THE SOLDIER S SPEECH. 



SQUIRE, the good old man hath said well to you ; but I 

 dare say, thou wouldst be sorry to leave to carry thy mas 

 ter s shield, and to carry his books : and I am sure thy mas 

 ter had rather be a falcon, a bird of prey, than a singing 

 bird in a cage. The muses are to serve martial man, to sing 

 their famous actions ; and not to be served by them. Then 

 hearken to me. 



It is the war that giveth all spirits of valour, not only 

 honour, but contentment. For mark, whether ever you did 

 see a man grown to any honourable commandment in the 

 wars, but whensoever he gave it over, he was ready to die 

 with melancholy ? Such a sweet felicity is in that noble 

 exercise, that he, that hath tasted it thoroughly, is distasted 

 for all other. And no marvel ; for if the hunter takes such 

 solace in his chace ; if the matches and wagers of sport 

 pass away with such satisfaction and delight ; if the looker 

 on be affected with pleasure in the representation of a 

 feigned tragedy ; think what contentment a man receiveth, 

 when they, that are equal to him in nature, from the height 

 of insolency and fury are brought to the condition of a 

 chaced prey ; when a victory is obtained, whereof the vic 

 tories of games are but counterfeits and shadows; and when, 

 in a lively tragedy, a man s enemies are sacrificed before 

 his eyes to his fortune. 



Then for the dignity of military profession, is it not the 

 truest and perfectest practice of all virtues ? of wisdom, in 

 disposing those things, which are most subject to confu 

 sion and accident; of justice, in continual distributing re 

 wards ; of temperance, in exercising of the straightest dis 

 cipline ; of fortitude, in toleration of all labours and ab 

 stinence from effeminate delights ; of constancy, in bearing 

 and digesting the greatest variety of fortune. So that when 

 all other places and professions require but their several 

 virtues, a brave leader in the wars must be accomplished 

 with all. It is the wars, that are the tribunal seat, where 

 the highest rights and possessions are decided ; the occu 

 pation of kings, the root of nobility, the protection of all 

 estates. And, lastly, lovers never thought their profession 

 sufficiently graced, till they have compared it to a warfare. 

 All that in any other profession can be wished for, is but to 

 live happily: but to be a brave commander in the field, 

 death itself doth crown the head with glory. Therefore, 

 squire, let thy master go with me; and though he be re 

 solved in the pursuit of his love, let him aspire to it by the 

 noblest means. For ladies count it no honour to subdue 



