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THE SECOND BOOKE 31
hope for so long as he liveth : yea, but answereth
Seneca, wherefore shall I rather have that in minde ;
that fortune can do all things for him that is living,
than this ; that fortune hath no power at all over him
who knoweth how to dye ? Iosephus is seene engaged
in so apparent-approaching danger, with a whole nation
against nim, that according to humane reason there was
no way for him to escape; notwithstanding being (as
he saith) counselled by a friend of his, at that instant,
to kill himselfe, it fell out well for him to opinionate
himselfe yet in hope: for fortune, beyond all mans
discourse, did so turne and change that accident, that
without any inconvenience at all, he saw himselfe
delivered: whereas on the contrarie Brutus and
Cassius, by reason of the down-fall and rashnesse,
wherewith before due time and occasion they killed
themselves ; did utterly lose the reliques of the Roman
libertie, whereof they were protectors. The Lord of
Anguien in the battell of Serisolles, as one desperate of
the combats successe, which on his side went to wracke,
attempted twice to run himselfe thorow the throat
with his rapier, and thought by precipitation to bereave
himselfe of the enjoying of so notable a victorie. I
have seene a hundred Hares save themselves even in
the Grey-hounds jawes: Aliquis carnifici mo superstes
fait: l ' Some man hath outlived his Hang-man.'
Multa dies variusque labor mutabilis evi
Rittulit in melius, multos alterna revtsens
Lusit, et in sohdo rursusfortuna locavit.²
Time, and of turning age the divers strame,
Hath much to better brought, fortunes turn'd traine
Hath many mock't, and set them fast againe.
Plinie saith there are but three sorts of sicknesses,
which to avoid, a man may have some colour of reason
to kill himselfe. The sharpest of all is the stone in the
bladder, when the urine is there stopped. Seneca,
those onely, which for long time disturbe and distract
the offices of the minde. To avoid a worse death,
1 SEN. EPIST. xiii. ² VIRG. AEn. 1. xi. 426.