and wretched who drawe nearest to the bluntnesse of brute beastes and attempte nothyng beyonde mans degree For proufe wherof I will not blinde you with these Stoikes Syllogismes but rather induce you by some familiar exemple And by the faieth ye owe to the immortall goddê maie any thyng to an indifferent considrer be deemed more happie and blisfull than is this kynde of men whom commenly ye call fooles doltes ideotes and paches by most fayre and goodly names as I take theim Peraduenture I moue a thyng without purpose and verie fonde at the fyrst syght but ere I haue dooen ye will graunt I haue cause to saie it Seeyng fyrst suche ideotes are free and exempt from all feare of death whiche feare is no small corrosiue to a mind that mindeth it I warrant you Lyke as they fele not what a twitching turment it is to haue a grudged conscience and shrinke as little at these old wiues tales of sprites of diuellê of hobgoblyne and the fayries neither mournyng to theim selues for feare of euillê and aduersitees impendyng nor braggyng ouermuche vpon hope of any good lucke commyng To be briefe they are not tawed nor plucht a sunder with a thousande thousand cares wherwith other men are oppressed Thei blushe at nothyng they doubt nothyng they coueite no dignitee they enuie â—o mans fortune they loue not peramours and lastly if they be veraie brute Naturalles now they sinne not as doctours doe affirme Here I woulde my Maisters of sapience naie rather Maister fooles shoulde repute with theim selues how on all sydes theyr myndes are vexed continually Yea lette theim but gather to accompt to what a noumbre of discommoditees inconueniences and difficulties the state of theyr lyfe is endebted and so they shall soone summe vp from howe many and howe great euillê I haue subtraied these my selâ—e paches Who not onely them selues are euer mery plaiyng singyng and laughyng but also what euer they dooe are prouokers of others lykewyse to pleasure sport and laughter as who saieth ordeined herefore by the goddê of theyr beâ—euolence to recreate the sadnesse of mens lyues That wheras diuerse amongê them selues are diuersly enclined yet dooe all men generally with one assent owe fauour to these poore fooles coueit them fede theÌ„ stroke them embrace them yea so muche lacketh that auy wight of reason will do them any great iniurie as the verie wildbeastê experience teacheth haue been seen to spare and forbeare from hurtyng of theim thorough a certaine naturall sense of theyr innocencie For suche Naturals are holy and consecrate vnto the goddê specially to me and not without cause therfore dooe folke so esteme theim Lyke as many great lordes there be who set so muche by theim as scant they can eate theyr meate or byde a minute without theim cherisshyng them by iysse a little better than thei are went to dooe these frounyng philosophers A few of whiche sort also for honours sake and furniture of theyr courte they vouchesaue to enterteine But why they vse to make more of the other I thynke it soone gessed and ought not to be meruailed at For these waiwarde wysemen neuer come foorth but with admonicions and boke lessons yea and throughe confidence of theyr learnyng are not sometyme ashamed to saie the trouth wheras my fooles supplie a farre more gracious and acceptable office to delite men with theyr plaiyng daliyng fonde talke and deuises Yea and aboue all this haue a meruailous propretee in that they onely are plainsaiers and south speakers And what is more laudable at least as outwardely ye commende it than plainesse of speche For although Alcibiades prouerbe in Plato ascribeth trouth to children and dronkennes yet maie all the praise therof be chiefly appended to me as Euripides can well testifie who wrote thus A foole speaketh like a foole id est plainely For what soeuer he hath in his thought that sheweth he also in his countinaunce and expresseth it in his talke Wheras these wisemen are thei that ar double tounged as the aforesaied Euripides telleth vs with the one of whiche they speake the trueth with the other thyngê mete for the tyme and audience Theyr propretee it is to chaunge blacke into white and out of one mouthe to blow bothe hote and colde and thynke vnhappeliest in their hertê whan they speake smotheliest with their toungê How be it me seemeth that princê how euer the haboundant felicitee of theyr estate is wont to â—ase meane folkê etes maie yet as to this respecte be counted right miserable because they want of whom to here the trouthe and are faiue therefore to take flattrers for their friendê But some will saie trouth maie not at all tymes be spoken and therfore are these wysemen so eschewed because without respecte they speake frankly Now so it is in deede trueth for the most part is hatefull to princê And yet we see that of fooles oftetymes not onely true tales but euin open rebukes are with pleasure declared That what woorde comyng out of a wisemans mouthe were an hangyng mattier the same yet spoken by a foole shall muche delight euin hym that is touched therwith Suche a liuely grace to content men hath veritee as longe as it be mixed with naught els that maie offende But without offence to dooe the same the goddê haue graunted to fooles onely And so in a maner vppon lyke causes haue women lyke pleasure in theim in as muche as naturally the Feminine Sexe is bended all to pleasure and trifles That what so euer they do with these fooles although sometyme maie chaunce it be past sporte yet haue they the easie to expounde it to be nothyng but a plaiyng toy or a thing to make daliance as euer women be redie witted to tourne and excuse the mattier But now to retourne to my purpose my Ideotes hauyng thus ledde foorth theyr tyme in muche triumphe and solace at last without any feare or sense of death dooe passe hence the right waie to paradise there also to disporte theyr quiet and innocent soules in continuall plaie Now goe to if ye list and conferre any wyseman of theym all with these my symple and least regarded fooles as touchyng theyr state of blisfulnesse Or rather let vs draw on the other side for a comparison betwixe theim the extract of a man of wisedome For exemples sake a caitiue so I maie call hym that hath worne out all his childhode and youthfull yeres in learnyng of disciplines hauyng lost so the swetest part of his life in continuall watches cares and trauailes nor in all the residew that euer tasted one dramme of pleasure beyng euer niggardly euer poore melancholike and frounyng as harde and wrongfull to hym selfe as insupportable and odious to others pale meigre sikely and blereyed wasted awaie with elde and horenes whiche his owne wilfull studie auaunced to him before his tyme yea and before his tyme postyng as it were out of life although it skilleth not how soone
heares who countrefaited the kynge shulde tourne to a rascall and who plaied god almightie shulde become a cobler as he was before Yet take awaie this errour and as soone take awaie all togethers in as muche as the feignyng and counterfaityng is it that so delighteth the beholders So likewise all this life of mortall men what is it els but a certaine kynde of stage plaie wheras men come foorthe disguised one in one arraie an other in an other eche plaiyng his parte till at last the maker of the plaie or bokebearer causeth theim to auoyde the skaffolde and yet sometyme maketh one man come in two or three tymes with sundrie partes and apparaâ—e as who before represented a kynge beyng clothed alâ—â—t purpre hauyng no more but shyfted hym selfe a little shoulde shew hym selfe againe lyke an woobegon myser And all this is dooen vnder a certaine veile or shadow whiche taken awaie ones the plaie can no more be plaied Here nowe if one of these wisemen come A weâ—e from heauen did sodeinly appeare and saie frowe euin this great prince whom all men honor as their god and soueraigne deserueth skarce to be called man seyng like the brute beastes be is trained by affections and is none other than a seruaunt of the basest sort seyng willyngly he obeith so many and so vise vices his maisters Or than againe woulde bidde some other who mourned for his fathers or friendes decease rather to laughe and he merie because suche diyng to this worlde is the beginnyng of a better life wheras this here is but a maner death as it were Furthermore wolde call an other gloriyng in his armes and aunâ—estrie bothe a villaine and a bastarde because he is so many discentes disalied from vertue whiche is the onely roote of true nobilitee And in suche lyke sorte woulde raile vpon all the rest I praie you what shulde he preuaile therby but make men take him for frantike distraught For surely as nothing can be more foolisshe than wisedome out of place so is nothyng more fonde than prudence out of season And dooeth he not out of season trow ye that plieth not him selfe as the world goeth nor will not take the market as it ryseth nor at least remembre the law of quassyng Other drinke thy drinke or rise and goe thy waie On the other side it is a verie wysemans part to coueite to know nothyng beyond his bandê and either as the whole multitude of other men dooe to dissemble gladly or to erre and be deceiued with the most But euin this is Foly saie thei And in good faieth I will not muche denie it vpon condicion againe they graunt me that to dissemble or erre so is the right plaiyng of the pageantê of this life But Lorde a thing now is come to my remembrance shall I speake it or kepe it in and why shulde I kepe it in syns it is truer than trueth it selfe but it is best for me in so waightie a mattier as it is to praie the Muses in myne ayde whom poetes call vppon oftentimes for the veriest trifles they write Come ye bithes therfore a little ye â—oues daughters whiles I proue that no man can attaine vnto that excellent Sapience the verie castell as they name it of felicitee vnles I Folie be theyr guide aud leader Inprimis I take it for all readie granted that all the affections of man pertaine vnto Folie In as muche as philosophers put this distinction betwene a myseman and a foole that the one is ledde by reason the other by sensualitee and therfore dooe the Stoikes seclude all affections from a wyseman as so many diseases of the mynde But that notwithstandyng these affections are not onely sette in steede of pilottê to suche as woulde recouer the porte of wysedome but also in any acte of vertue are lyke certaine prickê or incitacions prouokyng a man to dooe well How euer in this poinct the Archestoike Seneca strongly againsaieth me who in no wyse will a wyseman shoulde haue any maner affection in hym but whan he taketh that away he leaueth man no man but rather a newfounde god without bodily sence such as neuer was nor neuer shall be Yea to speake plainâ—ier he dooeth naught els than fourme a stone image of a man without fealyng or any maner inclinacion perteinyng to a man in deede Let the Stoikes therfore if they list take theyr wyseman to theim selfes and make muche on hym alone or if they thynke good go and dwell with hym in Platos citee or in the lande of Fairie or Vtopia For whiche of you woulde not lothe and blisse you from the company of suche mance a man as were mortified and benummed in all those sensis and vnderstandynges that naturally other men are ledde by that had no affections reignyng in him nor woulde no more bee sterred with loue or compassion than if he were a flint stone that in nothyng could euershoote him selfe but rather lyke Argus see and cast all thynges to the vttermost Forgeue no man be onely pleased with hym selfe esteeme him selfe onely to be riche onely to be a kynge onely to be a freeman briefly onely all thynges but in his owne conceite onely that cared for no friendes friende him selfe to no man Wolde not sticke to defie the Gods and what so euer is dooen of other men in this present life to laugh at it and dispise it as a verie madnesse Yet suche a maner quaynt beaste is this complete wyseman of theirs I praie you if the choice went by voyces what citee woulde haue suche a gouernour What armie suche a capitaine naie what woman wolde desire suche an husbande or who woulde bydde suche a gest to his house or what seruaunt pike hym out or continue with a maister of so monstruous condicions On the other syde who woulde not sooner preferre any one chosen euin amonges the thickest of the people who beyng a foole could aptly either gouerne or obey fooles please the myndes of suche as be lyke vnto hym whiche is the moste parte be treatable to his wyfe gladly seen of his friendes mearie in companie and lastly woulde thinke nothyng vnbecomyng hym that other men vse commenly to dooe But I wene ye be werie now of this theyr wyseman as I for my part was a good whyle agoe Let vs passe therfore ouer to some other mattier Admitte than some one as the Poetes feigne by Iupiter shulde out of an high high place behold and see in how many miseries mans life is wrapped how wretched and vile his byrthe is how harde his bringyng vp how weake and pewlyng his childhode how trauailsome his youthe how heauy his age and last how feareful his death were Further duryng all his lyfe what bandê of sickenesses doe assaile hym what narow chauncê hange ouer his head what displeasures come vpon hym how in all thyngê he fyndeth more galle than hony besydes the miuries whiche one of you scourgeth an
wyse Ecclesiasticus saied A foole changeth like the moone but a wiseman abydeth in one state as the sonne what signified he els hereby but that mankynd is altogethers foolisshe and God onely deserueth the name of wisedome For ye shall vnderstand that by the moone accordyng to the exposicion of doctours is figured mankynde and by the sonne whiche is the head and fountaine of all light is ment god him selfe the father and originall of all sapience Wherunto this maketh greatly that Christ hym selfe in the gospell denied any man ought to be called good sauyng god hym selfe Now therfore if euery man that is not wyse muste be holden for foolishe aud who so euer is good is wife also accordyng as the Stoikes do affyrme than per consequeut ye must nedes confesse that mortall men are altogethers wrapped in the bandes of Folie Furthermore Salomon in his .xxv. chapitre saieth Folie maketh fooles gladde wherin he confesseth plainely that nothyng in this life can be sweete or pleasant vnlesse that folie yelde the same vnto you and hereunto maketh that saieyng also who exhorteth you to wysedome exhorteth you to sorow and in muche vnderstandyng is muche indignacion and doeth not this noble preacher plainly confirme the same saiyng in his .vii. chapitre That the hert of a wyseman is wheras sorow is and the hert of a foole wheras gladnesse is Therfore Salomon thought it not sufficient to consume time about the knowlage of wysedome vnlesse he further shoulde busie hym selfe to know me also That in case ye smally beleue myue marke I praie you his owne woordê in the fyrst chapitre And I haue applied my hert saieth he to know wysedome and learnyng and lykewyse to know errours and folie wherin ye must note this well how it maketh muche for my dignitee that he putteth folie in the latter place namely seyng the Ecclesiaste or churche preacher wrote it and pardie ye know how the church ordre willeth that who so is first in dignitee shall goe last in place to the ende that how euer in other poinctes yet herein at lest he dooe obserue the precepte of the gospell But folie to be farre more noble and excellent than wisedome I wene I can proue you by witnesse of the Ecclesiasticus who so euer was autour of that boke in the .xliiii. chapitre of the same whose text surely I holde it not best to recite vnto you before ye somewhat shall haue ayded the induction of myne argument with aunswearyng handsomely vnto me lyke as Plato introduceth those that dispute with Socrates to dooe So fyrst I demaunde of you what thyngê to your iudgement ought soonest to be kept close and hydden other those that are precious and rare to be gotten or other that are vile dogchepe in euery place dooe you holde your peace Now surely how euer ye woulde dissemble yet shall this olde greke prouerbe answeare for you the waterpotte is sette behynde euerie dore the auctoritee of whiche prouerbe let none of you be so â—â—godly to refelle seeyng Aristotle hym selfe the god of our maister doctours doeth in many places recite itâ— and in sadnesse I can not thynke that any of you all is so madde to leue golde or precious stones in the hiegh waie naie rather ye laie theim vp in your most secrete closettê and yet that snot uffisyng ye double locke them in the strongest coffers ye haue wheras durt ye leue liyng still on the dunghill Ergo if that be hydden that is more precious and the other vile thyngê are left abrode as vntended to is it not manifest now that wisedome whiche he forbyddeth to be hydden is farre more vile than folie whiche muste accordyng to his rede be locked vp and kept as close as maie be And now I am content to reherce you his owne woordê whiche are Better is the man that hydeth his folie than he who hydeth his wysedome But what saie you to this that scripture attributeth to fooles a certaine benignitee and gentill whitenesse of nature condemnyng wysemen for proude and despisours of all others saue theim selues For so dooe I plainely take the meanyng of the Ecclesiaste in the .x. chapitre But a foole saieth he that walketh in the strete beyng hym selfe vnwise supposeth all men to be fooles as he Now is it not I praie you a signe of an excedyng gentilnesse in hym to make euery body his matche and felow that wheras none so base wil not meanely stande yet in selfe reputacion his curtesie is suche to dele euery man a fleese of his praise Therfore Salomon beyng so great a kynge was naught ashamed of my name whan he saied in his .xxx. chapitre I am most foole of all men Nor Paule doctour of the gentiles thought scorne therof when writing to the Corinthians he said I speake it as vnwise that I more than others c. as who saieth it were a great dishonour for him to be ouercome in folie But here loe me thynkê I heare how I am hissed at by some of these greke professours who study scripture in that tounge and make as though other doctours at these daies saw nothyng nomore than crowes dooe whan their eies ar peckt out whiles with certaine Annotacions of their owne they goe about to duske mens eies as with smoke amongê whiche sorte of notemakers my friende Erasmus whom often for honours sake and good will I dooe mencion maie be counted the seconde if not the fyrst They like enough will reproue me and ô what a foolisshe allegacion is this will they saie and how mete a witnesse for dame Folie to bringe in wheras the apostles meanyng is farre otherwyse than she dreameth it to be for in these woordes he wolde not be taken for more foole than other but whan he had saied They are ministers of Christ and so am I also to the ende yet he shuld not be holden for a vainglorious vaunter in that he made him selfe coequall with the other he added as by correction I more than other signifiyng therby how not onely he was matche to the other apostles but somewhat also their superiour whiche althoughe he woulde shoulde be taken for verie trueth yet lest the arrogant auowyng therof might partly haue offended mens â—ares he did first shelde the same with the pretexte of Folie saiyng I speake it as the vnwyser because he wist what priuilege fooles haue to speake trouthe without offence Well what euer Paule mente whan he wrote thus I leaue hardly to theim to dispute 〈◊〉 because I will ynglier dooe folow the auctoritee of other grosse and fatte doctours who amonges vulgar folke are in greatest reputacion so farfoorth as a great part of learned men also had leuer by god for more suretie be deceiued with theim than iudge vpon righter knowlage with these studiers of the scripture in the thre toungê For no man setteth more by these smatterers in the Greke tounge than thei wold do by as many chatteryng iaes chiefely seyng that a