¶ In adolescencie is considered where to
he than gyuethe hym selfe; As in the
fyrst comedie of Terēce one Simo telleth
his seruaūt Sosia / that though all yonge
men for the more parte gyue them selfe to
some peculiare thynge / wherin they sette
theyr chiefe delyght / as some to haue goo-
dely horses / some to cherysshe houndes for
huntyng / & some are gyuen onely to theyr
bookes / his sone Pāphilus loued none of
these more one thā an other / and yet in al
these he exercised hym selfe mesurably.
¶ In mannes state and olde age is noted
what office or rule he bare among his citi-
sens / or in his cōtrey / what actes he dyd /
how he gouerned suche as were vnd[er] him /
howe he p[ro]spered / & what fortune he had in
suche thyng[e]s as he went about. Example
here of is in Saluste / whiche cōpareth to[-]
gether Cato and Cesar / sayng that both
theyr stocke / age & eloquēce / were almoost
lyke & egall / theyr excellēcie & greatnes of
spirite & wytte was also lyke & egal / & lyke
fame & worshyppe had they both attayned
howe be it nat by a lyke waye. Cesar was
had ī great estimacion for his benefites &
[&] liberalite. Cato had gottē hī a name for
his p[er]fight & vpright lyuynge. Cesar was
praysed for his gentilnes and pitie. Cato
was honored for his ernestnes and surete.
¶ The tother wanne moche bruyt by gy[-]
uynge large gyftes / by helpynge suche as
were in dystresse / and by forgyuyng of tres[-]
passes done agaynste hym. Catons fame
dyd sprede because he wold neither be for-
gyuen of none offence / neither forgiue non
other / but as any man had deserued / so to
cause him to be delt with. In the one was
great refuge to suche as were in mysery:
In the other was sore punisshment & per-
nicion to mysdoers & euyll transgressours
of the law. Briefly to conclude it was all
Ceazars mynde and pleasure to labour di-
ligently night and day in his frendes cau[-]
ses / to care lesse for his owne busynes thā
for theyrs / to deny nothing that was wor[-]
thy to be asked / his desyre was euermore
to be in warre / to haue a great hoost of mē
vnder his gouernaunce / that by his noble
and hardy faictes his valyantnes myght
be the more knowen and spred abrood.
Cōtraryly all Catons study was on tem[-]
peraūce / and to do in no maner otherwyse
than was conuenient & fyttynge for suche
a man as he was / and chiefly he sette his
mynde to seueryty / he neuer made no com[-]
parison with the riche man in richesse / nor
with the myghty man in power. But yf
nede required / with the hardy mā in bold-
nes / with the temperate in moderacion /
with the good man in innocency & iust dea[-]
ling. He cared not for the name / it was suf-
ficiēt to hym to haue the dede / & so / the lesse
he cared for glorye / the more alwayes he
opteyned. Many suche comparisons ve-
ry profitable for this intēt / are also in Plu[-]
tarche in his boke of noble mennes lyues.
¶ A goodly ensāple of this place is in the
oracion that Hermola[us] Barbarus made
to the emperour Frederike and Maximi-
lian his son / which for bicause it is so long
I let it passe. ¶ A like ensample is in Tul-
lies oracion / that he made to the people of
Rome for Pompeyus / to be sente agaynst
Mithridates.
¶ Some there be that deuide the [landes]
of persones into thre kindes of goodes / be-
gynnynge the narracion at them / whiche
thynge our author doth nat greatly com-
mende / but rather in rehersyng of any per[-]
sones dedes / yf there can nat be kept an or-
der of historie / and many thynges must be
spoken. It were after his mynde best to
touche fyrst his actes done by prudence / &
next by iustice / thirdely by fortitude of the
mynde / and last by temperaunce / and so to
gather the narracion out of this foure car-
dinall vertues. As if one shuld praise saint
Austen / after that he hath spoken of his pa[-]
rentele and bryngynge vp in youthe / and
is come to the rehersale of his actes / they
may be conueniently distributed into the
places of vertues. On this maner did Tul[-]
ly prayse Pompey.
¶ I suppose (sayeth he) that in hym that
shulde be a hed capitayne ouer a great ar-
my / ought to be foure thynges. Knowlege
of werre / valiantnes / auctoritie / & felicitie.
¶ Here is to be noted that in rehersynge
any persons actes / we may haue our chief
respecte to some peculiare and principall
vertue in hym / enlargynge and exaltynge
it by amplificaciō in maner of a digressiō.
¶ Our author in this worke maketh no
mencyon of the last place that is dethe
and suche thynges as folowe after / but in
an other greater work he declareth it thus
briefly. ¶ The dethe of the persone hathe
also his praises / as of suche whiche haue
ben slayne for the defence of theyr contrey
or prince.
¶ A very goodly ensample for the hande-
lynge of this place is in an epistle that An[-]
gele Policiane writeth in his fourth boke
of epistels to Iames Antiquarie of Lau-
rence Medices / howe wysely and deuout-
ly he dysposed hym selfe in his dethe bed /
and of his departynge / and what [chann[-]
ced] at that tyme.