THE FIRST BOOK. 61 



was, that this young scholar, or philosopher, after all the 

 captains were murdered in parley by treason, conducted 

 those ten thousand foot, through the heart of all the king's 

 high countries, from Babylon to Graecia in safety, in 

 despite of all the king's forces, to the astonishment 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 10 

 scholar. 



To proceed now from imperial and military virtue to moral 

 and private virtue : first, it is an assured truth, which is 

 contained in the verses : 



Scilicet ingenuas didicisse fideliter artes, 



Emollit mores, nee sinit esse feros : 



[ Without doubt a faithful study of the liberal arts 



A Softens and humanises the character^ 



It taketh away the wildness and barbarism and fierceness 

 of men's minds ; but indeed the accent had need be upon 20 

 fideliter : [faithful :] for a little superficial learning doth 

 rather work a contrary effect. It taketh away all levity, 

 temerity, and insolency, by copious suggestion of all doubts 

 and difficulties, 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 nothing 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 contemplation thoroughly, 30 

 but will find that printed in his heart, Nil novi super terram : 

 [There is nothing new on the earth,] Neither can any man 

 marvel at the play of puppets, that goeth behind the curtain, 

 and adviseth well of the motion. And for magnitude, as 

 Alexander the Great, after that he was used to great armies, 



