to take delight in her husbands first chirdren Neither commeth this woorde Stepdame of the speakers ill speech or terming but in deede is drawne from the parties ill doing although perhaps the Grammarians will say Nouerca is a compound worde quasi noua furca in english a newe frame of three peeces prepared and set vp for some purpose By that word God forbid I should meane all mothers in lawes of whome I dare vowe and affirme there bee a great number so kindly to their husbandes children that they may well be called mothers The abuse of a fewe sometime maketh all of that sute or sort to be blamed propter paucas inuisa sumus omnes mulieres sayth Terence for a fewe Stepdames sake we are all called Stepmothers To be short I would constantly beseech all mother in lawes in generall to haue this opinion of my meaning that haue aduentured to meddle in this kind of matter chiefely in fauour of the ouerborne motherlesse and of the poore innocents whose Angels be before the throne of God that as we are sure one Crowe pulleth not out anothers eyes so I hope this my Nightcrowe shall spiritually or temporally doe good vnto many euen of them that rightly deserue that name Vale. The Table THat the vertue thriuing and prosperitie of children are for the most part wrought by the fathers good examples and instructions Chap. I. That the vice and other infelicitie of children mostly proceedeth of the fathers ill examples Chap. II. That fathers ought not to prouoke their childrē to wrath or disobedience Chap. III. That fathers ought to deale kindly and faithfully and not preiudicially or fraudulently towards their children Chap. IIII. That fathers or parents ought not to dispose their goods or landes after priuate fancie Chap. V. The second part OF the vngentle dealing of some Stepmothers towardes their husbands children Chap. vj. That stepmothers ought not to be priuate or false accusers of their husbandes children more than of others Chap. vij That Stepmothers ought not to supplant or procure disheriting of their husbandes eldest sonnes Chap. viij That disheriting of the eldest sonne without very great lawfull cause is an act verie wrongfull and vngodly Chap. ix That procurers and counsailors of disherison and all wrong doing ought to make or procure restitution Chap. x. The first part of this treatise surnamed the Night-crowe perswadeth in certaine kindely points pertaining to a natural father the regard whereof may worke a meete preseruatiue or preuention against a womans inchanting or peruerting CHAP. I. That the vertue thriuing and prosperitie of children are for the most parte wrought by the fathers good examples and instructions SOlon that was reputed so wise and prouident a lawe-maker for the Athenians being asked howe a State or Common-wealth might best be kept vpright and longest endure mary saith he if subiects obey their Magistrates and the Magistrates obey the lawes as if hee woulde say It is not enough if the subiects obey the Magistrates neglect the obseruing of laws themselues but these must obey first that the others may learne obedience otherwise they are like to reape such fruits as they sowe by examples As subiects and inferiors are contained within bounds of order and duety by lawes so princes pastors parents and all superiours are subiected to other lawes for the most parte haue a superior Iudge whereby is performed the earthlie Hierarchie so well pleasing vnto God and so much desired of good men whiles they commaund by their owne lawes they stand obliged by no lesse duetie of obedience to the law of God and of nature And specially Parents who are so déepelie bound to loue and tender their children that brute beasts and birds may reproue controll many The thing that is most requisite to be found in them is naturall loue augmented and cōfirmed by the same which Christ so carefully commended to his children to wit charitie Charitie makes one heart of many it is the way of man vnto God and the way of god to man but he that expresseth himselfe in his actions to faile in the duety of naturall loue is not worthy to be counted an obseruer of the bond of Charitie This Charitie or wonderfull newe loue Christ not onely left vnto his children by forme of an expresse commandement but also taught and confirmed the same by the example of himselfe in the vnspeakable mysterie of Sacraments folke are taught better by example of doing then by words and such examples are alwayes to be drawne from the superiour to the inferiour They whom nature or order hath preferred in degrée before others will alwayes bee looked vppon for their examples which therefore had néede to bée good For that which is doone by example the inferiours will thinke they may lawfullie doe the like Good examples doe edifie and vpholde ill examples do destroy and confound Humanitie is taught by the lawe of Nature If parents by their example should teach the contrarie what do they else but indeuour to transfourme men into beasts beginning first to perfourme it in their owne children These will say they bée Christians and of the faithfull and yet Saint Iames saieth Fides sine operibus mortua est Faith without workes is dead They must shewe vs better examples to come from them towardes their children then colde friendship peruerting of order and sowing séedes of dissention in their owne house Good workes generallie tende towardes the clothing of the soules nakednesse but good workes in performing the will of GOD in our owne house may prooue a preseruatiue against the plague or poyson of imputient mindes or more rather remedy against the ruine of Soules descended in our owne osspring Pietie or godlines which is a vertue annexed vnto Iustice besides the fourth expressed Commandement compelleth children to loue and honour their Parentes their kindred and their countrey but yet Parents must not thinke themselues vntouched or vnbound by this commaundement séeing by a secondarie meanes the same willeth and inuiteth Parentes to honour and especiallie to regarde theyr children Which honouring or speciall regarding is to bée perfourmed of eche partie in heart worde and déede As for the loue of people at large it is to bée accounted as mutable as the faire weather or as permanent as the calmes of the Sea But the naturall and the kindelie loue of Parentes towardes their children is or ought to bee as constant and readie as we woulde wish to finde the lone and fauour of GOD towardes vs. Neyther can they folowe a better example giuer then Christ hymselfe who hath taught them to commende and bequeath loue vnto theyr Children for if there had béene anie thing more expedient hée woulde haue commended it vnto his Apostles and Disciples before this Neuer were more néedefull the Parentes examples of loue and well dooing then nowe séeing children finde them scarce to be had at the handes of others Pondus meum amor meus saieth Saint Augustine My waight is my loue And
would say A mans riches are no where so well laid vp and safely kept as in the handes of his friendes Where should a parent then bestowe them but on his owne soule or vpon the life and reléeuing of his children Shall he now giue eare to any couetous or excessiue request of a woman Shall her deceitfull teares make him to swarue from the minde and purpose of a kinde father and the couenant of nature it selfe No not so Hée must nowe lay aside fancie and ouercome his owne will And there is no greater and more laudable victorie then for a man to vanquish himselfe by yéelding vnto the reason and authoritie of nature law and the will of God For sure it is that the loue of a couetous woman would long agone haue ended if goodes had failed and to saie trueth for the most parte so doth the loue of the man dominish if not vtterly ende when beaurie decayeth Shall I regarde her teares No for they be of two sortes the one of griefe the other of deceite For a little goodnesse shée will looke forsooth to haue a great rewarde little remembring herselfe what euill shée hath doone and had neuer any chastisement for it As the holie Doctor saieth he that helpeth the euill hurteth the good but we may say he that enricheth a stepmother helpeth a stranger and hindereth his owne yea perhappes fourdeth his wealth vnto his ennemie and scarcitie vnto them of his owne fleshe and ofspring Sée héere the peruersenesse of manie men in their like dealinges by following fancie and obeying theyr owne will wherein it séemeth the wise Philosopher Plato was nothing deceyued when hée sayde Hée that is enclined to followe his will is neare the wrath of GOD. For the brideling restraining or moderating of which will God by his Ministers héere in earth hath let an order by ciuil canon and nationall lawes There bee sundrie persons that can not alienate theyr goodes nor make willes Likewise there be thinges of some nature or qualitie in the possessing and propertie of them that they may not be alienated or transiated vnto the commoditie or propertie of an other according vnto the will fancie and fauouring of him that last possessed them Also there be some Countries and Citties which eyther forbid willes to be made or else by their Custome doe make and appoint willes for men because they shall not followe their owne will The prodigall person the bonâ—man the guiltie of treason nor the approoued hereticke can not dispose any thing by their wâ—â—â—s By the construction of the Diuines who is not prodigall and a misâ—ponder of those giftes which GOD hath bestowed vppon him Who is not a bondman Qui facit peccatum seruus est peccati Iohn the eight Chapiter He that committeth sinne is the seruant or bondman of sinne and to confirme that saying more plantely take these wordes of Saint Peter 1.2 A quo quis superatus est eius sernus est Of whome soeuer any man is ouercome to him is he bound The vnfaithfull or misbeléeuing Christian is hardly charged with treason committed against the celestiall Emperour And therefore hath Saint Augustine In li. de ouibus Vigilate hereties audite a pastore testamentum pacis Venite adpacem irascimini Christianis Jmperatoribus quia testamenta vestra valere noluerunt in domibus vestris dolor est admonitio est non dum damnatio dicit tibi Deus noli fraudes querere Vis stare testamentum tuum Stet in te meum The thinges before mentioned that may not bee translated or bestowed after the will of the possessors are the ecclesiastical goods and fruits For séeing all Churchly authority is to eâ—â—fie and to destroy a clerke might not by ecclesiasticall constitutions make his wil otherwise then according to their order and vocation For hee might not enrich his carnall brethren or kinsfolke although hee might giue them victum vestitum that is foode and apparell by reason that the ecclesiastical things were called and reputed oblationes quia domino offeruntur And therefore saide those lawes non debent in aliis vsibus quam ecclesiasticis vel christianorum fratrum indigentium conuerti quia vota sunt fidelium precia peccatorum patrimonia pauperum The saying of Saint Ambrose is somewhat fearefull vppon this pointe As riches saieth he to some men through misbestowing of them be an an occasion of damnation so in good mens hands by their well bestowing they bee helpes of vertue The cause I haue thus digressed and mencioned of these matters which séeme not plainely retaining to this point of santasticall or wilful willing and disposing of the parents substance or goods is partly to induce and prooue that the freewill and fancy of some sortes of men are restrained by the lawes Ecclesiastical and Imperiall in all countries But of all sortes of men at least prescribed and bounded in some Countries Also by all lawes and in all Countries that is a rule of reason to bee regarded among Christian men Who so hath power to dispose goods ought rather to haue right consideration towardes the causes to bee respected in them that stand at his deuotion then to hys owne power Sith it is the saying of a wise man quanto liceat tanto libeat minus As the goods of the church in time past were thought not properly to pertaine to lay persons so the goods of any parent cannot temporally be bestowed on any persons more properly then vppon his owne children according to order of their age and as the wisest and best sorte of men are wont to doe Now to touch somewhat the duety of good and natural children it is to witte that this worde filius or filia sonne or daughter commeth of the word Philos in Gréeke which is loue or louer And that sonne or daughter which expresseth not loue towardes the parent as well when he is departed this worlde as whiles hee is present I wotte not which is worsâ—e in him either his vngodlinesse or his ingratitude but séeing ingratitude is vngodlinesse it were good that children know it well that they may the better anoid the blot thereof It is a vice which in some good commen wealths hath beene punished as readily as any others if it were in the highest degrée The first and lowest degrée of vnthankfulnesse is not to requite a benefite The second to dispraise or disdaine it in respecte of the thing The thirâ—e to forget a benefit But the fourth degrée is rendring euill for good The Storkes for the naturall kindnesse receiued will beare their parent on their backe when hee is olde and féeds him if hee bee not able to sturre abroade for his lining In hye Castile these patternes of kinde parentage are to bee séene breeding in the toppe almost of euerie Church tower or stéeple of likelyhoode fauoured and fostéred there of purpose for that lesions sake which that bird can teach man And although the dutie of children is to helpe and succour their
vnto them that lacke waight herein shall that bée sayde Discedite a me operarij iniquitatis Goe from mée ye workers of iniquitie Luke the thirtéenth It is no suspected or vnsound counsell set downe in Decretals by these wordes Ante omnia opus est vt patres non solum nihil peccando verumetiam honestè singula peragendo manifestum res è filijs exhibeant exemplar vt in corum vitam se vt in speculum intueantur Before all thinges it is néedefull that fathers should shew themselues vnto theyr children as a manifest patterne or erample not onely be not sinning but also by doing al things honestlie that they may looke into their liues and peruse themselues as in a glasse Aristotle being asket in what sort we ought to shew our selues to our frendes marie saith he in that sorte as wee woulde wishe that they shoulde shew themselues to vs. If this point pertaineth to frendship much rather to parentage who finde it a harder matter to enfourme their children well then it is to beget them For according as they are trayned vp by their parentes wordes and examples such wil they proue to be after the prouerbial verse Arbor naturam dat fructibus atque figuram Fruites are woont to take their shape and nature of the tree All things are deriued from the worthier parts whether they be good or euill and the vertue of an honest man or good Father is like to the sauour of muske which impartteth his goodnes to others that buy not of it Of this minde appeared to bée that vertuous Prince Lewes of France called the good King who least his eldest Sonne Charles the Dolphin shoulde bée vnmindefull of those thinge which he taught him by good example in his life time at the time of his death lefte these preceptes in writing to bee deliuered vnto him of likelyhood as a Codicill or parte of his will which Christian like counsailes are worthy to bee knowen and remembred especially by them that succéede in nobility authority or generosity The aduertisementes were these 1 First yéelde an account of thy sinnes diligently vsing the helpe and sound counsaile of foure wise and well learned men that will not bee afraide to rebuke and controll thee 2 Serue God deuoutly in the Church 3 Be conuersant with vertuous men and such as liue in good order 4 Ruffians and such as haue no feare of God let them be farre off from thée 5 Be ready and willing to heare good counsaile bée it secretly or openly 6 Let not blasphemers of God and despisers of holy thinges escape from thée vnrebuked or vnpunished 7 Towardes all Christians be thou a seuere and an vpright Iudge not fauouring one parte more then the other 8 If thou must needes make warre be a protector of Christes Church and all innocents 9 Be not the meanes of swearing and forswering but rather forbid it Lastly my Sonne I exhort and pray shée I leauing this worlde before thée that thou wilt haue a godly charitable and dutifull regard towards mee The precepts be such as it may bee wished there were more practisers of the like The wise and vertuous Prince seemed a carefull and diligent follower of ghostly counsaile and namely of this out of Ecclesiasticus Who so informeth and teacheth hys Sonne greeueth the enemy and before his friends he may haue ioy of him though the Father die yet is he as though he were not dead for he hath lefte one behinde him that is like him The bishop of Augusta in his booke De via Regia hath this aduertisment vnto parents When thy Sonne saieth hee shall aske thee which be the auncient wayes thou shalt tell him of the auncient faith and of the holy and approued life and good workes of the Patriarkes Prophets Apostles and others the seruaunts and freindes of God who by the true and sincere faith raised the dead cleansed the leaporous and restored sight to the blinde The like Christian and religious lessons ought to be taught as readily as any worldly instructions That which a man soweth that he shall reape Let the Father giue good examples and hee shall reape the fruite thereof on the life maners and prosperity of his children Let him bee milde and louing and he shall taste of the loue of God Let himselfe not be stubborne against the wil of God and lawes and he shal finde it recompenced in the duetie and obedience of his children Let him forgiue the offences of reasonable sonnes and he shall ouercome their frowardnesse and ill disposition if the Philosophers words be true which saieth Filium beneuolentia patris meliorem facit that is The beneuolent fauouralbe dealing of the Father maketh the sonne better CHAP. II. That Fathers ought not to giue ill examples AMongs the Lacedemonians if two brethren fell at strife betwéene themselues the Magistrate awarded that the Father shoulde be punished for that either he was the cause of it or did not preuent it before or remedy it after For they thought the young men were to be pardoned And if they offended by the intemperance of youth their father was to bée blamed whose authority ought to forsée and prouide that no strife or debate rise betwéen his sons And therefore a Father ought to bée very carefull in nourishing and maintaining naturall loue and concord in his family and in any wise not to suffer any sparke of hatred to enter into their heartes least it kindle a fire in their brest much lesse ought he to cast in coales of discorde among thē him selfe by any vnkinde or iniurious examples of dealing For the state of a family if it bée in due order is like to a frame of ioyning worke or building wherein if some one peece bée out of his place it tendeth to a disordering of all the rest and one disorder following an other all becommeth out of ioynt and falleth vnto a confusion verie dispraisable Therefore it séemes this saying of the holy Ghost is not of light regarded Vae dantibus malum exemplum woe vnto them that giue ill examples the grieuousnesse whereof the holy Doctor Saint Augustine rather augmenteth then diminisheth when he saieth that a man may slay others by his examples Euen as the Father beginneth so it is like the sonne will procéede for as the Philosopher saieth Amat vnusquisque sequi vitam parentum Euerie man loueth to doe as his father did before him And as Seueca saieth Ther is no wicked act but the example of it hath been followed If the Father neglect the expresse will of God who would and ought to strike a stroke as well in the ordering of his family as in the directing of his life or if hee swarue from the vsage of the wisest or best forte of parentes preferring his owne fancy or wilfull conceite before all other reason the Sonne by his example will doe the like If the Father by an example of iniurie or disorder giueth an entry to venim of minde and
vertue and valure is in them besides But of such lither and flerible folke it is likelie it will at length fare wyth them as it did with Amon the sonne of Dauid who was so in loue wyth Thamar his owne sister that he fained himselfe to be sicke and to surfet with loue till he had defiled hir from thenceforth he neuer loued her so ardently as nowe he beganne to hate and loath her So when these men through the light of reason and illumining of grace shall perceiue in how 's great a labyrinth of errour and wrong perswasion of womens will and wilinesse they haue wandered contrarie to reason and sound aduise or as soone as GOD shall touch their heart with grace and repentance of their carnall follie and immoderate seruing of the flesh they will beginne to remember themselues in the duetie of kind parents By the Councell Gangrense it was decréede that if any man though it were by occasion of geuing ouer the world and entring into religion did neglect to haue a due care for his children as well for the godly enforming of them as also touching that which pertained to them otherwise anathema sit Let him be accursed But we must thinke great difference betwéene neglecting them through a certaine religious contemning of worldly thinges and the casting of them off by reason of the appetite of newe loue But yet there is a much more difference to be vnderstoode betwéenâ— negligent regarde and carefull respecte had towardes children or such as be vnder our charge Which ill example before recited and reprooued may wel be counteruailed with this contrarie Epaminondas a famous Duke or Capitaine of the Grecians going foorth to an exploite of warre his wife desired him to looke well vnto himselfe He answered This is an aduise fit for other men and not for me for he that taketh on him a charge as I doe his part is to looke well to the safetie of them that be vnder him séeing manie are more to be respected then one If we wil not with this bishoplike Duke preferre the safetie and better worldly state of our children and familie before the regarde and satisfying of our carnall desire and wanton appetite so vnseasonable or so inconuenient yet at least let us respect the health of their soules before the incoÌ„stant and vaine loue of any earthly person Diogenes that was so poore in worldly substance and so rich in wisedome and giftes of grace certifieth vs that God loueth them that be disobedient to their priuate lustes And to say the trueth so a man ought to be if not for so high a cause yet of this baser respect in auoyding hurts and inconueniences sensibly perceiued to ensue to himselfe and his first children Which in déede were the parte of a faithfull friend compared vnto golde or siluer And what faith I pray you ought there to be betwéene parents and their children where we must acknowledge a bond of nature that bindes both parts The law rule is In vaine doth any man require faith or promise to be kept by him to whom himselfe refuseth to kéepe faith But in such a case the dishonestie will be the more if the stronger shew himself the weaker in breaking first Wherfore for sundry respectes worldly and diuine it is of all good men to be wished or aduised that Parents attempt not first the breaking of this band chiefly to their owne harme but euen as the sight of a scarre in an other mans face geueth them warning to beware of wouÌ„ds lighting on themselues so they beholding or remembring other mens errours and euilâ—es in this behalfe past the same by Gods grace and assistance may cause them to take the better héede in auoyding the like mischiefes of their owne or their familie to come CHAP. V. Of fathers or parentes who dispose their goods or lands after their priuate will and fancie without due regarde of nature reason and order THe gladsome and ioyfull temperature of the morning was long since halfe forgotten the heighth of the Sunne is in declination the heate of the daie is past the euening draweth on euerie creature beginneth to go vnto his rest Man that hath passed the whole course of this worlde which is for the most parte equally mirte wyth sorrowe and ioy what hath hée laboured or spent his time for if he finde not rest at his ending As for the thinges wherein hée delighted hée findeth them all but vaine and after alittle while are quite vanished saue onely his good déedes and his bad These bide by him and will not lightly be separated from him Penance or repentance ought now to be most in his purpose his negligence therein will now appeare Night commeth on and as the Apostle saieth vnto the Galathians chap. 6. Me oporter operari cum dies est vâ—nit enim nox quando operari nemo potest I must worke whiles it is day for no man can worke when night commeth Be the day neuer so long at length it will ring to Euen song But who is sure to make out a whole dayes worke and to enioy the fruition of mans common age séeing it is said in Eccl. 9. Nescit homo finem suum sed sicut aues capiunâ—ur laeqâ—râ— pisces haâ—o Man knoweth not his ende but is ouâ—rtaken euen as birâ—es be wyth the snare and fishes wyth the hooke Euery man is iudged wise or foolish by the maner of his ending for one day denieth and controlleth an other but the last day geueth indgement of al the rest A maÌ„ at his ending hath two wayes to looke vnto Backewards to his sinnes offences and negligences past and Forwards by setting a good order in his familie and well disposing of things for peace quietnesse and other godly effects to come His life time good health and best remembrance is fittest for the one and the eueningtide of his iourny in this world is not too late for the other Pythagoras saide that Golde is tryed by fire A woman by Gold that is whether shée be good or not and man by woman viz. whether hée bée constantly naturall and well minded towardes his children and good to his owne soule For he that neglecteth his children as saith the diuine Poet Horace depriueth him selfe of immortalitie By the want of children his shape phisnomy name and memoriall perisheth fith in the renuing and vpholding of the worke of nature the same is freshly renued and maintained Wherein I pray you is the effecte of true friendship lasting after death better and more surely to be verefied then betwéene a kinde parent deceased and his children which by an Embleme may be resembled to a drie or dead trée garnished and adorned wyth a gréene and well prospering Vine and specially by such as resemble the parent not onely in phisnomie which is the best assured token of true dealing but also in steps of honesty and worldly towardnes King Alexander was of that humane and princely mind that he
parents if they should néede yet by lawe and order they are appointed rather to receiue benefites of their Parents than to giue vpwardes For well you wot that loue benefites and all other good thinges are woont to descende Lawe will not that the father bee the sonnes heyre but willeth rather that the father should restore that to his posteritie which himselfe receiued from his auncestors Wherefore sith no guift or token of beneuolence is more fitter for children to bestowe or for the parentes and benefactors to receiue than the benefite of heartie and daily prayer it shall not be much amisse for all dutifull children to remember their debt in that point after the forme of the Grammer case rule Nominatino First to pray for your selfe that you may be so ghostly strengthened that you fall â—ot into mortall sinne by frailtie and that you may haue right knowledge of God by fayth Genitiuo For your Progenitors as Parentes brothers sisters and kinsfolke Datiuo For your benefactors Accusatiuo For your enemies Vocatiuo For them that be in errour or infidelitie that they may come to the right way of their saluation Ablatiuo For them that be absent Saint Paule vnto Timoth. sayth If any man haue not a care for them of his owne familie hee is an infidell And therefore he sayth in an other place Si quid patitur vnum membrum compatiuntur omnia membra If one member be in paine all the rest be not without anguish or griefe O good God who is so harde hearted that will not haue compassion or christian regarde on his parent kinseman or friend if he thought him in the case of straight imprisonment or if he wist he were in any miserable or daungerous state where prayer or friendship might helpe or doe him good The state of a man in misbeléefe infidelitie or securitie in sinning without tokens of repentance and amendment is daungerous God wot and not without néede of assistance by hearty and earnest praier of faithfull friends and naturall children For we must beléeue that God will punish sinne and all other impietie else why doth he threaten sinners so sharpely by that example in the 5. of Matth. Amen dico vobis non exies inde donec solueris nouissimum quadrantem that is Verely I say vnto you thou shalt not depart thence vntill thou hast payd the vttermost farthing I sée not how you can pertake with parents brothers or kinsfolke in nature and haue no féeling of their sinefull life erronious condition or other their pitifull state in your compassion and commiseration But euen as you deale towards them vnto whom ye owe any charitable or naturall dutie so shall they serue you at whose â—euotion you shall happen to stande Then with the same measure ye meate vnto others it is to be doubted will be measured to you againe somewhat according to the wordes of Naomie to Ruth saying cap. 1. Faciat vobiscum Deus misericordiam suam sicut fecistis cum mortuis The seconde part bewrayeth the malignitie of a Stepdame the monstrous transfourming of the Father and the often calamitie of the first children CHAP. VI. Of the vngentle dealing of some stepmothers towards their husbandes first children WHen a Father so little remembreth or regardeth the bond of nature and faithfull dealing of a kinde parent that hée forbeareth not to bring into his family a Stepdame he can not doe a thing of better liking to his foes if he haue any such that foresée it and wish ill betiding vnto him and his For what may bring vnto a Citie or house more harme or inconuenience than discord which diuideth a house and maketh of one Cittie two Intestine diuision is euer counted worse than the malignitie of outwarde foes as warre is accounted worse than peace In discord no man prayseth the Lorde As witnesseth Saint Ambrose What blessing then doe they depriue vs of that take away peace and good agréement Well may some children complaine with the Poet in this case who sayth in his pleasant méeter Sunt tria gaudia pax sapientia copia rerum Haec tria diluit haec tria destruit ars mulierum This Stepmother by the pretence and name of mariage is called in Latine Vxor quasi vnxor a Wife as it were an Annoynter for that the new married Spowse in olde time at her first comming home was wont to annoynt the poastes and principall partes of the house in token that she came to heale and cure all faultes or to remooue sorrow and to plant and encrease gladnesse in the place But I frowe this our Stepdame at this day annoynteth not with the oyle of gladnesse nor with the vnction of the holy spirite by whom so much sorrowe is many times brought in and so many vngodly effectes wrought and encreased Call yée this annoynting she annoynteth in déede but vnhappie be those postes parts of the house where she laieth her vnluckie handes as Euripides sayth Stepdames seeldome with and woâ—ke any good to their huâ—bands children and too much experience teacheth they be their vtter ouerthrowe and cause of confusion For what be their ordinary practises in manner as principles of then partment pollicy For sooth first and chiefely to bring their husbandes children out of conceipt fauour to frame the matter so that they may be counted disobedient by that meanes to wipe from theÌ„ all good will They thinke they must not suffer so much a let and blocke in their way to their husbandes wealth as the bulworke of loue and concord This is a great eye sore and hardly tollerable with them This they imagine they must assault and assay to batter and beat downe by the best engine they haue they can bend against it Cannon shot of great displeasure they are sufficiently furnished with powder of a malicious and wicked spirite nor want they any shot of quarrelous deuises to perce shake this poore remnant of kindly good will with kindled strife and contention Of this kind they can sharpe them new supplies from time to time specially if they haue their husbandes well tempered to their humour and appetite then may it be sayd of the poore enchanted men as we find it in the Psalme Os habent non lâ—quuntur aures non audiunt oculos non vident They haue mouthes and speake not cares and may not heare eyes and will not see They stande in dread and awe they wot who must be foothed in all thinges or else will followe but colde kissing she claimeth all the loue and goodwill to her selfe and if she vnderstoode Latine she would chuse this good verse for her husbande to measure his loue by it Est tibi plus catus quam Papae Pontificatus She may beare no partaker of her husbands honest loue where she ruleth as Quéene She is to be counted very fauourable if she procure them no hatred or vouchsafe it not her selfe These Stepmothers be against their wils great teachers of