these folkes What good man wyll alowe this Or who wyll lyke hit / but suche as neuer knewe so moche as a shadowe of honestie Whiche wolde if they coulde brynge hit to passe / haue all womē nought / that they myght the more easylye fulfylle theyr vnsatyable lustes Whiche be them selfe drowned vppe to bothe the eares in vice / vnhappynes / and vnthriftynes / that they can neither le theyr owne vice / nor other mennes Fyrste let them put of that cursed darkenes / where with they be ouer layden and than shall we beleue theyr iudgementes of vertue As for a yonge woman and a yonge man / to talke of loue in a corner / is nat mete / though they were bretherne and systerne There maye be rehersed many olde examples and newe bothe / of vices that haue be done amonge bretherne and systerne / hauyng occasion and tyme secrete So Amon sonne of kynge Dauid / defloured his owne syster Thamar so Caunus lay by his syster Byblis Saint Augustine wolde neuer dwelle with his syster in house He sayde hit was noughte to se a woman / worse to speke with her / and worst of all to touche her Pion an holy abbot / hadde a syster sore sicke / whiche whā he was desyred to go speke with her / or she died / he closed vp his eies / and was led of an other body vnto her chābre / and talked with her / and so departed away Neither I wolde nat haue bretherne to playe with theyr systers / nor kyns men with theyr nere kyns women / be they neuer so good / chaste / cōtinent neither to kysse them / nor groope / nor plucke at them What shulde that serue fore / but to rype them and prepare redy for suche as be more lewde that if they desyre anye vnhoneste thynge / the women sette in heate there with / shall thinke on suche thynges as shulde touche theyr chastite Nor in a great courte I wolde they shulde nat crepe in to corners What wolde they say there / that other folkes may nat heare if they purpose to speke of that / that is pure and chaste Neither I wolde there shulde be manye wordes betwene yonge men and maydes / though folkes be by / excepte they be so pure and honeste / that no susspecte of ill can come of them For some men be so crafty in noughtynes / can wrappe in darke sentence theyr myndes in suche wyse / that they maye yet be vnderstanden of her what they meane / by that they speke vnto her and yet shall the double sence cause / that they maye denye that they ment so / and blame her for wronge takynge theyr wordes / and vnderstandynge them in euyll sence / whiche they spake for no harme and than they set moche by theyr owne witte whā they be coūnyng in these craftes / though they be deuoyde of al goodnes / but able coūnyng inough to do yl whiche thynge dothe nat proue any great wytte but an excercise in noughtynes whiche as Senec sayth / is worse / and more foule / than is a dull and slugyshe wytte For wytte is nat to be rekened in subtiltis and deceytes / excepte we wyll reken deuylles more wyse than angelles but one good angell is more wise thā all the deuylles in hell At fewe wordes / hit is good to haue very lytell or nought to do with men / and speke very fewe wordes with them / and those full of sobrenes / honestie / and wysedome nor thou shalt nat thereof be rekened the more moope and fole / but the more wyse And if iudgement shulde be gyuen of thy disposition / I had leauer yll folkes shulde reken the rude / than good folkes badde Tell me howe moche redeste thou in all the historie of the gospell / that our lady euer spake The angell cometh in vnto her she fynisshed the matter with fewe wordes / and those wyse and sad / also holy She gothe for to se Elisabeth / speketh to the preyse of god She brȳgeth forth a sonne / whiche is god She is lauded of the angelles / worshyppedde of the hyrde menne / and holdethe her peace / gatherynge and kepynge in her remembraunce all theyr sayenges She was honored of the wyse men of the easte / that came thyther a great waye and what doste thou rede / that euer she spake Some other pauenture wold haue askedde of theyr countre / of theyr treasure / of theyr lernynge / or of the sterre but she / as became a yonge mayde / spake neuer a worde She offereth her sonne in the temple / and whan Symeon prophysied of hym / an other wolde haue asked some moo thynges / or elles the reason and maner of those that be tolde The olde man tourned his sayenge vnto the mayde / spekynge of her sonne Lowe he is put for a falle and a rysynge agayne of many in Israel / a syng / ayenst whom there shall be spekynge / and a sworde shall cut thy harte / vnto th ende that the thoughtes of many hartes in Israel may be opened Some other woman wolde haue asked / whan / howe / and where hit shulde haue bene but we rede nat / that she said any thynge She loste her dereste sonne at Hierusalem and whan she had sought hym thre dayes / and at the laste founde hym / howe many wordes sayd she to hym Sonne / why haste thou serued vs so Lothy father and I sought the carefully After that whan she was of more age / at a maryage / she sayd no more but this Sonne they haue no wyne And at the crosse she was clene dumine she asked neuer a whytte of her sonne / neither with whom he wolde leaue her / nor what he wold commaunde her to do / whan he dyed For she had nat lerned to pratle amonge folkes All maydes / al womē folowe you her for she was but of fewe wordes but wonderous wise Theano Metapontina a poet / and a mayde excellent counnynge / rekened / that silence was the nobleste ornament of a woman And Sophocles is of the same opynyon for with silence bothe wysedome and chastite be swetely poudered Thou arte none atturney of lawe good doughter / nor pleadeste nat in courte / that thou shalte nede to quaple either thyn owne / or thy clyentes matter / excepte thou speke Holde thou thy peace as boldly as other speke in courte and so shalte thou better defende the matter of thy chastite / whiche afore iuste iudges shall be stronger with silence than with speche We rede in histories / that a childe was ones brought in to the commen place of the cyte at Rome vpon a matter of chastite / and with holdyng downe his eies / on the grounde / and styll silence / defended his matter better than he shulde haue done with longe orations of orators But nowe to speke of women / saint Susan excused her selfe of the
good Hit were better for the neuer to come in to theyr syght / leste they auenge on the the iniury of theyr kynde nor to name thy selfe by theyr names / selfe they punyshe the for fylyng theyr names And I speke in ernest / for here is no place to bourde in there shulde be made some decre / that none vnhoneste woman shulde be called Mary For whye do nat we gyue as moche honoure vnto that name / whom all we a ryse and make reuerence vntyll / as the pagans gaue vnto some of their folkes For ī Athens / whā Hermodius and Aristogiton had bany shed the tyrans out of the cite / there was by a decre determined / that no bonde mā / nor any that occupped any vile crafte / shulde be named by theyr names Howe the mayde shall behaue her selfe for the abrode The .xii. Chaptre HOrthe she must nedes go some tymes / but I wolde hit shulde be as selde as may be / for many causes Principally bycause as ofte as a mayde goth forth amonge people / so oftē she cometh in iugement and extreme perell of her beautie / honeste / demurenes / witte / shamfastnes / and vertue For nothyng is more tender / than is the same and estimation of women / nor nothynge more in daunger of wronge in so moche that hit hath be sayde / and nat without a cause / to hange by a copwebbe / bycause those thynges / that I haue rehersed / be required perfet in a womā and folkes iugementes be dangerous to please / and suspititous and as Ouid saith / we be quicke inough in beleuynge the yll And as Cicero saythe / Nos thynge fleeth more sweftly than an yll worde / nothynge gothe soner forth / nothyng is soner taken / nor brodder spredde that if a sklander ones take holde in a maydes name by folkes opynyon / hit is in a maner euerlastynge / nor can nat be wasshed away without great tokennes and shewes of chastite and wysedome If thou talke lyttell in cōpany / folkes thynke thou canste but lyttell good if thou speke moche / they reken the lyght if thou speke vncoūnyngly / they counte the dull wytted if thou speake counnyngly / thou shalte be called a shrewe if thou answere nat quickly / thou shalt be called proude / or yll brought up if thou answere / they shall say thou wylt be sone ouercomē if thou syt with demure countenannce / thou arte called a dissembler if thou make moche mouynge / they wyll call the folishe if thou loke on any syde / than wyll they say / thy mynde is there if thou laughe whan any man laugheth / though thou do hit nat a purpose / streyght they wyll say thou hast a fantasye vnto the man and his sayenge / and that hit were not great maistry to wȳne the. Wher to shuld I tell / howe moche occasion of vyce and noughtynes is a brode Wherfore the poet semeth to haue sayd nat without a cause It is nat lefull for maydes to be sene abrode Howe moche were hit better to abyde at home / than go forth and here so many iudgementes / and so dyuers vpon the / and be in so many leopardies Nor there is none / that had more nede to folowe this greke sayeng / Lyue vnknowen Therfore Tucydides sayde / she was the beste woman / of whom was least talke / either vnto her preyse / or her dispreyse A woman shulde be kepte close / nor be knowen of many / for hit is a token of no great chastite or good name / to be knowen of many / or be songen about in the cite in songes / or to be markedde or named by any notable marke / as whyte / lame / gogle eied / lytell / great / fat / maymed / or stuttynge / these ought nat to be knowen abrode in a good woman Why than saye som / shuld we neuer walke out of our owne dores Shuld we euer lye at home that were as though we shuld lye in pryson For so doth some proude foles take this sayenge / that desyre to se to be sene Nay verily they shall go forth some tymes / if nede require / and if theyr father commaunde or theyr mother but afore she go forth at dore / let her prepare her mynde and stomake none other wise / thā if she went to fyght Let her remembre / what she shall here / what she shal se / and what her selfe shal say Let her cōsidre with her selfe / that some thȳg shall chaunce on euerye syde / that shall moue her chastite and her good mȳde Agaynst these dartes of the deuyll fleynge on euery syde / let her take the buckler of stomacke defēded with good exāples preceptes / a fyrme purpose of chastite / a mynd euer bente towarde Christe And lette her knowe / that she goth but to vanyte / whiche leste she be taken with it / she had nede to prouide wysely / that that she shall se forth abrode / is to be counted none other thyng / but a shewe of the lyfe of the worlde by whose vices set before her eies / she mayelerne / nat only to kepe her selfe out of the contagiousnes / but more ouer to amende her owne fautes and that what houre so euer she turneth her selfe from god vnto men / whether she lyke them or be lyked of them / she forsakethe Christe and of Christis spouse sodaynly becometh an adulterar If she se any goodnes / let her loue hit for Christe if she se any euyll / let her fle hit for Christe Let her take hede neuer to garnysshe her selfe so / nor so go / nor do / or speke so / that she be the deuylles snare to chatche men in She shulde nat onely do none yll her selfe / but as moche as she can / so behaue her selfe / that she be none occasion vnto other of doynge yll orels shall she be a membre of the deuyll / whose instrument she is all redye / and nat Christis They saye / that the holy virgin our lady was so demure and sadde / that if any man cast a wonton eie vpon her / that foule heate was all quenched as though a mā had cast a fyre brāde in to the water Nowe whan she is apoynted with these thoughtes and suche other / let her go forth with her mother if she haue any / and haue leaue to go if she haue no mother / let her go with some sadde woman / that is a wydowe / or a wyfe / or some good mayde of vertuous lyuyng / sobre of speche / holy shamfastnes Homerus writeth / that the chast woman Penelope dyd come forth into the company of her wowers / but nat alone / but with two honest maydes in her company and also her sonne Telemachus was a monge them syttynge And as saynt Hieronyme commandeth / whan she goth forth abrode / let her nat beare her brestis and her necke
is hit / nat to loue them that thou hast borne But yet let them hyde their loue / lest the children take boldenes there vpō / to do what they lyste Nor lette nat loue stoppe her to punisshe her children for theyr vices / and to strength their bodies and wittes with sadde bryngynge vp For you mothers be the cause of mooste parte of ylnes amonge folkes wherby you maye se / howe moche your children are beholdyng vnto you / whiche induce noughty opinions in to them with your foly For you haue the bryngyng vp of them and you alowe theyr vnthriftynes And whan they be goynge vnto high vertue / and abhorre the ryches of the worlde / and the pompe of the deuyll you with your wepynge / and sharpe rebukynge / call them backe agayne in to the deuylles snares bycause you had leauer se them ryche thā good Agrippyna / mother vnto themperour Nero / whan she had asked south sayers of her sonne / whether he shuld be emperoure / yea sayde they / but he shall kyll his mother let hym kyll her sayd she / so that he maye be emperour And so he both was emperour kylled her But whan it came to the poynt / Agrippyna wolde nat gladly haue bene kylled / and repented that her son had th empyre Fynally you / through your cherishyng wil neither let them take laboure to lerne vertue and haue a pleasure to fyll them full of vices with delicatenes Therfore many of you wepe and wayle for I speke nat of all and be well punysshed and worthyly in this lyfe / for your madnes Whan you be sory to se your chyldren suche as your selfe haue made them Nor you be loued of them agayne / whan they perceyue them selfe vnloued of all other for your loue There is a certayne tale of a yonge mā / whiche whā he was led to be put to deth / desyred to speke with his mother and whan she came / layde his mouthe to her eare / and bote it of And whan the people that were by rebuked hym callȳg hym nat only a these / but also cursed / for so entreatynge his mother / he answered agayne This is the rewarde for her bryn gynge vp For if she / sayd he / had corrected me for stealing my felowes boke out of the schole / whiche was my fyrst thefte thā had I nat proceded vnto these mischeuous dedes But she cherysshed me / kyssed me for my doyng Nowe where to shulde I reherse the madnes of those mothers / that loue better those children / that be foule / croked / leude / dullardes / sluggardes / droūkerdes / vnruely / and folisshe / than those / that be fayre / vpryght / counnyng / quicke witted / inuentyue / sober / treatable / quiet and wyse Whether is this an errour of folkes myndes / or a punysshement of god / deserued for their syns / to make them to loue suche thȳges / as be worthy no loue Dūme beastis cherysshe euer the fayrest of their whelpes / or byrdes / lightly hit is a sygne of good proffe in them / whan the dāmes make moche of them Also hūters knowe that that shal be the best dogge / whiche the damme is most busye about / and for whom she careth the most / and carieth fyrst in to her lytter But in mākynde that is the moste vile and the least worthe / that the mother loueth most tenderly If you will beloued in dede of your children / and specially in that age / whan they knowe what is true and holy loue / thā make them nat to loue you ouer moche / whan they knowe nat yet what loue is but sette more by a spised cake / a hunnye combe / or a pece of sugare / than by bothe father and mother No mother loued her childe better thā myne dyd me neither any chylde dyd euer lesse perceyue hym selfe loued of his mother than I. She neuer lyghtely laughed vpon me she neuer cokered me and yet whā I had ben .iii. or .iiij. dayes out of her house / that she wyst nat where / she was almost sore sicke And whan I was comen home / I coulde nat perceyue that euer she longed for me Therfore was ther no body / that I more fled / or was more lothe to come nyghe / than my mother / whan I was a childe But after I came to yonge mānes estate / there was no body / whom I delited more to haue in syghte Whose memorye nowe I haue in reuerence / as afte as she cometh to my remēbraūce / I enbrace her with in my mynde and thoughte / whan I can nat with my body I had a frende at Paris / a very well lerned man Whiche amonge other great benefites of god / rekened this for one that his mother was deade / that sherysshed hym so wonderously Whiche sayd he if she had lyued / I had neuer come to Paris to lerne But had syt styll at home all my lyfe / amōge dicyng / drabbes / delycates / and pleasures / as I begounne Howe coude this man loue his mother / that was so glad of her dethe But a wyse mother shall nat wysshe for pleasures vnto her childe / but vertue Nor for ryches / but for counnyng / and good fame And rather for an honest dethe / than for an vncomly lyfe The women of Lacedemon / had leauer their sonnes shulde dye honestelye for the defence of they ▪ coūtrey / than fle to saue theyr lyues And we rede in histories / that many of them haue kylled with theyr owne hādes / theyr sonnes / that were cowardes and dastardes / pronouncyng these wordes This was neuer my sonne / Nor borne in Lacedemone Sophia whiche had .iij. goodly daughters / named them with .iij. names of vertue / hope / faith / and charite / and was very glad to se them all dye for the honour of Christe / buried them her owne selfe / nat farre from Rome / in the tyme of Hadryan themperour Let nat the mothers be so diligēt in teachynge theyr children craftes to gette good by / as to make them vertuous Neither shall bydde them take exāple of suche as haue gathered moche goodes in shorte space but rather of suche as haue comen vnto great vertue and goodnes The people of Megara is dispreysed / and nat without a cause / for teachyng theyr children nygardshyppe and couetyse and in stede of honest children / made them sparynge bonde men Wherfore they caused suche thynges / as wese chaunseth nowe adayes / that with byddyng them so ofte / seke for good / get good / increase theyr good / and gether good by all meanes / they caused their children to do myschiefe vngratious dedes The whiche faute is a great parte in the fathers and mothers / whiche be coūsaylours / causers / and setters vpon / and as good reason was / whan the children coulde fynde none other wayes to come by ryches /