non potest esse_, that which is past
cannot be recalled; trouble not thyself, vex and grieve thyself no more, be
it obloquy, disgrace, &c. No better way, than to neglect, contemn, or seem
not to regard it, to make no reckoning of it, _Deesse robur arguit
dicacitas_: if thou be guiltless it concerns thee not:

[4023] "Irrita vaniloquae quid curas spicula linguae,
Latrantem curatne alta Diana canem?"

Doth the moon care for the barking of a dog? They detract, scoff and rail,
saith one, [4024]and bark at me on every side, but I, like that Albanian
dog sometimes given to Alexander for a present, _vindico me ab illis solo
contemptu_, I lie still and sleep, vindicate myself by contempt alone.
[4025]_Expers terroris Achilles armatus_: as a tortoise in his shell,
[4026]_virtute mea me involvo_, or an urchin round, _nil moror ictus_
[4027]a lizard in camomile, I decline their fury and am safe.

"Integritas virtusque suo munimine tuta,
Non patet adversae morsibus invidiae:"

"Virtue and integrity are their own fence,
Care not for envy or what comes from thence."

Let them rail then, scoff, and slander, _sapiens contumelia non afficitur_,
a wise man, Seneca thinks, is not moved, because he knows, _contra
Sycophantae morsum non est remedium_, there is no remedy for it: kings and
princes, wise, grave, prudent, holy, good men, divine, are all so served
alike. [4028]_O Jane a tergo quem nulla ciconia pinsit_, Antevorta and
Postvorta, Jupiter's guardians, may not help in this case, they cannot
protect; Moses had a Dathan, a Corath, David a Shimei, God himself is
blasphemed: _nondum felix es si te nondum turba deridet_. It is an ordinary
thing so to be misused. [4029]_Regium est cum bene faceris male audire_,
the chiefest men and most understanding are so vilified; let him take his
[4030]course. And as that lusty courser in Aesop, that contemned the poor
ass, came by and by after with his bowels burst, a pack on his back, and
was derided of the same ass: _contemnentur ab iis quos ipsi prius
contempsere, et irridebuntur ab iis quos ipsi prius irrisere_, they shall
be contemned and laughed to scorn of those whom they have formerly derided.
Let them contemn, defame, or undervalue, insult, oppress, scoff, slander,
abuse, wrong, curse and swear, feign and lie, do thou comfort thyself with
a good conscience, _in sinu gaudeas_, when they have all done, [4031]"a
good conscience is a continual feast," in