ende but to vphould and kepe it it had nede of great strengthe and for to disprayse it a good harte bycause that which is séene with the eyes is more easie to dispraise than that thynge which we haue already in our handes It hath bene séene that many noble mē haue had fortune so much at their desires that they haue enterprised a thing almost impossible to attaine the which after for lacke of good discreciō were not able to kepe it Wherby it is to be vnderstand that the greatnes of the heart doth not consist so much in obtainyng the thing that we desire to haue as it is to set light True fortitude consisteth in mortefying our affctions contemne that that one loues best Apolonius Thyaneus dyd he not dispise his owne proper countrey trauailed thorowout all Asia for to go to sée the Philosopher Hyarchis in Ynde Abraham in like manner forsoke his own countrey and kinred Genes 12.1 Moses regarded not in like manner the statelines of Pharaos courte Exod. 2.15 Exod. 10.28 Ambition is to be auoyded as these exāples teache Aristotle leauyng the familiaritie he had with Alexander returned to his owne house for to reade Philosophy Nicodius nothing extemed the treasure that the great king Cyrus gaue him for to folowe him in the warres The Philosopher Anatillus refused thrée times the principality of Athenes saying he had rather bée seruaūt to the good then a chastiser of the euil Cecilius Metellus a valiaunt capitaine Roman neither would accepte the estate of Dictator that to him was geuen nor the office of Consull that to him was offered saying Prouerbes Chap. 16.19 that he would eate in rest that which with great trauail he had gotten in the war Themperour Dyoclesian as it is manifest forsoke with his frée will the Empyre for no other cause but to flée the brute of the common spéech and to liue in rest at home Worthy is hée to be praised that hath the harte to care little for an Empire or a realme Prouerbes Chap. 16.32 but yet more is hée worthy that can sette light by him selfe and not to be gouerned by his owne will for there is no man in this worlde but that hée is more in loue with that hée desireth then with that he hath Couetous mē neuer satisfied but howe couetous or ambicious so euer any man be if he trauail x. daies for that which he hath hee will bestowe an hundreth to obtain that whiche hée desireth Most men mislyke of their estate because that wée do not bestow our labor as we shuld but we bestowe it after our desires If we do trauaill if we be troubled if we cannot slepe it is not for necessitie but for to satisfie our wil and appetite And that is worst of all we not contenting our selues with that we can do procure to can that that we desire O how many haue we séen in the court of princes Will hath ouer throwen mightie men and brought them from princes courtes to destruction to whom it had béen better for them that they had béen no lordes of their will and lesse of their desires because sythens they dyd that they might and desired begon to doe that they ought not to doe If the man that offendes vs ought to aske pardon let euery man aske pardon to himselfe before any other Men are to them selues the greatest enemies for in my life I found neuer none that hurte mée so much as my self I haue béen only the procurer of myne owne hurt Presumption and pryde go together Dan. 4.30 Enuie is the frute of vnbrideled affeccions Gen. 4.5 Gen. 32.5 and .11 Who made mée fall into pryde but mine only presumpsion and fondnes Who durst haue prisoned my sorowfull heart with enuye but lacke of natural gouernement who durst haue inflamed myne inwardes with the fyer of yre if it had not béen my great impacience what is the cause I am so great a gurmander but that my bringyng vp was to delicate what is the cause I haue not departed with my goodes to the poore and néedy but the excessyue loue I had to my ryches who gaue leaue to my fleshe to ryse against my folish desire if my hart had not béen fixed in voluptuous pleasures O my soule of all this domage and open faultes to whome doe you laye the blame but to myne owne sensualitie Great folly it is the thefe being within the house to seke for him without euen so it is with vs a manifest faulte of experience when seing in vs the blame and yet charge another with the occasion Reformation of our faultes bringeth quietnes by this we ought to perceyue that wée shall neuer cease to complaine vntill the tyme we begin to amende Oh howe often and many tymes hath vertue fought with the bottome of our consciences This battaile is in the children of God in the which they ouercome but the wicked are subdued to sinne Rom. chap. 7.18 Ephes 6.12 Heb. 12.1 which styrred vs to be good and our sensualitie resisted which is vaine frowardnes by the which battail folowed a darke corrupt iudgement but to conclude we of oure selues as of our selues are very miserable The Poete Ouid reherseth the louing Philis the Rodian complaining of her selfe sayeth Oh Demophon if I had not bestowed time to loue thée and siluer and shippes for thexpediciō of the voiage thou durst not wel to haue gone nor I to haue bewailed thy departing in suche wise that with my owne wepons was my body wounded If we beleue Iosephus in that he did wryte of Maryana Homer in that he sayd of Helene Plutarch in that he spake of Cleopatra Virgil of the quene Dydo Theophrast of Pollysene Zantippe of Cammilla Assenarius of Clodia Men are by nothing more deceyued than by themselues Al these ladies and excellent princes neuer found themselues so deceiued by their louers as they were by beleuing their owne proper counsels and lightly consenting to the same If to Suetone Zantippe and Plutarch we will geue credite and beleue those thynges that they declare of Pompe Pyrrhus Hannyball and the Consull Marius of the Dictator Caesar of Mark Antony many others we shal finde they blamed not fortune so much to be vanquished by others as in their prosperitie they were ruled by their owne aduise and counselles It is true that often times the opinion of our kinne frendes maketh vs to enter into busines out of the waye of reason Frends often tymes seduce from reason not caring but for a folishe auauncement of goodes and riches And at the end when by their setting forth one hath enterprised a certaine busynes of importaunce whiche doeth require ayd and helpe those same bée the laste that shewe them selues helping frendes Many are frendes in wordes but fewe are to be founde in dede whiche is the occasion many tymes that men cannot returne from enterprisyng such
thinges as neither shall growe to their honor nor profite Many men say that they haue enemies recountyng them often without findyng number Although it be true if it be well noted that none haue oftener or a greater enemy than him self And the most greatest daunger that I sée Clyming causeth fallinge is that vnder the shadowe to preferre and make better my selfe my selfe is the cause of my destruction The Philospher Neotidas on a tyme being asked which was the best counsell that a man might take answered The counsell of others with the dispraisyng of his owne We must not stande in our owne conceit and he sheweth the cause for that the corrupcion of man is suche that often hee searcheth in him selfe with greate paine that whiche in the head of another hée fyndeth wyth great ease Then it foloweth that in the best tyme of our lyfe our owne lyfe deceiueth vs the euil commeth fourth on euery syde heauy thoughtes ouertake vs our frendes leaue vs A liuely description of the miseries of mans life persecutors torment vs troubles make an end of vs ambicion burieth vs. If wée beholde thys thyng what wee bée whereof we bée and wherefore wée bée we shall fynde that our beginnyng is obliuion our middle age trauayle the ende sorow and altogether an open errour TheÌ„ sée how heauy is the courtiers lyfe The courtyers life is full of perills as also howe daungerous the way is where as be stones to stumble at myer to sticke fast in yse for to fall on pathwayes for to lose hym in water for to passe thorow théeues for to be afrayd of great affaires and busines to doe so that hard it is for any to goe there as they would and more harde to aryue there as they desire All these thinges haue we sayd to the intent that the Courtiers may vnderstand that neither I nor they can chose the good way leaue the euil voyd that that hurtes vs and conserue that which profiteth vs folow reason and plucke away the occasion but if by chaunse some good fal to vs Blynde fortune praysed for prosperity and blamed for aduersitie we thanke fortune and if euill come to vs then we do put the fault in her The second Chapiter ¶ How that none ought to counsell aâ— other to go to the Court nor when he is there to come from it but euery man to chose the life that best he liketh ARistarch the great Philosopher of Theban sayd That tyme and man was so diuers that hard it was for the most wise to chuse that to them which was good and to kepe them from that which to them is euil One thing is not pleasant to all men There is nothing more true for we sée dayly with the same that one is healed another falleth sicke with that that one waxeth better another waxeth worse with that that one is amended another is put downe and to conclude with that litle thing that one is content withall another is in dispaire The lerned Alchymus was by his Moecoenas king Demetrius asked wherein specially did coÌ„sist the greatest trauail of the worlde He answered ther is few thinges but in them there is either trauail or suspicion A minde neuer satisfied hath excessiue trauail but aboue all the mooste excessiue trauail that a man may haue is neuer to be satisfied And that this is true we perceiue that wheÌ„ a litle thing contenteth vs how litle soeuer it be we make it our paradice with the rest of our life which seldome chaunseth to fewe men because that liuyng as we liue not being contented we would assaie and knowe if it were good to be a king a prince a knight a maried man No man contented with his estate a religious or a marchaunt a laborer a shepeherd or of some other estate And at the ende when al is proued it shal be harde to finde where we would rest so vnconstaunt is the lightnes of men The wise determineth that to chose the best is the meane A simple creature is lightly contented with a small thing The poore coÌ„tente them selues with that which the riche mightie contemne but he that hath a great harte thynkes that pouertie is a greuous life like as they that be of high estate feare the fall of fortune Plato was in hys young yeres very worldely as he that had séene much aswell in the warres as in offices in whiche he was vsed and also in handy craftes On a time it was asked him wherin he had found most quietnes and rest He answered there is no estate of life wherein is not mutabilitie there is no honor where is no peril There is no roase without a thorne nor any pleasure but it is mixte with payne no riches where is no trauail no prosperitie but it endeth nor also plesure but faileth but wheÌ„ all is said I neuer fouÌ„d so much quietnes of minde as since I left myne offices in Cities withdrawing me to my bookes signifiyng that as long as we liue seruauntes of the world we desire al we proue all we procure all then all thinges are well séene and tasted all thinges do anoye vs the greatest part of our disquietnes commeth hereof that the aboundaunce we haue séemeth to vs litle and the litle of others séemeth to vs much We mislyke all that we haue our selues and coÌ„mend that which other enioye We saye that our wealth is trauayle and that the euill happe of others is rest we condemne others actes and wée allow our owne we watche to gette somewhat and sodeinly we sléepe to léese it agayne we imagine that all men liues content and we alone néedy And yet the worst is we beleue that we dream and put not our trust in that we sée before our eyen What way one ought to follow or what estate hee oughte to chose none can well knowe nor counsaile because the thyng is so troublesome and without good iudgement by which many are deceiued Mans life on earth full of troubles If the sailing on the sea be daungerous so is the walking on the earth troubleous As touching our lyfe we sée that he that is whole dayly falleth sicke the sicke dyeth some other scapeth deadly daungers some others lyngers forth to death Better is he that halâ—â—â—th in the way then he that runneth out of the way As touchyng the waifaryng men assone commeth he to his lodging that goeth softly as he that goeth hastely and loseth his way He that is in fauor liuing in slothfull rest had as much neede of vpholding as he that continually sweates in trauail Therfore I conclude The certainty of all thinges is that all thinges are vncertaine that there is nothing in this worlde so certain as that all thinges are vncertaine Then let vs returne to that we spake of It is said that it is fearefull to couÌ„sell any to marry to study to go to the war
Puzol ther he passed the residue of his years in quiet and rest accompanied onely with his bookes and taking for a singuler recreacion for to go twise or thrise a day to walke in the fayr feilds and the vines and him selfe oft to labor in them And it fortuned on a day whē he was absēt from his house that one wrote with a cole vpō his dore O felix Cato tu solus scis viuere which is to say O happy Cato thou only knowest how to liue Lucullus Consull and capitayn a Romayn right valiaunt brought to an end the warre agaynst the Parthes which had continued by the space of .16 yeres whereby he gat great honour of the citezens of Rome and immortall renoune for him selfe and great riches for his family And it is sayd of him that he only of al the Romaines did enioye peaceablye in his age the ryches that he had wonne in his youth in the warres And after when he came from Asia and sawe that the common welth was in deuision betwixte Marius and Silla he determined to leaue Rome make a house in the countrey nighe to Naples vpon the Sea side now at this present time called the Castle of Lobo which he edified and liued there .xviii. yeres in great tranquilitie His house was haunted with many people specially with greate Capitaynes that wēt into Asia and with Ambassadours that came from Rome which hée receyued very gently benignly One night when his seruauntes had made readye his supper with a lesse dyet thē he was accustomed to haue they excusing them selues that they ordayned the lesse because he had no straungers He said vnto them although sayd hée that there be no straungers with me know not you that Lucullus must suppe with Lucullus Plutarch speaking of this valiaunt mans exercise that he did after he was retired to the place aforesayd sayth that he delited much in hunting hawking but aboue all pleasures he most delited in his Library Reading of good thinges is a vertuous exercise there readyng and disputing incessantly Helius Spertianus sayth that Dioclesian after that hée had gouerned the Empyre xviij yeares forsooke it and went to take his pleasure in the fieldes there in quiet to ende the residue of his lyfe saying that it was tyme for him to leaue the daungerous estates of the court and get hym to a peaceable life in the village Two yeres after he was thēce retyred the Romaines sent vnto him a solemne Ambassade to inuite and desire him effectuously that he would take pitie of the cōmō welth and return promising him that so long as they liued there should none haue the name of Emperour but hée Now whē the Ambassadours ariued at hys house they found him in a litle garden where he was setting of Lettys and Onions And hearing what they sayd vnto him he answered in this wyse Doe you not thinke my frendes that it is much better for him that can sowe his Lettys and afterwarde pleasantly and merely to eate the same so still to exercise him selfe then to returne and enter into the goulfe of troubles in a common welth I haue assayed both I know what it is to commaund in the court and what it is to liue labor in the village wherefore I pray you suffer me here to abide in pacience for I desire rather here to liue with the labor of my handes then in the sorow and cares of an Empyre The laborers lyfe is more to be desired then the lyfe of a prince Note by this example that the life of the laborer is more to be desired then the life of a prince Cleo and Pericles succeded in the ruling of the common welth after Solon a man excelently lerned and wel estéemed and taken among the Grecians for halfe a God by the reason of the wyse lawes he made among the Atheniens These two noble gouernoures were much beloued because that as Plutarch telleth Pericles which xxx yeres had the administracion of the busines and affaires of the cittie was neuer sene to come into any mans house but his own nor yet to sit in anye open place among the common people suche a grauity was in him About the yeres of his age which was lx he went from Athens to a litle village where hee ended the reste of his dayes studying and passing the time in husbandry he had a litle smal gate or wicket in the entring of his house ouer which was written Inueni portū spes fortuna valete That is to saye forasmuch as now and before I haue knowledge of vanity I haue found the port of rest fye of hope and fortune fare well By this example no courtier can say that he leadeth a sure life but onlye that courtier which doth as this wyse captayn did withdraw him selfe Lucius Seneca was as who should saye a right leder to good maners and a instructer to good letters to Nero the sixt Emperour of Rome with whom he taried xxiiii yeres and had great doings of thinges pertayning to the common wealth as wel of priuate causes as otherwise because hee was sage and of great experience And at the last comming to greate age and weryed with the continuall conflictes and busines of the court left the court and went and dwelt in a litle mansion he had nigh to Nolè Cāpana where hee liued after a longe time as witnesseth his bokes De offiicis de Ira de bono viro de aduersa fortuna and other bokes which were to long to reherse At last fortune mans malice did their office Nero commaunded him to be slayne not for that he had committed any cryme worthy to dye or done any thing otherwise then an honest man ought to doe but onely because the lecherous Domicia hated him Note well reader thys example that sometime fortune pursueth him that forsaketh the court aswell as the courtier Scipio the Affrican was so estéemed among the Romaines that in .xxii. yeares whiles that he was in the warres hée neuer lost battail And yet made hée warre in Asia Europ and Affrica and to this neuer committed acte worthy of reproch And yet he wan Affrica put to sacke Carthage brought in bondage Numance ouercame Hanniball and restored Rome weakened and nere destroied by the losse they had at the battail of Cannes And yet for all this beyng of the yeres of .lii. he withdrew him from the courte of Rome to a litle village betwixt Puzoll and Capua where he liued a solitary life and so contēt withal that whiles he taried there a xi yeres space he neuer entred into Rome nor Capua The diuine Plato was borne in Liconia and was norished in Egipt learned in Athens It is read of him that he answered the Ambassadours of Cirene that required of him lawes to gouerne themselues in sure peace in this wise Difficilimum est homines amplissima fortuna ditatos legibus cōtinere Which is to vnderstand that it is
that there is no more loue in the court then are clothes vpon a bare horse For he that is in the court and is not armed with pacience it had béen much better for him not to haue come out of his countrey for being a quareller and sedicious felow Pacience belongeth to a courtier in the court he shal be hated and paraduēture banished from thence and thē his returning shal be to his vtter shame Malice and displeasures take often an end in the village but in the court is alwayes an ouerplus of them What is the cause Fortune I say which hath the rule ouer them who count her for a goddesse Fortune is feared more than there is cause which is more feared of a foolish opinion thē for any power she hath ouer men The courtier also ought not to cōdiscēd to that which his sensualitie requireth but to that which reason doth persuade him vnto Reason ought to rule all men forasmuch as the one demaūdes more then néedes and the other contentes him with lesse then he hath Forasmuch then as in the court there are so many tables to gluttō on so many new found playes to play at so many quarelles to fight for so many matters to pleade there is no cause to meruaile if the sage be cherished and the dissolute person blamed The good man within the court is as a nutte within the shale A good man in the court is as a nut within the shale and mary within the bone and a perle within the cokle and a rose among the thornes I doe not say reader for the qualitie and quātitie of the malice of the court that all be vicious that be there God forbid that it so should bee but when I call to remembraunce we be all mortall men I thinke it in maner impossible to ariue safe into the porte among so many Sillas and Caribdes Ye will say that the wily and the subtle person there waxeth riche and that the great summes of money bee there I confesse it I would say your saying should bée good if they that were of the best knowledge and the most verteous nomber were auaunced for their prudence as the other be by hazard and chaunce or by theft Vertues rewardes excell the rewardes of fortune for the rewarde of vertue is not lyke the reward of fortune Itē the courtier ought not to geue presentes nor lightly take for why Presentes and giftes howe they ought to be geuen for to geue him that deserues it not there lackes wisedome And to receiue of him that one ought not is a thing but vile Who that wil exercise liberalitie Liberallitie ought to consider what he geueth to whom he geueth for it should be but folly to geue that which one may not and that which he himself néedes And one ought to cōsider the tyme and the end and the season and wherfore he geueth And if the courtier geue somethyng ouer liberalitie without iust cause of recōpēce of him which is out of creadite and in the tyme that he beginneth to declyne is not then the gift euil imployed is it not to be lamented that one geues sooner to the flatterer to tell some feined or lying tales Giftes ill bestowed or a iester to make them laugh or to a common lyer to make thē talke or to a pleasaunt felow to inuent a lye rather then to a trustie seruaunt that hath all the dayes of his life deserued to haue thanke for his good seruice Yet for all this myne entencion is not to persuade great men that they should not geue to all men but I say the true seruauntes ought to be preferred because it is more méete that their seruice should be rewarded then the presentes of straungers considered When a man geueth to straungers the seruauntes séeing the same drawe backe yée may be assured that they not only murmure at that which is geuen but also accuse him of his vngētle déed and become a mortall enemy to hym that the thing is geuen vnto Giftes bynde the giuer The giftes makes a man much subiect that receiueth them for assoone as any man doth take of another an horse or a gowne or oftē sit with him at his table he bindes himselfe thereby to beare him fauour to defend his quarel to keepe him company to take his parte and to loue that that he loueth And reason will that sithens one féeleth profite of another that he be not vnkynde howbeit let a man beware to binde himselfe so much vnder the will of other men that he thereby forgetteth his owne honestie Many young children discended of an honest house goe to the court take with them a good parte of their goodes consume the same playing eating and drinking Prodigall sonnes and vsing baudry and adultery vnder colour of learning their behauior and resorte to the great mennes houses to no other intent but to be much made of thē where they take a great repast and afterward so playe the young wanton fooles that they spende rent honor and all And when the purse is flat Newes hunters their office is to go all the day in the stréetes to the churches and to the palaice to aske newes and tidynges only to pype out lyes and fables at the Lordes boordes and all for to goe scot free And there is a sorte of young men in the court yea I may say to you of those that haue beardes that neither haue maister nor entertainers that as soone as a straunger commeth to the court straightwayes they boorde him saying that they will shewe him the fashions and maners of the court Fashion teachers the pleasures of the palaices the maner how to kéepe him from deceiptfull felowes and to entertain yong gentlewomen And thus the new come courtier that is yet a foole in the mean season shal be handled in such wise that now goeth a gowne now a coate another tyme a horse and sometyme purse and all And there is another sorte of men in the court that busieth thēselues with so great auctoritie and with so litle wit that after they haue vsed the company of some great Lord they wil send him a letter by their page saying they be poore gentlemen Poore gentlemen shifters kynsfolke to some great men and that they be there suing for some office and that they haue a payment in hand wherefore they require him to lende him a certaine sum of money And yet are they in no such necessitie but onely to get somewhat eyther to buye a gay coate or a horse or to kéepe a whore There is another sorte of false and beggerly courtiers the which after they be once vsed to the court they goe from church to church to aske for Gods sake Roagues saying they be poore suiters that they loue better to begge then to robbe commending themselues to the priestes to beg for them on the poore parisheners
when they preach and so take agaynst reason the good that poore men shuld haue There is another sorte of haunters in the court Table hauÌ„ters that goe from one house to another of the great estates and Lords counterfaiting to bée diligent seruauÌ„ts flatteryng the steward the butler and the cooke and liue of that which is left of the dinners and goe their wayes with theyr pockettes and their sléeues full of meate for to suppe withall And there is another maner of sorte that go two and two and thrée and three together in a morning to spy and see if there be any thing euil kepte Picking pilseterâ— and with that to looke and to prye if a sword or a Spanish cloke or a purse be fallen aside if there bée they sing in a mery note this is pro nobis Other there be that for to conduict and defende a whore when the court remoues as one may saye more theÌ„ ruffians they liue of the gaine of the miserable woman Apple squeeres Another hath false dise false marked cardes for to deceiue the innocentes winne their money Cogging gamesters and léese their owne soules And there lackes not in the court old womeÌ„ and wrinckled trottes that after their haruest is past Bawdes cloake the sinnes of other and beguile those that be chast and vndermine suche as be married hurte their neighbours sell maydeÌ„s to whoredome for luker and doe norishe them therefore whereof folowes that these olde whores sometime sel wenches better cheape then fishers doe lamperyes O beholde the company of the court the holines the religioÌ„ the brotherhed and finally the foule disorder of the same And I say for my parte goe to the court who will and there abyde and triumph who will as for my selfe I do remember I am a christen man that I must accompt for the tyme I haue lost and therfore I had much rather to labor and dygge and delue out of the court and be saued then to be nigh the kyng my coÌ„science not cleane nor pure The xii Chapiter ¶ That in the court of princes all say wee will doe it but none doe it BYas the great Philosopher of great renoume amonges the Grecians sayde vpon a tyme to the great Alexander Quilibet in suo negotio hebetior est quaÌ„ in alieno meaning that commonly euerye man is more blinded in his owne affayres then in another mannes And he so sayd by very good reason Most men are wisest in other mens matters for that there bee men which for to geue a wise deliberate and sage couÌ„sail for to remedy a sodain mischiefe haue excellent wittes so that it be in another mannes matter But in their owne affayres they haue neyther witte to gouerne their own houses nor stable minde to couer their owne misery Cayus Iulius Caesar Octauus Augustus Marcus Antonius Septimius Seuerus Marcus Aurelius other in great nomber that were estéemed in theyr priuy busines Some can go nerue the common wealth which cannot gouerne their owne houses that is to say in the rulyng of the common wealth were wonders wittie but we read that they wer so negligent in gouerning theyr owne housholdes their wiues their family the it is much to their shame reproche therfore such be séene often to be good to rule the coÌ„moÌ„ welth the be nothing worth to gouerne their owne had need if it might be honestly sayd to haue a ruler to rule theÌ„ Plutarch reporteth that the noble valiaÌ„t capitain Niseas neuer lost battail â—â—â—lfe likyng hâ—â—â—â—eth but onely in trusting to much to his own wit iudgemeÌ„t And if we beleue Hiarcus the Philosopher it is more hurtful to a man to staÌ„d in his own coÌ„ceipt theÌ„ to phaÌ„sy a womaÌ„ for in louing a woman a man hurteth but himselfe but in sticking to much to his own phaÌ„tasy it may redouÌ„d to the hurt of a whole coÌ„mon weale Al this the is said shal be to admonish them the tary in the court to be coÌ„uersant which the graue sage persons and with such as be learned such as haue good experience For the graue learnes vertue Scilence and experience Scilence is a certayne guide to a man experieÌ„ce is the consuÌ„macion of all For although the courtier being yong be neuer so sage graue rich or in fauor The guides of a young courtier he shall néed a father to couÌ„sail hym a brother to persuade hym a guide to teache him the way a maister to instruct him a corrector to punysh him because the mischifes craftes wickednes doth so abouÌ„d in the court the it is impossible that a maÌ„ alone may defeÌ„d him froÌ„ al vtterly resist theÌ„ For in the court there is none so high away to destruction as for a man to be gouerned onely by himselfe and haue his owne swing A definition of the court The court is a perpetuall dreame a botomelesse whorlepole an inchaunted phantasy and a mase when he is in he cannot get out till be bee mor founded One of the best remedies that the courtier may get against so many euils A faithfull frende is a great helpe to a Courtier is to haue a faythfull frende that flatters him nothing but that rather will correct and rebuke him if he go home late if he walk by night if he be a false player or whorehunter But where shall we fynde such a frende For we see the frendship in the court is commonly vsed among young courtiers in this sort that so soone as two or thrée are met together Faithfull frendes are seldom found in the court straite fall they to quarellyng fighting ryoting so that there is rather occasion geuen to do euil then good couÌ„sail to refraine Therfore he that haunteth the court it were meete that he had some frende to whom without feare he might common of his busines and that the multitude be also to hym common frendes but aboue all one perfit frend I would also he should keepe himself from the conuersacion of sedicious persons Sedicious persons are to be auoyded from collericke persons and vacabondes for the rascall sorte will slaunder say the kyng payeth naught that those which be in fauour haue all the swing that the officers are proude that mens seruice is euil recompenced the good vnknowen With these wordes and such other lyke the poore courtiers forgettes to serue and begin to murmure Also the good christian man ought not to ceasse to amend his life Amendment or lyfe seldom practised in the court for that hée hopeth to liue long although those that be olde there occupy themselues rather in new pastance then to correct theyr old sinnes Ye shal finde them that promyse euery day for to amend theÌ„selues in their age and yet neuertheles dye there worse then deuils Amendment promised but not performed the cause is that they all say we wil doe and
hard to bring to passe to make rich men to be subiect to the rigour of the lawe To conclude Plato not willing to abyde longer the clamor and cry of the court went and dwelt in a litle village two miles from Athens called Academia where the good old man after he had taryed there .xiiij. yeres teaching and writing many notable doctrines ended there his moste happy dayes After the memory of him the auncients called the village Academia which is to say in English a schole The conclusion is that all these honourable sage princes wise men left Monarchies kingdomes Cities and great riches and went into the vyllages there to serche a poore an honest and a peaceable lyfe Not that I will say that some of these lefte the court to be there poore and banished and rebuked but of their frée wil and frée libertie minding to liue a quiet and honest life or they dyed The xviij Chapiter ¶ The aucthor complayneth with great reason of the yeares that he lost in the court I Will demaunde of mine owne self mine owne life and make accoumpt of the same to the entent that I wil cōferre my yeares to my trauailes and my trauailes to my yeares that it may appeare how long I left of to liue and beganne to dye My life gentle reader hath not béen a life but a long death my dayes a play new for to begyn my yeares a verye tedious dreame The authors lyfe past my pleasures Scorpions my youth a transitorie fantasye My prosperitie hath béen no prosperitye but properly to speake a painted Castell and a treasure of Alcumyn I came to the court very yong where I sawe diuers maners of offices and chaunges euen among the princes that I serued And I haue assayed to trauail by sea and by land and my recompence was much more then I deserued and that was this that sometyme I was in fauor and sometyme out of fauor I haue had experience of the somer santes of destines I haue had in the courte frendes and enemyes I haue had false reports Inconstant fortune I haue béen euen now glad and mery and forthwith sadde and sory to day rich to morowe poore now mounted vpwarde straite throwen dounewarde This hath been to me a masking where I haue lost boeth money and tyme. And now I say to thee my soule what hast thou gottē of this great iorney The recompence is this A Couriers recompence that I haue gotten there a graye heade féete full of goute mouth without téeth raynes full of grauel my goodes layde to pledge my body charged with thought and my soule litle clēsed from sinne And yet is there more seyng that I must néedes speake that is that I haue returned my body so wery my iudgement so dull my tyme so lost the best of my age so passed that is worst of all I found no tast in any thing that is in the world so that to conclude I am of my selfe all werye of my selfe What should I more tell or say of the alteracion of my lyfe and of the chaunges of fortune I came to the court innocent and come from it malicious I went thither true and meaning truth The alteration that commeth by the court and returned a lyar I went thither humble and returned presumptuous I went thither sober returned a gurmand and glutton I went thither gentle and humayne and returned cleane contrary Finally in goyng thither I marde my self in al points And I haue no cause to laye the faulte in my maisters for the vices bée soone learned without a maister cannot be forgottē without a corrector O miserable that I am I kept in the court an accompt of my goodes to knowe howe they were wasted not for to distribute them to the poore I tooke héede of my honor for to encrease it not for to better my selfe by the tyme I tooke care of them that should paye mee to knowe what was owyng mée and not that I might gette to profite the poore withall but to profite in riches and not in vertue I held an accoumpt with my seruauntes to none other purpose then to know how long they had béen with me and serued mée and not to enquire what lyfe they led Finally I held a coumpt of my life but it was more to conserue it then to correct it Lo beholde this was my accoumpt this was my calculacion this was the Arsmetrique that I learned in the court Let vs yet go a litle further and sée myne exercises I neuer was yet in the court but I founde to whom I bare malice or els that enuied mée I was neuer yet in the palaice but I founde a window open and a courtier murmur I neuer yet spake to princes The misliking of courtiers of their state but I wēt from them not contented in my mind with some parte of their answere I neuer yet went to bed without complaynt nor neuer did ryse without a sigh If I went about to doe anye good thing my great affaires hindered mee If I wold study my felowes letted me If I went to take any honest and quiet pastyme mine affayres would not permit mée If I kept my selfe solitary and from company my thoughtes martyred mée The lacke of mony a great misery Finally there was neuer any thing that so vexed my heart as the lack of money in my purse And yet all this is nothing remembring that I was euer enuious to suche as were myne equalles a flatterer to my superiors and without pitie to mine inferiors wher I phansied one I bare hate almost to all other I found euery man worthy of reproofe but against my selfe I could not suffer a worde to be spoken O how forgetfull haue I béen which shoulde forget or a morsell of meate had béen put in my mouth haue talked aloude to my self alone as it had béen one that had béen mad O how often hath chaūced me that in comming from the counsail wery or from the palaice thoughtfull I would not heare mine owne seruauntes speake nor dispatch such as I had to doe withall O how many times haue I béen so drowned in busines that I could not moderate my pensiuenes although my frendes did counsail mee to the cōtrary O alas how many times hath my mynde pressed me to leaue the court and the worlde and to yelde my selfe to some solitary desert as an Heremite because I saw the king auaūce him and him and I put backe as a person halfe desperate Moreouer to fulfill my trauailes alwaies I went asking serching newes of the affayres of the court alwayes harkening what one said of another alwayes spying and watching and all this considered I founde by myne accompt that I liued in heauynes captiuitie and state of damnacion Let vs yet go farther If I were rich one or other serched some meane to deuour mée If I were poore I found none to succour mée my frendes cryed