tem egit erroribus, imo furoribus, plenam.[1] And yet he was the ablest emperor, almost, of all the list. But reposed[2] natures may do well in youth. As it is seen in Augustus Cæsar, Cosmus Duke of Florence, Gaston de Fois,[3] and others. On the other side, heat and vivacity in age is an excellent composition[4] for business. Young men are fitter to invent than to judge; fitter for execution than for counsel; and fitter for new projects than for settled business. For the experience of age, in things that fall within the compass of it, directeth them; but in new things, abuseth[5] them. The errors of young men are the ruin of business; but the errors of aged men amount but to this, that more might have been done, or sooner. Young men, in the conduct and manage[6] of actions, embrace more than they can hold; stir more than they can quiet; fly to the end, without consideration of the means and degrees; pursue some few principles which they have chanced
- ↑ He spent his youth in errors, nay rather, it was full of madnesses. Quoted with variations. "Juventam plenam furorum, nonnunquam et criminum habuit." Aelius Spartianus. Life of Septimius Severus, Caput 2, in Augustae Historiae Scriptores.
- ↑ Reposed. Calm.
- ↑ Gaston de Fois, Duc de Nemours, 1489–1512, son of Jean de Fois, Vicomte de Narbonne and of Marie d'Orléans, sister of Louis XII., a celebrated French general. He commanded the French armies in Italy against the Spaniards, and was killed in the battle of Ravenna, in 1512.
- ↑ Composition. Temperament.
- ↑ Abuse. To deceive, to lead astray.
"The Devil hath power
T' assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps,
Out of my weakness and my melancholy,—
As he is very potent with such spirits,—
Abuses me to damn me."
Shakspere. Hamlet. ii. 2.
- ↑ Manage. Management.
"I commit into your hands
The husbandry and manage of my house."
Shakspere. The Merchant of Venice. iii. 4.
