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
Then good aduice ioyned with a noble harte ought to gouerne great enterprises Then to our purpose my maister the courtier sayth he wyll leaue the cursed life of the court and go dye at home saiyng y t to liue in suche trouble is a continuall death O how many often tymes haue I hard these faire wordes that neuer were folowed excusyng them onely by the desteny of the court in the whiche they were fast glued When that a courtier lackes money that any mā doeth him displeasure or that he hath lost his proces God knoweth howe many othes he maketh that he will forsake al not to leaue his euil cōdicions but because that his busynes goeth backeward but long his purpose lasteth nor for if our courtier happe to cum to welth or that he be inhaunced by his prince ye shall see his former promises to waxe colde his wil and his desire to remaine there in suche wise y e ye would iudge him to be naturally borne ther. Fauor and couetuousnes guideth the Courtier so that one groweth with the other and at the ende conuerted frō the maner of Christians to courtiers For all men knoweth that the court is a place wher men may get welth and likewyse y e place of mens vndoyng We haue already rehersed the occasions why men do withdrawe theim from the court some for lack of mony some for pouertie or not beyng in fauor or for age all these thynges be of necessitie nothyng of free wyll nor yet praise to them that so withdraweth theim for the causes afore sayd but the true leuyng of the Courte and of the worlde is when y e courtier is yong strōg in fauor riche in helth then with good harte to leaue the courte to fynde in other places honest rest after his degre this is sayd to the entente that he whiche leaueth the court shuld leaue it merily and without repenting for feare that after his sorowe is past he would be ashamed to returne to thesame where he may chaunse to haue great busines The proude and vnpacient men do many thinges in a day whiche he had nede to mourne for all the daies of their life A colloricke heade is nothyng mete for the court for if he will be reuenged of the shames iniuries crastes wronges that in the court he shall fynde let him trust that he shall suffre more in one houre then he shal be able to reuenge in ten yere whosoeuer leaueth the court let him leaue it for euermore because that if he wyll returne to it again leaue his dwellyng in the countrey he may be likened to him y t hath a continual Ague he that sinnes mendes and after returnes againe to synne that synne is more greuous then y e first In lykewise to leaue the court and after returne to it is so open a faulte that it cannot be hid excepte ye will say he goeth to sell vertue and to bye riches To our purpose if we shuld aske of an auncient man what hath been the whole course of his life and that he would answere vs he hath enterprised muche wādered spoken searched founde and lost c. We would saye that his life hath been a dissēblyng folly What shall we say then of our inconstant Courtiers that dayly do thesame thynges whiche forgettyng themselfes for the obteinyng of a litle fauour do against nature flatter begge Remember aboue all thynges gentle reader here els where that I speake not but of the vndiscrete Courtiers that can not refraine their appetite with an honest cōtentaciō which thing most chiefly causeth many sage discrete persons to geue ouer the Courte because to refraine the wil of the heart is a greater paine then to content the body for the bodye is soone werye of sinnyng but the heart is neuer satisfied in desiryng One may knowe easily the compleccion of the bodye but the mynde of the heart neuer and to contentyng lesse for the heart at euery instaunt requireth nowe one thyng now another and within a lytle tyme after forgetteth all O dissemblyng heart that vnder a pretēce to be clere and loyall make men to iudge that hypocrisy is deuocion ambiciō nobilitie auarice husbandrye crueltie zele of iustice muche bablyng eloquence folishenes grauitie dissolucion diligēce To conclude that euery man ought to knowe how muche he may do If a mā know himself to be ambicious impacient couetous let him go hardely to the court And contrary if the courtier fele his nature cōtent peaceable and desiryng rest quietnes let him be dwellyng in the village and he shall well knowe that he neuer knewe how to liue til he had drawen him selfe from the Court The .iiii. Chapiter ¶ Of the life that the Courtier ought co leade after that he hath lefte the Court. MYronydes a wyse sage Philosopher capitaine of the Boheciens sayd that y e prudence of a man was aswell knowen by retiryng from the euil as in chosyng of the good forasmuche as vnder the euil commonly the good can not be hid but vnder the pretence of good muche euil may be dissembled euen muche lyke as the Antheme y t begynnes Persignū crucis and endes in Sathanas Barrabas In like maner y e great euils haue their beginnyng by sum pretēce of fained goodnes in suche sort that they be counterfeict muche lyke Maskers wrapt in swetenes as purgyng pylles and gilte as is the Rubarbe Ther is no mā I thinke so mad that kepeth not himself in asmuche as he can from catchyng euil specially frō open euil but contrarywise it were wysedome to kepe him frō that whiche is not altogether good Alexander the great causing himselfe to be healed of certain woundes that he had receiued in battail was reproued of his great minion Parmeno for puttyng himselfe into great hazard in the warre To whom Alexander sayd assure me my frende Parmeno of those that be dissemblyng frendes for I wil be ware of them that be my open enemies Alcibyades Agiselaus Pyrrhus Antigonus Lentulus and Iulius Caesar were so circumspecte in these thynges that they wer alwayes vāquishers and died in the hādes of their frendes and specially because thei chose the good and lefte the euil Then he that leaueth y e court ought not only for to see what he leaueth but also what he taketh cōsideryng that asmuche or more harde it is to contente him hauyng left the court as it was afore in the desiryng to be in the court what profiteth it to leaue the court wery troubled If thy harte can fynde no rest in the place whether thou resortest Our bodye fulfilled with meates is led where one will haue it but the heart is neuer satisfied with desiryng and would if he might be in fauor with princes of the courte and on the other side at his ease in y e village If the Courtier dayly haue mynde beyng at home of the passions affliccions that he had in
nedes speake that is that I haue returned my body so wery my iudgemeÌ„t dull my tyme so lost the best of my age so passed and that is worst of al I founde no tast in any thing that is in the worlde so that to conclude I am of my selfe al wery of my selfe What should I more tell or say of the alteracion of my life and of the chaunges of fortune I came to the court innocent and come from it malicious I went thither true and meanyng truth returned a lyar I went thither humble returned presumptuous I weÌ„t thither sobre and returned a gurmand gluttoÌ„ I wente thither gentle and humaine and returned cleane coÌ„trary Finally in goyng thither I marde my self in all pointes And I haue no cause to laye y â— faut in my masters for y e vices soone learned w tout a master cannot be forgotten without a corrector O miserable that I am I kept in the court an accompt of my goodes to knowe how they were wasted and not for to distribute theim to the poore I toke hede of my honor for to encrease it not for to better my selfe by the tyme I toke care of them that shuld pay me to know what was owyng me and not that I might gette to profite the poore withal but to ê“fite in riches and not in vertue I helde an accoumpt with my seruauntes to none other purpose then to know how loÌ„g thei had been with me serued me not to enquire what life thei led Finally I held a couÌ„pt of my life but it was more to conserue it then to correct it Lo beholde this was my accoumpt this was my calculacion this was the Arsmetrique that I learned in the court Let vs yet go a litle further and se mine exercises I neuer was yet in the court but I fouÌ„d to whom I bare malice or els that enuied me I was neuer yet in the palaice but I founde a window open and a courtier murmur I neuer yet spake to princes but I went from them not coÌ„tented in my mynde with some parte of their answere I neuer yet went to bed without complaint nor neuer did ryse w tout a sigh If I went about to do any good thing my great affaires hyndered me If I would study my felowes letted me If I went to take any honest and quiet pastyme myne affaires would not permit me If I kept my selfe solitary and from companye my thoughtes martyred me Finally ther was neuer any thyng that so vexed my heart as the lacke of money in my purse And yet all this is nothyng remembryng that I was euer enuyous to suche as were myne equalles a flatterer to my superiors and without pitie to mine inferiors where I phansied one I bare hate almost to all other I found euery man worthy of reprofe but against my selfe I could not suffre a worde to be spoken O howe forgetfull haue I been whiche should forget or a morsell of meate had been put in my mouth and haue talked aloude to my self alone as it had been one that had been mad O how often hath chaunced me y t in commyng from the counsail wery or froÌ„ y e palaice thoughtfull I would not heare myne owne seruauÌ„res speake nor dispatche suche as I had to do w tall O how many tymes haue I been so drouned in busynes that I could not moderate my pensiuenes although my frendes did counsail me to the contrary O alas how many times hath my mynde pressed me to leaue the court and the worlde and to yelde my selfe to some solitary desert as an Heremite because I sawe y e kyng auauÌ„ce him and him and I put backe as a person halfe desperate Moreouer to fulfil my trauailes alwaies I wente askyng serchyng newes of the affaires of y e court alwaies harkenyng what one sayd of another alwaies spiyng and watchyng all this considered I found by myne accoumpt that I liued in heauynes captiuitie and state of damnacion Let vs yet go farther If I were riche one or other serched some meane to deuour me If I were poore I found none to succour me my frendes cryed out vpoÌ„ me and mine enemies sought my death Ouermuche bablyng of the courtiers brake my braines and muche silence made me to slepe and the solicitude caused me to be sad And ouermuche company oppressed me muche exercise weryed me and idlenes confounded me To coÌ„clude I so burdened and vexed my self in the court with so muche trauail in naughtynes y t I durst not desire death although I had no desire to liue The .xix. Chapiter The aucthor maketh accoumpt of the vertues that he lost in the court and of the euil customes that he learned there BVt nowe to procede my fortune passed my freÌ„des dyed my force decaied and my first fashioÌ„s failed O if al my paines had been ended at the first tyme when I came to the courte howe happye had that been for me but nowe all consumed I complaine singulerly of my traitorous hearte which would neuer cease to desire vain thinges and the cursed tong to speake sclauÌ„derous thiÌ„ges O gentle reader be not wery if I tel thee in fewe wordes the difference betwixte him that I was when I went first to the court that I am nowe since I haue been in the court First and before that I did cast my selfe into this perilous labyrinthe which is to say a prison full of all snares I was a good deuout person geÌ„tle and fearefull and since I haue lerned to be a mischieuous felow slowe in doyng good and litle or nothing regardyng y e welth of my soule I went thether beyng very yong and of good disposicion and came from thence deffe more then spurblynde and nomore able to go then he that is full of the goute And briefely and olde grysard ful of ambicion in suche wyse that I am so variable that scant I knowe on what grounde to set my feete My heart was of so depraued a sort that it desired to be discharged of all accions and yet for all that founde no nother but peril and torment Sondry tymes I purposed to leaue the court and sodenly I repented Sometyme I purposed not to come out of my lodgyng strait waies I was enforced to trot a trot to the court Sometyme I purposed not to come to the palaice and or I were ware I was compelled to go thither sometyme or it were day I purposed to be nomore vexed sodenly my passions augmeÌ„ted And it folowed that my good purposes ceased and went froÌ„ me and I did that was leude naughty Behold how I liued of wynde and of fooles imaginacions as many a foolishe courtier doth I haue phaÌ„tasied with my self in the court sometyme that I gouerned the kyng the princes and that I came of a noble house and auncient stocke excellent in scieÌ„ce great in fauor and beloued of all men sage in counsail moderate in speaking eloquent
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
dye Farewell world for beyng in the we forget our infaÌ„cy our grene age with out experience our youth in vices our middle age in turmoilyng busynes our olde age in lameÌ„tacions all our tyme couÌ„ted together in vaine hopes Farewell worlde for in thy schoole we are led til y e heere be white the eyes blered the eares deaf the nostrels droppyng y e forehead wrinkled y e fete goutie the raynes full of grauel y e stomacke ful of euil humours the head full of migrain the body ful of sorow the mynde full of passions Farewell worlde for none of thy louers come to good ê“fite witnesse those that daily we see are not false knaues marked in the face theues hanged manquellers headed robbers by y e hye wayes sette vpon wheles heritikes brent false money makers boiled killers of their pareÌ„tes torne in pieces other diuers punishementes of suche as are great in fauor w t thee Farewell worlde forasmuch as thy seruauÌ„tes haue no more pastyme but to trot by the stretes to mocke one another to seke out wenches to sende presentes to beguile yong girles write amorous letters speake to baundes play at y e dise plede against their neighbour tell newes inuent lyes and studye newe vices Farewell worlde for in thy palaice none will do good to other for the Boare fightes against the Lyon the Vnicorne against the Cocodril the Egle against y e Vultur the ElephaÌ„t against y e Mynotaure the Sacre gainst the Kyte the mastyf against the Bull One man against another and al together against death Farewell worlde because y u hast nothing but to our ruine For often the yerth openeth afore our feete y e water drounes vs the fyer burnes vs the ayer mistempers vs the Wynter doth kyll vs the SoÌ„mer doth chafe vs the dogges doth byte vs the Cattes doeth scrat vs the SerpeÌ„tes doth poyson vs the Flyes doeth pricke vs the Flees doeth eat vs aboue al worldely busines deuours vs Farewell worlde seyng no man can passe thy dominion in suertie for in euery pathe we fynde stoones to stumble at bridges that brekes vnder vs Snowe that letteth vs MouÌ„taines that werye vs Thunders that feares vs Theues that robbe vs EncouÌ„ters that hurtes vs euil fortune that killes vs. Farewell worlde forasmuch as in thy countrey there is litle health for some be lippers and some haue the French pockes some the Canker and some the goute and some haue the foule euil and some the Sciatica and some the stone and some Quotidian feuers some wanderyng feuers some tercian quarten feuers spasmes paulsies the moste parte sicke offaire folly Farewel worlde forasmuche as there is not a manne in thy house but he is noted with some defaute in his person For if there be any talle man the rest is lubberlike If he haue a fayre face his iye shall be too blacke If he haue a good forehed it shalbe wrinkeled If he haue a welfauored mouthe he shall lacke teethe If he haue faire haÌ„des he shal lacke faire heer And if he haue faire heer he shall haue a foule skynne Farewel worlde forasmuch as the inhabitauÌ„tes in thee are so variable to maners and coÌ„dicions that some will folowe the court some wil sayle on the sea and if one would be a marchaunt the other will be a husbandman If the one will be a huÌ„ter the other will be a fisher If one wil gouerne a Monarchy y e other vnder preteÌ„ce of y t will pyll poll y e poore people Farewell worlde for asmuche as in thy house there are none that prepare themselfes to liue and muche lesse to dye And yet we see some die yong and some in middle age some in old age some dye by haÌ„gyng and some by drounyng some dye for huÌ„ger some in eatyng slepyng and restyng and some or they beware and for the most parte or they loke for death Farewell worlde forasmuch as we can neither knowe thy disposicion nor condicion For if one be wise another is a fole If one be fyne another is of a grosse witte If one be valiant another is a coward If one be geuen to peace another is sedicious And if one be of a gentle spirit another is very froward Farewell worlde seyng noman can liue with thee for if a man eate to lytle he becommes weake if to muche he waxeth sicke if a man labour straite he is wery if he be idle he liueth bestly if he geue litle he is called a nigarde if he geue muche he is called prodigal if a maÌ„ visite his freÌ„des often he is called importune if to seldome full of disdaine If a maÌ„ suffre wrong he is called false hearted And if he do reuenge then is he wilfull If he haue frendes he is praised If enemies he is pursued if one tary to long in a place he waxeth wery and if he chaunge to oft he is grudged at Finally I say that suche thynges as displease me I am forced to folowe and that which I would I cannot come by O worlde vncleane I coniure thee thou filthy worlde I pray O thou worlde protest against thee thou worlde that thou neuer haue part in me for I demauÌ„de nor desire nothyng that is in thee neither hope of any thyng in thee for I haue determinined with my self that posui finem curis spes et fortuna valete I haue finished worldly cares therfore hope and fortune farewell FINIS EXCVSVM LONDINI IN AEDIBVS RICHARDI GRAFTONI TYPOGRAPHI REGII MENSE AVGVSTII M.D.XLVIII CVM PRIVILEGIO AD IMPRIMENDVM SOLVM