XLII.

OF YOUTH AND AGE.

A MAN that is Young in yeares, may be Old in Houres, 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, then that of Old: And Imaginations streame into their Mindes better, and, as it were, more Divinely. Natures that have much Heat, and great and violent desires and Perturbations, are not ripe for Action, till they have passed the Meridian of their yeares: As it was with Julius Cæsar, & Septimius Severus. Of the latter of whom, it is said; Juventutem egit, Erroribus, imò Furoribus, plenam. And yet he was the Ablest Emperour, almost, of all the List. But Reposed Natures may doe well in Youth. And it is seene, in Augustus Cæsar, Cosmus Duke of Florence, Gaston de Fois, and others. On the other side, Heate and Vivacity in Age, is an Excellent Composition for Businesse. Young Men, are Fitter to Invent, then to Judge; Fitter

for Execution, then for Counsell; And Fitter for New Projects, then for Setled Businesse. For the Experience of Age, in Things that fall within the compasse of it, directeth them; but in New Things, abuseth them. The Errours of Young

Men are the Ruine of Businesse; But the Errours of Aged Men amount but to this; That more might have beene done, or sooner. Young Men, in the Conduct, and Mannage of Actions, Embrace more then they can Hold, Stirre more then they can Quiet; Fly to the End, without Consideration of the Meanes, and Degrees; Pursue some few Principles, which they have chanced upon absurdly; Care not to innovate, which draws unknowne Inconveniences; Use extreme Remedies at first; And that which doubleth all Errours, will not acknowledge or retract them; Like an unready Horse, that will neither Stop, nor Turne. Men of Age, Object too much, Consult too long, Adventure too little, Repent too soone, and seldome drive Businesse home to the full Period; But content themselves with a Mediocrity of Successe. Certainly, it is good to compound Employments of both; For that will be Good for the Present, because the Vertues of either Age, may correct the defects of both: And good for Succession, that Young Men may be Learners, while Men in Age are Actours: And

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lastly, Good for Externe Accidents, because Authority followeth Old Men, And Favour and Popularity Youth. But for the Morall Part, perhaps Youth will have the preheminence, as Age hath for the Politique. A certaine Rabbine, upon the Text; Your Young Men shall see visions, and your Old Men shall dreame dreames; Inferreth, that Young Men are admitted nearer to God then Old; Because Vision is a clearer Revelation, then a Dreame. And certainly, the more a Man drinketh of the World, the more it intoxicateth; And Age doth profit rather in the Powers of Understanding, then in the Vertues of the Will and Affections. There be some have an Over-early Ripenesse in their yeares, which fadeth betimes: These are first, Such as have Brittle Wits, the Edge whereof is soone turned; Such as was Hermogenes the Rhetorician, whose Books are exceeding Subtill; Who afterwards waxed Stupid. A Second Sort is of those, that have some naturall Dispositions, which have better Grace in Youth, then 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 third is of such, as take too high a Straine at the First; And are Magnanimous, more than Tract of yeares can uphold. As was Scipio Affricanus,

of whom Livy saith in effect; Ultima primis cedebant.

XLIII.

OF BEAUTY.

But

VERTUE is like a Rich Stone, best plaine set: And surely, vertue is best in a Body, that is comely, though not of Delicate Features; And that hath rather Dignity of Presence, then Beauty of Aspect. Neither is it almost seene, that very Beautifull Persons, are otherwise of great Vertue; As if Nature, were rather Busie not to erre, then in labour, to produce Excellency. And therefore, they prove Accomplished, but not of great Spirit; And Study rather Behaviour, then Vertue. this holds not alwaies; For Augustus Cæsar, Titus Vespasianus, Philip le Belle of France, Edward the Fourth of England, Alcibiades of Athens, Ismael the Sophy of Persia, were all High and Great Spirits; And yet the most Beautifull Men of their Times. In Beauty, that of Favour, is more then that of Colour, And that of Decent and Gracious Motion, more then that of Favour. That is the best Part of Beauty, which a Picture cannot expresse; No nor the first Sight of the Life. There is no Excellent Beauty, that hath

not some Strangenesse in the Proportion. A Man cannot tell, whether Apelles, or Albert Durer, were the more Trifler: Whereof the one would make a Personage by Geometricall Proportions: The other, by taking the best Parts out of divers Faces, to make one Excellent. Such Personages, I thinke, would please no Body, but the Painter, that made them. Not but I thinke a Painter, may make a better Face, then ever was; But he must doe it, by a kinde of Felicity, (As a Musician that maketh an excellent Ayre in Musicke) And not by Rule. A Man shall see Faces, that if you examine them, Part by Part, you shall finde never a good; And yet all together doe well. If it be true, that the Principall Part of Beauty, is in decent Motion, certainly it is no marvaile, though Persons in Yeares, seeme many times more Amiable; Pulchrorum Autumnus pulcher: For no Youth can be comely, but by Pardon, and considering the Youth, as to make up the comelinesse. Beauty is as Summer-Fruits, which are easie to corrupt, and cannot last: And, for the most part, it makes a dissolute Youth, and an Age a little out of countenance: But yet certainly againe, if it light well, it maketh Vertues shine, and Vices blush.