neuer to lacke the commodities requisite for the shorte tyme in this worlde in the whiche case you shall opteyne the worshyp and dignitie of a good an honest man whose conditions I had rather se you haue with pouerte than in greate abundance to be a man of smal honeste You may be good honest and ryche and so study to be or els thynke neuer of ryches for other wyse you shal deceyue your selfe do contrary to y t way that as wel worldly wisedom as the trouth of our faith sheweth you But nowe here what I saye ¶ Fyrst and last myn owne good Withipol remēbre ernestly to haue in your mind .iii. certeine thinges the whiche be of suche valure that he that forgetteth eyther their dignitie and nature orles the degrees order of them he can not please nother god nor hym selfe nor the worlde I saye in all the course of your lyfe there be .iii. thinges to be loked so vpō that the first of them must be firste of you regarded the second enext after and the third in his place after the .ii. Beware as of dedly poison that you ruffil not them without care one before the other as to take the .iii. in the place of the fyrste or the second after the third or both the second the third before the first In this conclusion you shal as I haue sayd both offēd god displese your selfe also nothinge contēt the world Like as the most part of men now a dayes trespas al for the rechfulnes negligēce in not keping these .iii. thinges vnder the dignite degre according as they ought to be obserued and kept And what be we my good Edmōd if we be out of goddis fauor odious to our selfe and dispiteful to men Therfore agayne I exhort you to th entent you may eschewe this abhominable condycion growe to be admitted in the blessed nombre of them that rest in the grace of god in the clennes of theyr conscience and in the fauour of the world to be iudged a good a wyse and an honeste man For this finall ende myn exhortation is nowe that you in al your actes in the hole course of your lyfe remembre these three thinges that I wil reherse vnto you But I say to you y t you must not only remēbre these thre thinges but also specially haue in minde the degres of them so that euer the first of them be chiefly in your thoughte aboue al other and then in his place put the second and let not the third be regarded but as his place requireth that is when you haue done with the fyrste and also with the seconde There lieth more weight valure vpon the knowynge and kepynge of this tale that I shall tell you then if I coude shewe you the waye within fewe monethes to be a man of greate power both in excedynge abundance of riches and also in passynge auctoritie of rule Therfore as wel for the frute that foloweth if you do after myn exhortation as for the infinite hurtes that you canne not escape if you shulde forgette that I say I warne warne you agayne here this lesson with a glad eare and print the same in your mind to execute with lyuely diligence the effect of this counseyl wherin is cōteyned your life and deathe your ioye and sorowe as welle in this world as in that shal be here after These .iii. thinges be the soule the bodye and the substaunce of this worlde The fyrst place hath by good reason the soule seynge hit is a thynge immortal that is created and made after the fygure shape of almyghtye god The nexte and seconde rome hath the bodye as the caas and sepulture of the soule and nereste seruaunt to the secretis of the spirite The .iii. rome occupieth y e riches goodis of this world as the necessarie instrumentes or toles for the bodye the whiche can not want nor lacke suche thynges Let then the eie of your inward minde fyrst chiefely euer beholde the first thing in you that is your soule Nexte therto haue a respecte to your bodye and thirdely considre the worlde Care for your soule as for your chiefe iewell and only treasure Care for your body for the soules sake Care for the worlde for the bodis sake Beware aboue al thinges that you go not backewarde as he doothe that carethe fyrste to be a ryche man nexte to be an helthye manne and thyrdely to be a good manne where he shoulde do clene contrary first to study for goodnes nexte for helth and then for welthe You se so greate blindnes amonge men that some folke so careth for ryches that very littel they loke for the helth of the bodye nothing at al they mind the state of the soule I say to you som folkes do thus I wolde to god I myghte not truely report that for the most parte al mē in maner now a dayes do no nother wyse Loke vpō eyther the spiritual sort or the temporal and moch a do you shal hauein the great swarmyng multitude of this blynd sorte to fynde oute theym that fyrste aboue all thynges care for theyr soule nexte for their body and thirdly for goodes of this world You shal se marchantes spare no trauayle nor ieopardie of the body to get these goodes They be to sey the trouth so occupied in the study of this third thynge that scant they haue tyme to care for the seconde and as for the fyrste they passe nothynge ther vppon it semeth a thynge leaste in theyr thoughte where of conueniencye the same care studye and thought that they gyue to the opteynynge of these worldly goodes they shulde spend it al in the mainteynaunce of the fyrste thynge that is the soule and the smalle lyttelle regarde that they take for the fyrste shoulde be bestowed for the thyrde and more than they do they shuld cherishe the seconde The same cōfusiō is with vs scholers for our first study is to get promotion to get these goodis to liue welthily In this care we busely be occupied continually Somewhat more we cheryshe our bodies then doth the marchant but our cherysshynge is for the longer vse of these goodes not as it shuld be for the soules sake And as for y e soule we haue as lyttel regarde as other men haue although we speke therof more then parauēture other mē do This ouerthwarte confusion of these thre thynges marreth all And playnely I may say that all mischief cometh onely of this misorder that we put the chyefe care of our study to the thyrde thynge and not to the fyrste as of duitye we oughte to do the contrarye If my purpose were to shewe you what other men do and not rather what I wolde haue you doo I wolde farther procede to expresse vnto you how farre out of square our lyfe is nowe a dayes and how blessed a life we shuld haue in this traunsitorie
the .iii. care For surely wheÌ„ the minde is disquieted with the remembraunce of the offence in lyenge the body hath his parte of yl reste And by the same vntrue spekynge moche hurte and domage ensueth agaynste your credence a thinge I say moste necessary to be kepte and maynteyned of al them y t seke by marchaÌ„dise any lucre or gaynes Therfore let your mynde my good Withipol neuer delite to vtter any lie Eyther speke not or speke truly what faute so euer you may do let it not be defeÌ„ded with a false tale for y t were to fle out of the smoke in to y e fire as to do a worse faute in choking an yll and in the mene season your soule suffereth a sore stroke This euer as you rede of this matter haue minde of your selfe to take fruit of your redynge ¶ In consideration also of al thre partes that is to say both for the defence of your soules state for the welth of your bodye and also for the worldly goodes sake vse in all your actes a certayne coÌ„mendable wisedome neuer to be none of these busy medlers Leue other mens fautes leue correcting that you haue no power in leaue teachinge of that you knowe not Let the gospel be ordered by them that be admitted for doctours therof Let the prestes be blamed of them that haue the rule of the order Let common ceremonies and all olde customes alone Put euer your trust in the power and wyl of god and obey to he consent of the churche without quarellynge or resystynge Go you fourth your waye after the meke steppes of a trewe christen man Let the worlde bluster and blowe as hit wyll be you none of the blowers Scurge who wyl be you none of the scourgers For beleue me sooner shal the rod than the chylde y t is beaten be cast in to the fier In eschewinge all medlyng you shal saue your goodes you shal kepe your body from trauayle and by the same meanes you shal best prouide a sure buckeler for your soule For vnder the clooke of obedience chaunce what chance shal your soule is euer sure for takynge any hurte the iustice of god wyll kepe you harmelesse howe some euer the tempeste of enormities ouerfloweth this world If you shoulde be malaperte and presume to be a doer reporte me to you what may in this world happen to your vndoing both in goodes bodye by the same trouble you shal be caste from the succour of god who abideth not any presuÌ„tion You falle in to presumption when you grudge agaynste your rulers though they be worthy of all disprayses You presume when you meddel with them that be not vnder you You presume whan you take in hande to amende this or that where your parte is not to speake And specially you be presumptuous when you dare crake that you knowe goddes wil. Leue therfore my good Edmond al maner of medlynge and praye to god to accepte your obedience Praye also bitterly that his wyll may be fulfilled in this worlde amoÌ„ge vs as the angels fulfille in heuen Thus pray and meddille no farther For I assure you it is so to be done ¶ Many my thynges myghte be sayd for these .iii. cares but to you I recken it inough this moch that I haue here touched yet one word or .ii. more shall not be suê‘fluous For I wolde not haue you deceyued by any word that I haue here vsed As perauenture you might be if I shuld thus leaue you Seinge that I haue bed you fyrste to care for your soule next to care for your body and thyrdely to care for the goodes of this worlde Moreouer I sayd there be goodes of the soule goodes of the body goodes of this lyfe But lette these wordes be to you as not spoken in their exacte and propre signification For to speake truely there is noo care but one nor there be noo goodes but of one We muste haue a certayne slyght regarde to our body a slighter regarde to the worlde but care we may not for neither of these two You knowe that to care were to take an inwarde weyghty thought the whiche muste not be taken but for a thynge of greate worthynes and also of more suretie than is either our body or the worlde Only our soule is the thiÌ„g to be cared fore and these smal coÌ„modities with certayn praty pleasures of the body and the worlde can not truelye be named goodes for in very dede they be not good For this worde good includethe a dignitie in hym that sauoureth of god and heuen So that tho thinges be onely worthye to be called goodes the which haue a ê‘petuitie and stedfastnesse of godly substaunce Other thinges variable chaungable flytterynge suche as maye be taken from vs mawgree our heed be not worthye of this hyghe name Neyther the bodye nor yet fortune hath any goodes our spirite mynde only hath thinges that truly be called goodes y e whiche be so constantly and surely ours that euer they remayne with vs in spite of all chaunces and all our aduersaries Mercy pitie deuotion mekenes sobrenes pacience faythefulnes charitie and such other vertues be the very tru goodes the which we may iustely reken ours for them we shulde continually labour For these be the substaunce that our soule must haue to be with them rychely decked and garnished that we maye haue our holy day array and our nuptial vesture according to com to the great feast that Christ saith we shall ones be called to All these false goodes of the bodyes lustynges beautie fayrenes strengthe helthe and also these triflynge goodes of Fortune royall houses large heritance great rentes implementis costly apparayle golde syluer honour power frendshyppe nobilitie and what you wyll els in this worlde All these vayne thynges bothe of bodye and fortune can make but a raggyd garmente for our soule the whiche shall be with extreme shame drawen frome the sayde feaste if hit come in goddes presence with these beggerlye ragges This sayenge good Wythipolle I speake to ease and comforte your mynde for by this tale that is trewe you nowe lerne that al though before I sayd you shuld haue thre cares in this lyfe yet in dede you haue but one care the whiche is to care for the true goodes that be to be purchased for the soules welthy state Wherfore of your three cares stryke of two if you wyll speake of ernest care Yet I wyl sticke a lytle more with you in this poynte for fayne I wolde you shulde se a true marke wherby you may gouerne and rule all your phantasies and opinions If your phantasie be well directed to the true marke you caÌ„ not misse of the ryght pathe to vertue the whiche bryngeth man thither where he shall receiue the inestimable rewarde for his trauayle I say your soule onely must be cared for and this onely care must be to get and kepe the true
goodes that be only the goodes of the mynde Other goodes be not called proprely goodes you se howe these praty commodities of the bodye also these small gyftes of fortune mawgree our heed be taken from vs as I caÌ„ not escape alway sykenes I caÌ„ not escape misfortunes I can not flee frome the cruel handes of tyraÌ„tes I may be cast into tortures I may rotte in fetters I may lose al my substance by water by fyer by theues or by other violent robberye Agaynst these chances no man caÌ„ resist no care nor thought preuayleth to assure vs eyther of our bodyes or of suche goodes Wherfore lerne you that I say before god we haue no goodes but onely the goodes of the spirite and mynde the whiche goodes as I haue sayde be so sure ours y t they can not be takeÌ„ from vs but with our owne wyll consentynge to the losse of them In this spirytualle possession euery man is an inuincible emperour We may dispise al violence of princis al worldly chaÌ„ces touching the kepyng of vertu maugre the holle power of the diuel all his retinue Here of lerne and marke myn Edmonde wherin you maye be hurted that your care may the better be bestowed For to care wher you haue no hurt it is nedeles or not to care where you be hurted is a blind ignoraÌ„ce ¶ We be hurted whaÌ„ we lose any parte of goddis fauour we lose goddis fauour when we lose any goodes of the mynde we lose the goodes of the mind wheÌ„ we either reioice of y e hauing bodily worldly goodes or make sorowe of the lackynge the same we be not hurted whaÌ„ god coÌ„tinueth his fauor wheÌ„ we decay not in the streÌ„gthis of minde we decay not in the streÌ„gthes of minde wheÌ„ we be not ouercome neyther with the gladnes of the bodis and worldes prosperite nor with bewaylynge of theyr aduersite Thus you se nother in the goodes of the body nor in the goodes of the world you caÌ„ other take or escape hurte it is only the vertu of your minde wherin you muste serch wheder you be safe or hurted ¶ Now wheÌ„ you knowe the place of your hurte knowe also what may do you hurte that you maye be more charie of your hurter You se ones the place wherin you maye be hurted is your secrete mynde a very sure place For it is not fyre nor water nor thefe that can come there it is no princis sworde that caÌ„ perce into this place it is no misslucke of fortune that can lyght vpon your spirite finally there is no diuel of hel that can fasten a stroke vpon you to do you in this place any hurte This shulde be a greatter gladnes vnto you to considre in howe stronge a tower you be from all hurte but se thenne agayne who hit is that maye hurte you For surelye you caÌ„ not be hurted but of one in whoÌ„ is power to do hurte this is your owne free wyl This wyl of yours nothing els hath power to hurt you Se shortely in ensaÌ„ple howe your laÌ„des be takeÌ„ froÌ„ you you be spoyled of your goodes fire burneth vp your house you be haled to prisoÌ„ you be beateÌ„ you be torne with whips you be draweÌ„ vpon y e rackes you lie in chaynes you coÌ„e forth to opeÌ„ shame you suffre cold you be gnawen with hunger and thyrste finallye you be putte to death what of al this yet I can not saye that you be hurted I se that with al this the fauor grace of good may coÌ„tinue with you as it did with the holy martyrs And also before Christis passion holye Iob suffred al this was not hurted This is a great coÌ„fort for you to se that nothing caÌ„ hurt you but only your owne selfe This is the hyghe grace of god that so hathe made man to be ouer al a myghty conquerour that can take no hurt but of hym selfe Wherfore I trust you will lyue euer safe and sownd For I wyll not thynke that euer you wil be so mad as to hurt your selfe Than for these trifles of the body and worlde take no care it it is neyther the seconde thyng nor the thirde thynge that canne be so vnto you that in eyther of theym you can de hurted Marie take hede lest by the displeasures done in the second and in the thyrd you of madnes take occasion to be hurted and wyllyngelye hurte your selfe in the fyrste thinge the which onely is the place where you may be hurted And none besyde your owne wyl hath power to hurt you there as if in the tyme of the losse of worldly goodes you wil fret in anger you wil dispise god you wil curse and ban you wyl enforce to be aueÌ„ged you crye out in furie madnes now take you thought care for surely you be hurted and your chief iewel hath a great losse For god withdraweth from your soule a great part of his grace so that this hurt you do to your own selfe by this frowardenes Lykewyse whylste your body is turmeÌ„ted eyther with sykenes or otherwise if you therfor forsake pacieÌ„ce and swelle in wrothe you be than hurted in dede but of noone other person besyde your selfe onely Thus you may take froÌ„ the secoÌ„d and the thyrde in the whiche two you can not be hurted an occasion to hurte your selfe to haue therof a greatte cause of a sore and an erneste care for the peril that your soule therby falleth in ¶ To confirme you the faster in these ryghte opinions I wolde you redde the lyttell boke of Epictetus intitled his Enchiridion well translated into latyne by Angelus Politiane But to saye the trouth the worke is so briefely and darkely written that without a coment or a good mayster you shall not perceyue the fruite of the texte I am in mynde if I maye haue therto leysure to translate the coÌ„ment of Simplicius vppon the sayd worke and then shal you finde suche swetenes in that boke that I beleue hit will rauishe you in to an hygher contemplation than a greatte sorte of our religious men come to And one thinge beleue me my good withipol that in redynge of these olde substanciall workes the whiche I haue named vnto you shal besyde the perfection of knowlege gender a certayne iudgement in you that you shal neuer take delite nor pleasure in the trifles and vayne inuentions that men nowe daies write to the inquietinge of all good order by reason that the moste parte of men that rede these new flittering workes lacke perfecte iudgement to dyscryue a weyghtye sentence fro me a lyghte clause the whiche iudgemente can not be gotten but by a longe exercysynge of our wittes with the best sorte of writers And to me it is a pitiful thynge to beholde the folishe dremes of these yonge clerkes in mens handes to se these noble olde workes of the holy fathers and philosophers lye vntouched Where if these newe wryters speke any thynge well it is piked out of this aunciente bokes But what so euer these petye clarkes pike out nowe a dayes for the mooste parte it is defaced and broughte out of good fashioÌ„ with theyr yuel handelynge ¶ I wyl nowe make an ende it is sufficient to a wyllynge mynde suche as I truste is in you to haue with a frendes fynger the way appoynted where you must walke if you wil procede in vertu the whiche is onely the thynge that maketh a man boothe happye in this worlde and also blessed in the worlde to come Beleue you my counsayle and vse the same orels hereafter you will paraduenture bewayle your negligence Fare ye wel At More a place of my lorde cardinals in the feaste of saynte Bartholomew 1529. LONDINI IN AEDIBVS THOMAE BERTHELET ANNO. M.D.XXXV CVM PRIVILEGIO How masters hurt their scholars most Trewe frendshyp True opinions Reding of many bokes Soule Body Goodes of this worlde scholers Feare of god Loue of god Newe testamente Mat. 6. Luc. 12. Redynge y e gospels Chrysost. Ierom Ethica Arist. Plato Cicero Seneca Bodilye helth Corrupte aier Diete Faste Slepe Exercise Ydlenes Temperance Gale De bona bale tud tuen Seneca Almes dede Slepe Bargyne Similitudes Diuel Mat. 20. et 22. A good frende Cicero de amicitia House wife Xenoph. oeconomi Aristot. Politic. wrath ire anger Furrie Pacience Plato Seneca â–ª Vntrewe tonge Obedience malapert presumption false goodes Epicteê°