Decii, and theyr auowe. astate of the people, and nat of the great blode of the Romanes, yet for the preseruation of their countray they auowed to die, as it were in a satisfaction for all their countray. And so with valiant hartes they perced the hoste of their enemies, and valiauntly fightynge, they died there honorably, and by their example gaue suche audacitie and courage to the residue of the Romanes, that they employed so their strengthe agayne their enemies, that with litle more losse they optained victorie. Ought nat these two Romanes, whiche by their deth gaue occasion of victorie, be called noble? I suppose no man that knoweth what reason is will denie it. More ouer, we haue in this realme coynes which be called nobles; as longe as they be seene to be golde, they be so called. But if they be counterfaicted, and made in brasse, coper, or other vile metal, who for the print only calleth them nobles? Wherby it appereth that the estimation is in the 'Plebeia Deciorum animæ, plebeia fuerunt Juv. Sat. viii. 254-7. Patrizi cites them as an example: Sic etiam Decii, pater, filius et nepos, qui ignobiles erant, pro patriâ se devoverunt, et perpetuæ nobilitatis gloriam assecuti sunt. Quæ quidem persuasio reddit posteros promptiores alacrioresque ad bene de patriâ merendum.'-De Instit. Reipub. lib. i. tit. 4. • Gold nobles were first coined in the reign of Edward III., and were then called maille nobles and ferling-nobles. Mr. Ruding says: 'At this period the gold coins of other nations were denominated either from the place of mintage, or from the devices impressed upon them ; but these coins seems to have derived their name from the noble nature of the metal of which they were composed.'— Annals of Coinage, vol. i. p. 219, ed. 1840, Camden says that these coins of Edward's were of noble, fair, and fine gold,' and adds 'the Rose noble was then currant for six shillings eight pence.'-Remains, p. 242, ed. 1674. Harrison, however, tells us that in his day 'the angels, rials, and nobles are more plentifullie seene in France, Italie, and Flanders than they be by a great deale within the realme of England, if you regard the paiments which they dailie make in those kinds of our coine.'--Descript. Eng. vol. i, p. 218. It was a very common practice at this time to counterfeit the coin, and one for which the King himself was responsible; for, acording to Mr. Ruding, Henry And in a horse or in them, and nat the Whiche proueth that metall, and nat in the printe or figure. good grehounde we prayse that we se beautie or goodnesse of their progenie. in estemyng of money and catell we be ladde by wysedome, and in approuynge of man, to whom beastis and money do serue, we be only induced by custome. Thus I conclude that nobilitie is nat after the vulgare ་ 'stands recorded with infamy as the first of our English sovereigns who debased the sterling fineness of the coins.' And the standard of gold, instead of being as formerly 23 carats, was reduced to 20. The reason for this alteration of the standard is fully stated in a proclamation of the 22 August, 1521, from which it appears, that the price of gold in Flanders and France was rated so high, that all the coins of the realm were transported thither by merchants, both denizens and aliens, on account of the great profit to be made thereby.'-Ruding, ubi supra, p. 303. The rose noble, or riall, was then valued at II shillings, and the noble (angel) at 7s. 4d. But in November 1526, an additional value was put upon the coin then current, and to the intent that there might be a sufficiency of coins for receipts and payments, it was ordained that besides the angel noble then inhanced in value, there should be made another noble, to be called the George-noble, of as fine gold as the angel, but wanting in weight tenpence sterling, to be current at 65. &d., the old value of the angel.' In 1544 the value of the rose noble was raised to 12s. and that of the angel to 8s. Harrison says that Henry VIII, first brought the shilling 'to three shillings and foure pence, and afterward our siluer coine unto brasse and copper monies, by reason of those inestimable charges which diuerse waies oppressed him.'-Descript. Eng. vol. i. p. 218. And Camden asserts that 'so base and corrupted with copper were his moneys, as also of King Edward the Sixth, that some of them, which was then called Testons (= 12d.) because the Kings head was thereon figured, contained but twopence farthing in silver; and other fourpence halfpenny.'-Remains, p. 246, ed. 1674. This is evidently copied from Patrizi, who says: 'Venatores et equites non canis aut equi sobolem quærunt, sed canem atque equum celeritate ac ferocitate eximium. Norunt enim prolem facilè mutari et plerumque in deterius ruere.'-De Regno et Reg. Inst., lib. viii. tit. 6. And this again was, no doubt, suggested by Juvenal's famous lines : 'Dic mihi, Teucrorum proles, animalia muta Quis generosa putet, nisi fortia? Nempe volucrem Nobilis hic, quocumque venit de gramine, cujus Hirpini, si rara jugo Victoria sedit.'—Sat. viii. 56-63. opinion of men, but is only the prayse and surname of vertue; whiche the lenger it continueth in a name or lignage, the more is nobilitie extolled and meruailed at.c CHAPTER V. Of affabilitie and the utilitie therof in euery astate. To that whiche I before named gentilnesse, be incident thre speciall qualities, affabilitie, placabilitie, and mercy; of whom I will nowe seperately declare the propre significations. Selden says, 'That other notion of Noble which we use in England when we expresse our Lords by Noblemen absolutely is peculiar to us only, and belongs not ́ at all to this place.'—Titles of Honour, p. 854. And Albericus Gentilis takes notice of this insular peculiarity while he distinguishes, after the manner of the Civilians, dignity from nobility: Cavere nos decet ne dignitatem pro nobilitate accipiamus. Dignitatem enim princeps conferre potest; quisque potest sibi comparare; nobilitatem non item. Nobilitas à parentibus manat. Ecce in Angliâ nobiles censentur, qui vel hodie de plebe sint educti ad dignitates, veluti baronias et comitatus.'—De Nuptiis, lib. iv. cap. 13, p. 366, ed. 1614. Lucas de Penna gives the following definition: Nobilitas nihil aliud est quàm habitus operatioque virtutis in homine.'—Lib. xii. De Dignitatibus, fo. cclxiv. ed. 1509. Compare the remarks of Seneca. 'Quis est generosus? Ad virtutem bene à naturâ compositus. Non facit nobilem atrium plenum fumosis imaginibus Animus facit nobilem : cui ex quâcumque conditione supra fortunam licet surgere.' -Epistol. xliv. Osorius, Bishop of Silves, whom Dupin calls the Cicero of Portugal, uses very similar language to that of our author in his treatise De Nobilitate Civili. He says, 'Nihil aliud est nobilitas quàm virtutis præstantia in aliquâ gente constituta.'-Lib. i. p. 15, ed. 1552. ⚫ Osorius says: 'Jam, quantum fuit in nobis, vim et originem nobilitatis explicavimus, ejus ortum ab illâ naturali indole repetentes maximis animis innatâ quæ quidem, si excitetur et temporis etiam vetustate confirmetur, perficit illum universi generis splendorem et claritatem.'-Ubi supra, p. 38. Segar, above quoted, says : 'Some gentlemen doe hold that dignitie by prescription, not hauing other proofe then that they and their ancestors were called Gentlemen time out of minde. And for this reason it seemeth that Nobilitie, the more ancient it is, the more commendable, chiefly if the first of such families were aduanced for vertue, Which nobilitie is that whereof Aristotle meaneth, saying, "Nobilitas est majorum quædam claritas honorabilis progenitorum." Likewise, Boetius de Cons. (lib. iii. 6) saith, "Nobilitas est quædam laus proveniens de merito parentum."'-Honor, p. 227. This word seems to correspond to the Latin facilitas or comitas. Patrizi . Affabilitie is of a wonderfull efficacie or power in procurynge loue. And it is in sondry wise, but moste proprely, says: 'Facilitas virtus est in Rege omnium gratissima ad ineundam gratiam, benevolentiamque servandum.'-De Regno et Reg. Instit. lib. viii. tit. 19. And Erasmus, analysing the character of a Prince, says: 'Civilitas ubique aut amorem gignit, aut certè lenit odium, verùm ea in magno Principe longè gratissima multitudini.'-Instit. Prin. Christ. p. 93, ed. 1519. There were at least two notable examples of affability in persons of exalted station at this time, whom the author may have had in his mind--the King, and his Chancellor, Sir Thomas More. There are many independent witnesses to this redeeming feature in the former's character. It has been already observed that Tayler, the Clerk of the Parliament, tells us, in his Diary, how he saw the King measuring his skill with that of his own body guard. And in the Life of More we read that 'the King took such pleasure in his companie, that he would oftentymes, on a suddaine, come to his house at Chelsey, to talke and be merrie with him. Whither on a tyme unlooked for, while Sir Thomas was chancellour of the duchie, he came to dynner to him ; and after dinner in a faire garden walked with him by the space of an howre, holding his arme about his neck.'-Wordsworth, Eccles. Biog. vol. ii. p. 65, ed. 1853. The Venetian ambassador, in his Report in 1519 to the Seignory, describes the King as 'affable and gracious;' and four years earlier, Sagudino, the Ambassador's Secretary, describing his reception at Richmond, says: 'After dinner the King sent for the ambassadors, and addressed them partly in French and partly in Latin, and also in Italian, showing himself very affable.'—Cal. of State Papers, Venetian, vol. ii. p. 247. Speaking of the King's fondness for Christmas masquerades, &c., Mr. Brewer says: "The roughest of the populace were not excluded from their share in the enjoyment. Sometimes, in a boisterous fit of delight, he would allow and even invite the lookerson to scramble for the rich ornaments of his own dress and those of his courtiers. Unlike his father, he showed himself every where. He entered with ease into the sports of others, and allowed them with equal ease to share in his,'-Letters and Papers, preface, vol. i. p. xxv. More's affability, and condescension were notorious; his biographer says: He would, before he was chancellour, goe by obscure places and lanes, and give his almes very liberallie, not by the pennie or halfpennie, but sometimes five, ten, twenty, thirty, forty shillings, according to everie ones necessitie. He often invited his poore neighbours to his table, and would be merrie and pleasant with them. But those that were riche and of wealthe seldom were invited. In Chelsey he hired a house for lame, poore, and old men, and kept them at bed and at borde, at his owne cost and charges. Sir Thomas was of a mild, gentle, and patient nature.'—Wordsworth, Eccles. Biog. vol. ii. p. 69. And we find foreigners describing him in the same terms. Thus, Gasparo Contarini, writing to the Council of Ten, in his capacity of ambassador at the court of Charles V., says: 'I have been acquainted with Thomas More both in Flanders and in England, and he is in fact learned and amiable (è in vero docto et gentile).'--Cal. St. Papers, Venetian, vol. iii. p. 394. Haulte counte naunce. where a man is facile or easie to be spoken unto. It is also where a man speakethe courtaisely, with a swete speche or countenance, wherwith the herers (as it were with a delicate odour) be refresshed, and alured to loue hym in whom is this most delectable qualitie. As contrary wise, men vehemently hate them that haue a proude and haulte countenance, be they neuer so highe in astate or degree." Howe often haue I herde people say, whan men in great autoritie haue passed by without makynge gentill • There can be very little doubt that the author in this passage alludes to the behaviour of Wolsey, whose arrogance and haughtiness filled all men with disgust. Hall makes constant allusion to the effect produced upon the people by his demeanour. Thus, in the seventh year of the King's reign, he says: When he was once a perfite Cardinal, he loked then aboue all estates, so that all men almost hated hym and disdayned hym.' And in 1524, when a deputation waited upon the Cardinal to explain the impossibility of meeting his demand of a grant of 20 per cent., for the service of the King, the Chronicler says: All whiche reasons and demonstracions he litle regarded, and then the said persones moste mekely beseched his grace to moue the Kynges highnes to bee content with a more easier some, to the whiche he currishly answered, that he would rather haue his tongue plucked out of his hedde with a paire of pinsors then to moue the Kyng to take any lesse some.' In 1526 the king permitted him to reside at Richmond, where he presumed to keep almost regal state. When the common people,' we are told, and in especiall, suche as had been Kyng Henry the Seuenthes seruauntes sawe the Cardinal kepe house in the Manor royall of Richmond, whiche Kyng Henry VII. so highly estemed, it was a maruell to here how thei grudged and saied, "See a Bochers dogge lye in the Manor of Richemond." These with many opprobrious wordes were spoken against the Cardinal, whose pride was so high that he nothyng regarded, and yet was he hated of moste men.'-Chron. fol. 143 b. And his example seems to have been followed by his subordinates, for we learn from the same source that the authoritie of this Cardinal set the clergie in such a pride that they disdained all men.' Erasmus, writing in 1530, after Wolsey's death, says of him, 'Planè regnabat verius quàm ipse Rex, metuebatur ab omnibus, amabatur à paucis, ne dicam à nemine.'—Epistola, 1151. Yet we cannot forget that Erasmus himself had used very different language only a few years before, when Wolsey's 'rara quædam et inaudita comitas,' and 'mira morum facilitas omnibus exposita,' had excited his admiration; but then Erasmus had special reasons for complimenting his supposed benefactor, and privately he expresses the opinion that the Cardinal was non passim comis aut facilis.' In contrast to the general opinion entertained of Wolsey's haughtiness, it is interesting to read the following account of his 'urbanity' given by the author of a book called A Remedy for Sedition, published in 1536. Who was lesse beloued in the northe than my lorde Cardynall, god haue his sowle, before he was amonges them? Who better |