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 Repulses. The xxxviii. Dialogu. e

SOROWE.

I Take it greeuously that I haue suffered a repulse.

Reason.

Wouldest thou then obteyne whatsoeuer thou desyrest, so that nothyng shoulde be denyed thee? take heede that this desyre of thine proceede not of intollerable pryde. It behoued thee to haue thought on Pompeius the great, a worthier then whom I knowe not yf euer there were any, of whom notwithstandyng it is written, that he would haue those thinges geuen him, which also myght be denyed hym. How many thinges do we know to haue been denyed to Emperours, being most valiaunt and of high renowme? and doest thou take a repulse or twayne so heauily? To be short, howe many thinges dooth God require dayly at mans hande, yet lacketh God nothyng, neyther doth he entreate vs for any thing.

Sorow.

I cannot quietly take a repulse.

Reason.

Why doest thou arrogate to thy selfe the libertie of askyng, and takest from other aucthoritie of deniyng? Is it because, as often tymes it chaunseth, that an vnreasonable request, geueth occasion of a reasonable deniall? Or is it because the repulse oftentymes was profitable to hym that craued, to whom otherwyse it woulde haue been hurtful if he had obteyned?

Sorowe.

I suffer a re∣pulse wrongfully.

Reason.

Yf thy repulse be wrongfull, thy request was right and iuste, reioyce then that the fault is an other mans, rather then thine.

Sorowe.

I haue a repulse where I deserued it not.

Reason.

There are many that thinke they haue deserued much, when in very deede they haue deserued nothyng: From hence commeth the greefe of a repulse, from hence proceed al complaynts, wherewith al the world and the whole lyfe of man is filled.

Sorowe.

I suffer a shameful repulse.

Reason.

There is nothing shameful but a fault: For what shame could that bring vnto thee, that was not in thy power to perfourme?

Sorowe.

I haue a repulse where I thought to haue had none.

Reason.

Thought is vncertayne, but thinges are certayne, and to be vn∣able to denye that whiche is asked, belongeth not to a free man, but to a bond slaue: and to be vnhable to abide a repulse, is not the part of a citizen, but of a Tirant.

Sorowe.

I haue a repulse

of that thyng whiche I desyred and hoped for.

Reason.

Yf men shoulde obteyne whatsoeuer they hope for or desyre, they shoulde be al goddes: but thou, to the ende thou mayest auoyde al displeasures and greefes taken by repulses, learne to desyre possible and honest thynges, and not to haue a mynde to obteyne whatsoeuer thy vnsaciable or foolyshe desyre lusteth for, or vayne hope shal put in thy mynde.

Sorowe.

I was not onely repul∣sed, but an vnwoorthier was preferred before me.

Reason.

How often do we see the vnwoorthie to be preferred before the woor∣thie, and oftentymes the vnworthie to be iudged of as vnworthy as them selues, beyng seuere iudges in other mens matters, but in their owne case very fauorable? There are many that wyll say they are vnwoorthy, but there are fewe whiche thinke so in deede.

Sorowe.

I haue a repulse of a smal thyng.

Reason.

We do often tymes see small thinges denyed, and great thynges willingly offered. If the gyftes of fortune shalbe recompensed with repulses, the ballance wyl hang euen, but you encrease those by indignation, and diminishe the other by forgetfulnesse and dis∣simulation.

Sorowe

I was woorthy, as I suppose, not to be repulsed.

Reason.

I graunt it be so, but doost thou thinke that al thinges are graunted or denied, accordyng to the woorthinesse of men? I woulde it were so, that the hope of rewarde myght make many moo good men, and the feare of punishment make the fewer euyl. But the case standeth not so, for loue, hatred, hope, de∣sire, & secret affection, haue mingled togeather & disordred al thin∣ges. Wouldest thou haue fortune to chaunge her common condi∣tion to wardes thee only, and not thou thy selfe to bende to wardes the common course of mans nature?

Sorowe.

Howe farre vn∣woorthier then I am, is my cosuter preferred?

Reason.

And Lucius Flaminius, who for a notable crime had deserued present iudgement to be deposed from the order and dignitie of a Se∣natour, was preferred before Scipio Nasica, a man accounted to be most worthye, aswel by the iudgement of the Senate, as also by the whole voyce of the common people? Howe was Va∣sinius preferred before Cato, an obscure man, before a most com∣mendable senatour, and that not onely by the verdit of the peo∣ple, his frendes, and his enimies also, but also in the whole

volume that Cicero wrote: what sayst thou in this case, euen that they are greeuous, & not new thynges that thou sufferest.

Sorow.

I hoped for muche, I deserue not a litle.

Reason.

I tolde thee euen nowe, that thou shouldest deserue muche, and yet al thynges are not geuen through desertes. Do we not see, that to whom a thyng is once denyed, yet the same perhappes is graunted within a whyle after to the selfe same man? which thyng happened to the same Scipio of whom I speake: For constant vertue manye tymes breaketh the force of repulses. To this beare wytnesse Emilius Paulus, Metellus Ma∣cedonicus, Lucius Numius, who tooke al of them a repulse for the Consulshyp, and the selfe same men afterwarde were adorned with most noble dignitie, and triumphes: and of whom before they were had in contempte, to the same citi∣zens afterwarde they were a spectable: and surely they had neuer atteyned vnto those honours, yf they had endeuoured to lament with greefe the repulses of the people, rather then to ouercome the same with valiauntnesse of vertue. Although Lucius Sylla, who in the ende being styrred vp to eiuil dis∣sention, stayned his name with open crueltie, but neuerthelesse was a most noble and renowmed Citizen, had taken the repulse, not onely of the Consulshyp, but also of the Pretorshyp, afterwarde he atteyned to the hyghest dignitie in the com∣mon wealth, insomuche that he coulde not onely hym selfe procure the Pretorshyps, Consulshyps, and Empires, but also bestowe them on other. A repulse ought not to take away hope, but to geue it, to styrre vp careful diligence and ver∣tue, whiche be it neuer so sharpe a thyng, yet it aswageth it, and yf it happen that it doth not so, yet it is not therefore to be forsaken, least it shoulde seeme that it is embraced onely for it owne sake, and it owne ende. To be shorte, these men haue valiauntly susteyned their repulses, but Pub. Rutilius, hearyng of his brothers repulse whiche he had susteyned in suing for the Consulshyp, soddenly fel downe dead. Choose thee now, whether of these thou haddest rather folowe.