Phisicke against fortune, aswell prosperous, as aduerse conteyned in two bookes. Whereby men are instructed, with lyke indifferencie to remedie theyr affections, aswell in tyme of the bryght shynyng sunne of prosperitie, as also of the foule lowryng stormes of aduersitie. Expedient for all men, but most necessary for such as be subiect to any notable insult of eyther extremitie. Written in Latine by Frauncis Petrarch, a most famous poet, and oratour. And now first Englished by Thomas Twyne.

Of Glorie. The .xcii. Dialogue.

IOY.

BVT I haue founde great Glory.

Reason.

How great thynges may be expressed in a lytle, I doo not vnderstande. If thou measure the shortnesse of tymes, and the narrownesse of places, thou must needes confesse that here can be no great glory. I wyll not here rehearse vnto thee, howe that the whole earth is but a pricke, the greatest part whereof nature hath made inhabitable, and to fortune inaccessible, and that the tyme present is lesse then a pricke, and euermore vnstable, and passeth away so swiftly, that a man can scarce followe it with his minde: as for the other two partes of time, they are alwaies absent, so that the one weerieth vs with slipperinesse of remembraunce, the other with careful expectation: so that al times, either by floods of water, or ouermuch heate, or with some plague or intemperance of the heauen or earth, or briefely by them selues, and their owne fall, are so torne and confounded, that no age almost hath that which another had: & no lesse in time then in place a man may see in short space, y^e thing that was cōmonly knowen, not to be know∣en at al. These, & such other like matters, I say, I let many passe: they be cōmon things, wherby it is easily discerned how great this mortal & earthly glory is.

Ioy.

I haue gayned that glory which my calling requireth.

Reason.

If it be vnworthy, truely it is but short: if it be woorthy, reioyce, not for that thou hast it, but for that thou hast deserued it.

Ioy.

I haue gayned glory.

Reason.

True glory is not gained but by good meanes: see therefore how thou hast gotten a name, and so shalt thou vnderstande whether

it be true glory or not: yf chaunce hath brought thee fame, the fame wil also take it away.

Ioy.

I am in great glory.

Reason.

Beware lest that glory whiche thou supposest to be true, be the Image of false glory: In worldly matters there is great illusion.

Ioy.

I am in muche glory.

Reason.

Lyke as no poore man seeketh to haue the report that he hath great store of mo∣ney, but onely to deceyue: so truely, for none other cause doo the wicked couet the opinion of great vertue: notwithstanding both of them are priuie to them selues whatsoeuer other men report of them, the one, how muche money he hath in his coffer, the other, how much vertue he hath in his mynde.

Ioy.

My glo∣rie is notable.

Reason.

If deseruedly, vse it modestly, that thou adde not there vnto the blemysh of pryde: yf not, abuse the people no longer.

Ioy.

My glory is glitteryng.

Reason.

Eyther studie to deserue it, or put of that heauie garment whiche is none of thyne owne. It were better to be without glory, then lyingly to be glorious. For true glory is preserued by labour: What doest thou thinke then of false? It is harde to feigne and dissemble in all matters, but most harde in that whiche many doo watche on euery side. Men endued with true glory, are rare to be founde, whom because of theyr great difference and vn∣lykenesse, the obscure and malitious common people doo hate. It is an harde matter to lye hyd among so many snares of the enimies, thou canst not bleare all mens eyes that are so dili∣gently bent vpon thee.

Ioy.

I appeare glorious.

Reason.

Perhappes it were better for thee to lye hydde, and more safe. This spake he grauely, that hath sayde many thynges lyght∣ly, He hath lyued well, that hath lyen hyd well.

Ioy.

I am famous and far knowen, and widely renowmed.

Reason.

Malice pearceth and searcheth the most secret thinges, and thin∣kest thou that she wyl let passe the thynges that are in sight? Yea, they are but fewe, for whom it is expedient to appeare and be seene, and fewe whom fame woulde not hurt to be fully knowen. The saying of Claudianus is well knowen, Presence di∣minisheth the fame: but howe muche more dooeth knowledge of the matter diminyshe it? Men are seldome founde in deede to be suche as they seeme.

Ioy.

I appeare glorious.

Reason.

Thou lyest hyd in an hollowe cloude, foorth of whiche when thou shalt come a lytle abroade, the falser thy glory was, the truer shal be thy shame.

Ioy.

But my glory is true.

Reason.

None knoweth that better, then thy selfe: & so yf in thyne owne affayres thou put on the vncorrupt mynde of an outwarde Iudge, true glory, as some wyse men holde opinion, is as it were a certayne shadowe of vertue: for it keepeth company with her, and follo∣weth her, and sometymes goeth before her: whiche we see to be true in young men of noble and vertuous disposition, whom the opinion whiche men conceyue of them, maketh them noble before their vertue be perfect, whiche, as it were with certayne prickes and spurres, prouoketh & inflameth noble and modest mindes, to be in all respectes aunswerable to the hope of their countreymen and citizens, and throweth downe headlong the foolyshe and proude. Hereof commeth the ridiculus metamorphosis of noble youthes into obscure olde men: For prayse that is profitable to a wyse man, hurteth a foole. Hereby thou perceyuest that a shadowe can not be of it selfe, but it must be the shadowe of another thing. Wouldest thou then that thy glory were true? see then that true and sounde he thy vertue.