofe of this purpose, and +wholie to seeke confirmation of the same, and not turne my +tale to talke of Robin Hood, and to shew what a goodly +Archer was he, or to speake wonders of the man in the +Moone, such as are most needlesse, and farthest from the +Rouing without +reason. +purpose. For then the hearer looking to be taught his +obedience, and hearing in the meane season mad tales of +Archerie, and great meruailes of the man in the Moone: +being halfe astonied at his so great straying, will perhappes +say to himselfe: now whether the deuill wilt thou, come in +man againe for very shame, and tell me no bytales, such as +are to no purpose, but shew me that which thou didest +promise, both to teach and perswade at thy first entrie. +Assuredly such fond fellowes there haue bene, yea euen among +Preachers, that talking of faith, they haue fetcht their full +race from the xii. signes in the Zodiake. An other talking of +the generall resurrection, hath made a large matter of our +blessed Ladie, praysing her to bee so gentle, so curteous, and +so kinde, that it were better a thousand fold, to make sute to +her alone, then to Christ her sonne. And what needed +(I pray you) any such rehearsall being both vngodly, and +nothing at all to the purpose. For what maketh the praise of +our Ladie, to the confirmation of the generall doome? +Would not a man thinke him mad, that hauing an earnest +errande from London to Douer, would take it the next way +to ride first into Northfolke, next into Essex, and last into + + +88 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +Kent? And yet assuredly, many an vnlearned and witlesse +man, hath straied in his talke much farther a great deale, yea +truely as farre as hence to Roome gates. Therefore wise are +they that followe Plinies aduise, who would that all men both +in writing, and speaking at large vpon any matter, should +Plinies counsaile for + handeling of causes. +euer haue an eye to the chiefe title, and principall ground of +their whole entent, neuer swaruing from their purpose, but +rather bringing all things together, to confirme their cause so +much as they can possible. Yea, the wise and expert men will +aske of themselues, how hangeth this to the purpose? To +what end do ye speake it? What maketh this for confirmation +of my cause? And so by oft questioning, either chide their +owne follie if they speake amisse, or els be assured they speake +to good purpose.

+ +

A state therefore generally, is the chiefe ground of a matter, +and the principall point whereunto both he that speaketh +should referre his whole wit, and they that heare should +chiefly marke. A Preacher taketh in hande to shewe what +A state generally, +what it is. +prayer is, and how needfull for man to call vpon God: now +he should euer remember this his matter, applying his reasons +whollie and fullie to this end, that the hearers may both +knowe the nature of prayer, and the needfulnesse of prayer. +The which when he hath done, his promise is fulfilled, his +time well bestowed, and the hearers well instructed.

 + +A state of constitution, what it is in matters of iudgement. +

IN all other causes the state is gathered without contention, +and seuerally handled vpon good aduisement, as he shal +think best that professeth to speake. But in matters criminall, +where iudgement is required: there are two persons at +the least, which must through contrarietie stand and rest vpon +some issue. As for example. A seruing man is apprehended +by a Lawyer for Felonie, vpon suspition. The Lawyer saith +to the seruing man: thou hast done this Robberie. Nay +(saith he) I haue not done it. Vpon this conflict and matching +together ariseth this State, whether this seruing man hath +done this Robberie, or no? Vppon which point the Lawyer +must stand, and seeke to proue it to the vttermost of his +power.

+ +

A state thereof in matters of Iudgement, is that thing which + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +89 + +doth arise vpon the first demaund, and denial made betwixt +men, whereof the one part is the accuser, and the other part +the person, or persons accused. It is called a State, because +wee doe stande and rest vpon some one point, the which must +wholie and only be proued of the one side, and denied of the +State in iudgement, +what it is. +State, why it +is so called. +other. I cannot better terme it in English, then by the name +of an issue, the which not onely ariseth vpon much debating, +and long trauers vsed, whereupon all matters are saied to come +to an issue: but also els where an issue is said to be then, and +so often, as both parties stand vpon one point, the which doth +as well happen at the first beginning, before any probations +are vsed, as it doth at the latter ending, after the matter hath +at large bene discussed.

 + +The deuision of States, or issues. +

NOW that wee knowe what an Issue is, it is next most +needefull, to shewe how many there are in number. +The wisest and best learned haue agreed vpon three onely +and no lesse, the which are these following. + +The state. +Coniecturall. +Legall. +Iuridiciall. + +

+

AND for the more plaine vnderstanding of these darke +wordes, these three questions following, expounde their +meaning altogether. + +Whether the thing be, or no. +What it is. +What maner of thing it is. + +

+

IN the first wee consider vpon the rehearsall of a matter, +whether any such thing bee, or no. As if one should bee +accused of murther, good it were to knowe, whether any +murther were committed at all, or no, if it bee not perfectly +knowne before: and after to goe further, and examine +whether such a man that is accused, haue done the deede, or no.

+ +

In the second place we doubt not vpon the thing done, but +we stand in doubt what to call it. Sometimes a man is +accused of Felony, and yet he proueth his offence to be but +a trespasse, whereupon he escapeth the daunger of death. An +other beeing accused for killing a man, confesseth his fault to +bee manslaughter, and denieth it vtterly to bee any murther, +whereupon hee maketh friends to purchase his pardon. Now + + +90 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +the Lawyers by their learning, must iudge the doubt of this +debate, and tell what name he deserueth to haue, that hath +thus offended.

+ +

In the third place not onely the deed is confessed, but the +maner of doing is defended. And if one were accused for +killing a man, to confesse the deede, and also to stande in it +that hee might iustly so doe, because he did it in his owne +defence: whereupon ariseth this question, whether his doing +be right or wrong. And to make these matters more plaine, +I will adde an example for euery state seuerally.

+

+ + + The Assertion.The Answere.The State or Issue. + +Of the state coniecturall. +Thou hast killed this man. +I haue not killed him. +Whether he hath killed this man, or no. Thus we see vppon +the auouching and deniall, the matter standeth vpon an Issue. + + +Of the state Legall. +Thou hast committed treason in this fact. +I denye it to be Treason. +Whether his offence done may be called treason, or no. +Here is denyed that any such thing is in the deede done, as +is by word reported, and said to be. + +Of the state Iuridicial. +Thou hast killed this man. +I graunt it, but I haue done it lawfully, because I killed him +in mine owne defence. +Whether a man may kill one in his owne defence, or no, +and whether this man did so, or no.

 +The Oration coniecturall, what it is. +

THe Oration coniecturall is when matters bee examined, +and tried out by suspitions gathered, and some likelihood +of thing appearing. A Souldier is accused for killing a +Farmer. The Souldier denyeth it vtterly, and saith he did + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +91 + +not kill him. Hereupon riseth the question, whether the +Souldier killed the Farmer or no, who is wel known to be +slaine. Now to proue this question, we must haue such +places of confirmation, as hereafter do followe.

 + +Places of confirmation, to proue things by coniecture. + + +Will to doe euill. +Power to doe euill. + + +

i. +IN the will must be considered the qualitie of the man, +whether hee were like to doe such a deede, or no, and +what should moue him to attempt such an enterprise: whether +he did the murther vppon any displeasure before conceiued, or +of sodaine anger, or els for that he looked by his death to +receiue some commoditie, either land, or office, money, or +money worth, or any other gainefull thing.

+ +

ii. +Some are knowne to want no will to kil a man, because +they haue bene flesht heretofore, passing as little vpon the death +of a man, as a Butcher doth passe for killing of an Oxe, being +heretofore either accused before a Iudge of manslaughter, or els +quit by some generall Pardon. Now, when the names of +such men are knowen, they make wise men euer hereafter to +haue them in suspition.

+ +

iii. +The Countrey where the man was borne, declares sometime +his natural inclinasion, as if he were borne or brought +vp among the Tinsdale and Riddesdale men, he may the +soner be suspected.

+ +

iiii. +Of what trade he is, by what occupation he liueth.

+ +

v. +Whether he be a Gamester, an Alehouse haunter, or a +companion among Ruffians.

+ +

vi. +Of what wealth he is, and how he came by that which he +hath, if he haue any.

+ +

vii. +What apparell he weareth, or whether he loueth to goe +gaie, or no.

+ +

viii. +Of what nature he is, whether he be hastie, headie, or +readie to picke quarrelles.

+ +

ix. +What shiftes he hath made from time to time.

+ +

x. +What moueth him to doe such a hainous deede.

 + +Places of confirmation, to proue whether he had power to doe such a deede, or no. +i. +

THE ground where the man was slaine, whether it was in +the Hye way, in a Wood, or betweene two Hilles, or els +where nigh vnto a hedge or secrete place. + + +92 +The arte of Rhetorique. +

+

ii. +The tyme, whether it was earely in the morning, or late at +night.

+ +

iii. +Whether he was there about that time, or no.

+ +

iiii. +Whether he ranne away after the deede was done, or had +any blood about him, or trembled, or staggerd, or was +contrary in telling of his tale, and how he kept his countenaunce. +

+

v. +Hope to keepe his deede secrete, by reason of the place, +time, and secrete maner of doing.

+ +

vi. +Witnesses examined of his being, either in this or that +place.

+ +

vii. +By comparing of the strength of the Murtherer, with the +other mans weakenesse, Armour with nakednesse, and stoutnesse +with simplicitie.

+ +

viii. +His confession.

+ +An example of an Oration iudiciall, to proue by coniectures, +the knowledge of a notable and most hainous offence, +committed by a Souldier. +

AS Nature hath euer abhorred Murder, and God in all ages +most terribly hath plagued bloodshedding, so I trust your +wisedomes (most worthie Iudges) will speedely seeke the +execution of this most hatefull sinne. And where as God +reuealeth to the sight of men, the knowledge of such offences +by diuers likelihoods, & probable coniectures: I doubt not, +but you being called of God to heare such causes, will doe +herein as reason shal require, and as this detestable offence +shal moue you, vpon rehearsall of the matter. The man that +is wel knowne to be slaine, was a worthie Farmer, a good +housekeeper, a wealthie Husbandman, one that trauailed much +in this worlde, meaning vprightly in all his doinges, and +therefore beloued among al men, & lamented of many when +his death was knowne. This Souldier beeing desperate in his +doinges, and liuing by spoyle all his life time, came newly from +the Warres, whose handes hath bene lately bathed in blood, and +now he keepeth this Countrey (where this Farmer was slaine) +and hath beene here for the space of one whole Moneth +together, and by all likelihoodes, he hath slaine this honest +Farmer. For such men flesht villaines, make small acoumpt +for killing any one, and doe it they will without any mercie, +when they maye see their time. Yea, this wretch is bruted + + + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +93 + +for his beastly demeanour, and knowne of long time to be +a strong theef. Neither had he escaped the daunger of the +lawe, if the Kings free Pardon had not preuented the execution. +His name declares his naughtie nature, and his wicked +liuing hath made him famous. For who is he that hearing of +N. (the notable offenders name, might here bee rehearsed) +doth not thinke by and by, that hee were like to doe such +a deede? Neither is he onely knowne vniuersally to bee +naught, but his soyle also (where he was borne) giueth him to +bee an euill man: considering he was bredde and brought vp +among a denne of Theeues, among the men of Tinsdale & +Riddesdale, where pillage is good purchase, and murthering is +coumpted manhood. Occupation hath he none, nor yet any +other honest meanes, whereby to maintaine himselfe: and yet +he liueth most sumpteously. No greater gamester in a whole +Countrey, no such ryotor, a notable whoremonger, a leaude +Royster among Ruffians, a notable waister, to day full of +money, within seuen night after not worth a groate. There +is no man that seeth him, but will take him for his Apparell +to be a gentleman. He hath his chaunge of suites, yea, he +spareth not to goe in his Silkes and Veluet. A great +quareller and fray maker, glad when he may be at defiance +with one or other, he made such shiftes for money ere now, +that I maruaile how he hath liued till this day. And now +being at a lowe ebbe, and loth to seeme base in his estate, +thought to aduenture vpon this Farmer, and either to winne +the Saddle, or els to lose the Horse. And thus beeing so +farre forward, wanting no will to attempt this wicked deede, +he sought by all meanes possible, conuenient oportunitie to +compasse his desire. And wayting vnder a Wood side, nigh +vnto the high way, about sixe a clocke at night, hee set vppon +this Farmer, at what time he was comming homeward. For +it appeareth not onely by his owne confession, that hee was +there aboute the selfe same time, where this man was slaine: +but also there bee men that sawe him ride in great haste, +about the selfe same time. And because God would haue this +murder to be knowne, looke I pray you, what bloud he +carieth about him, to beare witnesse against him of his most +wicked deede. Againe, his owne confession doth plainly goe +against him, for he is in so many tales, that he cannot tell + + + + +94 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +what to say. And often his colour chaungeth, his bodie +shaketh, and his tongue foultereth within his mouth. And +such men as hee bringeth in to beare witnesse with him, that +he was at such a place at the self same howre, when the Farmer +was slaine: they will not bee sworne for the very hower, but +they say he was at such a place within two howres after. +Now Lord, doth not this matter seeme most plaine vnto al +men, especially seeing this deede was done at such a time, +and in such a place, that if the Deuill had not beene his +good Lord, the matter had neuer come to light. And who +will not say, that this caytife had little cause to feare, but +rather power enough to doe his wicked fact, seeing he is so +sturdie and so strong, and the other so weake and vnweldie: +yea, seeing this vilaine was armed, and the other man naked. +Doubt you not (worthie Iudges) seeing such notes of his +former life, to declare his inward nature, and perceiuing such +coniectures lawfully gathered vpon iust suspition: but that +this wretched souldier hath slaine this worthy Farmer. And +therefore, I appeale for Iustice vnto your wisedomes, for the +death of this innocent man, whose blood before God asketh +iust auengement. I doubt not but you remember the wordes +of Salamon, who saith: It is as great sinne to forgiue the +wicked, as it is euill to condemne the innocent: and as I call +vnfeinedly for rightfull Iudgement, so I hope assuredly for +iust execution.

+ +

The person accused beeing innocent of the crime that is laied +to his charge, may vse the selfe same places for his owne +defence, the which his accuser vsed to proue him giltie.

 + +The interpretation of a lawe, otherwise called a state legall. +

IN boulting out the true meaning of a Lawe, wee must vse +to search out the nature of the same, by defyning some one +word, or comparing one Lawe with an other, iudging vppon +good triall, what is right, and what is wrong.

+ + +The parts. +Definition. +Contrary Lawes. +Lawes made and the end of the lawmaker. +Ambiguitie, or doubtfulnesse. +Probation by things like. +Chalenging or refusing. + +

+ +The arte of Rhetorique. +95 +

+Definition what is it. +

THen we vse to define a matter, when we cannot agree +vpon the nature of some worde, the which wee learne to +knowe by asking the question, what it is. As for example. +Where one is apprehended for killing a man, we lay murder +to his charge: whereupon the accused person, when he +graunteth the killing, & yet denieth it to be murder: we +must streight after haue recourse to the definition, and aske +what is murder, by defining whereof, and comparing the +nature of the word with his deede done, wee shall sone knowe +whether he committed murder, or manslaughter.

 + +Contrary Lawes. +

IT often happeneth, that lawes seeme to haue a certain +repugnancie, whereof among many riseth much contention, +whereas if both the lawes were well weighed and considered, +according to their circumstances, they would appeare nothing +contrary in matter, though in words they seeme to dissent. +Christ giueth warning, and chargeth his Disciples in the x. of +Math. that they preach not the glad tidinges of his comming +into the worlde, to the Gentiles, but to the Iewes onely, +vnto whom he was sent by his father. And yet after his +resurrection, we doe reade in the last of Matthewe, that he +commaunded his disciples to go into all the whole world, and +preach the glad tidings of his passion, and raunsome, paied +for all creatures liuing. Now, though these two lawes +seeme contrary, yet it is nothing so. For, if the Iewes +would haue receiued Christ, and acknowledged him their +Sauiour, vndoubtedly, they had beene the onely Children of +God, vnto whom, the promise and couenaunt was made from +the beginning. But because they refused their Sauiour, and +crucified the Lord of glorie: Christ made the lawe generall, +and called all men to life that would repent, promising +saluation to all such, as beleeued and were Baptised. So +that the particuler lawe being now abrogated, must needes +giue place to the superiour.

 + +Fower lessons to be obserued, where contrary Lawes are called in question. + +The inferior law, must giue place to the superior. +The lawe generall, must yeeld to the speciall. +Mans law, to Gods law. +An olde law, to a new law. + + +

+ +96 +The arte of Rhetorique. +

+

THere be lawes vttered by Christes owne mouth, the +which if they bee taken according as they are spoken, +seeme to containe great absurditie in them. And therefore, +the minde of the lawe maker, must rather bee obserued, then +the bare words taken only as they are spoken. Christ saieth +Math. 5. +Math. 19. +Math. 16. +in the fifth of Matthewe. If thy right eye be an offence to +thee, plucke him out, and cast him away from thee. If one +giue thee a blow of thy right cheeke, turne to him again thy +left cheke. There be some Eunuches, that haue gelded +themselues from the kingdome of Heauen. Goe and sell all +that thou haste, and giue it to the poore. He that doth not +take vp his crosse and followe me, is not worthy of mee. In +all which sentences, there is no such meaning, as the bare +words vttered seeme to yeeld. Plucking out of the eye, +declares an auoyding of all euill occasions. Receiuing a +blowe vpon the left cheeke, commendes vnto vs modestie, +and pacience in aduersitie. Gelding, signifieth a subduing of +our affections, and taming the foule lust of pleasure, vnto the +wil of reason. Goe and sell all: declares we should be +liberall, and glad to parte with our goodes to the poore and +needie. Bearing the crosse betokeneth sufferaunce of all +sorowes and miseries in this worlde. Now, to proue that the +will of the law maker, is none other then I haue said: I may +vse the testimonies of other places in the Scripture, and compare +them with these sentences, and so iudge by iust examination, +and diligent search the true meaning of the law maker.

 + +Ambiguitie. +

SOmetymes a doubt is made vpon some worde or sentence, +when it signifieth diuers things, or may diuersly bee taken, +whereupon full oft ariseth much contention. The Lawiers +lacke no cases, to fill this part full of examples. For rather +Lawiers. +then faile, they will make doubtes oftentimes, where no doubt +should be at all. Is his Lease long enough (quoth one:) yea +sir, it is very long said a poore Housbandman. Then (quoth +he) let me alone with it, I will finde a hole in it I warrant +thee. In all this talke I except alwaies the good Lawiers, +and I may wel spare them, for they are but a fewe.

 + +Probation by things like. +

WHen there is no certaine Law by expresse words, +vttered for some heinous offender: we may iudge the + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +97 + +offence worthy death, by rehersall of some other Law, that +soundeth much that waye. As thus. The Ciuill Lawe appointeth, +that he shall be put in a Sacke, and cast in the Sea, that +killeth his father: well, then he that killeth his mother, should by +all reason in like sort bee ordered. It is lawfull to haue a Magistrate, +therefore it is lawfull to pleade matters before an officer. +And thus, though, the last cannot be proued by expresse +words, yet the same is found lawfull by rehearsall of the first.

+ +Chalenging or refusing. +

WE vse this order, when we remoue our sutes from one +Court to an other, as if a man should appele from the +Common place, to the Chauncerie. Or if one should bee +called by a wrong name, not to aunswere vnto it. Or if one +refuse to aunswere in the Spirituall Courte, and appele to the +Lord Chauncellour.

 + +The Oration of right or wrong, called otherwise the state Iuridiciall. +

AFter a deede is well knowen to be done, by some one +person, we goe to the next and searche whether it be +right or wrong. And that is, when the maner of doing is +examined, and the matter tried through reasoning, and much +debating, whether it be wrongfully doen, or otherwise.

 + +The Diuision. +

THis state of right or wrong, is two waies deuided, whereof +the one is, when the matter by the owne nature, is +defended to be right, without any further seeking, called of +the Rhetoricians, the state absolute.

+ +

The other (vsing little force or strength, to maintaine the +matter) is, when outwarde helpe is sought, and by-wayes vsed +to purchase fauour, called otherwise the state assumptiue. + +Places of Confirmation for the first kinde, are vij. +Nature it selfe. +Gods Law, and mans Law. +Custome. +Equitie. +True dealing. +Auncient examples. +Couenauntes and deedes autentique. + +

+

TVllie in his most worthy Oration, made in behalfe of +Milo, declares that Milo slue Clodius most lawfully, whom + + +98 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +Clodius sought to haue slaine most wickedly. For (quoth +Tullie) if nature haue graffed this in man, if Lawe haue confirmed +it, if necessitie haue taught it, if custome haue kept it, +if equitie haue maintained it, if true dealing hath allowed it, +if all common weales haue vsed it, if deedes auncient haue +sealed this vp, that euery creature liuing should fence it selfe +against outward violence: no man can thinke that Milo hath +done wrong, in killing of Clodius, except you think, that +when men meete with theeues, either they must be slaine of +them, or els condemned of you.

 + +Places of confirmation for the second kinde, are iiij. + +Graunting of the fault committed. +Blaming euill companie for it. +Comparing the fault, and declaring that either they must haue done that, or els haue done worse. +Shifting it from vs, and shewing that we did it vppon commaundement. + + +

Confessing what it is. +COnfessing of the fault, is when the excuseth persone graunteth +his crime, and craueth pardon thereupon, leauing to +aske Iustice, and leaning wholy vnto mercie.

 + +Confession of the fault vsed two maner of waies. +The diuision. +

THe first is, when one accuseth himselfe, that he did it not +willingly, but vnwares, and by chaunce.

+ +

The seconde is, when he asketh pardon for the faulte done, +considering his seruice to the Commonweale, and his worthy +deedes heretofore done, promysing amendment of his former +euill deed: the which words would not be vsed before a Iudge, +but before a King, or Generall of an Armie. For the Iudges +must giue sentence according to the Lawe: the King may +forgiue, as authour of the Lawe, and hauing power in his hande, +may doe as he shall thinke best.

+ +

Blaming other, how +it is saied. +Blaming other for the fault done, is when we saie, that the +accused person, would neuer haue done such a deede, if other +against whom also, this accusation is intended, had not beene +euill men, and giuen iust cause of such a wicked deede.

+ +

Comparing the fault. +Comparing the fault is when we saie, that by slaying an +euill man, we haue done a good deede, cutting away the +corrupt and rotten member, for preseruation of the whole +body. Or thus: some set a whole toune on fire, because + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +99 + +their enemies should haue none aduauntage by it. The +Saguntines, being tributarie to the Romaines, slue their owne +Saguntines. +children, burnt their goods, and fired their bodies, because +they would not subiect to that cruel Hanniball, and lose +their allegiaunce, due to the Romaines.

+ +

Shifting the fault +from vs. +Shifting it from vs, is when wee say that if other had not +set vs on, we would neuer haue attempted such an enterprise. +As often times the Souldiour saieth, his Captaines bidding was +his enforcement: the seruaunt thinketh his maisters commaundement, +to be a sufficient defence for his discharge.

 + + + + + +The second Booke. +

[continuation of page 99] +

+

NOw that I haue +hetherto set forth, what Rhetorique is, +whereunto euery Oratour is most bounde, what the +causes bee, both in their nature and also by number, that +comprehende euery matter, and what places serue to confirme +euery cause: I think it is most meete, after the knowledge +of all these, to frame an Oration accordingly, and to shewe +at large, by partes of euery Oration (but specially such as are +vsed in Iudgement) that vnto euery cause, apt partes may +euermore be added. For euery matter hath a diuers beginning, +neither al controuersies or matters of weight, should alwaies +after one sort be rehearsed, nor like reasons vsed, nor one +kinde of mouing affections, occupied before all men, in euery +matter. And therefore, whereas I haue briefly spoken of +them before, I will nowe largely declare them, and shewe the +vse of them in euery matter, that cometh in debate, and is +needefull through reason to be discussed.

+ +An entraunce, two waies deuided. +Abeginning +what it is. +

THe first is called a plaine beginning, when the hearer is +made apt to giue good eare out of hande, to that which +shall followe.

+ +Insinuation +

The second is a priuie twining, or close creeping in, to win +fauour with much circumstaunce, called insinuation.

+ +

For in all matters that man takes in hand, thisconsideration +ought first to be had, that we first diligently expend the +cause, before we go through with it, that we may be assured +whether it bee lawfull or otherwise. And not onely this, but +also we must aduisedly marke the men, before whom we +speake, the men against whom we speake, and al thecircumstances +which belong vnto the matter. If the matter be + + +100 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +honest, godly, and such as of right ought to be well liked, we +may vse an open beginning, and wil the hearers to reioyce, +and so go through with our parte. If the cause bee lothsome, +or such as will not be well borne with all, but needeth much +helpe and fauour of the hearers: it shalbe the speakers part +priuely to get fauour, & by humble talk to win their good +wils. First, requiring them to giue him the hearing, and next, +not streightly to giue iudgement, but with mercie to mitigate +all rigour of the Lawe. Or in a complaint made, which the +counsell shall greuously stomake, to exaggerate it the more, if +we see iust cause to sit it forwarde. And whereas many often +tymes are susspect to speake things of malice, or for hope of +gaine, or els for a set purpose, as who should say, this I can +doe: the wisest will euer more cleare themselues from all such +offences, and neuer giue any token so much as in them lieth, +of any light suspition.

+ +

In accusing any person, it is beast to heape all his faultes +together, and whereas any thing seemeth to make for him, to +extenuate the same to the vttermost. In defending any +person, it is wisedome to rehearse all his vertues first and +formost, and with asmuch arte as may be, to wipe away such +faultes as were laied to his charge. And before all things, +this would be well marked, that whensoeuer we shal largely +talke of any matter, we alwaies so inuent and finde out our +first enteraunce in the cause, that the same be for euer taken +euen from the nature and bowelles thereof, that all things +which shal first be spoken, may seeme to agree with the matter, +and not made as a shippe mans hose to serue for euery legge. +Three things most +meete for euery +Oratour. To make +the hearers to +vnderstand the +matter. +Now, whereas any long talke is vsed, the beginning thereof is +either taken of the matter self, or els of the persons that are +there present, or els of them against whom the action is +intended. And because the winning of victorie resteth in +three pointes. First, in apt teaching the hearers what the +matter is, next in getting them to giue good eare, and thirdly +in winning their fauor: We shall make them vnderstande the +matter easely, if first of all we begin to expounde it plainly +and in briefe words, setting out the meaning, make them +harken to their sayings. And by no meanes better shall the +standers by knowe what we say, and carie awaie that which +they heare, then if at the first we couch together, the whole + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +101 + +course of our tale in as small roome as we can, either by +defining the nature and substaunce of our matter, or els by +diuiding it in an apt order, so that neither the hearers be +troubled, with confounding of matter, and heaping one thing +in an others necke, nor yet their memorie dulled withouerthwart +rehearsall, and disorderly telling of our tale. Wee +shall make the people attentiue, and glad to heare vs, if we +To make hearers +attentiue. +wil promise them to speake of weightie matters, of wholsome +doctrine, such as they haue heretofore wanted: yea, if we +promise to tell them things concerning either their owne +profit, or the aduancement of their countrie, no doubt we shal +haue them diligent hearers. Or els if they like not to heare +weightie affaires, we may promise them strange newes, and +perswade them we will make them laugh, and think you not +that they will rather heare a foolish tale, then a wise & +wholsome counsail: Demosthenes therefore, seing at a time +the fondnesse of the people to be such, that he could not +Demosthenes tale +of the Asses shadow. +obtaine of them, to heare him speake his minde in an earnest +cause, concerning the wealth of his Countrey, required them +to tarie, and he would tel them a tale of Robin Hood. +Whereat they al staied, and longed to know what that should +be. He began streght to tell them, of one that had sold his +Asse to another man, wherevpon they both went forth to the +next Market toune, hauing with them the said Asse. And the +weather being somewhat hot, the first owner which had now +sold his asse, went to that side the Asse which kept him best +from the heate. The other being now the owner & in full +possession, would not suffer that, but required him to giue +place, and suffer him to take the best commodity of his own +Asse that he could haue, whereat the other answered and said: +nay by saint Marie sir, you serue me not so, I sold you the Asse, +but I solde you not the shadowe of the Asse, & therefore +pick you hence. When the people heard this, they laughed +apace, and likt it very well. Whervpon Demosthenes hauing won +them together by this mery toye, rebuked their folly, that were so +slack to heare good things, and so redy to here a tale of a Tub, +and thus hauing them attentiue, perswaded with them to heare +him in matters of great importance, the which otherwise he +could neuer haue done, if he had not taken this way with him.

+ +

We shall get the good willes of our hearers fower maner of + + +102 +The arte of Rhetorique[.] + +To get the +hearers good +will. +waies, either beginning to speake of our selues, or els of our +aduersaries, or els of the people and companie present, or last +of all, if we begin of the matter it selfe, and so goe through +with it. Wee shall get fauour for our owne sakes, if we shal +modestly set foorth our bounden dueties, and declare our +seruice done, without al suspition of vaunting, either to the +common weale, as in seruing either in the warres abroade, or +els in bearing some office at home, concerning the tranquility +of our countrie: or in helping our frends, kinsfolkes, and +poore neighbours, to declare our goodnesse done heretofore +towards them: and lastly, if wee shewe without all ostentation, +aswell our good willes towards the Iudges there, as also +pleasures done for them in tymes past to the vttermost of our +power. And if any thing seeme to let our cause by any +misreport, or euill behauiour of our partes heretofore: best it +were in most humble wise to seeke fauour, and sleightly to +auoyd all such offences laied to our charge.

+ +

We shall get fauour by speaking of our aduersaries, if wee +shall make such reporte of them, that the hearers shall either +hate to heare them, or vtterly enuie them, or els altogether +despise them. We shall sone make our aduersaries to bee +lothed, if wee shewe and set foorth some naughtie deede of +theirs, and declare how cruelly, how vily, and how maliciously +they haue vsed other men heretofore.

+ +

We shall make them to be enuied, if we report vnto the +Iudges that they beare themselues hault, and stout vpon their +wealthie freendes, and oppresse poore men by might, not +regarding their honestie, but seeking alwaies by hooke and +crooke, to robbe poore men of their Farmes, Leases, and +money. And by the way, declare some one thing that they +haue done, which honest eares would scant abide to heare.

+ +

We shall make them to bee set naught by, if we declare +what luskes they are, how vnthriftely they liue, how they doe +nothing from day to day, but eate, drinke, and sleepe, rather +seeking to liue like beastes, then minding to liue like men, +either in profiting their countrie, or in tendering their owne +commoditie, as by right they ought to doe.

+ +

We shall get good will, by speaking of the Iudges and +hearers: if wee shall commend their worthie doings, and +prayse their iust dealing, and faithfull execution of the Lawe, + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +103 + +and tell them in what estimation the whole countrey hath +them, for their vpright iudging and determining of matters, +and therefore in this cause needes must it be, that they must +answere their former doings, and iudge so of this matter, as +al good men haue opinion they will doe.

+ +

We shall finde fauour by speaking of the matter, if in +handling our owne cause, we commende it accordingly, and +dispraise the attempt of our aduersary, extenuating all his +chiefe purposes, so much as shall be necessarie.

+ +

Now resteth for me to speake of the other parte ofEnterance +into an Oration, which is called a close, or priuie getting +of fauour when the cause is daungerous, and cannot easely by +heard without displeasure.

+ +

Insinuation. +A priuie beginning, or creeping in, otherwise called +Insinuation, must then, and not els be vsed, when the Iudge +is greeued with vs, and our cause hated of the hearers.

+ +

The cause selfe oftentimes is not liked for three diuers +causes, if either the matter selfe be vnhonest, and not meete +to be vttered before an audience, or els if the Iudge himself +by a former tale be perswaded to take parte against vs, or last +if at that time we are forced to speake, when the Iudge is +weried with hearing of other. For the Iudge himselfe being +weried by hearing, will bee much more greeued if any thing +be spoken either ouermuch, or els against his liking. Yea +who seeth not that a weried man wil sone mislike a right good +matter? If the matter be so hainous that it can not be heard +without offence, (as if I should take a mans parte, who were +generally hated) wisedome were to let him goe, and take some +other whom all men liked: or if the cause were thought not +honest, to take some other in steede thereof which were better +liked, till they were better prepared to heare the other: so +that euermore nothing should be spoken at the first, but that +which might please the Iudge, and not to be acknowne once +to thinke of that, which yet we minde most of all to perswade. +Therefore, when the hearers are some what calmed, we may +enter by little and little into the matter, and say that those +things, which our aduersary doth mislike in the person +accused, we also doe mislike the same. And when the hearers +are thus wonne, wee may say that all which was saide nothing +toucheth vs, and that we minde to speake nothing at al + + +104 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +against our aduersaries, neither this way nor that way. +Neither were it wisedome openly to speake against them, +which are generally well esteemed and taken for honest men. +And yet it were not amisse for the furtherance of our owne +causes, closely to speake our phantasie, and so, streight to +aulter their hearts. Yea, and to tel the Iudges the like in +a like matter, that such and such iudgement hath been +giuen: And therefore at this time, considering the same case, +and the same necessitie, like iudgement is looked for. But +if the aduersarie haue so tolde his tale, that the Iudge is +wholly bent to giue sentence with hym, and that it is well +knowne, vnto what reasons the iudge moste leaned, and was +perswaded: we may first promise to weaken that, which the +aduersarie hath made most strong for himself, and confute +that parte, which the hearers did most esteeme, and best of all +like. Or els we may take aduauntage, of some part of our +aduersaries tale, and talke of that first, which he spake last: +or els begin so, as though wee doubted what were best first +to speake, or to what part it were most reason, first of all to +answere, wondering and taking God to witnesse, at the +strangenesse of his reporte, and confirmation of his cause. +For when the standers by, perceiue that the answerer (whome +the aduersaries thought in their minde, was wholly abashed) +feareth so little the obiections of his aduersarie, and is readie +to answere Ad omnia Quare, with a bolde countenance: They +will thinke that they themselues, rather gaue rash credite, +and were ouerlight in beleeuing the first tale: then that he, +which now answereth in his owne cause, speaketh without +ground, or presumeth vpon a stomack to speake for himselfe, +without iust consideration.

+ +

But if the time be so spent, and the tale so long in telling, +that all men be almost weried to heare any more: then we +must make promise at the first to be very short, and to lappe +vp our matter in fewe words.

+ +

Mirth making good +at the beginning. +And if time may so serue, it were good when men be +wearied to make them somwhat mery, and to begin with +some pleasaunt tale, or take an occasion to iest wittely, vppon +some thing then presently done.

+ +

Or if the time will not serue for pleasaunt tales, it were +good to tell some straunge thing, some terrible wonder, that +Straunge things sometime + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +105 + +needfull to be tolde +at the first. +they all may quake at the onely hearing of the same. For, +like as when a mans stomack is full, and can brooke no more +meate, hee may stirre his appetite, either by some Tart +sawce, or els quicken it somewhat by some sweete dish: Euen +so when the audience is wearied with weightie affaires, some +strange wonders may call vp their spirites, or els some merie +tale may cheare their heauie lookes.

+ +

And assuredly, it is no small cunning to moue the hearts of +men, either to mirth, or sadnesse: for he that hath such skill, +shall not lightly faile of his purpose, what soeuer matter he +taketh in hande.

+ +

Thus haue I taught what an enterance is, and how it +should be vsed. Notwithstanding, I thinke it not amisse, +often to rehearse this one point, that euermore the beginning +be not ouermuch laboured, nor curiously made, but rather +apt to the purpose, seeming vpon present occasion, euermore +to take place, and so to bee deuised, as though wee speake +altogether, without any great studie, framing rather our tale +to good reason, then our tongue to vaine painting of the +matter.

+ +

Enteraunces apt +to the purpose. +In all which discourse, whereas I haue framed all the +lessons and euery enterance properly, to serue for pleading at +the barre: yet assuredly, many of them may well helpe those: +that preache Gods trueth, & exhort men in open assemblies +to vpright dealing.

+ +

And no doubt, many of them haue much neede to knowe +this Arte, that the rather their tale may hang together, +whereas oftentimes they beginne as much from the matter, +as it is betwixt Douer and Barwike, whereat some take pitie, +and many for wearinesse can scant abide their beginning, it is +Enteraunces apt +for Preachers. +so long or they speake anything to the purpose. Therefore, +the learned Clarkes of this our time, haue thought it good, +that all Preachers should take their beginning, vpon the +occasion of such matter, as is there written, declaring why +and wherefore, and vpon what consideration such wordes were +in those dayes so spoken, that the reason giuen of such talke +then vttered, might serue well to beginne their Sermon. Or +els to gather some seuerall sentence at the first, which briefly +comprehendeth the whole matter following, or els to beginne +with some apt similitude, example, or wittie saying. Or + + +106 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +lastly, to declare what went before, and so to shewe that +which followeth after. Yea, sometymes to beginnelamentablie, +with an vnfained bewayling of sinne, and a terrible +declaring of Gods threates: Sometimes, to take occasion of a +matter newly done, or of the companie there present, so that +all waies the beginning be aunswerable to the matter following.

+ + +Of Narration. +

AFter the preface and first Enterance, the matter must be +opened, and euery thing liuely tolde, that the hearers +Narration. i. Briefe. +ii. Plaine. iii.Probable. +may fully perceiue what we goe about, nowe in reporting an +act done, or vttering the state of a controuersie, we must vse +these lessons, wherof the first is to be short, the next to bee +plaine, and the third is to speake likely, and with reason, +that the hearers may remember, vnderstand, and beleeue the +rather, such things as shall be saied.

+ +

And first whereas we should be short in telling the matter +as it lieth, the best is to speake no more than needes wee must, +not rauing it from the bottome, or telling bytales such as rude +Breuitie, how it +might be vsed. +people full oft doe, nor yet touching euery pointe, but telling +the whole in a grosse somme. And where as many matters +shall neither harme vs, nor yet doe vs good being brought in, +and reported by vs: it were well done not to medle with them +at all, nor yet twise to tell one thing, or report that which is +odious to be tolde againe. Notwithstanding this one thing +would be wel considered, that in seking to be short we be not +obscure. And therefore to make our matter plaine, that all +may vnderstand it, the best were first and formost to tell euery +thing in order so much as is needful, obseruing both the time, +the place, the maner of doing, and the circumstancesthereunto +Plainesse, how +it might be vsed. +belonging. Wherein good heed would be had that +nothing be doubtfully spoken, which may haue a doublemeaning, +nor yet any thing vttered that may make asmuch against +vs as with vs, but that all our wordes runne to confirme wholy +our matter. And surely if the matter be not so plainely told +that all may vnderstand it, wee shall doe little good in the rest +of our report. For in other partes of the Oration if we be +somwhat darke, it is lesse harme, wee may bee more plaine in +an other place. But if the Narration, or substaunce of the tale +be not well perceiued, the whole Oration besides is darkned +altogether. For to what ende should we goe about to proue + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +107 + +that, which the hearers knowe not what it is? Neither can +we haue any libertie to tell our tale againe after we haue once +tolde it, but must streight goe foorth and confirme that which we +haue saied, how soeuer it is. Therefore the reporting of our +tale, may sone appere plain if we first expresse our minde in +plaine words, and not seeke these roperipe termes, which +betraie rather a foole, then commende a wise man: and +againe, if we orderly obserue circumstaunces, and tell one thing +after an other, from time to time, not tumbling one tale in +anothers necke, telling halfe a tale, and so leauing it rawe, +hacking and hemming, as though our wittes and our senses were +a woll gathering. Neither should we suffer our tongue, to run +before our witte, but with much warenesse, set foorth our +matter, and speake our minde euermore with iudgement.

+ +

Probabilities how +it maie be vsed. +

+

We shall make our sayings appeare likely, and probable: +if we speake directly as the cause requireth, if we shewe the +verie purpose of all the deuise, and frame our inuention, +according as we shall thinke them most willing to allowe it, +that haue the hearing of it.

+ +

The Narration reported in matters of iudgement, shall seem +to stand with reason, if we make our talk to agree with the +place, time, thing, and person, if wee shall shewe thatwhatsoeuer +wee say, the same by all likelihoodes is true, if our +coniectures, tokens, reasons, and arguments bee such, that +neither in them, there appere any fabling, nor yet that any +thing was spoken, which might of right otherwise be taken, +Narration in +iudgement. +and that we not onely speake this, but that diuers other of +good credite will stand with vs in defence of the same, all +which reporting may sone be liked, and the tale so tolde, may +be thought very reasonable. Yea, wee shall make our doings +seeme reasonable, if we frame our worke to natures will, and +seeke none other meanes but such onely, as the honest and +wise haue euer vsed and allowed, bringing in and blaming the +euill alwayes, for such faultes chiefly, wherevnto they most of +all are like to be subiect, as to accuse a spende all, of theft: +a whoremonger, of adulterie: a rash quarreller, ofmanslaughter: +and so of other. Sometimes it is good andprofitable, +to bee merie and pleasaunt, in reporting a matter, +against some maner of man, and in some cause. For, neither +against all men that offende, nor yet against all matters, + + +108 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +Narration in praysing +andcounsell giuing. +should the wittie alwaies vse iesting. And now, for those +that shall tel their minde, in the other kindes of Oratorie, as +in the kinde Demonstratiue, Deliberatiue, in exhorting or +perswading: the learned haue thought meet that they must +also call the whole somme of their matter to one point, that +the rather the hearers may better perceiue, whereat they leuell all +Preachers what +order they vse. +their reasons. As if a Clarke doe take in hande to declare Gods +heft, he will after his enteraunce, tell what thing is chiefly +purposed in that place, and next after, shew other things +annexed therevnto, whereby not only the hearers may get +great learning, and take much profite of his doctrine: but he +himselfe may knowe the better what to say, what order to vse, +and when to make an ende.

+ +

Some do vse after the litterall sense, to gather a misticall +vnderstanding, and to expounde the sayings spiritually, making +their Narration altogether of things heauenly. Somerehearsing +a text particularly spoken, applie the same generally vnto +al states, enlarging the Narration most Godly, by comparing +words long agoe spoken, with things and matters that are +presently done. Notwithstanding, the auncient fathers, +because they did onely expounde the Scriptures for the most +parte, made no artificiall Narration, but vsed to followe such +order, as the plaine text gaue them. So that if euery sentence +were plainly opened to the hearers, they went not much farther, +sauing that when any word gaue them occasion to speake of +some vice, they would largely say their minde in that behalf: +as Chrisostome and Basile haue done with other.

+ +

The ware marking, and heedy obseruation of time, place, +and person, may teach all men (that be not past teaching) how +to frame their Narration in all controuersies, that are called +in question, and therefore, when present occasion shall giue +good instruction, what need more lessons? And especially, +feeling Nature teacheth what is comely, and what is not comely +for all tymes.

+ +

Yea, what tell I now of such lessons, seeing GOD hath +raised such worthy Preachers in this our tyme, that their Godly +and learned doings, may be a most iust example for all other +to followe: aswell for their liuing, as for their learning: +I feare me, the precepts be more in number, then will be well +kept, or followed this yere.

+ + + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +109 +Of Deuision. + + +

AFter our tale is tolde, and the hearers haue well learned +what we meane, the next is to reporte wherein the +aduersarie and wee can not agree, and what it is, wherein wee +doe agree. And then to parte out such principall pointes, +whereof we purpose fully to debate, and laie them out to be +knowen: that the hearers may plainly see, what wee will say, +and perceiue at a worde the substaunce of our meaning. Now, +Deuision of three +partes at the most. +Tullie would not haue a deuision to be made, of, or aboue +three partes at the moste, nor yet lesse then three neither, if +neede so require. For if we haue three chiefe groundes, +wherevpon to rest, applying all our arguments therevnto, we +shall both haue matter enough to speake of, the hearers shall +with ease vnderstande our meaning, and the whole Oration +shall sone bee at an ende. Notwithstanding, this lesson must +not so curiously bee kept, as though it were sinne to make the +deuision of fower, or fiue partes: but it was spoken for this +end, that the deuision should be made of as fewe as may be +possible, that men may the better carie it away, and the +reporter with more ease, may remember what he hath to saie. +Womenrebuked that +nurse not their owne +children. +Now in praising, or dispraising, in perswading, or disswading, +deuisions must also be vsed. As if one would enueigh against +those women, that will not giue their owne children sucke, he +might vse this deuision. Where as women commonly put +their children forth to nursing, I will proue, that it is both +against the lawe of Nature, and also against Gods holy wil: +againe I wil shewe that it is harmefull, both for the childes +bodie, and also for his witte: lastly I will proue that the +mother selfe, falleth into much sicknesse thereby.

+ +

First, Nature giueth milke to the woman, for none other +ende but that she should bestow it vpon her childe. And we +see beastes feede their yongones, and why should not Women? +GOD also commaunded all women, to bring vp their children.

+ +

Againe, the childrens bodies shall be so affected, as the +milke is which they receiue. Now, if the Nurse bee of an +euill complexion, or haue some hid disease, the childe sucking +of her breast, must needes take parte with her. And if that +be true, which the learned doe say, that the temperature of the +minde followes the constitution of the bodie, needes must +it be, that if the Nurse be of a naughtie nature, the childe + + +110 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +must take thereafter. But if it be, the Nurse be of a good +complexion, of an honest behauiour (whereas contrariwise, +Maidens that haue made a scape, are commonly called to be +Nurses) yet can it not be, but that the mothers milke should +be much more naturall for the childe, then the milke of +a stranger. As by experience, let a man bee long vsed to one +kinde of drinke, if the same man chaunge his ayre, and his +drinke, he is like to mislike it. Lastly, for the mothers, +howe are they troubled with sore breastes, besides other +diseases that happen through plentie of milke, the which +Phisitions can tell, and women full oft haue felt.

+ +

Likewise in speaking of fasting, I might vse this diuision. +First, it is Godly to faste, because the spirite is more free, and +apter for a good worke. Againe, it is wholsome, because +thereby euill humours are wasted, and many diseases either +clerely put away, or much abated of their tirannie. Lastly, +it is profitable, because men spend lesse money, the lesse +banqueting that they vse. Therefore, if men loue eitheir to +be wise, Godly, healthful, or wealthie, let them vse fasting +and forbeare excesse.

+ +

Now vpon a deuision, there might also be made asubdeuision, +as where I say it is Godly to fast, I might deuide +Godlinesse into the hearing of Gods worde, into praying +deuoutly, and charitable dealing with all the worlde.

+ +

Againe, speaking of health, I might say that the whole +body is not onely more lustie with moderate fasting, but also +more apt for all assaies. The learned man studieth better +when he fasteth, then when he is full. The counseler heareth +causes with lesse pain being emptie, then he shalbe able after +a full gorge.

+ +

Againe, whereas the fiue senses bring vs to the knowledge +of many things: the more apt that euery one is, the more +pleasure they bring euer with them. The eyes see more +clerely, the eares heare more quickly, the tongue rowleth +more roundly, and tasteth things better, our feeling is more +perfite: and the nose smeleth euill sauours the soner. +Philosophie deuided. +Philosophie is deuided, into the knowledge of things +naturall, things morall, and into that arte, which by reason +findeth out the trueth, commonly called Logique. Now, of +these three parts of Philosophie, I might make other three + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +111 + +subdiuisions, and largely set them out. But these may suffice +for this time.

+ +Of Propositions. +

QUintilian willeth, that straight and immediatly after the +Narration, there should also bee vsed such sentences as +might be full of pith, and containe in them the substaunce of +much matter, the rather that the hearers may be stirred vpon +the only report of some sentencious saying, or weightie text +in the Lawe. As in speaking largely against extortion, one +might after his reasons applied to the purpose, bring in +a pithie and sentencious proposition: as thus. Those hands +are euill that scratch out the eyes: and what other doe they +that by force robbe their Christian brethren: Woe bee to +that Realme, where might out goeth right. Or thus. When +rage doth rule, and reason doth want, what good man can +hope to liue long in rest. Also an act of a Realme, may well +serue to make a proposition. As thus. The Law is plaine: +that man shall die as an offender, whatsoeuer he be that +breaketh vp an other mans house, and seeketh by spoyle to +vndoe his neighbour. Now here is no man that doubteth, +but that thou hast done this deede, therefore what needes any +more, but that thou must suffer according to the law? In +Thankfulnesse, +what it is. +deuiding a matter, Propositions are vsed and orderly applied +for the better setting forth of the cause. As if I should +speake of thankfulnesse, I might first shew what isthankfulnesse, +next how needfull it is, and last how commendable and +profitable it is vniuersally? Thankfulnesse is a kinde of +remembring good will shewed, and an earnest desire to +requite the same. Without thankfulnesse no man would doe +for an other. The brute beastes haue these properties, and +therefore man cannot want them, without his great rebuke. +Some propositions are plaine spoken, without any cause or +reason added thereunto. As thus, I haue charged this man +with Felonie, as you haue heard, but he denieth it, therefore +Deuision of +propositions. +iudge you it I pray you. Sometimes a cause added, after the +aledging of a proposition. As thus: I haue accused this man +of felonie, because he tooke my purse by the hye way side, and +therefore I call for Iustice. Thus propositions might be +gathered, next and immediatly after the rehearsall of any +cause, and beautifie much the matter, beeing either alledged + + +112 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +with the cause annexed, or els being plainely spoken, without +giuing any reason at all.

 + +Of Confirmation of matters in iudgement. +

WHen we haue declared the chiefe points, whereunto we +purpose to referre all our reasons, wee must heape +matter, and finde out arguments to confirme the same to the +vttermost of our power, making first the strongest reasons +that wee can, and next after, gathering all the probable causes +together, that being in one heape, they may seeme strong and +of great weight. And whatsoeuer the aduersarie hath said +Causes ofconfirmation +two waies vsed. +against vs, to answere therevnto as time and place may best +serue. That if his reasons bee light, and more good may +bee done in confuting his, then in confirming our owne: it +were best of all to set vpon him, and put away by Art, all +that he hath fondly saied without wit. For prouing the +matter, and searching out the substance or nature of the +cause, the places of Logique must helpe to set it forwarde. +But when the person shall bee touched, and not the matter, +wee must seeke els where, and gather these places together. + +The name. +The maner of liuing. +Of what house he is, of what Countrey, and of what yeares. +The wealth of the man. +His behauiour or daiely enuring with things. +What nature he hath. +Wherevnto he is most giuen. +What he purposeth from time to time. +What he hath done heretofore. +What hath befalne vnto him heretofore. +What hee hath confessed, or what hee hath to say for himselfe. + +

+

IN well examining of all these matters much may bee saied, +and great likelihoodes may bee gathered either to or fro, +the which places I vsed heretofore, when I spake of matters +in Iudgement against the accused Souldier. Now in trying +the troth, by reasons gathered of the matter: wee must first +marke what was done at that time by the suspected person, +when such and such offences were committed. Yea, what he +did before this act was done. Again, the time must be + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +113 + +marked, the place, the maner of doing, and what heart he +bare him. As the opertunitie of doing, and the power he +had to doe this deede. The which all set together shall either +acquit him, or finde him giltie. These arguments serue to +confirme a matter in iudgement, for any hainous offence. +But in the other causes which are occupied, either in praising, +or dispraising, in perswading, or disswading, the places of +confirmation be such as are before rehearsed, as when we +commende a thing, to proue it thus. + + + + Honest to be done. + Profitable to be done. + Easie to be done. + Necessarie to be done. + +

+

ANd so of other in like maner, or els to vse in steed of +these the places of Logique. Therefore when wee goe +about to confirme any cause, wee maie gather these groundes +aboue rehearsed, and euen as the case requireth, so frame our +Confutation. +reasons. In confuting of causes the like may be had, as wee +vsed to proue: if we take the contrary of the same. For as +thinges are alledged, so they may be wrested, and as houses +are builded, so they be ouerthrowne. What though many +coniectures bee gathered, and diuers matters framed toouerthrowe +the defendant: yet wit may finde out bywaies to +escape, and such shiftes may be made, either in auoiding the +daunger by plaine deniall, or els by obiections, andrebounding +againe of reasons made, that small harme shall turne to +the accused person, though the presumptions of his offences +be great, and bee thought by good reason to be faultie. The +Places of Logique +mostneedfull. +places of Logique as I saied, cannot bee spared for theconfirmation +of any cause. For who is he that in confirming +a matter, will not knowe the nature of it, the cause of it, the +effect of it, what is agreeing thereunto, what likenesse there +is betwixt that and the other thinges, what examples may bee +vsed, what is contrary, and what can be said against it. +Therfore I wish that euery man should desire, & seeke to +haue his Logique perfit, before he looke to profite in Rhetorique, +considering the ground and confirmation of causes, is for the +most part gathered out of Logique.

+ + +

114 +The arte of Rhetorique. +

 +The Conclusion. +Conclusion, +what it is. +

A Conclusion, is the handsomely lapping vp together, and +briefe heaping of all that which was saied before, stirring +the hearers by large vtterance, and plentifull gathering of +good matter, either the one way or the other.

+ +

There are two parts of a conclusion, the one resteth in +gathering together briefly, all such arguments as were before +rehearsed, reporting the somme of them in as fewe wordes as +can bee, and yet after such a sorte, that much varietie bee +Conclusion of +two sorts. +vsed, both when the rehearsall is made, as also after the matter is +fullie reported. For if the repetition should be naked, and +only set forth in plaine words without any chaunge of speech, +or shift of Rhetorique, neither should the hearers take pleasure, +nor yet the matter take effect. Therefore, when the Orator +shall touch any place, which may giue iust cause to make an +exclamation, and stirre the hearers to bee sorie, to bee glad, +or to bee offended: it is necessarie to vse Art to thevttermost. +Or when he shall come to the repeating of an hainous +act, and the maner thereof: hee may set the Iudges on fire, +and heate them earnestly against the wicked offender. Thus +in repeating, Art may be vsed, and next with the onely +rehearsal, matters may bee handsomely gathered vp together. +The other part of a conclusion, resteth either in augmenting +and vehemently enlarging that, which before was in fewe +wordes spoken to set the Iudge or hearers in a heate: or els +to mittigate, & asswage displeasure conceiued with much +lamenting of the matter, and moouing them thereby the +rather to shewe mercie. Amplification is of two sorts, +whereof I will speake more at large in the next chapter. +The one resteth in wordes, the other in matter. Such wordes +must be vsed as bee of great weight, wherein either is some +Metaphore, or els some large vnderstanding is conteined. +Yea, wordes that fill the mouth and haue a sound with them, +set forth a matter very well. And sometimes wordes twise +spoken, make the matter appeare greater.

+ +

Againe, when we first speake our minde in lowe wordes, +and after vse weightier, the fault likewise seemeth the greater. +As when one had killed a Gentleman, thus might an other +amplifie his minde. For one slaue to strike an other, were +worthie of punishment, but what deserueth that wretch, which + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +115 + +not onely striketh a man, but striketh a Gentleman, and not +onely striketh a Gentleman, but cowardly killeth a Gentleman, +not giuing him one wound, but giuing him twentie. To kill +any man in such sort deserueth death, but what say you of him, +that not onely killeth him so, but also hangeth him most +spitefully vpon a Tree. And yet not content with that, but +scourgeth him and mangleth him when he is dead, & last of +al maketh a iest of his most naughtie deede, leauing a writing +there about the dead mans necke. Now then, seeing his +crueltie is such, that the onely killing can not content his +deuilish deede, and most deadly malice: I aske it for Gods +loue, and in the way of Iustice, that this wicked deuill may +suffer worthie death, and be punished to the example of al +other. Amplifying of the matter consisteth in heaping and +enlarging of those places, which serueth for confirmation of +a matter. As the definition, the cause, the consequent, the +contrary, the example, and such other.

+ +

Againe, amplification may bee vsed when wee make the +lawe to speake, the dead person to make his complaint, the +Countrey to crye out of such a deede. As if some worthie +man were cast away, to make the Countrie say thus: if +England could speake, would she not make such and such +complaintes? If the walles of such a citie or towne had +a tongue, would they not talke thus and thus? And to be +short, al such things should bee vsed, to make the cause seeme +great, which concerne God, or Common weale, or the Lawe +of Nature. For if any of these three bee hindered, wee haue +a large fielde to walke in. In praising or dispraising, wee +must exaggerate those places towardes the ende, which make +men wonder at the straungenesse of any thing. In perswading +or disswading the rehearsall of commodities, and heaping of +examples together increase much the matter. It were a great +labour to tell all the commodities, and all the properties +which belong vnto the conclusion. For such art may bee +vsed in this behalfe, that though the cause bee very euill, yet +a wittie man may get the ouerhand, if he be cunning in his +facultie.

+ +

Athenians forbad +conclusions. +The Athenians therefore did straightly forbid by a Lawe, to +vse any conclusion of the cause, or any enterance of the matter +to winne fauour. Cicero did herein so excell, that lightly he + + +116 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +got the victorie in all matters that euer he tooke in hand. Therefore +as iust praise ariseth by this part, so I doubt not but the +wittiest wil take most paines in this behalfe, and the honest +for euer will vse the defence of most honest matters. Weapons +may be abused for murther, and yet weapons are onely +ordeined for safegard.

 + +Of the figure Amplification. +

AMong all the figures of Rhetorique, there is no one that +so much helpeth forward an Oration, and beautifieth the +same with such delightfull ornaments, as doth amplification. +For if either wee purpose to make our tale appeare vehement, +to seeme pleasant, or to be well storied with copie: needes +must it be that here we seeke helpe, where helpe chiefly is to +be had, and not els where. And now because none shal better +Amplification. +be able to amplifie any matter, then those which best can +praise, or most dispraise any thing here vpon earth, I thinke it +needfull first of all, to gather such thinges together which helpe +best this way. Therefore in praising or dispraising, wee +must bee well stored euer with such good sentences, as are often +vsed in this our life, the which thorowe arte beeing increased, +helpe much to perswasion. As for example, where it is saied +(gentle behauiour winneth good will, and clerely quencheth +hatered) I might in commending a noble Gentleman for his +lowlinesse, declare at large how commendable and howprofitable +a thing gentle behauiour is, and of the other side, how +hatefull and how harmefull a proude disdainfull man is, and +how beastly a nature he hath, that being but a man, thinketh +himselfe better then any other man is, & also ouer good to + haue a match or fellowe in this life. As thus, if lowlinesse +and charitie maintaine life, what a beast is he that through + +Lowlinesse. +hatered will purchase death? If God warneth vs to loue one +an other, and learne of him to bee gentle, because he was +gentle and humble in heart: How cruell are they that dare +withstande his Commaundement? If the Subiect rebell +against his King, wee crye with one voyce, hang him, hang +him, and shall we not think him worthie the vilest death of all, +that being a creature, contemneth his Creatour, being a +mortall man, neglecteth his heauenly maker, beeing a vilde +moulde of Clay, setteth light by so mightie a GOD, and +euer liuing King? Beastes and birdes without reason loue one + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +117 + +an other, they shroude and they flocke together, and shall +men endued with such giftes, hate his euen Christian, and +eschue companie? When Sheepe doe stray, or Cattell do +striue one against an other, there are Dogges readie to call +them in: yea, they will bite them (as it hath beene full often +seene) if two fight together: and shall man want reason, to +barke against his lewde affections, or at the least shall he haue +none to checke him for his faultes, and force him to forgiue? +Backbiting +Likewise if you would rebuke one that giueth eare tobackbiters +and slaunderers, you must declare what a great +mischiefe an euill tongue is, what a poyson it is, yea, what +a murder to take a mans good name from him. We coumpt +him worthie death, that poysoneth a mans bodie, and shall +not he suffer the like paine, that poysoneth a mans honestie, +and seeketh to obscure and darken his estimation? Men be +wel excepted among the wise, not for their bodies, but for +their vertues. Now take away the thing whereby men are +commended: and what are men other then brute beastes? +For beastes doe nothing against Nature, but he that goeth +against honestie, the same man fighteth against Nature, +which would that all men should liue well. When a man is +killed secretly, we aske iudgement for the offendour, and shal +they escape without iudgement, that couertly murther a mans +soule? That separate him from God, that iudge him to Hell, +whose life hath euer been most heauenly? When our purse +is picked, we make straight search for it againe, and imprison +the offender, and shall we not seeke recouerie of our good +name, when euill tongues haue stained it? If our fame be +more prise, then is either Golde or groates, what meane wee +to bee so carelesse in keeping the one, and so carefull in +keeping the other? Fond is his purpose, that being in the +Raine, casteth his garment in a bush, and standeth naked +himself, for sauing the glosse of his gay coate. And yet +what other thing doe they, that esteeme the losse of money for +great lack, & compt not the losse of their honestie for any want +at all? Thus we see, that from vertue, and vice, such +amplifications may be made, and no doubt he that can praise, +or dispraise any thing plentifully, is able most copiously to +exaggerate any matter.

+ +

Againe, sentences gathered or heaped together, commende + + +118 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +Sentences gathered to +helpeamplification. +Reuengement forbidden. +much the matter. As if one should say, Reuengement +belongeth to GOD alone, and thereby exhort men to pacience. +He might bring in these sentences with him, and giue great +cause of much matter. No man is hurt but of himselfe, that +is to say: aduersitie or wrong suffering is no harme to him +that hath a constant heart, and liues vpright in all his doings.

+ +

He is more harmed that doth wrong, then he that hath +suffered wrong.

+ +

He is the stouter that contemneth, then he that committeth +wrong.

+ +

Yea, he gaineth not a little, that had rather suffer much +losse, then trie his right by contention.

+ +

Gaine got by fraude, is harme and no gaine.

+ +

There is no greater victorie, then for man to rule his +affections.

+ +

It is a greater matter to ouercome anger, then to winne a +fortresse or tower.

+ +

There is no greater token of a noble heart, then tocontemne +wrong.

+ +

He that requiteth euill for euil, through hatred of an euil +man, is made euill himself, and therefore worthie to be hated.

+ +

He that contemneth his enemie in battaile, is coumpted a +good man of warre, and a wise.

+ +

He that requiteth good for euill, is an Angell of God.

+ +

He that mindeth reuengement, is at the next doore to man +slaughter.

+ +

God is moued with nothing soner to forgiue vs our offences, +then if we for his sake, forgiue one an other.

+ +

The requiting of iniuries, hath no ende.

+ +

Strife is best ended through pacience.

+ +

Anger is a madnesse, differing from it in this point only, +that anger is short and tarieth not long, madnesse abideth +still.

+ +

It is a follie to suffer the fome of a horse, or the striking of +his foote, and not abide any thing that a foole doth, or +a naughtie disposed fellowe speaketh.

+ +

No man trusteth a dronkard: and yet seeing thedronkennesse +of rage, and madnesse of anger, are much moredaungerous +then surfetting with Wine: he doth foolishly that +trusteth his owne wit any thing, when he is in a rage.

+ + +

The arte of Rhetorique. +119 +

+

Good deedes should alwaies bee remembred, wrong doing +should sone be forgiuen, and sone be forgotten. +Liberalitiecommended +with heapes of sentences.

+ +

Againe for liberalitie, these sentences might serue.

+ +

It is the propertie of God, to helpe man.

+ +

He hath receiued a good turne by giuing, that hath +bestowed his liberalitie vpon a worthie man.

+ +

He giueth twise, that giueth sone and cherefully.

+ +

God loueth the glad giuer.

+ +

It is a point of liberalitie, sometime to lose a good turne.

+ +

Hee that giueth to him that euill vse it, giueth no +good thing but an euill thing.

+ +

Nothing is more safe laied vp, then is that which is +bestowed vpon good folke.

+ +

Be not afraied to sowe good fruite.

+ +

Nothing is better giuen to Christ, then is that which is +giuen to the poore.

+ +

No one man is borne for himselfe.

+ +

He is vnworthie to haue, that hath onely for himselfe.

+ +

The third kind of amplification, is when we gather such +sentences as are commonly spoken, or els vse to speake of +such things as are notable in this life. Of the first, these +Prouerbes alledged +helpamplification. +may bee examples. In lamenting the miserie of Wardships, +I might say, it is not for nought, so commonly saied: I will +handle you like a Warde. She is a steppe mother to me, +that is to say, she is not a naturall mother: who is worse shod +then the Shoomakers wife? That is to say: Gentlemens +children full oft are kept but meanly. Trot sire, and trot +damme, how should the Fole amble, that is, when both father +and mother were nought, it is not like that the childe will +proue good, without an especiall grace of God.

+ +

Likerish of tongue, light of taile: That is, he or she that +will fare daintely, will oft liue full wantonlie. Sone ripe, +sone rotten. Honour chaungeth maners. Enough is as good +as a feast. It is an euill Cooke, that cannot licke his owne +fingers. I will soner trust mine eye, then mine eare. But +what neede I heape all these together, seeing Heywooddes +Prouerbes are in Print, where plenty are to be had: whose +paines in that behalf, are worthie immortall praise.

+ +

Thinges notable in this life are those, the which chaunce to +fewe: As this: To see a man of an hundred yeares of age. +Thinges notable or straunge, + + +120 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +helpeforward +amplification. +A yong childe as sober, as a man of fiftie yeares. A woman +that hath had twentie and fower children. A man once +worth three or fower thousand pound, now not worth a +groate. A young man fairer then a woman. A woman that +hath had seuen or eight husbands. A man able to drawe +a yarde in his Bowe, besides the feathers. A man merie +now, and dead within halfe an hower after. There is none +of all these, but serue much to make our talke appeare +vehement, and encrease the weight of communication. As +for example. If one would perswade an olde man to +contemne the vanities of this world, he might vse the examples +of sodaine death, and shewe that children haue died in their +mothers lappe, some in their Cradle, some striplinges, some +elder, and that not one among a thousand commeth to three +score yeares. Or bee it that some liue an hundred yeares, +beyond the which, not one in this last age passeth. What is +there in this life, for the which any man should desire to +liue long, seeing that old age bringeth this onely commoditie +with it, that by long liuing we see many things that wee +would not see, and that many a man hath shortened his life, +for wearinesse of this wretched worlde. Or what though +some pleasures are to be had in this life, what are they all to +the pleasures of the life to come? Likewise in speaking of +euill happe, I might bring him in that was once worth three +thousand pounde, and is not now worth three groates, and +perswade men either to set light by riches, or els to comfort +them, and perswade them not to take thought, seeing great +harme happened to other heretofore, and time may come +when God will send better. These sentences aboue rehearsed, +being largely amplified, encrease much any such kinde of +matter.

 + +What is Amplification[?] +

AMplification is a figure in Rhetorique, which consisteth +most in augmenting, and diminishing of any matter, and +that diuers waies.

 + +The deuision of amplification. +

AMplification and diminishing, either is taken out of the +substances in thinges, or els of wordes. Out of the +substances and matter affections are deruied: out of wordes +such kindes of amplifications as I will now shewe, and partly + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +121 + +haue shewed before, when I spake of the conclusion, or lapping +vp of any matter.

+ +

The first kinde of amplification is, when by changing +a word, in augmenting wee vse a greater, but in diminishing, +wee vse a lesse. Of the first this may bee an example. When +I see one sore beaten, to say he is slaine: to call a naughtie +fellowe theefe, or hangman, when he is not knowne to be any +such. To call a woman that hath made a scape, a common +Harlot: to call an Alehouse haunter a dronkard: to call +one that is troubled with Choler and often angrie, a mad man: +to call a pleasaunt Gentleman, a rayling Iester: to call a +couetous man a Deuill.

+ +

Or the latter, these examples shalbe: when one hath sore +beaten his fellow, for the same man to say, that he hath scant +touched him. When one hath sore wounded an other, to say +he hurt him but a little: when one is sore sicke, to bee said +Diminution. +he is a little crased. In like maner also, when wee giue vices +the names of vertues: as when I call him that is a cruell or +mercilesse man, somewhat sore in iudgement. When I call a +naturall foole, a plaine simple man: when I call a notable +flatterer, a faire spoken man: a glutton, a good fellowe at his +Table: a spendall, a liberall Gentleman: A snudge or pinch +penie, a good husband, a thriftie man.

+ +

Now in all these kindes, where wordes are amplified they +seeme much greater, if by correction the sentence be vttered, +and greater wordes compared with them, for whom they +are vttered. In the which kinde of speech, we shall seeme as +though we went vp by stayers, not only to the toppe of +Correction. +a thing, but also aboue the top. There is an example here of +in the seuenth action that Tullie made against Verres. It is +an offence, to binde a Citezein of Roome with chaines, it is +an hainous deede to whip him: it is worse then manslaughter +to kill him, what shall I call it to hang him vp vpon a Gibbet? +If one would commende the aucthoritie, which he alledgeth, +he might say thus. These wordes are no fables vttered +among men, but an assured trueth left vnto vs by writing, +and yet not by any common writing, but by such as all the +world hath confirmed and agreed vpon, that it is autentique +and canonicall: neither are they the words of one that is the +common sort, but they are the wordes of a Doctor in the + + +122 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +Church of God, and yet not the wordes of a Deuine, or +Doctor of the common sort, but of an Apostle: and yet +not one that is the worst, but of Paule that is the best of all +other: and yet not Paules, but rather the words of the holy +Ghost, speaking by the mouth of Paule. He that loueth to +enlarge by this kinde, must marke well the circumstaunces of +thinges, and heaping them altogether, hee shall with ease +espie how one thing riseth aboue an other. And because the +vse hereof extendeth largely, I will largely vse examples. As +thus. If a Gentleman & an officer of the Kings, beingouercharged +at Supper with ouer much drinke, and surfetting with +gorge vpon gorge, should vomite the next day in the +Parliament house: I might enueigh thus: O shamefull deede, +not onely in sight to be lothed, but also odious of all men to +be heard. If thou haddest done this deede at thine house, +being at Supper with thy wife and children, who would not +haue thought it a filthie deed? But now for thee to doe it +in the Parliament house, among so many Gentlemen, and +such, yea, the best in all England, beeing both an Officer of +the Kings, and a man of much authoritie, and there to cast +out gobbettes (where belching were thought great shame) yea +and such gobbets as none could abide the smell, and to fill +the whole house with euill fauour, and thy whole bosome with +much filthines, what an abhominable shame is it aboue all +other? It had beene a foule deede of it selfe, to vomite +where no such gentlemen were: yea, where no gentlemen +were: yea where no English men were: yea, where no men +were: yea, where no companie were at all: or it had beene +euill, if he had borne no maner of office, or had beene no +publique officer, or had not bene the Kings officer: but being +not onely an officer, but a publique officer, and that the +Kings officer: yea, and such a Kings, and doing such +a deede: I cannot tell in the world, what to say to him. +Diuers examples may bee inuented like vnto this. As thus, +against an hedd Officer in a Noble mans house, I might +enueigh thus. Now Lord, what a man is he, he was not +ashamed being a Gentleman, yea, a man of good yeares, and +much aucthoritie, and the hedd Officer of a Dukes house, to +play at Dice in an Alehouse with boyes, bawdes and verlets. +It had beene a great fault to play at so vile a game among + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +123 + +such vile persons, being not Gentleman, being no officer, +being not of such yeares: but being both a man of faire +Lands, of an auncient house, of great aucthoritie, an Officer +of a Duke, yea, and to such a Duke, and a man of such yeares, +that his white heares should warne him to auoyd al such +follie, to play at such a game with such Roysters and such +verlets, yea, and that in such an house as none comes thither +but Theeues, Bawdes, and Ruffians: now before God, I +cannot speake shame enough on him.

+ +

There is an other kinde of Amplification, when vnto the +hiest there is added some thing higher then it is. As thus. +There is no better Preacher among them all, except Hugh +Latimer, the Father of al Preachers. There is no better +Latine man within England, except Gualter Haddon the +Lawyer. Againe, we amplifie a matter not ascending by +degrees, but speaking that thing onely, then the which no +greater thing can be spoken. As thus. Thou hast killed +thine owne Mother, what shall I say more, thou hast killed +thine owne Mother. Thou hast deceiued thy Soueraigne +Lorde and King, what shall I say more, thou hast deceiued thy +Soueraigne Lord and King.

+ +

Sometime we amplifie by comparing, and take our ground +vpon the weakest and least, the which if they seeme great, then +must that needes appeare great, which wee would amplifie +and increase. As Tullie against Catiline. My seruaunts in +good soth, if they feared me in such sort, as all the Citizens +doe feare thee: I would thinke it best for me to forsake my +house. Thus by vsing the least first, this sentence is increased, +fewe seruaunts are compared with all the Citizens, bondmen +are compared with free men: Tullie their Maister, is compared +with Catiline the Traytour, which was neither Lorde nor +ruler ouer the Citizeins: and Tullies house is compared with +the Citie.

+ +

By comparing of examples, we vse also to encrease our +matter. As thus. Did the Maior of London thrust through +Iacke Strawe, being but a verlet rebell, and onely disquieting +the Citie: and shal the King suffer Captaine Kete to liue in +Englands ground, and enioye the fruites of the Realme, +being a most tyrannous Traytour, and such a Rebell as +sought to ouerthrowe the whole Realme.

+ + +

124 +The arte of Rhetorique. +

+

Here is Iacke Strawe compared with Captain Kete, the +Citie of London with the whole Realme, the Maior with the +King. So that if he which is a priuate person, and hath no +power of death, might punish with death the disquieting of a +Citie: the King himselfe hauing all power in his hand, maie +iustly punish him, that seeketh to ouerthrowe his whole +Realme.

+ +

The places of Logique helpe oft for Amplification. As +where men haue a wrong opinion, and thinke Theft a greater +fault than slaunder, one might proue the contrarie, as well by +circumstaunces, as by arguments. And first he might shewe +that slaunder is Theft, and euery slaunderer is a Theefe. For +Slaunder a greater +offence then Theft. +as well the slaunderer as the Theefe, doe take away an other +mans possession against the owners will. After that he might +shewe, that a slaunderer is worse then any Theefe, because +a good name is better then all the goodes in the world, and +that the losse of money may be recouered, but the losse of +a mans good name, cannot bee called backe againe, and +a Theefe may restore that againe, which he hath taken away, +but a slaunderer cannot giue a man his good name againe, +which he hath taken from him. Againe, he that stealeth +goodes or cattell, robbes onely but one man, but an euill +tongued man infecteth all their mindes: vnto whose eares +this report shall come.

+ +

Besides this, there are Lawes and remedies to subdue +Theeues: but there is no lawe against an euill tongue. +Againe, al such hainous offences, are euer the more greuously +punished, the more closely and more craftely they are +committed. As it is thought a greater fault to kill one with +poyson, then to kill him with the sworde, and a more hainous +offence to commit murther, then to commit manslaughter: +wee may gather an argument also from the instrument or +maner of doing. As a theefe hath done this offence with +his hande, a slaunderer hath done it with his tongue. Againe, +by the iudgement of all men, enchauntment is a notable euil: +but they that infect a Prince or King with wicked counsail, +are not they more wicked enchaunters, considering they doe +as much, as if one should poyson a Conduite head, or a Riuer, +from whence all men fetch their water. And yet they doe +more, for it is a greater fault to poyson the minde, then the + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +125 + +bodie. Thus by the places and circumstaunces, great matters +might be made.

+ +

By contraries set together, things oftentimes appearre +greater. As if one should set Lukes Veluet against Geane +Veluet, the Lukes will appeare better, and the Geane will +seeme worser. Or set a faire woman against a foule, and she +shal seeme much the fairer, and the other much the fouler. +According whereunto there is a saying in Logique: Contraria +inter se opposita magis elucescunt. That is to say. Contraries +being set the one against the other, appeare more +euident. Therfore, if any one be disposed to set forth +chastitie, he may bring in of the contrary part whoredome, +and shewe what a foule offence it is to liue so vncleanly, and +then the deformitie of whoredome, shall much set forth +chastitie: or if one bee disposed to perswade his fellowe to +learning and knowledge, he may shewe of the contrarie, what +a naked wretch man is: yea, how much a man is no man, +and the life no life, when learning once wanteth. The like +helpe we maie haue by comparing like examples together, +either of creatures liuing or of thinges not liuing: as in +Storkes. +speaking of constancie, to shewe the Sunne, who euer keepeth +one course: in speaking of inconstancie, to shewe the Moone +which keepeth no certaine course. Againe, in young +Storkes, we may take an example of loue towards their +damme, for when she is old, and not able for her crooked bill +to picke meate, the yong ones feede her. In yong Vipers +Vipers. +there is a contrary example (for as Plinie saieth) they eate out +their dammes wombe, and so come forth. In Hennes there +is a care to bring vp their Chickens: in Egles the contrary, +which cast out their Egges, if they haue any moe then three: +and all because they would not be troubled with bringing vp +of many.

+ +

There is also a notable kinde of amplification, when we +would extenuate and make lesse great faultes, which before +wee did largely increase: to the ende that other faultes might +seeme the greatest aboue all other. As if one had robbed his +Maister, thrust his fellowe through the arme, accompanied +with Harlots, kept the Tauerne till he had bene as dronke +as a Ratte. To say after a large Inuectiue, against all these +offences. You haue heard a whole Court role of Ribaudrie, + + +126 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +and yet all these are but flea bitings, in respect andcomparison +of that, which I shal now shew you. Who doth not +looke for marueilous great matter, and a most hainous offence, +when these faultes that are thought most greeuous, are +coumpted but flea bytings, in respect and comparison of +that, which he mindeth to rehearse? In like maner one +might exhort the people to godlinesse, and whereas he hath +set forth all the commodities that followe the same, as in +shewing a quiet conscience, not giltie of any great fault, the +libertie of the Spirite, the peace which we haue with GOD, +the fellowshippe with all the elect, for the seruaunt of Sathan, +to bee the sonne of God, the comfort of the soule, thegreatnesse +whereof no man is able to conceiue: to say at length, +and what can be greater, what can be more excellent, or more +blisfull? And yet al these are small matters, if they be +compared with the blessed inheritaunce of the euer liuing +God, prepared for all those that liue godly here vpon earth, +fastning their whole trust vpon Christ aboue, which both is +able, and will saue all those, that call vnto him with faith. +We doe encrease our cause by reasoning the matter, and +casting our accoumpt, when either by things that followe, or +by thinges that goe before, or els by such things as are +annexed with the matter, wee giue sentence how great the +thing is. By thinges going before, I iudge when I see an +enuious or hastie man, fight with an other as hastie, that +there is like to bee bloudshed. As who should say, can +enuious or hastie men match together, but that they must +needes trie the matter with bloudshedding. Assuredly it +cannot be otherwise, but that blood must appease their rage. +Likewise, seing two wise men earnestly talking together, +I cannot otherwise iudge, but that their talke must needes bee +wittie, and concerne some weightie matter. For to what +ende should wise men ioyne, or wherefore should they laie +their heddes together, if it were not for some earnest cause? +What a shame is it for a strong man, of much health, and +great manhood, to be ouercome with a cuppe of drinke. +From thinges ioyned with the cause, thus. A woman hauing +her housband emprisoned, and in daunger of death, sodainly +stept before the King and craued his pardon. Bold was that +woman, which durst aduenture to kneele before a King, + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +127 + +whose housband had so greeuously offended. Though women +by nature are fearefull, yet in her appeared a manly stomacke, +and a good bolde harte, yea, euen in greatest daunger. By +thinges that followe, thus. All England lament the death of +Duke Henry, and Duke Charles, two noble brethren of the +house of Suffolk. Then may we well iudge that these two +Gentlemen, were wonderfully beloued, when they both were +so lamented.

+ +

There is a kinde of amplifying, when in speaking of two +that fought together, we praise him much that had the worse, +because we would the other to haue more praise. Considering +for a man to beate a boye, it were no praise, but for a tall +man to match with an other, that were as tall as him self: +that were somwhat worth. Therefore, I would haue the +Scottes well praised, whom the Englishmen haue so often +vanquished. He that praiseth much the strong holde of +Boleine, must needes thereby praise King Henry the eight of +Englande, who by Martiall power wonne it, and kept it all +his life tyme. Or thus: such a one keepes a marueilous good +house, for the worst boye in his house, drinkes one and the +same drinke with his Maister: and all one bread, yea, euery +one hath his meate in siluer, Chamber vessels, and all are of +siluer. Wee iudge by Apparell, by Armour, or by harnesse, +what a man is of stature or bignesse. We iudge by occasion +the goodnes of men, as when they might haue done harme, +they would not: when they might haue slaine, they sought +rather to saue. From the place were one is, encrease may be +gathered. As thus. Being euen in the Court he was neuer +moued to gaming: being at Rome, he hated Harlots, where +there is by report, so great plentie as there are starres in the +Element.

+ +

From the time thus, hee must needes bee well learned in +the lawes of our Realme, that hath bene a student this thirtie +Winter.

+ +

From the age: assuredly, he is like to be good, for being +but a childe he was euer most Godly.

+ +

From the state of life: no doubt but he is honest, for being +but a seruaunt, he liued so vprightly, as none could iustly +blame his life.

+ +

From the hardnesse of a thing. That which is almost + + +128 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +onely proper to Angels, must needes be hard for man: +therefore, Chastitie is a rare gift, and hard for man to keepe.

+ +

From the straightnesse of a thing. Eloquence must needes +be a wonderfull thing, when so fewe haue attained it.

+ +

Likewise, notable aduentures done by a fewe, are more +praise worthie, then such as haue bene done by a great +number. Therefore, the battaile of Muskelborowe, against +the Scottes, where so fewe Englishmen were slaine, and so +many Scottes dispatched: must needes be more praise worthie, +then if the nomber of Englishmen had bene greater.

+ +

Vehemencie of words, full often helpe the matter forwardes +when more is gathered by cogitation, then if the thing had +bene spoken in plaine wordes. When we heare one saie, +such a man swelled, seeing a thing against his minde, we +gather that he was then more then halfe angry. Againe, +when we heare one say, such a woman spittes fire, we gather +straight that she is a deuill. The Preacher thundered in the +Pulpit, belike then he was meetely hotte. But concerning all +such speeches, the knowledge of a Metaphore, shall bring men +to much knowledge, whereof I wil speake hereafter among +the figures: and therefore, I surcease to speake of it in this +place.

+ +

We encrease our cause, by heaping of words and sentences +together, touching many reasons into one corner, which +before were scattered abroade, to the intent that our talke +might appere more vehement. As when by many coniectures +and greate presumptions, we gather that one is an offendour, +Amplification +by coniectures. +heaping them all into one plumpe, which before were sparpled +abroade, and therefore did but little good. As thus: to +proue by coniectures, a murder committed, I might thus say, +against a suspected person. My Lordes, doe not weye my +wordes and sentences seuerally, but consider them altogether. +If the accused person here, shal receiue profite by this other +mans death, if his life heretofore hath euer been euill, his +nature couetous, his wealth most slender, and that this dead +mans goods could turne to no mans auaile so much, as vnto +this accused person, and that no man could so easily dispatch +hym, and that this man could by no better meanes compasse +his desire, and that nothing hath beene vnattempted, which +might further his naughtie purpose, and nothing done, that + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +129 + +was thought needlesse, and seeing a meete place, was chiefly +sought for, and occasion serued very well, and the tyme was +most apt for such an attempt, and many meanes heretofore +deuised to compasse this offence, and great hope both to +keepe it close, and also to dispatche it, and besides that, +seeing this man was seene alone, a little before in the same +place where this other man was slaine, and that this mans +voyce which did slaie hym was heard a little before in the +same place, where this other man was slain, and seeing it is well +knowne that this man came home late the same night, and +the next day after being examined, did answere confusedly, +fearefully, and as though he were amased, and seeing all these +things are partly shewed by witnesses, partly by good reason, +partly by his owne confession, and partly by the reporte that +commonly goeth of hym, which by like is not spoken without +some ground: It shall be your partes, worthy Iudges, weying +all these things together, to giue certaine iudgement of him +for his offence, and not to thinke it a matter of suspition. +For it might haue been, that three or fower of theseconiectures +beeing prooued, might giue but only a cause of +suspition, but whereas al these together are plainly proued by +him, it can not be otherwise but that he hath offended.

+ +

It is an excellent kinde of amplifying, when things encreased, +and things diminished, are both sette together, that the one +may the rather beautifie the other. As if, when Godsgoodnesse +towards vs, were largely amplified, wee did straight +extenuate our vnthankfulnesse towards him againe. As thus: +Seing God hath made man a creature vnto his owne likenesse, +seeing he hath giuen him life, and the spirite of vnderstanding, +endewing hym with his manifold graces, & redeming him, +not with vile money, but with his owne precious body, +suffering death, and blouddsheding vppon the Crosse, the +rather that man might liue for euer: what an vnthankfull +part is it, yea, what an hainous thing it is for man so oft to +offende, so oft to wallowe in such his wickednesse, and +euermore for Gods louing kindnesse, to shewe himselfe of all +other creatures most vnkinde.

+ +

Likewise, contraries being rehearsed, and the euillimmediatly +vttered after the good, make much for encrease. +As many men now a daies for Sobrietie, follow Gluttonie: + + +130 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +for Chastitie, take Lecherie: for trueth, like falshood: for +gentlenesse, seeke crueltie: for Iustice, vse wrong dealing: +for Heauen, Hel: for God, the Deuill: to whom they will +without peraduenture, if Gods grace be not greater.

 + +Of mouing affections. +

BEcause the beautie of amplifying, standeth most in apt +mouing of affections: It is needfull to speake somewhat +in this behalfe, that the better it may be knowen what they +are, and howe it may bee vsed. Affections therefore (called +Passions) are none other thing, but a stirring or forsing of the +minde, either to desire, or els to detest and loth any thing, +more vehemently then by nature we are commonly wont to doe. +Affections +mouing. +We desire those things, we loue them, and like them earnestly, +that appeare in our iudgement to be godly: wee hate and +abhorre those things that seeme naught, vngodly, or harmefull +vnto vs. Neither onely are wee moued with those things, which +wee thinke either hurtfull, or profitable for our selues, but also +we reioyce, we be sorie, or wee pittie an other mans happe.

+ +

And euermore there are two things, which mooue vs either +this waie, or that waie. The matter selfe which doth happen, +or is like to happen: and the person also whom the matter +doth concerne. As for example: If a wicked wretch haue +his desertes, we are all glad to heare it, but if an innocent +should be cast awaie, we thinke much of it, and in stomacke +repine against wrong iudgement. If an euill man finde much +fauour, we enuie his good hap, yea, it greeueth vs, that any +one such, should haue such fauour shewed: and not onely +doe we hate the euill that are come to any wealth, but also +we enuie commonly all such as come to any preferment, +especially, if either they haue bene as poore men as we are, +or els came of a meaner house then we haue done. Noe one +man would haue any to be better then himself, and euery one +enhableth his owne gooddes, to deserue like dignitie with the +best. And where as some haue gotte before, starting sodainly +from an inch to an ell, we spare not to say, that flatterie +made them speed, and though they haue much goodes, yet +are they clere voyde of all goodnesse, and therefore much +good may it do them, we would not come by goodes in such +sort, to winne all the worlde. For the deuill and they (say +wee) shall part stakes with them one day. And thus we can + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +131 + +neuer be content to giue our neighbour a good worde. Yea, +though they haue serued right well, and deserued a greater +reward, wee must needes finde some fault with them to lessen +their praises, and say that though their desertes be greate, +yet their natures are nought: none so proude, though fewe +bee so hardie, none so enuious, though few so faithful: none +so couetous though fewe so liberall: none so gluttonous, though +fewe keepe such an house. And thus, though we graunt them one +thing, yet we will take an other thing as fast againe from them.

+ +

Such a man is an excellent fellow (saith one) he can speake +the tongues well, he plaies of Instruments, fewe men better, +he feigneth to the Lute, marueilous sweetely, he endites +excellently, but for all this (the more is the pitie) he hath his +faultes, he wil be dronke once a day, he loues women well, +Withpraysing, +dispraysing vsed. +he will spend Gods Coope if he had it, he will not tary long +in one place, and he is somewhat large of his tongue. That +if these faultes were not, surely he were an excellent fellowe. +Euen as one should saie: if it were not for lying and stealing, +there were not an honester man then such a one is, that +perchaunce hath some one good qualitie to set him forward. +These buttes be too broade, and these barres be ouer bigge, +for looke what is giuen to one by commending, the same is +straight taken away by butting. Therefore, such are not to +bee liked that giue a man a shoulder of Mutton, and breake +his head with the Spitte when they haue done. And yet, this +is many a mans nature, especially, where enuie hath any +grounded dwelling place, whose propertie is alwaies to speake +nothing of other, without reproach and slaunder.

+ +

In mouing affections, and stirring the Iudges to be greeued, +the waight of the matter must be set forth, as though they +sawe it plaine before their eyes, the report must be such, and +Description of an +euill and wicked offence +done. +the offence made so hainous, that the like hath not bene seen +heretofore, and all the circumstaunce must thus be heaped +together: The naughtinesse of his nature that did the deede, +the cruell ordering, the wicked dealing, and malicioushandling, +the tyme, the place, the maner of his doing, and the +wickednesse of his will to haue done more. The man that +sustained the wrong, how litle he deserued, how well hee was +esteemed among his neighbours, how small cause he gaue him, +how great lack men haue of him. Now, if this be not + + +132 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +reformed, no good man shall liue saufe, the wicked willouerflow +all the world, and best it were for saufegard to be nought +also, and so take part with them, for no good man shall go +quiet for them if there be not speedie redresse found, and this +fault punished to the example of all other.

+ +

Quintilian coucheth together in these fewe wordes, the full +heape of such an hainous matter, by gathering it vp after this +sorte. + + What is done. + By whom. + Against whom. + Vpon what mind. + At what time. + In what place. + After what sorte. + How much he would haue done. +

+

What is done. +By whom.

+

IF one be beaten blacke and blewe, we take it greeuously: +But if one be slaine, wee are much more troubled. Againe, +if a slaue or ruffine shall doe such a deede, we are displeased: +but if an officer, a Preacher, or an hed Gentleman should vse +any slauerie, we are much more greeued. Yea, for if a very +Against whom. +Vpon what minde. +notable euill man commit such an horrible offence, wee +thinke him worthie to haue the lesse fauour. If a sturdie +fellow be stroken, wee are not so much disquieted, as if +a childe, a woman, an aged man, a good man, or a chiefe +officer, should be euil vsed. If the offence be committed +vpon a prepensed minde, and wilfully, wee make much more +a doe, then if it were done by chauncemedly. If it be done +At what time. +In what place. +vpon an holy daie, or els vpon the day of Assise, or vpon the +daie of a Kings Coronation, or about such a solempne time, +or if it be done in the night, rather then at noone daies, we +make the matter greater, then if it had beene done at an +other time. In the Court if one strike a man, it is thought +greater, then if he should strike him in the open streate. +The maner of doing also, doth much moue the pacience of men, +After what sorte. +as if one should cowardly kill one, and strike him sodainely, +he were worthie greater blame, then if hee should manfully +set vpon him: or if one kill his fellowe secretly with a Gunne, +he were worthie more hatred, then if he killed him with +a sworde, or if he wounded him sore, or cruelly mangeled him, + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +133 + +How much he wold. +we crie out much more then if he had barely killed him. And +last of all, if his will had bene to haue done much more then +he did: we encrease our anger against his rage much more, +then euer wee would els haue done.

 + +Of mouing pitie. +

NOW in mouing pitie, and stirring men to mercie, +the wrong done, must first be plainly tolde: or if the +Iudges haue sustained the like extremitie, the best were to wil +them, to remember their owne state, how they haue bene +abused in like maner, what wrongs they haue suffered by +wicked doers: that by hearing their owne, they may the +better harken to others.

+ +

Againe, whereas all other miseries that befall vnto man, +are greeuous to the eare, there is nothing more hainous, then +to heare that the most honest men are sonest ouerthrowen, by +them that are most wicked, and vertue put to flight through +the only might of vice. That if the like hath not happened +vnto the hearers of this cause, yet it were meete to shewe +them that the like may happen, and so require them to giue +iudgement in this cause, as they would do in their owne, and +remember that harme may chaunce to euery one, thatperhappes +chaunceth to any one. And no doubt euery man +remembring himselfe, and his owne case, will looke well +about him and giue iudgement according to right.

+ +

He that will stirre +affections to other, +must first be moued +himselfe. +Neither can any good bee done at all, when wee haue sayd +all that euer we can, except we bring the same affections in +our own harte, the which we would the Iudges should beare +towards our owne matter. For how can he be greeued with +the reporte of any hainous act, either in stomaking the +naughtinesse of the deede, or in bewayling the miserable +misfortune of the thing, or in fearing much, the like euill +hereafter: except the Oratour himselfe vtter such passions +outwardly, and from his heart fetch his complaints in such +Heate,causeth heate. +sorte, that the matter may appeare, both more greeuous to +the eare, and therewith so hainous, that it requires earnestly +a speedie reformation? There is no substaunce of it selfe, +that wil take fire, except ye put fire to it. Likewise, no +mans nature is so apt, straight to be heated, except the +Oratour himselfe, be on fire, and bring his heate with him. +It is a common saying, nothing kindleth soner than fire. + + +134 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +And therefore a fierie stomacke causeth euermore a fierie +tongue. And he that is heated with zeale and godlinesse, +shall set other on fire with like affection. No one man can +better enueigh against vice, then he can do which hateth vice +with all his heart. Againe, nothing moisteth soner then +water. Therefore, a weeping eye causeth much moisture, +and prouoketh teares. Neither is it any maruaile, for such +A weeping eye +prouoketh +moysture. +men, both in their countenaunce, tongue, eyes, gesture, and +in all their bodie els, declare an outward griefe, and with +wordes so vehemently and vnfeinedly sets it forward, that +they will force a man to be sory with them, and take part +with their teares euen against his wil. Notwithstanding +when such affections are moued, it were good not to stand +long in them. For though a vehement talke may mooue +teares, yet no arte can long holde them. For as Cicero doth +say, nothing drieth soner then teares, especially when we +lament an other mans cause, and be sorie with him for +his sake.

+ +

But now that I haue taught men to be sorie, I will attempt +againe to make them merie, and shewe what learned men +saie, concerning laughter, in deliting the hearers, when tyme +and place shall best require.

 + +Of deliting the hearers, and stirring them to laughter. +

COnsidering the dulnesse of mans Nature, that neither it +can be attentiue to heare, nor yet stirred to like or alow +any tale long told, except it be refreashed, or finde some +sweete delite: the learned haue by witte and labour, deuised +much varietie. Therefore, sometimes in telling a waightie +Laughter mouing. +matter, they bring in some heauie tale, and moue them to be +right sorie, whereby the hearers are more attentiue. But +after when they are wearied, either with tediousnesse of the +matter, or heauinesse of the report: some pleasaunt matter +is inuented, both to quicken them againe, and also to keepe +them from sacietie. But surely fewe there be that haue this +gift, in due time to cheare men. Neither can any do it, +whom Nature hath not framed, and giuen an aptnesse +thereunto.

+ +

Some mans countenance wil make pastime, though he +speake neuer a worde. Yea, a foolish worde vttered by an + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +135 + +apt man, or a gesture straungely vsed by some pleasaunt bodie, +settes men full oft vpon a laughter. And whereas some +thinke it a trifle to haue this gift, and so easie, that euery +varlet or common iesture, is able to matche with the best: +yet it appeareth that they which vtterly can be pleasaunt, and +when time serueth can giue a merie aunswere, or vse a +nipping taunt, shall be able to abashe a right worthie man, +and make him at his wittes ende, through the sodaine quicke, +and vnlooked frumpe giuen. I haue knowne some so hitte +of the thumbes, that they could not tell in the world, whether +it were best to fight, chide, or to goe their way. And no +maruaile: for where the iest is aptly applied, the hearers +laugh immediatly, and who would gladly bee laughed to +scorne? Some can pretely by a worde spoken, take occasion +to be right merie.

+ +

Other can iest at large, and tell a rounde tale pleasauntly, +though they haue none occasion at that time giuen. But +assuredly, that mirth is more worthe, which is moued by +a worde newly spoken, then if a long tale should pleasauntly be +tolde. For as much, as both it cometh vnlooked for, and +also declares a quicknesse of witte, worthie commendation. +There are fiue thinges which Tullie noteth, concerning +pleasaunt talke. + +What it is to delite the hearers. +Whereof it cometh. +Weether an Orator may moue laughter. +How largely he may goe, and what measure hee must vse. +What are the kindes of sporting, or mouing to laughter. +

+

NOw to tell you in plaine words, what laughter is, how +it stirreth and occupieth the whole body, how it altereth +the countenance, & sodainly brasteth out that we cannot +keepe it in: let some mery man on Gods name take this +matter in hand: for it passeth my cunning, & I think euen +thei that can best moue laughter, would rather laugh merily +when such a question is put forth, then giue answere earnestly, +what, & how laughter is in deed.

+ +

The occasion of laughter, and the meane that maketh vs +mery (which is the second obseruation) is the fondnes, the + + +136 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +filthines, the deformitie, and all such euill behauiour, as we +see to be in other. For we laugh alwaies at those things, +which either onely or chiefly touch handsomely, and wittely, +some especiall fault, or fond behauiour in some one body, or +some one thing. Somtimes we iest at a mans bodie, that is +not well proportioned, and laugh at his countenance, if +either it be not comely by nature, or els he through folly +can not well see it. For if his talke be fond, a mery man can +want no matter to hitte him home, ye may bee assured. +Some iest is made, when it toucheth no man at all, neither +the demaunder, neither the standers by, nor yet any other, +and yet deliteth as much the hearers, as any the other can +doe. Now when we would abashe a man, for some words +that he hath spoken, and can take none aduauntage of his +person, or making of his bodie, we either doult him at the +first, and make him beleeue, that he is no wiser then a +Goose: or els we confute wholy his sayings with some +pleasaunt iest, or els we extenuate and diminish his doings +Mirth how many +waies it is moued. +by some pretie meanes, or els we cast the like in his dish, and +with some other deuise, dash hym out of countenance: or last +of all, we laugh him to scorne out right, and sometimes +speake almost neuer a word, but onely in continuaunce, +shewe our selues pleasaunt. But howsoeuer we make sporte, +either the delite is vttered by countenance, or by pointing to +some thing, or shewed at large by some tale, or els occasion +taken by some word spoken.

+ +

The third question is, whether it standeth with an Oratours +profession, to delite the hearers with pleasaunt reportes, and +wittie sayings, or no. Assuredly it behoueth a man that must +Preachers. +talke much, euermore to haue regarde to his audience, and +not onely to speake so much as is needfull, but also to speake +no longer then they bee willing to heare. Euen in this our +tyme, some offende much in tediousnesse, whose part it were +to comfort all men with cherefulnesse. Yea, the Preachers of +Platoessaying +toAntisthenes. +God mind so much edifying of soules, that they often forget +we haue any bodies. And therfore, some doe not so much +good with telling the trueth, as they doe harme with dulling +the hearers, being so farre gone in their matters, thatoftentimes +they can not tel when to make an end. Plato therefore +the father of learning, and the Well of all wisedome, when he + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +137 + +heard Antisthenes make such a long Oration, that hee starke +wearied al his hearers, phy for shame man (quoth he) doest +thou not knowe, that the measuring of an Oration standeth +not in the speaker, but in the hearers. But some perhaps +wil saie vnto me, Facite quantum in vobis est, to whom I +aunswere, estote prudentes. And now because our senses be +1. Peter 5. +Math. 10. +such, that in hearing a right wholsome matter, we either fall +a sleepe when we shoulde most harken, or els are wearied +with still hearing one thing, without any change, and think +that the best part of his tale, resteth in making an ende: the +wittie and learned haue vsed delitefull sayings, and quicke +sentences, euer among their waightie causes, considering that +not onely good will is got thereby (for what is he that loueth +not mirth?) but also men wonder at such a head, as hath +mens hartes at his commaundement, being able to make them +merie when he list, and that by one word speaking, either in +aunswering some thing spoken before, or els oftentimes in +giuing the onset, being not prouoked thereunto. Againe, +we see that men are full oft abashed, and put out ofcountenance +by such taunting meanes, and those that haue so done +are coumpted to be fine men, and pleasaunt fellowes, such as +fewe dare set foote with them.

+ +

Thus knowing that to moue sporte, is lawfull for an +Orator, or any one that shall talke in any open assembly: +good it were to knowe what compasse hee should keepe, that +should thus bee merie. For feare he take too much ground, +Iesting when it +should be spared. +and goe beyond his boundes. Therefore, no such should be +taunted, or iested withall, that either are notable euill liuers, +and hainous offenders: or els are pitifull catifes, and wretched +beggers. For euery one thinketh it a better and a meeter +deede, to punish naughtie packes then to scoffe at their euil +demeanour: and as for wretched soules or poore bodies, none +can beare to haue them mocked, but thinke rather that thei +should be pitied, except they foolishly vaunt them selues. +Againe, none such should be made any laughing stockes, that +either are honest of behauiour: or els are generally wel +beloued. As for other, we may be bolde to talke with them, +and make such game and pastime, as their good wits shal giue +good cause. But yet this one thing, we had neede euer to +take with vs, that in all our iesting we keepe a meane, + + +138 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +wherein not onely it is meet to auoyd all grosse bourding, and +alehouse iesting, but also to eschue all foolish talke, and +Ruffine maners, such as no honest eares can once abide, nor +yet any wittie man can like well or allowe.

 + +The deuision of pleasaunt be[h]auiour. +Mirthmaking, +two waies vsed. +

PLeasauntnesse, either appeareth in telling a rounde tale, +or els in taking occasion of some one worde. The matter +is tolde pleasantly, when some mans nature (whereof the tale +is tolde) is to set forth his countenaunce so counterfeited, and +all his iesture so resembled, that the hearers might iudge the +thing, to be then liuely done, euen as though he were there, +whereof the tale was tolde. Some can so liuely set foorth an +other mans nature, and with such grace report a tale: that +few shall be able to forbeare laughter, which knowe both +parties, though they would the contrary neuer so faine. +Nowe in counterfeiting after this sorte, if such moderation +be not vsed, that the hearer may iudge more by himsefe, then +the pleasaunt disposed man is willing fully to set foorth: it +will not be well liked. For, he that exceedeth and telleth all: +yea, more then is needefull, without all respect orconsideration +had: the same shalbe taken for a common iester, such +as knowe not how to make an ende, when they once begin, +being better acquainted with bible bable, then knowing the +fruite of wisedomes lore.

+ +

Pleasauntnesse +in a saying. +Pleasauntnesse in a saying, is stirred by the quicke altering +of some one worde, or of some one sentence. But euen as in +reporting a tale, or counterfeiting a man, to much is euer +naught: So scurrilitie or (to speake in olde plaine English) +knauerie in iesting would not be vsed, where honestie is +esteemed. Therfore, though there be some witte in a pretie +deuised iest: yet we ought to take heede that we touche not +those, whom we would be most loth to offende. And yet +some had as leue lose their life, as not bestowe their conceiued +iest, and oftentimes they haue as they desire. But shall +I saie of such wilfull men, as a Spanyard spake of an earnest +Gospeller, that for words spoken against an Ecclesiasticall +lawe, suffered death in Smithfielde? Ah miser, non potui +tacere et uiuere? Ah wretch that hee was, could hee not +liue and hold his peace.

+ +

Againe, to iest when occasion is giuen, or when the iest + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +139 + +Difference betwixt a +common iester, and +a pleasant wiseman. +may touch all men: it is thought to be against all good maner. +Therefore, the consideration of time, and moderation of +pastime, and seldome vsing of drie mockes, euen when neede +most requireth, make a difference, and shew a seuerallvnderstanding +betwixt a common iester, and a pleasaunt wiseman.

+ +

Now the time requireth, to shewe what kindes there are of +mouing laughter, and making the heart to be merie:Notwithstonding, +this would first be learned, that out of diuers +pleasaunt speeches, auncient sayings also may be gathered. +As for example, we may by one worde, both praise a faithfull +seruaunt, and if he be naught, we may also iest of him, and +praise him. According to that merie saying of Nero, vpon +his man that was light fingred. I haue one at home (quoth +he) among all other, to whome there is no coffer lockt, nor +doore shut in all my house, meaning that he was a picklocke, +and a false verlet, and yet these wordes might haue been +spoken of a faithfull seruaunt.

+ +

Pleasant answeres made +contrarie to our +looking delite vs much. +We shall delite the hearers, when they looke for one +answere, and we make them a cleane contrary, as though we +would not seeme to vnderstand what they would haue. As +one Pontidius being sore greeued, that an other man had +committed Adulterie, came to a friend of his, and said sadly. +Ah Lord, what thinke you sir of him, that was taken in bed +of late with an other mans wife? Marie (quoth the other) +I thinke him to be a very sluggard. Pontidius, hearing him saie +so, was abashed at the straungenesse of his aunswere, and +looking for no such thing, was driuen to laugh at his owne +errour, although before he was much greeued, with the +Adulterers most wicked deede.

+ +

One being sore greeued with the euill behauiour of a certaine +Gentleman, spake his pleasure largely against him, wherevpon +an other merie man, dissembling to take his parte, sayde, he +was an honester man then so. Yea (quoth the other) what +one thing hath he, whereby to proue himself honest at all? +Marie (quoth the man) he hath the Kings Pardon, and what +saie you to that?

+ +

Diogenes. +When is it best to dine (quoth one to Diogenes) Marie +(quoth he) for a rich man when he list: for a poore man +when he can.

+ +

A noble man, that whilome kept a chappell, being disposed + + +140 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +to serue God, went to his closet deuoutly, and made him self +redy to praie, whervpon one came doune in hast, and said to +the chaunter, you must begin sir. The chaunter being a +mery man, aunswered thus as though he were angrie. Begin +quoth he, I wil begin with none except they begin with me. +And so made the whole quire that then was redy for singing +to fall straight a laughing. The which is al one, for sing +we, or laugh we, what maketh matter so we be mery.

+ +

An Abbat in Italy, being grosse of his body, and vnweldy +to beholde, walking out of Florence for his pleasure, and +hauyng farther trauailde towards the Euening, then he thought +himself well able to returne, before the gates of the Citie +were shut: met a countrey man comming from thence, and +because it was somewhat late, asked him if he might get in +at the Gates: the Housbandman, seeing this fatte Abbat +looking for a readie aunswere, and lothe to lose any time for +feare hee should bee kept out, sayde pleasauntly to the deuout +religious fat Priest: Sir, be not afraid, for a Carte loden with +Haie, may easely get in at any Gate in Florence, andtherefore +you neede not to doubt, although you were as bigge +againe, whereas the Abbats meaning was, if hee might come +in tyme before the Gates were lockt.

+ +

A frend of mine, and a good fellowe, more honest then +wealthie, yea, and more pleasant then thriftie, hauing need +of a nagge for his iourney that he had in hande, and being +in the countrey, minded to goe to Partnaie faire inLincolnshire, +not farre from the place where he then laie, and +meeting by the way one of his acquaintaunce, told him his +arrande, and asked him how horses went at the Faire. The +other aunswered merely and saide, some trotte sir, and some +amble, as farre as I can see. If their paces be altered, I praie +you tell me at our next meeting. And so rid away as fast as +his horse could cary him, without saying any worde more, +whereat he there being alone, fel a laughing hartely to him +self, & looked after a good while, vntill the other was out of +sight.

+ +

A Gentleman hauing heard a Sermon at Paules, and being +come home, was asked what the preacher said. TheGentleman +answered he would first heare what his man could saie, +who then waited vpon him, with his hatte and cloake, and + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +141 + +calling his man to him, sayd, nowe sir, what haue you brought +from the Sermon. Forsothe good Maister, sayd the seruaunt +your cloake and your hatte. A honest true dealing seruaunt +out of doubt, plaine as a packsaddle, hauing a better soule to +God, though his witte was simple, then those haue, that +vnder the colour of hearing, giue them selues to priuie picking, +and so bring other mens purses home in their bosomes, in the +steade of other mens Sermons.

+ +

In the time of Pope Iulie the seconde, or Alexander the +sixt, I doe not well remember (but either of them both may +serue well for this purpose being both warriers, as what Pope +is not) it so hapened that a Cardinall of Spaine, hauing +charge vnder the Pope of an Armie, and seing it necessarie, +to trie the fortune of battaile, against the enemies of the +Popes holinesse, valiantly encouraged those soldiours, to shew +themselues like men, assuring to them that would hassarde +their liues, in that conflict, not onely to haue full pardone of +their sinnes, but also that they should that morning, goe dine +with GOD and his Angelles in Heauen. And when he had +thus saied, he withdrew himselfe from the battaile. Vnto +whom a Soldiour said that was nigh at hand. Right reuerend +Father, how happeneth your Grace, doeth not withsaue to +tarie with vs, that you might also goe dine this morning with +God and his Angels. Holde thy peace knaue (quoth the +Cardinall) I haue no list to eate now, it is to earely for mee, +my stomacke is not yet come to me.

+ +

Wordes doubtfully spoken, giue often iust occasion of +much laughter. Ah (quoth a certaine man) doe you see +yonder fellowe, and doe you knowe him? Yea (quoth the +other) I know him very well. I shall tell you sir (saied the +Gentleman) there is not a man of greater vnderstanding +within this Citie then he is. Tush it is not so (quoth he) +No? (said the other) marke well the bought of his legge, +and you shall see his vnderstanding worthie to be compared +with the best and greatest of them all.

+ +

Chaunging of a letter, +or altering part of +a word, or adding a +sillable. +Sometimes it is wel liked, when by the chaunging of +a letter, or taking away some part of a word, or adding +sometimes a sillable, we make an other meaning. As one +saied, that meant full vnhappely, enueighing against those +that held of Christes spiritual being in the sacrament: some + + +142 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +(quoth he) will haue a Trope to be in these words: This is +my body: but surely I would wish the T. were taken away, +& that they had for their labour which is left behind.

+ +

A Gentleman, being handfasted to a Gentlewoman, and +sure to her, as he thought: afterwards lost her, being made +faster to an other man, then euer she was to him. Wherevpon +he tooke great displeasure, and sought by law to win +her. Notwithstanding, she had carnally beene acquainted +with the other Gentleman. A noble man being earnestly +desired of him, that had first lost her, to helpe him to her +againe: I maruaile (quoth the noble man) what you meane to +bee so earnest to recouer her, whom an other man haue +alreadie couered. If I were in your case, she should goe for +me, and he should haue her, that hath thus before hand seased +vpon her. The Gentleman discouraged vpon this answere, +departed with an vnquieted minde, and thoughtnotwithstanding, +to be euen with the woman, if he could tell possibly +how or which way.

+ +

What cary you maister Parson (quoth a Gentleman) to +a Priest that had his woman on Horsback behind him, haue +you got your Male behind you? No sir (quoth the Priest) it +is my Female.

+ +

Interpretation +of a word. +The interpretation of a worde, doth oft declare a witte. As +when one hath done a robberie, some will saie, it is pitie he +was a handsome man, to the which an other made answere, +you say trueth sir, for he hath made these shiftes by his hands, +and got his liuing with light fingering, and therefore, being +handsome as you say he is, I would God he were handsomely +hanged.

+ +

Wordes taken, and +not the meaning. +Sometimes it is delitefull, when a mans word is taken, and +not his meaning. As when one had saied to an other (whose +help he must needes haue) I am sorie sir to put you to paines: +the other aunswered, I will ease you sir of that sorrow, for +I will take no such paines for you at all.

+ +

An answere from +euill to worse. +The turning of a worde, and denying that wherewith we +are charged, and aunswering a much worse, doth often mooue +the hearer. There was one Bassus, as Quintilian doth tel, +which seeing a Ladie called Domitia, to bee very nigh her +selfe, spake his pleasure of her. Whervpon she being greeued, +charged him with these wordes, that hee should say shee was + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +143 + +Snudging wittely +rebuked. +such a pinch penie, as would sell her olde shooes for money, +wherevpon he aunswered: no forsooth Madame, quoth he, +I saied not so, but these were my wordes: I sayd you bought +olde Shooes, such as you could get best cheape for money.

+ +

The Hollanders wordes are worthie rehearsall, who being +a poore man, as Erasmus telleth the tale, had a Cowe or two +going in the Commons, wherevpon it happened that an Oxe +of a rich mans, who then was Maior of the Towne, had +gored the poore mans Cowe, and almost killed her. The +poore man being in this case halfe vndone, thoughtnotwithstanding +A wittie deuised tale +to get right iudgement. +by a wittie deuise, to get right iudgement of maister +Maior, for the losse of his Cowe, if he got nothing els, and +therfore thus he framed his tale. Sir, so it is that my Cowe +hath gored and almost killed your Oxe. What hath she, +quoth he, by Sainct Marie thou shalt pay for him then. Nay, +quoth the poore man, I crie you mercie, your Oxe hath +gored my Cowe. Ah, quoth the Maior, that is an other +matter, we will talke of that hereafter at more leasure.

+ +

These wordes were spoken of purpose, but now you shal +heare what an olde woman spake of simplicitie. In the +doting world when stockes were Saincts, and dumme walles +spake, this old grandame was deuoutly kneeling vpon her +knees, before the Image of our Lady. Wherevpon a merie +fellowe asked her what she ment to crouch and kneele there. +A beldames blinde +aunswere. +Marie, quoth the olde mother, I praie to our Ladie, that she +maie praie to her Sonne for me: with that he laughed at her +ignoraunce. Whervpon she thinking that her wordes were +spoken amisse, corrected her owne saying in this wise. Nay +(quoth she) I pray to Christ in heauen, that he will pray for +me to this good Ladie here.

+ +

Wordsouerthwartly +answered. +Wordes rehearsed contrarie to that which was spoken, and +(as a man would say) ouerthwartly aunswered, doe much +abash the opponent, and delite the hearers. As when Sergius +Galba being sicke, and therfore keeping his house, had +appointed certaine of his freendes, to heare a matter of one +Libo Scribonius, Tribune of the people, a man much noted for +his naughtie and vncleane life: this Libo saied to him in this +wise. Good Lord, when shall we see you sir abroad out of +your Parlour. Marie (quoth he) when thou keepest thy selfe +out of an other mans Chamber, meaning that he was ouer + + +144 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +familiar with an other mans wife. Thus we see how and in +what maner pleasaunt sawes are gathered and vsed, vpon the +occasion of diuers wordes spoken.

+ +

Alphonsus King of Naples, had a Iester in his Court, who +made a booke, and kept a reckening of all follies, especially +such as he thought to bee follies, of all those Gentlemen and +others that waited in the Court, wherat the King tooke great +pleasure oftentimes. And so it happened that the King +hauing a More in his house, sent the same man into Leuant, +with three or fower thousand pound in his purse to buye +horses in Affrica. The Iester seeing this act, did put it in his +Booke of remembraunce for a plaine follie. Now it happened +that within a little while after, the King asked this Iester for +his booke, because he had not sene it of a long time before. +And in reading vpon his booke, where he found many mery +mad toyes, he hit at length vpon himself & the Moore, vnto +whom he had giuen three thousand pounde, to buye horses for +him in Barbarie. Whervpon the King somwhat chaunged in +colour, asked him in his anger, why he had put him in his +booke after that sort. I haue put you in my booke (quoth the +Iester) because you haue plaid the very foole, to giue the +bestowing of so much money to a straunger, whom you shal +neuer see againe. And what if he come againe (quoth the +King) and bring the horses with him, haue I then plaied the +foole? Well (quoth the Iester) so sone as he is come, I will +then put out your name out of my booke, and put his name +in your place. For then I must needes take him to be a more +foole then you are a great deale. But till he come, you shall +be in my booke, God willing.

 + +Pleasaunt sport made, by rehearsing of a whole matter. +Difference betwixt a +iest in a worde, and +a iest in a long tale. +

THE nature and whole course of a matter, beeing largely +set out with a comely behauiour, doth much delite the +hearers, and giueth good cause of great pastime. This +difference is betwene a iest in a word, and a iest vttered in +a long tale. That which is still delitefull, with what wordes +soeuer you tell it, is contained in the substance or nature of +a long tale: that which loseth his grace by alteration of +a worde, is contained in the nature of a worde. They that +can liuely tell pleasaunt tales, and merie deedes done, and set + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +145 + +them out aswell with iesture, as with voyce, leauing nothing +behind, that may serue for beautifying of their matter: are +most meete for this purpose, whereof assuredly there are but +fewe. And whatsoeuer he is, that can aptly tell his tale, and +with countenaunce, voyce, and iesture so temper his report, +that the hearers may stil take delite: him compt I man +worthie to be highly esteemed. For vndoubtedly no man +can doe any such thing, except they haue a great mother wit, +& by experience confirme such their comelinesse, wherevpon +by nature they were most apt. Many a man readeth histories, +heareth Fables, seeth worthie acts done, euen in this our age, +but few can set them out accordingly, and tell them liuely, +as the matter self requireth to be tolde. The kindes of +deliting in this sort are diuers: whereof I will set forth many, +as hereafter they shall followe.

 + +Sport moued by telling of old tales. +

IF there bee any olde tale or straunge historie, well and +wittely applied to some man liuing, all men loue to heare +it of life. As if one were called Arthur, some good fellowe +that were well acquainted with King Arthures booke, and the +Knights of the round Table, would want no matter to make +good sport, and for a neede would dub him Knight of the +round Table, or els proue him to be one of his kinne, or els +(which were much) proue him to be Arthur himselfe. And so +likewise of other names, merie companions would make mad +pastime.

+ +

Deformitie of bodie +mooueth mirth. +Oftentimes the deformitie of a mans bodie, giueth matter +enough to bee right merie, or els a Picture in shape like an +other man, will make some to laugh right hartely. One +being grieued with an other man, saied in his anger, I will +set thee out in thy colours, I will shewe what thou art. The +other being therewith much chafed, shewe quoth he, what thou +canst: with that hee shewed him, pointing with his finger, +a man with a bottle Nose, blobbe cheeked, and as red as +a Butchers bowle, euen as like the other man, as any one in +al the world could be. I neede not to say that he was angrie. +An other good fellowe being merily disposed, called his +acquaintance vnto him and saied: Come hether I saie, and +I will shewe thee as very a loute, as euer thou sawest in all +thy life before: with that he offered him at his comming, + + +146 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +a steele Glasse to looke in. But surely I thinke he looked +a wrie, for if I had bene in his case, I would haue told +him that I espied a much greater loute, before I sawe the +Glasse.

+ +

Augmenting or +diminishing. +In augmenting or diminishing without all reason, wee giue +good cause of much pastime. As Diogenes seeing a pretie +towne, hauing a great paire of gates at the comming in: +Take heede quoth he, you men of this towne, least your towne +run out of your gates. That was a meruailous bigge gate +I trowe, or els a wonderfull little towne, where such passage +should be made.

+ +

A Frier disposed to tell misteries, opened to the people that +the soule of man was so little, that a leuen thousand might +dance vpon the naile of his thumbe. One meruailing much +at that, I pray you maister Frier quoth hee, where shall the +Pyper stande then, when such a number shall keepe so small +a roume.

+ +

Opening a weightie +or vnknowne thing. +Mirth is mooued, when vpon a trifle or a word spoken, an +vnknowne matter and weightie affaire is opened. As if one +should finde fault with some mans sumptuous building, or +other such thing, which had found much fauour at the same +mans hande: an other might say, well sir, he that builded +this house, saued your worshippe from hanging when the time +was. A necessarie note for him, thankfully to remember the +builder of that house, and not slaunderously to speake euill +of him.

+ +

Dissembling. +It is a pleasaunt dissembling, when we speake one thing +merily and thinke an other earnestly: or els when wee praise +that which otherwise deserueth dispraise, to the shaming of +those that are taken not to be most honest.

+ +

As in speaking of one that is well knowne to bee naught, +to say among all men that are seen too, there is one that +lacketh his reward. He is the diligentiest fellowe in his +calling of all other, he hath trauailed in behalfe of his +countrey, he hath watched day and night to further his +Commonweale, and to aduaunce the dignitie thereof, and +shal he goe emptie home? Who stood by it at such a field, +who plaid the man and cried, stoppe the theefe, when such +a man was robbed? Who seeth good rule kept in such +a place? Can any here charge him with bawdrie? Which + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +147 + +of you al dare say, or can say that euer you sawe him dronken, +if then these be true, ought not such to be seen too: and +rewarded accordingly? For praising the vnworthy, Iremember +once that our worthie Latimer, did set out the Deuill for +his diligence wonderfully, and preferred him for that purpose, +before all the Bishops in England. And no doubt, the wicked +be more busie and stirring, then the children of light be in +their generation.

+ +

What talke you of such a man (saith an other) there is not +an honester man ye may bee assured. For if a man had neede +of one, he is readie at a pinch, his bodie sweates for honestie, +if you come to him in a hot Sommers day, you shall see his +honestie in such sort to reeke, that it would pitie any +Christian soule liuing. He hath more honestie with him +then he needes, and therefore both is able and will lende, +where it pleaseth him best. Beware of him aboue all men +that euer you knewe. He hath no fellowe, there is none +such. I thinke he will not liue long, he is so honest a man, +the more pitie that such good fellowes should know what +death meaneth. But it maketh no matter when he is gone, +al the world will speake of him, his name shal neuer dye, he +is so wel knowne vniuersally.

+ +

Thus wee may mockingly speake well of him, when there +is not a noughtier fellowe within al England againe, and euen +as well set out his noughtinesse this way, as though wee had +in very deede vttered al his naughtie conditions plainly, and +without iesting. Among all that euer were pleasaunt in this +kinde of delite, Socrates beareth the name, and may worthely +chalenge praise. Sir Thomas More with vs here in England, +had an excellent gift, not onely in this kinde, but also in all +other pleasant delites, whose witte euen at this hower, is +a wonder to all the worlde, and shall bee vndoubtedly euen +vnto the worldes ende. Vnto this kinde of dissembling, +is next adioyning a manner of speech, when we giue an +honest name to an euill deede. As when I would call one +accordingly, that is of a naughtie behauiour, to say: Ah sirrha, +you are a Marchaunt in deed: where as I think aMarchaunts +name is honest. Some old fellowes, when they thinke +one to bee an Heretique, they will say he is a Gospeller. +Some newe fellowes when they thinke one a Papist, they will + + +148 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +call him streight a Catholique, and bee euen with him at the +lands end. Contrariwise, some will giue an euil name to +a good thing: As a Father louing his Sonne tenderlie, and +hauing no cause to bee grieued with him, will sometimes say +to him: Come hether sir knaue: and the Mother merelie +being disposed, will say to her sweete Sonne: Ah you little +horesonne, will you serue me so. Where as I thinke some +women that oft say so, will sweare vpon a booke they are +none such, and almost I had saied, I dare sweare for some of +them my selfe, if God had not forbidden me to sweare +at all.

+ +

This kinde also is pretie, when wee gather an other thing +by a mans tale, then he would gladlie wee should gather. +When Liuius Salinator a Romaine Captaine, had kept the +Castell of Tarentum, losing the Towne to Hanniball his enemie, +Q. Fabius Maximus. +and that Maximus therevpon had laied siege to the same +Toune, and got it againe by the sword: Then Salinator +which thus kept the Castell, desired him to remember, that +through his meanes he got the Towne. Why should I not +(quoth he) think so: for if you had neuer lost it, I had neuer +got it.

+ +

To dissemble sometimes, as though wee vnderstood not +what one meant, declareth an apt wit, and much deliteth +such as heare it. Diogenes was asked on a time, what Wine +he loued best to drinke. Marie (quoth he) an other mans +Diogenes. +Wine: meaning that he loued that drinke best that cost him +least. The same Diogenes likewise was asked what one should +giue him, to let him haue a blowe at his head. Marie +a Helmet, quoth he.

+ +

One Octauius a Libian borne (as witnesseth Macrobius) saied +vnto Tullie, when he spake his minde vpon a matter. Sir, +I heare you not, I pray you speake louder. No? (quoth Tullie) +that is a meruaile to me, for as I doe remember, your eares +are well bored through, meaning that he was nailed vpon +a Pillorie, or els had holes made in his eares, which might +serue (as Tullie iested) to receiue open aire.

+ +

An other being sore offended vpon some cause with a +fellowe, who had lost his eares for good cause, saied in his +heate. I will handle thee like a knaue, seest thou now. And +heaping wordes vpon words, would gladly belike that the + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +149 + +partie should haue caried them away, and well remembred +them, and therefore saied fumously vnto him, doest thou heare +me? Vpon that, one that stood by, said to this angrie +Gentleman, I doubt sir, that this Pillorie fellowe doth not +heare you at all. For as you remember he lost his eares of +late, and how can he heare that hath no eares at all. With +that the Gentlemans anger was altered to mirth and laughter, +and so they all departed.

+ +

When Mettellus tooke Muster, and required Cæsar to bee +there, not abyding that he should be absent, though his eyes +grieued him, and said: what man do you see nothing at al? +Yes Mary (quoth Cæsar) as euil as I see, I can see a Lordship +of yours (the which was fower or fiue miles from Rome) +declaring that his building was ouer sumptuous, and so houge +withall (much aboue his degree) that a blind man might +almost see it. Now in those daies ouer costly buildings was +generally hated, because men sought by such meanes to get +fame, & beare rule in the Commonweale.

+ +

The like also is of one Nasica, who when he came to the +Poet Ennius, and asked at the gates if Ennius were at home, +the mayd of the house being so commaunded by her maister, +made answere that he was not within. And when he +perceiued, that she so saied by her maisters commaundement, +he went straight his way, and saied no more.

+ +

Ennius pleasaunt +aunswere to Nasica. +Now shortly after when Ennius came to Nasica, and called +for him at the doore, Nasica cried out a loude, and saied: +Sirrha, I am not at home? What man (quoth Ennius) I heare +thee speake. Doe not I knowe thy voyce? Then (quoth +Nasica.) Ah shamelesse man that thou art, when I sought +thee at thy home, I did beleeue thy maide, when she saied +thou wast not at home, and wilt not thou beleeue me, when +I tell thee mine owne self, that I am not at home?

+ +

A man mocked with +the fame he bringeth. +It is a pleasaunt hearing, when one is mocked with the +fame that he bringeth. As when one Q. Opimius hauing an +euill name for his light behauiour, had saied to a pleasaunt +man, Egilius that seemed to be wanton of liuing, and yet was +not so: Ah my sweet darling Egilia, when wilt thou come to +my house sweete wench, with thy rocke and thy spindell? +I dare not in good faith (quoth she) my mother hath forbidden +me, to come in any suspected house, where euill rule is kept.

+ + +

150 +The arte of Rhetorique. +

+

An Eeremite in Italie, professing a meruailous straight life, +and eschewing the Citie dwelt in a Desert, where he made +him self a Caue, wrought by his owne hands with Spade and +Shouell, and couering the same with boughes and earth, lay +there in his Couch or Cabine liuing in contemplation, as one +that vtterly had forsaken the worlde, wherevpon he came in +great credite with the people, and especially with the women +of that Towne, as by Nature women are more apt to beleeue, +and readier giuen to Superstition then men are. Afterwards +it appeared that this Eremites holinesse was altogether +counterfeite, and he founde a very lewde man. For it was +knowne and well proued, that he had the companie of diuers +Gentlewomen of that Citie, & therefore being examined +openly, and greeuously rebuked, he confessed that he had the +vse of diuers Ladies there. Wherevpon a Register that tooke +the note of al their names, being much greeued with his +filthie behauiour, especially because he had vsed so many said +thus. Ah thou vile man. Is there any other with whom thou +hast bene acquainted? Say on beast and shame the Deuill. +The poore Eremite beeing wonderfully rebuked of euery +bodie, and meruailous sorie of such his folies priuely +committed, and openly knowne. Saied to the Register in +this wise. Sir, seeing I am charged to say the trueth, and +that the holie mother Church willeth me to leaue nothing +vnrehearsed, that the rather vppon my plaine confession, +I may the sooner haue obsolution: In good faith maister +Register (quoth he) I doe not remember any other sauing +your wife onely, who was the first and the last that euer +I haue touched, since I made my graue, and therefore if it +please you to put her into your booke also, you may boldly +doe it. For surely she was very louing to me. With that +the Register in a great heate stoode vp, and casting his pen +out of his hand, would haue bene at the Eremite rather then +his life. The people laughed hartely, to see the Register that +was so hastie before, to charge the simple Eremite with his +wanton follies, to bee in such sort touched with his wiues +default. And many then there (as young men bee in such +cases forward) would in any wise, that the Register should +haue written his wiues name in his owne booke, ad æternam +rei memoriam.

+ + +

The arte of Rhetorique. +151 +

+

Those Iestes are bitter which haue a hid vnderstanding in +them, wherof also a man may gather much more then is +spoken. A homely fellowe made his wofull lamentation to +Diogenes in most pitifull sort, because his wife had hanged +Diogenes doggish aunswere +in despite of women. +her selfe vppon a Figtree, hoping to finde some comfort at +his hande. But Diogenes hearing this straunge deede: for the +loue of God (quoth he) giue me some slippes of that tree, that +I might set them in some Orchard. The fruite liked him +wel, and belike he thought that such slippes, would haue bene +as good to dispatch noughtie women, as Lime twigges are +thought meete to catch wild birds withal.

+ +

An Archdeacon beeing nothing so wise as he was wealthie, +nor yet so learned as he was worshipfull, asked a yong man +once whether he had a good witte or no. Yea Marie sir +(quoth he) your witte is good enough, if you keepe it still and +vse it not, for euery thing as you knowe, is the worse for the +wearing. Thou saiest euen troth (quoth he) for that is the +matter that I neuer vsed preaching: for it is nothing but +a wasting of witte, and a spending of winde. And yet if +I would preach, I thinke I could doe as well as the best of +them. Yea sir (quoth he) but yet I would ye should not +proue it, for feare a strayning your self too much: why? +Doest thou feare that (quoth he) nay thou maiest be assured, +I will neuer preach so long as I liue, God being my good +Lord. There are ouer many Heretiques, for good meaning +men to speake any thing now adaies. You say euen troth +(quoth the yong man) and so went forth: but to tell all, I had +neede to haue time of an other world, or at the least to haue +breath of an other bodie.

+ +

An vnlearned Oratour made an Oration on a time, +thinking that he had with his well doing delited much al +men, and moued them to mercie and pittie, and therefore +sitting downe, he asked one Catulus if he had not moued the +hearers to mercie. Yes Marie, quoth he, and that too great +mercie and pitie both, for I think there is none here so hard +harted, but thought your Oration very miserable, andtherefore +needfull to be greatly pitied.

+ +

Churlish aunsweres like the hearers sometimes very well. +When the father was cast in iudgement, the Sonne seeing +him weepe: why weepe you Father? (quoth he) To whom + + +152 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +his father aunswered. What? Shall I sing I pray thee, +seeing by Lawe I am condemned to dye. Socrates likewise +beeing mooued of his wife, because he should dye an innocent +and guiltlesse in the law: Why for shame woman (quoth he) +wilt thou haue me to dye giltie & deseruing. When one +had falne into a ditch, an other pitying his fall, asked him +and saied: Alas how got you into that pit? Why Gods +mother, quoth the other, doest thou aske me how I got in, +nay tell me rather in the mischiefe, how I shall get out.

+ +

There is an other contrarie vnto this kinde, when a man +suffereth wrong, and giueth no sharpe answere at all. As +when Cato was stroken of one that caried a Chest: some say +a long poule: when the other saied after he had hit him. +Take heede sir I pray you: why (quoth Cato) doest thou carie +any thing els.

+ +

Follie and lacke of naturall wit, or els want of honestie, +giue good matter of mirth oftentimes. When Scipio beeing +Pretor had appointed vnto a certaine Sicilian, one to be his +Lawier that was of a good house, and had an euill wit, little +better than half a foole: I pray you (quoth the Sicilian to +Scipio) appoint this Lawyer for mine aduersarie, and let me +haue none at all hardly.

+ +

In speaking against an euil man, and wishing somewhat +therupon, a iest may seeme delitefull. When an euill man +had accused many persons, and none tooke any harme by him, +but rather were acquited from time to time, and taken the +sooner for honest men. Now would to Christes passion, +Wishing. +quoth a naughtie fellowe, that he were mine accuser, for then +should I bee taken for an honest man also through his +accusation. Demonedes hauing crooked feete, lost on a time +both his shooes, wherevpon he made his prayer to GOD, that +his shooes might serue his feete, that had stolne them away. +A shrewde wish for him that had the shooes, and better neuer +weare shooes, then steale them so dearly.

+ +

Coniectures. +Things gathered by coniecture, to seeme otherwise then +they are, delite much the eares being wel applied together. +One was charged for robbing a Church, and almost euidently +proued to be an offender in that behalf, the said man to saue +himself harmelesse, reasoned thus: Why, quoth he, how +should this be, I neuer robbed house, nor yet was euer faultie + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +153 + +in any offence besides, how then should I presume to rob +a Church? I haue loued the Church more then any other, +and will louers of the Church robbe the Church? I haue +giuen to the Church, how happeneth that I am charged to +take from the Church, hauing euer so good minde to Church +dignitie? Assure your selues they passe litle of the Church +that would aduenture to rob the Church. They are no +Churchmen, they are maisterlesse men, or rather S. Nicolas +Clarkes that lacke liuing, and going in Procession takes the +Church to bee an Hospitall for way fairers, or a pray for +poore and needie beggers: but I am no such man.

+ +

Things wanting. +Thinges wanting, make good pastime beeing aptly vsed. +Alacke, alacke, if such a one had somewhat to take to, and +were not past grace: he would doe well enough without +all doubt: I warrant him: He wants nothing saieth an other +of a couetous man, but one thing, he hath neuer enough.

+ +

Such a man hath no fault but one, and if that were amended, +all were well: what is that? (quoth an other) In good faith +he is naught.

+ +

Familiar aduise +giuing. +To giue a familiare aduise in the way of pastime, deliteth +much the hearers. When an vnlearned Lawyer had been +hoarse and almost lost his voyce with ouerlong speaking, one +Granius gaue him counsell to drinke sweet wine colde, so sone +as he came home. Why, quoth he, I shall lose my voce if +I do so. Marie, quoth he, better do so then vndo thy client, +and lose his matter altogether.

+ +

Things spoken +contrarie to +expectation. +But among all other kindes of delite, there is none that so +much comforteth and gladdeth the hearer, as a thing spoken +contrary to the expectation of other. Augustus Emperour of +Rome, seeing a handsome young man there, which was much +like vnto himselfe in countenaunce, asked him if euer his +mother was in Roome, as though he had been his bastard. No +forsooth (quoth he) but my father hath beene here very often: +with that the Emperour was abashed, as though the Emperours +own mother had beene an euill woman of her bodie.

+ +

When an vnlearned Phisition (as England lacketh none +such) had come to Pausanias a noble Gentleman, and asked +him if he were not troubled much with sicknesse. No sir +(quoth he) I am not troubled at all, I thanke GOD, because +I vse not thy counsaile. Why doe ye accuse me (quoth the + + +154 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +Phisition) that neuer tried me? Marie (quoth Pausanias) if +I had once tried thee, I should neuer haue accused thee, for +then had I beene dead, and in my graue many daies agone.

+ +

An English Phisition ryding by the way: and seeing a +great companie of men gathered together, sent his man to +know what the matter was, whervpon his man vnderstanding +that one there was appointed to suffer for killing a man: +came riding backe in al post haste, and cried to his maister, +long before he came at him: get you hence sir, get you hence +for Gods loue. What meanest thou (quoth his maister.) +Mary (quoth the seruaunt) yonder man shall dye for killing of +one man, and you I dare saie, haue killed a hundred men +in your daies: get you hence therefore for Gods loue if you +loue your self.

+ +

An Italian hauing a sute here in England, to the Archbishop +of Yorke that then was, and comming to Yorke Towne at +that time, when one of the Prebendaries there brake his +bread, as they terme it, and therevpon made a solemne long +dinner, the which perhaps began at aleuen, and continued wel +nye fower in the afternoone, at the which dinner this Bishop +was: It so fortuned that as they were set, the Italian knockt +at the gate vnto whom the Porter perceiuing his errand, +aunswered, that my Lord Bishop was at dinner. The Italian +departed, and returned betwixt xii. and one, the Porter +answered they were yet at diner, he came againe at two of +the clocke, the Porter told him they had not half dined: he +came at three a clock, vnto whom the Porter in a heate +answered neuer a worde, but churlishly did shut the gates +vpon him. Whereupon others told the Italian, that there was +no speaking with my Lord, almost al that day, for the solemne +dinner sake. The Italian Gentleman, wondering much at +such long sitting, and greatly greeued, because hee could not +then speake with the Bishops grace, departed straight towards +London, and leauing the dispatch of his matters with a deare +freend of his, tooke his iourney towards Italie. Three yeares +after it happened that an English man came to Rome, with +whom the Italian by chaunce falling acquainted, asked him if +he knewe the Bishop of Yorke. The Englishman saied, he +knew him right well. I pray you tell me (quoth the Italian) +hath the Bishop yet dined? The English man muchmeruailing + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +155 + +at his question, could not tel what to say. The Italian +vp and tolde him all, as I haue saied before, whereat they both +laughed hartely.

+ +

Examples be innumerable that serue for this purpose.

+ +

A lye mocked +with a lye. +A man may by hearing a loude lye, pretelie mocke the lye +by reporting a greater lye. When one being of a lowe degree, +and his father of meane wealth, had vaunted much of the +good house that his father kept: of two Beefes spent weekely, +and halfe a score tunne of wine dranke in a yere, an other +good fellowe hearing him lye so shamefully: in deede (quoth +he) Beefe is so plentifull at my maister your fathers house, that +an Oxe in one day is nothing, and as for Wine, Beggers that +come to the doore, are serued by whole gallands. And as +I remember your father hath a spring of Wine in the middest +of his Court, God continue his good house keeping.

+ +

Graunting to other the +same, that they will not +graunt to vs. +Oftentimes wee may graunt to an other, the same that +they will not graunt to vs. When a base borne fellow, +whose parents were not honest, had charged Lelius that he +did not liue according to his auncesters: yea, but thou doest +liue, quoth Lelius, according to thy elders.

+ +

Better bee borne a +begger, then dye a +begger. +One being a gentleman in birth, and vnthriftie inconditions, +called an other man in reproach begger and slaue. In +deede sir, quoth the poore man, you are no begger borne, but +I feare me ye will dye one.

+ +

An other likewise called Diogenes varlet and caitife, to +whom Diogenes aunswered in this wise. In deed such a one +haue I bene as thou art now, but such a one as I now am, +shalt thou neuer be.

+ +

Salust being a Gentleman borne, and a man of much wealth, +and yet rather by birth Noble: then by true dealing honest, +enueighed much the estimation which Tullie had among all +men, and saied to him before his face: Thou art noGentleman +borne, and therefore not meete to beare office in this + +commonweale: In deed (quoth Tullie) my nobilitie beginnes +in me, and thine doth end in thee. Meaning thereby that +though Salust were borne noble, yet he were like to die +wretched, whereas Tullie being borne both poore and bace, +was like to dye with honour, because of his vertue, wherein +chiefly consisteth Nobilitie.

+ +

There is a pleasaunt kinde of dissembling, when two meetes +Pleasaunt dissembling + + +156 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +in outward behauiour. +together, and the one cannot well abide the other: and yet +they both outwardly striue to vse pleasaunt behauiour, and to +shewe much courtesie, yea, to contend on both parts, which +should passe other in vsing of faire wordes, and making of +liuely countenaunces: seeking by dissembling, the one to +deceiue the other.

+ +

Checking a lyer with +an open mocke. +When we see a notable lye vtterde, wee checke the +offendour openly with a pleasaunt mocke. As when one +Vibius Curius did speake much of his yeares, and madehimself +to be much yonger then he was (quoth Tullie) why then +maister Vibius, as farre as I can gather by my reckening, +when you and I declamed together last, you were not then +borne by all likelihood, if that be true which you say.

+ +

When Fabia Dolobella saied to the same Tullie, that she +was but thirtie yeares of age: As women by their good willes +would neuer be old: I thinke so (quoth Tullie) for I haue +heard you say no lesse, twentie yeares agoe.

+ +

A Souldier that thought his estimation, stoode most in the +vertue of his hand Gunne, made a meruailous bragge of it, +and saied he was able to shoote leauell a great deale farther, +then any one there would beleeue him to say trueth:whereupon +he called his man to beare witnesse of the same, and + + +asked him whether it were so or no. In deede, quoth his +man, you say trueth, but then you must remember sir, +you had the winde with you when you shott so +farre. Belike he thought, there would +neuer come such a Winde againe. +

+ + + Of disposition and apt ordering of things. +

I Haue trauailed hetherto in teaching the right way, to +finde meete matter for euery cause, vsing Arte as my slender +witte could best yeeld. And now, next and immediatly after +inuention, I thinke meete to speake of framing, and placing +an Oration in order, that the matter beeing aptly setled and +couched together: might better please the hearers, & with +more ease be learned of al men. And the rather I am earnest +in this behalf, because I knowe that al things stande by order, +and without order nothing can be. For by an order we +are borne, by an order we liue, and by an order we make our + + + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +157 + +ende. By an order and rule as head, and other obey as +members. By an order Realmes stande, and Lawes take +force. Yea, by an order the whole worke of Nature, and the +perfite state of all the Elements haue their appointed course. +By an order wee deuise, wee learne and frame our doings to +good purpose. By an order the Carpenter hath his squire, +his Rule, and his Plomet. The Taylour his Metyard and his +Measure: The Mason his Former, and his Plaine, and euery +one according to his calling, frameth things thereafter. For +Order of what +sort it is. +though matter be had, and that in great plentie: yet all is to +no purpose, if an order be not vsed. As for example. What +auaileth Stone, if Masons doe not worke it? What good +doth cloath, if Taylours take no measure, or doe not cut it +out? Though Timber bee had for making a Ship, and all +other things necessarie, yet the Ship shal neuer be perfite, till +workmen beginne to set to their hands, and ioyne it together. +In what a comely order hath God made man, whose shape is +not thought perfite, if any part be altered? Yea, all folke +would take him for a Monster, whose feete should occupie the +place of his handes. An armie neuer getteth victorie that is +not in araie, and set in good order of battaile. So an +Oration hath little force with it, and doth smally profite, +which is vtterd without all order. And needes must he +wander, that knowes not howe to goe, neither can hee otherwise +chuse but stumble: that groping in the darke, cannot tell +where he is: yea, he must needes both leaue much vnspoken, +repeate often thinges spoken before not knowing what, nor +where to speake best: that giues himselfe rather to take the +chaunce of fortune, then to follow the right waie of aduised +counsaile. What should a man doe with a weapon, that +knoweth not how to vse it? What though one haue mountaines +of golde, what auaileth him to haue such heapes, if he cannot +tell how to bestowe them? It is not enough to haue learning, +but it is all to vse learning. Therefore, because this part of +bestowing matter, and placing it in good order is so necessarie. +I wil shewe what the learned haue saied in this behalfe, so +much as I shall thinke it needfull.

+ + + Disposition what it is. + +

DIsposition as Tullie doth define it: is a +certainebestowing of things, and an apt +declaring what is meete for euery part, as time and place doe best +require.

+ + + + + +158 +The arte of Rhetorique. +Diuding of disposition. + +

THere are two kindes of disposing, and placing of matter. +The one is, when we followe the appointed rule of +Rhetorique, the which Nature doth almost teach vs: The other +is wholie fashioned by the discretion of him that makes the +Oration.

+ +

Rhetorique, what it +teacheth for ordering +of things. +Rhetorique doth teach vs, and Nature also leadeth vsthereunto, +first to speake somewhat before we open our matter, +after that to tell the cause of our entent, setting forth the +matter plainly that all may vnderstande it, then to proue our +owne cause by good reason, and to confute all such thinges, +as are contrarie to our purpose: last of all, to gather the +whole in a somme, concluding the matter briefly, and so to +make an ende. Now to place those reasons, which should +both serue to confirme, and to confute, and to tell in what +part of the Oration, it were best to vse this reason and that +reason, that the rather we might proue, teach and perswade: +a right wiseman had neede to take this matter in hande. +For euen as the time, the place, the iudge, and the matter it +self shall giue cause: so must a wise bodie take his aduauntage. +Sometimes it shall bee expedient to vse no preface at all, or +els when the matter is well knowne, it will bee good to leaue +the matter vntold, and straight to seeke the confirmation, +vsing some strong reason for the same purpose. Yea,sometimes +it may doe good, to neglect the naturall order, and +beginne first to proue the cause, and afterward to tell it better +then it was tolde before.

+ +

If the Iudge or the hearers, shalbe wearied with other +reportes before, it is best to go to the matter, and proue it +out of hande, with as briefe reasons and as strong as can +be gathered possible. And in prouing of our matters we +Arguments how they +should be digested. +had neede euermore, rather to weye our reasons, then to +number them, and thinke not that then we shall doe beste +when we haue the strongest. And first of all the strongest +should be vsed, and the other placed in the middest of +the oration, the which being heaped together will make +a good mustar. And yet this also would be learned, +whereas we vsed the best reasons at the first, wee should also +reserue some that were like good for the latter end: that the +hearers might haue them fresh in their remembrance, when + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +159 + +they should giue iudgement. The slender reasons that can do +lesse good, and yet not at al (for some may better be omitted) +would be placed in the middest (as I said) that both they +might be lesse marked, or being heaped there together they +might doe more good, especially when both weightie reasons +went before, and weightie reasons also folowed after. Now +a wiseman that hath good experience in these affaires, and is +able to make himself a Rhetorique for euery matter, will not be +bound to any precise rules, nor keepe any one order, but +such onely as by reason he shall thinke best to vse, being +master ouer arte, rather then arte should be maister ouer him, +rather making arte by wit, then confounding wit by arte. +And vndoubtedly euen in so dooing he shall doe right well, +and content the hearers accordingly. For what mattereth +whether we followe our booke or no, if wee followe wit and +appoint our selfe an order, such as may declare the trueth +more plainly? Yea, some that bee vnlearned, and yet haue +right good wittes: will deuise with themselues without any +booke learning, that they will say, and how much they will +saie, appointing their order, and parting it into three or +fower partes or more if neede be, such as they shall thinke +especiall points, and most meete to bee touched. Whose +doings as I can well like, and much commend them for the +same: so I would thinke them much more able to doe much +better: If they either by learning followed a paterne, or els +knewe the precepts which lead vs to right order. Rules were +The vse of +Arte. +therefore giuen, and by much obseruation gathered together, +that those which could not see Arte hid in an other mans +doings, should yet see the rules open, all in an order set +together: and thereby iudge the rather of their doings, and +by earnest imitation, seeke to resemble such their inuention. +I can not denie, but that a right wise man vnlearned, shall +doe more good by his Naturall witte, then twentie of these +common wittes that want Nature to helpe Arte. And I +knowe that rules were made first by wisemen, and not wisemen +made by rules. For these precepts serue onely to helpe our +neede, such as by Nature haue not such plentifull giftes. +And as for other vnto whom Nature is more fauourable, they +are rather put the sooner in remembrance, that such lessons +are then so taught as though they neuer knewe them, or els + + +160 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +neuer would vse them. And therefore a certain learned man +and of much excellencie, being asked what was such a figure, +and such a trope in Rhetorique: I can not tell (quoth he) but +I am assured, if you looke in the booke of mine Orations, you +shal not faile but find them. So that though he knewe not +the name of such, and such figures, yet the Nature of them +was so familiare to his knowledge, that he had the vse of +them when soeuer he had neede. Now though this man +could well thus doe, being of such notable vnderstanding, yet +it were foly that I should followe his waie, which want so good +a wit. And I thinke euen he him selfe should not haue lost +by it neither, if he had seen that in a glasse, which he often +vsed to doe without knowledge. Man is forgetfull, and there +is none so wise but counsaill may doe him good. Yea, he +shall doe much better that knoweth what arte other men haue +vsed, what inuention they haue followed, what order they +haue kept, and how they haue beste doen in euery parte. If he + +like not theirs, he may vse his owne, and yet none doth so +euill (I thinke) but some good may be got by him. +The wise therefore will not refuse to heare: +and the ignoraunt for want had +neede to seeke a will. +

+ + + The ende of the second booke. + + + + + + The third Booke +

[continued from page 160] + +

+Of apt chusing and framing of words and sentences together, called Elocution. + +

AND now we are +come to that part of Rhetorique, the +which aboue all other is most beautifull, wherby not +onely words are aptly vsed, but also sentences are in right +order framed. For whereas Inuention helpeth to finde +matter, and Disposition serueth to place arguments: Elocution +getteth words to set forth inuention, and with such +beautie commendeth the matter, that reason semeth to be +clad in Purple, walking afore both bare and naked. Therefore +Tullie saieth well, to finde out reason and aptly to frame +it, is the part of a wiseman, but to commende it by wordes and +with gorgious talke to tell our conceipt, that is onely proper +to an Oratour. Many are wise, but fewe haue the gift to set + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +161 + +forth their wisedome. Many can tel their mind in English, but +fewe can vse meete termes and apt order: such as all men +should haue, and wisemen will vse: such as needes must bee +had when matters should be vtterd. Now then what is he at +Eloquent men +most esteemed. +whom al men wonder, and stand in a mase at the vewe of +his wit: whose doings are best esteemed? Whom we doe +most reuerence, and compt half a God among men? Euen +such a one assuredly that can plainly, distinctly, plentifully +and aptly, vtter both words and matter, and his talke can vse +such composition, that he may appere to keepe an vniformitie, +and (as I might saie) a nomber in the vttering of his sentence. +Now an eloquent man being smally learned can much more +good in perswading by shift of wordes, and meete placing of +matter: then a great learned clarke shalbe able with great +store of learning, wanting words to set forth his meaning. +Wherefore I much meruaile that so many seke the onely +knowledge of things, without any mind to commend or set +forth their intendement: seing none can knowe either what +thei are, or what they haue without the gift of vtterance. +Yea bring them to speak their minde, and enter in talke with +such as are said to be learned, and you shal finde in them +such lacke of vttrance, that if you iudge them by their tongue, +and expressing of their minde: you must needes say they haue +no learning. Wherin me thinkes they do like some rich +snudges hauing great wealth, goe with their hose out at +heeles, their shoes out at toes, and their coates out at both +Barbarous Clarkes, no +better then slouens. +elbowes. For who can tell if such men are woorth a groate, +when their apparell is so homely, and all their behauiour so +base? I can call them by none other name but slouens, that +may haue good geare, and neither can nor yet wil once weare +it clenly. What is a good thing to a man, if he neither +know the vse of it, nor yet (though he knowe it) is able at +all to vse it? If we think it comelinesse and honestie to set +forth the bodie with handsome apparel, and thinke them +worthy to haue money, that both can and will vse it accordingly: +I can not otherwise see but that this part deserueth +praise, which standeth wholy in setting foorth matter, by apt +wordes and sentences together, and beautifeth the tongue +with great chaunge of colours, and varietie of figures.

+ + + + +162 +The arte of Rhetorique. + + +Fower partes belonging to Elocution. + + + +Plainnesse. +Aptnesse. +Composition. +Exornation. + +

Plainnesse, +what it is. +AMong all other lessons this should first be learned, that +wee neuer affect any straunge ynkehorne termes, but to +speake as is commonly receiued: neither seeking to be ouer +fine, nor yet liuing ouer-carelesse vsing our speeche as most +men doe, and ordering our wittes as the fewest haue done. +Some seeke so far for outlandish English, that they forget +altogether their mothers language. And I dare sweare this, +if some of their mothers were aliue, thei were not able to +tell what they say: and yet these fine English clerkes will say, +they speake in their mother tongue, if a man should charge +them for counterfeiting the Kings English. Some farre +iourneyed gentlem[e]n at their returne home, like as they loue +to goe in forraine apparell, so thei wil pouder their talke with +ouersea language. He that commeth lately out of Fraunce, +will talke French English and neuer blush at the matter. +An other chops in with English Italienated, and applieth +the Italian phrase to our English speaking, the which is, as if +an Oratour that professeth to vtter his mind in plaine Latine, +would needes speake Poetrie, and farre fetched colours of +straunge antiquitie. The Lawyer will store his stomacke +with the prating of Pedlers. The Auditor in making his +accompt and reckening, cometh in with sise sould, and cater +denere, for vi.s. iiii.d. The fine courtier wil talke nothing +but Chaucer. The misticall wiseman and Poeticall Clerkes, +will speake nothing but quaint Prouerbes, and blinde Allegories, +delighting much in their owne darkenesse, especially, +when none can tell what they doe say. The vnlearned or +foolish phantasticall, that smelles but of learning (such fellowes +as haue seen learned men in their daies) wil so Latin their +tongues, that the simple can not but wonder at their talke, +and thinke surely they speake by some reuelation. I know +them that thinke Rhetorique to stande wholie vpon darke +wordes, and hee that can catche an ynke horne terme by the +taile, him they coumpt to be a fine Englisheman, and a good +Rhetorician. And the rather to set out this foly, I will adde + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +163 + +such a letter as William Sommer himsefe, could not make +a better for that purpose. Some will thinke and sweare it +too, that there was neuer any such thing written: well, +I will not force any man to beleeue it, but I will say thus +much, and abide by it too, the like haue been made heretofore, +and praised aboue the Moone.

+ +

A letter deuised by a Lincolneshire man, for a voyde +benefice, to a gentleman that then waited vpon the Lorde +Chauncellour, for the time being.

+ +

Pondering, expending, and reuoluting with my selfe, your +ingent affabilitie, and ingenious capacity for mundaine +affaires: I cannot but celebrate, & extol your magnifical +dexteritie aboue all other. For how could you haue adepted + +An ynkehorne +terme. +such illustrate prerogatiue, and dominicall superioritie, if the +fecunditie of your ingenie had not been so fertile and wonderfull +pregnant. Now therefore being accersited to such +splendente renoume, and dignitie spendidious: I doubt not +but you will adiuuate such poore adnichilate orphanes, as +whilome ware condisciples with you, and of antique familiaritie +in Lincolneshire. Among whom I being a Scholasticall +panion, obestate your sublimitie, to extoll mine infirmitie. +There is a Sacerdotall dignitie in my natiue Countrey +contiguate to me, where I now contemplate: which your +worshipfull benignitie could sone impetrate for mee, if it +would like you to extend your sedules, and collaude me in +them to the right honourable lord Chaunceller, or rather +Archgrammacion of Englande. You know my literature, you +knowe the pastorall promotion, I obtestate your clemencie, +to inuigilate thus much for me, according to my confidence, +and as you knowe my condigne merites for such a compendious +liuing. But now I relinquish to fatigate your +intelligence, with any more friuolous verbositie, and therfore +he that rules the climates, be euermore your beautreur, your +fortresse, and your bulwarke. Amen.

+ +

Dated at my Dome, or rather Mansion place in Lincolneshire, +the penulte of the moneth Sextile. Anno Millimo, quillimo, +trillimo.       Per me Ioannes Octo.

+ +

What wiseman reading this Letter, will not take him for +a very Caulf that made it in good earnest, and thought by +his inke pot termes to get a good Parsonage. Doeth wit rest + + +164 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +in straunge wordes, or els standeth it in wholsome matter, +and apt declaring of a mans minde? Doe wee not speake +because we would haue other to vnderstande vs, or is not the +tongue giuen for this ende, that one might know what an +other meaneth? And what vnlearned man can tel, what +half this letter signifieth? Therefore, either we must make a +difference of English, and say some is learned English and other +some is rude English, or the one is court talke, the other is +countrey speech, or els we must of necessitie banish all such +Rhetorique, and vse altogether one maner of language. When +I was in Cambridge, and student in the kings College, there +came a man out of the toune with a pint of wine in a pottle +pot, to welcome the prouost of that house, that lately came +from the court. And because he would bestow his present +like a clarke, dwelling among the scholers: he made humblie +his three curtesies and sayd in this maner. Cha good euen +my good Lord, and well might your Lordship vare, vnderstanding +that your Lordshippe was come, and knowing that +you are a worshipfull Pilate, and keepes abominable house: +I thought it my duetie to come incantiuante, and bring you +a pottell of wine, the which I besech your Lordship take in +good worth. Here the simple man, being desirous to amend +his mothers tongue, shewing himselfe not to bee the wisest +man that euer spake with tongue.

+ +

Roperipe +chiding. +An other good fellowe of the countrey, being an Officer +and Maior of a toune, and desirous to speake like a fine +learned man, hauing iust occasion to rebuke a runnegate +fellowe, said after this wise in a great heate. Thou +yngrame and vacation knaue, if I take thee any more within +the Circumcision of my dampnation: I will so corrupt thee, +that all other vacation knaues shall take ilsample by thee.

+ +

An other standing in much neede of money, and desirous +to haue some helpe, at a gentlemans hande, made his complainte +in this wise. I pray you sir be so good vnto me, as +forbeare this halfe yeres rent. For so help me God and +halidome, we are so taken on with contrary Bishops, with +reuiues, and with Southsides to the King, that all our money +is cleane gone. These words he spake for Contribution, +Releef, and Subsidie. And thus we see that poore simple men +are much troubled, and talke oftentimes they knowe not + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +165 + +what for lacke of wit, and want of Latine and French, +whereof many of our strange wordes full often are deriued. +Those therefore that will eschue this folly, and acquaint +themselues with the best kind of speech, must seeke from +time to time such wordes as are commonly receiued, and +such as properly may expresse in plaine maner, the whole +conceipt of their minde. And looke what wordes we best +vnderstande, and knowe what they meane: the same should +soonest be spoken, and first applied to the vtterance of our +purpose.

+ +

Now whereas wordes be receiued, aswell Greeke as +Latine, to set forth our meaning in the English tongue, +either for lacke of store, or els because we would enrich the +language: it is well doen to vse them, and no man therein +can be charged for any affectation, when all other are agreed +to followe the same waie. There is no man agreeued when +he heareth (Letters Patents) and yet Patentes is Latine, and +signifieth open to all men. The Communion is a fellowship, +or a comming together, rather Latin then English: the +kings prerogatiue declareth his power roiall aboue al other, and +yet I know no man greeued for these termes, being vsed in +their place, nor yet any one suspected for affectation, when +such generall wordes are spoken. The folie is espied, when +either we will vse such wordes as fewe men doe vse, or vse +them out of place, when an other might serue much better. +Fower things obserued +for choise of wordes. +Therefore to auoide such folly, we may learne of that most +excellent Oratour Tullie, who in his third booke, where he +speaketh of a perfect Oratour, declareth vnder the name of +Crassus, that for the choise of words fower things should +chefly be obserued. First that such words as we vse, should +be proper vnto the tongue wherein wee speake, againe, that +they bee plaine for all men to perceiue: thirdly, that they be +apt and meete, most properly to sette out the matter. +Fourthly, that words translated from one signification to an +other (called of the Grecians Tropes) be vsed to beautifie the +sentence, as precious stones are set in a ring to commende +the gold.

+ + +Aptnesse what it is. +

Aptnesse. +SUch are thought apt wordes, that properly agree vnto +that thing which they signifie, and plainly expresse the + + +166 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +nature of the same. Therefore they that haue regard of their +estimation do warely speake, and with choise vtter woordes +most apt for their purpose. In waightie causes graue wordes +are thought most needful, that the greatnesse of the matter +may the rather appere in the vehemencie of their talke. So +likewise of other like order must be taken. Albeit some not +onely doe not obserue this kind of aptnesse, but also they doe fal +Vnapt vsing +of apt words. +into much fondnes, by vsing words out of place, and +applying them to diuers matters without all discretion. As +thus. An ignorant fellowe comming to a gentlemans place, +and seeing a great flocke of shepe in his pasture, said to the +owner of them, nowe by my trueth sir, here is as goodly an +audience of sheepe as euer I saw in my life. Who will not +take this fellowe meeter to talke with sheepe, then speake +among men?

+ +

An other likewise seeing an house faire builded, said to his +fellow thus: good lord what a handsome phrase of building is +this? Thus are good words euill vsed, when they are not +wel applied and spoken to good purpose. Therefore I wish that +such vntowarde speaking, may giue vs a good lesson to vse our +tongue warely, that our wordes and matter may still agree +together.

+ + +Of Composition. +

WHen wee haue learned vsuall and accustomable words +to set forth our meaning, we ought to ioyne them +together in apt order, that the Eare maie delite in hearing +the harmonie. I knowe some Englishmen that in this +point haue such a gift in the English, as fewe Latine hath +the like, and therefore delite the wise and learned so much +Composition +what it is. +with their pleasaunt composition: that many reioyce when +they may heare such, and thinke much learning is got when +they may talke with them. Composition therfore is an apt +ioyning together of wordes in such order, that neither the eare +shall espie any ierre, nor yet any man shalbe dulled with +ouerlong drawing out of a sentence, nor yet much confounded +with mingling of causes such as are needelesse, being heaped +together without reason, and vsed without number. For by +such meanes the hearers will be forced to forget full ofte, +what was sayd first, before the sentence bee halfe ended: or +els be blinded with confounding of many things together. + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +167 + +Faultes in composition. +Some againe will be so short, and in such wise curtall their +sentences, that they had neede to make a commentary +immediatly of their meaning, or els the most that heare them +shalbe forced to keepe counsaill.

+ +

Some will speake Oracles, that a man can not tell which +way to take them, some will bee so fine and so poeticall withall, +that to their seeming there shall not stande one haire +a misse, and yet euery body els shall thinke them meeter for +a Ladies chamber, then for an earnest matter in any open +assemblie.

+ +

Some will roue so much and bable so farre without order, +that a man would thinke they had a greate loue to heare them +selues speake.

+ +

Some repeate one worde so often, that if such wordes could +be eaten, and chopt in so oft as they are vttered out, they +would choke the widest throte in al England. As thus. If +a man knew what a mans life were, no man for any mans sake +woulde kill any man, but one man would rather helpe an other +man, considering man is borne for man to helpe man, and not +to hate man. What man would not be choked, if he chopt al +these men at once into his mouth, and neuer dronke after it? +Some vse ouermuch repetition of some one letter, as pitifull +pouertie praieth for a penie, but puffed presumption passeth not +a point, pampering his panch with pestilent pleasure, procuring +his passeport to poste it to hell pit, there to be punished with +paines perpetuall. Some will so set their words, that they +must be faine to gape after euery word spoken, ending one +word with a vowell, and beginning the next with an other, +which vndoubtedly maketh the talke to seeme most vnpleasaunt. +As thus. Equitie assuredly euery iniurie auoideth. Some will +set the Cart before the horse, as thus. My mother and my +father are both at home, as though the good man of the house +did weare no breches, or that the graie Mare were the better +Horse. And what though it often so happeneth (God wot the +more pitty) yet in speaking at the least, let vs keepe a naturall +order, and set the man before the woman for maners sake.

+ +

An other comming home in haste, after a long iourney, +saieth to his man: Come hether sir knaue, helpe me of with +my bootes and my spurres. I praie you sir, giue him leaue +first to plucke of your spurres, ere he meddle with your bootes, + + +168 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +or els your man is like to haue a madde plucking. Who is so +foolish as to say, the Counsaile and the King, but rather the +King and his Counsaile, the Father and the Sonne, and not +contrary. And so likewise in all other, as they are in degree +first euermore to set them formost.

+ +

The wise therefore talking of diuers worthie men together, +will first name the worthiest, and keepe a decent order in +reporting of their tale. Some end their sentences all alike, +making their talke rather to appeare rimed Meeter, then +to seeme plaine speeche, the which as it much deliteth being +measurably vsed, so it much offendeth when no meane is +regarded. I heard a preacher deliting much in this kind of +composition, who vsed so often to ende his sentences with +wordes like vnto that which went before, that in my iudgement +there was not a dosen sentences in his whole sermon, +but they ended all in Rime for the most parte. Some not +best disposed, wished the Preacher a Lute, that with his rimed +sermon he might vse some pleasant melody, and so the people +might take pleasure diuers waies, and dance if they list. Certes +there is a meane, and no reason to vse any one thing at al +time, seing nothing deliteth (be it neuer so good) that is +alwaies vsed.

+ +

Quintilian likeneth the colours of Rhetorique to a mans eye +sight. And now (quoth he) I would not haue all the bodie to be +full of eyes, or nothing but eyes: for then the other partes +should wante their due place and proportion. Some ouerthwartly +sette their wordes, placing some one a mile from his +fellowes, not contented with a plaine and easie composition, +but seeke to set wordes they can not tell how, and therefore +one not liking to bee called, and by print published Doctour +of Phisicke, would needes bee named a Phisicke Doctour, +wherein appeared a wonderful composition (as he thought) +strange vndoubtedly, but whether wise or no, let the learned +sit in iudgement vpon that matter.

+ +

An other. As I rose in a Morning (quoth one) I met +a Carte full of stones emptie. Belike the man was fasting, +when the Cart was full, and yet wee see that through straunge +composition, his sentence appeareth darke.

+ +

Some will tell one thing twentie times, nowe in, nowe out, +and when a man would thinke they had almost ended, they + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +169 + +are ready to beginne againe as fresh as euer they were. Such +vaine repetitions declare both want of witte, and lacke of +learning. Some are so homely in all their doings, and so +grosse for their inuention, that they vse altogether one maner +of trade, and seeke no varietie to eschue tediousnesse.

+ +

Some burden their talke with needlesse copie, and will +seeme plentifull when they should be short. An other is so +curious and so fine of his tongue, that he can not tell in all +the world what to speake. Euery sentence seemeth common, +and euery worde generally vsed, is thought to be foolish in +his wise iudgement. Some vse so many interpositions, both +in their talke and in their writing, that they make their +sayings as darke as hell. Thus when faltes be knowne they +may bee auoyded: and vertue the sooner may take place, +when vice is foreseen and eschued as euill.

+ + +Of Exornation. +

WHen wee haue learned apte wordes, and vsuall phrases +to set foorth our meaning, and can orderly place them +without offence to the Eare, wee may boldely commende and +beautifie our talke with diuers goodly colours, and delitefull +translations, that our speech may seeme as bright and precious, +as a rich stone is faire and orient.

+ +

Exornation. +Three maner of stiles +or enditings. +Exornation, is a gorgious beautifying of the tongue with +borowed wordes, and change of sentence or speech with much +varietie. First therefore (as Tullie saith) an oration is made +to seme right excellent by the kind selfe, by the colour and +iuice of speech. There are three maner of stiles or inditings, +the great or mightie kinde, when we vse great wordes, or +vehement figures.

+ +

The small kinde, when wee moderate our heate by meaner +wordes, and vse not the most stirring sentences.

+ +

The lawe kinde, when we vse no Metaphores nor translated +words, nor yet vse any amplifications, but goe plainly to +worke, and speake altogether in common wordes. Now in al +these three kindes, the Oration is much commended, and +appereth notable when wee keepe vs still to that stile which +we first professed, and vse such wordes as seeme for that kinde +of writing most conuenient. Yea, if we minde to encrease +or diminish: to be in a heate, or to vse moderation. To +speake pleasauntly or grauely: To be sharpe or soft: to talke + + +170 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +lordly, or to speake finely: to waxe auncient or familiare +(which are all comprehended vnder one of the other three: +we must euer make our wordes apt and agreeable to that +kinde of stile which we first began to vse. For as Frenche +hoodes doe not become Lords: so Parliament robes are +vnfitting for Ladies. Comelinesse therefore must euer be vsed, +and all things obserued, that are most meete for euery cause, +if we looke by attemptes to haue our desire.

+ +

Exornation by colours +of Rhetorique. +There is an other kind of Exornation, that is not egally +sparpled throughout the whole Oration, but is so disseuered +and parted as starres stande in the Firmament, or flowers in +a garden, or pretie deuised antiques in a cloth of Arras.

+ + +What a figure is. +

A Figure is a certaine kinde, either of sentence, Oration, +or worde, vsed after some newe or straunge wise, much +vnlike to that which men commonly vse to speake.

+ + +The deuision of figures. +

THere are three kindes of figures, the one is, when the +nature of wordes is chaunged from one signification to +an other, called a Trope, of the Grecians: The other serueth +for words when they are not chaunged by nature, but only +altered by speaking, called of the Grecians Scheme. The third +is, when by diuersitie of inuention, a sentence is many wayes +spoken, and also matters are amplified by heaping examples, +by dilating arguments, by comparing of things together, by +similitudes, by contraries, and by diuers other like, called +by Tullie Exornation of sentences, or colours of Rhetorike.

+ +

By all which figures euery Oration may be much beautified, +and without the same, not one can attaine to be coumpted an +Oratour, though his learning otherwise be neuer so great.

+ +Of the first vse of Tropes. +

WHen learned and wisemen gan first to inlarge their +tongue, and sought with great vtterance of speech to +commende causes: They founde full oft much want of words +to set out their meaning. And therfore remembring thinges +Tropes how they were +first founded. +of like nature vnto those whereof they speake: they vsed +such wordes to expresse their mynde, as were most like vnto +other. As for example. If I should speake against some notable +Pharisey. I might vse translation of wordes in this wise: +Yonder man is of a crooked iudgement, his wittes are cloudie, + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +171 + +he liueth in deepe darknesse dusked altogether with blinde +ignorance, and drowned in the raging sea of bottomlesse +Superstition. Thus is the ignorant set out by calling him +crooked, cloudie, darke, blinde, and drounde in Superstition. +All which wordes are not proper vnto ignorance, but borowed +of other things that are of like nature vnto ignorance. For +the vnskilfull man hath his witte set out of order, as a mans +bodie is set out of ioynt, and thereupon it may be sayd to be +crooked. Likewise hee may bee called Cloudie, for as the Cloudes +keepe the Sonne shining from vs, so doth his ignoraunce +keepe him blindfolde from the true understanding of thinges. +And as when the eyes are out, no man can see any thing: +So when parfite iudgement is wanting, the troth can not be +knowne. And so likewise of all other. Thus as necessitie +hath forced vs to borowe wordes translated: So hath time and +practize made them to seeme most pleasaunt, and therefore +they are much the rather vsed. Yea when a thing full ofte +can not bee exprest by an apt and meete worde, wee doe perceiue +(when it is spoken by a worde translated) that the likenesse +of that thing, which appeareth in an other word much +lighteneth that, which we would most gladly haue perceiued.

+ +

And not onely doe men vse translation of words (called +Tropes) for neede sake, when they can not finde other: but +also when they may haue most apt words at hand, yet will they +of a purpose vse translated wordes. And the reason is this. +Men coumpt it a point of witte, to passe ouer such words as +are at hand, and to vse such as are farre fetcht and translated: +or els it is because the hearer is ledde by cogitation vppon +rehearsall of a Metaphore, and thinketh more by remembraunce +of a worde translated, then is there expressely spoken: +or els because the whole matter seemeth by a similitude to be +opened: or laste of all, because euery translation is commonly, +and for the most part referred to the senses of the bodie, and +especially to the sense of seeing, which is the sharpest and +quickest aboue all other. For when I shall say that an angrie +man fometh at the mouth, I am brought in remembrance by +this translation to remember a Bore, that in fighting vseth +much foming, the which is a foule and lothly sight. And I cause +other to thinke that he brake pacience wonderfully, when +I set out his rage comparable to a bores foming.

+ + + +

+172 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +An other being offended with checkes giuen will say, I +maruaile sir what you meane to be euer snarling at mee, +wherein is declared a brutishnesse, considering he speaketh +byting wordes, and much without reason, and as vncomly as +a dog doth, when he snarreth, the which wee see is nothing +seemely. There is nothing in all the worlde, but the same +may haue the name of some other worde, the which by some +similitude is like vnto it. Notwithstanding, there ought much +warenesse to be vsed in chosing of words translated, that the +same be not vnlike that thing whervnto it is applied, nor yet +that the translation bee vncomely, or such as may giue occasion +of any vncleane meaning.

 + + + A Trope. +

+Trope what it is. +A Trope is an alteration of a worde or sentence, from the +proper signification, to that which is not proper.

+ + + The deuision of Tropes. +

+Diuision of Tropes. + TRopes are either of a worde, or a long continued speeche + or sentence.

+ + + Tropes of a worde are these. + A Metaphore or translation of wordes. + A word making. + Intellection. + Abusion. + Transmutation of a worde. + Transumption. + Chaunge of name. + Circumlocution. + + + + Tropes of a long continued speeche or sentences, are these. + An Allegorie, or inuersion of wordes. + Mounting. + Resembling of things. + Similitude. + Example. + + + What is a Metaphore? +

+Metaphors. + A Metaphore is an alteration of a worde, from the proper + and naturall meaning, to that which is not proper, and + yet agreeth thereunto by some likenesse, that appereth to be + in it.

+ +

An Oration is wounderfully enriched, when apte Metaphors +are got, and applied to the matter. Neither can any one + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +173 + +perswade effectuously, and winne men by weight of his Oration, +without the helpe of wordes altered and translated.

+ + +The diuersitie of translations. +

FIrst we alter a word from that which is in the mind, to +that which is in the bodie. As when wee perceiue one +that hath begiled vs, we vse to say. Ah sirrha, I am gladde +I haue smelled you out. Beeing greeued with a matter, wee +say commonly wee cannot digest it. The lawier receiuing +money more then needeth oftentimes, will say to his Client +without any translation: I feele you wel, when the poore man +thinketh that he doeth well vnderstande his cause, and will +helpe hym to some good ende. For so commonly we say +when we knowe a mans minde in any thing. This kinde +of mutation is much vsed, when we talke earnestly of any +matter.

+ + +From the creature without reason, to that which hath reason. +

THe second kinde of translation is, when we goe from the +creature without reason, to that which hath reason, or +contrary from that which hath reason, to that which hath no +reason. As if I should saie, such an vnreasonable brauler did +nothing els but barke like a dog, or like a Fox. Women are +said to chatter, churles to grunt, boyes to whine, & yongmen +to yel. Contrariwise we call a foxe false, a Lion proude, and +a dog flattryng.

 +From the liuing, to that which hath no life. +

FRom the liuing to the not liuing, wee vse many translations. +As thus. You shall pray for all men, dispersed +throughout the face of the earth. The arme of a Tree. The +side of a bancke. The land crieth for vengeaunce. From the +liuing to the not liuing. Hatred buddeth among malicious +men, his wordes flow out of his mouth. I haue a whole +world of businesse.

+ +

In obseruing the worke of Nature in all seuerall substances +wee may finde translations at will, then the which nothing is +more profitable for any one, that mindeth by his vtteraunce +to stirre the hartes of men, either one waie or other.

+ +

Wordes making. +A woorde making called of the Grecians Onomatapoia, is +when wee make wordes of our owne minde, such as bee +deriued from the nature of things. As to call one Patche or + + +174 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +Coulson, whom we see to doe a thing foolishly, because these +two in their tyme were notable fooles. Or when one is lustie, +to say Taratauntara, declaring thereby that he is as lustie, as +a Trumpette is delitefull and stirring: or when one would +seme galant, to crie hoigh, whereby also is declared courage. +Boyes being greeued will say some one to another: sir, I will +cap you, if you vse mee thus, and withhold that from me +which is mine owne: meaning that he will take his cap from +him. Again, when we see one gaie and gallaunt, we vse to say, +he courtes it. Quoth one that reasoneth in Diuinitie with his +fellowe, I like well to reason, but I cannot chappe these textes +in Scripture, if I should dye for it: meaning that he could not +tell in what Chapter thinges were conteined, although he +knewe full well, that there were such sayinges.

+ +Intellection. +

+Intellection. +INtellection, called of the Grecians, Synedoche, is a Trope, +when we gather or iudge the whole by the part, or part by +the whole. As thus: The King is come to London, meaning +therby that other also be come with him. The French man +is good to keepe a Fort, or to skirmish on Horsbacke, whereby +we declare the French men generally. By the whole, the +part thus. All Cambridge sorrowed for the death of Bucer, +meaning the most part. All England reioyceth that Pilgrimage +is banished, and Idolatrie for euer abolished: and yet all +England is not glad but the most part.

+ +

The like phrases are in the Scripture, as when the Magians +came to Hierusalem, and asked where hee was that was borne +King of the Jewes. Herode start vp being greatly troubled, +and all the Citie of Hierusalem with him, and yet all the Citie +was not troubled, but the most part. By the signe wee vnderstand +the thing signified: as by an Iuie garland, we iudge there +is wine to sel. By the signe of a Beare, Bull, Lyon, or any +such, we take any house to be an Inne. By eating bread at +the Communion, we remember Christes death, and by faith +receiue him spiritually.

 + +Abusion. +

+Abusion. +ABusion, called of the Grecians Catechresis, is when for +a certaine proper worde, we vse that which is most nigh +vnto it: as in calling some water, a Fish Pond, though there +be no Fish in it at all. Or els when wee say, there is long + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +175 + +talke, and small matter. Which are spoken vnproperly, for +wee cannot measure, either talke, or matter by length, or +breadth.

 + +Transmutation of a worde. +

+Transmutation. +TRansmutation helpeth much for varietie, the which is, +when a word hath a proper signification of the owne, and +being referred to an other thing, hath an other meaning: the +Grecians call it Metonymia, the which is diuers waies vsed. +When we vse the author of a thing, for the thing self. As +i. +ii. +thus: Put vpon you the Lord Jesus Christ, that is to say, be +in liuing such a one as he was. The Pope is banished +England, that is to say, all his Superstition and Hipocrisie, +either is or should bee gone to the Deuill, by the Kings +expresse will and commaundement. Againe, when that which +doth conteine, is vsed for that which is conteined. As thus. I +haue dronke an Hoggeshead this weeke: Heauen may reioyce, +and Hell may lament, when olde men are not couetous. +iii. +Contrariwise, when the thing conteined, is vsed for the thing +conteyning. As thus. I pray you come to me, that is to say, +come to my house. Fowerthly, when by the efficient cause, the +effect is streight gathered therevpon. As thus. The Sunne +iiii. +is vp, that is to say, it is day. This fellowe is good with +a long Bowe, that is to say, he shooteth well.

 + +Transumption. +

TRansumption is, when by degrees wee goe to that, which +is to be shewed. As thus. Such a one lieth in a dark +Dungeon: now in speaking of darkenesse, we vnderstand +closenesse, by closenesse, we gather blacknesse, & by blacknesse, +we iudge deepenesse.

 + +Chaunge of name. +

+Antonomasia. +CHaunge of name, is when for the proper name, some +name of an Office, or other calling is vsed. As thus: +The Prophet of God saith: Blessed are they, whose sinnes bee +not imputed vnto them, meaning Dauid. The Poet saieth: +It is a vertue to eschue vice: wherein I vnderstand Horace.

 + +Circumlocution. +

+Periphrasis. +CIrcumlocution is a large description, either to set forth +a thing more gorgiously, or els to hide it, if the eares can +not beare the open speaking: or when with fewe words, we +cannot open our meaning to speake it more largely. Of the + + +176 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +first thus. The valiaunt courage of mightie Scipio, subdued +the force of Carthage and Numantia. Henry the fifth, the +most puissaunt King of England, with seuen thousand men, +tooke the French King prisoner with al the flower of nobilitie +in Fraunce. Of the second. When Saule was easing himself +vpon the ground, Dauid tooke a peece of his garment, tooke +his weapon that lay by him, and might haue slaine him. Such +a one defiled his bodie with such an euill woman. For the +third part, the large Commentaries written, and the Paraphrasis +of Erasmus Englished: are sufficient to shewe the vse +thereof.

 + + +What is an Allegorie. +

AN Allegorie is none other thing, but a Metaphore, vsed +throughout a whole sentence, or Oration. As in speaking +against a wicked offendour, I might say thus. Oh Lord, +his nature was so euill, and his witte so wickedly bent, that he +meant to bouge the ship, where he himselfe failed: meaning +that he purposed the destruction of his owne Countrey. It is +euill putting strong Wine into weake vesselles, that is to say, it +is euill trusting some women with weightie matters. The +English Prouerbes gathered by Iohn Heywood, helpe well in +this behalfe, the which commonly are nothing els but Allegories, +and darke deuised sentences. Now for the other +fower figures, because I minde hereafter to speake more +largely of them, and Quintilian thinketh them more meete to +be placed among the figures of Exornation, I will not trouble +the Reader with double inculcation, and twise telling of one +tale.

+ + +Of Schemes, called otherwise sentences of a worde and sentence. +

Scheme what it is. +I Might tary long time, in declaring the nature of diuers +Schemes, which are wordes or sentences altered, either by +speaking, or writing, contrarie to the vulgare custome of our +speech, without chaunging their nature at al: but because I +knowe the vse of the figures in worde, is not so great in this +our tongue, I will runne them ouer, with as much hast as +I can.

+ +The deuision of Schemes. +

STraunge vsing of any worde or sentence, contrary to our +daiely wont, is either when we adde or take away a sillable, + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +177 + +or a worde, or encrease a sentence by chaunge of speech, +contrary to the common maner of speaking.

 + +Figures of a worde. +

THose be called figures of a word, when we change a word +and speake it contrary to our vulgare, and dayly speech. +Of the which sort, there are sixe in number. + + + Addition at the first. + Abstraction from the first. + Interlacing in the middest. + Cutting from the middest. + Adding at the ende. + Cutting from the ende. + + +

Prosthesis. +OF Addition. As thus: He did all to berattle him. +Wherin appeareth that a sillable is added to this word +(rattle). Here is good nale to sell, for good ale.

+ +

Apheresis. +Of Abstraction from the first, thus. As I romed all alone, +I gan to thinke of matters great. In which sentence (gan) is +vsed, for began.

+ +

Epenthesis. +Interlacing in the middest. As Relligion, for Religion.

+ +

Syncope. +Cutting from the middest. Idolatrie, for Idololatrie.

+ +

Proparalepsis. +Adding at the end. Hasten your businesse, for Hast your +businesse.

+ +

Apocope. +Cutting from the ende. A faire maie, for maide. +

+

Thus these figures are shortly set out, and as for the other +Schemes, which are vttered in whole sentences, and expressed +by varietie of speech: I will set them forth at large among the +colours and ornaments of Elocution, that followe.

 + + +Of colours and ornaments, to commende and set forth an Oration. +

NOW, when we are able to frame a sentence handsomely +together, obseruing number, and keeping composition, +such as shall like best the eare, and doe knowe the vse of +Tropes, and can apply them to our purpose: then the ornaments +are necessarie in an Oration, and sentences would bee +Colours of +Rhetorique. +furnished with most beautifull figures. Therefore, to the end +that they may be knowne, such as most commende and +beautifie an Oration: I will set them forth here in such wise, +as I shall best be able, following the order which Tullie hath +vsed in his Booke, made of a perfect Oratour.

+ + + + +178 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +Resting vpon a poinct. + +

Commoration. +WHen wee are earnest in a matter, and feele the weight +of our cause, we rest vpon some reason, which serueth +best for our purpose. Wherein this figure appeareth most, +and helpeth much to set forth our matter. For if we stil kepe +vs to our strongest hold, and make ofter recourse thither, +though we be driuen through bytalke to goe from it now and +then: we shall force them at length, either to auoyd our +strong defence, or els to yeeld into our hands.

+ + +An euident, or plaine setting forth of a thing, as though it were presently done. +

Illustriu explanatio. +THis figure is called a discription, or an euident declaration +of a thing, as though we saw it euen now done. An +example: If our enemies shall inuade, and by treason winne +the victorie, we shal all dye euery mothers sonne of vs, and +our Citie shalbe destroyed sticke and stone. I see our children +made slaues, our daughters rauished, our wiues caried away, +the father forced to kil his owne sonne, the mother her +Description of +courage, after +a battaile. +daughter, the sonne his father, the sucking child slaine in the +mothers bosome, one standing to the knees in an others bloud, +Churches spoyled, houses pluckt downe, and al set in fire +round about vs, euery one cursing the day of their birth, +children crying, women wayling, and olde men passing for +very thought, and euery one thinking himselfe most happie +that is rid out of this world, such will the crueltie bee of our +enemies, and with such horrible hatred will they seeke to +dispatch vs. Thus, where I might haue said we shall all be +destroyed, and say no more, I haue by description set the euill +foorth at large. It much auayleth to vse this figure in diuers +matters, the which whosoeuer can doe, with any excellent gift, +vndoubtedly he shal much delite the hearers. The circumstaunces +well considered in euery cause, giue much matter, for +the plaine opening of the thing. Also similitudes, examples, +comparisons, from one thing to an other, apt translations, and +heaping of Allegories, and all such figures as serue for amplifying, +doe much commend the liuely setting forth of any +matter. The miseries of the Courtiers life, might well bee +described by this kind of figure. The commoditie of learning, +the pleasure of Plowmen, and the care that a King hath. +And not onely are matters set out by description, but men + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +179 + +Diuersitie of +natures. +are painted out in their colours, yea, buildings are set foorth, +Kingdomes and Realmes are portured, places and times are +described. The Englishman for feeding and chaunging for +apparell. The Dutchman for drinking. The Frenchman +for pride and inconstance. The Spanyard for nimblenes of +body, and much disdaine: the Italian for great wit and +policie: the Scots for boldnesse, and the Boeme for stubbornesse.

+ +

Many people are described by their degree, as a man of +good yeares, is coumpted sober, wise, and circumspect: +a young man wilde and carelesse: a woman babling, inconstaunt, +and readie to beleeue all that is tolde her.

+ +

By vocation of life, a Souldier is coumpted a great bragger, +and a vaunter of himself: A Scholer simple: A Russet coate, +sad, and sometimes craftie: a Courtier, flattering: a Citizen, +gentle.

+ +

Description +of persons. +In describing of persons, there ought alwaies a comelinesse +to bee vsed, so that nothing be spoken, which may bee thought +is not in them. As if one shall describe Henry the sixth, he +might cal him gentle, milde of Nature, led by perswasion, and +readie to forgiue, carelesse for wealth, suspecting none, +mercifull to all, fearefull in aduersitie, and without forecast +to espie his misfortune. Againe, for Richard the third, I +might bring him in, cruel of heart, ambicious by nature, +enuious of mind, a deepe dissembler, a close man for weightie +matters, hardie to reuenge, and fearfull to lose his high estate, +trustie to none, liberall for a purpose, casting still the worst, +and hoping euer the best. By this figure also wee imagine +a talke, for some one to speake, and according to his person, +we frame the Oration. As if one should bring in noble +Henrie the eight, of most famous memorie to enueigh against +Rebelles, thus he might order his Oration. What if Henry +the eight were a liue, and sawe such Rebellion in this Realme, +would not he say thus, and thus? Yea, me thinkes I heare +him speake euen now. And so set forth such wordes, as we +would haue him to say.

+ +

Sometimes it is good to make GOD, the Countrey, or some +one Towne to speake, and looke what we would say in our +owne person, to frame the whole tale to them. Such varietie +doth much good to auoyde tediousnesse, for he that speaketh + + +180 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +The vse of figures. +all in one sort, though he speake thinges neuer so wittely, +shall sone wearie his hearers. Figures therefore were inuented, +to auoyd sacietie, and cause delight: to refresh with pleasure, +and quicken with grace the dulnesse of mans braine. Who +will looke on a white wall an hower together, where no workmanship +is at all? Or who will eate still one kinde of meate, +and neuer desire chaunge? Certes as the mouth is daintie: +so the witte is tickle, and will sone loth an vnsauery thing.

+ + +A stop, or halfe telling of the tale. +

Precisio. +A Stop is when we breake off our tale, before we haue told +it. As thus. Thou that art a young man of such towarnesse, +hauing such friendes, to play me such a part, well I +will say no more, GOD amende all that is amisse. Or thus. +Doth it become thee to bee, shall I tell all: Nay, I will not +for very shame.

+ +A close vnderstanding. +

+Significatio plus ad intelligendum quam dixeris. +A close vnderstanding is, when more may bee gathered, +then is openly expressed. A naughtie fellowe that vsed +much robberie, founde himselfe grieued, that the great +Oratour Demosthenes spent so much Oyle, whereby he watched +from time to time, in compassing matters for the Commonweale: +Demosthenes. +In deede (quoth Demosthenes) darke nights are best for +thy purpose: Meaning that he was a great Robber in the +night.

+ +

One also being set in a heate, because an other had contraried +him for the choise of meates, was much more greued +when he gaue him this taunt. You may boldly (quoth he) +speake for fish eating, for my maister your father, hath many +a time and oft, wipte his nose vpon his sleeue: meaning that +his father was a Fishmonger.

 + +Short sentences. +

+Distincte concisa breuitas. +THen short clauses or sentences are vsed, when wee speake +at a word part of our mind, and next after speake as +briefly againe, vsing to make almost euery worde a perfect +sentence. As thus. The man is sore wounded, I feare me +he will dye. The Phisitions mistrust him: the partie is fled, +none pursueth: God sende vs good lucke.

 + +Abating, or lessening of a thing. +

+Extenuatio. +WE make our doinges appeare lesse, when with wordes +we extenuate and lessen the same. As when one had + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +181 + +giuen his fellowe a sound blowe, being rebuked for the same, +said he scant touched him. Likewise, when two haue fought +together, to say, that the one had his legge prickt with +a sworde, when perchance he had a great wounde.

 + +Wittie iesting. +

+Illusio. +MAny pleasaunt Gentlemen, are well practised in merie +conceipted iests, & haue both such grace and delite +therein, that they are wonderfull to behold, and better were +it to be sharply chid of diuers other, then pleasauntly taunted +by any of them. When a Gentleman of great Lands and +small wit, had talked largely at a supper, and spake words +scant worth the hearing, an other being much grieued with his +folly, said to him: Sir, I haue taken you for a plaine meaning +Gentleman, but I knowe now, there is not a more deceiptfull +body in all England: with that, other being grieued with the +yong Gentlemans folly, boldly began to excuse him for deceipt, +and therefore said he was to blame to charge him with that +fault, considering his nature was simple, and fewe can say that +euer he was craftie. Well (quoth the other) I must needes +say he is deciptful, for I took him heretofore for a sober +wittie yong man, but now I perciue he is a foolish babling +fellow, and therefore I am sure he hath deceiued me, like +a false crafty child as he is: with that they al laughed, and +the Gentleman was much abashed. But as touching sharpe +taunts, I haue largely declared them in place, wher I treated +of laughter.

 +Digression, or swaruing from the matter. +

Digressio ab re non longa. +WE swarue sometimes from the matter, vpon iust considerations, +making the same to serue for our purpose, +as well as if we had kept the matter still. As in making an +inuectiue against Rebelles, and largely setting out the filth of +their offences, I might declare by the way of digression, what +a noble countrey England is, how great commodities it hath, +what traffique here is vsed, and how much more neede other +Realmes haue of vs, then we haue neede of them. Or when +I shall giue euidence, or rather declame against an hainous +murtherer, I may digresse from the offence done, and enter in +praise of the dead man, declaring his vertues in most ample +wise, that the offence done may be thought so much the +greater, the more honest he was, that hath thus bene slaine. + + +182 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +Notwithstanding, this would bee learned, that (when we make +any such digression) the same may well agree to the purpose, and +bee so set out that it confounde not the cause, or darken the +sence of the matter deuised.

+ +Proposition. +

+Propositio quid sit dicturus. +PRoposition is a short rehearsall of that, whereof wee +minde to speake. I will tell you (quoth one) there is +none hath a worse name then this fellow, none hath bene so +often in trouble, he may be faultlesse, but I can hardly beleue +it, there are enow that will testifie of his naughtinesse, and +auouch his euill demeanour to be such that the like hath not +bene heard heretofore.

 + + +An ouer passage to an other matter. +

Seiunctio ab eo quod dictum est. +WHen we goe from one matter to an other, we vse this +kind of phrase. I haue tolde you the cause of all this +euill, now I will tell you a remedie for the same. You haue +heard of iustification by faith only, now you shal heare of the +dignitie of works, and how necessary they are for euery +Christian body.

+ + +Of comming againe to the matter. +

Redditus ad propositum. +WHen we haue made a digression, wee may declare our +returne, and shew that whereas we haue roued a litle, +wee will now keepe vs within our boundes. In this kinde of +digression, it is wisedome not to wander ouer farre, for feare +we shall wearie the hearers, before we come to the matter +againe. I knewe a Preacher that was a whole hower out of +his matter, and at length remembring himself, saied well, now +to the purpose, as though all that which he had spoken before, +had beene little to the purpose, whereat many laughed, and +some for starke wearinesse were faine to goe away.

+ + +Iterating and repeating things saied before. +

Iteratio. +WHen a man hath largely spoken his minde, he may repeate +in fewe wordes the somme of his saying. As if +one should bee charged with Felonie, that is a man of wealth +and honestie, he might thus gather his minde together after +a long tale told. First, I will proue there is no cause that +I should steale. Againe, that I could not possible at such +a time steale, and last, that I stole not at all. + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +183 +

+ +The conclusion or lapping vp of matter. +

Rationis apta conclusio. +THE conclusion, is an apt knitting together of that, which +we haue saied before. As thus. If reason can perswade, +if examples may mooue, if necessitie may helpe, if pitie may +prouoke, if daungers foreseene may stirre vs to be wise: I +doubt not but you will rather vse sharpe lawes to represse +offendours, then with dissolute negligence suffer all to perish.

+ +Mounting aboue the trueth. +

+Veritatis superlatio, atque traiectio. +MOunting aboue the trueth, is when wee doe set foorth +things exceedingly and aboue all mens expectation, +meaning onely that they are very great. As thus. God +promised to Abraham, that he would make his posteritie equal +with the sandes of the earth. Now it was not so saied, that +there should be so many in deede, but that the number should +bee infinite. For whether shall wee vnderstande those to bee +the children of Abraham, that came of his stocke in flesh, or +els take them for the children of Abraham, that haue the faith +of Abraham: we shall neuer proue the number of men to be +equal with the sands of the Sea, though we could recken all +that haue beene, from the beginning of the world. Therefore +in this speech, we must vnderstand there is a mounting, +called of the Grecians Hyperbole: wee vse this figure much in +English. As thus. He is as swift as a Swallowe, he hath +a belly as bigge as a Barrell, he is a Gyaunt in making: the +whole Themes is little enough to serue him, for washing his +hands. In all which speeches we mount euermore a great +deale, and not meane so as the wordes are spoken.

 + +Asking other, and aunswering our selfe. +

+Rogatio. +BY asking other, and aunswering to the question our self, +we much commend the matter, and make it appeare very +pleasaunt. If I would rebuke one that hath committed a Robberie, +I might say thus. I wonder what you meant to commit +such Felonie. Haue you not Lands? I knowe you haue. Are +not your friends worshipfull? Yes assuredly. Were you not +beloued of them? No doubt you were. Could you haue +wanted any thing that they had? If you would haue eaten +golde, you might haue had it. Did not they alwaies bid you +seeke to them, and to none other? I knowe they did. What +euill hap had you then to offend in such sort, not going to +your friendes, which would not see you want, but seeking for + + +184 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +that which you should not haue, endaungering your self by +vntrue dealing, to feele the power and strength of a lawe, when +otherwise you might haue liued in sauegarde?

+ +

The like kinde of writing is also vsed, when wee make an +other bodie to speake, and yet not aske them any question at +all. As when Doctor Haddon had comforted the Duches +of Suffolkes Grace for her children, and had saied they were +happely gone, because they might haue falne hereafter, and +lost that worthie name, which at their death they had: at last +hee bringeth in the mother, speaking motherlike in her +childrens behalfe of this sorte, and aunswereth still to her +sayinges. But all these euilles whereof you speake (quoth he) +had not chaunced: yet such things doe chaunce. Yet not +alwaies: Yet full oft. Yet not to all: Yet to a great many. +Yet they had not chaunced to mine: Yet we know not. Yet +I might haue hoped: Yet better it had beene to haue +feared.

 + +Snappish asking. +

+Percontatio. +WE doe aske oftentimes, because we would knowe: we +doe aske also because we would chide, and set forth our +griefe with more vehemencie, the one is called Interrogatio, +the other is called Percontatio. Tullie enueighing against +Catiline that Romaine Rebell, beginneth his Oration chidingly, +questioning with Catiline of this sorte. How long (Catiline) +wilt thou abuse our sufferaunce? How long will this rage +and madnesse of thine goe about to deceiue vs.

 + +Dissembling or close iesting. +

+Dissimulatio alia dicentis ac significantis. +WHen we iest closely, & with dissembling meanes grig +our fellowe, when in words we speake one thing, and +meane in heart an other thing, declaring either by our +countenaunce, or by vtteraunce, or by some other way, +what our whole meaning is. As when wee see one boasting +himselfe, and vaine glorious, to holde him vp with ye and +nay, and euer to add more to that which he saieth. As I +knowe one that saied himselfe to be in his owne iudgement, +one of the best in all England, for trying of mettalles, & that +the Counsaill hath often called for his helpe, and cannot +want him for nothing. In deede (quoth an other) England +had a sore losse, if God should call you. They are al +bungelers in comparison of you, & I think the best of them + + + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +185 + +may thank you for all that he hath: but yet sir your cunning +was such that you brought a shilling to nine pence, nay to +sixe pence, and a groat to two pence, and so gaue him +a frumpe euen to his face, because he sawe him so foolish.

+ +

A glorious gentleman that had two seruaunts, and belike +would be knowne not onely to haue them, but also to haue +moe, saied in the presence of a worshipful man, I maruaile +much where al my seruaunts are? Mary sir (quoth one) that +thought to hit him home: they were here al two euen now. +Thus he closly mockt him, and worthely. For the number +is not great, that standeth vpon two, and (all) is to much, +when we speake of so fewe.

 + +Doubtfulnesse. +

+Dubitatio. +DOubtfulnesse is then vsed, when we make the hearers +beleeue that the weight of our matter causeth vs to +doubt what were best to speake. As when a King findeth his +people vnfaithful, he may speak in this wise. Before I begin, +I doubt what to name ye. Shall I cal you subiects? You +deserue it not. My friends ye are not. To cal you enemies +were ouer little, because your offence is so great. Rebelles +you are, and yet that name doth not fully vtter your folly. Traytors +I may call you, & yet you are worse then Traytors, for +you seeke his death who hath giuen you life. The offence is +so great, that no man can comprehend it. Therefore I doubt +what to call you, except I should cal you by the name of them +al. An other: whether shall I speake or holde my peace? +If I speake, you will not heare, if I hold my peace, my +conscience condemned my silence.

 + +Distribution. +

+Distributio. +DIstribution, is when we applie to euery bodie, such things +as are due vnto them, declaring what euery one is in his +vocation. It is the duetie of a King, to haue an especiall +care ouer his whole Realme. It is the office of his Nobles, +to cause the Kings will to be fulfilled, and with all diligence +to further his Lawes, and to see Iustice done euery where. It +is the parte of a Subiect, faithfully to doe his Princes commaundement, +and with a willing heart to serue him at all +needes. It is the office of a Bishop to set forth Gods worde, +and with all diligence to exhort men to all Godlinesse. It is +an Husbands duetie to loue his wife, and with gentle meanes + + +186 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +to rule her. It is the wiues office humbly to submit her self +to her husbands will. Seruaunts should bee faithfull to their +Maisters, not onely for feare of a lawe, but also for conscience +sake. Maisters should vse their seruants accordingly, paying +them that which is due vnto them. A father should bring vp +his children in the feare of God. Children should reuerence +their fathers with al submission. It is also called a distribution, +when we deuide the whole into seueral parts and say wee +haue fower points, whereof wee purpose to speake, comprehending +our whole talke within compasse of the same.

 + +Correction. +

+Correctio. +COrrection, is when we alter a word or sentence, otherwise +then we haue spoken before, purposing thereby to +augment the matter, and to make it appeare more vehement. +Tullie against Verres, giueth a good example. We haue brought +before you my Lords, into this place of iudgement, not +a theefe, but an extortioner and violent robber, not an +Tully against +Verres. +Aduouterer, but a rauisher of Maides: not a stealer of Church +goodes, but an errant traytour, both to God and all Godlinesse: +not a common Ruffine, but a most cruell cutthrote, +such as if a man should rake hell for one, he could not finde +the like. Againe, if one would enueigh against backbiters +after this sort. Thou hast not robbed him of his money, but +thou hast taken away his good name, which passeth all worldly +goodes: neither hast thou slaundered thine enemie, but +thine owne brother and freend that meant thee wel, and hast +done thee pleasures: Nay, thou hast not slaundered him, but +thou hast slaine him. For a man is halfe hanged, that hath +lost his good name. Neither hast thou killed him with the +sword, but poisoned him with thy tongue: so that I may call +it rather an enchaunting, then a murther. Neither hast thou +killed one man a lone, but so many as thou hast brought out +of charitie, with thy most venemous backbyting. Yea, and +last of al, thou hast not slaine a man, but thou hast slaine +Christ in his members, so much as lay in thee to doe. But +of this figure I haue spoken heretofore, where I wrote of +amplification.

 + +Reiection. +

+Reiectio. +REiection is then vsed, when wee lay such faultes from vs, +as our enemies would charge vs withall: saying it is folly + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +187 + +to thinke any such thing, much more to speake it: or els to +say, such a mans worde is no slaunder, or it needeth not to +talke of such toyes. Or thus. Who would thinke that +I would doe such a deede? Or is it like that I would doe +such a deede. Antony charged Tullie, that he was the occasion +of ciuill battaile. Nay (quoth Tullie) it is thou, it is thou +man and none other that sets Cæsar on worke, to seeke the +slaughter of his Countrey.

 + +A Buttresse. +

+Premunitio. +A Butteresse is a fence made for that, which we purpose to +holde vp, or goe about to compasse. As thus. I hope +my Lordes, both to perswade this man by reason, and to +haue your iudgement in this matter. For whereas it is a sore +thing to be iustly accused for breaking freendship, then +assuredly if one be wrongfully slaundered, a man had neede +to looke about him.

 + + +A familiar talke, or communication vsed. +

Communicatio. +COmmunication is then vsed, when we debate with other, +and aske questions as though we looked for an aunswer, +and so go through with our matter, leauing the iudgement +thereof to their discretion. As thus. What thinke you in +this matter? Is there any other better meanes to dispatch +the thing? What would you haue done, if you were in the +same case? Here I appeale to your owne conscience, +whether you would suffer this vnpunished, if a man should +doe you the like displeasure.

+ + +Description of a mans nature or maners. +

Descriptio. +WE describe the maners of men, when we set them forth +in their kinde what they are. As in speaking against +a couetous man, thus. There is no such pinch peney on liue +as this good fellowe is. He will not lose the paring of his +nailes. His haire is neuer rounded for sparing of money, one +paire of shone serueth him a twelue moneth, he is shod with +nailes like a Horse. He hath bene knowne by his coate this +thirtie Winter. He spent once a groate at good ale, being +forced through companie, and taken short at his worde, +whereupon he hath taken such conceipt since that time, that +it hath almost cost him his life. Tullie describeth Piso for his +naughtinesse of life, wonderfully to heare, yea, worse then + + +188 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +haue set forth this couetous man. Reade the Oration against +Piso, such as he learned.

+ +Error. +

+Erroris inductio. +ERror is, when we thinke much otherwise then the trueth +is. As when wee haue conceiued a good opinion of some +one man, and are often deceiued, to say, who would haue +thought, that he euer would haue done so. Now of all men +vpon earth, I would haue least suspected him. But such is +the world. Or thus. You thinke such a man a worthie +personage, and of much honestie, but I wil proue that he is +much otherwise: a man would not thinke it, but if I doe not +proue it, I will giue you my head.

 + +Mirth making. +

+In hilaritatem impulsio. +I Haue heretofore largely declared, the waies of mirth +making, and therefore I little neede to renue them here +in this place.

 + +Amplification or Preuention. +

+Ante occupatio. +ANticipation is, when we preuent those wordes, tha[t] an +other would say, and disproue them as vntrue, or at least +wise aunswere vnto them. A Godly Preacher enueighed +earnestly against those, that would not haue the Byble to +bee in English, and after earnest probation of his cause, saied +thus: but me thinkes I heare one say. Sir, you make much +a doe, about a little matter, what were we the worse if we +had no Scripture at all? To whom he aunswered: the +Scripture is left vnto vs by Gods owne wil, that the rather +we might knowe his commaundements, and liue thereafter +all the daies of our life. Sometimes this figure is vsed when +wee say, wee wil not speake this or that, and yet doe notwithstanding. +As thus. Such a one is an officer, I will not +say a briber. Right is hindered through might, I will not +say ouerwhelmed. Thus in saying we will not speake, we +speake our minde after a sort notwithstanding.

 + +A Similitude. +

+Similitudo. +A Similitude is a likenesse when two thinges, or moe then +two, are so compared and resembled together, that they +both in some one propertie seeme like. Oftentimes brute +Beastes, and thinges that haue no life, minister great matter +in this behalfe. Therefore, those that delite to proue thinges +by Similitudes, must learne to knowe the nature of diuers + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +189 + +beastes, of mettalles, of stones, and al such as haue any vertue +in them, and be applied to mans life. Sometimes in a worde +appeareth a similitude, which being dilated helpeth well for +amplification. As thus. You striue against the streame, +better bowe then breake. It is euill running against a stone +wall. A man may loue his house well, & yet not ride vpon +the ridge. By al which, any one may gather a similitude, +and enlarge it at pleasure. The Prouerbes of Hewood helpe +wonderfull well for this purpose. In comparing a thing from +the lesse to the greater. Similitudes help well to set out the +matter. That if we purpose to dilate our cause hereby with +poses & sentences, wee may with ease talke at large. This + +Similitude +enlarged. +shall serue for an example. The more precious a thing is, +the more diligently should it bee kept, and better heede taken +to it. Therefore time (considering, nothing is more precious) +would warely be vsed, and good care taken, that no time bee +lost, without some profite gotten. For if they are to bee +punished that spende their money, and waist their Landes, +what follie is it, not to thinke them worthie much more +blame, that spende their time (which is the chiefest treasure +that GOD giueth) either idely, or els vngodly? For what +other thing doth man lose, when he loseth his time, but his +life? And what can bee more deare to man then his life? +If wee lose a little money, or a Ring of golde with a stone in +it, we coumpt that great losse. And I pray you, when wee +lose a whole day, which is a good portion of a mans life, +shall we not compt that a losse, considering though our +money bee gone, wee may recouer the same againe, but time +lost can neuer be called backe againe. Againe, when we lose +our money, some bodie getteth good by it, but the losse of +time turneth to no mans auaile. There is no man that loseth +in any other thing, but some bodie gaineth by it, sauing onely +in the losse of time: yea, it hath saued the life of some to +lose al that they had. For riches bee the occasion sometimes +of much mischiefe in this life, so that it were better sometimes +wastefully to spende, then warely to keepe: by the losse of +time, no man hath profited him selfe any thing at all. Besides +this, the better and more precious a thing is, the more shame +to spend it fondly. Though men keepe their goodes neuer +so close, and locke them vp neuer so fast, yet oftentimes, + + +190 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +either by some mischaunce of fire, or other thing, they are +lost, or els desperate Dickes borowes now and then against +the owners will al that euer he hath. And now though the +owner be vndone, yet is he not therefore dishonest, considering +honestie standeth not in wealth, nor heapes of money: +but the losse of time, seeing it happeneth through our owne +foly, not only doth it make vs wretches, but also causeth men +to thinke that we are past all grace. A wonderfull kinde +of infamie, when the whole blame shall rest vpon none other +mans necke, but vpon his onely that suffereth all the harme. +With money a man may buy lande, but none can get honestie +of that price: and yet with well vsing of time, a man not +onely might get him much worshippe, but also might purchase +himsefe a name for euer. Yea, in a small tyme a man might +get great fame, and liue in much estimation. By losing +of money we lose little els: but losing of time we lose all +the goodnesse and giftes of God, which by labor might be +had. Thus similitudes might be enlarged by heaping good +sentences, when one thing is compared with an other, and +conclusion made thereupon. Among the learned men of the +Church, no one vseth this figure more then Chrisostome, whose +writings the rather seeme more pleasaunt and sweete. For +similitudes are not onely vsed to amplifie a matter, but also +to beautifie the same, to delite the hearers, to make the +matter plaine, and to shewe a certain maiestie with the +report of such resembled things, but because I haue spoken of +similitudes heretofore in the booke of Logique, I will surcease +to talk any further of this matter.

 + + +Example. +

Exemplum. +HE that mindeth to perswade, must needes be well stored +with examples. And therefore much are they to be +commended, which searche Chronicles of all ages, and compare +the state of our Elders with this present time. The +Historie of Gods booke to the Christian is infallible, and +therefore the rehearsall of such good things as are therein +conteined, moue the faithfull to all vpright doing, and +amendment of their life. The Ethnicke Authours stirre +the hearers, being well applied to the purpose. For when it +shalbe reported that thei which had no knowledge of God, +liued in a brotherly loue one towards an other, detested + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +191 + +aduoutry, banished periuries, hanged the vnthankful, kept +the idle without meate till they laboured for their liuing: +suffered none extortion, exempted bribes from bearing rule in +the Commonweale, the Christians must needes bee ashamed +of their euill behauiour, and studie much to passe those which +are in calling much vnder them, and not suffer that the +ignorant and Pagans life, shall counteruaile the taught +children of God, and passe them in good learning. Unegall +examples commend much the matter. I call them +vnegall when the weaker is brought in against the stronger, +as if children be faithfull, much more ought men to be faithfull. +If women be chast and vndefiled: men should much +more be cleane and without fault. If an vnlearned man wil +do no wrong, a learned man and a Preacher, must much more +be vpright and liue without blame. If an Housholder will +deale iustly with his seruants: a King must much the rather +deale iustly with his subiects. Examples gathered out of +histories, and vsed in this sorte, helpe much towards perswasion. +Yea, brute beastes minister greate occasion of +right good matter, considering many of them haue shewed +vnto vs, the paterns and Images of diuers vertues.

+ +

Doues. +Craines. +Doues seing an Hauke gather all together, teaching vs none +other thing, but in aduersitie to stick one to an other. Craines +in the night haue their watch, warning vs neuer to be carelesse, +for if their watch faile them, they al neuer leaue till they +haue killed that one Craine, teaching vs that no traitors are +worthy to liue vpon earth. The watch for his safegard, and +because he would not slepe, holdeth a stone in his foote, the +Vnthankfulnesse, +how euill it is. +which falleth from him, when he beginneth to waxe heauie, +and so keepeth himselfe stil waking. Whereby we may learne +that all men in their vocation, should be right ware and +watchfull. The Hen clocketh her Chickens, feedeth them, +and keepeth them from the Kite. Women must clocke their +Children, bring them vp well, and keepe them from euill +happ. Now I might in speaking of some odious vice, largely +set out some example belonging to the same, and compare +it with other by heaping of Chronicles, and matching of +things together. The vnthankfull in this age (whereof there +is no small nomber) can not haue enough saide against them. + + +192 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +And therefore I am minded to say somewhat against them, to +the vtter abhorring of all such vnkind dealing. For +he that is vnthankfull, for hartie loue sheweth cankard +hatered: wanteth all other vertues that are required to be +in man. The chief perfection and the absolute fulfilling +of the law, standeth in the loue which man oweth first to +GOD, and next to his neighbour. Let a man haue faith, that +he may be able to translate mountaines (as S. Paul saith:) +yea, let him haue neuer so good qualities, or bee he neuer so +politique a man for the safegard of his Countrie, be he neuer +so wise, so ware, and so watchful: yet if he want loue he +is nothing els but as a sounding Brasse, or a tinckling Cimball. +Vnthankfulnesse +punished by the Persians +with death. +Now hee that is churlish and vnthankfull, must needes +want loue, and therefore wanteth he all other goodnesse. +The Persians therefore seeing the greatenesse of this offence, +and that where it rested, all vices for euer were banished: +Prouided by a Lawe that such should suffer death as felons, +which were found faultie with vnthankfulnesse. And yet +I can not see but they deserue rather an exquisite kinde +of death (such as fewe haue seen, or few haue felt) then to +suffer like death with other, that haue not like offended with +them. But now because this offence is an euill most odious +and the principall cause of all other mischiefe: I will set +foorth three notable examples, the one of a Dragon, the +second of a dog, and the third of a Lion (which all three +in thankfulnesse, if that be true which is reported of them, +wonderfully exceeded) and the rather I seeke to set them out, +that the wicked hereby may well knowe, what they themselues are, +when brute beasts shall set them all to schoole.

+ +

There was a man (as Plinie writeth) which fostered vp +a young Dragon, who seeing the same beast to waxe wonderfull +greate, feared to keepe this Dragon any longer within his +house, and therefore he put him out into a wilde Forest. It +Thankfulnes +of a Dragon. +happeneth afterwarde, that the same man trauayling on his +iourney through the Forrest, was beset with Theeues. And +nowe beeing in this distresse, and looking for none other ende +but death, made (as lothe to departe) a great shoute and outcrie: +straight vpon whose noyse, and at the knowledge of his +voyce, the Dragon came to him in all the haste possible. +Whereupon the Theeues beeing greatly afraied, ranne cleane + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +193 + +away to saue themselues harmelesse. Thus through the thankfulnesse +of a Dragon, this mans life was saued.

+ +

The Dog of the Romaine Fuluius is more wonderfull. This +Fuluius trauailing by the way was slaine with slaues, that laie +in waite for him. His Dogge seeing his master dead, laie by +him for the space of two daies. Whereupon when the man +Thankfulnesse +of a Dog. +was missing, and search made for him: They founde him dead +with his Dog lying by him. Some marueiling to see the Dog +lye there by his dead Master, stroke him and would haue +driuen him from the dead corse, and could not: some seeing +such kindenesse in the dog, and pitying him that he should lye +there without meate two or three daies before: cast him +a peece of flesh: whereupon the Dog straight caried the meate +to his maisters mouth, and would not eate any whit himselfe, +though he had forborne meate so long before. And last of all +when the dead body should be cast into the Riuer (according to +the maner of the Romaines) the dog lept in after, and holding +vp his maister so long as he could, did chuse rather to dye +with him, then to liue without him.

+ +

The Lion (whereof Appian the Grammarian doeth speake) +is also strange for his kindnesse, and almost incredible. A +seruant that had run awaie from his master, and hid him selfe +for feare in a Caue within a great wood, tooke a thorne out +of a Lions foote, which then came to him for succour as he +laie there. Now when he had done, the Lion to requite his +Thankfulnesse +of a Lion. +good turne, brought such meat to the Caue as he could kill +in the Wood. The which meate the seruant rosting against +the Sunne (being in the most hot Countrey of all Affrica) did +eate from tyme to time. At length yet being wearie of such +a lothsome life, hee left the caue and came abroad, by meanes +whereof he was taken again, and being a slaue to his maister +(who had power of life and death ouer him) he was condemned +to be cast to wilde beasts at Rome, there to be deuoured of +a Lyon. The poore caitife stoode pitifully in the sight of +thousands, euer looking when he should be deuoured. It +happened at the same time when this fellow was thus adiudged to die: +that the same Lion was taken, whose foote he +healed in the wood. When the Lion was put to him, he +came first very terrible towards the fellowe, and immediatly +knowing what he was, stood still, and at length fauned gently + + +194 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +vpon him. This fellowe at first being amased, began to take +harte vnto him afterwardes, as half knowing him likewise, +and thus they began both to take acquaintance the one of +the other, and plaied together a good space without all +daunger, whereupon the people being amased, much wondered +at the straungenesse of this thing. And standing thus astonied, +they sent to know of the slaue what this matter should meane. +Unto whom this poore wretch opened the whole thing altogether +euen as it happened. When the people heard this, +they not onely reioyced much at the sight thereof, but also +they made earnest request to his maister for his life. His +maister marueiling asmuch as any of them at such an vnwonted +kindnesse: gaue him not onely his life, but also his freedome. +And now to the ende he might haue somewhat whereupon to +liue, the people gaue him a fee for terme of his life. The +felowe by and by gat him a line and a coler, and caried the +Lion vp and doune the Citie in such sort, as Huntesmen +cary a Greihound or a Spanell, the people still wondering +and saying euer as he came by: beholde a man that hath +cured a Lion: beholde a Lion that hath saued a man. The +which example the more straunge it is, the more ashamed +may they be, that are vnnaturall, and may learne kindnesse +of a brute beast. For such men being ouercome with kindnesse +by beastes, are worse then beastes, and more meete +rather to bee tormented with Deuilles, then to liue with men.

+ + +Of enlarging examples by copy. +

ANd now because examples enriched by copie, helpe much +for amplification: I will giue a taste howe these and such +like histories may bee encreased. And for the better handling +of them, needfull it is to marke well the circumstances: that +being well obserued and compared together on both partes, +they may the rather bee enlarged. As thus. That which brute +Examples enlarged. +beastes haue done, shalt thou being a man, seeme not to haue +done? They shewed themselues naturall, and wilt thou +appeare vnnaturall? Naie, they ouercame Nature, and +wilt thou be ouercome of them? They became of beastes +in bodie, men in Nature, and wilt thou become of a man in +bodie, a beast in Nature? They beeing without reason, +declared the propertie of reasonable creatures, and wilt thou, +being a man endued with reason, appere in thy doings altogether + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +195 + +vnreasonable? Shall Dogges be thankfull: and man, +yea, Christen men want such a vertue? shall wormes shewe +such kindnesse: and men appeare gracelesse? It had bene no +matter if they had bene vnthankful: but man can neuer escape +blame, seing God hath commaunded, and Nature hath graffed +this in al men: that they should do to other, as they would +be done vnto. Againe, they for meate onely shewed them +selues so kind: and shall man for so many benefites receiued, +and for such goodnesse shewed, requite for good will euill +deedes: for hartie loue deadly hatred: for vertue vice: +and for life giuen to him, yeeld death to other? Nature hath +parted man and beast: and shall man in Nature bee no man? +Shamed be that wretch that goeth against Nature, that onely +hath the shape of a man, and in Nature is worse then a beast. +Yea, worthy are all such rather to be torne with deuilles, +then to liue with men. Thus an example might most +copiously be augmented, but thus much for this time is +sufficient.

+ +

Poetical narrations +profitable. +The saying of Poetes and all their fables are not to be forgotten, +for by them we may talke at large, and win men by +perswasion, if we declare before hand that these tales were +not fained of such wisemen without cause, neither yet continued +vntill this time, and kept in memorie without good +consideration, and therupon declare the true meaning of all +such writing. For vndoubtedly there is no one tale among +all the Poetes, but vnder the same is comprehended some +thing that parteineth, either to the amendment of maners, +to the knowledge of the trueth, to the setting forth of +Natures work, or els the vnderstanding of some notable +Poetes vnder colours, +shew much wisedome. +thing done. For what other is the painfull trauaile of Vlisses, +described so largely by Homer, but a liuely picture of mans miserie +in this life. And as Plutarch saieth: and likewise Basilius +Magnus: in the Iliades are described strength, and valiantnesse +of the bodie: In Odissea is set forth a liuely paterne of the +minde. The Poetes were wisemen, and wished in hart the +redresse of things, the which when for feare, they durst not +openly rebuke, they did in colours paint them out, and tolde +men by shadowes what they should doe in good sooth, or els +because the wicked were vnworthie to heare the trueth, they +spake so that none might vnderstande but those vnto whom + + +196 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +they please to vtter their meaning, and knewe them to be men +of honest conuersation.

+ +

Danae. +We read of Danae the faire damosell, whom Iupiter tempted +full oft, and could neuer haue his pleasure, till at length he +made it raigne golde, and so as she sat in her Chimney, +a great deale fell vpon her lappe, the which she tooke gladly +and kept it there, within the which golde, Iupiter himselfe +was comprehended, whereby is none other thing els signified, +but that women haue bene, and will be ouercome with +money.

+ +

Isis. +Likewise Iupiter fansying the faire maide Isis, could not +haue his will, till he turned himself into a faire white Bull, +which signified that beautie may ouercome the best.

+ +

Tantalus. +If a man could speake against couetous caitiues, can he +better shew what they are, then by setting forth the straunge +plague of Tantalus, who is reported to be in Hell, hauing +Water comming still to his chin, and yet neuer able to drinke: +And an Apple hanging before his mouth, and yet neuer able +to eate?

+ +

Icarus. +Icarus would needes haue winges, and flie contrarie to +Nature, whereupon when he had set them together with +Waxe, and ioyned to his side, and mounted vp into the Ayre: +But so sone as the Sunne had somewhat heated him, and his +Waxe beganne to melt, he fell downe into a greate Riuer, +and was drowned out of hand, the which water was euer +after called by his name. Nowe what other thing doeth this +tale shewe vs, but that euery man should not meddle with +things aboue his compasse.

+ +

Midas. +Midas desired that whatsoeuer he touched, the same might +be gold: whereupon when Iupiter had graunted him his bound: +his meate, drinke, and all other things turned into golde, and +he choked with his own desire, as all couetous men lightly +shalbe, that can neuer be content when they haue enough.

+ +

Hercules labours, what +they signified. +S. Christopher, what +he signified. +What other thing are the wonderfull labours of Hercules, +but that reason should withstand affection, and the spirit for +euer should fight against the flesh? Wee Christians had like +Fables heretofore of ioyly felowes, the Images whereof were +set vp (in Gods name) euen in our Churches. But is any +man so madde to think that euer there was such a one as +Saint Christopher was painted vnto vs? Mary God forbid. + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +197 + +Assuredly when he liued vpon earth there were other houses +builded for him, then wee haue at this time, and I thinke +Tailers were much troubled to take measure of him for +making his garments. He might be of kinne to Garganteo +if he were as bigge as he is set forth in Antwerp. But this +was the meaning of our elders (and the name self doth signifie +none other) that euery man should beare Christ vpon his +backe, that is to say, he should loue his brother, as Christ +loued vs, and gaue his bodie for vs: he should trauaile through +hunger, cold, sorowe, sicknesse, death, and all daungers, with +al sufferance that might be. And whether should he trauaile? +to the euerliuing God. But how? In darknesse? No forsooth +by the light of his worde. And therfore S. Christopher +beeing in the Sea, and not wel able to get out (that is to say) +being almost drowned in sinne, (and not knowing which waie +best to escape) an Eromite appeared vnto him with a Lanterne +and a light therein, the which doth signifie none other thing to +the Christian, but the true worde of God, which lighteneth +the hearts of men, and giueth vnderstanding to the younglings +(as the Prophet doth say.) Againe, S. George he is set +S. George on horsback. +on Horsebacke and killeth a Dragon with his speare, which +Dragon would haue deuoured a Virgine, whereby is none +other thing meant, but that a King and euery man, vnto +whom the execution of Iustice is committed, should defende +the innocent against the vngodly attempts of the wicked, and +rather kill such deuilles by Marciall lawe, then suffer the +innocentes to take any wrong. But who gaue our Cleargie +any such authoritie that those Monsters should be in Churches, +as lay mens bookes? God forbad by expresse worde, to make +any grauen Image, and shall wee bee so bold to breake Gods +will for a good intent, and call these Idolles laie mens bookes? +I could talk largely of examples, and heape a number here +together, aswell of Ethnik Authours, as of other here at home; +but for feare I should be tedious, these for this time shall +suffice.

+ + +Of Fables. +

Apologie. +THe feined Fables, such as are attributed vnto brute +beastes, would not be forgotten at any hande. For not +onely they delite the rude and ignorant, but also they helpe +much for perswasion. And because such as speake in open + + +198 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +audience, haue euer mo fooles to heare them, then wisemen to +giue iudgement: I would thinke it not amisse to speake +much, according to the nature and phansie of the ignorant, +that the rather they might be won through Fables, to learne +more weightie and graue matters, for all men can not brooke +sage causes, and auncient collations: but will like earnest matters +the rather, if some thing be spoken there among agreeing +to their natures. The multitude (as Horace doth say) is a +beast, or rather a monster that hath many heddes, and therefore +like vnto the diuersitie of natures, varietie of inuention +Fables how needfull +they are to teache +the ignorant. +must alwaies be vsed. Talke altogether of most graue matters, +or deepely search out the ground of things or vse the quiddities +of Dunce, to set forth Gods misteries: and you shal see the +ignorant (I warrant you) either fall a sleepe, or els bid you +farewell. The multitude must needes be made merie: & the +more foolish your talke is, the more wise will they compt it to +be. And yet it is no foolishnesse, but rather wisedome to win +men, by telling of Fables to heare of Gods goodnesse. Undoubtedly +fables well set forth, haue done much good at diuers +times, and in diuers Commonweales. The Romaine Menenius +Agrippa, alledging vpon a time, a Fable of the conflict made +betwixt the parts of a mans bodie, and his bellie: quieted a +marueilous stirre that was like to ensue, and pacified the vprore +of sedicious Rebelles, which els thought for euer to +destroy their Countrey. Themistocles perswaded the Athenians +not to change their officers, by rehearsing the fable of a scabbed +Foxe. For (quoth he) when many flies stoode feeding vppon +his rawe flesh, and had well fed themselues, he was contented +at an others perswasion, to haue them slapt awaie: whereupon +there ensued such hungrie flies afterwards, that the sorie Foxe +being all alone, was eaten vp almost to the hard bone, and +therefore cursed the time, that euer he greed to any such euil +counsaile. In like maner (quoth Themistocles) if you will +chaunge officers, the hungrie flies will eate you vp one after +another, whereas now you liue being but onely bitten, and like +to haue no farthar harme, but rather much wealth and quietnesse +hereafter, because thei are filled and haue enough, that +heretofore suckt so much of your bloud.

+ +

Now likewise, as I gaue a lesson how to enlarge an example, +so may fables also in like sort be set out, and augmented at + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +199 + +large by Amplification. Thus much for the vse of Fables. +Again, sometimes feined narrations, and wittie inuented +matters (as though they were true in deede) help wel to set +forward a cause, and haue great grace in them, being aptly vsed +and well inuented. Luciane passeth in this point: and Sir +Thomas More for his Eutopia, can soner be remembred of me, +then worthely praised of any, according as the excellencie of +his inuention in that behalfe doth most iustly require.

+ + +Digestion. +

Digestio. +DIgestion is an orderly placing of things, parting euery +matter seuerally. Tullie hath an example hereof in his +Oration which he made for Sextus Roscius Amarinus. There +are three things (quoth Tullie) which hinder Sextus Roscius at +this time, the accusation of his aduersaries, the boldnesse of +them, and the power that they bare. Eruscus his accusar hath +taken vpon him to forge false matter, the Roscians kinsfolke +haue boldly aduentured, and will face out their doings, and +Chrisogonus here that most can doe, will presse vs with his +power.

+ + +A whisht or warning to speake no more. +

Reticentia. +A Whisht is when we bid them holde their peace, that haue +least cause to speake, and can doe little good with their +talking. Diogenes being vpon the Sea among a number of +naughtie packes, in a great storme of weather, when diuers of +these wicked fellowes cried out for feare of drowning, some +with feined praier to Iupiter, some to Neptune, and euery one +as they best fantasied the Gods aboue: whisht (quoth Diogenes) +for by Gods mother, if God himselfe knewe you to be here, +Diogenes. +you were like to be drowned euery mothers sonne of you. +Meaning that they were so naught, and so fainedly made their +praier to false Gods, without mind to amend their naughtie +life, that the liuing GOD would not leaue them vnpunished, +though they cried out neuer so fast. We vse this figure likewise +in speaking of any man: we say whisht, the Woulfe +is at hand, when the same man cometh in the meane season, +of whom we spake before.

+ + +Contrarietie. +

Contentio. +COntrarietie, is when our talke standeth by contrary wordes +or sentences together. As thus. Wee might dispraise +some one man, he is of a straunge nature as euer I saw, for to his + + +200 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +frend he is churlish, to his foe he is gentle: giue him faire +wordes and you offend him: checke him sharply, and you +winne him. Let him haue his will, and he will flie in thy face: +keepe him short and you shall haue him at commaundement.

+ + +Freenesse of speeche. +

Libera vox. +FReenesse of speech, is when we speake boldly and without +feare, euen to the proudest of them, whatsoeuer we please +or haue list to speake. Diogenes, herein did excell, and feared +no man when he sawe iust cause to say his minde. This +worlde wanteth such as hee was, and hath ouer many such as +neuer honest man was, that is to saie, flatterers, fauners, and +soothers of mens sayings.

+ + +Stomacke greefe. +

Iracundia. +Deprecatio. +Conciliatio. +Læsio. +Purgatio. +Optation. +Execratio. +STomacke griefe, is when we will take the matter as hot as +a toste. We need no examples for this matter, hot men +haue too many, of whom they may be bold and spare not that +find themselues a cold. Sometimes we entreate earnestly, and +make meanes by praier to winne fauour. Sometimes we seeke +fauour by speaking well of the companie present. As thus. +Through your help my Lords, this good deede hath bin done. +Sometimes we speake to hurt our aduersaries, by setting forth +their euil behauior. Somtimes we excuse a fault, & accuse the +reporters. Sometimes wee wish vnto God for redresse of euill. +Sometimes wee curse the extreme wickednesse of some past +good Roisters. In all which I thinke neither examples neede, +nor yet any rehearsall had bin greatly necessary, considering al +these come without any great learning, sauing, that for apt +bestowing, iudgement is right needfull.

 +Of figures in sentences called Schemes. +

WHen any sentence vpon the placing or setting of wordes, +is sayd to be a figure: the said is alwaies called a +Scheme, the which words being altered or displaced, the figure +straight doth lose his name, and is called no more a Scheme. +Of this sort there is diuers, such as hereafter followe.

+ + +Doublets. +

Geminatio Verborum. +DOublettes is when we rehearse one and the same worde +twise together. Ah wretche, wretche, that I am. Tullie +against Catiline, enueighing sore against his traterous attempts, +saieth after a long rehearsed matter, and yet notwithstanding +al this notorious wickednesse: The man liueth still, liueth? + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +201 + +Naie Marie, he cometh into the counsaile house, which is +more. An other. Darest thou shew thy face, thou wretched +theefe, thou theef, I say to thine owne father, darest thou looke +abroade? Thus the oft repeating of one worde, doth much +stirre the hearer, and makes the worde seeme greater, as though +a sworde were oft digged and thrust twise, or thrise in one +place of the body.

+ + +Altering part of a worde. +

Paulum in mutatum verbum. +ALtering parte of a worde, is when we take a letter or +sillable from some worde, or els adde a letter, or sillable +to a worde. As thus. William Somer seeing much adoe for +accomptes making, and that the Kinges Maiestie of most +worthie memorie Henrie the eight wanted money, such as was +due vnto him: and please your grace (quoth he) you haue so many +Frauditours, so many Conueighers, and so many Deceiuers +to get vp your money, that they get all to themselues. Whether +he sayd true or no, let God iudge that, it was vnhappely spoken +of a foole, and I thinke he had some Schoolemaster: He should +haue saide Auditours, Surueighours, and Receiuers.

+ + +Repetition. +

Repetitio à primo. +REpetition, is when we beginne diuers sentences, one after +an other: with one and the same worde. As thus: +When thou shalt appeare at the terrible day of iudgement, before +the Maiestie of God, where is then thy riches? Where +is then thy daintie fare? Where is then thy great band of men? +Where are then thy faire houses? Where are then thy Landes, +Pastures, Parkes, and Forests? I might say thus of our soueraigne +Lorde the Kings Maiestie, that now is: King Edward hath +ouerthrowen Idolatrie, King Edward hath banished superstition: +King Edward by Gods help, hath brought vs to the true +knowledge of our creation: King Edward hath quieted our +consciences, and laboured that all his people should seeke health, +by the death and passion of Christ alone.

+ + +Conuersion. +

Conuersio eiusdem in extremum. +COnuersion, is an oft repeating of the last worde, and is contrary +to that which went before. When iust dealing is not +vsed: wealth goeth awaie, frendship goeth awaie, trueth goeth +awaie, all goodnesse (to speake at a worde) goeth awaie. +Where affections beare rule, there reason is subdued, honestie + + +202 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +is subdued, good will is subdued, and all things els that withstand +euill, for euer are subdued.

+ + +Comprehension. +

Conuersio in eadem. +COmprehension, is when both the aboue rehearsed figures, are +in one kind of speaking vsed, so that both one first word +must oft bee rehearsed, and likewise all one last worde. What +winneth the hartes of men? liberalitie? What causeth men +to aduenture their liues, and die willingly in defence of their +Silence becommeth +a woman. +maisters? liberalitie. What continueth the state of a king? +liberalitie. What becometh a woman best, and first of all? +silence. What second? silence. What third? silence. What +fourth? silence. Yea, if a man should aske me till Domes +daie, I would still crie silence, silence: without the which no +woman hath any good gift, but hauing the same, no doubt she +must haue many other notable gifts, as the which of necessitie, +doe euer followe such a vertue.

+ + +Progression. +

Progressio. +PRogression standeth vpon contrary sentences, which aunswere +one another. If we would rebuke a naughtie boy, +we might with commending a good boye, say thus. What a +boy art thou in comparison of this fellow here. Thou sleepes: +he wakes: thou plaies: he studies: thou art euer abroade: he +is euer at home: thou neuer waites: he still doth his attendance: +thou carest for no bodie: he doeth his duetie to all men: thou +doest what thou canst to hurt all, and please none: he doeth +what he can to hurte none, and please all.

+ +Like ending, and like falling. +

+Similiter desinens, similiter cadens. +THen the sentences are said to end like, when those wordes +doe ende in like sillables which do lacke cases. Thou +liues wickedly, thou speakest naughtely. The rebels of Northfolke +(quoth a most worthie man that made an inuectiue against +them) through slauerie, shewe nobilitie: in deede miserably, in +fashion cruelly, in cause deuillishly. Sentences also are said to +fall like when diuers wordes in one sentence ende in like cases, +and that in rime. By greate trauaile is gotten much auaile, by +earnest affection men learne discretion.

+ +

These two kindes of Exornation are then most delitefull, +when contrary things are repeated together: when that once +againe is vttered which before was spoken: when sentences are +turned and letters are altered. Of the first this may be an example: + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +203 + +where learning is loued, there labour is esteemed: but +when slothe is thought solace, there rudenesse taketh place. A +King is honoured that is a King in deede: will you drinke or +you go, or will you go or you drinke. There is a difference +betwixt an Horsmilne, and a Milne horse. He is a meeter +man to driue the cart, then to serue the court: through +labor cometh honor, through idle liuing foloweth hanging. Diuers +in this our time delite much in this kinde of writing, which +beeing measurably vsed, deliteth much the hearers, otherwise +Augustine. +it offendeth, and wearieth mens eares with sacietie. S. Augustine +had a goodly gift in this behalfe, and yet some thinkes he +forgot measure, and vsed ouermuch this kind of figure. Notwithstanding, +the people were such where he liued, that they +tooke much delite in rimed sentences, and in Orations made +ballade wise. Yea, thei were so nice and so waiward to please, +Tacitus. +that except the Preacher from time to time could rime out his +sermon, they would not long abide the hearing. Tacitus also sheweth +that in his time, the Iudges and Seriantes at the lawe, were +driuen to vse this kinde of phrase, both in their writing, and +also in their speaking. Yea, great Lordes would thinke themselues +contemned, if learned men (when they speake before +Rimed sentences, vsed +without measure. +them) sought not to speake in this sort. So that for the flowing +stile and full sentence, crept in Minstrels elocution, talking +matters altogether in rime, and for waightinesse and grauitie of +wordes, succeding nothing els but wantonnesse of inuention. +Tullie was forsaken, with Liuie, Cæsar, and other: Apuleius, +Ausonius, with such Minstrell makers were altogether followed. +And I thinke the Popes heretofore (seeing the peoples folie to bee +such) made all our Himnes and Anthemes in rime, that with +the singing of men, playing of Orgaines, ringing of Belles, and +Rimes made to mocke +the simple. +riming of Himnes and Sequences, the poore ignorant might +think the harmonie to be heauenly, and verely beleue that the +Angels of God made not a better noyce in heauen. I speake +thus much of these ii. figures, not that I thinke folie to vse +them (for they are pleasant and praise worthy) but my talke is +to this ende, that they should neither onely nor chiefly be vsed, +as I know some in this our time, do ouermuch vse them in +their writings. And ouermuch (as all men knowe) was neuer +good yet. Yea a man may haue ouermuch of his mothers +blessing if she will neuer leaue blessing. Therefore a measure + + +204 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +is best, yea, euen in the best thinges. And thus farre for these +two figures.

 + + +Egall members. +

Paria paribus relata. +EGall members are such, when the one halfe of the sentence +answereth to the other, with iust proportion of number, +not that the Sillables of necessitie should bee of iust number, +but that the eare might iudge them to be so egall, that there +may appeare small difference. As thus. Law without mercie, +is extreme power, yet men through foly deserue such Iustice. +Learning is daungerous, if an euill man haue it. The more +noble a man is, the more gentle he should bee. Isocrates +passeth in this behalfe, who is thought to write altogether in +nomber, keeping iust proportion in framing of his sentence.

+ + +Like among themselues. +

Similia inter se. +SEntences are called like when contraries are set together, +and the first taketh asmuch as the other following: and the +other following taketh asmuch awaie, as that did which went +before. As thus. Lust hath ouercome shamefastnesse, impudence +hath ouercome feare, and madnesse hath ouercome +reason. Or els sentences are said to be like among themselues, +when euery part of one sentence is egall, and of like waight +one with an other. As thus. Is it knowne, tried, proued, +euident, open, and assured that I did such a deede? An other. +Such riot, Dicing, Carding, picking, stealing, fighting, +Ruffians, Queanes and Harlottes must needes bring him to +naught.

+ +Gradation. +

+Gradatio. +GRadation, is when we rehearse the word that goeth +next before, and bring an other word thereupon that encreaseth +the matter, as though one should goe vp a paire of +stayres and not leaue till he come at the top. Or thus. Gradation +is when a sentence is disseuered by degrees, so that the +word which endeth the sentence going before doeth begin the +next. Labour getteth learning, learning getteth fame, fame +getteth honour, honour getteth blisse for euer. An other. Of +sloth cometh pleasure, of pleasure cometh spending, of spending +cometh whoring, of whoring cometh lack, of lacke cometh +theft, of theft cometh hanging, and there an end for this +worlde.

 + + + + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +205 + +Regression. + +

Regressio. +THat is called regression, when we repeate a worde eftsone +that hath bin spoken and rehersed before, whether the same +be in the beginning, in the middest, or in the latter ende of a +sentence. In the beginning, thus. Thou art ordeined to +rule other, and not other to rule thee. In the middest, thus. +He that hath money hath not giuen it, and he that hath giuen +money, hath not his money still: and he that hath giuen thankes, +hath thanks still, and he that hath them stil, hath giuen them +notwithstanding. In the latter ende, thus. Man must not +liue to eate, but eate to liue. Man is not made for the sabboth, +but the sabboth is made for man. If man do any filthy thing, +and take pleasure therin: the pleasure goeth away, but the +shame tarieth stil. If man do any good thing with paine, the +paines goe awaie, but the honestie abideth still.

+ + +Wordes loose. +

Dissolutum. +WOrdes loose are such, which as are vttered without any +addition of coniunctions, such as knitte words and sentences +together. As thus. Obeye the King, feare his lawes, +keepe thy vocation, doe right, seeke rest, like well a little, vse +all men, as thou wouldest they should vse thee.

+ + +Outcrying. +

Exclamatio. +OUt crying, is when with voyce we make an exclamation. +Oh Lord, O God, O worlde, O life, O maners of men? +O Death, where is thy sting? O Hell, where is thy victorie?

+ + +Oft vsing of one word in diuers places. +

CAn he haue any mans harte in him, or deserueth hee the +name of a man, that cruelly killeth a poore innocent man, +who neuer thought him harme.

+ + +A cause giuen to a sentence vttered. +

I Feare not mine aduersarie, because I am not guiltie. I mistrust +not the Iudges, because they are iust, the Quest will not +cast me, the matter is so plaine.

+ + +A cause giuen to things contrary. +

BEtter it were to rule, then to serue. For, he that ruleth, +liueth: because he is free. But he that serueth, cannot be +saide to liue. For where bondage is, there is no life properly.

+ +Sufferaunce. +

+Permissio. +TAke your pleasure for a time, and doe what you list, a +time will come when accoumpt shall be made. When + + +206 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +thinges cannot be that we would haue, we should will that, +which we can haue. Pacience is a remedie for euery disease.

 + +A doubting. +

+Dubitatio. +SHall I call him foole, or shall I call him varlet, or both? +An other. What made him to commit such a Robberie? +Lacke of money, or lacke of wit, or lacke of honestie? I doubt +whether to call him a foolish knaue, or a knauish foole. When +much matter was here in England, for calling the Pope supreme +A Spanyards doubt. +head of the Church (quoth a Spanyard, that whilome was of the +Popes Court in Rome) you doubt much here in England, +whether the Pope be head of the Church or no, and great variaunce +there is amongst you, at the which folly of yours I do much +maruaile, for wee doubt much at Rome whether hee bee a member +of the Church at all or no.

 + +Reckening. +

+Dinumeratio. +REckening is when many thinges are numbred together. +There is no streate, no house, no man, no childe, no +shoppe, no lodging in al this Towne, but he hath bene in it. +There is no Stone, no Diamond, no Saphire, no Rubie, no +Christall: no Turcasse, no Emerode, but he knoweth them +perfectly. By this figure wee may enlarge that, by rehearsing +of the partes, which was spoken generally, and in fewe wordes. +Sentence amplified +by seuerall rehearsing +of things. +This may bee an example. Such a Gentleman being an vnthrift, +hath spent all that euer he had. Thus the sentence may +be amplified, if wee shew particularly what he had, and tell +seuerally how he spent it. Looke what enheritance came to +him (which was no smal thing) by the death of his owne kinne, +and his wiues kinsfolke: What dower soeuer he had by +mariage of his wife, which by report was a very great thing: +Whatsoeuer he got by Executorship: Whatsoeuer the Kinges +Maiestie gaue him. What booties soeuer he got in Warrefare: +looke what money he had, what Plate, what Apparell, what +Houshold stuffe, what Land and Lordships, what Sheepe, +Goods, Parkes, and Medowes, yea, whatsoeuer he had moueable, +or vnmoueable, his house, and all that euer he had: he hath so +spent in fewe daies, so waisted it, and made such hauocke of +all together, among the beastly companie of filthie Queanes, +among abhominable Harlottes, with banquetting from day to +day, with sumptuous rare suppers, with drinking in the night, +with dainties and delicates, and all such sweete delites, with + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +207 + +Dicing, Carding, and all maner of gameing: that he hath now +left neither crosse nor crucifixe, no not a dodkin in all the +worlde to blesse himselfe with all. Thus these wordes (he hath +spent al his goodes in riot) are dilated and set forth at large, +by rehearsing seuerally euery thing one after an other.

 + + +Reasoning a matter with our selues. +

Disputatio. +THen we reason the matter with our selues, when we aske +questions of our selues, and aunswere therunto. As thus. +How came this, good fellowe by all that he hath? Did his +father leaue him any Lande? Not a foote. Did his friends +giue him any thing? Not a groate. Hath he serued in any vocation, +to heape vp so much wealth? None hath liued more idely. +Doth he not leane to some Noble man? Yea, but he neuer +receiued more then fower marke wages. How then commeth +he by al that euer he hath, liuing without labour, hauing no +friendes to help him, hauing so little to take vnto by all outward +apparance, and spending so liberally, and owing no man +a groate in all the worlde? Assuredly, it cannot be otherwise, +but that he commeth naughtly by most of that which he hath. +An other. Seing thou art so basely borne, so poore in state, +so smally learned, so hard fauoured, and hast no witte at al, +what meanest thou to vaunt thy selfe so much, and to make +such bragges as thou doest. What doth make thee to waxe so +proude? Thy stocke whereof thou didest come? Why man +they are very base folke. Thine owne wealth? Tush, thou +art as poore as Iob. Thy learning? Marie thou neuer camst +yet where any learning did growe. Thy beautie? Now in +good soth, a worse fauoured man can there not be vpon earth +againe. Thy witte? Now God he knoweth, it is as blunt +as many bee. What other thing then is all this thy bragging, +but plaine madnesse.

+ + +Resembling of things. +

Imago. +REsembling of thinges, is a comparing or liking of looke, +with looke, shape, with shape, and one thing with an +other. As when I see one in a great heate, and fiercely set +vpon his enemie, I might say, he let flee at him like a Dragon. +Or thus. He lookes like a Tiger, a man would think he +would eate one, his countenance is so ougle. He speakes not, +but he barkes like a Dog: he whets his teeth like a Bore, he +beates the ground with his foote like a great Horse: he is as + + +208 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +ramping as a Lyon. By this figure called in Latine Imago, +that is to say an Image, we might compare one man with an +other, as Salust compareth Cæsar and Cato together, or wee +might heape many men together, and proue by large rehearsall +any thing that wee would, the which of the Logicians is called +induction.

+ + +Answering to our selfe. +

Sibi ipsi responsio. +WE are saied to answere our self, when we seeme to tell +our self what we will doe, Phedria in Terence beeing +much troubled and out of quiet, because hee was not receiued +of his woman, but shut out of doores, when he was most willing +to see her, made as though he would not come to her afterwards, +nor yet see her at all, when she did most gently sende +for him. And therefore beeing in his anger, thus he saied: +Well, what shall I do? Shall I not goe, not euen now when +she sends for me of her owne accorde? Or shall I bee of such +a nature, that I cannot abide the despitefulnesse of Harlottes? +She hath shut me out, she calles me againe. Shall I goe to +her? Nay I wil not though she entreate me neuer so faire.

+ +Order. +

+Ordo. +ORder is of two sorts, the one is when the worthier is preferred +and set before. As a man is set before a woman. +The second is, when in amplification, the weightiest words are +set last, and in diminishing the same are set formost. With +what looke, with what face, with what heart dare thou doe such +a deede?

 + + +Briefe describing, or circumscription. +

Circumscriptio. +CIrcumscription is a briefe declaring of a thing. As thus, +He is free that is subiect to no euill. It is a vertue to eschewe +vice.

+ +

There are diuers other colours of Rhetorique, to commende +and set forth a sentence, by chaunge of wordes and much +varietie of speech, but I had rather offende in speaking to +little, then deserue rebuke in saying to much. For asmuch as +close silence may soner be pardoned, then immoderate babling +can want iust blame, and therefore thus an ende.

+ + +Of Memorie. +

AS I haue laboured to set out the other parts of Rhetorique, +in such ample wise as I thought most needfull, so it standeth +me in hande, not to slacken mine endeuour, now that I am + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +209 + +come to speake of memorie. For, though man haue vnderstanding +and iudgement, which is one part of wisedome: yet +wanting a remembraunce to apply things aptly, when time and +place shal best require: he shall doe but small good with all +his vnderstanding. And therefore it is saied not without reason, +that the same is memorie to the mind, that life is to the +bodie. Now then what els must they doe that esteeme reason +and loue knowledge, but cherish the memorie from time to time, +as an especiall and soueraine preseruatiue, against the infection +of cankard obliuion. The Faulkners say, it is the first point +of hauking to holde fast. And yet I cannot thinke otherwise, +but that in all good learning also, it is best & most expedient +euermore to holde fast. For what auaile good thinges if wee +cannot keepe them, if we receiue them in at one eare, and let +them out as fast againe at the other eare? A good thriftie man +will gather his goodes together in time of plentie, and lay them +out againe in time of need: and shal not an Oratour haue in +store good matter, in the chest of his memorie, to vse and bestow +in time of necessitie? I doubt not, but all men desire to +haue a good remembraunce of thinges, the which what it is, +how it is deuided, and how it may be preserued, I will shewe +in as fewe wordes as I can.

+ + +What is memorie. +

Memorie, +what it is. +MEmorie is the power retentiue of minde, to keepe those +thinges, which by mans wit are conceiued, or thus. +Memorie is the power of the minde that conteineth things receiued, +that calleth to minde things past, and renueth of fresh, +things forgotten.

+ + +The places of Memorie. +

THE Phisitions declare, that in the former part of the head +lieth the common sence, the which is therefore so called, +because it giueth iudgement, of al the fiue outward sences, +onely when they are presently occupied about any thing. As +when I heare a thing, or see a thing, my common sence iudgeth, +that then I doe heare, or see the same. But the memorie +called the Threasure of the minde, lieth in the hinder part, the +which is made most perfect by temperatnesse, and moderation +of qualities in the braine. For where humours exceede or + + +210 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +Children and old men +have but euill memories. +want, there must needes ensue much weakenesse of remembraunce. +Children therefore being ouer moyst, and old men +ouer drie, haue neuer good memories. Againe, where ouer +much colde is, and extreme moysture, there is euer much forgetfulnesse. +Therefore it auaileth greatly, what bodies we +haue, and of what constitution they bee compact together. +For such as be hot and moist, do sone conceiue matters, but +Hot & moyst bodies sone +conceiue. Cold and drie +keepe thinges sure. +they keepe not long. Again, they that be colde and drie, doe +hardly conceiue, but they keepe it surely when they once haue +it. And the reason is this, heate beeing chiefe qualitie, doth +drawe thinges vnto it (as we may see by the Sunne) the which +notwithstanding are soner after dissipated and resolued. Againe, +who hath seene a print made in water of any earthly thing? +Then -- though heate and moysture together drawe things vnto +them, yet, (wee see plainly) they cannot long hold them. But +when the braine is cold and drie, things are therfore the faster +holden, because it is the propertie of colde and drought, to +thicken all things, and to harden them fast together, as we see +the water through coldnesse is congeled, and soft things are +frosen oftentimes: almost as hard as a stone. So that moysture +through heate being chiefe qualitie, doth drawe: and drought +through coldnesse, which is chiefe contrary to heate, doth +harden and make thinges fast together. But now how doe wee +knowe, that the memorie resteth in the latter part of the head? + +Memorie in the +latter parte of +the head. +No doubt experience hath proued, and confirmed this to bee +most true. For there hath beene some, that beeing hurt in +that part, haue vtterly forgot their owne name. I doe remember +one man, that (beeing hurt in that place, at the +insurrection of the Lincolneshire men, fifteene yeres past) could +not deuise the making of some Letters in his Crosse rowe, +when he took penne and inke to write to his friend, whereas +before that time, he wrote both fast and faire, and was well +learned in the Latine. And therefore when he wrote, he would +stand musing a great while, before he could cal to remembraunce, +how he vsed to make a P. a. G. or such an other +Letter: wherevpon diuers much maruailed what he would haue, +or what he ment at the first time. For being grieued and +willing to aske helpe, he could not vtter his meaning, for +lacke of remembrance, and yet his tongue serued him well +otherwise, to vtter whatsoeuer came in his head.

+ + + + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +211 + +The deuision of Memorie. + + +

Memorie deuided. +MEmorie is partly naturall, and partly artificiall. Naturall +memorie, is when without any precepts or lessons, +by the onely aptnesse of nature, we beare away such thinges +as we heare. Wherein some heretofore did much excell, and +greatly passe al other. As Themistocles, who had so good a +Themistocles. +memorie, that when one proffered to teach him the art of +Memorie: nay by Sainct Marie (quoth he) teach me rather the +arte of forgetting. Declaring thereby that his memorie was +passing good, and that it was more plaine for him, to forget +such thinges as he would not kepe, then hard to remember +such things as he would knowe.

+ +

Mithridates. +Mithridates also had such an excellent memorie, that whereas +he was Lorde and Ruler ouer xxii straunge Countries, that +speake diuers speeches from one an other: he was able to talke +with euery one of them in their owne countrey language.

+ +

Cyrus. +Likewise Cyrus King of the Persians, hauing a great armie of +men, knewe the names of all his Souldiers.

+ +

Cyneas. +Cyneas Ambassadour for King Pyrrhus, called euery one by +his name, that was in the Parliament house at Rome, the second +day after he came thether, the number of them being foure +times as many as they bee, that belong vnto the Parliament +here in England.

+ +

Iulius Cæsar. +Julius Cæsar is reported that he could reade, heare, and tell +one what he should write, so fast as his penne could runne, and +endite Letters himselfe altogether at one time.

+ +

Thus we see that naturally men haue had wonderfull memories, +as contrariwise there haue bene heard of as straunge forgetful +wittes. Some hath not knowne his right hand from his +Forgetfull wittes. +left. An other hath forgot his owne name. An other hath +caried his knife in his mouth: and hath runne rounde about +the house seeking for it. An other hath told a tale halfe an +houre together, and immediatly after hath forgot what he +spake all that while.

+ +

Cicero telleth of one Curio, that where as he would make a +deuision of three parts, he would either forget the third, or +make vp a fourth, contrary to his first purpose and entent.

+ +

Belike this man had +the art of forgetting. +This I remember beeing a boye, that where as a Preacher +had taken vpon him to set forth the twelue Articles of our belief, +he could not in all the worlde finde out past nine: so + + +212 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +that he was faine to say, he was assured there was twelue, +wheresoeuer the other three were become, and he doubted not +but the hearers knew them better then he did, and therefore +he would for his part say no more, but commit them al to God, +and those nine (thought he) were enough for him at that time, +to set foorth and expounde for their vnderstanding.

+ +

Preseruation +of memorie. +Now the best meane both to amende an euill memorie, and +to preserue a good, is first to keepe a diet, and eschewe surfites, +to sleepe moderatly, to accompanie with women rarely, and +last of all to exercise the witte with cunning, of many thinges +without booke, and euer to be occupied with one thing or other. +For euen as by labour the witte is whetted, so by lithernesse +the witte is blounted.

+ +

But now concerning the other kinde of memorie called artificiall, +I had need to make a long discourse, considering the +strangenesse of the thing to the Englishe eare, and the hardnesse +of the matter, to the ignorant and vnlearned. But +first I wil shew from whence it hath beginning, and vpon what +occasion it was first inuented, before I aduenture to declare the +precepts that belong vnto the same.

+ + +The first founder of the art of Remembraunce. +

Simonides first +Authour of the +arte of remembrance. +THE inuention of this Arte, is fathered vpon Simonides, for +when the same man (as the Fable recordeth) had made in +behalfe of a triumphant Champion called Scopas, for a certaine +somme of money a Ballade, such as was then wont to be +made for Conquerours: he was denied a peece of his reward, +because he made a digression in his song (which in those daies +was customably vsed) to the praise and commendation of +Castor & Pollux (who were then thought being Twinnes, & +got by Iupiter to be Gods) of whom the Champion willed him +to aske a portion, because he had so largely set forth their +worthy doings. Now it chaunced, that where as there was +made a great feast, to the honour of the same Victorie, and +Simonides had beene placed there as a guest, he was sodainly +called from the Table, and told that there was two yong men +at the doore, and both on horsback, which desired most earnestly +to speak with him out of hand. But when he came out +of the doores, he saw none at all: notwithstanding, he was not +so sone out, and his foote on the Thresholde, but the Parlour +fell downe immediatly vpon them all that were there, and so + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +213 + +crushed their bodies together, and in such sort, that the kinsfolke +of those that were dead, comming in, and desirous to +burie them euery one according to their calling, not onely could +they not perceiue them by their faces, but also they could not +discerne them by any other marke of any part in all their bodies. +Then Simonides well remembring in what place euery one of +them did sit, tolde them what euery one was, and gaue them +their kinsfolkes carcases, so many as were there. Thus the +arte was first inuented. And yet (though this be but a Fable) +reason might beate thus much into our heades, that if the like +thing had bene done, the like remembrance might haue +bene vsed. For who is he that seeth a dosen sit at a table, +whom he knoweth very wel, cannot tell after they are all risen, +where euery one of them did sit before? And therefore, be it +that some man inuented this tale: the matter serueth well our +purpose, and what neede wee any more?

+ + +What things are requisite to get the art of Memorie. +

THey that will remember many thinges, and rehearse them +together out of hand: must learne to haue places, and +digest Images in them accordingly.

+ +A place what it is. +

A place is called any roume, apt to receiue thinges.

 + +An Image what it is. +

+Places how they +must be. +An Image is any Picture or shape, to declare some certaine +thing therby. And euen as in waxe we make a print with a +seale, so we haue places where liuely pictures must be set. +The places must be great, of small distaunce, not one like an +other, and euermore the first place must bee made notable aboue +the rest, hauing alwaies some seuerall note from the other, as +some Antique, or a hand pointing, or such like, that the rather +Images how they +must be. +hauing a great number of places, wee might the better knowe +where wee are, by the remembraunce of such notable and +straunge places. And thus hauing them well appointed, we +must keepe them fresh in our memorie, and neuer chaunge +them but vse them still, whatsoeuer we haue to say. But the +Images we may chaunge, as the matter shal giue iust cause, +vsing such as shal serue best for the knowledge of thinges. +The which Images must bee set foorth, as though they were +stirring, yea, they must be sometimes made ramping, & last of +al, they must be made of things notable, such as may cause + + + + +214 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +earnest impression of things in our minde. As a notable euill +fauoured man, or a monstrous Horse, such as Sainct Georges +Horse was wont to be, or any such like helpe well for remembraunce. + + +The places of Memorie are resembled vnto Waxe and Paper. +Images are compted like vnto Letters or a Seale. +The placing of these Images, is like vnto wordes written. +The vtterance and vsing of them, is like vnto reading. +

+

ANd therefore, as we doe reserue Paper, and yet chaunge +our writing, putting out wordes as occasion shall serue, +and setting other in their roume: so may we doe for the +Images inuented, chaunge our Picture oft, and reserue the +Papers stil. Some gather their places & Images out of the +Crosse rowe, beginning euery Letter with the name of some +Beast, and so goe through the whole, making in euery beast +fiue seueral places, where the impression of things shall bee +made, that is to say, in the Head, the Bellie, in the Taile, in +the former parte of the legges, & also in the hinder part. +So that by this meanes there shall be gathered, an hundred and +fifteene places. Some againe will set their places in his head +or bodie, with whom they speake. As to make the nose, the +eyes, the forhead, the haire, the eares, and other partes to serue +for places. And for making places in any house, Church, or +other roume, this lesson is also giuen, that we enter our first +places alwaies vpon the right hande, neuer returning backe: +but going on still as I might say in a Circuite, till we come to +that place where wee first began. But first before the Images +bee inuented, the places must bee learned perfectly, and therefore +one giueth counsaile that we should goe into some solitarie +place where no companie is, and there make our places, walking +vp and doune fower or fiue times, and calling stil to our +remembrance what, and where the places are. And not only +to doe this once or twise, but to labour in it two or three daies +at seueral times vntil we shalbe able to tel our places vpon +our fingers ends.

+ +

And now to make this hard matter somewhat plaine, I will + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +215 + +vse an example. My friend (whom I tooke euer to bee an +honest man) is accused of theft, of adulterie, of ryot, of manslaughter, +and of treason: if I would keepe these wordes in my +remembrance, and rehearse them in order as they were spoken, +I must appoint fiue places, the which I had neede to haue so +perfectly in my memorie, as could be possible. As for example, +I will make these in my Chamber. A doore, a window, a +presse, a bedstead, and a chimney. Now in the doore, I wil +set Cacus the theefe, or some such notable verlet. In the windowe +I will place Venus. In the Presse I will put Apitius that +famous Glutton. In the Bedstead I will set Richard the third +King of England, or some notable murtherer. In the Chimney +I will place the blacke Smith, or some other notable Traitour. +That if one repete these places, and these Images twise or thrise +together, no doubt though he haue but a meane memorie, he +shall carie away the wordes rehearsed with ease. And like as +he may doe with these fiue words, so may he doe with fiue +score, if he haue places fresh in his remembraunce, and doe but +vse himselfe to this trade one fortnight together.

+ +

Therefore though it seeme straunge and foolish to them that +knowe it not, yet the learned haue taken this way, and doubt +not but maruailes may bee done, if one haue places readie made +for the purpose, and haue them fresh in his remembraunce. +For what other thing els do they that appoint Images in certaine +places made for that purpose, but write (as a man would +say) vpon Paper, that which is spoken vnto them? What +maketh the old man (that for lacke of natural heate and moysture, +scant knoweth his right hand from his left) remember in +the morning where he laid his purse all night, but the beds +head which lightly is the appointed place for all mens purses, +especially such as bee wayfairers, and haue but little store. +Shal some Gentleman play blindfold at the Chesse, and cannot +a learned man be able to rehearse vp a score or two of straunge +names together. A Neteheard hauing the charge and keeping +of twentie score head of Beastes in a wilde Fenne, that belong +to diuers men, will not only tell who be the owners of al such +cattel, but also he will shew a man twise a weeke where any +one is feeding, and if he want one among the whole, he will +tell immediatly what it is, and whose it is that is wanting. +Then fonde are they that coumpt the Arte of memorie so hard, + + +216 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +seeing they will neither proue the hardnesse of it, nor yet blush +at the matter, when they see poore Neteheards goe so farre beyond +them. How many thinges doth memorie containe marueilous +to beholde, and much more would, if we were not +altogether slouthfull, and as carelesse to keepe, as wee are to +get, good things I meane, not goodes of this world. Euery +Artificer hath through exercise and labour, an artificiall memorie, +sauing the learned man onely, who hath most neede of it +aboue all other.

+ +

When we come to a place where we haue not bene many a +day before, wee remember not onely the place it selfe, but by +the place, wee call to remembraunce many thinges done there. +Yea somtimes a window maketh some remember, that they +haue stolne in their daies some thing out of it. Somtimes a +chimney telleth them of many late drinkinges and sitting vp by +the fire. Sometimes a Bedstead putteth them in remembraunce +of many good morowes: sometimes a doore, & somtimes a +parler. Thus we see places euen without Images, helpe oft +the memorie, much more then shall we remember, if we haue +both places and Images.

+ +

But now, because I haue halfe wearied the Reader with a +tedious matter, I will harten him againe with a mery tale. +At the time of rebellion in Northfolke, there was a Priest +God graunt all +Rebelles like +remem<!->brance. +among all other, adiudged to die vpon a Gibet in a greene +place, a little from the high way side. This Priest seeing the +place at his last ende, stood a while musing with himselfe, and +said to the companie there. Now Lorde God what a thing +is this. It comes to my remembraunce now, that about fowerteene +yeares past, I was merrie here vpon this bancke, with +an other Priest, and wallowing me downe vpon the grasse, I +saied these words: Hæc requies mea in -- sæculum sæculi, hic habitabo +quoniam elegi eam. The which Sentence being a Psalme of +Dauid, is nothing els in English: But this is my resting place +for euer and euer, here shall be my dwelling, because I haue +chosen it. And now (quoth he) I finde it to bee ouer true, so +that I thinke it bee Gods will I should die, and therfore I take +it in good worth, and thus I desire you al to pray for me. +Thus we see that the place brought him in remembrance of +a sentence, spoken fowerteene yeares before.

+ +

Therefore, this knowledge is not to bee neglected, no though + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +217 + +wee doe contemne it, yet we haue the vse of it. For if we be +fully disposed to remember a thing, wee doe call vp the memorie, +and stirre it to minde thinges there vnto. As if one bee +called Wingfeelde, and I feare to forget this name, I might remember +the wing of a birde, and a greene feelde to walke in. +Remembraunce by things like. +Sometimes we remember the whole, by keeping in minde some +parte of a word. As when one is called Crowcroft, I might +by remembring of a Crowe, the rather minde his name. Notwithstanding +there bee some (among whom is Erasmus) which +like not this Art of Memorie, but say it rather hindereth then +helpeth a mans wit. And yet Tullie the greatest Orator +among the Romaines, did well allowe it, and proued it good +by a natural reason. For where as we knowe some things +(saieth he) onely by vnderstanding, and some by the sence of +seeing, those wee keepe best in our mindes, which we know +by sight, and haue marked with our eyes. As for example. +When I see a Lyon, the Image thereof abideth faster in my +minde, then if I should heare some report made of a Lyon. +Among all the sences, the eye sight is most quicke, and conteineth +the impression of things more assuredly, then any of the +other sences doe. And the rather when a man both heareth +and seeth a thing (as by artificiall memorie, he doth almost see +thinges liuely[)], hee doth remember it much the beter. The sight +printeth thinges in a mans memorie, as a Seale doth print a +mans name in Waxe. And therefore, heretofore Images were +set vp for remembrance of Saincts, to be Lay mens bookes, +that the rather by seing the Pictures of such men, they might +be stirred to follow their good liuing. The which surely had +beene well done, if G O D had not forbidden it. But seeing +thinges must be done, not of a good entent, but euen as G O D +hath commaunded, it is well done that such Idolles are cleane +taken out of the Church. Mary for this purpose whereof wee +now write, they would haue serued gaiely well. Thus the art +is sone tolde, but the practise of it is all. And therefore, if one +desire to excell herein, let him take paines to gather his places +together, and keepe them well in remembraunce, prouing by +halfe a score, how he shalbe able to vse a hundred. And no +doubt, but time and exercise shall make him perfect. +For the best art of memorie that can be, is to heare much, +to speak much, to reade much, and to write much. And + + +218 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +exercise it is that doth al, when we haue saied all that euer +we can.

 + + +Of Pronunciation. +

Vtteraimce what it is. +PRonunciation is an apt ordering, both of the voyce, countenaunce, +and al the whole bodie according to the worthinesse +of such wordes and matter, as by speech are declared. +The vse hereof is such, for any that liketh to haue praise, for +telling his tale in open assembly, that hauing a good tongue, +and a comely countenaunce, he shall be thought to passe all +other, that haue the like utteraunce: though they haue much +better learning. The tongue giueth a certaine grace to euery +matter, and beautifieth the cause in like maner, as a sweete +sounding Lute, much setteth forth a meane deuised Ballad. +Or as the sounde of a good instrument stirreth the hearers, and +mooueth much delite, so a cleare sounding voyce, comforteth +much our deintie eares, with much sweete melodie, and causeth +vs to allow the matter, rather for the reporters sake, then the +Demosthenes saying +of pronunciation. +reporter for the matters sake: Demosthenes therefore, that +famous Oratour, beeing asked what was the chiefest point in +all Oratorie, gaue the chiefe and onely praise to Pronunciation, +being demaunded, what was the second, and the third, he stil +made aunswere Pronunciation, and would make no other aunswere +till they left asking, declaring hereby, that arte without +vtteraunce can doe nothing, vtteraunce without art can doe +right much. And no doubt, that man is in outwarde apparance, +half a good Clarke that hath a cleane tongue, and a +Æschines. +comely iesture of his bodie. Æschines likewise, beeing banished +his Countrey through Demosthenes, when he red to the Rodians his +owne Oration, and Demosthenes aunswere therevnto, by force +whereof he was banished, and all they marueiled much at the +excellencie of the same: then (quoth Æschines) you would haue +marueiled much more, if you had heard himselfe speake it. +Thus beeing cast in miserie and banished for euer, he could +not but giue such great report of his most deadly and mortall +enemie.

+ + +The parts of Pronunciation. +

PRonunciation standeth partly in fashioning the tongue, and +partly in framing the iesture.

+ +

The tongue or voyce is praise worthie, if the vtteraunce be +audible, strong, and easie, and apt to order as wee list. Therefore, + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +219 + +they that minde to get praise in telling their minde in +open audience, must at the first beginning, speake some what +softly, vse meete pausing, and being somewhat heated, rise +with their voyce, as time and cause shall best require. They +that haue no good voyces by nature, or cannot well vtter their +wordes, must seeke for helpe els where. Exercise of the bodie, +fasting, moderation in meate and drinke, gaping wide, or +singing plaine Song, and counterfeyting those that doe speake +distinctly, helpe much to haue a good deliueraunce. Demosthenes +beeing not able to pronounce the first letter of that Arte +which he professed, but would say, for, Rhetorike, Letolike, vsed +to put little stones vnder his tongue, and so pronounced, +whereby he speake at length so plainly, as any man in the world +could doe. Musicians in England haue vsed to put gagges in +childrens mouthes, that they might pronounce distinctly, but +now with the losse and lacke of Musick, the loue also is gone +of bringing vp children to speake plainly. Some there bee +that either naturally, or through folly haue such euill voyces, +Faultes in +pronunciation. +and such lacke of vtteraunce, and such euill iesture, that it +much defaceth all their doinges. One pipes out his wordes so +small, through default of his winde pipe, that ye would thinke +he whistled. An other is hource in his throte, that a man +would thinke, he came lately from scouring of Harnesse. An +other speakes, as though he had Plummes in his mouth. An +other speakes in his throte, as though a good Ale crumme stucke +fast. An other rattles his wordes. An other choppes his +wordes. An other speakes, as though his wordes had neede +to bee heaued out with leauers. An other speakes, as though +his words should bee weighed in a Ballaunce. An other gapes +to fetch winde at euery third worde. This man barkes out +his English Northren-like, with I say, and thou lad. And other +speakes so finely, as though he were brought vp in a Ladies +Chamber. As I knewe a Priest that was as nice as a Nunnes +Henne, when hee would say Masse, he would neuer say Dominus +vobiscum, but Dominus vobicum. In like maner, as some now will +say the Commaundements of GOD. Blacke Uellet, for Commaundements, +and blacke Uellet. Some blowe at their nostrilles. +Some sighes out their wordes. Some signes their sentences. +Some laughes altogether, when they speake to any bodie. Some +grunts like a Hogge. Some cackles like a Henne, or a Iacke + + +220 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +Dawe. Some speakes as though they should tell in their sleeue. +Some cries out so loude, that they would make a mans eares +ake to heare them. Some coughes at euery worde. Some hems +it out. Some spittes fire, they talke so hotly. Some makes a +wrie mouth, and so they wrest out their wordes. Some whines +like a Pigge. Some suppes their wordes vp, as a poore man +doth his Porrage. Some noddes their head at euery sentence. +An other winkes with one eye, & some with both. This man +frouneth alwaies when he speakes. And other lookes euer as +though hee were mad. Some cannot speake but they must goe +vp and downe, or at the least be stirring their feete, as though +they stood in a cockering Boate. An other will play with his +cappe in his hand, and so tell his tale. Some when they speake +in a great companie, will looke all one way, as I knewe a +Reader in my daies, who looked in like sorte, when hee read to +Scholers, whom one thought to disapoint of such his constaunt +lookes: and therefore against the next day, he painted the +Deuill with hornes vpon his head, in the self same place, where +the Reader was wont alwaies to looke, the which straunge +Monster, when the Reader sawe, he was half abashed, and +turned his face an other way. Some pores vpon the ground +as though they sought for pinnes. Tullie telles of one Theophrastus +Tauriscus, who is saied to declaime arsee versee. Some +swelles in the face, and filles their cheekes full of winde, as +though they would blowe out their wordes. Some sets forth +their lippes, two inches good beyond their teeth. Some talkes +as though their tongue went of pattines. Some shewes all +their teeth. Some speakes in their teeth altogether. Some +lets their wordes fall in their lippes, scant opening them when +they speake. There are a thousand such faultes among men, +both for their speech, and also for their iesture, the which if in +their young yeares they bee not remedied, they will hardly +bee forgot when they come to mans state. But the rather that +these faultes may be redressed: I haue partly declared heretofore, +the right vse of vtteraunce. And now I minde by Gods +helpe to shewe the right vse of iesture.

+ +What is iesture. +

+Iesture, +what it is. +IEsture is a certaine comely moderation of the countenance, +and al other parts of mans bodie, aptly agreeing to those + + +The arte of Rhetorique. +221 + +things which are spoken. That if we shal speake in a pleasaunt +matter, it is meete that the looke also should bee cherefull, +and all the iesture stirring thereafter. The head to bee holden +vpright, the forehead without frowning, the browes without +bending, the nose without blowing, the eyes quicke and +pleasant, the lippes not laied out, the teeth without grenning, +the armes not much cast abroade, but comely set out, as time +and cause shall best require: the handes sometimes opened, +and sometimes holden together, the fingers pointing, the +breast laied out, and the whole bodie stirring altogether, with +a seemely moderation. By the which behauiour of our bodie +after such a sorte, we shall not onely delite men with the sight, +but perswade them the rather the trueth of our cause.

+ +

Hortensius. +Q. Hortensius had such delite to vse comely gesture, and had +such grace in that behalfe: that I doubt whether men had a +greater desire to see him, then they had to heare him. His +countenaunce so well agreed with his wordes, and his words +were so meete for his countenance: that not onely hee did +please the iudgement of his hearers, and contented their minde: +but also he pleased their eyes, and delited their eares, so much +as could be wished.

+ +

Tullie saieth well: The gesture of man[] is the speech of his +bodie, and therefore reason it is, that like as the speeche must +agree to the mater, so must also the gesture agree to the minde, +for the eyes are not giuen to man onely to see, but also to +shewe and set forth the meaning of his minde, euen as vnto a +Bore, are giuen briselles: To a Lion, the taile: To a Horse, +his eares: whereby their inclinations and sodaine affections + +are sone espied. When wee see a man looke redde +in the eyes, his browes bent, his teeth byting his +vpper lippe, we iudge that he is out of pacience. +Therefore as we ought to haue good regard, +for the vtterance of our words, so wee +ought to take heede that our gesture +be comely, the which +both being well obserued, +shall encrease fame, +and get estimation +vniuersally. +

+ + +

+222 +The arte of Rhetorique. + +But here an ende. And now as my will hath bene earnest, to +doe my best: so I wish that my paines may be taken +thereafter. And yet what needes wishing, seeing +the good will not speake euill: and the +wicked can not speake euill: and the +wicked can not speake wel. Therefore +being staied vpon the good, and +assured of their gentle bearing +with mee: I feare none, +because I stand +vpon a saufe +ground. +

 + + + + + +