also to their powers enhabled to trauaile countreyes haunt the warres In which trades of life although touchinge their persons there bee greater perrill then in study at home yet sith the common weale may not wante such men and those knowledges not gotten without perrill I iudge it a lesse euill to hazard mens bodies in them though many perish then vtterly to want them and haue our children safe at home Euery man by nature is condemned to die better it is to aduenture an honest death then to continue an improfitable life To answere the rest of your speech that in warre in Court and Cittie is great store of euill company Thereto I say there is also many good Therfore good counsaile of freends honest discretion of young men may learne them to make choise Besides that it is good to know euill not to vse it but to auoyd it and for the most part things are indefferent and not perfit Besides vertue there is nothing in perfection good nor besides vice nothing in perfection euill Therfore though your childe must needes know some euill in learning good yet is it better hee know it with some hazard then want his good for feare of that hazard If no man would approch the fier because it hath burned many a house and many a heedlesse man also that haue fallen into it then would many a one freeze to death though the Sea hath drowned many thousands yet no wisdome would that sayling should bee forbidden for as erst I sayd in euery thing excepting vertue is commodity and discommodity when the good doth or may surpasse the bad no man doth or at the least ought shun the aduenture where good is the marke and the end honest Vincent In good faith Sir you haue spoken more then euer I did heretofore consider for in deede when I bethinke mee of your discourse I remēber how diuersely my poore children are in nature affected some of thē are of thē selues very bookish others for none entisement or compulsion can be brought to learn so as I suppose you say truly that if I durst hazard their persons suffer them to try their fortune abroad they might attaine to sumwhat And Fortune as some Clerkes say is very freendly to folke aduenturous Vallentine Well I am glad my speech hath drawen you to consideration of any good thing before either vnthought of or forgottē But I am sure you take my mening as it is to remēber you not to coūcel you Vincent Sir I thanke you that you yeeld mee that honor to say so this proceedeth of your fauour But I must confesse troth that I neuer cast my minde so far from home And I therby conceiue that a common wealth hath occasion aswell to imploy men expert in warre as others learned in lawes though of these wee haue most vse Vallentine Yea Sir therof assure your selfe and in some Countryes where God hath suffered vnquietnes there is more want of good Capitaynes then learned Doctors yea in such estate hath our Country beene and may bee for nothing is assured but besides Warriers Princes haue occasion to imploy many other Gentlemen of experience For I can accompt vnto you sundry honest quallities that are very cōmendable in men and necessary for the state Vincent Fayne would I bee enformed of all But first let mee intreat you to tell what are or ought to bee the cheefe professions of a Gentleman Vallentine That can I doo and in few wordes Vincent So much the better for my memory shall the more easely beare them away therfore without more request I pray you proceede Vallentine The cheefe and onely professions wherby a Gentleman should receaue aduancement or commendacion are Armes and Learninge For in these two onely should hee exercise him selfe Vincent Surely Sir they seeme to bee noble quallities but I thinke hard to excel in them But is not Husbandry Tillage Grasinge Marchandize buying and selling with such other trades as wee Country men vse thinges meete for a Gentleman Vallentine In plaine speeche I tell you that I thinke not one of them fit for a gentlemans exercise Vincent And why so are they not commonly vsed of Gentlemen and by them they doo receaue daily profit the lawes doo allowe of them as thinges commendable Also by them many poore yonger Bretheren without lande as commonly they are all doo by the Plough maintayne him selfe his wife and famyly Vallentine A poore maintenance and a flow thrifte God knoweth and full euill it becommeth the person of a Gentleman to practise any of these trades Vincent Then I pray you tell mee how many wayes a man without land may gayne his lyuinge Gentlemanlike Vallentine There are three wayes to doo it Vincent And which are they I pray you informe mee Vallentine There is Arte Industry and Seruice Vincent What you meane by euery of these I pray you let mee know for I am borne I thanke God to some reuenues of mine owne and therfore haue litle studied to attaine to any thinge saue that my lotte hath brought mee vnto Vallentine The better is your fortune that haue by succession only the whole fruite of all your auncestors trauaile Vincent Euen so it is in deed I thanke God them for it But I pray you answere to that I aske you Vallentine Such Artes as I wish a Gentleman sholud learne must be those that commonly are called Lyberall Sciences Which and how many there bee of them you may easely know yea and to what purpose they serue Vincent But tell mee are not the lawes a study very fit for a Gentleman Vallentine Yes surely both the lawes Ciuill Common are studies most excellent to speake breefely all learnings that tend to action in the state either Ciuill or Martiall Vincent Now you seeme to talke of great misteries but wee gentlemen in the Country vnlesse our sonnes proceed in the study of the cōmon lawes Diuinitie or Phisicke doo holde them learned ynough if they can write and read English and congrue Latine Vallentine If your sonne wade no deeper in learning better vntaught at all And I am of this minde that these common Schooles wherof in England are many that receaue all sortes of children to bee taught bee their Parents neuer so pore and the Boyes neuer so vnapt doo often times rather harme the good because there they continue so long as a good misterie or occupation might haue bin learned For as I say vnles the childe be apt for learning and his freendes resolute in holdinge him to it the thinge were better vnattempted Vincent Now Maister Vallentine you seeme to speake straungly as though VVrighting Reading and the Lattin tongue were nothing worth Vallentine Sir I do not so say but to gaine a lyuing by thē without further learninge I thinke it hard And therfore poore men that put so many vnapte chyldren to the Schole do nothing els but offer them losse of time For do you not meete many beggers
our selues accordinge to the number of Players and their skill some to Ticktacke some Lurche some to Irish game or Dublets Other sit close to the Cardes at Post Paire at Ruffe or Colchester Trumpe at Mack or Maw yea there are some euer so fresh gamesters as wil bare you cōpany at Nouem Quinque at Faring Trey trip or one thirty for I warrant you we haue right good fellowes in the countrey sumtimes also for shift of sports you know is delectable we fall to slide thrifte to Penny prick in winter nights we vse certaine Christmas games very propper of much agilitie wee want not also pleasant mad headed knaues that bee properly learned and will reade in diuerse pleasant bookes and good Authors As Sir Guy of VVarwicke the foure Sonnes of Amon the Ship of Fooles the Budget of Demaundes the Hundreth merry Tales the Booke of Ryddles and many other excellent writers both witty and pleasaunt These pretty and pithy matters do some times recreate our mindes cheefely after longe sittinge and losse of money In faire weather when we haue straungers or holly daies for els in the day time wee attend our thrift wee exercise our selues in shooting at Buttes Prickes Roauers and Rownes We cast the Bar or sledge Leape or Run if our ages and condicion bee fit for such exercise els beeing aged wee chat at home and talke of Turryn and Torny or some other notable war wherin wee serued our Prince Or if wee haue cōtinually dwelt at home bin Iustices of Peace we accōpt what graue Iudges gentlemen we haue seene sit on our Bench with what eloquence we haue when it was our turne geuen the charge Vallentine Certainly syr you haue told mee of many proper pleasures and honest exercises But with all let mee aske you what Neighboures these companions bee of whom you haue tolde mee Vincent They are our honest neighbours Yeomen of the Countrey and good honest fellowes dwellers there about as Grasiers Butchers Farmers Drouers Carpenters Carriers Taylors such like men very honest and good companions Vallentine And so I thinke but not for you beeing a Gentleman For as their resort vnto your house shal giue them occasion to learne some point of ciuillity and curtesie so your conuersinge with them will make you taste of their bluntnes and rusticitie which wil very euill become a man of your calling Vincent What would you then haue mee liue alone and sollitary That were worse then to bee dead Vallentine Nay neither for if you did for the most liue in Court or Cittie among the better sorte you should euer finde company there fit for your estate and condicion I meane Noble and Gentlemen with whom if you had acquintance you would litle delight in this rustical conuersation and lesse reioyce at that mixth which now not knowinge better doth as it seemeth please you much Vincent If these pastimes bee not fit for a Gentleman what would you haue vs to make our selues mery with Vallentine That wil I tel you hereafter when you demaund to know the pastimes and exercises of court In the meane time tell on your owne tale being now come to the last commodity of the Countrey which is profit Vincent I thought it had beene needles for mee to haue saide any thinge therof because I thinke you see the matter in such experiēce as it nedeth no dispute Vallentine What meane you by that when there is nothing as I tolde you long since perfitly good nor perfitly euill onely vertue and vice except Vincent All this while you flye aboue my pitch I praye you speake plainely doo you thinke the thrifte of Noble men and Gentlemen haunting the Court or inhabitinge the Citties is comparable to the good husbandry and profit of the Country Vallentine Yea surely do I and therfore conclude not in hast Vincent How can it so bee when the most part yea in effect all Courtiers and towne dwelling Gentlemen bee beggers or at the least poore in purse and wee of the Countrey bee either all or the greater number very wealthy or ritche enough Vallentine All this may bee true and yet neither the Court or Towne is cause of their pouerty nor the Countrey dwelling the occasion of your ritches Vincent Well syr sith experience will not perswade you I will set downe some reasons to drawe you to mine opinion And first call you to memory the continuall excessiue charge which the Courtier or Cittie dweller is at I mean in feeding him self seruauntes and famely likewise how costly and almost princely hee apparrelleth him selfe his wife his children and seruauntes and all this charge goeth from the purse for prouision hath hee none neither doth hee sow any graine reare any cattel nor his wife and women seruaunts spin any cloth though they so did none I suppose of you would weare it such is your pride On the other side all the corne wee make our bread of groweth on our demeane ground the flesh wee eate is all or the most parte of our owne breeding our garmentes also or much therof made within our house Our owne Mault and water maketh our drinke So as in conclusion I say that sith the necessities of mans life consisteth vpon these I meane meate drinke and cloth All which cost vs nothinge or very litle and you very much how can you in reason conceaue that wee should bee no ritcher then you that haunt Courts and inhabit Citties Vallentine What you alleage or the most therof I thinke is true but your conclusion false For albeit your prouisions be great yet your expences beeing greater your thrifte is like to ours who haue small prouision and like charge Vincent How can your charge bee litle when the cost of keepinge one man in Court or Towne wil be as much as to keepe three in the Countrey Vallentine And that I iudge is also true but if my one man in the towne will serue mee as well as your three men in the Countrey serue you though that one spendeth mee as much as your three I care not for my thrift is no whit the lesse nor yours the more if of force as in deede you must keepe so many For where there is as you alleage great Tillage rearinge vp of Cattell Spinninge and Cardinge with daily resorte besides of straungers as is commonly to Gentlemen in the Countrey there must needes bee also many seruauntes which concourse of people and busines breedeth occasion of continuall expence of victuall So as in effect you keepe many that doo bring you home profite and they with others doo straight waies eate it vp what are you then the better but by thus much the worse then we that you are combred with the vnlooked for resorte of freends and foes and the daily feeding of many seruauntes Vincent Mee thinkes your speech hath good sence yet because it is long I do not perfitly conceaue it as I desire I pray you tell mee your reason breefely
recto Vallentine I am very glad to heare you so say for that was all I laboured you to beleeue yet before we put ful ende to our speech let mee intreate you to tell that a good while since your self offered which is to resite in breefe the sum of all our speech wherby yee shal shew the excellency of your owne memory and also make these Gentlemen our hearers the better to carry away what hath beene sayd Vincent Vnderstand you then that through your good reasons for which I hartely thanke you I am brought to know that the education of a Gentleman ought bee onely in Learning and Armes and that no Gentleman no nor no Noble man should withdraw or holde backe his Sonne from the attayning of these knowledges which are the very true and only quallities or vertues of a gentleman as things not only beseeming such a person but also for the seruice of a Prince or State very necessary Secondly you haue perswaded that in Court or Towne the life of a Gentleman may bee no lesse godly and charitable then in the Countrey In which discourse you set downe what sortes of seruauntes were superfluous and which necessary both for priuate vse and the publike state ▪ Wherin I also noted that such younge men as were not borne to lande or lyuing should eyther apply them selues to perfection in learninge or Marchandize either else to husbandry or some Mecanicall mistery or occupacion And not to be seruingmen without other knowledge least through their Maisters want of will to kepe them or their lacke of skill to earne their owne liueloades they may be driuen to vnlawfull life or beggery Thirdly in consideration of your reasons I geather that true honor consisteth not in the admiration of common people but in the vertue of him that therwith is indued And that the reputation which a few wise men do giue vnto a Gentleman is of more worth then that of the multitude whervpon is inferred that the respect which is borne to any man by them of the Court and Cittie beeing the best and wisest sort is more estimable then that which is borne by the common people Fourthly you seeme to allow more of many our Countrey sportes exercises then of our company in vsinge them Fifthly that for health and holesome habitation the Citties and some cheefe townes in England are either better or not inferiour to the sites of the Noble and Gentlemens houses Sixtly I see that the Towne dwellinge doth much surpasse for quietnesse that the most parte of Gentlemens countrey houses be frequented as honourable hostries And last that the Court or Cittie habitatiō not abused is no lesse profitable then that of the country more free from trouble Thus much of the country Touching the Court and Cittie you tolde that a Gentleman ought in the prime of his youth endeuour him selfe to become sufficient for the seruice of his Prince Which sufficiency is attained vnto through study trauaile and Martiall endeuour Informinge breefely at what age hee ought come to Court what his exercises should bee there and in what time and fortune it shal become him to retier him selfe from thence For as it seemeth an olde Courtier vnpreferred and vnimployed looseth his reputacion and may be compared to a Non profitiens in Schoole Concerning the rest you referre mee to the Booke of the Courtier Of the Cittie you haue sayd sumwhat perticulerly of the manner and syte of Gentlemens houses there and likewise how they may with commodity and reasonable cost bee furnished of al sorte of victuals and other needfull prouision Also that there be more skilfull Tutors to instruct your children then wee possible can haue in the Country You doo also discourse well of the manner of householdinge and the resorte of freendes in the towne which seemeth not to be combersome Lastly it appeareth your exercises bee cheefely in Letters and Armes which bee both commendable and very necessary Thus much as I thinke is the somme or principall partes of your speeche which I confesse to bee very reasonable and good and therfore consent that a Gentleman so brought vp is more ciuil then any Country man can bee Likewise meetest for gouernment and for his priuate vertue moste to bee regarded Vallentine Surely syr you haue framed a proper Epilogue of our speech And sithe I see that you both conceaue aright what hath beene perswaded and are also brought to beleeue what is true I will presse you no further but bidding you most hartely welcome to our towne habitation as a place fittest for a Gentleman I take my leaue FINIS
occasions and the seruice done quietly to retier them selues to their owne houses Maisters freends or other industry not dooing as I se many lusty yong Souldiers do beg in the streats when with a litle paines they could get them selues a way to liue Vincent But what shall the young Gentlemen souldiers doo for I thinke you know they haue no handy crafte to flie vnto Vallentine That I know well neither would I wish them to meddle with any Mecanycall manner of liuinge as a thing vtterly vnfit for Gentlemen And therfore I will say that sith the number of those souldiers is small in respect of the other multitude they might easely bee or the greater part of them receaued into Garrisons and into the seruice of Noblemen and others their good freendes who knowinge them vertuous would bee glad of their seruice nay rather their company Vincent In deede the number of Gentlemen that follow the war is nothinge in respect of the multitude and therfore either seruice their owne industry freends or fortune may as you say continually holde them in hart and ability to liue Vallentine Doubt you not therof specially if they be honestly and thriftely enclined for some I haue seene so careles as they neuer forecast what want may follow But finding them selues plentifully applied do spend as much in one yeare as fortune frends haue gayned in many therfore to prouide for them I meane not Vincent Yet one question more touchinge seruice Are there not other seruices besides the warre fit for a Gentleman wherby hee may bee maintained or happely aduaunced Vallentine Else the world were harde though the warre ought to occupy the greatest number For if you forget not I told you long since that the profession of a Gentlemā might bee either Armes or Learning wherof if hee hath any taste with some wisedome and experience he may not only serue in the house and affaires of Noblemen and Officers but also the Prince himself yet if his learning be not in perfection or excellent in some liberal science or lawes I would wish hee added therunto Industry In conclusion what gentle man so euer hath in him either by nature or nourture any vertue singularity or industrious knowledge cannot want place either Martiall or Ciuill either in his owne natiue Countrey or els where And though perhap you see many in Court euen by mere flattery yea some almost witlesse win more wealth worship then many others yet assure your selfe that vertue is the true way vnto them whē occasion of seruice doth happen men of value vertue bee those that shal stand their country in steede and honor them selues Vincent Yet tell mee I pray you which are the meanes to enter into the course and order to bee aduaunced to some good either Martiall or Ciuill as you terme them Vallentine And that will I breefely tell you let him that affecteth the warre apply himself to serue or follow some Noble man or expect Captain that is either in continuall seruice Martially or that is likely to bee vsed at occasion for most commonly wee loue those and desire their good whose studies and inclinations bee like vnto our owne And such as fynd thēselues disposed to lerning or any ciuil function let thē follow or serue those learned or wise persons to whom the state hath geuen those aucthorities and trust Vincent Truly 〈◊〉 tell mee a way very likely reasonable for at such time as the laste warre was in Fraunce I meane at New hauen where as you know who was the Generall I hard him commend the courage ▪ and conducte not onely of principall Captaynes and Gentlemen but 〈…〉 of priuate Souldiers yea many yeares sithens that time you shal yet vpon small occasion heare the like at his hand as though their dooings and the meanes names were written in the sniddest of his memory Vallentine Well now I perceaue you vnderstand me and as this Noble man did and doth honor men of his professiō so doubt you not but likewise will others And yet to acquite your tale I remember I haue heard him tell more then once of one poore Souldier who in rescuing or reuenginge an other English man assayled by two Almaynes with their slaugh Swordes slew them both with his owne hand euen in his sight which both wee and euery man must say was a part of a couragious Souldiour and the General often speaking therof a signe hee honored his desert and desired his aduauncement Vincent But I pray you is this the manner of other great men to honour those that serue vnder them in their profession I aske of you because you liue in Courte where are great personages both in the knowledge of Armes and learning Vallentine Yea surely though I cannot so perticulerly name the matters yet many Gentlemen there bee so studious and painefull as both in Ciuill Martiall affaires are very expert and you shall heare great men that can iudge much commend them yea to the Prince by whose bounty all sortes of vertuous men are aduaunced Vincent I begin to rest satisfied touching education and am perswaded and so will perswade with other Gentlemen my freends that they shall aduenture their Sonnes more then the olde custome was sith either by their aduenture they shall liue and become vertuous or as wee Englishmen call it of good qualities or else die honestly in seekinge to make them selues fit for the Princes seruice and their owne reputation Vallentine I am very glad that my poore reasons haue taken good effect but therin I wil challenge no more to my selfe then I deserue which is that I haue put you in minde of that you either forgot or els for want of leysure neuer considered For I acknowledge you of much more wisdome and iudgement then I am Doth it please you to commaund mee any further seruice Vincent You will neuer leaue your Ceremonies Maister Vallentine I know you are more wiser and more expert then I am but your naturall curtesy and modesty doth moue you to yeeld more respect then is due vnto mee I thanke you for it and loth I am to seme tedious els I entreat you to hold your promise that is to heare mee tell of our countrey commodities the content wherin we liue there For though I now yeelde that the education of Gentlemen is best abroad yet mee thinkes their continuall habitation should bee best in the Country at home Vallentine I hope you will not euer dwell in that opinion but I pray you begin to tell of your Countrey delightes and what is your manner of liuinge I will with all my hart both paciently heare you and boldly as you gaue leaue tell you my minde how I allow of your reasons Vincent I say then that our Country habitacion is more godly more honorable more holesome more quiet more pleasant and profitable then it can be in any Cittie or Burrough Vallentine Surely Sir you haue spoken of great respects why you
should loue the Country dwellinge and though I will beleue that the thing is as you say yet sith wee are in dispute of the matter you must giue mee leaue to demaund either reasons or demonstracions why indeed it is so Vincent I will proceede as orderly as I can and make proofe as I hope of all my speeche first because I alleadged that our Country liues I speake without comparison was more godly then the life of the Cittie That opinion I conceaue because I finde there much loue charity which as I take it are two speciall markes of godlines and seldom found in Citties where euery man almost lyueth to him selfe For wheras Neighbours doo meete often without ceremony chearing and conuersing one with an other without disdayne or enuie as wee do in the Countrey there I iudge is loue and good neighbourhood Likewise where hospitalitie is liberally kept and many Children and Seruauntes daily fed with all other commers there as I also thinke is much charitie in the Towne it seemeth the contrary there is no meetinge of neighbours without special conuitation no salutation without much respect ceremony no number of Seruaunts but those that for necessary vses are imployable So as in breefe there seemeth to bee litle loue amonge equals and lesse liberality to inferiours Wherupon I inferre that in Citties and Townes is lesse plenty of both these properties I meane loue and charity then is with vs in the Country How say you M. Vallentine haue I spoken well or no Vallentine You speake euer exceeding well yet I pray you with patience heare what may be sayd to the contrary It seemeth that ceremonies of ciuility doth make you doubt of loue among town inhabitants and so consequently there wanteth some parte of that godly good will you finde or imagine to be in the Country Truely Sir if you were aswell acquainted in any Cittie as you are in the Shier where you abide you should finde the same affection among men that there are some more some lesse of acquaintance and freendship amongst these men as they bee more or lesse a kinne allied or of conformitie or disformitie in disposition For there are few men so vniuersally curteous or kinde as make accompt of all men alike which so beeinge bringeth mee to beleeue that when good freends are disposed to meete it is better to bee eyther inuited or occasioned then as they doo in the Countrey hand ouer head resort to a gentlemans house where because the Maister doth not make choice of his guestes sometimes very straungers do there meete yea other whiles meare enemyes which as you can conceaue must needes marre all the myrth And if any of these guestes doo happen to receaue lesse curtesy or entertaimnent then the other hee falleth forthwith into offence or ielousy agaynst the Maister of the house and holde him more then halfe his foe Which displeasure could not happen if no man would resorte thither vnbidden Besides that if you marke it well when a knot of good and famylier freendes bee met to make merry and talke as true freendes often doo merrily and liberally if but one extraordinary man none of this troupe doth hap to come in you shall finde all the mirth marred and their free speeche conuerted to respecte yea shall I tell all that gueste vnlooked for maketh one to many for the number of lodginges And so the Maister of the house is driuen eyther to forsake his owne bead or discharge his vnbiden guest Vincent It is true that you say that these vnacquainted guestes do occasion alteration of cheare and I my selfe in my poore house haue diuerse times beene so haunted with guests as I was driuen out of mine owne bed to lye at some Tennants house of mine for a night or two Notwithstanding I toke it for no great trouble so long as my freends found themselues content and welcome Vallentine But Sir are you sure they were all your freendes Vincent Yea surely I so thinke though some of them I had neuer seene before that day Vallentine Doo you not thinke you haue as true freendes as any of these haunt feastes that dwell far from you or that do visite you at their occasions or your owne conuitation Vincent Yes truly and my trouble the lesse if wee were lesse haunted but the Country custome is to bid euery man welcome and the more resort he hath the more is the Maister of the house honored and the more authority a Gentleman hath in the shier the more is the resort vnto him Vallentine Verely I so thinke for as his true freends do seeke him for loue and honour so are there others that do it for flattery or feare Thus you see how easely you may bee deceaued in the loue of your Neighboures and that haunting your house may bee for other cause or occasion aswell as loue Vincent Sir it may so bee right well but yet you can say litle agaynst mee touching our liberalitie and charity which wee vse in the Country keepinge our gates open for all men and feeding many tall fellowes to attend vpon vs also relyuing all Beggers that aske at our gates with money meat or bothe Vallentine I am loth to speak against these customes because they are the cheefe commendacions of the Countrey and yet sith I haue already my pardon and lycence to say what I lust against you let mee aske what sortes of men doo enter commonly within your gates which as you say are neuer shut Vincent There doo resort vnto vs of all sortes I meane Noble men Gentlemen Yeomen our Neighbors many others that either haue occasion to come thither for busines or passe that way for their own affaires or pleasures Vallentine These mennes presence in your houses do rather honor you thē shew that therby you be charitable But what bee these tall fellowes of whom you speake Vincent They bee our seruingmen that attend vpon our Table and follow vs in the streetes when wee bee at London or any other great Towne and furnish our Halles at home Vallentine But I pray you haue they no other quallities wherin to serue you or doo you vse them for no other purpose then attend on your Table or follow you as shadowes Vincent Surely no neither is it the manner to offer them any labour or drudgery for therof they would take great scorne beeing cumly personages commonly the sonnes of some honest Yeomen or Farmers of the Countrey Vallentine Then can I compare them to Monckes and fat Friers who vnder pretence of prayer wanne themselues a lasie life and liued vpon others laboure So these men beeing called men of seruice do nothing lesse then serue I doo not therfore accompte you charitable in feeding of such idle folke for that is sayd to bee spent or geuen charitably which is bestowed on beggers the blinde and lame and such like but not on these sturdy fellowes needles seruauntes Vincent Doo you so say Sir were
of those thinges wherin wee are able to speake Vallentine I say they are not euil neither is it vngentleman-like to haue skill in matters of profit or pleasure And yet if your capacities comprehend no greater matter you may proue fat Franklins or faukners for a prince or perhaps hunts for my Lord Maior but neuer become worthy the name of Gentlemen nor the estimation that therto belongeth Vincent In deede syr I remember you tolde mee that armes and learning were the only occupations of a Gentleman and these are not in troth any of theÌ„ Notwithstandinge you must vnderstand that the most of vs haue gone to scoole and many haue seen some parte of the warres Vallentine Euery boy that hath been beaten for not learning his lesson is not to be accompted learned but hee that in deede hath learning nor hee that a few dayes hath marched in armour ought be taken for a souldier no more then those that for one nightes sleepe in Parnassus Hill should bee reputed perfite Poets Vincent Truely it seemeth a thinge reasonable that so noble knowledges are not gotten without long labour and perseuerance But I pray you tell mee what imperfection you finde in the conuersation of our Countrey Gentlemen whom to tel you truly I wish either more lettered or better learned in the Martiall discipline Vallentine Sith you so require mee I will vse that which you say is no property of a courtier plainesse And therfore I tell you that besides those quallities you alleaged I finde nothing els in the Countey gentlemen the same not accompanied with some taste of lerning or armes I accompt as nothing worth Touching their conuersation you shall besides the rusticitie of their houses and garments finde them full of lofty lookes barbarous behauiour and vndecent dooinges As for ensample some one will laugh when hee speaketh an other will cough before hee telles his tale And some will gape or yawne when hee giueth the hearinge So as in deede vnlesse they be of better education few doo know what couÌ„tenance to make among the equals and among their betters vtterly to seeke Also if they hap to dine at any table either they are sullenly silente or els they fall into speeche of their owne Auncestors their owne landes their owne wiues or children other subiect of talke yee shall seldome finde among these sortes of countrey men Vincent In good fayth syr when I remember al mine acquaintance I confesse that some of them cheefely in company are to seke which way to loke much more how to entertaine And this I speake not only of vs that dwell in the countrey but by your leaue of many Courtiers Vallentine I am not so simple though simplest of many but that I finde in Courte diuerse as vnworthy the name of Courtiers as of you that deserue not the reputation of Gentlemen But yet necessity and occasion do draw vs to be of better manner cheefly in our dooings to vse more respect And would you practise mine opinion to liue sumtimes in country sumtimes in cittie yee could not choose but know the thrift of the one wherof ye boast and also the ciuility of the other Vincent All men are not apt for one thing mens delights be diuerse for as some affect the scholes lerning so others take pleasure in husbandry and tillage Some haue minde to the warres loue to wander in forraine Countryes others are willinge to follow princes affaires some are best content to tarry at home liue to theÌ„selues How theÌ„ should al men be expert in learning armes Vallentine I am glad you come so neare mee for now wil I put ye in minde that long since I tolde you which is that euery gentleman vnlesse hee were witles will proue fit for some action either Martiall or Ciuill if he doth not the fault in his owne that doth not offer himselfe to industry or his foolish freends that would not comfort him to it And so in conclusioÌ„ I impute the fault to Nature but rather to Nurture Vincent I had thought that nature had made euery man so affected as that he had been only meet for that his freendes put him vnto or that his Auncestors before him vsed and delighted Vallentine Touching that I will tell you how Licurgus the Law maker of Lacedemon handled the matter to reache the people there what education besides nature could do in men Hee caused two dogges of one lytter to be brought vp the one he committed to a man that delighted in huntinge and so vsed that whelpe the other was fostered by a poore villain willing in no wise that dogge to doo other then eate and feede fat These two whelpes being groweÌ„ to ripe age Licurgus coÌ„maunded they should be brought forth in the presence of many people and with theeÌ„ a Hare a potful of poridge which being shewed to the dogges and they both let loose the one ran after the Hare the other made hast to the porish pot Wherby the Lacedemonians perceaued that education not nature made in all creatures the difference of delightes though some men are more and some lesse to goodnes enclined yet euery man apt for some what though many haue made them selues fit for nothing Vincent To say troth I know many good wits that first for not beeinge by freends admitted to learne and after through an habit of sloth do become both vnlearned and very lowtes Others both witty and curragious yet vsed to home and not hearing how vertuously some their equalles haue beene are in time rather beastly then braue rather effeminate then curragious Vallentine â—â—ll now you see the minde doth much and the endeuor therof maketh men worthy or vnworthy the name of Gentlemen of defaultes many accuse nature wherof them selues are most giltie Vincent Concerning then of that you haue spoken how the ende of the Courtier is honour his exercises Armes and learning And that the country gentlemen aspireth to ritches exercised cheefly in grasing and Tillage It must needes bee that their manners and customes are also diuerse But as they bee in birth both equall so ought they to haue lyke delights customes wherfore to vnite them it behoueth that the one sorte do confirme them selues to the other Vallentine Then it is meete that the worse do yeelde to the better the vnexpert to those of best knowledge Vincent So were it both wisedome and reason Vallentine And which of those men as you thinke liueth most vertuously and are fittest for the state Vincent Surely syr since I considered that we must not liue onely for our selues and our perticuler profite I am fully perswaded that a gentleman vnskilfull in Armes and vtterly vnlearned is seldome found fit for any publique function or employment And no man denieth but that man who is able to gouerne is a person more worthy and necessary then hee that is gouerned For Aristotle a Father in Philosophy sayth Regens est dimus