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 thēselues 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 slow 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 that can doo all these and yet you see their estate is
speake well for these sortes of seruauntes I lust not yet a while to reply I pray you say on Are these all that his folly foolish ambition doth entertaine you must not tell what I say Vincent I am sure you speake merrily but yet I will proceede these sortes of men bee the most number But besides them wee haue Subseruingmen as I may call them seldome in sight As Bakers Brewers Chamberlaines Wardrobers Faulkeners Hunters Horsekeepers Lackeies and for the most parte a naturall Foole or Iester to make vs sporte Also a Cooke with a Scullin or two Launderers Hynes and Hogheards with some other silly slaues as I know not how to name them Vallentine I thought I had knowen all the retinue of a Noble mans or Gent. house But now I finde I do not for it semeth a whole Army or Camp and yet shal I tell you truely what I thinke this last number though it bee least is the more necessary sorte of seruaunts because these serue necessity and the other superfluity or I may call it ambition But altogeather they make a world For my parte I had rather haue a litle with quiet then a great deale with such confusion for though money and prouision bee plentifull in the Countrey yet spending and eating deuoureth all and for ought I conceaue there is no great charity in feedinge of many of these men who eate much and get litle Vincent I must confesse it true that our charge is great and some of them are also prowde and euill natured people as were it not for their Parents sakes who bee our good freendes or Tennants wee would many times discharge our houses of them But partly for those respects and partly for feare beeing out of seruice they should fall into offence of law wee kepe them though to our great charge and discontent for well you know it were great pittie to see a tall fellow to clyme a Gibbet Vallentine Euen so it were in deed and yet if you hap to haue in your ground a fayre great Tree that yeelds you no fruit but with the bowes therof ouer droppeth an Aker of grasse which therby I meane for want of sunne shine cannot prosper were it not better to hew downe this tree then for the onely beauty therof suffer it to grow to your continuall losse and hinderance Vincent Yes mary would I but to what purpose would you apply this Parrable Vallentine I can compare a cumly vnquallified seruaunt to this Tree for if hee can none other good but shew forth his proper person nor intendeth to bee more profitable it maketh no great matter what becommeth of him cheefely if hee bee vnhonest and of euil condicion Let not that therfore comber your conscience but a gods name prefer your profit beefore the releefe or maintenaunce of such ydle folke Vincent In very deed syr I haue heard of learned Clerks that God and nature hath made nothing in vaine wherupō I iudge that men who can no good the fault is rather their owne then natures yet doth it sumwhat stay in my stomack to discharge a lusty fellow though his conditions bee but skantly commendable And the reason is because hee becommeth a house well Vallentine If that bee all that bindeth you to your charge I will tell you how you shall better cheape furnish your house then of these persons of whom you haue no other vse then to looke on them because they are cumly Vincent As how I pray you for considering the smal seruice they doo and yet are men healthy sound I suppose it is no great charity to keepe them Vallentine What I meane to tell you is this that you were best to cause al their pictures to be drawen in their best array and hange them vp in your Hall and you shall finde them as seemely furniture as the men them selues and yet they will put you to no cost eyther in meate money or cloth Vincent You speake merrily but yet in good faith reasonably and truely for sith these men bee sound and stronge and will notwithstanding bee ydle I beleeue to keepe them cheefely with euill condicions is no great charitie and hauinge no seruice at their handes I cannot maintaine reasonably that they are profitable Vallentine I am very glad that you are perswaded to see that many thinges vsed in the Country accompted godly bee not euer as they seeme Vincent In deede I yeelde vnto you and had I considered so much a dozen yeares since it would haue saued mee two thousande poundes of victuals that these good fellowes haue deuoured But tell mee touching my next allegation honour and worship Vallentine To that I say that your honor or worship resteth not either in your Countrey aboade or keeping of many seruaunts but rather in your owne vertue For though wise men for curtesy fooles through simplicitie doo salute you with reuerence yet must you not thinke your selfe the more honorable vnlesse you be in deede vertuous I meane wise valyaunt iust temperate liberall affable modest and in somme indued with all sortes or at the least wise with some vertuous morrall and commendable condicious wherby you may be known and at occasions vsed in the seruice of our Prince and Country either Martially or Ciuilly for those bee occupations of all nobility in which word is included all sortes of Gentlemen aswell those that beare greatest Tytles as they that haue lesse Vincent I finde it far otherwise then you say for albeit a man bee as few are in possession of all these vertues which you say doth onely make men honourable yet if hee bee no Householder nor keeper of seruaunts you see that in his Countrey neither the neighbours will loue him nor the people do him reuerence Vallentine I did not nor will not speake agaynst householdinge nor yet haue I inuayed agaynst keping of honest and necessary seruauntes but against the superfluitie in either For I confesse that hospitallity bee it in Towne or Country is good and godly and also a testimony of liberality which is a great vertue and very commendable But therwith bee content that I tell you that though all good housekeepers bee the more honourable yet euery one that can not or doth not kepe house or seruaunt must therfore bee disdained or holden vile Vincent I know not what ye mean by disdain or vilety but I am sure be a man neuer so vertuous vnles hee be a housekeper no mā wil in the country resort vnto him or if hee walke in the Cittie without seruants attending on him no man wil put off his cap or do him reuerence how can then such a man bee honorable Vallentine Yes yes syr as much or perhaps a great deale more then hee that spendes a thousand poundes a yeare in his house or hath in the Towne twenty men to follow him For though a vertuous man doth walke alone for lacke of abillity and ritches yet if hee bee knowen hee shal be honored though for
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 thē Notwithstandinge you must vnderstand that the most of vs haue gone to froole 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 the 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 coūtenance 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 the selues How thē 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 conclusiō 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 teache 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 growē to ripe age Licurgus cōmaunded they should be brought forth in the presence of many people and with theē 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 Lacedomonians 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 somewhat 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 Well 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 themselues 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 Tulage 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 recto