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
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
that he sayd of Helene Plutarch in that he spake of Cleopatra Virgil of y e quene Dydo Theophrast of Pollysene Zantippe of Cammilla Assenarius of Clodia All these ladies excellent princes neuer founde them selfes so deceiued by their louers as thei wer by beleuing their owne proper couÌ„sels and lightly consenting to the same If to Suetone Zantippe and Plutarch we will geue credite beleue those thynges that they declare of Pompe Pyrrhus Hannyball the Consull Marius of the Dictator Caesar of Marke Antony many others we shall finde they blamed not fortune so muche to be vaÌ„quished by others as in their prosperitie they wer ruled by their owne aduise and counselles It is true that often tymes the opinion of our kinne frendes maketh vs to enter into busynes out of the waye of reason not caryng but for a folishe auauncement of goodes and riches And at the ende when by their settyng forth one hath enterprised a certaine busynes of importaunce whiche doeth require ayd and helpe those same be the laste that sheweth theim selues helping frendes whiche is y e occasion many tymes that men caÌ„not returne froÌ„ enterprisyng suche thinges as neither shall growe to their honor nor profite Many men say that they haue enemies recountyng theim often without findyng nuÌ„ber Although it be true if it be well noted that none haue oftener or agreater enemy then him self And the most greatest daunger that I see is that vnder the shadowe to preferre make better my selfe my selfe is the cause of my destruccion The Philosopher Neotidas on a tyme beyng asked which was the beste counsell that a manne might take He answered the counsell of others with the dispraisyng of his owne and he sheweth the cause for that the corrupcion of maÌ„ is suche that often he searcheth in him self with great pain that whiche in the head of another he fyndeth w t great ease then it foloweth that in the best tyme of our life our owne life deceiueth vs the euil coÌ„meth furth on euery side heuy thoughtes ouertaketh vs our frendes leaueth vs persecutors tormenteth vs troubles maketh an ende of vs and ambicion burieth vs. If we beholde this thyng what we be wherof we be and wherfore we be we shall fynde that our beginnyng is obliuion our middle age trauail the ende sorow and altogether an open errour Then se how heuy is the courtiers life as also how daungerous the waye is where as bee stoones to stumble at myer to sticke fast in yse for to falle on pathe wayes for to lose him in water for to passe thorow thefes for to be afrayde on great affaires and busynes to do so that harde it is for any to goe there as they would and more harder to ariue there as they desire All these thynges haue we sayd to the entent that the Courtiers may vnderstaÌ„d that neither I nor they can chose y e good waye and leaue the euill voide that that hurtes vs and conserue that whiche profiteth vs folowe reason and plucke awaye the occasion but if by chauÌ„se some good fall to vs we thanke fortune and if euil come to vs then we do put the fault in her The .ii. Chapiter ¶ How that none ought to counsel another 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 maÌ„ was so diuers that hard it was for the most wisest to chuse that to them was good and to kepe them from that to them is euil There is nothing more true for we see 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 doune and to conclude with that litle thing that one is coÌ„tent withal another is in dispaire The lerned Alchymus was by his Moecoenas kyng Demetrius asked wherein specially did consist y e greatest trauail of the worlde He answered there is few thinges but in them there is either trauail or suspicion 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 when a litle thing coÌ„tenteth vs how lytle soeuer it be we make it our paradice with y e rest of our life whiche seldome chaunseth to fewe meÌ„ because that liuyng as we liue not beyng coÌ„tented would assaie knowe if it wer good to be a kyng a prince a knight a maried man a religious or a marchaunt a laborer a shepeherd or of some other estate And at the ende when al is proued it shall be harde to fynde where we would rest so vnconstaunt is the lightnes of menne The wise determineth y â— to chose the best is the meane A simple creature is lightly contented with a small thyng but he that hath a great harte thinkes that pouertie is a greuous life like as they that be of high estate feare y e fall of fortune Plato was in his yong yeres very worldely as he that had sene muche aswell in the warres as in offices in whiche he was vsed and also in handy craftes On a tyme it was asked him wherin he had founde most quietnes and rest He answered there is no estate of life wherin is not mutabilitie ther is no honor where is perill no riches where is no trauail no ê“speritie but it endeth nor also pleasure but faileth but when all is sayd I neuer founde so muche quietnes of mynde as since I left myne offices in Cities withdrawyng me to my bokes signifiyng that as long as we liue seruauntes of the worlde we desire all we proue all we procure al then al thinges well sene tasted all thinges do anoye vs the greatest parte of our disquietnes commeth hereof that the aboundaunce we haue semeth to vs lytle and the lytle of others semeth to vs muche We saye that our wealth is trauail and that the euil happe of others is rest we condemne others actes and we allowe our owne we watche to gette somewhat and sodenly we slepe to lese it again we immagyn that al men liues content we alone nedy And yet the worst is we beleue that that we dreame and put not our trust in that that we se before our iyen What waye one ought to folowe or what estate he ought to chose none can well knowe nor counsell because y â— thyng is so troublesome and without good iudgement by whiche many is deceiued If the sailyng on the sea be daungerous so is the walking on the yearth troubleous As touchyng our life we see that he that is whole daily falleth sicke the sicke dyeth some other scapeth deadly dauÌ„gers and some others lyngers forth to death As touching the walfaryng men assone commeth he to his lodgyng that goeth foftly as he that goeth hastely and loseth his way He that is in fauor liuyng in
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
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 brag and crake that thynges shalbe as he would he may not presume to speake to the kyng and require audience as he himself lust for he y t foloweth the court muste be as one that hath no mouth to speake nor hādes to be auenged withal beyng well assured 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 w t pacience it had been muche better for him not to haue come out of his countrey for beyng a quareller sedicious felow in y e court he shalbe hated and paraduēture banished frō thēce then his returning shalbe to his vtter shame Malice displeasures take often an end in the village but in y e court is alwayes an ouerplus of theim What is the cause Fortune I say of her whiche hath the rule ouer them who counteth for a gooddesse whiche is more feared of a folishe opinion then for any power she hath ouer men The courtier also ought not to condiscende to that whiche his sēsualitie requireth but to that whiche reason doeth persuade him vnto forasmuche as y e one demaundes more then nedes the other contentes him w t lesse then he hath Forasmuche then as in the court ther is so many tables to glutton on so many newe founde 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 mā within y e court is as a nutte within the shale mary within y e bone a perle within the cokle and a rose among the thornes I do not say reder for the qualitie and quātitie of the malice of the court that all be vicious that be ther God forbid that it so shuld be but whē I call to remembraunce we be all mortall men I thynke it in maner impossible to ariue safe into the porte among so many Syllas and Caribdes Ye will say that the wily and the subtle person there waxeth riche and that the great sūmes of money be there I cōfesse it I would say your saiyng shuld be good if they y t were of the best knowlege the most verteous nomber wer auaunced for their prudence as the other be by hazard and chaunce or by theft for the reward of vertue is not like to the rewarde of fortune Item the courtier ought not to geue presētes nor lightly take for why for to geue him that deserues it not there lackes wysedome And to receiue of him that one ought not is a thyng but vile Who that will exercise liberalitie ought to considre what he geueth and to whō he geueth for it shuld be but folly to geue that whiche one may not that whiche he himselfe nedes And one ought to considre the tyme and the end and the season and wherfore he geueth And if the courtier geue somethyng ouer liberalitie without iust cause of recompense of him whiche is out of credite and in the tyme that he beginneth to declyne Is not then the gifte euil imployed is it not to be lamēted that one geues soner to y e flatterer to tel some feined or liyng tales or to a iester to make thē laugh or to a common lyer to make them talke or to a pleasaunt felow to inuent a lye rather then to a trustie seruaunt that hath all y e daies of his life deserued to haue thāke for his good seruice Yet for all this myne entencion is not to persuade great mē that they shuld not geue to all men but I say the true seruaūtes ought to be preferred because it is more meter that their seruice should be rewarded then the presentes of straungers considered When a mā geueth to straungers the seruauntes seyng the same drawe backe ye may be assured that they not only murmure at that whiche is geuen but also accuse him of his vngentle dede and become a mortal enemy to him that the thing is geuen vnto The giftes makes a man muche subiecte that receiueth thē for assone as any man doeth take of another an horse or a goune or often sitte with him at his table he bindes himselfe therby to beare him fauour to defende his quarel to kepe him company to take his parte and to loue that that he loueth And reason wil that sithens one feleth profite of another that he be not vnkynde howbeit let a manne beware to bind himself so muche vnder y e wil of other men that he therby forgetteth his owne honestie Many yong childrē discended of an honest house go to y e court take with them a good parte of their goodes and consume thesame plaiyng eatyng and drinkyng and vsyng baudry adultery vnder colour of learnyng their behauior and resorte to the great mennes houses to no other intent but to be much made of of thē wher they take a great repast and afterward so play the yong wanton fooles that they spende rent honor and all And when the purse is flat their office is to go all the day in the stretes to the churches and to the palaice to aske newes tidynges only to pype out lyes and fables at the lordes boordes all for to go scot fre And ther is a sort of yong men in the court yea I may say to you of those y t haue beardes that neither haue master nor entertainers that as soone as a straunger commeth to the court straight waies thei boorde him saiyng that they wyll shewe him the fashions maners of the court the pleasures of the palaices the maner how to kepe him from deceiptfull felowes and to entertaine yong gentlewomen And thus y e newecome courtier that is yet a foole in the meane season shalbe hādled in suche wise that now goeth a goune now a coate another tyme a horse sometyme purse and all And there is another sorte of men in the court that busieth thēselfes with so great auctoritie with so litle wit that after they haue vsed y e company of some great lorde thei wil send him a lettre by their page saiyng they be poore gentlemen kynsfolke to some great men and that they be there suyng for some office and that they haue a payment in hand wherfore they require him to lende him a certain sum of money And yet are they in no suche necessitie but onely to get somewhat either to buye a gay coate or a horse or to kepe a whore There is another sort of false beggerly courtiers the which after they be ones vsed to the court they go from churche to churche to aske for Gods sake saiyng they be poore suiters that thei loue better to begge then to robbe commending thēselfe to the priestes to begge for them on the poore parisheners when they preache so take against reason the good y t poore men should haue There is another sorte of haunters in
all to haue gained riches and increace in renoune not in all this tyme once remembre that in the steade of a true and perfite rest they prepare for theim selues a hell both for body and soule The courtier also ought not lightly to complaine of aduersities whiche many tymes come to him thinking that oftentymes though it be our owne faulte we do cōplaine of thinges whiche should complaine of vs if they had a toungue What tyme a man seeth him self base and is litle estemed or poore forgotten of the riche and deceiued of that he looked surely to haue incontinent he curses his fortune and lamentes his euil In y e meane while it is not fortune that hath thus serued him but him selfe that hath serched it and founde it Suche a manne thinkes to be quickely riche honored estemed y t shortely after seeth him selfe poore ouerthrowen dispised and blamed of all men and cannot reuenge himselfe but onely say he is vnfortunate vnhappy to the worlde that it is mishap whiche is not so but his owne folly that makes him to leaue the suretie of his house and prepareth himself to the hazard of fortune and therfore hath no cause to complain but of himself whiche chose the waye to it The best is after that a man purposeth himselfe to continue in the court y t then paciently he awayte and tarye the tyme of auauncement or auaūtage that he looketh for or els if he cannot paciently dissēble with the tyme let him not remaine there for contentacion consisteth not in the place but in the ambicious heart troubled mynde And take this for a trueth ye that be courtiers that if .ii. or .iii. thinges succede to your purpose prosperoussy there shall come a hundreth ouerthwarte the shynnes either to you or to your frendes For notwithstandyng that y e courtiers doynges desyres come to good passe there shalbe thinges for his frend or felow that goeth all awrye wherby often tymes he lamtēes y e hurt of his frende that whiche is denied him more then the pleasure he hath of his owne happe wherfore there is alwayes lacke or faute of contentacion Wyll ye any more the beyng in court or out of the court ye shal here no nother matter then what newes at the court what doeth the kyng where is he where is the counsail and where lyeth the officers of y e houshold and this is most true y t they which desyre to here suche newes are as desirous to see newes And by this meanes the poore wene to make theimselues riche the riche the more to commaunde and the lordes y e more to rule O what a pleasure is it for thē to be in the court hopyng that the kyng may knowe thē that those that be fauor may dye or that fortune may chaunge and that they come forwarde And it foloweth that in tariyng the tyme the tyme deceiueth them then death taketh theim vnware The .xiii. Chapiter ¶ That there is a smal nombre of them that be good in the Court and a great nombre of good in the cōmon wealth PLutarch in y e boke intitled De exilio telleth of y e great Kyng Ptolome that hauyng on a daye at supper with him seuen Ambassadours of diuers prouinces moued a question to them whiche of al their cōmon welthes gonerned them selues with best lawes and customes The sayd ambassadours were Romayns Carthaginiens Ciciliens Rhodiens Atheniens Lacedemoniens Cicioniens among whō the question was effectually debated afore the kyng forasmuche as euery one of thē beyng affeccionate to his countrey aleged the wisest reason y t he could The good king desirous to knowe the trueth the resolucion of the question commaunded that euery one of the Ambassadours should tell of the beste lawes or customes that were in their cōmon welth thre pointes and that therby it might esely be sene whiche was better ruled and deserued more praise Then the ambassadour of the Romaynes beganne and sayd In Rome the temples be honored y e gouernours obeyed and the euil chastised The ambassadour of Carthage sayd in Carthage the noble men neuer cease to prepare to the warre the poore people to traueil and the Philosophers to teache The ambassadour of the Ciciliens sayd In Cicill is true iustice executed trouth is beloued and equalitie praised The Ambassadour of the Rhodiens sayd In Rhodes the olde men are honest the yong men shamfast and the women meke and gentle The Ambassadour of the Atheniens sayd the Athenieus do not consent that y e riche should be parciall nor y e meane people idle nor the gouernours without learnyng The ambassadour of the Lacedemoniens sayd in Lacedemony enuy raines not because al are equal nor coueteousnes because all is cōmon nor idlenes because all men traueil The Ambassadour of Cicioniens sayd in Cicion they receiue no straūgers inuētors of newes nor Phisious that kyl the whole nor aduocates that makes the processes immortall When kyng Ptolome and his companye had heard these so good and holy obseruaūces he praised greatly the institucion of euery of theim saiyng that he could not iudge whiche was the best This historie is well worthy to be noted and better to be folowed And I beleue if in our dayes so many ambassadours shuld mete disputing as these did of their cōmon welthes thei should finde mo thynges to blame speake euil of and that without comparison then to praise commende In tymes passed the kynges houses were so well reformed the kynges themselfes so wise and the gouernours so moderate that litle offēces wer chastised and once to thinke of great offences forbidden to the entent that the chasticement should be terrour to the euil the prohibicion a plaine aduice vnto the good It is not so in our common welthes where is done so muche euil and committed so many bitter offēces vnhappynes that those whiche the auncientes did chastice for deadly sinnes by death we dissemble theim to be but veniall the truans and wantons be so entertained as though we lacked theim and not as mete to be chased and dryuen away My lady the widow or my masires that is maried if they fall to leude and wanton liuyng ye shal not fynde one that wil say madā or mastres ye do nought but rather sixe hundreth that shall procure her dishonor This is in our tyme suche is our fashion and maners which causeth euil so that he is more to be praised whiche may be called good in our common welth then any of the Consuls of Rome because that in y e olde time it was almost a monstrus thing to fynde one euil among a hundreth now it is a great chaunce to fynde one good amongest a hundreth The holy scripture praiseth Abraham y t was iust in Calde Loth that was iust in Sodom Danyel in Babylon Toby in Niniuie and Neemyas in Damasco And likewise may we among this Cathalog of holy men nomber y
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