l or
inferiour, to make him pitie some miserable fortune or spectakle to
behold.

And yet in euery of the these passions being as it were vndecencies, there
is a comelinesse to be discerned, which some men can keepe and some men
can not, as to be angry, or to enuy, or to hate, or to pitie, or to be
ashamed decently, that is none otherwise then reason requireth. This
surmise appeareth to be true, for _Homer_ the father of Poets writing that
famous and most honourable poeme called the _Iliades_ or warres of Troy:
made his commencement the magnanimous wrath and anger of _Achilles_ in his
first verse thus: [Greek: illegible] Sing foorth my muse the wrath of
_Achilles Peleus_ sonne: which the Poet would neuer haue done if the wrath
of a prince had not beene in some sort comely & allowable. But when
_Arrianus_ and _Curtius_ historiographers that wrote the noble gestes of
king _Alexander_ the great, came to prayse him for many things, yet for
his wrath and anger they reproched him, because it proceeded not of any
magnanimitie, but vpon surfet & distemper in his diet, not growing of any
iust causes, was exercised to the destruction of his dearest friends and
familiers, and not of his enemies nor any other waies so honorably as
th'others was, and so could not be reputed a decent and comely anger.

So may al your other passions be vsed decently though the very matter of
their originall be grounded vpon some vndecencie, as it is written by a
certaine king of Egypt, who looking out of his window, and seing his owne
sonne for some grieuous offence, carried by the officers of his iustice to
the place of execution: he neuer once changed his countenance at the
matter, though the sight were neuer so full of ruth and atrocitie. And it
was thought a decent countenance and constant animositie in the king to be
so affected, the case concerning so high and rare a peece of his owne
iustice. But within few daies after when he beheld out of the same window
an old friend and familiar of his, stand begging an almes in the streete,
he wept tenderly, remembering their old familiarity and considering how by
the mutabilitie of fortune and frailtie of mans estate, it might one day
come to passe that he himselfe should fall into the like miserable estate.
He therfore had a remorse very comely for a king in that behalfe, which
also caused him to giue order for his poore friends plentiful reliefe.

But generally to weepe for any sorrow (as one may doe f