the Court it had been better for him neuer to haue gone frō it because that in remembryng them the thinkyng is more prickyng the mynde weaker to resist them In the court of princes chaūses often tymes that lacke of money or other great busynes makes a manne abstayne from doyng euil the whiche beyng after in his house doeth suche dedes vnsemely to a gentlemā that they deserue to be corrected yea and bitterly punished There be also another sorte of men that forsakes the court to be more idle at home And suche would be reiected frō the nomber of honest menne seyng they chose y e tyme for their purpose to sinne in the village fearing to be infamed or dishonored in the court and yet beyng in the countrey liues w t shame forgettyng all reason To exchue these thynges he that leaueth the Court ought to leaue his percialitie that he hath folowed to forget all passions otherwise he shal lamēt y e swete bitternes that he leues wepe the life that he hath begunne This is true that in the court are more occasions geuen to destroy a mā then are at home in his owne house to saue him It is a small profite to y e courtier the chaūgyng of his dwellyng onles by thesame meanes he chaunge his condicions When the courtier sayth I wil withdrawe me to my countrey and go dye at home that is wel sayd but this shall suffice that he honestly withdrawe him selfe without determyng there dye This mortall life is to vs so prescript that we ought not to pursue it with sorowe but that we are bounde to amende it When Iob sayd Tedet animam meam vite mee it was not for that his life weried him but because he did not amende it Whosoeuer leaueth y e court may be bolde to say y t he goeth not to dye but may wel thinke he hath escaped from a fayre prison from a confused life frō a daungerous sickenes from a suspicious conuersacion frō a great sepulchre frō a meruail without ende The wysest beyng in y e court may say euery day that they dye at their houses in the coūtrey that they liue And the reason is that beyng in the court those necessary thynges that are to be done in the worlde cannot be done as they wold nor when thei wold for lacke of libertie Yet I will not say but many in the court do their deuor to do as they would but I dare affirme y t for x. pounde weight they haue of honest will they haue not halfe an ounce of honest libertie Likewise let him that forsakes the Court sette a wise ordre in suche busynes that he hath to do callyng to minde that to go home to his countrey nedes no lōg iorney but to dispoyle him selfe of the euil clothes of the Court nedes a wonder long tyme. For like as vices increase in a man lytle and lytle so is it mete to roote theim out by litle and litle This ought y e courtier to do that myndes to rule himselfe plucke vppe by lytle pieces the most notable faultes that are in him and so pretely dispatche himselfe of one vice to day frō another to morow in such sort that when one vice takes his leaue and is gone straight way a vertue do entre in his steade so y t in proces he may go frō good to better The courtier is in nothing more deceiued then in liuyng a wilde wanton life parauenture the space of .xx. or .xxx. yeres thinketh in a yere or two to become sage graue aswell as though he applied all his life in a sobre and sad life truely that happeneth for lacke of good iudgement for it behoueth without comparison a lenger tyme for to lerne to cast away vice then to learne vertue consideryng y t vices enter our gates laughyng and goeth out from our house wepyng lamentyng O how muche greueth it y e ambicious courtier when he can not commaunde as he was wont to do then it may be sayd y t to forsake the court is requisite to a good heart a good witte to obtain rest Those that leaue the Court for fainte heart be of that nature that it is more painfull to theim to see theimselues absent from the Court then their ioye was when they wer in y e court whiche sayd persons if they would folow myne aduice and counsel should not onely leaue the court but forget it vtterly for euer And farther the courtier ought to retyre in suche maner that he may come to the Court againe if the feare and study in orderyng of his housholde constraine him eftsones for to desire the voluptuousnes of the court In the heart of the prudent courtier that forsaketh the court when there falleth bishoprickes or other great offices the affeccions desires of the mynde ryngeth alarme when he shall thynke if I had not come awaye so soone that office or that dignitie had been myne but he again remēbryng that many suche thinges hath fallen which he had not so like wise might he haue in the stede of ye a plain nay of that which fell when he was gone Then is it not muche better to ouerse and trauaile his owne house then to haue suche a shamefull denial in the court Therfore destinies of y e courtiers are so prompte and ready that for the moste parte one is constrained to dispise thē more by necessitie then by wyll and in that meane while their purpose is at an ende before they themselues beware therof For when the Courtier commeth to be at a quiet w t himselfe aboue all thynges it is necessary that he take hede of pesteryng of himselfe for if he did liue in the court euil willed let him take hede that in the village he dispaire not by reason of charge the importunitie of his wife of his children the sautes of his seruauntes the grudgyng of his neighbours may parcase make him astonyed but to thinke again that beyng escaped from the daūgerous golfe of the court he may repute him selfe halfe a God And besides this none ought to thinke that he dwellyng in a village in the countrey shall putte awaye all troubles and displeasures for it can not be but he that neuer fell in the croked rough way may happen to stumble in the plaine way breake his necke and therfore it is necessary that he retiryng frō the court take the tyme as it shall come that he may the more occupie him selfe in vertuous exercises to y e entent that to much rest and to much busynes of minde let him not from the great good that commeth of this to be well cōtented with a litle Ioyne vnto this also that there is none so muche enemye vnto vertue as is idlenes of the which idlenes be taken in the beginnyng thoughtes superfluous cōsequently the distruccion of men To the purpose hath not the courtier cause to cōplaine that occupieth himselfe in nothyng but
the court that goe from one house to another of y e great estates and lordes counterfaityng to be diligent seruauntes slatteryng y e steward the butler and the cooke liue of that whiche is lefte of the diners and goe their waies with their pockettes and their sleues full of meate for so suppe with all And ther is another maner of sorte that go two and two thre and thre together in a mornyng to spye and see if there be any thyng euil kepte and with that to looke and to prye if a sworde or a Spanishe cloke or a purse be fallen aside if ther be thei syng in a mery note this is pro nobis Other there be y ◠for to cōduict defend a whore when y e court remoues as one may say more then ruffians they liue of the gaine of y t miserable womā Another hath falsdise false marked cardes for to deceiue the innocentes wynne their money lccse their owne soules And ther lackes not in y e court olde women wrinckled trottes y t after their haruest is past cloke the synnes of other and beguile those that be chast and vndermine such as be maried hurt their neigbours sell maydens to whoredome for lucre and do norishe them therefore wherof folowes that these olde whores sometyme sell wēches better chepe then fishers do lamperyes O beholde the company of the court the holynes the religiō the brotherhed and finally the foule disorder of thesame And I say for my parte go to the conrt who will and there abyde and triumphe who will as for my selfe I do remembre I am a christen mā and that I must accompt for y e tyme I haue lost therfore I had muche rather to labor and dygge delue out of the court and be saued then to be nighe the kyng my conscience not cleane nor pure The .xii. Chapiter ¶ That in the court of princes all say we will do it but none do it BY as the great Philosoper of great renoume amōges the Grecians said vpō a tyme to the great Alexander Quiliber in suo negotio hebetior est quam in alieno meanyng that cōmonly euery man is more blinded in his owne affayres then in another mannes And he so sayd by very good reason for y t ther be menne whiche for to geue a wise deliberate and sage counsel for to remedy a sodain mischiefe haue excellēt wittes so y t it be in another mannes matter But in their own affaires they haue neither witte to gouerne their owne houses nor stable mind to couer their own miserye Cayus Iulius Caesar Octauus Augustus Marcus Antonius Septimius Seuerus Marcus Aurelius and other in great nombre that were estemed in their priuy busynes that is to say in the rulyng of the cōmon wealth wonders wittie but we reade that they were so negligent in gouernyng their owne housholdes their wiues their family that it is muche to their shame and reproche therfore suche be sene often to be good to rule the common welth that be nothyng worth to gouerne their owne and had nede if it might be honestly sayd to haue a ruler to rule them Plutarch reporteth that the noble valiāt capitain Niseas neuer lost battell but onely in trustyng to muche to his owne witte iudgement And if we beleue Hiarcas y e Philosopher it is more hurtfull to a manne to stand in his owne conceipt then to phansye a woman for in louyng a woman a manne hurteth but himselfe but in stickyng to muche to his owne phantasy it may redound to y e hurt of a whole cōmon weale All this that is sayd shalbe to admonish them that tary in the court to be cōuersant with the graue and sage persons with suche as be learned and suche as haue good experiēce For y e graue learnes vertue Scilēce is a certaine guide to a man experience is the consūmacion of all For although the courtier beyng young be neuer so sage graue riche or in fauor he shall nede a father to counsail him a brother to persuade him a guyde to teache him the way and a maister to instruct him and a corrector to punish him because the mischiefes craftes wickednes doeth so abounde in the court that it is impossible that a man alone may defende him from all and vtterly resist theim For in the court there is none so high awaye to destruccion as for a man to be gouerned onely by himselfe haue his owne swinge The court is a perpetuall dreame a botomelesse whorlepole an inchaunted phantasy and a mase when he is in he cannot get out till he be morfounded One of the best remedyes that the courtier may get against so many euils is to haue a faythfull frende that flatters him nothyng but that rather will correct and rebuke him if he goe home late if he walke by night if he be a false player or whorehunter But where shall we fynde suche a frende For we se the frendship in the court is commonly vsed among yong courtiers in this sort that so sone as ii or .iii. are met together strayt fall they to quarellyng fightyng ryoting so that there is rather occasion geuen to do euil then good coūsail to refraine Therfore he that haunteth the court it wer mete that he had some frende to whom without feare he might common of his busynes that the multitude be also to him common frendes but aboue al one perfite frende I would also he should kepe himselfe from the conuersacion of sedicious persons from collericke persons vacabondes for the rascall sorte will slaunder and say the kyng payeth naught that those be in fauour haue all the swynge that the officers are proude that mens seruice is euil recompensed the good vnknowen With these wordes suche other like the pore courtiers forgettes to serue begynne to murmure Also the good christian man ought not to ceasse to amende his life for y t he hopeth to liue long although those y t be olde there occupy thēselfes rather in newe pastance then to correcte their olde synnes Ye shal fynde theim that promise euery day for to amende thēselfes in their age yet neuertheles dye there worse then deuils the cause is that they all say we wil do and yet neuer do There be some old dotyng fooles whiche shal bragge of the kinges princes whiche they haue serued of the chaūgyng of offices y t thei haue seen and of the warres passed and of the great mutabilitie chaunge of fortune And yet notwithstandyng all that they haue seen and endured they be as gredy of gaine and delight in yong and foolishe pastymes as though thei wer newe to begyn to liue Alas miserable men that in perpetual trauail and continuall sorowe and infinite trouble haue passed their liues euen frō their fyrst tyme of knowlege whiche is xv yeres to the time of manhod and then frō that tyme to their dotyng age
liued there should none haue the name of Emperour but he Nowe when y e Ambassadours ariued at his house they found him in a litle garden wher he was settyng of Lettys and Onyons And hearyng what they sayd vnto him he answered in this wise Do you not thynke my frendes that it is muche better for him that can sowe his Lettys and afterwarde pleasantly and merely to eate thesame so still to exercise himselfe then to returne entre into the goulfe of troubles in a cōmon welth I haue assaied bothe I knowe what it is to commaunde in the court and what it is to liue labor in the village wherfore I pray you suffre me here to abide in pacienee for I desire rather here to liue with the labor of my hādes then in the sorow and cares of an Empire 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 rulyng of the common welth after Solon a man excellently lerned and wel estemed and taken among the Greciās for half a God by the reason of the wyse lawes he made amōg the Atheniens These two noble gouernours were muche be loued because that as Plutarch telleth Pericles whiche .xxx. yeres had the administraciō of y e busines and affaires of y e citie was neuer sene to come into any mans house but his owne nor yet to sit in any open place among y e cōmon people suche a grauitie was in him Aboute the yeres of his age whiche was .lx. he went from Athens to a litle village where he ended the rest of his dayes studiyng and passing the tyme in husbandrye He had a litle small gate or wicket in the entryng of his house ouer which was written Inueni portū spes fortuna valete That is to say forasmuche as now and before I haue knowlege of vanitee I haue founde the porte of rest fye of hope and fortune farewell By this example no courtier can say that he leadeth a sure life but onely that courtier whiche doeth as this wyse captain did withdraw himself Lucius Seneca was as who shuld say a right leder to good maners a instructer to good letters to Nero the sixt Emperour of Rome with whom he taried .xxiiii. yeres had great doynges of thīges pertainyng to the cōmon wealth as well of priuate causes as otherwyse because he was sage and of great experience And at the last cōmyng to great age and weryed with the continual conflictes busynesse of the court lefte the court and went and dwelt in a litle mancion he had nigh to Nole Campana where he liued after a long tyme as witnesseth his bookes De officiis de Ira de bono viro de aduersa fortuna and other bookes whiche were to long to reherse At last fortune and mannes malice did their office Nero cōmaunded him to be slaine not for that he had committed any crime worthy to dye or done any thing otherwise then an honest manne ought to do but onely because the lecherous Domicia hated him Note well reader this example that sometyme fortune pursueth him that forsaketh y e court aswel as the courtier Scipio the Affrican was so estemed among y e Romaines that in .xxii. yeres whiles y t he was in the warres he neuer lost battell And yet made he warre in Asia Europ and Affrica and to this neuer committed acte worthy of reproche And yet he wan Africa and put to sacke Carthage brought in bōdage Numance ouercame Hannibal and restored Rome weakened and nere destroyed by the losse they had at y e battail of Cānes And yet for all this beyng of y e yeres of lii he withdrewe him frō the court of Rome to a litle village betwixte Puzoll and Capua where he liued a solitary life and so content 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 and learned in Athens It is red of him that he answered y e Ambassadours of Cirene that required of him lawes to gouerne theim selues in sure peace in this wise Difficilimū est homines amplissima fortuna ditatos legibus cōtinere Which is to vnderstand that it is hard to bryng to passe to make riche men to be subiect to the rigour of the lawe To conclude Plato not willyng to abide lōger the clamor cry of the court went and dwelt in a litle village two myles frō Athens called Academia where the good old man after he had taryed there xiiii yeres teachyng and writyng many notable doctrines ended there his moste happye dayes After the memorye of him the aūcientes called y t village Academia whiche is to say in English a schole The cōclusion is that all these honourable sage princes wise menne left Monarchies kyngdomes cities great riches and went into the villages there to serche a pore an honest a peaceable life Not that I will saye that some of these lefte y e court to be there poore and banished and rebuked but of their fre wil and fre libertie minding to liue a quiet and honest life or they dyed The. xviii Chapiter ¶ The Aucthor complaineth with great reason of the yeres that he lost in the court I Wyl demaunde of myne owne selfe mine owne life and make accoumpt of thesame to the entent that I will conferre my yeres to my traueiles and my trauailes to my yeres that it may appeare how long I lefte of to liue and beganne to dye My life gentle reader hath not been a life but a lōg death my daies a play new for to begyn my yeres a very tedious dreame my pleasures Scorpions my youth a transitorie fātasy My prosperitie hath been no prosperitie but properly to speake a painted castell and a treasure of Alcumyn I came to y e court very yong where I saw diuers maners of offices and chaunges euen among y e princes that I serued And I haue assayed to trauail by sea and by lande 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 y e somersautes of destines I haue had in the court frēdes enemies I haue had false reportes I haue been euen nowe glad and mery and furth with sadde and sory to daye riche to morowe poore now mounted vpward straite throwen dounewarde This hath been to me a maskyng where I haue loste both money and tyme. And nowe I saye to the my soule what hast thou gotten of this great iorney The recompence is this that I haue gotten there a gray head fete ful of y e goute mouth w tout tethe raines full of grauel my goodes layd to pledge my body charged w t thought and my soule litle clensed from synne And yet is there more seyng y t I must
slothfull reste had as muche neede of vpholdyng as he that continually sweates in trauail Therfore I conclude that there is nothing in this worlde so certain as that all thynges is vncertaine Then let vs returne to that we spake of It is sayd that it is fearefull to counsell any to marry to study to go to y e war or to take vpon him any other thing then that he is called to because in this case none is so apte to receiue y t to him is sayd as he is to receiue that whiche he is naturally inclyned to Plutarche greatly praiseth in his boke of the cōmon welth y e good Philosopher Plato and not without cause for he vsed a great policy which was that there was no yong man entred into his schoole but first he would proue him whether he was enclined to lernyng or no so that those that he thought not apte to study he sent theim backe causyng thē to vse their liues in y e cōmon welth Alcib ia des the Greke mā be a sufficient wytnesse vnto you whiche although he was yong brought to the schoole and taught of a discrete maister yet notwithstāding his inclinaciō was suche that he professed himself wholy to the warres To him that is borne to weare a swerde by his side it semeth him yll to wear a typpet about his necke and he that loueth to kepe slepe the court is nothyng fitte for him To her that desireth mariage it is harde to kepe her chast He that loueth to be a barber why should he be made a Paynter To coūsel our frend to learne a crafte for to liue by is but wel done but especially to appoint him what crafte he ought to lerne that me thynketh worthy to be reproued which brought the lawes of the Lacedemonians the Lacedemonians commaundyng to the fathers vpon great paynes to putte none of their chyldren to no crafte till they were .xiiii. yeres of age to see that in the age of discrecion what their nature was enclined to Let vs leaue this long communicasion and speake of that we ought to aduertise the redar of to coūsell any to leaue the court suche coūsel I thinke not best to geue nor yet wisedome for other to take seyng that there is doubte to counsell any in that they ought to do Howbeit myne aduice is that the sage persons chose to liue in a quiet state and to dwell in suche a place that he may leade a life without reproche christianly to dye Oftentymes men do remoue from one coūtrey to another from one toune to another from one strete frō one house from one companye to another but to conclude if that he had peine in the one he doeth cōplaine himself vtterly of the wronges of the others And this is the reason because he layeth y e faulte to the nature of the countrey which nothing els is but his owne euil nature What more shal we say but in Courtes in cyties in villages and in other places is seen the vertuous and the discrete corrected and the vicious not blamed The wicked with their wickednes sercheth by all meanes to make themselues worse And likwise doth to y e vertuous with their vertues make them selfes better in what state soeuer he be called As for the prelates there is no charge in the Churche so daungerous but that a good conscience can auoyde it but a weake or corrupt cōscience may sone be cast great lorde he wyll say that he hath nothing where w t to finde him If we aduise him to be a religious he wyll say that he cannot rise early if to marry he wil say it wil greue him to here his litle children cry and wepe to goe to studye it would trouble his braine If he were coūsailed to withdrawe him to his house he would saye he could not liue without company Then presuppose that whiche is said that none ought to coūsell any to chose the life he will take concernyng his honor the wealth of his life because afterwarde he wyll more complaine him of the counsell that he hathtaken then the euil that he hath suffered The .iii. Chapiter ¶ Howe that a Courtier ought to leaue the Court for not beyng in fauor but beyng out of it to the entent of that beyng out of it be more vertuous PVblius Minus sayth in his Annotaciōs that we ought to thinke many daies on that whiche we entend to do in one daie The kyng Demetrius soonne of Antigonus was asked by one of his capitaines named Patroclus wherefore he gaue not battail to his enemye Ptolome seyng his strength his witt and his nōber of men He answered that a deede ones done is harde to call backe again and before a man begyn a harde enterprise he had neede of long counsell Agiselaus a wise capitaine of the Lycaoniens beyng forced to answere y e Ambassadors of the Thebeans sayd Know not you O Thebeans that to determyne a thyng of importaūce nothyng is meter then long studye Plutarch doth greatly praise the life of Sertoreius in that he was not rashe in determinyng but graue in enterprisyng Suetone sayeth that Themperour August was neuer hastye to gette frendes but very diligent to kepe thē when he had them Of these ensamples note what daūgier he falleth in that is hasly in bussinesses and quicke in counsels None wyl wear a garment if it be not sowed nor eate the fruit if it be not rype nor drynke the wyne if it be not clere nor eate the flesh if it be not dressed nor warme him with wode if it be not drye Wherfore then do we counsell vs with grene coūsel whiche soner shall smudder vs then warme vs. The wise man ought to haue before his iyen a sober deliberaciō in his affaires for if he thynke one houre of that whiche he would say he had nede thinke .x. of that that he would dooe wordes be but wordes they may be corrected but neuer the vncōsidered dede The fault of this is that euery man studyeth to speake to dispute to iudge but none to liue wel nor yet to dye vertuously The graue persons that wyll conserue their auctoritie may not be testie or stubburne in such thinges as they enterprice nor wilfull in that they take in hand nor fickil in that thei begyn for one of the greatest fautes that a man may haue is not to be founde true of his worde and inconstant in that he hath begun A noble harte ought to foresee that he is charged with and if it be iust and reasonable soner to dye then not to do it by the whiche noble hartes are knowen It it were a thyng harde almooste impossible Achilles to slee Hector Agiselaus to ouercome Brantes to Alexāder Darrius to Caesar Pōpeius to Augustus Marcus Antonius to Silla Mythridates to Scipion Hanniball and to the good Troian Dacebalus these noble princes had neuer been so muche estemed as they bee but that they vttered their noble courage
to wayte of my lorde or damosell to waite vpon my lady And that were scorneful to do in the court alone And without daūger one may walke frō neighbor to neighbor and from land to land and not therby minish any part of his honor Another benefite is that men may go whether they will clothed simply with a staffe in his hande a swearde by his side or hacbut in his necke and if he be wery of pounsed hosen lette him wear sloppes if he be a colde lette him take his furred goune for all is one there A good Gentleman dwellyng in the village and hauyng a good cote of clothe an honest Spanishe cloke on his backe a paire of lether shooes goeth as wel trymmed to the churche as doeth my lorde the courtier to the court with his goune furde with Marters or Sables A man of the village of what sort soeuer he be is in as good case that rydeth to market or to the faier to make prouision for his housholde vpon a mare or a nagge as a lorde of the courte is at Iustes vpō a great courser trapped with golde And when all is sayd better is the poore ploughman on a poore asse liuyng as he should then the riche man well horsed pillyng doyng extorcion to pore honest men The .vi. Chapiter ¶ That in the village the dayes seme more long and the ayer more clere and better And the houses more easy and testfull ENsuyng styll the cōmodities of the village we ought not to forget that he whiche dwelles there among other thynges hath commoditie of good corne and consequently good breade contrary to this in the court specially ingreat tounes they haue bread for the moste parte euil baked or euil leuened or not leuened at all the cause is forasmuche as in the tounes often there lacketh good corne or good corne milles to grinde the corue and holsome water wherby often hath come amōg them great death Another commoditie in the village is this the whiche I praise mnche he that dwelles there may practise and labour in mod thynges and better imploy the tyme then in the court or in y e great tounes in whiche places it behoueth a mā to dissemble to say litle ful of reuengyng and enuyous a treder of stones and pauemētes must vse grauitie seldome to come out of his house and incessantly be graue O half a God that dwelles in the village where liberally one may speake what he will and iest with his neighbours before his gates and his wyndowe And this may he do without euer to chaunge or to lese any of his mean auctoritie Another cōmoditie is in the village that those that dwell ther be w tout comparison more helthfull and lesse sicke then in the cities and in the courte because in the great tounes the houses be more higher and the stretes narower and more croked whiche is the cause that the ayre is corrupt and makes mē very euil at ease In y e village the houses stand more at large the men more better disposed the ayre better the sunne more clere the yearth more swete the priuate goodes or cōmons better ruled without contencion the exercise more pleasant and the company much better And aboue all thinges the thoughtes lesser and the pastyme more great Another commoditie in the village is that ther are no yōg Physicians nor olde sicknes And contrary to this the courtier is constrained there to part his goodes in fower partes the one part to flatterers y e other to men of lawe another to pottecaries the fowerth to y e Phisicians O well fortunate village forasmuche as in the seldome or neuer is the Frenche pockes named neither the pausy not yet y e goute fewe or none there knoweth what is a Iulep a Pyll a Sirup or a Thysan nor no sodain sickenes What will ye that I shall say more of the village And if it were not but that for necessitie they are compelled to builde there litle pretie houses ye should scant fynde one of theim that knewe what to do with morter stoones And sometyme they are very well pleased with cabons made of small stickes well fastened together Another commoditie in the village is that thee daies there seme to be more long and they are better imployed then they are either in the court or in the great tounes forasmuch as the yeres passe awaye there or one be ware and the daies without any enoiyng of them And how beit that the sportes and pleasures be more in the village then in the tounes yet so it is that one day shall seine lenger there then shal a moneth in the court the reason is for that the village is happye and fortunate forasmuche as there the Sunne semes to make a more longer day the mornyng is redy to shew and the night slow to come Scarcely one can perceiue the dayes slyde away in the court In the village if it be perceiued it is bestowed with honest busynes whiche cannot be done in the court In the village also is muche more plentie of wood then in other places hay strawe Otes much better chepe then in good tounes Also in the village a man is at libertie to eate his meate where he will when he will with whō he will but in the court they eat late the meat euil dressed and colde and with out sauor and that whiche is worst of al for the most parte he must eate with his enemies where as the good felowes of the village liueth at their pleasures and without suspicion keping their thre good fashiōs that belongeth to good repast that is first he erneth his meat next that he eateth his meate merely thirdly he eateth with good company Another commoditie is that the husbandman of the village hath how to occupy themselfes and howe to be mery whiche the courtier nor the citezen hath not thathath enemies enough to feare and fewe frendes to company withall O recreacion pleasaunt of the village to fishe with nettes and with hokes to catche birdes w t lyme to hunte with dogges to catche Conies with ferrettes hayes to shote in the crosbowe and the hacbut at stokdoues at Mallardes at partryges and se folkes labor in y e vynes raise diches amende hedgees to iest with y e aūcient laborers All these pleasures haue they of the villages whereas the courtiers and citezens desire it cānot haue it The .vii. Chapiter ¶ That commonly the inhabitauntes of the villages be more happy then courtiers ANother commoditie of the village is that thei do fele y e trauailes lesse on the workyng day reioyce merely on the holy day where the courtier continually vexed with weightie and troubleous affaires neuer knoweth when it is holy day O village it is not so in the wheras on the feastful daye the clerke ceaseth not to tolle the bell to make clene the churche to make redy y e alters the people
e good courtiers if there be any but it cannot be forasmuche as none goeth about to moue the courtiers to vertue but that counsail them to perdicion There is in the court so many vacabondes so many players blasphemers deceiuers that we may be abashed to see suche a multitude but it were a noueltie to heare of the contrary for why the worlde hath nothing in hisrosiers but thornes and for frutes of trees but leaues for vynes but bryars in their garnerdes but strawe and in their treasures but Alcumyn O golden worlde O world desired O world passed the difference betwixte you and vs is that afore you litle and litle the worlde passeth but afore vs it is quite passed In the O worlde euery maÌ„ vndertaketh to inuent to do to begin and to make an ende of that he will and that whiche is worst of all liueth as he will but the ende is right doubtfull There is litle to be trusted in the O worlde And contrary wise litle to defende litle to enioy very litle to kepe There is many thynges to be desired many thynges to be ameÌ„ded many thynges to be lamented Our aunceters had the Iron world but our worlde may wel be called the dirtie worlde because it kepeth vs continually in a filthy myer and alwayes we be there in defiled and rayed The .xiiii. Chapiter Of many offaires in the court and that there be better husbandmen then commonly is of courtiers THe Poet Homer hath written of y e trauels of Vlixes one of the princes of the Grekes Quintus Curtius of Alexander and Darius Moyses of Ioseph And of them of Egipt Samuel of Dauid of Saul Titus Liuius of the Romaines Thucidides of Iason with y e Minotaure and Salust of Iugurth Cathelyne I then willyng to folowe these good auctors haue vndertaken to write the vnkynd trauailes of the court that the courtiers of our tyme haue which haue pacience enough for to suffre theÌ„ and no wysedome to auoyde them then it is not without a cause if I do call the trauailes of the court vnkynde for they be accustomed vnto it as the olde horses are to the packesadle and to the plough syth that the courtiers themselfes do suffer them so muche and haue no profite therof Some men wil say that I am euil aduised because I write y e courtiers haue not their ease seyng that he y t may attaine to be in the courte is accompted to be fortunate But he abuseth him selfe if he thinke that al suche as are out of the court be beastes ignorant persons and he only wise they rude he delicate he honored and they vile they staÌ„me ryng and he eloquent If it were so that God would that the most perfite men shuld be in the court it shuld be to vs more then a faulte not incontineÌ„tly to be a courtier knowing that ther can be no better tyme employed then that whiche is bestowed in hearyng the wise sage men but when all is sayd the places doeth not better the men but the men the places God knowes for example how many gentle and good honest myndes labor in the villages and how many foles lubbers bragge it in palaices God knoweth howe many well ordered wittes and iudgementes is hid in the villages and how many rude wittes and weake braines face and brace in the court How many be there in y e court the whiche although thei haue offices dignities estates preeminences yet in the village after a maner of speakyng with great pain they are not able to rule .x. men Howe many come out of y e court correctors of other that theÌ„ selues in the villages should be corrected O how many thynges is sayd amonges the poore laborers worthy to be noted And contrary spoken afore princes worthy to be mocked O how many is in the court that make theim selues highly to be estemed not for to be honest diligent but to come in auctoritie And how many is there in the village forgotten and not sette by more for lacke of fauor then for either lacke of witte or diligence The princes geue the offices Those that be in fauor haue the entry nature the good bloud The parentes the patrimony and y e deseruyng honor but to be wise and sage coÌ„meth onely of God and menne haue not the power to take it away And if it were so that princes might geue good witte to whoÌ„ they would thei should kepe it for theimselues seyng they neuer leese but for lacke of knowlege I take it for an euil point of suche as newly commeth froÌ„ the court to y e village beyng there rather vse mockyng then tast the benefite therof But in the meane tyme thou seest their maner of life y t is to go to bed at midnight and rise at x. of the clocke in makyng ready till noone trimmyng their busshe or bearde and settyng the cap a wry And all the day after to talke of his darlyng y t he hath in the court or of the battell of Granado wher he did meruails And some there be of them that will lye and bragge that they were at the iorney of Pauay w t the capitaine Antony Deleua at Tunes with the Emperour or at Turron w t Andrew Doria And for all his brabling he was no better then a ruffian or a zacar of Tholydo or a knaue of Cordoua We haue rehersed these thynges before written to cause our minion friskers to leaue mocking of the poore inhabitantes of the village estemyng theim to be but fooles lurdens For I beleue if my maister the Emperor would banishe all y e company of fooles I feare me he were like to dwel alone in the court Let vs say then that very late thei of y e court know themselfes and y e order of their life ê“fession I meane y e profession of y t religioÌ„ whiche thei kepe straitly the whiche consistes in this theipromise to please the deuil and to coÌ„tent the court and to folowe the worlde They promise to be euer pensife sad and ful of suspicion They promise alwayes to be choppyng and chaungyng full of busynes to bye to sel to wepe to sinne and neuer to reforme themselues They ê“mise also to be iagged and raggged an hungred indebted and dispised They promise to suffre rebukes of Lordes theft of their neighbours iniuries of collerike men mockeries of y e people reproche of their parentes and finally missyng lackyng of frendes Lo this is the profession and rule of the obseruauntes of the court whiche I wyll not name a rule but a confusion not a order but a disorder not a monastery but a hel and a religioÌ„ not of brethren but of dissolute persons no pore Hermites but coueteous worldely menne O pitie O lacke of good iudgement The Oracle of Apollo beyng asked by the Ambassadours of the Romaines where lay the point for one to gouern himself wel The answer was for
in writyng prudent in seruice and conformable to all But when I waked out of my folly as from a dreame and looked to my feete I knewe easly that I had born false witnes to my selfe of this golden pleasaÌ„t imaginacion sawe of truth in other y e which I dreamyngly imagined of my selfe I serched the waie how to be estemed of euery maÌ„ holy wise gentle coÌ„tent of a good zele and a sea of sadnes Lo this faulte happeneth to courtiers as it did vnto me y t is to ioyne folishe libertie with vertuous honor whiche be two thinges that cannot agree because that disordinate will is enemye to vertue and honor But for my part good reader I geue thankes vnto God my affeccions be somewhat wasted and mortified for I was woont 〈◊〉 in seruice to desire daily tâ—at e court might remoue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I care not though seldoâ—… 〈◊〉 neuer I come from my hâ—se I had a speciall lust to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for newes And now I care nâ—â— for them at all I saw the tyme when I loued not to be out of company And now I desire no thyng more then to be solitary I was wont to delite to heare to see iuglers daunsers lyars and daliars And now so to do wer to me more then death In like maner I was wont to solace my selfe in Fishyng Hunting shootyng in the Hackbut And nowe I mynde no nother but to bewaile and lament the tyme I haue loste and call to minde the first tyme that the Emperor toke me into his seruice froÌ„ thence where I was norished from my tendre yeres in great feare not knowyng what the world was but occupied only in my deuocions and lernynges I often rose at midnight I comforted the sicke I red the gospell and other good bokes of good doctrine Briefly euery maÌ„ did helpe me to be good and chastised me froÌ„ euil If I did well I was praised if I did euil I was corrected if I were heauye I was comforted if I were angry I was appeased if in any agony my freÌ„des praied to God for me O what cause haue I to repent out of measure thus to haue forsaken rest and godly liuyng and to haue enioyed episcopall dignitie in which the Emperor set me forasmuche as a verteous life is y e hauen of all good and the Episcopal dignitie the sea of all daungier Lo how I haue passed my good yeres w tout emploiyng my tyme wel w tout knowlege what my fortune should be I do therfore admonishe the reder to do better then I haue done in y e court if y u be there or els to forsake it in a better houre then I haue done for so doyng thou shalt declare thy selfe that thou hast determined to liue sagely and well aduised The .xx. Chapiter The auctour taketh his leaue of the worlde with great eloquence FArewell world forasmuch as one can nor may trust of y e nor in the. For in thy hous o world the passage is paste and that whiche is present goeth soone away and that whiche is to begyn commeth wonderous late forasmuche as he that thinketh himselfe most firme sonest doth fall the moste strongest soonest doeth breake and perpetuities soonest decay in suche sort that those which be destinate to liue an huÌ„dreth yeres thou sufferest him not of all that time to liue one yere in quiet Farewell worlde forasmuch as thou takest renderest not againe thou weryest but comfortest not thou robbest but makest no restitucion y u quarellest but doest not pacifie accusest before thou haue cause to complaine geuest sentence before thou hearest the parties euen till thou kill vs and then buriest vs before we dye Farewell worlde forasmuch as in thee nor by thee there is no ioye w tout trouble no peace without discorde loue without suspicion rest without feare abouÌ„dance without fault honor without spotte riches without hurte of conscience nor high estate but he hath somewhat that he complaineth of Farewell worlde forasmuch as in thy palaice promises are made neuer kepte men serue and haue no rewarde they are inuited to be deceiued they labour to be troubled trauail to take paine they laugh and are beaten thou fainest to stay vs to make vs fal thou leÌ„dest to pull away strait again thou honorest vs to defame vs and correctest without mercy Farewell worlde thou flauÌ„derest them that are in credite and doest auauÌ„ce the infamed thou lettest y e traitors passe fre and puttest true menne to their rauÌ„somes thou persecutest the peaceable and fauorest the sedicious thou robbest the poore geuest to the riche deliuerest the malicious and condemnest innoceÌ„tes guest licence to departe to the wise and retainest fooles and to be short the most part do what they lyst but not what they should Farewell worlde forasmuche as in thy palaice no manne is called by his right name for why they call the rashe valiaunt the proude colde harted the importune diligeÌ„t the sad peaceable the ê“digal magnifical the couetous a good husband the babler eloquent the ignoraunt a litle speaker the waÌ„ton amorous the quiet maÌ„ a foole the forbearer a courtier the tyraunt noble And thus thou worlde callest the counterfeat the true substauÌ„ce and the trueth the counterfeat Farwel worlde for thou deceiuest all that be in thee promisyng to the ambicious honors to the gredy to come forwarde to the brokers offices to the couetous riches to the gluttons baÌ„kettes to the enemies vengeance to the thefes secretnes to the vicious rest to the yong tyme and to al thing that is false assuraunce Farewell worlde for in thy house fidelitie is neuer kepte nor truth maintained and also we may see in thy house one glad and another afrayd some ouercharged some out of the right way some voyde of comfort desperate sad heauy ouerburdened and charged more then lost and sometyme bothe Farewell worlde forasmuch as in thy coÌ„pany he that wenes himselfe moste assured is most vncertain and he that folowes thee goeth out of the way and he y t serues thee is euil payed and he that loues thee is euil entreated he that contentes thee contenteth an euil master and he that haunteth thee is abused Farewell worlde forasmuch as thou hast suche mishap that seruices done and presentes offered to thee profite nothyng nor the lyes that is tolde thee nor the baÌ„kettes made to thee nor the faythfulnes we geue to thee nor the loue we beare to thee Farewell worlde forasmuch as thou deceiuest al backbitest all slauÌ„derest al chasticest al threttest vs al achiuest all and in the ende forgettest all Farewell worlde sithens in thy company al men complain all crye out all wepe all men dye liuyng Farewell worlde sythens by thee we hate eche one the other to the death To speake till we lye to loue till we dispaire to eate till we spue to drinke till we be droÌ„ken to vse brokage to tobbery to synne till we