THe gods desirous ( as Poets faine ) to shew forth the omnipotencie of their deity & their incomparable cunnings vnited in one , to the intent they might purchase themselues some great commendations and honour vppon earth , determined to carue a peece of some curious perfection , wherein might be expressed the substance of the gods , and beautie of the graces : whereupon they framed a man so angelical in forme & exquisit in feature , that as for the lineaments of his face , or the proportion of his body , it was impossible to say the least thing imaginary to be any where wanting . This demie-god being perfected and sent vpon the earth , when as none could condemn either the creature of want , or the creators for lacke of skil ; Momus at length found this fault , that the gods had not made a window in his breast through which to perceiue the inward thoughts and secrets of his heart ( meaning as I coniecture ) that as the glitteringst Diamond being broken distilleth the deadliest poyson , as the stone Ceuranon burneth without when it freezeth within , and as the Nightingale hath a most sweete voice , but vnfauourie flesh : so there is none so comely in his body , but may be corrupt in his mind , none so fine in his feature , but may be faultie in his faith , nor any so louing in his looke , but may be lowring in his heart . Whereupon I thinke that Tully in his booke de Amicitia , considering the double dealing of men , how they carried most commonly two faces like Ianus vnder one hood , hauing as wel wrinkles in the one to prognosticate mishap , as dimples in the other to signifie prosperity : and like the leaues of the Seaulpher , to be greene and beutiful in loue and affection outwardly , when their rootes or hearts were withered and dead in good wil inwardly , counselleth Scaeuola and Fannius vnder the person of Laelius aboue al other things , as the cheefest principal belonging to finde a friend , that they should first multos modios salis simul edere , &c. meaning that they should be so farre from choosing a friend at the first sight , that they should neither giue any their hearts , nor hands , vntil by reason of their long acquaintance and conuersation together they might haue had time to haue eaten many bushels of salt . For seeing there is nothing more necessary vnto the life of man then to be enuironed with faithful and vnfained friends , into whom he may transport his affections , repose his secrets , and commit his enterprises , so he ought to bestow the greatest paines and careful industry in the finding of them , especially in these our present times wherein flatterie is become such a common arte and so much practised of most men , that almost euery rusticall companion & illiterate pesant can represent like a looking-glasse what mans quallities and conditions he wil : So that good cause hath euery one with Vlisses to feare the inchanting harmony of sweet singing Syrens , seeing vnder the fairest flower often lurkes the foulest serpent and those that professe most liberal affection in words , are oft proued the deadliest enemies in deede . Wherfore not without good reason did Darius esteeme more of his faithful Zaphirus then of his conquest of an hundred chiefe-taines of his Babilonian enemies , for kingdomes may be gotten by pollicie , and enimies subdued by the sword , but an vnfained friend by neither to be obtained , wherefore Zeno the philosopher was of this opinion that the losse of a friend was only to be lamented : which Agesilans the Greeke seemeth also to affirme , who being demanded why he did more lament the heauines of his friends then the death of his children , made answere , I do not bewail the want of my wife , the losse of my goods , or the death of my children , for al these are but parts of my selfe : but I bewaile the death of my friend which is another my selfe , whose like I am not likely euer to light vpon , seeing true frendship is so seldome seene , and being seene , so greatly admired , so that we reade of Alexander , who for his noble conquests and spatious regiment , was surnamed the great , that in al the prouinces kingdomes , and empires , which most victoriously he passed through , he found but one faithful and vnfained friend named Calistenes : The like we reade of Xerxes , Nero , Dionisius , & many other renowmed peers and potentates in the world , who are not reported to haue had any more then one friend . And if we allow of the counsel of Seneca a wise and discreete man , if he might haue many ( as he cannot ) yet wil not admitte any more then one : for if there be danger ( saith he ) in enemies , there can be no surety in the multitude of friends , seeing in respect of their number they breede difference of consent and wil , with variety of conditions : and where is no conformitie of manners , there can be no perfection in friendship . Furthermore one friend ought not to say to another , I wil not , or , I can not , since it is a priuilege in friendship to find nothing impossible : therefore who ioynes friendship with another , binds himselfe not to deny the thing that his friend requires him to do , seeing in this consists the ful office of frendship , to owe to our friends our selues and al that we haue . But how can a man that is said to haue many friends , execute this office of true friendship , when in the same instance one friend inuites him to a banket , and another sends for him being sicke : one requests him to pleade his cause against his aduersarie at London , and another to ride with him about other affaires to Douer , where you see he can do his dutie to no more but one , and consequently al the rest do seeme to be despised , & their friendship little or not at al regarded : wherby it appeareth , that true friendship can bee onely in the duall number , namely an vnfained consent of two mens willes and affections , & a transportation of two hearts into one body : and therefore a frend is called alter idem , another moity , or another selfe . The riuer that is diuided into many brookes , experience shewes vs the streame to be very slowe and shallow : so loue which is deuided amongst many cannot bee so great as that which hath but one subiect to worke on : and therefore Homer speaking of a child whom his , father entirely loueth indeede , calleth him Solum , atque in senio natum , that is , his fathers only sonne , and borne when his parents were past hope to haue any more . Wherefore seeing thou canst haue but one true friend , whose bosom must be a place of retract for al thy counsels , opinions , actions , and interprises , what care and circumspections oughtest thou to haue in choosing this one . They that trie poyson by the taste , destroy themselues therewith , and he that wil admit a friend before he knoweth him , most commonly hurts himselfe whilest he proueth him , as the Satire thought the fire to bee some great goddesse , by reason of the brightnesse and warmth that it gaue , & therefore would needs imbrace it , and kisse it , hauing burnt his venturous lips , Prometheus tolde him the nature and force thereof : so parasites or flatterers because their words are plesant to the eare , many imbrace them & commit themselues and al that they haue vnto them , til hauing tried their more secret operation they beginne to crie Caue when their coyne is consumed , and to be chary when they haue nothing whereof to take charge , then they can tell others , that mens harts and tongues , are no perfect relatiues , and that it is not alwaies true , that what the heart thinks , the tongue clacketh , & can verifie it with a probatum of their owne . It were better to be wise too soone then repent too late , and to looke before we leape , lest we fall into their ditch , for if we are once downe , there are few that wil lend vs their hands to help vs vp againe and carry vs through al the stormy waues of our distresse , as the dolphin did Arion , but euery one almost will answere as they did the young man in Plautus in his necessity , with a Non est , that is , faith friend you come to a wrong box , I stand in as much need as your selfe , or as the crow did the kite , when it happened the one to be bare of feathers , the other answered , that to him were no more then sufficed him to flie , and yet they wil promise one in his prosperity neuer to forsake him , as Peter promised Christ , who in a while after did vtterly denie him , and forsweare too , therefore not vnfitly did Plinie compare men vnto the fifh Palerna , which being passing white in the calme , yet becommeth blacke at euery storme , and like vnto the Heban blossomes , which open with the dew and shut with the sunne : so in prosperitie they fawne , but in aduersitie they fade , they honor the sunne at his vprising with the Egyptians , but curse him at his going down , yea those on whom we bestow the greatest benefits , if opportunitie serue , wil requite vs with the deadliest hate . The Troians neuer shewed more fauour vnto any then vnto wretched Sinon , who afterward betraied their citie vnto the Gaecians : and none was more welcome vnto Carthage , then straggling Aeneas , and yet hee repaied them with most shameful abuses : Seuerus the Emperor neuer bestowed more benefits vpon any , then on his seruant Plautianus , for he made him copartner with him in th empire , who shamed not for all this to hire Saturninus trecherously to murther his frend so faithful and lord so louing , Seuerus : The Babilonians neuer trusted any more then the forenamed Zopirus who most villanously betraied them into the hand of Darius : And Thraso in Terence , neuer affected man more then his parasite Gnatho , by whom he was deliuered vp as a prey to his enimies , with an hunc ego comedendum & bibendum vobis propino . But if these and the rest whom we reade to haue tasted of the same sauce had prudently pondered the sugered subtilties of the world , they needed not to haue locked the dore when the steede was stolen , nor by their owne harmes to haue learned to beware . Therefore seeing we perceiue the trap , let vs not foolishly follow the traine , nor swallow the bait , wherin is shrowded the intent of our bane , neither let vs thinke with the pike to cast vp the hooke which we haue swallowed , when wee please without preiudice to our persons , for if we haue once entertained a knaue we shal not easily be rid of him , but presently hee becomes like fulsome meate which wee cannot keepe in our stomackes , without hurting vs , nor vomit it vp alone as it went in , but mingled with other meate , which would haue nourished and cherished vs : So when we haue receiued a counterfait and harbored him , with our hindrances we can neither continue with him but he wil hurt vs , neither shake him off so clearely , but heiwil go better away then he came , therefore Principijs obsta , take heede at the first , and thou shalt do wel inough , beleue not at the first that it is gold because it glistreth , neither sweare that the Polipus is white , because he seemed so once vnto thee , nor that such a one is an honest man , because thou neuer foundest him otherwise : for Proteus can turne himselfe into more shapes then one , and Iupiter if he would compasse the loue of a faire ladie , can turne himselfe from a bull , into a showre of gould to deceiue simple Danae : so a parasite hath more cranckes in his budget to deceiue then one : he hath one for the scholler , another for the courtier , one for the marchant , another for the yeoman , one for this good fellow , another for that . If he chaunce to meete with a scholler in the Vniuersity troubled with an heauie purse , presently he calles to mind the saying of S. Paul , that willes vs to beare one anothers burden , and therefore without delay whilest the spirit knocks he wil open , lest be find not so much grace at another time , and therefore ( because birds of a feather wil flie together , and the scholler wil trust or beleeue the scholler , rather then another ) he begins to be as precise as a knaue in a cage : first he puts on the blacke cloake & the falling hand , then he walkes like Bellona in her equipage , with his eyelids close , hee speakes nothing without Propterea quod , to conclude , all the day he is in contemplation , or rather meditation how hee may best ease his brother of his burden , but if he perceiue that hee hath met with a wilie brother that hath read ouer Plutarch de discrimine adulatoris & amici , then off goes the blacke cloake & the long picardeuaunt , and hee must be cut againe according to the fashion , then he makes rimes on Platoes crooked shoulders , and tries how he can scoffe at Aristotles stammering voice . If he chance to meete Bias somewhat whitteld in an alehouse as hee walkes alone , as Struthias did , he commends him highly for ouercomming so many pewter-Iohns , and tells him how Alexander is as much famous for his quaffing , as Thales , Solon , Periander , Cleobulus , Chilon , and Pittacus were for their wisedome , yea as Mison himselfe , whom Apollo said to be wiser then him . Furthermore he shewes him that a man is not borne onely for himselfe , but also for his neighbours , and therefore it is a good deede of charitie to helpe a poore ale-wife away with a dozen of beere next his heart in a morning , also it is good to increase bloud , to quicken the spirit , and so to speake more wisely , and conseqúently , to be more esteemed , and therfore wils him to call in the other halfe dozen , till at the last hee hath brought into his fooles paradise ( his bed I meane ) where he strips him as cleane of his come as an ape of a taile , before drunken Bias can get out of his memento . Againe if he fal acquainted with an idle and shameful magistrate , which cares not ( as they say ) which end goes formost , hee tells him magistracie is but a troublesome toiling in other mens busines , and the most profit that a man shal reape thereby , is but a wind of mens mouthes , and the most busie bodies haue least thankes , for their labours , and therefore it were as good , to neither medle nor make , as to troble himselfe and be neuer the better , but if hee perceiue him to be very laborious and painefull in his office , hee also beginneth to change his note , and tells him that it is a pleasant thing to bee idle , but verie ful of discredit , and a man that hath lost his credit , is halfe hanged &c. If hee companie with some liberal seruing creature hee can gesse at his conditions , which are most commonly to sweare , drinke , and hunt after whoores , if hee be a young practisioner he teacheth him to swill it in , and sweare it out , he reproues him friendly if he sweare any base or beggarly oath , as by faith and troth , and as God shal iudge him , he telles him if hee loue his credit he must thunder them out like Iupiter , or else he shames himselfe and al his friends . If he see him not wel at ease , he wishes him to purge himselfe , if he understand not this mystery , he tells him more plainly , that for a peece of money he wil fetch him a suppositiue out of petticoate lane that shal make him purge out all the grosse humours in his body . But if hee perceiue him better disposed , hee tells him that he plaies the part of an honest man , and al that he said was naught , but to trie him , and if he had bin bent that way , friendly to haue diswaded him from it , by which meanes he wins the loue and friendship of al men vnto himselfe . But it were a world to say as much as might be said , and altogether vnneedeful , seeing wee may gather by Hercules his foote , the greatnes of his whole body , & by these few things that flattery is a mistery , which euery foole cannot vnfolde at the first . But if thou wouldest know the safest and surest way to escape their fingers , then harken vnto the counsel of Epicarmus saying , Esto sobrius ac memento nulli temerè credere , that is , be wise and circumspect in thy dealings , and beleeue no man rashly . Into which counsell before we go any further , let vs looke more narrowly : of whom doth he bid vs beware ? What ? of our enemies ? why there is none so foolish except he be starke mad ( I thinke ) as was Aesops cocke that would beleeue the fox , to folow his counsel , of whom he knowes he is deadly hated , therefore belike he biddeth vs to beware of our friends , neighbors , and alies , whom no man mistrusts , euery one beleeues and wil sweare for their fidelitie . Therefore let vs call to mind whether our manifest , sworne , & professed enemies haue done vs most mischief , or our supposed friends , our kinsmen , and allies . Surely if we would search into histories ( witnesses of former times ) we shall perceiue more castles ouerthrowne , cities ouercome , kingdomes and empires vtterly wasted and extinguished , by false hearted frends , and outwardly sworne brethren , then by the mightie hand of proclaimed ennemies , as Troy suffered more dammage in one night by Sinons fained teares , then by the power of the Graetians in ten yeares , and more complaints in aduersitie of acquaintance and frends , then accusations of enemies , for against our enemies we furnish our selues by sea and land , wee erect strong and mightie castles on the bordures , wee furnish them with men , and munition , and al things requisite for the defence of our liues , and liuing , and therefore we seldome are assaulted , and if we be , we easily ouercome , but among fellow citizens qui ijsdem sacris ac fames vtuntur , there is continuall iangling and brawling , often going to law , yea betweene brother and brother , for iniuries offered : so that the miserly father who hath bin a scraping together a little pelfe al his life time , caring not which way he came by it , seemeth to haue liued to haue set folkes together by the eares at his death ; namely , the deuills for his soule , and his children for his goods , what then should a man do to liue a quiet and peaceable life , and safe from the snares and engins of all men ? should hee seuer himselfe from the company of all men as Timon the Athenian did ? or els shuld he haue no eares like the picture of Iupiter in Creet , whereby he might be deceiued ? should hee scratch out his eies with the Bishop of Alexandria for feare of Venus charmes ? or with Lewes the second sonne of Charles , king of Fraunce hide himself in corners , to the intent he might neuer be intrapped ? rather let him harken to the counsel of Pythagoras , who wisheth one gaudere potiùs repugnantibus quam assentantibus , rather to trust his professed enemie whome hee knoweth hates him , then his trencher-friends and pedantical parasites that seeme to loue him , which will praise him as the foxe did the foolish crow , and cal him a white bird as white as the driuen snow , that they may make him open his mouth to sing after their pipe that they may deceiue him of the meate therein : and when they once haue it , will not sticke to say , Nec vocem stulte , nec mentem habes , that is , friend , you might looke better to your goods when you had them , and seeing you were such a foole to lauish them out so fondly , you are like to haue a fooles reward , which is a flap with a foxe taile . Thinke not therefore with the swallow , euery sun-shine to be a summers day , and euery one that shewes thee a faire face , to beare thee inwardly a faithfull heart , but thinke that the leaues of the Date tree wil change their colour if the wind be not alwayes in the same quarter : that Dedalus images wil flie away if they be not alwaies tied , & that flatterers wil fade if thou bind them not daily with the bands of thy purse strings , therefore Dioscorides compareth them to the Celedony stone , which retaineth his vertue no longer then it is rubbed with gold , and vnto the Marigold which openeth her leaues as long as the Sunne shineth , but with the least cold begins to close : So when fortune fauoureth a man , they laugh , when she frowneth on him , they lowre . In prosperitie their loue is as hote as Aetna , but in calamitie as cold as Caucasus , therfore truely said Iuuenal : In pretio precium nunc est , dat census honores , Census amicitias , pauper vbique iacet : that is , as long as fortune fauoureth thee , thou shalt not want fellowes , or as long as thou hast any substance thou shalt not want accidental adherents , which wil not leaue thee sine interitu subiecti , that is , before al thy substance be wasted and consumed : therefore not vnfitly may their loue be compared to the loue of the Iuie to the Oake , the Iuie roundeth it selfe as it were for pure loue about the oake , and neuer leaueth to creepe vp til it hath aduaunced it selfe to the highest of all , and suckte out the sap leaues , and dried it vp , the greene leaues in the meane time make a faire and glorious shew , but in the end when it hath clunged close and climed aloft it marreth al both top and truncke : So whilest thou hast any coine thou shalt not want copesmats which wil make a shew that they loue thee as their owne soules , but vpon this condition , that they may grow vp by thee , and liue brauely by thy meanes , for they are not euery knaues companions , they scorne those poore , base and beggarly brats which are ready to drowne themselues with Theognes because they haue no meate to put in their mouthes , and they esteme no more of fine Thraso without pence , then a horse doth a faire stable without prouender , this is their final scope , which is , primum in intentione , the first and principallest thing they aime at , and therefore they hie themselues thither where it is to be had , namely , among noble and wealthie personages , who hauing their closets watred with the Indian or Pactolian fountaines , & stored with such trees as Aeneas pluckt a bough off , when hee went to visit his father in the Elifian meades , these they flatter and sooth vp in all that they do , do they neuer so bad , about these they swarme as thicke as flies about butchers shambles . What a goodly company of them ( think you ) had the gold-glutted Midas waiting at his heels , when he was indued with that spirit-gladding gift of Bacchus , that al which he touched should turne to gold . I warrant ye Cassandra striued not halfe so much to sing vnto her father Ileons destruction and Queene Helens rape , as these thronged and striued , who should be next him , for quid non mortalia pectora cogit auri sacra fames , what wil not the omnipotencie of Gold make a man to do , it is the necessariest thing that a man can haue , as Lisander said , what more requisite in warres , and what more needful in peace ? it hath entred those cities which neither the thundring threats of fiery Iupiter , nor the roaring shot of bloudie Mars could euer ouercome , it is a friend to al good arts , and a nurse to all notable exploits , for as Aristotle saith impossibile est , vt quis praeclaras res agat , cui facultates desunt , it is as impossible that a man should do any excellent act or worthie of commendations without the helpe of money , as to builde a church without stone or timber , therefore quaerenda pecunia primum , first get money , and then all things else shal be giuen vnto thee : whereas pouertie is an enemie to all goodnes , an enimie to honour , and an enemie to honestie , for what causeth so many now a daies to get their liuing by robbing , and stealing , but onely pouertie ? what prouoketh many women to sell their honesty at so low a rate , as vsually they do , but only pouerty ? what causeth the marchant to lie , the coiner to clip , the tailour to steale , the vsurer to oppresse , and the parasite to purloine , but onely pouertie ? name but onely pouertie , and thou hast named almost the roote of al euils , therefore is it shunned as a Basilike of al men , whose sight presently killeth , wherefore few or none at al wil lend a looke on a poore and needy man , but wil shun his companie as neare as they can , yea euen the lice the senceles creatures of all will auoide a man when his bloud is gone , and the flesh is cold , which was their foode : how then canst thou perswade thy selfe , that a man which is a reasonable creature wil stay thee ? when thy purse is colde , thy cheere is cold , and his entertainment therefore of necessitie is colde . Moreouer , it is some mens opinion that the Deuil wil haunt such as haue no crosse about them , how then wilt thou thinke that any man wil stay with thee , if thou hast neuer a crosse about thee to keepe the diuel away , doubt not then but they wil leaue thee when thy crosses are spent in thy extremitie , and therefore trust them not too much in thy prosperitie , when they flatter and speake thee faire , but remember that after the greatest calme will follow the suddenest storme , that Nilus is most quietest against a deluge , that the feathers of the Halciones glister most against foule weather , and that when men speake most faire , then they intend most mischiefe . It is not so common a saying as true , aliquid latet quod non patet , euery man is not as he seemes to be , the arrant knaue is often taken for the honester man , and Critius sometimes wil choose a gilden boxe full of bones , before a leaden one ful of pretious gems , for men iudge onely by the outward appearance and protestations of men , and so chuse an empty barrel for his louder sound , before a full vessel of plesant liquor , and beleeue subtil Rodeyan because she can tel the smoother tale before simple Cordeill , and prefer deceitful Vlisses for his eloquent tongue before faithful Aiax a mirror of manhood . But as the Troians bewailed their rashnes in beleeuing too late , when their citie was metamorphosed into ashes , and the Graetians repented their iudgement when their valiant captaine was turned into a flower , so vnles thou art more considerate then the Troians , and lesse rash then the Graetians , thou maist haue iust cause one day to rue thy leaping when thou liest in the ditch . Miserrimum est ( saith one ) fuisse bearum it is the greeuousest thing in the world for a man in his misery to remember his former felicitie , labour therefore to auoide this hellish dolour , which vnlesse thou takest heede , thou art like to fal into . The deere knowing Tamariske is deadly to his nature , wil not come neere the tree . The Vnicorne wil not brooke to rest vnder the Citron tree , for that it is hurtful vnto him , neither wil any beast come neare the Panther for al his faire skin , since they know by experience that he is a murtherer , these beasts auoid what nature tells them is perilous , be not therfore lesse senceles then the beasts of the field , but let experience be thy guide when affections perswade the contrarie , remember what credulous Phillis wanne , by beleeuing demure Demophoon , but onely her death , what got Crassus by trusting his parasite Andromachus , but to be betraied to the Parthians ? and what wanne Catiline by opening his conspiracie , but the losse of his life and honor ? and what are thou like to get by trusting of flatterers , but the losse of thy goods , the extinguishment of thy armes , the derision of thy enimies , and the curse of thy posteritie ? therefore cast them off from thee as infectious vipers , and salute them a farre off , as Hippolitus did Venus , because he would not be intangled , & if thou must needs company with them , if their words be like Adamant , whose nature is to draw , then sprinkle thee with goats bloud , which resisteth his operation : and if their faces haue power to incense thy mind , then take the hearbe Lupinar to coole thy desire , if the Syrens allure thee , let the maste withhold thee , if Circes perswade thee , let reason disswade thee , if thou wouldest kisse the Bee , because shee hath honny in her mouth , yet let her alone , because she hath a sting in her taile : if thou wouldest embrace Pallas , because she shewes thee her librarie , yet be not too bold , because shee weares a sword : and if thou louest a man for his affection towards thee now , yet trust him not ouer boldely lest he hate thee to morrow , and make open thy secrets : what is more common then dessention amongst friends , and variance betweene brethren , so that they that loue to day as truely as Turtles , to morrow vpon the least occasion , as if they had drunke of the fountaine of Ardenia , their hot loue wil be turned to as cold a liking ? We neede not borrow examples from former ages or antiquity , for ( alas ) euery citty . towne , and village , can lend vs whole legions of them , how one friend hath slaine another , how the father the children , and children haue slaine their fathers , yea they do not onely not abstaine from murthering their dearest friends and nearest in bloud , but also if they be defeated of their wil , or iniured of one of whom they know not how to be reuenged , they wil not feare to kill themselues , as Aiax did being defeated by Vlisses of Achilles armour . Therefore how should we thinke that they wil alwaies loue vs , when they wil hate themselues , seeing euery one loueth himselfe better then another , according to the old prouerb , Neere is my petticoate , but nearer is my smocke , I loue thee wel , but I loue my selfe better : thinke not then that there is any such a Gordian knot of vnfained friendshippe knit so fast to day , but there may be an Alexander to cut it in peeces at one time or other : nor any such a solemne league made betweene Priamus and Menelaus , but there is a Pandorus somewheare or other that wil breake and dissolue it : nor any such a Simpathy of affections to day , but there may be an Antipathy by some chance or other , ere the yeare is gone about . The sea sometimes is so calme and quiet , that the fearefullest that is will seeme to despise and contemne the force thereof ; but therefore haue the sailers lesse neede to carrie with them their ankors and cabelles and other things needefull , when windes should arise ? no surely , for although Aeolus sleepe for a while and wil disquiet no man els , and suffers Phoebus to domineere as sole Regent , yet if he perceiued him waxe too hote in his pride , he beginnes to moderate his affections commonly with a cooling card or twaine , by his tempestuous embassadours to put him in mind that he is a king as wel as himselfe , and although sometimes in his anger he roareth and is testie , yet he wil not altogether be shut out for a wrangler . In like manner they that follow thy humors for a while in flattering thee with the Panther , in smiling on thee with the Hiena , and weeping with the Crocodile at thy mishaps , and that are ready to make themselues thy footestoole in lowly obedience as the Ciprian women were to the Syrian dames , which would cower downe and become footestooles for the Ladies to ascend into their choches ( for which cause they were called Climacidae of Climacha , which the Assirians name a ladder ) but when they see their time they wil of steps become steppers , til they are got so high that they are become as good men as their masters , and then for one taunt wil not sticke to giue them twaine . I cannot resemble them better , then vnto the lake in the farthest part of Affrica amongst the people Troglotidae which in the forenoone is so sweet and pleasant to the taste , that the gods themselues might seem to loath the celestial Nectar in respect therof : but when the sunne is gone past , the meridian climate it wil be as bitter and vnsauourie as our welles are in Nantewich , which are good for nought but to make salt : So whilest the glorious sunne of thy prosperitie continues his ascension , whilst riches increase and fortune looketh fauourably , they wil kisse thee with Iudas , and stoope to thee with dissembling Adrastus : but when the golden beames of thy beutiful Sunne , begin to decrease , and thou art not able any longer to make than stoope vnto thee , with the golden scepter with Assuerus , they wil begin to despise thee , and forsake thee , or else lay hands on thee for a vagabond , as they did on Christ when he walked alone in the darke . Then mought he haue saide with the Poet :

Now I perceiue when the angels crowned me with glory and honour in the mount , they were desirous to make their tabernacles there to dwel with me , and when I rode triumphantly toward Ierusalem , these pluckt off their garments to spread them in my way , and to runne before like heraulds crying , Hosanna , Hosanna , blessed be he that commeth in the name of the Lord . But going on foote , my disciples to whom I reuealed al my secrets which I kept from the wise and prudent men of the world , whom I thought would rather haue beene rackte to death with Horatius Secundus to haue manifested their constancie , haue now either forsaken me , or betraied me , or sworne they neuer knew me : these other spit at me , take my garments from me , and curse me , or crucifie me : so vnles thou takest the better heed whom thou trustest , thou maiest haue cause one day to say ; those to whom I committed al the thoughts and secrets of my heart , whom I thought would neuer haue bewraied me , do now seek to kill me if they could , those who flattered me in my prosperitie , and were readie to run through fire & water to get my fauor or good wil to grace them , do labour only to disgrace me , those whom I fed with my goods as long as I could , as willingly as the Pelican doth her yong ones , with her owne bloud , do now teare my heart with taunts like as yong Vipers gnawe their dams guts which bred them . Res est ingeniosae dare , I was an honest gentleman as long as I had anie money in my purse , but now hauing spent al vpon them , they turn me out of their company as a shake-ragge , as the Athenians turned Theseus out of Athens which hee builded on his owne charges and bestowed vpon them , which things do more vex & trouble me , then those greeuous gripes of the Eagle do Tantalus in hell , hee was punished iustly because he bewraied the secrets of the gods : but I most vniustly , seeing I neuer disclosed any thing which they told me in counsel and put me in trust with , they are not vnlike the stone Siphnius , which being heated in oyle waxeth hard , but being let alone becommeth soft , so the more I haue pleasured them , the more doe they now displease me , and the more I haue bestowed vpon them , the more is their hearts hardned against me . Now I perceiue that the sweetest muske is sower to be tasted , the finest pills , most bitter to be chewed , and the flatteringst friend most fickle being tried : and now I vnderstand that the fairest promises haue least performances , and that words are but wind , and therefore not sufficient pledges for such an inseparable knot of friendship . But alas , serò sapiunt Phriges , what good wil my salue do me when my sore is incurable ? what auaileth it me to know a couert , my ship being sunkt , and to discerne a dissembler , when my coine is consumed . Although this bee but a fained speech , yet thou that flourishest now in thy peacocks plumes , and hast angels enow to keepe thee from pouertie , and hast as many friends ( as thou supposest ) as Prometheus euer had shapes , & do daily increase like Hidraes heads , yet if thou takest not heed whom thou trust , thou maist walke alone one day like a shorne sheepe , bleating forth such a complaint of thine owne . Remember the example of Edward the second , I warrant thee he would once haue sworne that he should neuer haue stood vp to the eares in the filthie kennel of Killingworth , till hee was readie to starue for meate , and lastly should haue beene murthered so beastly and basely . But his too tender heart toward his yonkers and wanton flatterers brought him to this , who made him abhorre like Rohoboam , the counsell of his deare friends and graue senatours , and so to runne headlong into all vices and villanies , vnbeseeming a Prince or gouernour of a common wealth who is a rule vnto al his subiects , after which they square out their actions and affections , as the Poet saith , Regis ad exemplum totus componitur orbis , that is as we say , Like master , like man , if the Prince be vicious , al his subiects ( for the most part ) are as bad or rather worse , as when Traian was iust al his subiects loued iustice , and in Heliogabalus daies , al were wanton and giuen to gluttony and leachery , in that he was a glutton , and a drunkard , and one that loued a whoore as wel as his life : but againe to our matter . Let Edwards example teach vs to beware how we listen to any Calipsoes that seeke nought but our downefal , and how we entertaine al faire faces that come vnto vs like capons , vpon sops and sugar , seeing so many an vnsauoury weede beareth a faire blossom , and a sound looke so often couers a hollow heart , but let vs looke into the inward man , as Diogenes did into Platoes capon , to see if he were a man in al respects , which if wee do , no doubt we shal find many a wolfe walking in a sheepes coate , many a stinking carcase inclosed within a glorious sepulcher , and many a Tigers heart shadowed ouer with an Hienaes face . Conon the Athenian was a curteous gentleman in countenance , yet a counterfait knaue in conditions : Galba was gentle in shew , yet trecherous in proofe : and Vlisses had a saire tongue , but a false heart , wherefore it behooueth vs to looke that the inside of the cup be clean , aswel as the outside , to see that the Amber stone freeseth not within , when it frieth without , and to trie whether a mans properties be agreeing to his profession , lest like Ixion we take hold on a cloud when we thinke to embrace Iuno , and choose grapes in shew like those of Darius vine , and loose grapes in substance like those of Vermandois , and abound with friends in words when we thinke to be inuironed with friends indeede . A man is as his mind is , not that forme and figure which may be pointed at , we see many a proper mans hand strocke off for a traitor , and many more should be , if we could know them by the faces , but their countenance shal be great , when their conditions be without grace , they wil talke of vertue , when their mind is about same other villanie , like as our maidens do now a daies , which with their tongues wil sacrifice perfumes to Vesta , when their hearts are offering smoking thoughts to Venus , so that without good trial it is almost impossible to know of what mettall they are made . Zancthus the Philosopher surely bought not Aesop before Cappadox and Cantor , for his outward perfections , but for his inward perfection , not for the shape of his body , but for the qualities of his mind , not for that he was the fairest of the three , but the faithfullest of them all , not for that he promised much , but that he saw he could performe most : est virtus placidis ( saith the poet ) abstinuisse bonus , it is better somtimes to take the rugged Iem , before the pearle , & to buy the fowlest face before the fairest visage . Perhaps Cantor and his companion were not vnlike the Seaster , whose shell staineth the iuory , but the meate is blacker then Iet : so they were not so faire without , but they were as foule within , and they had not so comely countenances , but they had as currish conditions . So choose thou not a friend by the outward shapes if thou bee a Philosopher or a louer of wisedome , but as nere as thou canst by his inward graces , which knowing , thou maist see whether thou canst frame thy mind , according vnto his mind , wherein consisteth the perfections of friendship , which if thou canst not , then looke for nothing in contraries but alwaies repugnancie , and in diuers conditions nothing but variancie . The tygres bloud wil not be mingled with the wolfes . Zethis and Amphion wil not agree as long as the delight of the one be a despight to the other . Venus also and Vesta haue alwaies bin at strife ; and neuer was good fellowship long seene ere yet betweene a vertuous husband and a vicious wife , but the deuils for their likenes do easily agree , and good men with good men do liue together in vnitie , therefore to discerne the inward qualities it is necessarie that thou put off thy Moles eies , and take vnto thee the eies of the sharpe sighted Linx , else thou shalt neuer discrie with Palamed Vlisses mad counterfaiting , nor discern Achilles from a chambermaid if he be once decked with a spindle and a distaffe , nor iudge of Androgeni ( those flattering copesinates I meane ) that can counterfeit the shape of either kind , who when they are indeede thy enimies , are in countenance friends , when they are in name mothers , are in deede murtherers , by birth brothers , but in life lothers and haters one of another . Medea was in name a mother vnto her three children , and oftentimes praied vnto the gods for the prosperous and long life of them al , yea many times she tormented her selfe , and tore her haire for very griefe when she perceiued them a litle sicke , but do these things make that she murthered them not with her owne hands ? but thou wilt say she did it in her anger , which doth depriue vs of the vse of reason , that we do wee know not what , therefore wilt thou thinke that he that is now thy friend , may not hereafter be as much thy foe , seeing there is no man but may be angry if he haue any life in him , as Plutharch saith ?