Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A19457
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Of the office of servavntes a boke made in Latine by one Gilbertus Cognatus and newely Englyshed.
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Cousin, Gilbert, 1506-1567.; Chaloner, Thomas, Sir, 1521-1565.
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1543
(1543)
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STC 5879; ESTC S109818
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10,836
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46
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⧠OF THE OFFICE OF SERVAVNTES A BOKE MADE IN LAtine by one Gylbertus Cognatus and newely Englyshed 1534 ⧠TO HIS RIGHT VVOVRSHIPFVL MAISTER SIR HENRY KNYVET KNIGHT â—one of the ientiâ—men of the kinges maiesties priuie Chambre ACCORDING sir as ye bad me haue I inglishid this litle booke of the office of seruauntes but nat accordynge as I wolde it were bothe to content tendereares and also for mine owne satisfaction Trusting your goodnes wyl with as free a minde receiue it as I also went abowt it albeit in many places I found the same as a glasse to see myne owne fautes in as I can nat tell and am glad to belieue you ment it so but thereby I fynde my conscience doble discharged in confessing the one and fulfillynge the other And I pray God geue your maistership longe soo to serue as in a lesse degree we your seruauntes owght and woulde doo Your humble seruaunt Thomas â—â—aloner FOR AS MOCHE AS MOST MEN SVPpose it to skille litle what waitinge men they take to seruice or in what wyse they haue them where as in my iudgemente not the smalleste part of a mans good or euyll hap dependith on the seruant I haue thoughte good to set fourthe this shorte treatise apon the same matier whiche shall nat as I truste be vnfrutefull bothe to the maisters and them that serue also And fyrst will I treate what choise is to be had in seruauntes Then howe their ratches and condicioÌ„s shuld be tried Thirdly of the office and duety of seruantes towardes their maisters and of theirs like wise towardes their men For as towthynge the firste seinge we chose owt a treinde we chose owt a wife nat vnskylfull howe pestilente a thynge a faygned freind or an euyll manerde wife is soo muste a seruaunt also be chosen who if he chaunce good auaileth greatly if otherwise is no meane hyndrance For why we reade of hole howses and families that haue decayed and ben subuerted through vntrusty seruauntes Then muste this saide choise be hadde aswel on the one partie as thother in as moche as all men agree nat with other so narowly but that it commeth ofte to passe what thynges alone by them selfes at well sittinge yet the same put together may be vnfitly So because there is great diuersitie of wittes amonges vs you shal finde two men perhappes of lyke goodnes and perfection wherof neither maye away with other as towchinge howsholde feleship Further we must make our choise nat onely throughe our eyes but our eares also for our eyes coÌ„ceiue a certaine gesse apon the fygure and shape of the bodye called by Grekes the phisenomy sins Nature hath endewid mennes bodies with certaine markes and tokens wherby notâ—ing well ye may the sooner wite of a persones inwarde dispositions as in some mans loke and aspect there aperith a maner ferocite or rudenes with disceite sittinge in his browes and wrath in al his countenance and though the Gospel warneth vs to deme no maÌ„ by his loke yet is nat the gesse we conceiue apon the notes of a mans body by theis wourdes forbidden for it speakith only of owt ward thynges As if we iudge holynes in a man apon his pore and simple arraye humilnes for holdinge downe his heade or hard liuinge because he loked leane But yet apon the bodily marckes whiche either birth gaue or haunte of vices hath induced a wyse coniecturer may gather many thinges Theise be naturall notes or tokens as when the eyes are ouer-bigge or to inwardly hollowe the mouthe straiete the eybries either slopewise as a foxe hath or els ioyning toguither the voice great or small Besides theise maye ye also finde in a mans face bothe likelyhodes of accustomed drunkinnes or an yrefull mode in him but of this kinde of contecturinge albe it the great Aristotle disdaigned nat to make a booke yet oughte we geue therto neither none ne to â—oche credite as the choise therin requireth quicke auisement soo ought nat the same be ouermoche curious lest els perhaps the bargaine sholde neuer kuytt betwixte them But through our eares conceiue we a more assured iudgemeÌ„t For as by our eyes we lerne bothe of thage and helthines of the persone or what euer tokens els that Nature hath apparently expressed in his forehed and eyes as of vnshamefastnes fiersnes amasednes with suche like So by our eares vnderstande we of his countrye kinnesfolkes bringing vppe life afore ledde toguither with the tru stines of his seruice in case ere then he hath serued any body yea of the selfe communication had with him may ye conceiue no smalle intellygence of his condicions for thereby is a mans figure most perfectly inseene accordinge to Socrates sentence Who vnto a yonge man sent by his father to be seen and auewed of him speake que he somewhat wherby I may see the. Neither is it vnwittye that is tolde by Diogenes who at a marte sitting to be sold for a slaue when the bro ker bad him stand vp to shew hym selfe what neadeth that que Diogenes for ar nat fishes solde also lieng meanynge by this that as fishes ar dom nomore is a man ke ping his tounge knowne thouroly whether he stand or sit downe It is an euil signe when a seruauÌ„t reaporteth lewdely by those whom before he dwelled with or if his talke be vaine lieng lowde without any chaunge of hewe In this case surely not onely the goodnes of his nature must be coÌ„sidred but also howe thinges may be appliable for if they agree nat in effecte they ne can long hang toguither And so whose nature is somedele yrous he shuld chose him seruantes of a mylder moode who so is godly disposed let him take none but such as ar giueÌ„ to godlines or easely may be induced to the same Then let a courtier pike him out a man of courtlike fashons And so must a merchaunt gette hym those that ar both gaining and crafty As touchynge this pourpose the countreye where they were borne importeth nat a litle for seldome shal ye se a man of Sueuia or Silesia serue a Prouinsale or Hollan der seldomer a Hispanierde coupled with an Almaigne and yet shal one hispanierd serue an other liuing with skarce and sobre fode euen pointe deuise that and if the common report is beleuable some of them get into seruice to thende that with their clene conueyaunce and lyght fingring they may furnishe out their masters also the Italians ar more framed to al mens vsages yet skant can they susteign any foraine maisters but aboue al others the Frenchemen are moste seruisable ¶ THVS hitherto hauing treated of the choise in seruauntes resteth what proof belongeth to the same And as vnto them that entre religion is giuen one yere of probation so thinke I it behouing for meÌ„ to hire their seruauntes also vnder condition that if after oone moneths assay thone likith nat thother they may theÌ„ breake of which is indifferent to both parties