?o THE ARTE OR CRAFTE OF RHETHORYKE
and laudable : but all fo profytable and eafy ynough to perfourme. Or if we can nat chofe but graunte that it is harde / yet we 1" hall fhew that it is fo honefte a dede / fo worthy prayfe and befydes fo great commodity wyll come therof / that the hardenes ought in no wyfe to fere vs : but rather be as an inftigacyon to take the thynge on hande / remewbrynge the greke pr^uerbe. Scisnola ta nala / that is to fay / all excellent and commendable thynges be harde and of dyffyculty.
In honefty are comprehended all vertues / as wyfedome / iuftice /due loue to god / and to our parentes / lyberality / pyty 1 / con- ftawce / temperance. And therfore he that wyll for [D iiii a] the confyrming of his purpofe declare and proue that it is honeft and commendable that he e^tendeth to perfuade hym : behoueth to haue perfyte knowlege of the natures of vertues. And all fo to haue in redy remewbraunce fentences bothe of fcripture and of philofophy / as oratours and poetes / and befyde thefe / examples of hiftoryes / for garnyffhynge of his maters.
As concernynge the place of vtilite / we must in all caufes loke if we may haue any argumentes wherby we may proue that our councell is of fuche neceffity / that it can nat be chofen but they muft nedes folowe it / for tho 2 argumentes be of ferre greater ftrengthe than they that do but onely proue the vtilitie Qf the mater. But if we can haue no fuche neceffary reafons / than we mufte ferche out argumentes to proue our mynde to be profytable by circu/#ftaces of the caufe. In lyke maner to perfuade a thynge by the eaf ines therof / or diffuade it by the difficulty of the thynge / we mufte haue refpect to poffibiliti or impoffibilite / for thefe proues are of ftrenger nature than the other / and he that wyll fhewe that a thynge may be done eafely: muft prefuppofe the poff ibilete therof. As he on the other fyde that wyll perfuade a thynge nat to be done / yf he fhewe and manyfefte that it is [D iiii b] impoffible / argueth more ftrongely than, if he could but only proue difficulty in it. For as I fayd afore 3 many thynge of difficulty yet maybe the rather to be taken in 4 hande /that they may get them that acheuethem the greater fame and prayfe. And thefe argumentes be fet out of the circumftances of the caufe / that is to faye / the tyme / the place / the doers / the thyng it felfe / the
1 B. pity. 3 B. omits afore.
. tho. 4 B. on.
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