To the extent possible under law, the Text Creation Partnership has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above, according to the terms of the CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/). This waiver does not extend to any page images or other supplementary files associated with this work, which may be protected by copyright or other license restrictions. Please go to http://www.textcreationpartnership.org/ for more information.
THere are degrees of vices: and how soeuer Ethicks out of their Philosophie determine those of excesse to be lesse odious and hurtfull: yet Polliticks finde out of their experience, that they are rather to be iudged by the effect, then the defect. By which rule, Lust and Ambition are two vices of all other the most hatefull: Because they are most powerfull ministers to all nefarious actions.
Caesar Borgia, Cardinall of Valencia, could not brooke, that his elder brother the Duke of Candia, should be aduanced by the Pope their father, to temporall honours, and be made Gene∣rall of the Ecclesiastick army: to which dignity himselfe aspired, hauing a spirit altogether aliened from priestly function. He was also enraged against him, because he was his corriuall and con∣current in his Amours, and shared with him in the fauour, and carnall vse of his Mistris. Hereupon he practiseth the death of his brother: and one night as he rode priuately through the streetes of Rome, he caused him to be murthered, and throwne into the riuer of Tyber.
Contumax res libido, aestropercita, & ad insaniam proximè accedens.
Et ruit in vetitum damni secura libido.
Ambitio res ventosa, nullum habens exitum aut terminum.
Complures se scelere contaminar unt imperij cupiditate.
Quaeque succensas agit libido mentes.
Quisquis secundis rebus exultat nimis,
Fluit{que} luxu, semper insolita appetens,
Tunc illum magnae dira fortunae comes
Subit libido.—
Maximè adducuntur pleri{que}, vt eos iustitiae capiat obliuio, cum in imperiorum, honorum, gloriaeve cupiditatem, inciderint.
In reliquis vitijs sequitur victoria pugnam,
Vincitur at celeri saeua libido fuga:
Nemo etenim nisi qui metuet fugiet{que} periclum,
Tutus ab hac poter it viuere peste diù.
Tacit. hist. l. 1
Ouid. Seneca. Cicero.
Sen. Hippol. Idem, lb.
Cic. off. 1.
Ficin.
Billi.