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"The next and greatest care ought to be in the choice of a wife, and the only danger therein is beauty, by which all men, in all ages, wise and foolish, have been betrayed. And though I know it vain to use reasons or arguments to disswade thee from being captivated therewith, there being few or none that ever resisted that witchery, yet I cannot omit to warn thee, as of other things, which may be thy ruine and destruction. For the present time, it is true, that every man prefers his fantasie in that appetite before all other worldly desires, leaving the care of honour, credit, and safety in respect thereof: but remember, that though these affections do not last, yet the bond of marriage dureth to the end of thy life; and, therefore, better to be borne withal in a mistress than in a wife; for when thy humour shall change, thou art yet free to chuse again, (if thou give thyself that vain liberty.) Remember, secondly, that if thou marry for beauty, thou bindest thyself all thy life for that which perchance will neither last nor please thee one year; and when thou hast it, it will be to thee of no price at all, for the degree dieth when it is attained, and the affection perisheth when it is satisfied. Remember, when thou wert a sucking child, that then thou didst love thy nurse, and that thou wert fond of her; after a while thou didst love thy dry-nurse and didst forget the other; after that, thou didst also despise her; so will it be with thee in thy liking in elder years; and, therefore, though thou canst not forbear to love, yet forbear to link, and after awhile thou shalt find an alteration in thyself, and see another far more pleasing than the first, second, or third love; yet I wish thee, above all the rest, have a care thou dost not marry an uncomely woman for any respect; for comeliness in children is riches, if nothing else be left them. And if thou have care for thy races of horses and other beasts, value the shape and comeliness of thy children before alliances or riches: have care, therefore, of both together, for if thou have a fair wife and a poor one, if thine own estate be not great, assure thyself that love abideth not with want, for she is thy companion of plenty and honour: for I never yet knew a poor woman, exceeding fair, that was not made dishonest by one or other in the end. This Bathsheba taught her son Solomon: Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vanity: she saith further, That a wise woman overseeth the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.

Have, therefore, ever more care that thou be beloved of thy wife, rather than thyself besotted on her, and thou shalt judge of her love by these two observations: first, if thou perceive she have a care of thy estate and exercise herself therein; the other, if she study to please thee, and be sweet unto thee in conversation, without thy instruction, for love needs no teaching nor precept. On the other side, be not sowre or stern to thy wife, for cruelty engendreth no other thing than hatred let her have equal part of thy estate whilst thou livest, if thou find her sparing and honest; but what thou givest after thy death, remember that thou givest it to a stranger, and most times to an enemy; for he that shall marry thy wife will despise thee, thy memory, and thine, and shall possess the quiet of thy labours, the fruit which thou hast planted, enjoy thy love, and spend with joy and ease what thou

hast spared, and gotten with care and travel. Yet alway remember, that thou leave not thy wife to be a shame unto thee after thou art dead, but that she may live according to thy estate; especially if thou hast few children, and them provided for. But howsoever it be, or whatsoever thou find, leave thy wife no more than of necessity thou must, but only during her widowhood; for if she love again, let her not enjoy her second love in the same bed wherein she loved thee, nor fly to future pleasures with those feathers which death hath pulled from thy wings; but leave thy estate to thy house and children, in which thou livest upon earth whilst it lasteth. To conclude, wives were ordained to continue the generation of men, not to transfer them and diminish them either in continuance or ability: and, therefore, thy house and estate, which liveth in thy son, and not in thy wife, is to be preferred. Let thy time of marriage be in thy young and strong years; for, believe it, ever the young wife betrayeth the old husband, and she that had thee not in thy flower will despise thee in thy fall, and thou shalt be unto her but a captivity and sorrow. Thy best time will be towards thirty, for as the younger times are unfit either to chuse or to govern a wife and family, so, if thou stay long, thou shalt hardly see the education of thy children, which being left to strangers are in effect lost, and better were it to be unborn than ill-bred; for thereby thy posterity shall either perish or remain a shame to thy name and family. Furthermore, if it be late ere thou take a wife, thou shalt spend the prime and summer of thy life with harlots, destroy thy health, impoverish thy estate, and endanger thy life; and be sure of this, that how many mistresses soever thou hast, so many enemies thou shalt purchase to thyself; for there never was any such affection which ended not in hatred or disdain. Remember the saying of Solomon, There is a way which seemeth right to a man, but the issues thereof are the wages of death; for howsoever a lewd woman please thee for a time, thou wilt hate her in the end, and she will study to destroy thee. If thou canst not abstain from them in thy vain and unbridled times, yet remember that thou sowest on the sands, and dost mingle the vital blood with corruption, and purchasest diseases, repentance, and hatred only. Bestow, therefore, thy youth so that thou mayst have comfort to remember it when it hath forsaken thee, and not sigh and grieve at the account thereof: whilest thou art young, thou wilt think it will never have an end; but, behold, the longest day hath his evening, and that thou shalt enjoy it but once, that it never turns again; use it therefore as the spring-time which soon departeth, and wherein thou oughtest to plant and sow all provisions for a long and happy life."

His rules for the preservation of a man's estate are equally pertinent and just, although it cannot be denied that they savour of a sad experience and worldliness.

Amongst all other things of the world, take care of thy estate, which thou shalt ever preserve, if thou observe three things; first, that thou know what thou hast, what every thing is worth that thou

hast, and to see that thou art not wasted by thy servants and officers. The second is, that thou never spend any thing before thou have it ; for borrowing is the canker and death of every man's estate. The third is, that thou suffer not thyself to be wounded for other men's faults, and scourged for other men's offences; which is, the surety for another, for thereby millions of men have been beggared and destroyed, paying the reckoning of other men's riot, and the charge of other men's folly and prodigality; if thou smart, smart for thine own sins, and above all things, be not made an ass to carry the burdens of other men: if any friend desire thee to be his surety, give him a part of what thou hast to spare; if he press thee farther, he is not thy friend at all, for friendship rather chuseth harm to itself than offereth it: if thou be bound for a stranger, thou art a fool; if for a merchant, thou puttest thy estate to learn to swim: if for a churchman, he hath no inheritance: if for a lawyer, he will find an invasion by a syllable or word to abuse thee if for a poor man, thou must pay it thyself: if for a rich man, it need not therefore from suretyship, as from a man-slayer, or enchanter, bless thyself; for the best profit and return will be this, that if thou force him, for whom thou art bound, to pay it himself, he will become thy enemy; if thou use to pay it thyself, thou wilt be a beggar; and believe thy father in this, and print it in thy thought, that what virtue soever thou hast, be it never so manifold, if thou be poor withal, thou and thy qualities shall be despised: besides, poverty is oft times sent as a curse of God, it is a shame amongst men, an imprisonment of the mind, a vexation of every worthy spirit; thou shalt neither help thyself nor others, thou shalt drown thee in all thy virtues, having no means to shew them; thou shalt be a burthen and an eyesore to thy friends, every man will fear thy company, thou shalt be driven basely to beg and depend on others, to flatter unworthy men, to make dishonest shifts: and to conclude, poverty provokes a man to do infamous and detested deeds: let no vanity therefore, or perswasion, draw thee to that worst of worldly miseries.

If thou be rich, it will give thee pleasure in health, comfort in sickness, keep thy mind and body free, save thee from many perils, relieve thee in thy elder years, relieve the poor and thy honest friends, and give means to thy posterity to live, and defend themselves and thine own fame. Where it is said in the Proverbs, That he shall be sore vexed that is surety for a stranger, and he that hateth suretyship is sure; it is further said, The poor is hated even of his own neighbour, but the rich have many friends. Lend not to him that is mightier than thyself, for if thou lendest him, count it but lost; be not surety above thy power, for if thou be surety, think to pay it."

ness.

Sir Walter Raleigh is very severe on the vice of drunken

"Take especial care that thou delight not in wine, for there never was any man that came to honour or preferment that loved it; for it transformeth a man into a beast, decayeth health, poisoneth the breath, destroyeth natural heat, brings a man's stomach to an artificial heat,

deformeth the face, rotteth the teeth, and to conclude, maketh a man contemptible, soon old, and despised of all wise and worthy men ; hated in thy servants, in thyself, and companions; for it is a bewitching and infectious vice; and remember my words, that it were better for a man to be subject to any vice than to it; for all other vanities and sins are recovered, but a drunkard will never shake off the delight of beastliness; for the longer it possesseth a man, the more he will delight in it, and the elder he groweth, the more he shall be subject to it; for it dulleth the spirits and destroyeth the body, as ivy doth the old tree, or as the worm that ingendreth in the kernel of the nut.

Take heed, therefore, that such a careless canker pass not thy youth, nor such a beastly infection thy old age; for then shall all thy life be but as the life of a beast, and after thy death, thou shalt only leave a shameful infamy to thy posterity, who shall study to forget that such a one was their father. Anacharsis saith, The first draught serveth for health, the second for pleasure, the third for shame, the fourth for madness; but in youth there is not so much as one draught permitted; for it putteth fire to fire; and wasteth the natural [heat of the body.] And, therefore, except thou desire to hasten thine end, take this for a general rule, that thou never add any artificial heat to thy body, by wine or spice, until thou find that time hath decayed thy natural heat, and the sooner thou beginnest to help nature, the sooner she will forsake thee, and trust altogether to art."

"The dutiful Advice of a loving Son to his aged Father" is supposed to be a libel on Sir Walter, written by his enemies. It will be seen, however, that it bears a strong resemblance to his style, although the metaphor is more profuse and ornamental, and seems to be rather engrafted on his thoughts than to spring up with them. That this piece should be dictated by personal hostility is strange-it contains exhortations that might with the greatest propriety be directed to any man. It is possible, that it might be written by another person in imitation of Sir Walter Raleigh's advice to his son ; yet, if he was an enemy, he was of a most uncommon description. On the other hand, it might naturally enough suggest itself to the mind of Raleigh at a time when he was harrassed by misfortune and oppressed by power, and when the world's vanity was engraven on his heart in lines too deep to be erased. As the advice, however, is worth quoting, for its own merit, and is written with great force and beauty, we shall give our readers an opportunity of judging for themselves.

"Remember that you are now in the waining, and the date of your pilgrimage well nigh expired, and now that it behoveth you to look towards your countrey, your force languisheth, your senses impair, your body droops, and on every side the ruinous cottage of your faint and feeble flesh threatneth the fall: and having so many harbingers of death to premonish you of your end, how can you but prepare for so

dreadful a stranger? The young man may dye quickly, but the old man cannot live long: the young man's life by casualty may be abridged, but the old man's by no physick can be long adjourned: and, therefore, if green years should sometimes think of the grave, the thoughts of old age should continually dwell in the same.

The prerogative of infancy is innocency; of childhood, reverence; of manhood, maturity; and of old age, wisdom.

And seeing then, that the chiefest properties of wisdom are, to be mindful of things past, careful for things present, and provident for things to come; use now the priviledge of Nature's talent to the benefit of your own soul, and procure hereafter to be wise in well doing, and watchful in the foresight of future harms. To serve the world you are now unable; and though you were able, yet you have little cause to be willing, seeing that it never gave you but an unhappy welcome, a hurtful entertainment, and now doth abandon you with an unfortunate farewell.

You have long sowed in a field of flint, which could bring nothing forth but a crop of cares and afflictions of spirit, rewarding your labours with remorse, and affording, for your gain, eternal danger.

It is now more than a seasonable time to alter the course of so unthriving a husbandry, and to enter into the field of God's Church, in which, sowing the seed of repentant sorrow, and watering them with the tears of humble contrition, you may hereafter reap a more beneficial harvest, and gather the fruits of everlasting comfort.

Remember, I pray you, that your Spring is spent, your Summer overpast, you are now arrived at the fall of the leaf; yea, and Winter colours have long since stained your hoary head.

He that is tossed with variety of storms, and cannot come to his desired port, maketh not much way, but is much turmoiled. So, he that hath passed many years and purchased little profit, hath a long being, but a short life: for, life is more to be measured by well-doing, than by number of years; seeing that most men by many days do but procure many deaths, and others in short space attain to the life of infinite ages. What is the body without the soul, but a corrupt carAnd what is the soul without God, but a sepulchre of sin? If God be the way, the life, and the truth, he that goeth without him, strayeth; and he that liveth without him, dyeth; and he that is not taught by him, erreth.

cass?

Well (saith St. Augustine) God is our true and chiefest life, from whom to revolt, is to fall; to whom to return, is to rise; and in whom to stay, is to stand sure.

God is he, from whom to depart, is to dye; to whom to repair, is to revive; and in whom to dwell, is life for ever. Be not then of the number of those that begin not to live till they be ready to dye; and then, after a foe's desert, come to crave of God a friend's entertainment.

Some there be that think to snatch heaven in a moment, which the best can scarce attain unto in the maintenance of many years, and when they have glutted themselves with worldly delights, would jump

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