charity there is no excess; neither can angel, nor
man, come in dan ger by it. The inclination to good-
ness, is imprinted deeply in the nature of man; in-
somuch, that if it issue not towards men, it will
take unto other living creatures; as it is seen in the
Turks, a cruel people, who nevertheless are kind
to beasts, and give alms, to dogs and birds; inso-
much, as Busbechius reporteth, a Christian boy, in
Constantinople, had like to have been stoned, for
gagging in a waggishness a long-billed fowl.
Errors indeed in this virtue of goodness, or charity,
may be committed. The Italians have an ungra-
cious proverb, Tanto buon che val niente: so
good, that he is good for nothing. And one of
the doctors of Italy, Nicholas Machiavel, had
the confidence to put in writing, almost in plain
terms, That the Christian faith, had given up good
men, in prey to those that are tyrannical and un-
just. Which he spake, because indeed there was
never law, or sect, or opinion, did so much mag-
nify goodness, as the Christian religion doth.
Therefore, to avoid the scandal and the danger
both, it is good, to take knowledge of the errors of
an habit so excellent. Seek the good of other men,
but be not in bondage to their faces or fancies; for
that is but facility, or softness; which taketh an
honest mind prisoner. Neither give thou AEsop's
cock a gem, who would be better pleased, and hap-
pier, if he had had a barley-corn. The example of
God, teacheth the lesson truly: He sendeth his rain,