XLII. Of Youth and Age.

A Man that is Young in Years, may be Old in Hours, if he have lost no time, but that happeneth rarely. Generally Youth is like the first Cogitations, not so wise as the second; for there is a Youth in Thoughts as well as in Ages: And yet the Invention of Young Men is more lively than that of Old, and Imaginations stream into their minds better, and, as it were, more Divine∣ly. Natures that have much heat, and great and vio∣lent desires and perturbations, are not ripe for Action till they have passed the Meridian of their years; as it was with Julius Caesar, and Septimius Severus, of the latter of whom it is said, Juventutem egit Erroribus, imo Furoribus plenam; and yet he was the ablest Emperor al∣most of all the List. But reposed Natures may do well in Youth, as it is seen in Augustus Caesar, Cosmus Duke of Florence, Gaston de Fois, and others. On the other side, Heat and Vivacity in Age, is an excellent Com∣position Page  115 for business. Young Men are fitter to invent than to judge, fitter for Execution than for Counsel, and fitter for new projects than for settled business, for the Experi∣ence of Age in things that fall within the compass of it directeth them, but in new things abuseth them. The Errors of Young Men are the ruin of Business; but the Errors of Aged Men amount but to this, that more might have been done or sooner. Young Men in the conduct and manage of Actions embrace more than they can hold, stir more than they can quiet fly to the end with∣out consideration of the means and degrees, pursue some few Principles which they have chanced upon absurdly, care not to innovate, which draws unknown Inconveni∣encies: Use extream Remedies at first, and that which doubleth all Errors, will not acknowledge or retract them, like an unready Horse, that will neither Stop nor Turn. Men of Age object too much, consult too long, adventure too little, repent too soon, and seldom drive business home to the full period, but content themselves with a mediocrity of Success. Certainly it is good to compound Employments of both; for that will be good for the present, because the vertues of either Age may cor∣rect the defects of both, and good for Succession, that Young Men may be Learners, while Men in Age are Actors. And lastly, good for Extern Accidents, because Autho∣rity followeth Old Men, and Favour and Popularity Youth. But for the moral part, perhaps Youth will have the preheminence, as Age hath for the politick. A cer∣tain Rabbins upon the Text, Your young Men shall see visions, and your old Men shall dream dreams, inferreth, that Young Men are admitted nearer to God than Old, because Visi∣on is a clearer Revelation than a Dream. And certain∣ly the more a Man drinketh of the World, the more it intoxicateth; and Age doth profit rather in the pow∣ers of Understanding, than in the Vertues of the Will and Affections. There be some have an over-early Ripeness in their years, which fadeth betimes: These are first such as have brittle Wits, the edge whereof is Page  116 soon turned; such as was Hermogenes the Rhetorician, whose Books are exceeding subtil, who afterwards wax∣ed stupid. A second sort is of those that have some natural Dispositions which have better grace in Youth than in Age; such as is a fluent and luxuriant Speech, which becomes Youth well, but not Age: So Tully saith of Hortensius, Idem manebat, neque idem decebat. The The third is, of such as take too high a strain at the first, and are magnanimous more than Tract of years can uphold: As was Scipio Africanus, of whom Livy saith in effect, Ultima primis cedebant.