The prouerbes of the noble and woorthy souldier Sir Iames Lopez de Mendoza Marques of Santillana with the paraphrase of D. Peter Diaz of Toledo: wherin is contained whatsoeuer is necessarie to the leading of an honest and vertuous life. Translated out of Spanishe by Barnabe Googe.

The Paraphrase.

PYthagoras, and his followers, were of opinion, that there were two chiefe heades, the one the authour of all goodnesse, the other the authour of euill. And vnto these two they referred al things y^t were wrought in the worlde, and sayd, that of the God of goodnesse, proceeded and came the light, and all things that were good and perfect: of which number they accounted Man. Of the God of euill, sprang darknesse, and all vnperfect things: amongst which they rec∣kened the woman. And in verie deede, ha∣uing respect to man, the woman is an vn∣perfect creature, although not so vnperfect▪ but by teaching shee may bee brought to some perfection, and to be profitable in her kind. For as Aristot. saith in his Oecono∣mikes, and they be also the wordes of saint

Isidore, that to bring things to a perfecti∣on, it behoueth to haue the man, the wo∣man, & the oxe that ploweth. And in the name of the woorking oxe, hee includeth all maner of Instrumentes that are necessarie about an house. And further, he sayth, that it proceeded of the great wisedome and dis∣cretion of nature, that man was made of more perfection then the woman, because he was to commaund, and she to obey, and that man was of more actiuitie and abilitie then the womā, because his office was to trauail in matters abroad, & without doores, & hers only to sit at home, and to keepe that which is brought in. And therefore the Prouerbe saieth, that the woman is not vnprofitable, nor vnperfect. Neither ought we to thinke, that because some women haue been to blame, therefore they are all to be condem∣ned. For as the nurse sayth to Hippolytus, as Seneca in his fourth Tragedie sheweth, where Hippolitus saith, that if there had ne∣uer been other euill woman but Medea, the wife of Aegeus, her onely villanies were sufficient to cause all other women to be ab∣horred. Wherto the nurse answereth, that it were greatly against reason, that the offence

of one or two should be the blame of all the rest: And therefore sayeth the Prouerbe, that notwithstanding the faultes of a fewe, the vertues of women haue been highly commended and set out with the pen.