Selected quad for the lemma: book_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	good_a	hear_v	read_v	2,687	5	6.0596	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A68983	The court and country, or A briefe discourse dialogue-wise set downe betweene a courtier and a country-man contayning the manner and condition of their liues, with many delectable and pithy sayings worthy obseruation. Also, necessary notes for a courtier. VVritten by N.B. Gent.	Breton, Nicholas, 1545?-1626?	1618 (1618)	STC 3641; ESTC S104725	24,408	40

no such diuelish deuises when womens eyes will bewitch mens hearts and the breath of Tongues will poison a mans wits And for your rauishing delights it is a word that I well vnderstand not or at least as I haue heard this rauishing is a word that signifieth robbing of wenches of the inner lining of their linnen against their wills and if it be so it is a perilous delight that brings a man to the Gallowes if not to the Diuell for a little fit of pleasure but if there be any better sence in it I would be glad to vnderstand it though at this time I care not to be troubled with it Now for Princes Pallaces they are too high buildings for our Brickes plaine people are content with Cottages and had rather pay tributes to their maintenance then haue them too much in our view for blinding of our eies with their golden brightnes Now for life and death hee that liues at quiet and will not be contented may change for the worse and repent it when he cannot helpe it Oh Cousin I haue heard my father say that it is better to sit fast then to rise and fall and a great wise man that know the world to a hayre would say that the meane was sure better be in the middle roome then either in the Garret or the Sellor and an other of an excellent worlds wit that ranne the ring with him in the walke of the world would say that honour was but ancient riches and in high places where frownes are deadly and fauours are vncertaine there was more feare of the one then hope of the other and a laborious weekes wages well payde was better then a yeares hope in paper and therefore hee that would leaue possessions for promises and assurances for hope were more full of wit then vnderstanding and of conceipt then iudgement for though there is no seruice to the King nor no fishing to the Sea yet there are so many suitors for rewards and so many beaters of the water that delayes may be cold comforts of long hopes to the one and the other angle all day and catch a Gudgion at night and therefore though the world be like a Well with two Buckets that when one falleth another riseth yet the fall is much swifter then the rysing and good reason because the one goes downe empty and the other comes vp laden But to be plaine I haue so long beene vsed to a quiet life that I would not leaue it for a world Now for your notes of worth that you haue set downe in your Court commendations I allow that all may bee true and they that thriue in it may thinke well of it and hold it a kind of heauen vpon earth but for my selfe I remember certaine notes that I read in a Booke of my Fathers owne writing that shall goe with me to my graue there were not many but in my mind to good purpose as first for greatnes My minde to me a Kingdome is so that the quiet of the minde is a greater matter then perhaps many great men possesse Then for wealth Godlines is great riches to him that is contēt with that hee hath which many great men somtime perhaps haue lesse then meaner people Then for a good rule of life Feare God and obay the King which perhaps some doe not so well in the Court as the Country Then for the course of the Law Loue God aboue all and thy neighbour as thy selfe which if you doe in the Court as wee doe in the Country Enuy would worke no hatred nor malice mischiefe but loue in all persons would make a pallace a Paradise which in the best is more euident then in the meanest apprehended but God whose loue is the life of all bréed such loue in the liues of all that peace may euer liue among all Now for learning what your néede is thereof I know not but with vs this is all we goe to schoole for to read common Prayers at Church and set downe common prises at Markets write a Letter and make a Bond set downe the day of our Births our Marriage day and make our Wills when we are sicke for the disposing of our goods when we are dead these are the chiefe matters that we meddle with and we find enough to trouble our heads withall for if the fathers knowe their owne children wiues their owne husbands from other men maydens keepe their by your leaues from subtle batchelors Farmers know their cattle by the heads and Sheepheards know their sheepe by the brand What more learning haue we need of but that experienee will teach vs without booke We can learne to plough and harrow sow and reape plant and prune thrash and fanne winnow and grinde brue and bake and all without booke and these are our chiefe businesse in the Country except we be Iury-men to hang a théefe or speake truth in a mans right which conscience experience wil teach vs with a little learning then what should we study for except it were to talke with the man in the Moone about the course of the Starres No Astronomy is too high a reach for our reason we will rather sit vnder a shady tree in the Sunne to take the benefit of the cold ayre then lye and stare vpon the Starres to mark their walke in the Heauens while wee loose our wits in the Cloudes and yet we reuerence learning as well in the Parson of our parish as our Schoolemaster but chiefely in our Iustices of peace for vnder God and the King they beare great sway in the Country But for great learning in great matters and in great places wee leaue it to great men If wee liue within the compasse of the Law serue God and obey our King and as good Subiects ought to doe in our duties and our prayers dayly remember him What néede we more learning Now for wisdome I heard our Parson in our Church read it in the holy Booke of God That the wisdome of the world is but foolishnes before God And why then should a man séeke to befoole himselfe before God with more wit then is necessary for the knowledge of the world the wise man must dye as well as the foole and when all are the Sonnes of Adam wee haue a faire warning to bee too busie with tasting of the Tree of too much knowledge I haue read in the Booke of the best wisdome that the feare of God is the beginning of wisdome and surely he that begins his lesson there may continue his learneng the better and come to bee a good Scholler at last Salomon the wisest man that euer was said that all was vanity and vexation of the Spirit and why then should a man vex his spirit with séeking to be as wise as a Woodcocke in beating his braines to get the possession of vanity And yet I must confesse that least vanity turne to villanie it is good that the authority of wisdome haue power

where peace is the practise of power iustice the grace of wisdome and mercy the glory of iustice where time is fitted to his vse and reason is the gouernour of nature where priuiledges are protections for the vnwilling offendant and sanctuaries are the fafety of the vnhappily distressed where the name of want hath no note basenesse no regard wantonnesse no grace nor wickednesse entertainement except the Diuell like an Angell of light come vnséene to the world where the qualities of vertue are the grace of honour and the breath of wisdome is the beauty of greatnesse where art hath rewarde of labour seruice the regard of duty nature the affect of reason and reason the respect of iudgement where idlenesse is hated foolishnes derided wilfulnesse restrayned and wickednesse vanished where wits refined braines setled bodies purged and spirits purified make a consort of such Creatures as come neere vnto heauenly natures Beléeue me Cousin there is no comparison betweene the Court and the Country for the sweete of conceit in an vnderstanding spirit which can truely apprehend the true natures both of pleasures and profit Alas let the Cowe lowe after her Calfe and the Eue bleat after her Lambe the Asse bray the Owle sing and the Dog barke What musique is in this medley let ignorance be an enemy to wit and experience be the Mistris of fooles the Stockes stand at the Constables doore and the Gallowes stand hard by the high way What is all this to matter of worth to see Laddes lift vp leaden héeles and Wenches leare after their Lubbers to see old folkes play the fooles to laugh at the birds of their owne breed and the young Colts wighie at their parting with their Fillies when Madge must home to milking and Simon must goe serue the beasts What conceite is in all these courses but to trouble a good spirit with spending time in idlenes Oh Cousin if thou wert once well entred into the life of a Courtier thou wouldst neuer more be in loue with the Country but vse it as a cleane shirt sometime for a refreshing though it be farre courser for wearing and little cleaner then that which you put off I could say more that might easily perswade you to change your opinion and alter your affection from the Country to the Court but I hope this shall suffice If not I pray you let me heare you speake to some purpose COVNTRY Say quoth you Let me tell you that all that you hauesaid or I thinke you can say doth nor will worke any more with my witte to incline my humour to your will then a Pill that lyeth in the Stomake and more offends nature then purgeth humour for where there is no corruption Phisicke hath nothing to worke vpon except by the trouble of nature to bring health into sicknes Doe you thinke so much of your strength as to remoue a Mil-stone with your little finger or are you so perswaded of your wit that with a word of your mouth you can take away the strength of vnderstanding No such matter no hast but good I pray you giue me leaue a little and if I speake not to your purpose I will speake to mine owne and I will say as one Dante an Italian Poet once said in an obscure Booke of his Vnderstand me that can I vnderstand my selfe And though my Country booke be written in a rough hand yet I can read it and picke such matter out of it as shall serue the turne for my instruction What is here to do in perswading you know not what to talke you care not how Is this Court eloquence Is not the Clownyfying of wit the Fooltfying of vnderstanding home spunne cloth is not worth the wearing water is a cold drinke and simplenesse is but basenesse and a Clowne is but a rich Begger Now truly Cousin you are quite out for let me tell you that good words and good déeds are the best tryals of good minds and make the best passages among the best people and so much for this matter Now to answer your prouerbs and as I can remember most points of your discourses First let me tell you that I hold it better to see something of mine owne at home then trauell so farre that I see nothing of mine owne abroad for I haue heard that roling stones gather no mosse And for my education if it hath béene simple and my disposition not subtle If I be not fashioned according to the world I shall bee the fitter for heauen And for my wit to deale truely with you I had rather hold it in a Coppy of a good Tenure then by the title of an idle braine to kéepe a fooles head in Frée-hold Now for my learning I hold it better to spell and put together then to spoile and put asunder but there are some that in their Child-hood are so long in their horne booke that doe what they can they will smell of the Baby till they cannot sée to read Now we in the Country beginne and goe forward with our reading in this manner Christs Crosse be my speed and the Holy Ghost for feare the Diuell should be in the letters of the Alphabet as hee is too often when hee teacheth od fellowes play tricks with their Creditors who in stead of payments write IOV. and so scoffe many an honest man out of his goods And againe when he teacheth trauellors that haue taken a surfet in the Low-countries to set downe H and O. to expresse the nature of their griefe and to ieast out the time with B and R. or to bite mens good names with those letters to auoyde actions of slander and when they write you R. and they B. Oh fine knackes of more wit then honesty But I hope there are none of these among you But I haue heard my father say that when he was young hee saw many such in such places as you liue in but it was a great way hence beyond the salt water Now for Astronomy I thinke it be fallen from the height that it was in former time for Starres were wont to bee in the heauens now Gallants hang them vpon their héeles so bright in their Spurres as if they were all young Phaetons that would ride Phoebus horses while the folly of pride should sit in the Chaire of ruine but let them sit fast when they are vp least they breake their neckes in their falls Now for your Nature and Art I thinke better of a naturall Art then an artificiall Nature And for your Fore-horse pace right on I hope he is better then a resty Iade that will not stir out of the Stable or a kicking Curtall that will sette his Ryder beside the Saddle and better draw soundly in a cart then be lamed in a coach or be sicke in a Foote-cloth better a true trot then a fidling amble But let these humors passe Now for your bewitching obiects I doubt they will make abiects of Subiects and therefore I loue