vn. 30.] THE FIRST BOOK. 



all the captains were murdered in parley by treason, con 

 ducted those ten thousand foot, through the heart of all 

 the king s high countries, from Babylon to Grecia in 

 safety, in despite of all the king s forces, to the astonish 

 ment of the world, and the encouragement of the Grecians 

 in times succeeding to make invasion upon the kings of 

 Persia; as was after purposed by Jason the Thessalian, 

 attempted by Agesilaus the Spartan, and achieved by 

 Alexander the Macedonian, all upon the ground of the 

 act of that young scholar. 



VIII. i. To proceed now from imperil and military 

 virtue to moral and pri&quot;at virhip; first, it is an assured 

 truth, which is contained in the verses, 



Scilicet ingenuas didicisse jideljter artes 

 Emollit mores, nee sinit esse feros. 



It iaketh away the wildness and barbarism pnH forr.pness 

 of men s minds ; but indeed the accent had need be upon 

 fiddlier : for a little superficial learning doth rather wmk 

 a contrary elfect. It taketh away all levity, temerity, and 

 insolency, by copious suggestion of all doubts and diffi 

 culties, and acquainting the mind to balance reasons on 

 both sides, and to turn back the first offers and conceits 

 of the mind, and to Accept of no tiling but examined and 

 tried. It taketh away vain admiration of anything, which 

 is the root of all weakness. For all things are admired 

 either because they are new, or because they are great. 

 For novelty, no man that wadeth in learning or con 

 templation throughly, but will find that printed in his 

 heart, Nil novi super terfam. Neither can any man 

 marvel ^t the play of puppets, that goeth behind the 

 curtain, and adviseth well of the motion. And for mag 

 nitude, as Alexander the Great, after that he was used to 

 great armies, and the great conquests of the spacious 

 F 2 



