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I w * 6 somewhat ctaiieus to took ifito the p # terafcl counsels of such a man as Cecil , Lord Burleigh , Elizabeths far-famed minister , especially * s he admonishes his son that they will ** season his youth like the deaw ( dew ) of age / ' They are moral and
pious , but displaying withal a good deal of that worldly wisdom by which the author made his way through so many difficulties , and preserved his standing amidst so many mutations and perils . Precept 1 . is headed ^ rather odd ly , €
* For the choice of your Prives " The wary politician here calls upon his son t (* " use great providence and circumspection , for / ' says he , " it is in the choice of a wife , as in a project of warre , wherein to erre but once isr to be undone for ever . " He exhorts
with regard to a wife , * ' Let her not be poore , " and assigns the thrifty man ' s reason , f ( Because a man can buy nothing in the market without money . ' * Amongst other advice on this point , he enjoins , < f make not
choice of a Dwarfe or a Foole , for from the one you may beget a race of Pigmeyes , as the other will be your daily griefe and vexation : for it will irke you so oft as you shall heare her talke , and you shall continually finde
to your sorrow , that feele that crosse , that "There is nothing' so fulsome as a she-fooled And , after counselling against " drunkennesse , " he lays down the following rule of
husbanding : ' Beware thou spend not above three of the four parts of thy revenue , nor above one-third part thereof in your house : for the other two parts ¦ will but defray extraordinaries , which will always surmount your ordinaries b y much : for otherwise you shall live like beggars in continuall wants , and
the needy man can never live happily , nor contented , being broken ami distracted with worldly cares : for then every least disaster makes him ready to mortgage or sell : and that Oentleman that sels an acre of Land , looseth an ounce of Credit : for
Gentilitie is nothing but antient riches : so that if the Foundation do sinke , the Building must needs consequently fall . " Under Precept 2 , the title of which is , " For the Education of your Ohilfh-en / ' this sage father exhorts , ** suffer not your fctmnes to passe the
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AlpesJ * alleging feat by forei ^ a Irafrel they would learn € * pride , Wasphemy and Atheiwne . '' One of his counsels is extraordinary , and « nay cause him to be ranked amongst the enemies of * m aa MB •¦ .. — ^ - ^ . . a .. A ^ W . . ~ . ? -M m . . * k - * --
war upon Christian principles : if in the latter part of the sentence a little secular policy peeps out , it may well be forgiven for the sake of the rare " meekness of wisdom * ' that comes
before . u Neither by my advice , ** says he , " shall you train them ( sons ) up to warres : for hee that sets up his rest to live by that profession , in mine opinion , can hardly be an honest man , or a good Christian ; for , Every warre
of itselfe is unjust , the ( tho * i ) good cause map make it lawful : besides it is a science no longer in request then use : for souldiers in peace , are like chimneyes in summer , like I > ogges past hunting , or women , when their beauty is done . "
Precept 5 , * ' adviseth to keepe some great man to your friend , and how to complement him /* At p . 25 , is " An Addition of sot » £ Short Precepts and Sentences , not impertinent to the former / ' I suppose by Lord Burleigh , though the
following , numbered 21 , is not quite such as would have been expected from his eminent wisdom . 4 C Though I thinke no day amisse to undertake any good enterprise , or businesse in hand ; yet have I observed some , and no meane
clerk 9 , very cautionane , to forbeare these three mundayes in the yeare , which I leave to thine own consideration , either to use or refuse , viz . 1 . The first Munday in April , which day Caine was born , and his brother Abel
slaine . 2 . The second Munday in August , which day Sodome and Gomorrah were destroyed . 3 . Last Munday in December , which day Judas was born , that betrayed our Saviour Christ . "
We have , at p . 52 , " A handfull of -short questions , with their Resolutions , " some of which are mere conundrums : e . g . " Q . What waters of all others ascend highest ? A . The tears . of the faithfuJl , which God gathers into his bottle" Similar to
this is the Joe Millar conceit which has ofWn crept into very grave putpits : " Qu . Why caroaoi the heart of a man bee nlied , although hee shottld enjoy the ivhote worUi ? . Ans Because the whole Globe of the World
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M Lord BvrghUfs u P * ecept *< < " ** i * d the Ea * l of Be $ r ## s JeweUF __ «_ A m . _/ m . _
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1823, page 24, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1780/page/24/
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