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It was agreed vppon betwext two gent, that yf any
of them did better behaue him selfe in combatt then his
aduersarie that he sholde be victorious & haue the honor
of the victorie, & the other be iudged as victored & a prisoner
It chaunced that the one had his eie striken owte, the other
his nose cleerely cutt of. In wch case it was demaunded
whether of them had obteined greatest honnor. ffirst it
was saide that he yt was depriued of his eie, hath loste ye
most principall member. ffor a man beinge blinde is vnfitt
for all exercyses, also the eie is placed hiest, as a moste
worthie parte & beinge therof berefte incurreth greatest
reproche because it is the guide of the whole bodie, the
instrument of lighte & the only meane to convey the knowledge
wherby the minde & harte be directed. By the eie the me:
morie of man is preserued & likewise delighted, but the nose
is an instrument of the heade only of baser condicion, &
serueth for ye dischardge of vnholsome humours & receaving
in of vnpleasaunt savours. Also because the sence of smel:
linge is not much profitable to the bodie of man, it semeth
the nose serueth only for an ornamente of the face wch nature
hath purposely ordeygned. I saye therfore in conclusion that the
eies are members of more exellencie, and are as it were the
gates of sighte for openinge & shuttinge of them, we see howe
nature as a skillfull mistres hath ordeined two eiliddes to de:
fende them. In one other chapter we haue declared that the
eie is an instruemnte of the sowle, & the minde discerneth
by meane of the eie. Therfore the more exellent it is, the
more is the greif & reproche of him that is therof berefte.
On the contrarie it maye be alleadged, that the nose is a mem:
ber ioyned to the face & a more necessarie ornament for ye
bodie of man, also beinge cutt of, it cannot be recured, but
losing one eie, the other may giue lighte sufficient for the
vse of life, & as somme saye of more virtue, because the
virtue of them both, naturallie resorteth to one, so as the
sight of that one is better, then they were both togethers
The reason therof is, that the virtue of seinge is not to be
deuided thoughe it maye be diminished. ffor this respecte