for honesty is a sufficient reward, probitas sibi præmium; and in our times the sole recompence to do well, is, to do well: but naughtiness will punish it self at last, Improbis ipsa nequitia supplicium, As the diverbe is,

Qui benè fecerunt, illi sua facta sequentur; Qui male fecerunt, facta sequentur eos:

They that do well, shall have reward at last; But they that ill, shall suffer for that’s past.

Yea but I am ashamed, disgraced, dishonoured, degraded, exploded: my notoriour crimes and villanies, are come to light, (deprendi miserum est) my filthy lust, abominable oppression and avarice lies open, my good name’s lost, my fortune’s gone, I have been stigmatized, whipt at post, arraigned and condemned, I am a common obloquy, I have lost my ears, odious, execrable, abhorred of God and men.

Be content, ’tis but a nine dayes wonder, and as one sorrow drives out another, one passion another, one cloud another, one rumor is expelled by another; every day almost, come new newes unto our ears, as how the Sun was eclipsed, meteors seen i’th aire, monsters born, prodigies, how the Turks were overthrown in Persia, an Earth-quake in Helvetia, Calabria, Japan, or China, an inundation in Holland, a great plague in Constantinople, a fire at Prage, a dearth in Germany, such a man is made a Lord, a Bishop, another hanged, deposed, prest to death, for some murder, treason, rape, theft, oppression,

all which we do hear at first with a kind of admiration, detestation, consternation, but by and by they are buried in silence: thy father’s dead, thy brother rob’d, wife runs mad, neighbour hath killed himselfe; ’tis heavy, gastly, fearfull newes at first, in every mans mouth, table talk; but after a while who speaks or thinks of it?

It will be so with thee and thine offence, it will be forgotten in an instant, be it theft, rape, sodomy, murder, incest, treason, &c. thou art not the first offender, nor shalt not be the last, ’tis no wonder, every houre such malefactors are called in question, nothing so common,

Quocunque in populo, quocunque sub axe:

Comfort thy self, thou art not the sole man. If he that were guiltless himself should fling the first stone at thee, and he alone should accuse thee that were faultless, how many executioners, how many accusers wouldst thou have? If every mans sinnes were written in his fore-head, and secret faults known, how many thousands would parallel, if not exceed thine offence?

It may be the Judge that gave sentence, the Jury that condemned thee, the spectators that gazed on thee, deserved much more, and were farre more guilty then thou thy self. But it is thine infelicity to be taken, to be made a publike example of justice, to be a terror to the rest; yet should every man have his desert, thou wouldest peradventure be a Saint in comparison; vexat censura columbas, poor souls are punished; the great ones do twenty thousand times worse, and are not so much as spoken of.

Non rete accipitri tenditur neque milvio, Qui male faciunt nobis; illis qui nil faciunt tenditur.

The net’s not laid for kites or birds of prey, But for the harmless still our gins we lay.

Be not dismaid then, humanum est errare, we are all sinners, daily and hourely subject to temptations, the best of us is an hypocrite, a grievous offender in Gods sight. Noah, Lot, David, Peter, &c. how many mortal sins do we commit?

Shall I say, be penitent, ask forgiveness, and make amends by the sequel of thy life, for that foule offence thou hast committed? recover thy credit by some noble exploit, as Themistocles did, for he was a most deboshed and vitious youth, sed juventæ maculas præclaris factis delevit, but made the World amends by brave exploits; at last become a new man and seek to be reformed.

He that runs away in a battle, as Demosthenes said, may fight again; and he that hath a fall may stand as upright as ever he did before. Nemo desperet meliora lapsus, a wicked liver may be reclaimed, and prove an honest man;

he that is odious in present, hissed out, an exile, may be received again with all mens favours, and singular applause; so Tully was in Rome, Alcibiades in Athens.

Let thy disgrace then be what it will, quod fit, infectum non potest esse, that which is past cannot be recalled; trouble not thy selfe, vexe and grieve thy self no more, be it obloquy, disgrace, &c. No better way, then to neglect, contemn, or seem not to regard it, to make no reckoning of it. Deesse robur arguit dicacitas: If thou be guiltless it concerns thee not:

Irrita vaniloquæ quid curas spicula linguæ, Latrantem curatne alta Diana canem?

Doth the Moon care for the barking of a dog? They detract, scoffe and raile saith one, and bark at me on every side, but I, like that Albanian dog sometimes given to Alexander for a present, vindico me ab illis solo contemptu, I lie still and sleep, vindicate my self by contempt alone.

Expers terroris Achilles armatus:

As a Tortoise in his shell, virtute meâ me involvo, or an Urchin round, nil moror ictus, a Lizard in Camomile, I decline their fury and am safe.

Integritas virtusque suo munimine tuta, Non patet adversæ morsibus invidiæ:

Vertue and integrity are their own fence, Care not for envy or what comes from thence.

Let them rail then, scoffe, and slander, sapiens contumeliâ non afficitur, a wise man Seneca thinks, is not moved, because he knows, contra Sycophantæ morsum non est remedium, there is no remedy for it: Kings and Princes, wise, grave, prudent, holy, good men, divine, all are so served alike.

O Jane à tergo quem nulla ciconia pinsit, Antevorta and Postvorta Jupiters gardians may not help in this case, they cannot protect;

Moses had a Dathan, a Corath, David a Shimei, God himself is blasphemed: nondum felix es si te nondum turba deridet.

It is an ordinary thing so to be misused: Regium est cum benè faceris malè audire, the chiefest men and most understanding are so vilified; let him take his course.

And as that lusty courser in Æsop, that contemned the poor Asse, came by and by after with his bowels burst, a pack on his back, and was derided of the same Asse: contemnentur ab iis quos ipsi prius contempsere, & irridebuntur ab iis quos ipsi prius irrisere, they shall be contemned and laughed to scorn of those whom they have formerly derided.

Let them contemn, defame, or undervalue, insult, oppress, scoffe, slander, abuse, wrong, curse and swear, fain and lye, do thou comfort thy self with a good conscience, in sinu gaudeas, when they have all done, a good conscience is a continual feast, innocency will vindicate it self:

And which the Poet gave out of Hercules, diis fruitur iratis, enjoy thy self, though all the world be set against thee,

contemn and say with him, Elogium mihi præ foribus, my posie is, not to be moved, that’s my Palladium, my brest-plate, my buckler, with which I ward all injuries, offences, lies, slanders; I lean upon that stake of modesty, so receive and break asunder all that foolish force of Livor and spleen.

And whosoever he is that shall observe these short instructions, without all question he shall much ease and benefit himself.

In fine, if Princes would do justice, Judges be upright, Clergie-men truly devout, and so live as they teach, if great men would not be so insolent, if souldiers would quietly defend us, the poor would be patient, rich men would be liberal and humble, Citizens honest, Magistrates meek, Superiours would give good example, subjects peaceable, young men would stand in awe: if Parents would be kind to their children, and they again obedient to their Parents, brethren agree amongst themselves, enemies be reconciled, servants trusty to their Masters, Virgins chaste, Wives modest, Husbands would be loving and less jealous:

If we could imitate Christ and his Apostles, live after Gods laws, these mischiefs would not so frequently happen amongst us; but being most part so irreconcileable as we are, perverse, proud, insolent, factious and malicious, prone to contention, anger and revenge, of such fiery spirits, so captious, impious, irreligious, so opposite to vertue, void of grace, how should it otherwise be?

Many men are very teasty by nature, apt to mistake, apt to quarrel, apt to provoke and misinterpret to the worst, every thing that is said or done, & thereupon heap unto their selves a great deal of trouble, & disquietness to others, smatterers in other mens matters, tale-bearers, whisperers, lyers, they cannot speak in season, or hold their tongues when they should, Et suam partem itidem tacere, cum aliena est oratio: