An other example Hortatorie, wherein an honourable Gentleman
is egged forward in the profession of Armes, and seruice
of his Prince and Country.
SIthence the time of my little abode heere in LondonExordium. being scarce twentie dayes, vnderstanding of the being in town of my La. your mother, I repaired thereupon to her presence to visite her: there did I receiue notice of your being in Ireland, and that vpon your honourable behauiour, and good seruice there done: The L. D. did not onely testifie the same by his owne hand-writing vnto diuers of the priuie Counsell, but also in especiall letters besides commended the weight thereof, vnto the regard of her most excellent Maiestie.
I did not a little reioyce to see that in such young yearesInsinuatiō
by praise of the action. wherein commonlie falleth out a contempt of all excellencies, and a fantasticall desyre of counterfeyte vanities, you coulde (besides the common trade and custome of the worlde)Parenthesis. addict your selfe wholie vnto so weightie and honourable an exercise,Epitheton. as by laboursome trauaile in the seruice and honour of your Prince and countrie, to put forwarde your selfe so timely. Credite mee, it is not a little pleasing vnto mee to thinke thereon,Metaphora. neither standeth my affection so slender vnto your fathers off-spring, but that I must euer holde the reputation of their weldoing, an aduauncemente to my imaginations, and the sounde of their good successe the verie harmonie of mine inwarde soule.
It is no newe thing I confesse, euen in these dayes to see a Gentleman honourablie descended as your selfe, and of like worthie education, to attaine vnto learning, to become practised in Armes, to put forward themselues in seruice, but to continue with resolution, to performe it with labour,Auxesis. to atchieue it with valour, to beare it with honour, here is the excellencie, this is the rarenesse, hence springeth the noueltie.
Vertue retaining yet her ancient Maiestie, though not pursued as in olde time, with such woonted vehemencie,Hypotyposis.
vertue hath three entrances. hath three entraunces, leading directly vnto her beautifull passage, by the portes whereof, whosoeuer is desirous to attaine her, in her purest and most glorious estate, must of necessitie enter. First, Fortitude,Fortitude. whereby hee must be enabled to endure whatsoeuer labour and trauell to be imposed, accounting nothing difficult, to the end and sweet rewarde whereof her excellencie is appropriate. Next, Magnanimitie,Magnanimitie. which by a vehement and haughtie desire, reacheth vnto thinges most excellent & of highest and stateliest value, not regarding the hard, tough, & maine force of the passage, with what pursuit soeuer it must bee followed, so be it by such meanes it may be wonne, and the glorie thereunto due, may at last be attained: the reach wherof, tending to the last end and scope of al his determinatiōs, sweetneth all maner of trauel, and induceth therewithal a contempt of whatsoeuer lesse valued or hindering, to the worthines of the same. Then Longanimity,Longanimitie. enabling by greate constancie with rare and accustomed patience, to awaite and endure the end, neuer giuing ouer vpon whatsoeuer assaults, til the determined scope be by all kind of industry fullie and perfectly furnished.
For this cause,Etiologia. the most renowmed parte of vertue is saide to bee excellent, for that manie doe contemplate her a far off, but few or none at all doe almost come so nigh her, as perfectly to see and discerne her, in so much as some, nothing regarding the singularitie of that, whose sweetnesse they neuer tasted of, become forcelesse of the pursuit of so diuine an excellencie: and some other fauouring a litle the daintines thereof, yet ouer-reached with the tediousnes of the enterprise, and hindered by the opposition of a thousand vanities, are so astonished in the first onset, as being therewith ouercome, doe by and by giue ouer their purposes.
Now therefore my C. if you will bee a right fauourer of vertueAdhortation to vertue. indeede, it behooueth that by these possibilities you doe (as a faithful regarder of her diuine & sacred essence) only seeke to pursue her, and that with such and none other respectes, and to no other ende and purpose, but for the sole fruition of her stately and immortall deitie.
The time now calleth you forth,Merismus. your Countrie and soyle wherein you were borne and nourished inuiteth you, your praise alreadie gotten, and hope of renowne euer after to followe, perswade you, the honour of your house and parentage constraineth you, yea euerie of these solie and altogether doe exhort and commaund you, that becomming the selfe same you vowed, and they long since haue looked for, you doe nowe shewe your selfe such as was promised, and wherein the expectation first conceiued of you, may in no wise bee frustrated.
Consider I pray you, that the rewarde of vertue is honour,Clymax. the guerdon of honour, Fame, the scope of Fame, Eternity, the seat of eternity, immortall and euerlasting glory. In liuing in the seruice of your Prince and countrie, the profession you haue taken in hand is honourable,Antistrophe. the charge honourable, the purpose honourable, and the ende and successe thereof must needes be honourable: behooueth then that your continuance therein and your owne deserts be also deemed honourable.
Thinke when you tooke vpon you to beare Armes,Metaphora. you then receiued the full cognizance of Vertue, you were entertained with honour, you became apprentise to fame, and it was assured (that beeing with loyaltie demeaned) you shoulde at length receiue the rewarde of euer flourishing glorie.Commoratiō. It is (beleeue me) no small matter, that being a particular member, you are put foorth as a piller, vpon the prop whereof reposeth one parte of the weight of the common-weale, that the ioyes of your whole countrie are fixed vpon your wel-doing, that in pursuite hereof your priuate cause is not your owne, (the secrete reuenge whereof may happelie turn to an infamed mischiefe) but the cause of the common good, the publike matter of al, and that where the scope is of all others most famous and honoured.