I must byd you fare well tyl to morowe Thā to talke w t you more a time I wil I borow Eda ¶ I thanke you hartely for your great payne I shal thinke longe tyl I speake with you again ▪ I desyre you this night in your meditation Deuise in your minde against our next cōmunication How I may serue god as he doth require Let this be our next talke I do you desyre Agna ¶ With a good wyl you shal knowe my harte God haue you in his keping I must departe Eda ¶ God be with vs in farewel and greeting And send vs againe a mery meeting Amen Finis ⧠Here after foloweth A Dialogue concernyng wysdom and Wyll Who reason togither thus TO spende the time honestly a season I thinke this to be a talke conuenient Of Wyll and Wisdom a while to reason And who maye iustly be called sapient I thinke it meete therfore Wysdom to defyne Tully calleth it a knowledge or science Of maters aswell heauenly and diuyne As of humane thinges in thordre of prudence So that perfightely to knowe goddes wyll That is what of man god doth requyre And the same in worde and dede to fulfyll Is the highest wisdom wherto man can aspyre Also what percayneth to cumly ordre Amonge men at all times to be vsed And to kepe the same in euery bordre Is wysdom of none to be refused According hereto a Christian Poete Certaine pleasant versis in Latin doth wryte Whiche if a whyle you wyl be quyete As well as I can I wyll recyte Sed fortasse aliquis quaerit sapientia quid sit Nil aliud certe est nisi prima scientia per quam Mens pura nulla mortali pondere praessa Libera terrenis affectibus atria coeli Scandit aethera cum dijs versatur in aulae Sum perchaunce wyll aske what is sapience Nothing elles but a science principall Wherby a minde spotted with no vncongruence Neither pressed with any synne capitall But free from affections terrestriall Unto the heauenly palaces doth ascende And is conuersaunt with spirites celestiall In heauen I meane wher god is without ende Many noble sentences be in that place Right worthy to be talked of in dede But because they requyre more time and space I leaue them and wyl to other thinges procede As in fewe persons is this Sapience So in all men lyuing is there a wyll Whiche through stoborne disobedience Many one both soule and body doth spyll Wylle ¶ Somwhat of Wyll here by your pacience I must saye accordyng to learnyng And as you haue praysed sapience So of Wyll let me say my meanyng Wisdome ¶ Wyll playeth the wanton boy now and than Whan Wyll without wyt reuelleth alone He vndoeth many a wylfull man Who wolde repent whan the time is gone Wyll ¶ Wyll is an appetite gyuen to goodnes According to prudent Aristotles mynde In the fyrst boke of Rethorickes he doth expresse The same sentence or moche of that kynde And the same Poete which you dyd reherse A Poete no forsoth rather a Deuine Ryght nobly speaketh of Wylle in a verse As though Wylle doth not to euyll encline Suntque voluntatis bona plura quatuor horum Praecipua existunt prudencia ▪ iustitia atque Grandia quae aggreditur fortis discrimina virtus Net non quae frenis nos temperat atque modestos Efficit c. There be many good thynges longyng to Wylle And cheefly .iiii. Prudence and Iustice Strength that noble vertue gret thīges to fulfyl Temperance who restrayneth sensuall vice These .iiii. be called vertues Cardinall For of them all other vertues depende Of the which vertues Wylle is thoriginall Wherfore Wylle I may iustly commende Wisdome ¶ I say styll that Witte is a crafty boye Fayne he wolde his wilfull foly excuse He hathe played euen nowe a subtle toye For a learned sentence he dyd abuse Aristotle in the place of you aledged Whereas you say he dooth Wylle define Is of you triuicated and abredged Contrary to the Philosophers doctrine Wyll is an appetite of goodnes sayeth he Coniuncte or rather subiecte to reason I saye whan Wyll to reason doth agree Than all thinges be done well and in season But I speake onely of that sturdy Wyll Whiche to obay reason doth proudly disdayne Than both it selfe it doth destroy and spyll And putteth many another to payne In that Wyll whyche to reason doth consent Is all kynde of good vertues conteyned Than it doth nothing wherof it should repent For all vyces therby are restreyned Wyll ¶ Me thynke you make lytle difference Betwyxt Wyll and sensualytie Wyll is equall with sapience Yea and hygher in authorytie For what could sapience or reason do Or any other power of the minde Except Wyll wolde consent therto Who hath power both to loase and to bynde Only in Wyll is free lybertie Whan Wysdom and reason haue deuysed Wyll hath this power for a suertie To let all that they haue practysed Example Reason and Wisdom do teache Performe this they can not whiche they preache Except Wyll therto shall lybertie gyue Wisdome The pride of this stoborne Wyll breaketh out And by lytle and lytle dooth the selfe declare Wyll is proude Wyll is sturdy and stout And yet miserable beyng lefte bare Euery mā through Wyl alone is made a wretche But the more wretched as Austen dooth publish When the same Wyll dooth it selfe stretche So farre that he may his desyre accomplish And also it foloweth that through euyll Wyll Not euery man a wretche is made But also the more wretched when he may fulfyll That euyll wherto euyll wyll doth perswade Thus he meaneth the more power Wyll hathe To doo euyll the more wretched it is The more power Wyll hathe reason to scathe The more bonde and the more dooth a mis. Wyll ¶ You haue talked of euyll wyll a long season I praye you what doo you call the same euyll wil Wysdome ¶ That Wyll which is not subiecte to reason But seketh his sensuall rage to fulfyll Now to make answere to your comparison Where you preferre Wyll before reason In dede Wyll and his wylfull garison Compare with God from whō all goodnes come But in this poynt wisdome doth wyll excell Wisdome is alway good and Wyll somtime euyl Wisdome obaieth God Wyll somtime doth rebel Wisdom of God is led Wyl somtime of the deuyl And let not wyll reioyce in his wicked power For the more power he hath to commit euyll The more seruile the more vile day and hower And the more draweth he vnto the deuyll Wylle ¶ To your sentence I can not moche disagre In few words you haue shewed y e bōdage of wyl Now I praye you declare how it may be free And I wyll humbly harke vnto your skyll Wysdome Whan Wyll to Wisdome wyllyngly doth encline Now what Wysdome is I declared before Than Wyll not of merytes but of grace diuyne Is enfrenchesed and made free euermore Recte igitur
him in any lande Ipse tamen vidi nunquam vix credere possunt Vel perijsse fame vel mendicasse disertum I dyd yet neuer see the poete dooth say And scarsely beleue it I can That for honger any shall decay That is in deede a learned man Gelasimus Frende Spudeus I wyll be playne To obtayne glory I bende not my hope They that coueyte honour to attayne At noone dayes for the way doo grope Ergo honor fama ▪ myrtalis gloria laus ▪ Somnia sunt prorsus nil conducentia Honor fame worldly glory and prayse Are but dreames for nothyng profitable Therfore I am bent nothyng that wayes For I looke not to be honourable Spudeus ¶ Lo this is your commune fascion To truncate and destroy the verse Styll for your owne excusacion And wyll not the whole sentence reherse Somnia sunt prorsus nil conducentia quando Sorte magis quam virtute acquiruntur They are dreames nothyng profitable But whan whan by chaūce thei are acquired Rather than by vertue honourable who so dooth not desyre honour The same dooth no vertue regarde For honour in good men euer more For vertue is a iust rewarde Gelasimus ¶ Ha ha ha to laugh you compell me In the faute wherin you dyd me charge Most euedently in you I see As I shall declare more at large Turpe est doctori cum culpa redarguit ipsum ▪ It is a foule thyng to a teacher When the same faute in him is fownde Whiche he rebuketh in other Himselfe first to teache he is bownde I dyd truncate a verse you say Your later verse now doo you scande And whether I say true proue you may Or whether as a vexse it may stande Spudeus ¶ Serte magis quam virtute acquiruntur at esto Gelasimus ¶ At esto Haue you founde at esto In your first rehersall that dyd lacke You talke so moche de honesto That you cast rectum at your backe Spudeus ¶ That at esto beginneth a new sentence Which had ben prolixe to reherse Gelasimus ¶ I perceyue your cautelouse pretence That sentence woulde your wordes requite Because you woulde appeare fautlesse Takyng vpon you other to blame What foloweth I wyll expresse Earnestly without mocke or game At esto Quod tantum dignis tribuantur dic mihi nunquid Corporibus prosint certe nil Animis ne Tantundem hos inflant potius tumidosque leuesque Nec non solicitos reddunt se sub dere multis Et seruire solet multis Ambire praecari Munera largiri quisquis festatur honores My formour wordes I must agayne reherse For honour I say I doo not moche care Hereto tendeth my formour verse Now these in english I wyll declare Be it so that honour and fame Are geuen only to the worthy What profite haue men by the same They profite nothyng their body What commoditie are they to the myndes Euen asmoch they fyll them full of pride And make them as light as the wyndes And fill them with care on euery syde Many must one serue and many flatter Pray speake fayre and mony pay Stoutly he must beare out the matter That wyll haue honour at this day Lo who so hunteth for honour This disquietnesse he shall fynde To the body a longe dolour And a continuall sore to the mynde O bona paupertas o non dum cognita diuum Munera virtutum custos amica pudori ¶ O Good pouertie o Gods good gifte Unknowne is thy cōmoditie Keper of vertue throughe thy shyft And a very frende to honestie A meane state is surest of all Daungerouse it is highe to clyme The mightye Okes haue greatest fall Whan the lowe shrubbes grow out their time Spudeus Your wordes be good but you digresse And declyne muche fro my purpose Gelasimus Go to hardely your minde expresse Spare not your learnyng to disclose Spudeus ¶ I counsailed you lightnes to leaue And to giue your selfe to study To vertue I wolde haue you to cleaue Commodiouse to soule and body By examples auncient and olde Stearyng vp your hope as I thought But with sentences stoute and bolde You haue sett my counsell at nought As I coulde haue tolde you by name Of suche as study in youth haue loued Whiche haue attayned honour and fame And worthy men haue bene proued Likewyse of innumerable I can tell you also by name Whiche of byrth haue bene honourable And yet their endes haue bene shame Wherfore this is the cause for a truth Their tyme full Idely they dyd spende And would not study in their youthe Therfore shame dishonour was their ende Let all youth of Idlenes beware For it is the steppedame of vertue If you be caught ones in her snare All myschefes besyde wyll soone ensue Otia enim fomes Vitiorum est otia mentem Ad mala multa trahunt oti comes ipsa libido est It is the prouoking of wickednes To many myschefes it draweth the mynde Unclennes accompanyeth Idelnes No greater enemy to mankinde Gelasimus You may perceiue well by my wordes That I haue not bene ydle alway Though somtime I set pytfalles for byrdes I am not ydle as perceiue you may Spudeus Your goodly wyt I do commende And to prayse god you haue great cause But I haue sene that doth mee offende As I sayed in my former clause Emollit otium Vires sicut rubigo ferrum ¶ Idlenesse weakeneth the strength Like as rust dooth the yrone freate Quicke wyttes it dulled at lengthe And bredeth infirmities great Haue you not hearde men of grauitie Wishe that they had learned in youthe And haue bewayled their vanitie Cursyng themselfes with their owne mouth Vidi iam iuuenem praemeret cum ferior aetas Moerentem tardos praeterijsse dies ¶ I haue sene sayth Quid a yonge man When with more age pressed he was Mournyng in himselfe now and than That idely he dyd let the dayes passe Idlenesse bryngeth in voluptuousnesse Whom good sayntes call the deuils bayte In voluptuousnes is all wickednesse Wherin youth to catche the deuyll doth wayt Gelasimus ¶ An olde prouerbe Yonge saint olde deuyll Whiche to you I may well apply Spudeus ¶ Thus rather he that in youth is a dreuyll Is most like a deuyll to dye He that in youthe no vertue wyll vse As the commune prouerbe dooth say In age all goodnesse wyll him refuse Whiche to hell is the pathe waye As no fruite is founde in that tree Wheron no flowre dyd before appeare Som age he can come to no degree Whiche in youthe wyll vse no vertue cleare Iuuenis existens multa bona disce While thou arte yonge sayth Menander Many good thynges study and learne About foly let not your mynde wander Geue eare to wyse men which doo you warne Well may you be named Gelasimus Whiche scornfull dooth signify For whatsoeuer good men discusse You tourne it to a scorne vtterly Gelasimus ¶ And Spudeus may well be your name Whiche signifieth studious You study to gette honour
and fame So that you wyll be come furious Spudeus ¶ Not so I trust there is a meane I haue learned to vse modestie Not so wyll I to study leane That I shall forgette honestie I study not vertue to acquire Fame and honour therby to attayne Uertue for her owne sake I desyre In whom alone honour dooth remayne Propter se virtus petitur non propter honorem Gelasimus ¶ I pray you let all this reasonyng passe And tell me this may I not somtyme play Spudeus ¶ You remembre what our talke was As sleepe and other rest Tully dooth say Gelasimus ¶ I am glad of that by this light I wish that my maister so wolde say Men vse to rest and sleepe euery night Than so might I play euery day Spudeus ¶ Whether you may or no you doo Yea truly and that without measure And suche wantonnesse you adde therto That none other in your play haue pleasure Gelasimus ¶ In good fayth I play not other to please I vse to play for myne owne solace Spudeus ¶ But in your play you doo other disease And in so dooyng you doo trespace Est modus in rebus sunt certi denâ—que fâ—nâ—s Quos vltra citraque nequit consistere rectum ¶ There is a comly meane in all thynges Therbe also certayne limites pyght Beyonde the which if you passe the strynges Nothyng that you doo can be doone right In your play and in all your affayres Learne you honest maners to vse Let not idlenesse catche you in her snares And euyll company doo you refuse Corrumpunt etiam Sanctos commercia praua Euyll company dooth corrupte alway Euen those that be well disposed Conceale no falshed night nor day But of you let it be disclosed Serue God daily before any thyng Feare him beware his lawes to offende Honour loue and truly serue the kyng And where fautes be learne to amende Your Father Mother and Maister Loue feare serue and gentely obay Of their goodes be ye no waster With truthe helpe to gette that you may Of tonâ—â— and hande be you euer true â— oathes to sweare 〈…〉 doo you rewe 〈…〉 beare And you shall neuer go out of the way Gelasimus ¶ I haue not so litle wyt good frynde But that I perceyue your intent I thanke you both with hearte and mynde Your counsell is honest and prudent This one thyng of you I woulde desyre Daily that we may togither talke At suche a tyme as you shall requyre When you are best disposed to walke Spudeus ¶ I shal be content with all my harte Fare ye well God haue you in his kepyng Gelasimus ¶ Seyng that you wyll hence departe God preserue you wakyng and flepyng Finis ¶ Here after 〈…〉 the Dialogue 〈…〉 liuyng of 〈…〉 which 〈…〉 Eda GOd for me this day I trust hath wrought For yonder coÌ„meth she whoÌ„ I haue sought I am glad that I haue mette with you Agna Agna And I as glad to see you mery Eda It t s a straunge thinge to see you here alone Eda My syster is but euen now fro me gone And in dede we should haue gone togyther But that I did see you comming hyther To speake with you is my tarying here I thought to salute you since you were so nere Agna I thanke you gentle Eda for your good will Tell me dwell you with your Father still Eda Yea I thanke god and stil I purpose to doo For I haue none so good a frende to go too I see wherto this wretched worlde is bent Therfore I minde not other houses to frequent In our last talke you did to me disclose A goodly sentence of holy saint Ambrose Whiche while I lyue I shall beare in minde For great vertue forsothe therin I fynde Agna Good lord do you those wordes so long remembre Eda If I should forget them my wyt were slender Agna As I dyd recyte them can you say them again Eda To here me say them wyl you take the payne Agna Yea truly that I wyll yeuen with all my harte And helpe you yf you mysse in any parte Eda That virgin whiche for Christ doth enquire To be amonge rude people ought not to desyre Seldom sene without cause in the market place Neuer alone in the streetes to shewe her face It is not virgin like to be high in voyce Neither in vyle wordes or songes to reioyce Mayden like without nycenes in her pace No token of wantonnes in her eies or face Lo Sister Agna these be the wordes I suppose Whiche you taught me out of Saint Ambrose Agna Saint Ambrose wrote this of the virgin Mary From whose sentence you do not muche vary Let her humilitie and fourme of vertue Be examples for you all your life to ensue Who so doth the rewarde of Mary requyre Must folowe Maries vertue with humble desire Howe meke how pure how holy she was in dede You know so y t more to declare we shal not nede To know good thinges is right commendable But to folowe them is most profitable I prayse greatly your goodly memory Yet I must warne you to beware of vaynglory That is a vice of so craftie a vilany That it seketh euen vertue to accompany Therfore a certaine Doctor doth monishe All persons whiche in vertue do floryshe Of vainglory aboue all thinges to beware For he calleth it a crafty gyuue or snare Wherby Satan wayteth to catche the vertuose And to frustrate them of their godly purpose Eda ¶ I thanke you truly for your godly councell Your wordes I finde as true as the Gospell God to wytnesse I haue a purpose sure To kepe both body and minde cleane and pure So that neither consent worde nor countenance Shall appere vayne by goddes help gouernance Yet I haue had a delight to be commended And therin I wotte well I haue offended For though I do thinges neuer so commendable Yet am I but a seruaunt vnprofytable I do but that whiche is commended to mee Neither all that as in the Gospell I do see Agna ¶ Because you remeÌ„bre so well Christes doctrine I wyl teach you a lesson of holy saynt Austine Uainglory of this worlde is great vanitie And not els but a fallible suauitie An vnfruitfull labour a perpetuall feare A sublimitie perelesse for any to beare A beginnyng without good prouidence And an ende with vnprofitable penitence Lo good Eda this is a vertuouse lesson Ponder it with earnest discrecion And with your chaste mynde and puritie Pray to God to geue you humilitie For somoche the more to God you are preciouse How moch in your own eyes you ar conteintuos Eda ¶ I trust in God also this lesson to beare away And to folow it I wyll do that I may But gentle Agna doo you not yet departe For to you I wolde shew the secretes of my hart Agna ¶ Your request standeth with so good reason That I must nedes tary with you a season Eda ¶ Truly one thyng maketh
quidam liber solus sapiens est Dixere Hic etenim solus ratione Magistra Castigat motus animi sensumque rebellem Certayne learned men forsoth sayed ryghtly A wyse man onely hath a free wyll For a wyse man through lady reason aptely Chastiseth euyl lustes the flesshe rebelling stil. Reke this ordre And than the wyll is free With Salomon aske of God his sapience Than to reasons rule alway agree And holde sensualitie in obedience He that can obserue purely these .iiii. lynes Not only a vertuouse man I do hym call But also I compare hym to a diuines And to the highest learned of them all Wyll ¶ I haue Ministred communication Sumwhat contrary to verytie That by your wyttie declaration I might be brought out of ambyguitie For by reasonyng and argument Maters of contrâ—uersy and in doubt Are opened made playne and euydent And the veritie searched and boulted out Now to God humble thankes let vs rendre For his wonderful worke in mankynde Who our misery so greatly dyd tender That he sent his sonne his lost shepe to fynde Wysdome ¶ Say this before dyner or supper Glory honour and prayse to God the father For all his benefites geuen vnto vs Who by his spirite vouchsafe vs to gather Into the true fayth of his sonne Christ Iesus We beseche that one God in Trinitie To blesse his creatures for vs prepared Rendre we thankes with all humilitie For his kyndnesse to vs in all thynges declared He graunte vs his giftes so meanly to take That our bodyes may be in subiection Wherwith suche a lyuely sacrifice we may make As before him may be in acception Wyll ¶ He keepe our tongues from talke of vanitie From backbityng sclaunderyng or liyng At our table let there be suche humanitie As becometh his people bothe liuyng and diyng In Gods name now take your refection We haue ended our talke for this season After your meale I must make an obiection Concernyng the highest parre called Reason After dyner or supper say this Wisdome ¶ Approche my frynde I pray you come neare Go to nowe propugne your obiection And in the truth shewe you a direction Will. ¶ You sayed before that Wyll is than free Whan it is subiecte to reason and sapience This sentence to reason doth not agree There is no fredom where as is obedience Wisdom ¶ If Wyll hath any lybertie at all The most is reason and Wysdome to obay The freedom of Wyll of it selfe is but small Whan it refuseth reason to be his stay To haue lycence to do euyll is no lybertie But the most vyle bondage that euer was Now reason through grace hath this propertie To cause Wyll in the way of truth to passe He that doth synne is seruaunt vnto synne O what seruitude is lyke vnto this Non other aduauntage therby do they wynne But hell where Satan the Deuyll dampned is Contrary wyse there is no lybertie Lyke the subiection vnto vertue For that erecteth the soule into felycitie Yf vnto the ende we do it ensue Beholde here obedience is lybertye And lybertie yf I may it so name Is vyle bondage and vtter seruylitie Whiche bringeth many a man to shame Wyll ¶ You haue well satisfyed my mynde But where as you talked sumwhat of reason I wolde knowe what reason is in kynde Whom you saye Wyll must obay in season Wysdome Est autem ratio lumen quoddam atque animi Vis Qua curuum a recto secernimus atque ab honesto Turpe Oculusque solet mentis quandoque Vocari â–ª Reasson is a certayn lyght strength of the mind Wherby we discerne the croked from the right The fylthy from the honest therby we do fynde Therfore of the mynde it is named the light Lo here is this great Clearkes dyffinition Wherby what reason is you may learne Also reason is a perfecte erudition By the Whyche good from euyll we discerne Now reason as the phylosopher sayeth Euer more approcheth vnto the beest A directry of lyfe an handmayd of fayeth Whiche loueth vertue and doth vice detest Wyll ¶ Than I see yf Wyll foloweth reason It shall consent to all that is honest But sensualytie worketh moche treason And doth both reason and Wyll greatly molest But where as in your diffinicion aforesayd Of the mynde also you made mencion This terme mynde ought to be wayed Therin let vs also knowe your intencion Wysdome Mens igitur sol est animae sunt sidera sensus The mynde to the soule is a sunne bryght Whiche illumineth the same with her clere shine By the minde the soule seeth to go right And nedeth not out of the way to declyne As for the senses are as the dyuine starres Whiche giue a shyne but not to worke by Yea against reason they be obstacles and barres The motions of reason to stoppe or denie Senses alonely do the brute beastes beutyfie But reason and senses both do enorne mankinde Yet reason excelleth senses verely As a man a lyue excelleth a man dead and blind Reason is the more noble parte in dede For to heauenly thinges the minde it doth cary Senses holde man downe on the earth to feede And therby man from beastes do not much vary Wylle ¶ You put me in memory of a sentence Whiche the great clarke Lactantius doth write Wolde to God I had the wyt and science As he ment it the same purely to recyte That high artyficer God our parent dere Hath giuen to man sense reason and sapience That man to be made of him it might appere For God is sense reason Wisdom intelligence Of all the creatures that euer God did make In man he shewed most his omnipotencye Alas why dyd Adam his precept forsake For through synne he lost his innocencye Wysdom Wyll reason mynde be here declared If you wyll speake a worde or .ii. of sence Whiche God in man hathe also prepared I wyll no more trouble you but depart hence Wisdome Sum learned men call sense a powre passyue That is suffering obiectes variable Sensualytie is an appetite sensityue To the outwarde felyng very delectable But senses are deuyded of phylosophers Into senses externall and internall Auicenna Thomas and their folowers Speake also of senses Intellectuall Touching the senses externall ther be fyue That is seyng hearyng smellyng tasting feling Bothe men and beastes as many as be alyue Haue these fyue commonly without differyng These are as wyndowes to intelligence For by them all things enter into vnderstanding Of the whiche thinges reason and sapience Apoynt an ordre after their determining We myght minister hereof more mater Than to the auditors should be profitable Of many thinges to vtter muche clater Is losse of tyme and nothing laudable Wyll ¶ There is not a worde spoken this season But therof some fruite I haue gathered The knowledge I haue not farther to reason Whiche I trust is right well considered To God yf it wyll please you thankes to giue Whiche wyth hys benefytes doth vs feede We shall do but our deutye and I beleue That in all our actes the better we shal speede Wysdome ¶ Thankes to the o father our creator Thankes to the Iesus Christ the way veritie Thankes to the o spirite our consolator Thankes to the one blessed God in Trynitie Amen Finis Compiled by Ihon Fysher student in Oxforde ⧠Imprinted at London in Smithfyeld at the signe of the Mytre by Ihon Tisdale for William Pickeryng dwellyng at saynt Magnus corner In the yeare of our Lord God M. D.L.UIII The .v. daye of Marche