CErtainly my most dere and welbeloued Ioyce / I haue had of long tyme / a right great desyre to write vnto y^e: but hyderto I haue kept sy­lēce / more for shamefastnesse than neglygence: for I drad leest whan I prepared my selfe / I that am nat moche elder than thou / but in other thinges far vnder the / to exhorte the that arte a man of sin­guler prudence and erudition / shuld be seen and reputed to take in hande / a laboure that neded nat / as one wolde caste water in to the see: nat for that I haue any doubte / that thou (whiche arte so excedynge good and gentyll) woldest nat after the beste maner accepte myn exhortation / but leest I shuld seme to take vpon me the office of an immodest or an vnshamefaste persone / to presume to gyue the admonicion / where it were more conuenyent that I shulde be exhorted and monyshed of the. Therfore what shall I do? Shall I wryte or no? Shamefastenes forbyd­deth me to wryte: but than on the other syde / the loue that I beare to y^e Ioyce wyll nat suffre [Page] it. Shall my mynde than be euermore in doute and wauerynge? Loue on the tone parte coun­sayleth me to wryte / and shamefastnesse on the other syde moueth me to y^e contrary. And there is welnere nothynge more greuous or peynfull than a doutfull mynde. But at the laste / it that of ryghte oughte to ouercome shall haue place? Shamefastnes shal obey vnto loue. For I shuld rather esteme thy profytte / yea thy soule helth / than what men wyll saye by me. If that this myn enterprise shall be more applyed to pryde than wysedome / trewely myn offence shulde so moche the sooner be forgyuen / in as moche as it procedeth of loue. For vndouted / I had leauer wrytynge louyngly / do boldely / than wysely ke­pynge sylence / to do more wysely. Nor I doubte nat, but by this patron and aduocate (I meane our loue) I shalbe absolued and quited. For our loue is nat symple or of the common sorte / but very entier / trusty and sure. The causes of our twos frendshyp be ryght great and manyfolde: our bryngynge vp together of chyldren / y^e mar­uaylous agrement of our two myndes / one ma­ner of study in mooste noble scyences / the innu­merable pleasures that thou haste done for me / the singular beneuolēce and speciall good minde of the and of thyne borne alwaye towarde me. And also to these causes / is ioyned alyaunce of blode. What thynge canne be more gluynge or claspyng than this our frendeshyp / the whiche [Page] as it were with a double theyne / is bounde and knyt fast together / on the one syde with kynred / and on the other syde with fyxed charite or enty­erly louynge myndes. Therfore Ioyce I wolde thou shuldest thynke and surely trust that neuer mā loued hym selfe more hartily than I loue y^e. And seyng that I loue the as moche as my selfe or more / I muste nedes care as moche for thy soule helth as for myn owne. Yea and true loue constraynethe vs (I wote nat by what meane) to sorowe more greuously our frendes incōmo­dyte and hurte than our owne / and more to de­syre our frendes welfare than our owne. And brefely to speake / trewe loue causeth one man to loue an other more tenderlye than hym selfe. Whiche thynge in the I nede nat to mystruste / but on my parte I maye surely affyrme hit. This thynge hath so moche enbolded and enco­raged me / that I laied shamefastnes aparte for the tyme / and wrote vnto the this letter of exor­tation / by y^e whiche my mynde is to withdrawe the from the hurly burly / and busynesse of the worlde / and brynge the to a lyfe monastycke / that is to saye / solytary and quyete. This is no small thynge / nor a thynge that may soone be perswaded to the common people: but bycause thy lyfe is of suche perfytenes all redy / that ex­cepte the habite or clothyng of a lay man (wher­of I am very glad) the worlde welnere can chal­lenge no properte in the. I fullye truste that [Page] this myne exhortation shall take effecte / seinge that both the corage of thy passyng good minde and my oration leade the to the same thynge. Who wolde doubte that shyp to saile pleasantly / that hathe bothe wynde and wether at wyll: And all be hit that thy good and commendable lyfe stereth me to hope well / yet shall I neuer be out of feare and drede / vntyll suche tyme that thou clene forsake this vnhappy & britel worlde: and entre in to some Monastery / as in to an ha­uen moost sure. For truste me / as often as I re­uolue and consydre in my mynde the perils and dangers, amonge the whiche thou arte conuer­sante (Whervpon I thynke welnere alwaye) so ofte the tender loue that I beare to the warde / maketh me very heuy and sorowfull. For I am none other wyse affectioned or mynded towarde the / than a good kynde mother is to her onely and mooste dere chylde / the whiche is on the see saylynge by some daungerous place / where as shyppes often tymes go to wracke and peryshe / Whiche whan she seeth or heareth the vyolente hurle wynde ryse ruggedly alofte / she wayleth / she waxeth pale / and trēbleth for drede: In her slepe her mynde rounneth / and she dreameth of her sonne: and euer she dredeth the worste / and more than is true or nede to be feared. But wold to god y^t I neded nat to drede lesse perils thā be. But I knowe / I knowe good Ioice / what trou­bles be in the see of this worlde / in what danger [Page] the lyfe standeth / and what dyuers kyndes of deth there be: out of the whiche but late swym­myng naked on a lytel borde / vnneth I escaped. But perauenture thou being in a folyshe surete of thy selfe / and callynge me tymerous or fear­full / wylte byd me to be careles: but yet if thou so do, thou canst nat driue feare out of my mȳde: for thou arte so farre wyde to drawe me frome drede / that thou almost bryngest all my hope to naught. Trewely thou arte so moche the more in the danger of perils / in howe moche lesse that thou perceiuest them: or if thou dost vnderstāde and perceyue them / and wylte nat beware and eschewe them / what thynge can be more mys­chiefull or more madde than suche a confydence. I praye the tell me / who is more foolysshe than that shipman / the whiche amōge the spuminge or fomynge rockes / the furious syrtes / the rage­yng goulfes of the see / in a great and hydous tē ­peste / and therto his shyppe feeble and weake / doth feare no maner perill / but lyenge vp ryght by the helme he syngeth / yea / and forbyddeth those that sayle with hym vnder his tuition / to be afrayde or carefull? What man wyll nat ab­horre the foly and madnes of suche a felowe / and drede to scape safely? Nor I good Ioyce / shall neuer be rydde of care so longe as thou foolehar­dely doste sayle forth in this moste vnquyete see of the worlde. Thou wylte perauenture saye / this is a foolysshe comparison: Howe dothe the [Page] worlde and the see agree / seynge that nothynge is more blādyshyng or faunyng thā the worlde / and nothynge is more horryble than the see? Yea but I knowe no feter comparison / if thou consydre hit well. Thynkest thou that the yll melodye and swete honygalle tunes of the Sy­rens / the whiche brynge the passagers forby fyrst in a slombre / and after drowne them: dothe nat well expresse the shrewde blandishynge / and lewde delites of this worlde? wolde to god thou coudest se what snares / what desceytes / & what nettes / they laye pryuyly to attrappe thy youth with. Loke therfore that thou flye from the bākes or see coostes where these Syrens be. For flyghte in this behalfe is the surest waye. Nor thou shuldest nat folehardely truste to sayle sure and safely that waye / where as thou seest kyng Dauyd / Solomon / and many other / and no­bler thā are to be spoken of here / wēt to wracke. And brefely to speke: no man scaped but he that fledde. Homer reherseth that Ulyxes / the whi­che representeth the persone of a perfecte wyse man / with greatte studye and dylygence coude scarsly scape the swete honygalle songe of these Syrens / & yet he stopped his eares with waxe / and boūde hym selfe to the shyppe maste. Than what hope haste thou to escape them? Seynge y^t so many haue cōspired together to distroy the / as wāton youth / ēticyng beautifulnesse / riches lycence / libertee / the dayly and nightly ditees of [Page] these (Helas) to swete monsters. Nor I thinke nat / but that these hie apperyng sharpe rockis / I meane the hyghnesse of secular dygnytees / are as moche to be dredde of the: amonge the whiche if thou be driuen by any coole of wynde / thou shalte thynke it goth with the ryght well / if swymmynge on a small bourde / the storme cast the on lande in some vnknowen place. What thynkeste thou by the vnsacyable deuowrynge Carybdes? the whiche / as good authours re­herse / whan a shyppe swyftely saylynge cometh within the daūger therof / is wont to resyst / and oftentymes to whyrle it about / and swalowe in the same shyppe. Is this an vnlykely fygure and comparyson vnto couetousnes? the whiche tourneth a mans mynde to vnsaciable desyre / and wyll nat suffre hym in quyete / vntyl it hath drowned hym in helle. And by the furious Syr­tes thou mayste vnderstande the insuperable mocion of angre / and the more the same offence is / the more copyous or abundaunt the matter therof is. Do nat the wyndes playnely expresse as well the pestilēt wordes of flaterers as of de­tractours and bacbyters? and though it forceth nat from whens these wyndes blowe / yet they are euer to be feared. For if thou be dryuen a­monge the craggy rough rockes / whether it be by wyndes of prosperite or aduersite / yet neuer the lesse thou shalte be dryuen vpon Syrtes. And what supposest thou by the terrible altera­tions [Page] and surgynges of the wawes / some tyme rysynge vp as hyghe as the sterres / and an one fallynge downe in to them selfe agayne. Howe cōueniently do they sygnify the mutabilite and varyablenesse of fortune? Wherwith a broken mynde is for y^e more ꝑt brought out of paciēce / for he that was nowe ryche and in hygh prospe­rite / can nat beare pacyently sodeyne calamyte. I ouer passe here the tempestes and stormes / I speake nat of the nyghtes errours / nor of the desceyuable planettes: Nor I reherse nat the manifolde / and diuers kyndes of monsters / the whiche are bredde and noryshed in the see / these thou shalte by thyne owne wysedome call vnto thy mynde / and more better interpretate what they meane. Nor thou shuldest nat truste the see whan hit semeth smothe and caulme / nor whan the clere glassy stormes be swaged and layde / nor whan the ayre is fayre and clere: for all this is done to thende that the sodain tempest might fynde the vnprouyded and a slepe. And therfore I doubte greatly / whether there be any thynge more contrary / more hurtfull / or more foe vnto vertue than prosperite. For as scrypture dothe witnes. Calamite & misfortune breaketh many a one: but good fortune and prosperite dissolueth or mollyfyeth many mo. Therfore be thou wyse and wel ware / and trust nat the smiling worlde: lest whan thy shyp is ron to wracke and broken (whiche god forbyd) I shuld be fayne to lamēt [Page] the with these verses of the poet.

SEest thou nat most gentyl Ioyce what great perils enuiron & compas the about on euery syde? To whom the very tran­quillyte or quyete hit selfe is dangerous? What trowest thou so to ouer come & withstande these peryls / that thou shalte on no parte take hurte or haue mishap / namely in thy youthe / whiche of his owne brayde without any other entyce­ment dothe enclyne to synne and yll disposition? But thou wylte saye thus. I hope to do well. Thou mayste hope & trust well / and I also hope well: but I feare me leest we bothe shall hope in vayne. Therfore I wolde thou shuldeste make this our hope to be some what more surer. But I lyghly coniecte / what thou wylte thinke and mutter / whan thou redest these my wordes. Be these thynges in so great sauetye. Shall rely­gious [Page] men onely be saued and all other perishe? No forsoth. For I deny nat / but there haue ben manye lyuynge in this worlde that be saued. Nor they that entre in to a monasterye of rely­gion / do nat forth with settyll them selfe so / that they maye safely lyue cleane without care. But yet natwithstandynge / there is as great dyffe­rence betwene these two maner of lyuynges / as is betwene hym that lieth at rode in the hauen / though he hath nat yet bowed his ankers: and hym that yet saylethe alofte in the mayne see. Or elles betwene hym that swymmethe in the water / and hym that iourneth by lande. He pe­risheth nat that remaineth in the worlde / but he is more nere vnto perill. Therfore good Ioyce / seynge that I wolde the so moche good / ye and perauenture desyre more thy welfare than thou dost thy selfe / loke that thou eschewe all peryls / and put thy selfe in sauegarde. For the wyse mā sayth: He that loueth perill shall peryshe therin. I pray y^e / what nede hast thou to be tossed with the ragynge wawes of water / whan thy way li­eth more sure and commodiously by lande? who (but he that is starke blynde / seeth nat / that it is farre more surer / more plesaunte / and more commodious to iourney through the plesaunte grene medowes without drede / than amōge so many images of deth to be turned & went with ꝑpetuall vexatiō & trouble? Is nat this a great blyndenes / that we delyte in our aduersyte / and [Page] as Uyrgyll saythe / to take pleasure to gyue our selfe to foolyshe and madde labour?

IT hath plesed me with this Uirgils ditee to allure the away from worldly troubles to our delectable lyfe. But I wotte nat with [Page] what iougglynges the lewde smilyng shewe of this worlde hathe bewytched the eyes of thy minde / & stayeth and stycketh fast to thy mynde as thoughe it were glewed. And forth with the same fayre paīted face of worlde thinges cometh to thy remembrāce / and with smylynge calleth the backe againe / whan thou art about to leaue them sayenge? what wylte thou do madde mā? Goest thou about to distroy both thy self & thyn? O cruell person / wylt thou forsake vs after this maner? Wylte thou dispise thy louynge felowes and frendis? Hast thou no pite on thy father and mother? In what case thynkest thou that she shalbe / the whiche hartely loueth the / and that for thy loue distroyeth her self / and that desireth the to her spouse and husbande? Aduise the well what thou wylte do? For this thy cendre youth and beautie are more conuenient for other thyn­ges. And thou arte to softe and delycate of Na­ture to take on the and perfourme an harde reli­gion. Ah wylt thou suffre y^e flower of thy youth so vnworthely to fade away? Wilte thou solitary alone styll waylynge spende awaye thy lustye youth? Thou shuldest leaue that to them that be aged / vnto whom nowe the lyfe is no longer swete. Thou arte a yonge man / what thynge els shuldest thou do but sporte and play? At leest wyse considre / what abundance of rychesse thou haste all redye / and moche more is comynge / if thou wylte tary and abyde it. Thou arte nowe [Page] right honorable / and yet thou shalt be higher in honour if thou slynke nat away from vs. These be the thynges that all men seke fore: and thou alone forsakest them: whā they be al redy sought out and gotte to thy hande. But wylte thou go thy way and neuer returne agayne to take frui­tion of these ioyes / rychesse / commodites / and profites? Yet at the lest I pray the tary a while / take a breth in the matter: for hastynes is cause of moche hurte and inconuenience. Haste thou harde these exhortations? Hast thou harde thē? These be the very voyces of the Syrens: but as thou louest thy helthe / loke that thou lysten nor gyue none heryng to them. Shewe thy selfe to be Ulyxes: They wyll bewytche thy mynde if thou harken to them: They be suche faire flaterers / that they wyl moue and perswade stony hartes: But thou oughtest to remembre / that they be deed voices and leade one to euerlasting damnation. But hyder to religion thou shuldest harken / hyther thou shuldest loke / hither thou shuldest enclyne thy mynde: endeuoyre thy selfe with all thy myght / imploy heron sharpely thy wytte / desceyue nat thy selfe / loke to the bottum of the matter / and thou shalte se / if thou be nat blynde / howe stynkyng / howe frustrate or voyde / ye and howe vnworthy for the these thynges be / that wyll nat suffre the to leaue them?

WHat thynge of so greatte a valure dothe this worlde promyse to the / that for the loue therof thou wylte put thy soule helth in aduēture / and absent thy selfe from our delecta­tions? What I say dothe hit promise the? Is it abundance of riches? For that is it that mortall folkes mooste specially desyre: But for a truthe there is nothynge more miserable / more vayne or disceyuable / more noyous or hurtefull than worldly goodes. The wordly goodes are y^e very maysters and ministers of all misgouernaunce and mischiefe. Nor holy scripture doth nat with out a cause call couetousnes the rote of all yuell. For therof spryngethe an vngratious affection vnto goodes / therof iniuries or wronges haue theyr begynnynge: therof groweth cedition or parte takynge: therof comethe stealynge / pyl­lynge / sacrylege / extorcyon / and robbynge. Rychesse engendre and brynge forthe inceste and aduoutry / Rychesse nourysheth and fostreth vp rauyshementes / madde loues / and superfluite. And finally what is it / that the cursed hunger & desire of golde doth nat constraine mortal folkes to do? Therfore thou mayste ꝑceiue that Horace was wyse / whiche callynge rychesse the matter and rote of all yuelles / commanded to cast them in to the see: and sayde: If it be a wycked dede / [Page] it repenteth me well. For there is so great fami­lyar societe and frendshyppe of thynges / that in the very names of vyce and rychesse / Vitia et di­uitie / semeth to be a certayne alyaunce and kyn­rede. What riche man canst thou rekē vnto me / that is nat infected with one of these two vyces / either with couetousnes (than whiche nothyng is more to be abhorred) if nature to the same be ouer moche enclyned: or elles with prodygalyte and wast / than whiche nothynge is more abho­minable / if he that is inclined thervnto be of be­nigne and gentyll nature? The couetous man is seruaunt and nat mayster vnto ryches: and the waster wyll nat longe be mayster therof. The one is possessed / and dothe nat possesse: and the other within a shorte whyle leaueth the pos­session of riches. Me semeth that the man called Eutrapelus / vnderstode those thynges verye goodly / y^e whiche as I haue lerned / was wonte to reuenge hym on his ennemye after this ma­ner and forme: nat with iniurious wordes / nor with poyson / nor with the sworde: but he wolde enryche his foe with precyous garmentes: for he supposed hit / the whiche is of trouthe / that shulde prouoke hym to desire it / and the hungry desyre of ryches shulde cause hym to forget ver­tue / and dryue hym to all fylthynes and diswor­shyp. But admit that none of all these thynges shall chaūce vnto the / and y^t thou shuldest haue suche happe as no man coude haue: Yet I pray [Page] the what goodlines haue these precious weygh­tes: the whiche be gethered and gotte by great grefe / and kepte with ouer great thoughte and care: In heapynge them to gether is labour in­tollerable / and in kepynge them is ouer moche care and drede: and the forgoyng or losse of them is a miserable vexation and turment. Therfore a riche man hath no sportynge tyme: for either without reste or slepe he watchethe his goodes that he hathe gotte / or elles he gapethe to gette more / or elles he soroweth for his losses: And as ofte as he dothe nothynge gayne / so ofte he we­neth that he dothe lose and hathe damage. And what if he haue & possesse mountayns of golde? Or what and his riches be greatter than mountaynes of golde? Than so moche the more he augmēteth his fardel and burden / and heapeth vp his cares: and throweth or tomblethe feare vpon feare / and grefe vpon grefe / and prouideth for hym selfe a charge or a busynes of a keper ful of all myserye and labour. Care doth folowe the encreasynge of money. And the desyre of the money growethe as the money dothe encrease. And the poorer that a mā is / y^e lesse he coueteth money. And fynally the very custody of greatte goodes or substāce / is a miserable or a wretched thynge. The man called Uulteius (of whome Horace speakethe) sayde / that his aduocate or attourney had done yll for hym / whan by his wyt and diligence / he caused hym from pouerte [Page] to come to great ryches: and he thoughte hym selfe to be made a wretche and nat a ryche man: and he prayed his attourney that he myghte be restored to his former lyfe or state / the whiche was pouerte. Trewely he is to be preysed / that waxeth wyse er hit be to late. But the couetous man saythe: Thoughe the care of these ryches be greuous and peynfull / money is swete: My labour and peyne dothe nat wery nor greue me / so that my ryches do encreace. But tell me whe­ther shall I call the, the moost foole or the moost wretche of al men? To whom nothyng can suf­fise / whiche bothe nyghte and daye syttest wat­chynge on thy ryches / eyther hydde and locked vp in thy yron chestes / or elles (to the ende thou woldest seme to be more wyse) doluen in y^e erthe: lyke as the serpent Hesperius watcheth the gol­den appulles. For what purpose thynkest thou these rychesse and money shulde be profytable? Or what preciousnes is in them? For of trouth they be nothynge elles but very pure brasse stri­ken in images and scryptures: the whiche can neyther expell or put away the cares and grefes that gnawe the about the stomake / nor they can nat auoyde or rydde the of syckenes or any incō ­modyte of thy bodye / and moche lesse of dethe. But thou wylte saye / that rychesse be good to withstande nede and pouerte. I promesse the thou arte disceiued / they wyl rather cause the to be euer nedy. For like as drinke doth nat quēche [Page] his thyrste that hath the dropsye / but maketh hym more thyrstye: so lyke wyse with the abun­daunce of goddes or rychesse / thy desyre to haue more dothe encreace: And who so euer seketh af­ter more / sheweth hym selfe to be nedye. Nowe adde vnto y^e trust that thou hast in thy goodes / the instabilite or vnassurednes of them, the whi­che thou by so longe space of tyme / with so great molestiousnes and labour / by right and wrōge / hast gethered to gether al about: if that fortune (as men say) tourne her whele / by and by they forsake and leaue the and go to some other. And than thou that wast euen nowe richer than Cre­sus that moost riche kynge / shalt sodaynly come more powrer than y^e begger Irus. This thyng is so clere and manifest / that we nede nat to spēd many wordes therin. Howe many mayste thou se before thyn eien that fal from a kinges riches to extreme pouerte and nedynes? But admytte that goodes or rychesse be sure and stable / and that they wyll neuer leaue the so longe as thou liuest, canst thou cary them hence away with y^e? Yea whan thou goest to thy graue / of all thy a­bundance and ryches / thou shalte scarsly haue a cours wyndynge shete: other men shall possesse all the residue. And if thou with thy abundante riches hast done any good vertuous dedes / they shall greatly auayle and be moche worthe vnto the / nor they wyll neuer leaue the. Therfore my swete Ioyce thou shuldest nat esteme so hyghly [Page] thy possessions / and al y^e golde that Tagus and Pactolus those riuers reuerse and turn in their redde sandes / that thou shuldest hurte or hindre thyne owne helthe: But thou shuldest rather / if hit delytethe the so greately to be ryche / harken what counsayle our lorde gyuethe the: Make thou thy treasure in heuen / where neyther can­ker nor mought can dystroy hit: and where the­ues can nat finde nor steale hit. Nor thynke nat that there is any plenty morenedy / thā to haue abundance of money and wante vertues. Nor nothynge is more vnwelthy than that luker or wynnynge that hurteth thy soule: Therfore vnto the / that arte both erudite and a christen mā / it is a foule and a shamefull thynge with great perill of thy soule helthe / to enclyne to that / the whiche the pagane phylosophers eyther for the loue of good lernynge / or for theyr good name & fame / dyd set at naught and lyghtly despice.

DO the swete lustes or entice­mentes of the fleshe witholde or re­teyne the? Surely they be ladyes that most swetely smyle on the / and that with theyr fucate or feined fair­nes disceiue al moost the holle worlde. But take [Page] or rubbe away the paintynge and colours: and beware that the craftyly paynted fayre skynne ouercome the nat. Beholde and loke well what these lewde lustes be in dede, and nat what they seme to be. Than shalt thou perceiue that there is nothynge more yll fauoured / nothynge more fouller, nor more beastlike. For there is nothyng that maketh a mā more lyke vnto a brute beest / than the moost fylthy luste of the fles she dothe: whiche thynge the more it smylethe or fawneth on one, the more it noyeth and hurteth. Lyke as the noble phylospher Plato moost aptly calleth it the bayte of al yuels. For as the bayte that is put vpon the hoke prouokethe or drawethe the small fysshe thervnto / and taketh them that re­ceyue it: euen so lyke wyse the poyson of carnall luste, couered with a lytel quantite of hony / doth prouoke or allure soules y^t be desyrous of a pray: & whan they be entyced she enfecteth them: and whan they be corrupted / she dystroyethe them without mercy. And brefely to speake take hede what the philosopher saythe / surely it is a pay­nyms sayenge / but it is worthy and may wel be sayde of a christen man: the whiche sentence the elder Cato sayth in Ciceros boke de Senectute / that he lerned at Tarēt of Pythagoras scholer called Acchita / he saythe: There is no greatter nor more deedly pestilence gyuen of Nature vn­to mankynde thā voluptuousnes / of the whiche volupte the feruente lustes are pronely and vn­brydeldlye [Page] kendled to fullfyll the desyre therof. Of this roote spryngeth treason & betrayeng of countreys: of this riseth turnyng vp set downe of the common welth: the same thynge causeth pryuey communications with our ennemyes. And fynallye there is no myschiefe / nor none so vengeable a dede / but that the lewde lust of vo­lupte dothe constrayne one to enterpryse or go in hande therwith. Adde also these commodites folowyng to them afore saide: Of voluptuousnes cometh indigēce or nedines / infamy or yl name / greuous & filthy diseases of the body / blyndenes of the mynde / despisynge of diuine power / and it is the very fountayne and begynnynge of all myserye: ye and fynally hit is the very cheyne / wherwith mankynde is drawen to euerlastyng peynes. O sower swetenes, the whiche is enuy­ronned or set about with so manifolde miseryes: many go before it / and very many go with hit / and many many, yea moost sharpe greuous mi­series come or folowe after it. I sayde a lytel be­fore that mankynde in volupte was lyke vnto brute beastis: but I say nowe that in this thing we behaue our selfe worse than beestis. For bea­stes take fruicyon of theyr pleasures (suche as they be) franke and frely without any expence / but o good lorde howe costly to mākynde is that shorte and foule smacke of y^e delycate throte and bealy. Thou seest what thynge it is, the whiche amonge bodyly pleasures is moost excellente / if [Page] any kynde of volupte maye be called excellente. Wherto shuld I now reherse vnto the / the other triflyng iapes or rather madnesses of y^e worlde? Some call thē yll ioyes: but me thynke I shuld nat misname them / if I cal them mad gaudes. Wherto shulde I reherse the deynty dyshes / the ingurgynges / the drinkynge and quaftyng one to an other / the nyghtly dronkennes / the ban­kettes / the daunces / the gambaudes / the disso­lute plaies / the knauishe and rebaude iestingis / and of the same sorte a thousande thynges mo? Do nat these thynges seme to y^e lyke the laugh­ynges of a frantycke man? For who wolde nat iuge that man to be cleane besyde hym selfe and madde / the whiche whan he is ledde to be han­ged or heeded / trembleth nothynge for drede of the instant execution / but amonge all the other that sorowe and bewayle his mysfortune / he is ioyfulle and gladde / ye and gothe towarde the place where he shall ende his lyfe dansynge and meryly scoffyng and iestynge? But those Ioyce of whom I spake now before / I iuge to be more madder than this felowe / in as moche as the dethe of the soule is more greuous / and more cruell than of the body. They passe forthe theyr lyfe dayes in gaudes and sportes / and sodaynly they go to helle. Go thou nowe / forsake and fall from thy maker to the ende that thy beestly and mortall flesshe may an houre or two folowe the luste therof and lyue damnably / and to the ende [Page] that thy fleshe may haue and enioy vnstedfaste ioyes / slee and mourther thy soule and prepare for thy selfe euerlastynge paynes and waylyn­ges. But parauenture thou louest the veneriall acte that is lawefull / and dost surely purpose to be maried. For a trouth I do nat cōdemne wed­locke / for I mynde hym that sayth / It is better to marye than to commytte fornication / but I wolde this shulde be as it were a place of refuge for vnconstante folkes that can nat lyue chaste. I haue no spyte at them that fledde the greatte towne of Segor and also the lyttell / to eschewe the fyer of Sodomites. I knowe and perceyue wel the strēgth of thy mynde. I alowe wedloke, but that is in thē that can nat lyue well / except they be maryed. But loke thou & consydre well what saint Hieronyme hath written of these maters: truely he hath written very moche therof. But this one thyng I wyll say vnto the / for the great familiarite that hath alway ben betwene vs. I admonysshe / ye and hartely praye the to take hede & beware how thou puttest thy necke in this haulter: in to the whiche if thou be ones entred / thou canst nat lightly gete out agayne. I do nat saye that wedloke is naught / but for a trouthe it is full of moche misery. And as sengle lyfe is moche better / so many and dyuers wayes it is more vnwelthy or vnlucky.

BUt parauēture the honorable prescriptiōs or titils of noblenes / & the splen­dent glory of renowne delyten thy mynde. Why shulde hit nat? For as he saythe / hit is a goodly thynge to be honorablye renowmed farre and wyde / and to reioyce and be gladde that a thou­sande eies beholde the whan thou speakeste. It is a pleasaunte thynge to the to be honorably soughte vpon and to haue many clyentes or su­tours to folowe after and go about the, and to be spoken of / of euery man / and to be saluted and greted as a great lorde or a maister. But I pray the tell me, what thynge dost thou suppose that these honours be / the whiche vnto the beynge a mortall creature mortall folkes gyue / some for flatterye / some for feare / and some in hope to wynne therby? The whiche worldly honors be as clene false as they be caduke and vanishyng. Be they nat false or vntrusty thynkest thou / the whiche indifferently chaunce as well vnto hym that is moost worst as vnto hym y^t is most best? Iuge and deme thou those onely to be good and very honours, the whiche flowe or growe out of honesty and vertue. Loke that thou enbrace and sticke vnto vertue / and thou shalte be honorable whether thou wylte or no. For as the shadowe [Page] foloweth styll after the body / and wyll nat leaue hit thoughe he flye / nor can nat be taken of one that recheth for it: so these actes and dedes that be done rightfully / shall without any sekynge of the / bringe y^e to honors / the whiche thou beinge worthy to haue canst nat auoide: & thou beinge vnworthy canst nat opteine them. Is there any thynge more slyppry or caduke thā worldly ho­nors? Truely me thinke y^t all worldly thynges vanishe away lyghtly and tary but a while. For what thyng canst thou name here that is conti­nually durable. And agayne nothynge is more vncertaine & flitting thā great & high dignites: and seyng that nothyng is got & opteyned with more grefe thā dignites / for one must a long sea­son tomble the stone with Sisipho agaynste the craggy moūtayne / & boldly do some thynge y^t is worthy of banyshynge / prysonement / orels han­gyng / y^t at the last he may be some what worhy / & some what exalted: Therfore I say as nothȳg is got more greuously / so nothynge is soner lost. Thou askest me why so. Mary bycause that of necessite greatte hatred or spyre foloweth hyghe dignitee / pryuey enuy clymbeth vp to y^e hyghest in degree: and the wyndes ouerblowe the hygh toppes of trees and towres. For enuy is wonte alway to accompany the noble and hygh enter­prises. Thou wylte say what than? Mary he that hath gotten the hatred of many men / must nedes of uery consequēce haue many ennemies / [Page] and be ofte in danger of his lyfe. Why so? Mary for whan many go aboute to haue that thynge / the whiche thou alone doste possesse and holde / and all the whyle thou doste prospere / there is no hope to opteyne it / hit must nedes be / that by some meane they wyll rydde the out of the way. Hit were a thynge of great difficulte / if that he / for whom so many snares be layde / shuld nat at the laste fall in to one or other of them. Therfore eyther thou must dye of poyson / orels on a dag­ger / or elles (whiche for the shulde be best of all) thou must saue thy selfe by exile. Or elles to the ende that thou mightest be most fortunate, thou wylte lyue in perpetuall anxiete and feare / that thou be nat suppressed & caste downe. No doute thou shalte leade an noble lyfe / but hit shall be very bytter and sower. Therfore thynke nat the contrary / but that Iuuenal spake nat this ditee that foloweth without great skele.

But to what entente do I with so many wor­des reherse those thynges? Trewely to the ende [Page] that thou my Ioyce shuldest vnderstande plain­lye / howe full of feare and drede / how full of ve­xation and trouble / and howe caduke and britle those thynges be / the whiche this worlde / all y^e whyle thou arte in prosperyte / sheweth to be of great and hyghe exellence. What aueyleth all this / whan most bytter dethe feirsly assayleth & enuadeth vs? Whan sodainly all the same yma­ges of nobylite / the whiche after the maner of dreames vanysshe awaye: whiche dreames to­geder with the slepe are gone and tary no lōger.

Where ben nowe the olde tyrauntes become? Where is the great Alexandre / whose couetous mynde / all the brode worlde coude nat somtyme suffyce? Where is the Persyan kynge Xerxes / with and of whose houge Nauy of shyppes / all the see was couered and redounded? Where is become Hanyball that was so ofte vyctorious: the whiche whan he lyued / brake the rough rockes and mountayns with vynegre? Where is nowe Paulus Aemilius? Where is Iulius Cesar? Where is Pompeius? Where are become all the other most noble princes: of the Grekes / of the Romayns / and of other natyons / whose names to reherse / shulde be bothe tedyous and tyme loste? What thyng els remayneth of all their maiesty and glorious actes / but onely the vayne and frustrate talkyng of folkes? ye / and for the whiche talkyng / they may thanke the fauoure of lerned men: for if lerned men had nat [Page] writtē their dedes / they shulde haue ben so clene forgotten / that vnneth any remēbrance of them wolde haue remayned. And yet what so euer it be that remayneth / perteyneth neither to them nor to vs. For vndouted / if that Alexandre the most noblest of all y^e kynges that we haue nowe rehersed / shulde retourne from Hell and beholde the worlde / and se how it burneth in ambitious desyre of worldly honours / I thynke verily he wolde laugh and deryde the vayne and folysshe study or feruent industry of the cōmon people / & he hauynge good experyence in those matters / wolde saye these wordes or suche lyke / as folo­weth: Whither doth the blynde errour of mor­tall creatures so violently drawe and leade thē? No man regardeth the perfyte good thynges / the whiche maye be to them very profytable in tyme to come / but thynges y^t be hurtfull / vaine and vncertayne / euery man with right great labour seketh & desyreth. Why do folke so leudly / so vnwisely / and so obstinatly enbusy them selfe to be exalted? Euery man may lerne / at the lest wyse by example of me / that all worldly digny­tees soone decay / and be most like vnto cloudes, the whiche ofte tymes in an hour space / are wōt to be very large and brode / and nothyng at all. I my selfe was somtyme the most puissant and mightest of all kynges and emperours / & was neuer ouercome / but was the hygest in honour of all men. I subdued and conquered kynges [Page] and natyons innumerable: and the worlde by me was conquered: I serched the sees: and at the last I attemted the elemēt: Truely I had ben fortunate & happy / if I myght haue made dethe also afrayde: But dethe that ouercometh all thynges / dyd ouercome me / yea / with a ly­tell feuer: There was neuer bubble blowē vpon the water more sooner flasshed nor smoke in the ayre more sodainly consumed and gone / than all that great brute of my famous dedes / vanys­shed and layde. Helas howe greatly / ye & howe sodaynly am I changed and tourned from that great Alexandre / to whose cōmaundemētes all the worlde somtyme fearfully obeyed? Nowe I am he that may be bothe despysed and hurt of a poore page / and can nat reuēge me. Somtyme the great worlde was lesse than my couetous mynde: but nowe I am thrust ī to a lytle vessell, and, vij. foote space suffyseth me. Dethe onely maketh a shewe and a profe of what valure mē ­nes bodyes be. Somtyme I was of great and hyghe estate and right goodly to beholde / ador­ned with fresshe purple apparayle and a bright shynyng deademe: and nowe I am most lothly to loke on. Here I lye / dry bare bones & asshes. What aueyleth me my noble blode and lynage? What aueyleth me my glistring golden tombe? What good do all these curyous buyldynges of steples vnto me / that neyther can se nor feele? But wolde to god my soule myght haue dyed w^t [Page] my body: and that after this bodylye dethe / a more sharper and a greuousser dethe shulde nat haue folowed. But Helas / the immortall soule is nowe constrayned to suffre payne for al ys yuel lyuynge of the bodye. O / howe happy be they that in theyr lyfe tyme maye vnderstande these thynges / the whiche we haue proued / but we perceyue those thynges nowe to late? They be wyse / they I say be wyse / the whiche be conten­ted with theyr fortune and state / and stryue to subdue and ouercome them selfe / and rather to rule themselfe well than to gouerne other: and rather to enbusy them selfe to gette and opteyne the celestiall & perpetuall kyngdome / than this erthly and vnstedfaste empyre. He is a myghty kyng / what soeuer he be y^t ruleth hym self well.

What thynge can be spoken more truely than this oration? and what is he that this so trewe and so piteful an oration / wolde nat feare & with drawe from the couetous desire of honours?

IUse but to many wordes / name­lye in a thynge more clerer than the daye lyght. For why / this is the course of thynges nowe a dayes / that whan the olde histories mē ­tion or reherse any thynges to be marueyled at / [Page] there is no man welnere, that wyll gyue credēte therto / whan he may se before his face more greuouser examples than he can rede of. But tou­chynge dethe (bycause I spake therof) I am wont specially to marueyle howe this shuld be / that seinge y^t nothynge is so moche in our sight / as dethe is / that nothynge is more farther out of our thought and remembrance. Ye and mor­tall folkes are deducted and drawen out of this vocabull or Worde Mors, that is to saye dethe: Wherfore we can no sooner be named Mortales, that is to say mortall folkes / but forthe with our owne eares gyue vs warnynge of dethe. What an oblyuyon or a forgetfulnes is this? Howe re­cheles are folkes myndes / yea maye I nat saye howe fonde and frantycke? Haue we no more re­membraunce? Haue we dronke so moche forget­fulnes of the ryuer Letheus / that we can nat beare those thynges in mynde / y^t whiche shewe them selfe and appere styll to vs on euery syde? Be we as hit were stones astonyed / that these thynges, the whiche we both se and here so often tymes / can nat moue nor stere vs? Can we se so moche as one of the olde worlde alyue? And also we se that cruell dethe sparethe or forbeareth no kynde of folkes in our tyme. Our fore fathers of olde tyme be deed & gone: And as Cicero sayth / They haue lyued / and without any difference we muste go the same way / and other that be to come shal folow after vs. And so all we in maner [Page] of a swyfte ryuer rolle in to the Occyan / that is to say we be all whyrled in to the pytte of dethe. And as Horace sayth / One night abideth for vs all: And ones we muste nedes trede the trace of dethe. The funerals of yonge and olde are very thycke myngled to geder. And cruel Proserpine forbereth no mā, Innumerable people of yong / olde, and myddel age, dye here and there / of our felowes / of our acquayntance / of our kynsfolke, frendes / father / mother / and chyldren: and we our selfe that muste nedes dye / be conuersante a mydmonges the hepes of them that dye: And al be it that we be borne vnder y^e same condicions that we must nedes dye / yet we feare nat dethe. Thou sayest / wherfore dost thou commande me to thynke on dethe / I am yet yonge and lustye / I am farre from whore heares / and farre from an olde wrynkeled forheed? They shulde lyue in thought and care for drede of dethe / that be olde and croked / and stoupyng to y^e erthe warde / that haue a lyght shakinge heed / hangynge chekes / small holowe eies / a continuall droppynge nose / a fewe tethe and rotten: the whiche whan they haue liued as longe as a crowe / than they reken theyr age vpon theyr fyngers. I am farre from all these thynges. Dothe nat my yonge blode / that courageth myne harte and spyrytes / my stronge armes and bygge sides / and al my body lusty and in good lykynge / bydde me to hope af­ter longe lyfe? But I pray the tell me / hath god [Page] promised to y^e either whore heares or wrinkyls? If thou se no man dye but olde folkes / than liue careles / and haue no mynde of dethe vntyll the tyme that thou haue whore heres & wrinkyls. But if that dethe do steale vpon folkes of euery age / if deth strangle them that be nat yet borne, nat sleyng them / but remouyng them from life: If dethe plucke the children away that sucke on their mothers breastis: If dethe snatche away laddes and gyrles: If dethe pulle away yonge men and maydēs: If dethe slee myghty strōge men: If dethe attrappe olde men: and fynally if deth spareth no person of no maner condition / age / strengthe / nor beautye / supposeste thou hit wyll forbeare the onely aboue all other? It is for certayne / that an olde man can nat lyue longe. And thou that arte a yonge man maist sone dye. And loke howe certayne and sure an olde man is to dye / euen so vncertayne and vnsure a yonge man is to lyue. There is no mā so olde but that he may liue one day lōger: Nor there is no man so yonge that can assure hym selfe to lyue frome morowe tyll nyght. And for a trouthe / if thou marke it well / thou shalte fynde that the moost parte that dye be yonge folkes. And al be it that whore age hath alwaye been scarse / yet was hit neuer more scarser / nor more dispised than hit is now a dayes. Howe many canst thou shewe me / that haue lyued (I say nat so longe as Cython / Nestor / Sibyl / or Mathusale) but an hundred [Page] yeres? yea howe many be there that lyue .lx. ye­res? Forsothe scarsly one amonge a thousande. And howe shorte a tyme is it? And yet thou seest howe fewe come therto: so fragyll or bryttyll / so vncertayne / and subiecte to so manyfolde chan­ces is the lyfe of man. Wylte thou good Ioyce haue of this thynge a clere and a commodious similitude or figure? Beholde how in the begyn­nynge of the yere thou seest a tree storysshe / and is so replenysshed or loden with flowers or blos­soms / that the trunke or body therof can nat be seen / and scarsly the leaues: the whiche tree se­meth to brynge forth more plentie of frute than the tree is able to beare. But yet of al this great nombre of blossoms very fewe proue: for some of them be corrupted & distroyed with wormes / some with spyders / and some with wynde and wether are beaten downe. And the frute that remayneth / whan the blossoms be gone / by lytell and lyttell waxe greatter. And than (I pray y^e) do they al hāge styl tyl they be rype? No truely. Many of them be worme eaten / some the wynd and wether beateth downe / some by great stor­mes are corrupted and rotted / and some other by other mischaunce are distroyed. In so moche that at y^e laste / where thou hopest to haue great abundance of frute / vnneth thou getherest thre or foure appulles: Nor mans lyfe dothe perishe with no lesse inconueniences. There be a thou­sande maner of syckenesses / a thousande chāces [Page] or occasions of deth, a thousande maner of mur­thers / and a thousande sortes of snares / that dethe layeth for vs: through the whiche mo dye than by auncientnes and tyme. And seynge thā that our life is subiecte to so many and great pe­rylles: beholde I pray the / howe wytlesse and braynesicke we be / that liue as though we shuld neuer dye? We be right careful for those thyngis that pertayne nothynge to vs: but that thynge that shulde instructe vs agaynste dethe / we care nat fore. What if one kynge that hathe mortall warre with an nother / knewe nat for certayne how nere his ennemie were / but hauyng know­lege and vnderstandyng by spyes / that he shuld lye in embushemēt nat farre of / & whan he sawe conuenient tyme / how he wolde rushe out vpon hym. Trowest thou that he in this case wolde mynde the buyldynge of bathes / or to prepare a bankette / or to wedde a wyfe? But that he wolde rather imagyn howe to augment his ar­mye / to cast a bulwarke / to make good watche / and to mynde his armour & wepens / and other thynges belongynge to warre / wherby he may defende hym from inuasyon / and also discomfite his ennemie? And for this wyl he care fore more diligētly / for as moche as he knoweth nat what tyme / nor on whiche syde the busshement wyll breake out vpon hym. But deth / our chiefe en­nemye / in euery place / and at all tymes of our age / hath layde a thousande maner of imbushe­mentes [Page] to attrappe and disceyue vs. And yet in the meane tyme a goddes name, we stande gau­rynge and daryng at ryches / we fede & to derely cherysshe our bodies / and seke for rule and may­ster shyppe. But and we wolde at all tymes con­sydre the vnstedfastnesse and waueryng of this disceitfull lyfe / and howe that dethe styll conti­nually hangethe ouer vs / we shulde dryue in to our owne eares / that that y^e prophet sayd vnto the sycke kynge / Dyspose thy house / for thou shalte dye: than incontinent all these thynges / whiche to our great hurte seme sauory & swete / wolde waxe bytter and sower / and those that we thynke ryght precious / wolde seme vyle and ly­tell worth: and those that we repute nobull and gay thynges / wold appere foule and vngoodly. So lyghtely one thoughte or inwarde remem­brance of dethe / persuadeth vs to set naught by all worldly thynges. O thou couetous man / to what ende or entent dost thou gether suche abundaunce of golde? Dethe is at thy backe redy to snatche all away. Why doste y^u prepare so many great fardelles for so shorte a iourney? Hast thou forgotte what happend to the foole that the gos­pell speaketh of? To whom / reioisynge that his barnes were full of corne / and promisynge hym selfe many greatte pleasures / hit was sayde: Thou fole, this same night thou shalt be slayn, and than who shall be mayster of thy goodes? O thou moost foolysshe or vnwyse felowe / why [Page] dost thou inclyne or sekest for so madde or vnsted­faste ioyes / ye with so greatte rebuke or blame? Lo / beholde deth is euen at hāde / redy to turne these so foule short and leude lustes of the body / in to euerlastyng paine and turment. And thou that sekest to beare a rule / to be in hygh auctori­te / and to raigne royally alofte / what an vngra­tious desyre stereth the therto? Loke, seest thou nat that deth is at thy dore / the whiche frō this hyghe astate wyll throwe the heedlynge to the groūde: as it were a hurle wynde / it wyll beare or carie away bothe the and all thyne? Wherfore Radulphus Agricola dydde nat onelye ryghte counnyngely / but also as verytably or trewlye endyte as foloweth.

FOr what thyng elles remayneth / at the extreme and most greuous poynte of our lyfe but onely vertue? Than the membres lan­guysshe / and the colour of the blode and the lyfe to gether vanyshe away / the visage dyeth with a deedly wanne colour / the eies that a lyttell be­fore were so quicke and lyuely of syght / are than abscured with perpetual darkenes: and fynally all the holle body cometh colde without any sen­syblenes: [Page] than the miserable soule / on whome as one destitute / lyeth all the weyght of the bu­synes, shalbe drawen to that inexorable place of iugemēt to make a counte and gyue a rekenyng howe and in what maner it hath mynystred all thynges. What I say shall than remayne of all thy worldly ryches / honours / and possessions / the whiche to gette to gether thou dyddest con­sume all thy lyfe dayes? On whom than wylte thou seke for succour and helpe? O myserable wretche / to whom wylt thou go? Whether wylt thou flee? To thy rychesse? Helas they can no­thynge helpe the / and thoughe they coude / yet are they than in other mens possession. Wylte thou go to thy voluptuous pleasures? These lyke as they be ioyned to the bodye / so they dye to gether with the body. Wylte thou flee to thy lusty and valyant yonge age? Ah euery mans olde age is deeth to his youthe. Wylte thou flee to thy comely shappe and beautye / the whiche very late made the proude / and entyced euerye bodye to loue the? This thynge also lyke as a rose nypte or plucte from the stalke fadeth / so to gether by dethe it wythereth all away. Wythe­rethe away quod I / nay I may saye hit fadeth away in to a grysely vglynes. For neuer none loued so well the forme and shappe of a lyuynge creature, as he abhorreth y^e cors or carkis of one that is deed. Wylt thou ronne to thy olde glory? This thȳge also lyke as I haue sayd vanysheh [Page] away vtterly whā thou dyest. Finally to whom wylte thou cal and crye for helpe. Wylte thou go to the felowshyp of thy frendes? Helas some of them / as soone as fortune leaueth the / they go theyr way / lyke as swalowes do whan sommer is goone: and the other / if any remayne styl thy frendes / can nat come to helpe the. And what can it auayle or helpe the / if thy myserable fren­des wayle and knocke on theyr breastes / if they scratche theyr visages / if they wepynge at thy funerall wolde shedde all theyr blode turned into tearis, or if for thy sake they wolde rounne mad, or slee them selfe to beare the companye? They may so hurte them selfe / but they can nat dely­uer the. Be wyse also and consyder thy state and condition betymes / prepare and haue in a redi­nes those thynges / with whiche thou beinge fortified / thou mayste carelesse or without drede a­byde the laste day. Thoughe ryches / pleasure / and noblenes were both certayne and ꝓfitable / whiche thynge is farre contrarie / yet vndouted to one that dyeth they are a heuy burden. But than vertue begynneth to be profytable. And surely if these worldly thynges wolde neuer leue vs / yet muste we nedes forgo them: but vertue neuer forsaketh our cōpany, nor to helpe vs.

[Page]THou clerely ꝑceiuest good Ioyce / howe false or disceiuable / howe flittyng / and howe pestilente the goodes of this worlde be (if they of right may be called goodes) nowe contrarye wyse / I wyll declare to the in fewe wordes / the ylles that come of them. Parauē ­ture in tyme past it was no wonder / though we were plucked and drawen with peine out of this worlde / whan it flouryshed as it were in youth: but nowe excepte we disceyue our selfe / in what thynge may the worlde disceyue vs? What euer and as many slaughters / murthers, ruins / and distructions / that chaūced or fell on mankynde in tyme past / some at one tyme and some at a nother / they assayle and enuade vs in our dayes all on a heape at ones / as warres / derthe / scar­syte / penury, barrennesse / and many a strange sickenes? Yea what yuell or mischiefe is it / that we haue nat seen ī our daies? I am nowe .xxiiii. yeres olde / and in al this season the warre neuer stynted. Hit wolde seme that Sylla were come agayne with his partiall parte takyng / or cedi­tion. And whiche so euer of the parties dothe ouercome wel I wotte the countrey is subdued / and gyltlesse dothe suffre great affliction. What miserable examples of penurie & famyne haue we seen? in so moche that many haue liued with beastes foode / and many haue died for very hunger. And as the worlde gothe nowe / a man had nede to haue the riches of kyng Cresus / whiche [Page] yet for all that / he shal with great sparynge and nigardeshyp scantly finde his house holde. And farther: I put the case that thou thy selfe doste lyue welchyly: yet euery thynge is so ful of calamite / that to here the lamentations / and to se the miseries wherin other creatures are wret­chedlye wrappedde / shall make the myserable. More ouer / the sedes of all myschyefes are so sprouted out / that nowe in our dayes we passe and farre excede y^e iron age / wherof men sange a thousande yeres ago.

[Page]What wylte thou do in y^e worlde / if thou canst nat nor hast nat the cast to fors were thy self / nor to ymagin fraude and gyle / nor to disceyue thy neighboure / nor to steale and bribe? But thou say it / what haue I to do with these worldly maners and yuell customes? All my care is onely to lyue trewly and rightously. If all thy care be to lyue rightously / loke than that thou gete the lightlye out of this worlde / for the worlde & vertue wyll in no wyse agree to gether. Thou myghtest say that I lyed / if he that is the very frende of vertue dyd nat say / that all the worlde is sette on wyckednesse. Nor thou shuldest nat saye smyling to thy selfe: What so euer other do parteyneth nothyng to me: I care but for myn owne selfe. Truely swete Ioyce / thou art clene wyde and out of the waye: for it skylleth great­lye with whom thou doest leade thy lyfe / for the diseses of the soule spraule abrode or infect none otherwyse / than the cōtagious maladies of the body do. There is nothyng more perylous thā yuell company. Admytte it be so / that thou lo­uest vertue aboue all thynges: and wylte accō ­pany the with an vngratious caytife: How lōge shall it be or thou mayest reduce hym to thy ma­ners? Yea / he shall rather (as we be gyuen and enclyned naturally to yll) corrupte the with his venome / and enfect the with his scabbed cursed­nesse / and make the lyke hym in condycion / and at the laste / the cōmon prouerbe shalbe verifyed [Page] on you twayne / that is / Byrdes of one coloure flye togeder. But thou sayest / who shall driue or compell me to leade my lyfe with an vngrati­ous and a myscheuous felowe? Dost thou aske that question? I tell the thyne age and nedefull busynesse: & farthermore that vngentyll shame fastnesse: but yet of trouthe / it is most parte in men of gentyll mynde and corage: And lastly / the vnworthy condycions of thy felowes. If y^u be requyred to go make good chere / or to do or play some other leude pranke / it boteth or auey leth the nat to excuse the by some busynesse / or els that thou arte acrased / for though y^u swere it on a boke / thou shalte nat be beleued: & eyther they wyll note the for a nygarde or els for a slo­uen. What wylt thou do? Parauenture bycause thou woldest nat be so noted / thou wylte folowe theyr mynde and entente. Whan ye come to the tauerne or brothell house / there euery man hath his wenche. I tell it that is moost honest / I am ashamed to reherce theyr other fylthye dedes: and yet they be nat ashamed to comytte and do them many tymes and ofte. Than they begyn to stryue and crake who may drynke best: And he that can drynke mooste / is the meryest / the gayest / and the tolyest felowe. Than what is it that dronkennes wyll nat prouoke or cause to be done? Than Pythyas semethe moche fayrer. Than Chremes is farre more meryer. And it is bothe trewely and commonly sayde: that with­out [Page] good meates & drynkes / bodyly lust waxeth colde. And whan they be wery of drynkyng and bankettynge / than they fall to reuelynge and daunsynge. Than whose minde is so wel ordred so sadde / stable / and constant / that these wanton daunsynges / the swyngynge of the armes / the swete sowne of the instrumentes / and feminie syngynges / wolde nat corrupte / ouercome / and vtterly mollifie? Ye and farther y^e balades that they synge be suche / that they wolde kendell vp the corage of the olde and colde Laomedon / and Nestor. And whan the mynstrell dothe make a sygne to stynte / than if thou do nat kysse her / that thou leadyng by the hande dyddest daunce with, thou shalte be taken for a rustical or an vp­landyshe vyllayne without any good maners or nurture. Of the other sportes and playes / the whiche are more shamefull than these / and in­uented onely for bodylye luste and wantonnes / I wyll nat speake. Wolde to god they wolde no more vse them. If thou shuldest refuse to do any of these thynges / and woldest assaye to do some thynge of more sadues and prudence / they wyll esteme and counte the vnmanerly / cloubbysshe / frowarde / and cleane contrarye to all mennes myndes. And to the entent that thou woldest es­chewe that blemyshe or blame / O what fylthy actes dost thou committe. So thus while thou woldest flie and eschewe hatred, while thou arte ashamed to be reputed waywarde or frowarde / [Page] while thou arte ashamed in dede to seme or be a lyttell shamefast (as saynte Agustyne saythe) thou dost forgette al shame: And whā thou arte enfected with like scourfe and scabbe / than thou endeuourest thy selfe and goste about to enfecte other. But admytte thou doste nat accompany with no wicked or synfull caytyfe (whiche were a thynge of great meruayle) yet the poyson of the maladie or sickenes is wont nat onely with touchynge / that is so saye contactu, wherof the maladies or dyseases be called contagia, but also with beholding to crepe and enfecte one. For the holle and sounde eies with beholdyng or lokyng on sore eyes take hurte. And veryly I suppose / that the eies be the chiefe occasion of al lewde entycementes that prouoke and stere vs to fylthy synne. Therfore most gentyll Ioyce as thou de­syrest thyn owne welthe / loke that thou flee and eschewe this scabbed and scuruy company: and drawe vnto them / by whose conuersation thou mayst amende thy lyfe.

ALl be hit that I suppose that I haue spoken of the foresayd thinges suf­ficiently, yet to the entent that thou shuldest nat onely with a good wyll but also ioyfully skyppe from the worlde and ronne to religion / that is to [Page] say / nat so moche hatynge or agreued with the yls of y^e worlde / as desyrous of our delicious ple­sures, me thynke it were nat inconuenient to re­herse nowe in fewe wordes / the commodites of our lyfe, whiche thynge to do, it behoueth me to be brefe, both bycause I haue spent moche tyme labour / and paper, in straytly dyscussyng of the yuels and calamites of this worlde, and yet the greatnes therof requireth moche more thā hath ben spoken (for in maner no wordes or tyme of communication to discusse it / coude suffise) and eke bycause me thoughte thou beganst to waxe wery of my babblynge, and also bycause those thyngis are more easily perceiued thā declared. Therfore I wolde rather y^t thou shuldeste lerne them by experience than by my declarynge, and rather to serche them out thy self thā to be ꝑswaded. Nowe swete Ioyce withdrawe the lyght­ly frō the troublous busynes of this worlde and come to vs. And than at last thou shalt perceiue and se howe farre the false and disceyuable pros­perite of the worlde doth differ frō very felicyte, and howe farre our labours and trauayles do passe and excel thy delites. I say thou shalte vn­derstande and perceyue it / lyke as one were wa­ked out of his slepe, the whiche all the while he slepeth / supposynge that the imaginations and phantasies / that appere to hym in his slepe / be true / he reioyceth / he dredeth / he exhalteth hym selfe / and is moucd with a thousand affections. [Page] But as soone as the slepe is goone / he than per­ceyueth / that he was deluded and mocked with imaginations / yea and he hym selfe laugheth at his dremes: So lyke wise / whan thou shalte clerely ꝑceyue and vnderstāde the felicite of our institution or lyfe. O howe ofte than / whan the dreames of thy former lyfe come to thy remem­brance / and beinge awaked out of that worldly slombre / wylte thou saye? A good lorde / was I euer so farre besyde my selfe / that any of these trifyls delyted me? Haue suche phantasyes in tymes passed of false and vayne goodes so rauy­shed my mynde & wytte / that no desyre of thyn­ges that be good in dede / coude entre in to me? Therfore nowe good Ioice / if thou be a slepe / a­wake / excepte thou haddest leauer be happy in dreamynge than happy in dede. If thou nappe a littell / open thyn eies and shake hit of / lest the depe slepe steale vpon the. But in case that thou be awaked / as I suppose thou art / than lest the example of slepers / orels the violence of slepe ꝑ­swade the therto: hye the as faste as thou canst out of this lande of Babylon / full of dreames & shadowes: and get y^e apase to our Hierusalem. Why lokest thou behynde the? Why staggerest? Why dost thou staye or stande any whyle? Hit is alwaye hurtfull / as Lucan sayth, to differre or prolonge these thynges forthe / that be redy pre­pared. Go to / breake of all delayes: for it is nat a lyght or a triflynge busynesse / that thou art in [Page] hande with / the matter concerneth or toucheth thy soule: the whiche is so worthy and so noble a thynge / y^t for the welthe therof thou oughtest nat only to leaue and forsake those thingis / that thou louest mooste derely / but also wyllyngly to take on the and suffre moost harde and greuous peyne and trauayle. If an excellente and a per­fecte counnynge phisytion wolde say to one that were sicke and vnlyke to escape dethe: Suffre a lytell while / and I wyll restore the to thy helthe agayne: Tell me what rough handlyng / peyn­full touchynge / greuous throwes / wold he with ryghte good wyll endure? He wolde suffre his lymmes to be torren and haled with boystous iron instrumentes / to be launced / cutte / burned / and a thousande other wayes paynefullye han­dled / yea he wolde suffre some peynes / that be more greuous than the very dethe / to thende to escape dethe / and a lyttell whyle prolonge his wretched lyfe. O good lorde / shulde any thynge seme greuoꝰ to y^e to suffre / that y^u myghtest ther­by eschewe the dethe of thy soule / yea deth euer­lastynge? If the chaunce stoode so / that thou must nedes those one of these two conditions / ei­ther to suffre thy body to be cleane extincted, and vtterly distroyed / y^t thy soule myghte lyue euer­lastyngly: orels by dethe of thy soule to opteine lyfe of thy body: I beleue thou woldest nat take longe aduisement / except thou were more mad­der thā any franticke mā / but that thou woldest [Page] quickely chose rather the perpetuall lyfe of the soule / than the very shorte lyfe of the body. And therfore tell me good Ioyce / wylt thou nat lyue both blessedly and perpetually? Hit were great maruayle but thou woldest / for what is he that wolde nat? But thou wylt say: By what meane may I opteyne to lyue alwaye blessedly? Go to / I pray the, beholde what a great thyng with a lyttell labour thou mayst come by. To opteyne this thynge / thou nedest nat to flye in the ayre with Dedalus wynges / nor to trauayle & passe the daungerous sees / nor to take on hande the peynefull labours of Hercules / nor to leape in to the fyre / nor no man wyll cōstrayne the / that for this thynge thou shuldest hale & teare thy lym­mes / nor slee thy selfe. Fynally / who wolde saye that the martyrs in olde tyme were peuishe / the whiche on hope and truste of this felicite / wolde nat denye or refuse any maner peynes or cruell turmētes / no, nat the very dethe to be harde or greuous to them? Take hede I pray the / howe abundantly our benigne and lyberall lorde hath bestowed his gyftes vpon vs / and againe, how easye and lyght his commaundementes be. He promised euerlastinge felicite to them that haue deserued deth. What thing can be more benigne or bountifull than this promise? ye and what is more sure and certeyne? But nowe / what dothe he commaunde the to do? Forsothe nothynge / but y^t in the meane tyme thou shuldest dyligētly [Page] prepare and make thy selfe redye to receyue so great and so excellent a gyfte? Thou wylt aske me / by what way this shulde be done? No man can receiue the very felicite / so long as he is pos­sessed and holden in captyuyte and thraldome of false felycite. Wylte thou lyue euerlastyngely? Than loke that thou lyue well. Wylt thou entre in to paradise? Than loke that thou forsake this worlde: for as it is most mischiefull / so it is most troublous and peynefull. Dost thou desyre and couet to be ioyned to god? Than se that thou en­deuoir the to be out of the dyuels snares. Doste thou loue trewe rychesse? Than throwe awaye from the / the false. If thou haue delyte in very honours: leaue thy sekynge for the false. What more? Doest thou loue very trewe beatytude? Loke than y^t thou forsake these swete trauailes / yea y^e laborous swetenes of this worlde. What thynge is more softer or esyer than these precep­tes? Who so euer kepethe them / shall haue very felicite for his rewarde: and the kepyng of god­des commaundementes is the begynnynge of felycytye. As thoughe he commaunded thus: Leaue to be wretched / that ye may be welthye: Leaue to be seruātis, that ye may enioy liberte. O, what a great dyfference is betwene goddes cōmandementes and the dyuels? O / howe con­traryly they stryue and contende to gether? For after the diuel hath caught vs on his hoke with a lyttell bayte of false delectation? O good lorde, [Page] into what horrour or vglynes / into what filthy­nes / and into what myseries dothe he caste vs? And at length / whan he hath deluded and moc­ked vs his fyl / he strāgleth vs. God by very litel and short solicitudes and grefes (the whiche we suffre nat through any faute of y^e thynges / but throughe our owne faute) leadethe vs to ioy in­credible / and at length he gyueth vs the blisse of heuen. The dyuels promotion is disceytefull / his warfare is sower / and his wages (whiche as the scripture dothe witnes is deth) is mooste sower of all. Goddis obligation is faithfull and sure: the longer that his warre endurethe / the sweter and more plesant hit is: and his wagis / whiche is blessed immortalite / is moost swetest of all. The lyfe of them that folowe the diuell is wretched / the deth more wretched & after dethe a lyfe mooste wretched of all. But to goddis ser­uantes the life is welthy / the deth more welthy / and after deth foloweth a lyfe moste welthy and blessed of all. Who wolde nat mooste gladly / yea and frely make warre vnder so easye & so liberall a capitayne / whiche puttethe vs to so swete la­bours? If thou gyue but lyttell credence to my wordes / harkē to hym exhortynge vs / y^t can nat disceyue (for what leasynge can trouthe make?) Take my yocke vpon you / and ye shal fynde rest for your soules: for my yocke is swete / and my burthen lyghte. What ioye troweste thou / after theyr victorie / shall they haue / triumphynge in [Page] heuen euerlastyngly / with mooste highe renow­med pompe / to whom the labour of the warfare here is so delectable? Howe pleasante shall that happye libertie be / if his yocke be swete to vs? I wote well there be some that wyll take for a wōder / these wordes that I haue saide: but vn­doubted they be of that same sorte / whiche most lyke vnto brute beastis / deme all felicite to reste and be in the taste of the mouthe and pleasure of the bealy. Hit is harde to make suche to beleue / that the labours / wher vpō the lyfe of religious persons is employed / be neyther greuous / nor heuy or peynfull / but rather pleasant & iocunde. But seinge suche felowes wyll nat beleue y^e very trouthe / I wolde they shulde serche and make a profe therof them selfe. And on peyne of my lyfe they shall nat be disceyued / so that they do theyr beste / and assaye hit as they ought to do. What if hit irke or greue them to make a profe? Than truelye I wolde that they shulde gyue credence to those that haue proued religion. For sothe I dare affyrme it with an othe / that euery thynge in religion is full of pleasure. Nothinge is more plentiful or abundant thā our pouerte / nothȳge is more restfull than our labour or trauayle / our abstinence and fastynge is ryght suffisant / our narowe or strayte rowme / is to vs large / wyde / and brode / our watchyng is to vs more gladder than any slepe. But & I shulde swere this vpon a boke: yet some wolde nat beleue me: Yea they [Page] wolde deme me / ioyning those so contrary thyn­ges to gether / no wyser than he that wolde go about to proue that the darkenesse is lyght / and the light darkenes / that the fire is colde and the water hotte. But what shulde one saye to these beastlye creatures / the whiche haue no reason / nor they vnderstande no higher than the corpo­rall sensis? Well / yet I wyll nat leaue them so: They muste be allured and drawen with some argumēt / very familiar and playne to their vn­derstandynge / that by those thynges / the whi­che vnto them be moost notable / they maye con­iecte what these thynges be / of the whiche they haue but small knowlege. Let vs trayne them in to the countrey / or els if that be greuous vnto them / let vs go nere home to the hauen / and call to vs one of the mariners / whiche we wyll / and say: Come hither good felowe / is nat the labour and toylynge that thou haste a shypbourde very greuous & peynefull to the? No sayth he / it is a pleasure. Howe shulde that be? For in this ma­ner gettyng of thy lyuȳge / semeth to be mo and greatter incōmodites than in any other. Hit is treuthe saythe he. But than on the tother syde / there be many thynges that greately encorage and comforte me. Fyrst / what thyng is it / that swete luker or wynnynge dothe nat make plea­saunte? Nothynge is more plentifull or rycher than the see. There be many alyue at this day / whiche were very poore / & nowe by trauaylyng [Page] and turmoylynge on the see onely / they be exce­dynglye riche. Who can tell whether hit shall be my chaunce lyke wyse or no? Farther, the custo­mance and continuall vse therof / easeth a great parte of my grefe: the whiche cōtinuall custome in thynges is without doute of so great effecte / that nothynge is so greuous or paynfull to be done / but that the ofte doynge therof maketh it eyther pleasante / or at the leste lyght and easye, And lastly / there be certayne thynges / the whi­che do mitigate and make vs to forget the peyne of our labour and toylynge / as syngynge / tal­kynge / propre sportis / and a thousande other suche lyke thinges. Ye haue harde this I thȳke playnelye inoughe. Nowe if we shulde go from warkehouse to warkhouse / I trowe euery man wolde answere and saye to vs the same / or very lyke wordes. What foloweth thā? Truely if vn­certaine hope for so small and vile luker / maketh so greuous labour and toylyng pleasant to these labourers & workemen: Why shulde nat y^e most certayne and sure abydynge for euerlasting feli­cite, cause and worke the same in vs? If conty­nuall vse and customance be of so greate effecte / and may do so moche amonge them / for what cause shulde hit nat do lyke wyse in religion? If they haue wayes / with the whiche they alleui­ate and ease theyr incommodites and grefes: no doubte we haue many mo and better to miti­gate our tribulations and peynes.

BRefely to speke / these .iii. thynges be in religion / Libertie / Tranquillite & pleasure. Of Libertie (wherof I wyll fyrste en­treate) all we be moost desyrous / euery man ab­orreth seruage and thraldome: in so moche that many haue kilde them selfe for very hate therof, whiche estemed lybertye better than lyfe / and deth better thā seruage. wherfore if folkes delite so moche in libertie / that to bye false libertie cost them so derelye / howe gladly oughte they to en­brace and desyre the institution of our lyfe / as it wherin is perfecte and trewe libertie? But here some ignorant felowe wyll say to me: If libertie (after Ciceros diffinition) be to lyue as y^u wylte thy selfe / I can nat se howe you religious men shulde haue any libertie at al: for ye lyke byrdes shutte in a cage dare aduenture to do nothinge / neither to eate nor speke / to slepe nor wake / to go nor come / nor so moche as ones to yane / without the abotte or superiour cōmaunde you. I praye you do suche folkes lyue at theyr lybertie? No certaynely / no more than horses or asses be at theyr lybertie / the whiche are brydled and pryc­ked with the spurtes / to go here & there / where so euer the ryder wyll haue them. But all this argumēt is sone dasshed. For we wyl nothynge [Page] but that that is leful: and therfore it is lefull for vs to do what so euer we wyll. But touchynge our lybertye / I wyll speake more afterwarde. Nowe gyue me leaue to question agayne with the a lyttell. Tell me / arte thou nat ashamed, to say thou arte at thy lybertie in the worlde / whā thou hast mo maysters than thou canst nombre in a daye? Fyrste / thou must attende and apply thy mynde about the worldly busynesses / to the whiche who so euer ones gyueth hym selfe / they are wonte to wrappe and with suche cheynes to lynke hym in / that whither or whiche way so e­uer they drawe / he muste nedes folowe after. What & thou haue a wyfe / yea thou must nedes be hadde / for wedlocke is a thynge reciprocate? Take hede / there be an other peyre of fetters. For truly by that / there groweth to the an other greuous seruage / and out of hit thou canste nat lyghtly gette. Farther, what & thou be a wicked and a synfull lyuer? O good lorde / in to what a bondage and thraldome arte thou than ironne? Nowe loke howe many vices thou haste / and to so many maysters thou muste obey / yea suche maisters as are most terrible / abominable / and cruell. For who wolde deme that mā to be at his libertie / the whiche can nothyng disobey his bo­dily luste / but what so euer it cōmaundeth / yea thoughe it be moost fylthy / as hit is alway / and most harde or peinefull / as it is ofte / yet he must nedes obey? Thyne eyes desyre slepe / and fayne [Page] thou woldest slepe: but to the entente that thou shuldest nat / thy ryghte stately maistres fleshly luste lettethe the / she byddeth the to raue in the nyght / and to ronne aboute / to visette thy para­mour / and in a foule stynkynge brothell howse amonge hoores and drabbes to passe forthe the nyghte without slepe. And there thou muste be gladde to please a stynkynge harlotte: if she cō ­maunde the to do any thynge / thou muste do it: if she forbydde the to do any thynge / thou muste lyke wyse obey: if she bydde the go thy waye / thou must departe: if she bydde the come / thou must returne. Dost nat thinke this a thraldome or bondage moste shameful? What libertie hath a couetous man? he wolde fayne lyue at home / & so sluggardie byddeth hym. But may he do so cōtinually? wyl his maistres couetousnes suffre that? what saythe she? Lyueste thou thus in sleuthe? why sittyst thou styll? Seest nat what great wynnynge thou myghtest haue / if thou woldest passe y^e see with marchādise in to Frāce / Flanders / and other places? Come of / make the redy / thou must nedes take shyppyng. Lo / thou hast wynde at will. And thus to fullfyl thy mai­stres byddynge / thou trauaylest by see & lande: yea all the wynter longe / and hast no care for the tempestes / nor for thy wyfe / nor for thy children / no nor for thyn owne lyfe. Doste thou reken thy selfe this wyse to lyue at lybertie? And in reaso­nynge a lyke profe may be made of euery other [Page] vice: but bicause me thinke this talkynge wax­eth tedious to the / I wyll passe ouer and speake of other thynges: but fyrste I wyll shewe the in generall / that no man beynge wicked and sinfull can be at his libertie. Were thou neuer ashamed and sory for thy fylthy lyfe? Yes I beleue many a tyme. For who is so farre paste all grace / that neuer remēbreth howe he hath lyued? and whā he seeth howe he is defiled / either for feare of pu­nishement / or for the loue of vertue / he hath an entente or purpose to amende his lyfe. Thou sayst / it is so in very dede / and I stryue with my selfe other while to forgo my mooste wycked ma­ners: but whan I am about it, ye wolde nat be­leue with what force & violence custome in synne stoppeth me / yea and whether I wyll or no / hit driueth me to myn olde affections. Thou sayste well and truely. What than? Dost thou nat per­ceyue wretche in to what greatte captiuite thou arte brought? Dost nat nowe vnderstande, that thou arte seruaunt vnto vyces? For whan they perceyue that thou art about to leaue them, and to ronne away / they lay hādes vpon the / and as a servaunt fast fettred / they throwe the in to the backe house.Backe howse was a place in olde tyme where rennagate seruan­tes were sore punysshed. Go to now madde felowe, and bost to vs thy liberte that art servante to the worlde, to thy wyfe, to Fortune, to carnall lust, to coue­tousnes, to ambition, ye and to the dyuell, in so moche that thou mayst wel say with the maried mā in Terēce called Syrus (saue only y^t in hym [Page] hit is feyned / and thou mayste say it matter in dede) I desyre and wolde fayne know, how ma­ny maisters I haue. And truely, as our coun­trey man Hegius wryteth,

Wherto shulde I nowe remembre to the our lybertie or fredome? Doth it nat seme a great li­bertie to lyue out of fortunes dominion? if there be any fortune / and neither to drede her cruelty, nor to desyre her fauour / nor nothynge greued with her aduerse frowardnes / nor nothynge the more insolēt or stately for her luckynes. We dare as boldly despyse her as Democritus dydde / ye and in derisyon make a potte at her. She hathe no power ouer vs. We haue to gether w^t worldly ryches, throwen away from vs the desyre of the same ryches: yea we haue with god playde the vsurers. What & fortune slee vs? Yet we surely know / y^t no greuous thynge can chance vnto vs saue onely filthy synne. They be afrayd of deth, the whiche lyue yll and synfully. But certaynly good and vertuous people do nat onely lyue out of the drede of dethe / but also they desyre dethe / as the thynge that shulde frome hence deducte and leade them to a more welthy and blessed life. Farthermore we haue all to broken the iron yea the cheyne as harde as the adamante stone / of [Page] worldly busynes: And thus we beinge lyghted and delyuered of that moost greuous fardell or burthen / and lyftyng vp our myndes to heuen / what so euer is done beneth a lowe, we deme our selfe to haue nothynge to do therwith. Wherfore I pray the / what thynge cā be more free or more at lybertie? Farthermore we haue by the helpe of god / shoken of our neckes the moste harde or heuy yocke of terrible Pharao. We haue gyuen ouer and lefte to serue most shameful & reproued lordes / I meane vyces / but nat in suche wyse / that we shulde neuer at no tyme cōmitte sinne or offende / I wotte nat whether any mortall crea­ture maye do so in this lyfe or no. But as a vali­aunt warriour / that opteyneth great laude and preyse / and the name of a conquerour / entrethe boldly in to batayle / and manly feyghteth hāde to hande with his ennemy / and there receyueth many a greuous wounde / but yet he eyther ta­keth or sleeth his ennemie: And on y^e other side / he that is takē / though he haue neuer a woūde / no nat so moche as his skynne broken / yet he is iugged to be vanquished and ouer come / & must suffre hym selfe to be ledde awaye as a prysoner in to captiuite: So lyke wyse if it happen vs to slyde / for as I haue sayde / almoost no man can kepe hym selfe alway from synne: yet we be sure to ouercome / we be sure of our libertie, and we be in certaynte of our lyfe. What dothe hit sygnifie that they, the whiche beare them selfe manly in [Page] batayle are wonte to vncouer theyr breast is / to shewe the scarres of theyr woūdes? Or why re­turne they in to the cytie or lodgynges with the speares / dartes / and arowes styckynge styll in theyr bodies / like as they were by chance strykē and wounded in batayle? Certeynly to the ende y^t al folke shulde se and vnderstāde / that they re­ken it most hygh worship / in the defence of them selfe / and the welth of their countrey / to resceiue moost large and greuous woundes. Yea truely they wolde rather (wounded vnto dethe) be ca­ried in to theyr tentes or lodgynges with victo­rye / than holle and sounde (if they so coude) to come vnder the subiection of theyr ēnemie. Who so euer submitteth hym to vice and synne / he is in great thraldome and a very bonde man to an ennemye. But to what ennemye? To an enne­mye most fylthy / most cruell / and most mortall / the whiche wyl be more gladde and fayne of our dethe / than of his owne lyfe. What a shamefull thynge is hit for man / and what an vnworthye thynge to mans worthines / to endure or suffre / that the foule stynkȳge diuell shulde be his lorde and mayster / & lette naughte by hym / to whom he is bounde both for hym selfe and all that euer he hath? Specially sith to serue hym (I say al­myghty god) is most high libertie / yea there is no libertye but that. Wherfore if there be any / that beginneth to waxe wery of that seruile and bondly libertye, and wolde gladly come to this [Page] free and most liberall seruice: he must I say seke it in religion. For as I haue sayde / libertie is to serue god only / y^e whiche can be serued no where better thā in solitarie and places of religion: for there is no where els so moche libertie.

BUt what is he that coude worthi­ly descryue tranquyllyte or quyete? The vnrestfull rorynge of the worlde doth nat russhe in here amonge vs in religion. What thynge is there abrode in the worlde / that is nat full of bel­lynge / cryenge / hurlynge and burlynge / and busynesse? One wepeth / an other laugheth / he lamentethe / he stryueth / he greteth / he telleth newes / one calleth forwarde / an other cōmaun­deth to come backe / he is gone / he comethe / one cryeth and calleth out a loude / an other ronneth to and fro / yea whiche waye so euer thou loke / where so euer thou become / thou shalte finde no­thynge in quiete / but thou shalte fynde euerye thynge full of noyse and dynne / in suche wyse / that it shall seme to the that thou art all to tossed amonge the ragynge wawes of the see / whan it is most troublous. Whan shalt thou haue tyme amonge these thinges to sette thy mynde at rest and quiete? What is he / that in so varyable a [Page] state of thinges can stande constantly & lyue out of trouble? What thynge in this whyrle wynde may the deuine mynde of man eyther thynke or do / that is worthy & besemeth hym to do? Howe is it possyble that y^e soule / nowe made deffe with continuall and vnsatiable rorynge and yellyng / maye here her spouse knockynge at the gates of her breast / and his voyce speakynge to her? For a treuthe / Helyas perceyued nat that our lorde god was with hym / in the cite or towne / but in the moūtayne / nat in the court / but in the caue / nat in the whyrle wynde that all to brekethe the stones / nat in disturbance / no nor in the fyre / but in the whissinge of the thynne and lyghte ayre. If thou haddest tyme to ouer rede the holye hi­storyes / thou shuldest se and perceyue / that the greattest myracles of diuyne thynges were she­wed and done in solitarie places / and nat where great resorte and company were gethered. For where was that secrete and wonderous mistery of the burnynge boushe that flamed vp / and pe­ryshed nothynge / shewed to Moyses? Was it in the cities of Aegypt? No trewelye. (for than he was fledde thēce for drede of the tyran Pharao) but it was done in the hylle of god / after he had entred in to the great, large, and hygh wodde. Nor the celestiall foode Manna, was nat sente to them that dyd inhabite great & noble palaices / but vnto them that dwelled in the flouryshynge wyldernesse. Where was the diuine pompe and [Page] triumphe celebrate in gyuyng of the lawe / whā the celestial trumpettes gaue a terrible sownde, nowe and than thondryng and lightnynge with swyfte flame / flusshynge out of the darke and thycke cloudes? For a trouthe this was done v­pon the hylle toppe of Synai / all the common people beynge cōmanded to stande a syde. And it is lefte in writynge / that in olde tyme the pro­phettis chylderen / the whiche in tyme to come shulde be prophettis them selfe, wolde for hatred of the ryche edefices & sumptuous buyldynges / go dwell vpon the ryuer syde of Iordan. Iohn̄ beynge more than man / as he that was called the aungell of our lorde / I pray the where ledde he his heuenly and most pure lyfe? Where was he taughte the diuine secretes / that he doubted nat to poynt god with his fynger / that was in likenes of a man? Certaynly he dyd nat lerne it at home with his father / but in the wyldernes. And what meaneth it, that many tymes we se our lorde Iesus hym selfe / as thoughe he were wery of company / departe asyde into solitarye places? How often is it redde that he taughte in the mountaynes? And what myracles shewed he in desarte places / and vpon the see coost / both in healynge of syckenesses / and in correctynge of the vices bothe of body & soule / in expulsynge and castynge out of wycked spirites, and in fea­dynge of so great multitudes of people with so lyttell quantite of meate. What tyme he wolde [Page] faste, he cleane absented hym selfe / and was in desarte places out of the syght of all folkes. In a mountayne that mooste gratious visyon was shewed to his thre apostels. In the twylyght of that nyght, in the whiche Chryste suffred hym selfe to be taken / to the entent he wolde praye / he departed and went in to the orchardes. It is he the whiche also byddeth vs whan we woll pray, to hyde vs in the secrete partes of our chambre. And fynally / it was nat causelesse / but for great skele / that he was slayne with out the cytye: so that thou mayst lyghtly perceyue that he fledde busklyng busynes, that he hated the clamorous assystens of people / that he loued nat the crackelynge and dynne of the courtes, and that he de­lyted nat in the getheryng and frequence of peo­ple / but he ioyed to be alone / & loued very moche tranquillite. Wherto shulde I nowe reherce the examples of mā, the whiche be of lesse auctorite? Men say that Pythagoras was taughte many secrete thynges in the caue called Ideus. Plato demed his schole of phylosophye moche more cōmodious to be kept at Achadamie than with­in the cytye of Athens. The poetes them selfe feyned howe they had I wotte nat what clyues and darke woddis / where they wōned or abode, as ofte as the diuine furour toke them: wherby they sygnifie / that he that desyreth to endite or make any noble and goodly ditee / he must sepe­rate hym selfe from company. Farthermore to [Page] speake of the vulgar people / we se y^t golde smy­thes / peynters / and other artificers / in whose workemanshyppe is any thynge of singular in­dustrie and great connynge / whan they couet to make any thynge more exactly & with greatter diligēce / they get them to some place / where the noyse and cōmynge and goynge of folkes shall nat trouble them in their workes. By al whiche thynges / hie is playne and euident to perceyue / that moche company annoyeth & greueth hym ryght moche: the whiche entendeth or gothe a­boute to do any thynge of great weygth and dif­ficultie. And quiete is ryght oportune and very necessarye for hym that wyll enterprise or go in hande with hyghe and weightye matters. And what is a more higher and a more serious busy­nes than it that concerneth thy soule helthe, and blessed liuynge? Therfore while thou abydest in the worlde / thou canst nat cōmodiously atcheue this busynesse. For in what place of the worlde shalt thou fynde quiete? But cōtrary wyse good Ioyce / here in religion / all thynges be whishte or in silēce / within / without / and euery where is perfecte peace. The pleasant recesse or solytary­nes of the place / is the cause of sylence: & peace procedeth or comethe of a verye good and a close mynde: And so moche the tone nedeth y^e tothers helpe, that if thou take away the tone, thou wol­dest thynke that neither of both remayned: For the outwarde quiete doth cheryshe / noryshe / and [Page] defende the inwarde peace: And againe the out­warde quiete without the inwarde / wold be gre­uous / ydell / ye and very hurtfull. And only hym that hath his mynde greuously vexed and trou­bled / the poet forbyddeth to be alone / sayenge /

NOr I maye nat here well ouerpasse (all thoughe I entende to be brefe / for hit cō ­meth so well to pourpose) that same noble exhor­tation of the philosopher Crates / the whiche on a tyme / as he behelde and marked a yonge mā / that wandred all alone hyther and thyther / mu­synge and imaginynge verye profoundly vpon some thynge: asked hym what he dydde there? The yong mā answered: I talke with my selfe. Take hede quod Crates / y^t thou talke nat with a lewde or a naughtye felowe. Eche of them an­swered meryly and quickely. Therfore solitary­nes in a ꝑsone of laudable and good lyuynge is cōmendable: and contrary wyse to wycked and mischeuous lyuers / nothȳge is more perillous. For than these mischeuous caytyues thynke on mischiefe / than they conceyue in theyr myndes most cruel dedes / and than they treate & reuolue vnhappy counsayles both for them selfe & other. [Page] Yea and what shulde stere miserable wretches / to haste to slee them selfe: if oportunitie of solita­rinesse dyd nat prouoke them therto? Who is he that euer drāke poyson / that hanged hym selfe / that styckte hym selfe / that brake his necke / ex­cepte he were alone? Thou sayste to me: wher­fore than dost thou cōmende to me so moche soli­tarines / a thyng so perrillous? Here haue I no­thynge to answere more conuenientlye than the sayenge of Crates before remēbred: Whan thou lyueste by thy selfe alone / beware that thou lyue nat with a lewde or a wicked felowe / & thā thou nedeste nat to drede any thynge in solitarines. So departe awaye from company / that thou mayst be moche farther of from vices: and loke that the places aboute the be so in sylence / that thy corage and mynde gronte nor groudge nat. And all be it that I am longe in this matter, yet my mynde is nat to cōmende vnto the / the soly­tarines of Timon / I wolde nat that thou shul­dest seperate thy selfe from all mankynde / as he dyd / but I wolde thou shuldest leaue vnruly cō ­pany. And as touchinge the outwarde quiete I haue spoken sufficiently. Nowe I wyll brefelye entreate of the inwarde peace / the whiche lyke as it resteth or consysteth in the mynde / so it pro­cedeth or cometh from a good and a pure mynde from vice. For vertue is of suche strengthe or ef­fecte / that it quieteth or setteth at rest the mynde or corage / wherin hit remayneth / with an incre­dible [Page] peasablenesse / ye & it expelleth or auoydeth all pensyuenes / horrour / drede / and ꝑturbation. What a thynge vertue is / thou shalte better vn­derstande / if thou lyst to be holde / what grefes / what troubles / and what vexations a wycked mynde endureth. For he that is a thefe / a discei­uer of the people / a hoore monger / a traytour / a rauisher of women / an aduoutrer / or other wyse a mischeuous caytife / his conscience for the wic­ked dedes doth oppresse hym so / that he is all to tossed and tombled with perpetual care & drede. The verye shappe or fourme of his wicked and mischeuous dedes / lyke as hit were the horrible furies of Helle / ronne vpon hym / they fiersly as­saile and enuade hym both slepyng & wakynge. At euery thyng he waxeth pale / he is afrayde of euery busshe / but namely he dredeth suspection / whisterynge / infamy / iugement / & punishemēt. But admitte, that he setteth naught by all these thynges / and can disceyue the cōscience of men / and that he dredeth nat al mighty god: yet whā shall he brynge it so to passe / that he may escape y^e smarte prickynges or grudgȳges of his owne conscience? That shall he neuer do. For what so euer thynge he wolde do / or whyther so euer he wolde flee / the same cruel turmētis / shutte with in his breaste / wyll nat leaue hym / they appere styll before hym / they tosse and turmoyle hym / they make hym afrayde / nor they will nat suffre his meate / the lyght of the day / no nor his lyfe [Page] to be ioyous to hym / ye and lastly they make his very naturall rest or slepe vnquiete to hym. Her­of very often tymes cometh leanes of the body: this causeth vggly and fierse coūtinance / of this cometh the fylthynes of the eies: and herof ry­seth feare of euery thyng: wherby they be wōte to discouer and bewraye them selfe: the whiche thynge is ryght well and iustly ordeyned of god that mooste ryghtous iuge / to thentent that no man shulde cōmitte an iuell dede / and be vtterly vnpunyshed: For suspeciousnes is wonte forth­with to folowe foule and yll dedes / the whiche fyrst of al doth greatly punishe the misdoer / and there vpon talkynges and infamy doth folowe / the whiche vndoubted many iuge for so great a mischiefe / that they had leauer dye thā lyue and endure them. But some be drowned so depe in synne / that they set naughte by suche thynges. Admitte hit be as the cōmon sayenge is / that as moche as theyr wyckednes is / so moche is theyr fortune / and that no man accuseth them / nor no iuge medleth with them: yet I say there shalbe one in tyme to come / the whiche wyll sore and ri­gorously punyshe them. Yea but those thynges be farre of saye they / as thoughe they were sure and certeyne / to lyue y^t space of one houre. But admitte it be as they do say / yet for all that euen nowe whyle they be alyue / they be inwardelye turmented and punyshed with theyr conscience / the whiche prycketh so sharpely and so bytterly / [Page] that there is no wycked dede can cause so great pleasure / that hit shulde be boughte with suche turmentis. Who coude euer sufficientlye deme / howe cruell the disturbance of the breast is / whā the selfe mynde with a sharpe sedition stryuethe with it selfe / and some partis therof inclinynge some way / is striken / haled / plucked / torren / and rent / the memorie accuseth / reason iuggeth / and conscience punysheth. Reason calleth one waye / and nature an other waye / and the pleasure of synne an other way: wherof are engendred per­petuall pryckynges / ꝑpetuall braulynges / and perpetuall warre. Wherfore it is thoughte that certaine doctours of the churche haue sayde ve­ry well / the whiche iugged / that the Remorce of conscience / that accōpanieth and gothe with the synners vnto hell / was nat the leest parte of the punishemētis / that they suffre there. The whi­che thynges Iuuenall right ornatly (as he doth euery thynge) descryueth as foloweth:

And so forth most eloquently and truely he pro­cedeth. And lyke wyse as the same thynges be proued by reason and auctorite / euen so therof may be shewed a thousande examples: but by­cause we wyll nat tary lōge in rehersyng of ma­ny / thre shall suffice vs nowe: of the whiche the fyrste shalbe taken out of fables / the seconde out of the Romayn histories / and the thyrde out of holy scripture. What other thyng dothe it signi­fie / after Orestes had slaine his mother / he was taken with spirites (whiche cōmonly are called furies) and was so sore vexed with them / that whither so euer he fledde / he alway mette them shouynge fyre brondes agaynst hym: than that he / the whiche cōmytteth any mischeuous dede [Page] is turmented and vexed with the remors of con­science / as though he were taken with a fransie? Certaynly many thynges haue ben ryght coun­nyngly inuented of the poetis / but after myne opinion / none more apte or feter than this. And therfore it repenteth me nat to reherse this fable here. And what thynge is more euidēt than the exāple of Lucius Sylla? This man as I rede. was cruell out of all measure: so that hit is a thynge ryghte myserable to tell howe many he banished / or commaunded to be slayne: and also he was nat a lyttell garnyshed or decked with o­ther vices. But of this tyran / the very selfe ma­lyce that was in hym / toke vengeance / the whi­che no man els coude do. For he was so turmen­ted and vexed with the conscyence of his yll and wicked dedes / that by no wytte nor helpe of phi­sytyons he coude nat recouer agayne his slepe / that he had lost: and so at the last he dyed of the moost fylthy disease called the lowsy yuell. The olde and manifest example of Cain dothe yet re­mayne. We rede that he beynge moued with en­uie / slewe his brother / but he dyd it nat vnpuni­shed. For he was punyshed forth with / and that diuersly / but no way more cruelly / nor more mortaliye / than of conscyence. The remorce of con­scyence for his wycked dede was to hym more greuous / than any other punishement that god his creatour toke. Our lorde god rebuked hym yea he rather reclaymed hym / to cause hym to [Page] take repentance and to confesse his offence: but he y^e wretched caytyue estemed his synne great­ter than coude be forgyuen. God graunted hym his life, but he iuged him selfe vnworthy to liue. What a vengeable turmentour thynke ye thus cruelly vexed his stomake? What swete or plea­sant thynge suppose ye coude chance hym in his lyfe / the whiche beynge sore greued with hym selfe / and dispeirynge of hym selfe / as one all he­uy and pensyue demynge his lyfe to hym bytter and sower / he dredde and was ashamed to come abrode in the syght of folkes? For he wente that all other had ben suche to hym as he was hym selfe. Thus ye se good Ioyce / what turmentes / what defilinges / what grudgingis / what trou­bles / and what braydes a wycked and a synfull mynde endurethe. Nowe take hede and marke / howe restfull / howe peasible / and howe pleasant a thynge it is to haue a clere and an vncombred conscience / and for no gylte to waxe pale? What thynge is it y^t can disturbe or trouble his mynde that is well setled and ordred? What thynge of ryght ought he to drede? Shulde he be a gast of any man? Certaynely he nedethe nat to drede though man be his ennemy / that is holly bente on god his frende. Shall calamitees and mise­ries make hym afrayde? No truelye. For he re­keneth them to be his wynnynges. But shal he lyue in drede of dethe / the whiche also he gladly desireth and wissheth fore? Finally / shall he nat [Page] feare god hym selfe? No truely. For he hopeth and surely trusteth / that he is in goddes fauour and kepyng. What can be thought more restfull quiete / more vncarefull or more happy / thā this thynge? Ioyce / one may fele or perceyue it / but playnely it wyll nat be declared. Parauenture / thou arte so blessed or happy / that thou haste al­redy lyuynge in the worlde / the selfe same thyng that I call the vnto. And I verylye truste that thou hast. But my mynde is / that so moche the rather thou shuldest flye and leaue the worlde. For here in religion / thou shalte fynde and haue hit more heapingly / and farre more surer. What thynge maketh the so carelesse / that thou wylte beare so dere a treasure amōge theues? If thou haue ought / it shal encreace here in religion / but in the worlde is cōtinual feare / lest thou forgo it: Here mooste specially is the ilke inwarde peace: and excepte the outwarde quiete be here / it is no where. In the worlde is no inwarde peace / and as for outwarde peace / if there be any / it is very scante / and nat very sure. And this is certayne / that y^e religious houses reduce y^e yl men to goodnesse / and they that be good hit maketh better: But contrary wyse / the worlde is wont to make good men yll / and yll men worse.

[Page]IN discriuynge of tranquillite or quiete, I haue ben more brefe than y^e thīg required / and yet therin I was more ꝓlixe than I thought to haue ben: Nowe I wil as shortly as maye be / declare or entreate of pleasure / the whiche thynge onely remayneth vndeclared. Undoubted all folkes are so obstinately inclined to pleasure / that for no maner yuels they can be feared frō it / nor no reason can withdrawe them from hit? And parauenture hit is nat without great skele y^e Epicure saythe / mortall creatures in y^e iugemēt of pleasures do erre moche: but yet all creatures by one assente / some by one meane & some by an other / seke for pleasures. So that for this cause moost speciallye secular or worldly folkes are wont / bothe to flye and hate the insti­tution of our lyfe: the whiche they repute to be harde / strayte / greuous / peynefull / and cleane without pleasure. But to the ende that this er­rour shulde nat abashe or make them agaste / I shall playnly declare / that it is farre other wyse. Yea our lyfe is so moche without pleasure / that I durste entyce to vs all the delicate Sardana­pals / as to a paradise of all delites & pleasures. Thou wylt obiecte and say: yea fayth / pleasure is in monastaries / lyke as the delphin is taken in the woddes / and the wylde bore hunted in the see. I assure the good Ioyce / that all the maner of our lyfe is pleasaunt. Thou askeste me howe that shulde be: & I shall shewe y^e howe. Epicure [Page] denyeth those thynges to be pleasures / the whi­che be cause of gretter greffes. We kepe no drab­bes / nor lyue nat in aduoutry: nor we feede nat / nor ingurge nat our selfe / lyke as the wanton ꝓ­digall felowes are wont to do: we be sobre at the sonne goynge downe / and sobre whan the sonne ryseth / the whiche thynge they can nat say. For those thynges are neuer in so good plyte / but they be cause of more grefe than delyte. Nor we neyther can nor couet to be enryched: nor to be ennobled by any hyghe magystrate or rowme. Nor in these thynges we omytte nat y^e mayster­ship of Epicure. For seynge that they cause littel pleasure & moche grefe, me semeth we do wisely, in that that we wyll nat bye a small commodite with a greatter inconuenience. More ouer Epi­cure teacheth / that other while sorowes must be ventred on / or taken well in worthe / to the ende that greatter and more greuouser dolours may be fledde & eschewed. And lyke wyse ofte tymes we must forbeare smal pleasures, to thende that we maye optayne greatter. What speake ye of vs? We religious men suffre and gladly endure watchynge / fastynge / solitarinesse / sylence / and suche like thynges / to thende that we wolde nat susteine greatter sorowes. We be nat dasshed ful of swete sauours / we sytte nat bollynge & dryn­kynge all the daye / we daunce nor reuell nat / we loyter nat about / whither so euer fonde luste cal­leth vs / nor we set nat our fantasy on suche lyke [Page] folishe toyes: but wolde to god thou coudeste se & beholde with wath great auantage we wante those thynges. Haddest thou thought y^t we had for gone pleasure? Nay we haue nat so done / but we haue made a chāge / yea in suche a wise / that for a fewe and smal pleasures / we haue receiued many great pleasures. Me thought nowe wel­yore / that these / picked / delicate felowes gaue an eare / on trust that I wolde shewe some newe inuētion of pleasure: and for certayne so I wyll. But in y^e meane tyme I wolde they shuld with­drawe their myndes from foule stynkynge & vn­lefull pleasures / y^e whiche they vse with beastis in commune. I wolde they shulde for sake theyr beastilynes / and vnderstande / that in man is some what more higher and more diuine, where vnto theyr delectation shulde be rather applyed than vnto the bodye. For seynge that in beastis there is nothynge more noble than the body / hit is nat vnskelfull / that theyr felicite resteth in fil­lynge of theyr bealies and in bodily luste. But the condition or state of man is more worthye / than that he shulde esteme hym selfe to be borne for none other cause than beastis be. For man is nat onely made and cōpacte of the body but also of the soule. In body / saue onely in shappe / we differre nothynge from beastis: but in the soule we resemble very moche the deuine and eternal nature. The body is a thynge erthye / beastly / slowe / mortall / syckely / caduke / vncrafty / and [Page] vnnoble: Contrarie wyse / the soule is a thynge heuenly / diuine / immortall / perpetuall / pure / and noble. Therfore as moche as the bodye is lower and vnder the soule in dignite / so moche more the pleasure of the soule shulde excelle the wanton and lewde lustes of the body. For that pleasure / lyke the soule it selfe / is perpetuall / ne­uer lothesome / pure / honeste / diuine / & helthfull. Contrarie wyse / the bodily pleasures / are discei­uable / soone vanyshynge / lothsome more sower than swete / foule / and deedly. But it is impossi­ble to enioy the pleasure of the body & of the soule bothe at ones. The one muste nedes be forgone. What wolde Epicure saye to this / if one asked hym counsayle? Forsothe that we shulde expelle and put awaye from vs those fylthye and foule lustes of the body / that they lette vs nat to op­teyne / the swete and most excellent pleasures of the soule. The whiche thȳge (as I haue sayde) is nat away to lose / but greatly to wynne plea­sures. But me thynke thou lokest that I shulde tell / with what pleasures of y^e soule we be fedde here. Fyrste as Epicure sayth / whose authorite I wyll nat yet forgo, to wante the horrible vexa­tion and grudge of an vnclene cōscience / is the greattest pleasure that can be. For he hath nat a lyttell to reioyce of / that hath nothinge to be sory fore. Farther / is nat the cōtemplation of heuēly and immortal delectations / vnto the whiche we hope ones by goddis grace to come / a thynge of [Page] great pleasure. Who is so blonte of vnderstan­dynge / that whan he beyng wery of this lyfe / dothe remembre the felicitie celestyall / wyll nat wepe for very ioye? Whose mynde is so agreued and oppressed with heuynes & sorowe / the whi­che whan he remembreth the lyfe to come / doth nat rise vp / and waxeth very gladsome / yea and wolde fayne be out of this worlde? What & one myght taste and sauoure these thynges? For all be it that they / to whom the worlde is as yet sa­uory / can fynde no sauour or swetenes in them / yet vnto holy and well dysposed mindes there is nothynge more surely approued. And thoughe that the great ioye and pleasure of the lyfe that is reserued in tyme to come / can nat be ꝑceiued / be fore the soule deꝑtynge out of this yll fylthy / and vnswete prison of the body / resorte thither agayne / from whēce it came: yet neuer the lesse / me semethe that good deuoute myndes haue a smacke and some perceyuynge therof / and are weate as hit were with a dewe of heuenlye sho­wers: and of that same lyght that neuer shall fayle / they se as it were a glymeryng or a glāce. The whiche thynge howe great a pleasure it is, it can nat be perswaded vnto hym that is igno­rant & vnexperte therof: but vnto them that be experte therin / it can nat be estemed nor spoken howe pleasante it is. And all thoughe (as saynt Bernarde sayth) these delytes are but outher whyle / and are wonte to tary but a shorte space: [Page] yet are they so great / that if all the pleasures of this worlde were layde to gether on a heape / in regarde of these they wolde seme lyttell worthe / yea and nat to be set by. And if there were no o­ther rewardes / for good dedes to be hoped fore (whiche thyng is farre other wyse) yet forsothe hit wolde neuer greue me / for this onely hyre or mede to suffre and endure all maner labours / and wolde deme them so worthy / that to thētent to opteyne them / I wolde nat onely despice and set naught by all other lustis and delites of this worlde / but also bydde them batayle. Go to thā / what mowe we suppose & thynke that the great plentie or abundance of these ioyes wolde do / if a littell smacke or a very thynne sauour of them so moche deliteth / so recreateth / and maketh one so ioyfull? O / howe great a pleasure shall it be / whan that diuine lyghte shall shyne ouer & ouer vs, the whiche can nat be seen but with most pu­rified eies: so that we also shall all shyne bryght: seinge that a lyttel glymeryng or a glāce therof / the whiche quickely cometh and vanisheth / cau­seth so great pleasure? Farthermore / y^t swete­nes / that the holy goste many tymes secretly en­trynge in to the cleane & pure myndes causeth / howe ofre in the moste chaste chambre he enbra­ceth and clyppeth his spouse / languishynge in his loue / and lamentynge as louers are wonte that loue feruently / with most gentyll & frendly familiarite / dothe comforte and chere her: this [Page] great swetenes I say / wherto shulde I remem­bre? Let them reherse hit that haue knowlege therof. But they knowe hit and that happilye / the whiche pleased god shulde haue experience. I am vnworthye as yet to be admitted to come to these delites: or though I haue a lyttell sklē ­derly tasted therof / yet I had rather tell it by o­ther than by my selfe. And thoughe hit be more certaine to tell it by my selfe / yet it is more come­ly that I shewe it by other. I haue harde some say many tymes with wepynge teares / y^t these worldly pleasures / y^e whiche vnto folyshe brag­gynge felowes sauour so well / haue semed vnto them so bytter and so sower / that theyr mynde hath nat onely aborred those thynges / but also their eares to here speake of them / as whan the vse of bread was founde / acornes began to be lo­thed and naughte set by: so the false delites be­ganne to waxe lothsome to them / after they had taken a taste of the very trewe pleasures. But helas very many worldly people of that rustical and blounte sorte / haue taken suche a smacke in this swynishe fedynge / that nothinge saue their acornes can sauour vnto them. Nor they vnderstande nat what iocundyte of lyte there may be / or whye they shulde desyre to lyue here in this worlde / if the acornes / that is to say y^e voluptie and pleasure of the belly and mouthe / shulde be takē awaye from them. And therfore so often as they se vs religious mē take suche labours and [Page] peyne as they suppose they coude nat endure / & yet to be more lustye / more merye / and in better plite and lykynge than they be that do nothyng els but banket and make good chere / they mar­uayle out of all measure: Nor they can nat per­ceyue howe we shulde haue any pleasure / after we haue forsaken and throwen awaye from vs the delectatiōs and pleasures of the fleshe. And yet these men se tender yonge men and also dely­cate virgins / they se theyr yeres and shap / and they remembre / howe softe and wantonly they were a lyttell before cherished and broughte vp: and on y^e other syde they leaue nat vnremēbred / if in our religious lyfe be any thynge sharpe / greuous or peynefull / as solitarinesse / labour / watche / fastynge / and suche like thinges. They se that it is nat only lefull vnto these yonge chil­dren to leaue and forsake this maner of lyfe / but also with what great instance of theyr parentes and frendes / they be intyced / monished / prayed / and vehemently stered to forsake their religion: But contrary wyse / the more they be ꝑswaded / the more obstinate they be. Theyr mother that wepeth and waylethe they comforte and bydde to be of good chere / with theyr eien drye: Theyr syster collynge them about the necke / they shake of and despice: And from their mooste dere play feres / from whom but a littell before to be absēte a day / was a very harde thynge / they be nowe right easily all their lyfe duryng plucked away. [Page] Fynally they take theyr leaue and byd fare well with so mery a countinance / & kysse at theyr last partynge with so glad chere / that no man that is by / though he be a stranger can forbeare we­pynge. It pleaseth me here (and I pray the be nat agreued therwith) to remembre the heuye and lamentable soupper / whiche was the laste soupper / that Margerete the good virgin / the whiche I loued as she had ben myn owne sister / had with her parentes and frēdes. I was there present the same tyme / and so were many mo as well as I / the whiche the mayden had desired to come thither / to thentent / that by our procu­ration and helpe she myghte opteyne of her fa­ther / that that she had frustratly or in vayne de­sired of hym .vi. yeres daye before / that was to gyue her leaue to be an nunne. For she had than gotten her mothers good wyll. And yet to saye the treuthe / this difficultie of eyther of them / dyd nat chaunce of any vice. For lyke as they were in theyr countrey both reputed & of linage with the beste, euen so they were in vertue: that there was no man but that he did both loue and preyse them / whiche thynge is rathe or seldome seen in them that be in welthe and felicite: But they be so tender ouer and loue theyr children so / as though they greatly loued them. So we be­ganne to entreate & perswade her father. What shulde I make many wordes? He beinge ouer­come partly with shamefastnes / partlye with [Page] pyte and compassion of his daughter / and part­lye with our eggyng, granted her request. But than thou shuldest sodaynely haue seen there a ryght miserable syghte. The father in collynge and kyssynge of his daughter / beganne so to la­ment and wepe / as though she shuld forth with haue ben layde in her graue. Her mother for ve­ry sorowe fell downe deed in al wounde. Her one­ly brother and her syster that was a lyttell elder than she / wepynge & crienge out / enbraced their dere syster / and sayde: By these our wepynge teares / & for what so euer brotherly and systerly pite and tender loue may do / we pray you swete syster / that ye forsake vs nat thus your misera­ble brother and syster / leest that you beynge but one distroy vs twayn. The other frendes wept, some priuely, some openly / some entreated / some perswaded / and some blamed or rebuked: but there was none amonge them all / but that the teares ranne from his eyen. And we also that came to entreate for the mayde / were so moued / what with y^e wepynge of other that were there, and with y^e lamētation of her father from whose eies the teares ranne as he had ben a childe / be­gan lyke wyse to wepe / y^e whiche thyng though I say it / besemed vs nat. Yea and it almoost re­pented vs / that we had gone so farre in the mat­ter. What trowe ye dyd the yonge virgin this whyle / the whiche cōsideryng her sexe or kynde / her tender age / her softe nature and bryngynge [Page] vp / was so delycate? Saynte Paule hym selfe whā he toke leaue to depart from his bretherne / shewed that he was moued with their wepyng / though it were nat greatly / sayeng / what do ye wepynge and troublynge myne harte? But the virgine (all though she was of a greatte pitie or mekenes to her father & mother) with her eies drye / a mery chere / and smylynge on her father / she sayde / that he had no cause to be so vexed and greued / but he oughte rather to reioyce and be gladde / as he that had nat loste his daughter / but as he that was sure to fynde her, the whiche shulde praye to god for hym. She also endeuou­red her selfe diligētly / with kyssynge / prayenge / and pratye exhortation to ease and appease her mothers heuy harte / and other that were there. But all was in vayne: for they droue forthe and prolonged the soupper with syghynge and sob­bynge / wepynge / and complaynyng / tyll it was very late in the nyghte / and except Margarete / there was nat one merye amonge them all. So often as they se these thinges (for they must nedes se suche thynges other whyle) I meane these felowes / the whiche as I haue sayde / ben all gyuen to bodily pleasure / they wepe with the other / they maruayle at the stoutnesse & strēgth of theyr yonge myndes / yea and are ashamed of theyr owne softe delycacy. What suppose they? Deme they these yeres, these mery countināces, these bodies / and these stomakes / to be so soone [Page] inclined, yea so vtterly to set naught by the plea­sures of the worlde / excepte they founde other / that be to them more leauer? Wolde they so ob­stinately / and with so good a corage take these labours vpon them / if they dyd nat knowe very well / that they be swete and pleasant? So it is good Ioyce / so hit is playnely: a thynge that is swete and pleasant to them that be expert ther­in / semeth sower and harde to them that be vn­expert therof. But howe longe shall it be er thou perswade these felowes to beleue the? For as saynt Bernarde saythe / they se our crosses / but they se nat our vnctions: Truely I wolde they had a better mynde / ne were hit that they haue a pleasure frantyckely to erre / lyke as Argiuus dyd / of whom Flaccus speketh. But seyng that we be nat farre from y^e errour of Argiue / I wyll playnly perswade the. Wolde to god y^t I myght lefully haue my wysshe / that lyke as this my wrytynge shall come before thy syghte / that so myn affection myght entre in to thy mȳde / that is to saye / that thou shuldest be so affectioned / whan thou redest it / as I was whā I wrote it. Than here I wold make an ende of myn epistil: & wolde thynke that I neded nat to spend many mo wordes to perswade the. But parauenture bicause that, that I desire is frustrate or ī vaine and that myn auctoryte is nat sufficient to per­swade y^t / I wyll brynge forth saynt Hieronime, the whiche by reason of his good and holy lyfe / [Page] was a man of great grauyte / and by reason of his counnyng / a very noble man. I pray the tell me moost holy man / what dost thou in this sharpe and comforteles desarte alone / all moost deed for hunger / so leane w^t cōtinuall watchyng, and wasted awaye with so great labours / haste thou no iocūdite or plesure of thy lyfe? O / sayth he / whyle I was in wyldernes / in that greatte desarte / the whiche beinge burned and parched with the heate of the sonne / is but a very course and a harde harboroughe for monkes / howe of­ten tymes thought I my selfe to be amonge the delitis and pleasures in Rome? And I take god to wytnesse / that after many a wepynge teare / and after that I had longe loked vpwarde to heuen in cōtemplation / me thought many tymes that I was amonge a great sorte of aungelles / and beynge gladde and ioyfull. I sange thus / Post te in odorem vnguentorum tuorum curtemus, In y^e smel of thy swete sauours we wyl ron after the. Haste thou harde good Ioyce / what this holy man confessethe here? I coude recyte other to wytnesse the same / but either we must gyue cre­dēce to hym or els to no man: And this same ple­sure euery good, deuoute / and wel disposed soule hath & enioyeth. Yet besydes these thynges / ex­cellēt lerned mē haue an other speciall pleasure / y^t is as ofte as they rede the enditynges of most noble wryters / or elles whan they them selfe wryte thynges for other to rede: or elles whan [Page] they reuolue in theyr mynde suche thynges as they haue redde. This kynde of pleasure is so variable and so abundante / that hit shall neuer seme tedious or make the wery. For if they lyste to drynke of the fyrste fountaynes / than they re­sorte to the volumes of the olde and newe testa­ment. If that verite / of it selfe honestly arayd / and hyghted w^t the freshe garment of eloquēce / doth delite them / they rēne to saynt Hieronyme / saynt Augustine / saynt Ambrose / Cypriane and suche other. If those be nat eloquent inough to thy mynde / and hast a luste to here some christen Cicero: take and put Lactantius Firmianus in thy bosome. And in case that thou canste be con­tent with lesse costlye apparayle / and sobre fare / than take in thy hande Thomas / Alberte / and suche lyke bokes. But & thou canst nat belonge absēt from the other thyn olde frendes, yet har­dyly visette those to / nowe and than amonge / so that it be guest wyle & nat as one of householde. For among those is she the barborous woman / but yet she hath a very honest countinance: the whiche whan thou hast rauyshed & cutte awaye her heares and nayles / thou shalte of a drabbe make her thy laufull wyfe. Lo / thus thou hast the secrete and many volumes of holy scripture, thou hast the monumentis of the holy prophet­tes / of the apostils / of theyr interpretours / and of the doctours / thou hast the wrytynges of the philosophers and poetis / the whiche shulde nat [Page] be eschewed of him, that knoweth howe to chose the holsome herbes amonge those that are ve­nomous. Tell me / what tyme thou art conuer­sant amōge these thynges / quietly at rest in thy studye / and at thyne owne libertie / voyde of all care and trouble / dothe hit nat seme that thou dwellest in a paradise of all delites & pleasures? what place can be tedious / where so grete vari­ete is? What thynge is here / that is nat full of pleasure? Howe gladsomely growe y^e faire feldis and medowes? Howe pleasantly lustreth or she­weth the freshe grene grasse, depeynted with dy­uers colours of flowers? In y^t place growethe the beautyfull redde rose / there sprynge y^e lylyes as white as any snowe / there be the bankes of the lusty purpull violettes / there groweth the browne tyme / that smellethe so swetelye. Nor there wantethe no fayre woodes / with brode hangynge bowes and branches / that maketh a ryghte delectable shadowe / wherin we may de­fende vs from the feruente heate of the daye. Farther / what nombre of trees be there / that beare frute nat only delicious in taste / but (whi­che is more) verye holsome to eate? And verye nere there vnto runneth the clere christalline ry­uer / that maketh a doulce mourmour or noyse in runnynge / the whiche watreth and moysteth all to gether. This moost depe ryuer / I say / the whiche the prophet maruaylynge at can nat be ouer come. Within these pleasaunt orchardes [Page] thou mayste roome and wander to and fro / yea I may say thou maist wantonly sporte and play the as ofte as thou wylte. What lyke pleasure is in your daunsinges / in your tauernes and ale houses / and in your bathes or hotte houses? To these thynges good Ioyce / I call the / as he that is excellently lerned and studious. Yea I desire the / as my speciall and dere frēde, to come vnto these pleasures. Is there any thynge be­hynde / that may tarye the in the worlde / or els make the afraide to come to vs? Thou hast well vnderstande / howe mortall / howe bytter / and howe sower the lewde lustes or false enticemētis of the worlde be: the whiche (as Seneca saith) enbrace and clyppe vs / to thende that they may strangle or shoke vs. Thou haste also harde / howe lyttell goodnesse is in the worldly ryches, and howe vnstedfaste and disceyuable they be. And as I suppose, hit is sufficiently shewed, in to what calamyties and myseries the worldely honours do heedlynge ouerthrowe a man.

Farthermore, hit hath ben declared, howe vn­treatable the necessitie of Dethe is. Finally, I haue remembred vnto the, howe full of perill and daunger this lyfe is: and vnto what gre­uous and peynefull labours hit is subiecte. Go nowe and questenne with thy selfe, whether thou haddest leauer stycke styll in these yuels, or elles throwe them away / and flee hyther. And contrary to these thynges, haste thou nat harde [Page] what libertie, what quiete, what pleasure, and what sure truste is in religion? And yet for al y^t, thou fleest nat thyther? Doste thou yet staye / doste thou yet take deliberation / doste thou yet prolonge forthe the tyme? Leaue to the Egyp­cions theyr pottis of fleshe, that thou mayste be fedde with manna in the wyldernesse. But thou sayste, hit is a harde thyng to be drawen awaye from theyr companye, that a man mooste derely loueth / and to ouercome the affections of fren­des. Aye good Ioyce, thou callest hit a harde thynge / take hede that thou be nat rather ten­der and softe. Beware lest yonge children boyes and maydes, to whome this matter dothe seme nothynge harde, cocke vp agaynst the and saye these wordes: Sayest that thou arte vnable to do that that we can away with? Why hast thou a berde? Why arte thou called a man? What a­uayle thy yeres of age? And wherfore serueth thy erudition and lernynge? Thynke nat, that any thynge is more fooe or ennemy to the, than suche frendes / the whiche labour to lette or hyndre thy helthe? The whiche frendes / if errour be cause of theyr offence, or els dote in loue / dost thou desyre to doote with them? Or if by sadde aduyse / and prudently pondrynge the matter / they let and hyndre the / for what maner of fren­des wylt thou deme them / whan they couet nat it that is best for the? But thou sayst to leade an aungels lyfe, and liue in the fleshe passeth mans [Page] power. Fynally / whan a man can nat lyue af­ter his owne fashion, but muste do euery thynge as an other shall commaunde hym / orels to be ledde after the luste and pleasure of an other, is sooner sayd than done. Truely I wyll nat deny this thynge, for I am nat ignorant that mans lyfe on erthe is a warfare. But if there be any grefe or difficultie in a matter, that one goth in hande with, hit is wonte moste commonly to be in the entraunce or begynnynge, the whiche yf thou mayste ones stoutely breake or ouercome, thou haste scaped: Hit is longe ago commonly sayde: He hath atcheued halfe his warke or bu­synes, that hath begūne aright. But truely he that dothe well begynne here, dothe well nere make an ende. But the fyrste entrance abasheth the. I knowe howe to delyuer the of this feare­fulnesse. If hit greue thy mynde to be plucked away from the pleasures of the worlde / remem­bre inwardely the eternall delectations and ple­sures. If religion seme greuous and peynful to the, haue a respecte to the paynes euerlastyng. No punyshment shuld be greuous vnto y^e / wherby thou mayst auoyde euerlastyng paynes: nor for no pleasure here to forgo the celestial plesure. Fynally / nothynge shall be harde / that one wyl­lyngly wyll do: Nor doubte nat but thou shalte bring wel to passe / what soeuer thou gost about, so that Chryste be helpynge thervnto.

I Sawe the well ere trusse vp thy bagge and baggage and so prepare thy self redy, as though thou woldest in all the hast flee vnto vs. But to the ende that thou shuldest nat be to hasty / I wyll brefely gyue the monitiō or warnynge before hande / lest it shulde happen vnto the as hit doth to many nowe a dayes / the whiche repente them that they wente in to reli­gion for this cause / that they as hit were in to a depe pytte / that one can nat get out of / went nat softely and aduisedly downe / but lepte euen at al aduentures. No man is cōstrayned to Christis profession / but no man may returne or go frō it: for without hit there is no hope of saluation. But in other institutions and orders of the lyfe / the whiche for a tyme men haue inuented / by­cause of y^e great varietie that is in mens bodies and myndes / and so greatte alteration of all hu­mayne thynges / perauenture it were nat expe­dient / so to bynde any man / that it shulde nat be lefull for hym to go backe / so that the chaunge make and be more for his soule helthe / that chā ­geth. But seinge that they wyll haue hit other wyse / by whose arbitrement the worlde is go­uerned / [Page] this busynes shulde be taken on hande more circumspectly / the whiche thinge ones en­tred and professed, can nat be chāged or reuoked, at his libertie / that entreth therin. The mo­nasteries in olde tyme were none other thynge / but certayne solitarie places of good and vertu­ous men: the whiche eyther for grefe and wery­nesse of the volupties and vyces / with the whi­che in those dayes the lyfe of mortall creatures was contaminate and defiled: for at that season the Chrysten people and the paynyms lyuedde myngled to gether: orels beynge agreued with the cruelte of persecution / they forsoke the citees and townes, & withdrewe them selfe in to moun­taynes withont wayes / where they ledde a lyfe angelicall. Theyr apparayle or clothynge was poore and lyttell worthe / theyr fare was sklen­der / suche as lyghtly they myssed nat to fynde in euery place / wherwith they spente awaye all theyr tyme eyther in syngynge of holy ymmes, or in holy redynge / or in heuenly talkynges / or ī deuoute prayes / or in dedes of charyte, wher­with they refresshed the sycke and wayfarynge folkes / or elles in inocent workes / with the whi­che they holpe and succoured the indygente and nedy. Nor a monke was none other thynge than a pure Chrysten man. Nor a monastery was none other thynge / than a flocke or a com­panye / the whiche had conspyred or consented to gether / to folowe the mooste pure doctryne of [Page] Chryste. There was no souerayne commaun­dement: euery man gladly and with good wyll, yea and that quyckely dydde theyr duetie / and they had than more nede to be refrayned than prycked forwarde. Theyr extreme punyshe­ment was a frendly and a brotherly correction. Howe many monasteryes be in the myddes of the worlde / nor they be noone other wyse out of the worlde / than the reynes be out of a mans body. In the whiche the discipline of religion dothe flourysshe in suche a wyse / that they be none other thynge than Scholes of impyetie. To whome the tytle and habyte of religion ser­ueth for none other purpose / than that it shulde be lefull for them without punysshemente to do what euer they lyst. And vnto them / to whose prudence the worlde wolde nat commytte theyr ketchyns / the busynesse of the churche is dely­uered. And trewely amonge these thynges / wherin the discipline of religion doth flouryshe / there is some difference. Some institution or order of the lyfe is more meter for some one man than for some other. And therfore it behoueth the fyrst to serche and make a profe of thy selfe / and whan thou knowest what thou maist away with / than with good aduysement / chose an or­der of lyuynge that is nat vnknowen vnto the / accordynge to Saynte Paules sayenge / Proue all thynges / and holde the vnto that / that is good. Many one entreth in to religion for none [Page] other entente / but to lyue more commodyously at theyr pleasure / myndynge more the bealye than the soule. And so those that very indigence and nede to lyue honestly in the worlde / shulde haue induced to vse frugalitie / to haue ben dyly­gent, and industrious, in monasteries they gyue them selfe to sleuthe and luxure. And those that were in the worlde very poore and of lowe de­gree / vnder the profession of pouertie they imi­tate and folowe the pompe, the sumptuousnes, and stately araye of prynces and great lordes. And those that shulde haue bene contented with one wyfe / and haue suffered the incommodities and grefes of Matrimony / nowe frely and with good leaue / they walowe in euery kynde of stu­pre or carnall luste. And those that afore tyme the feare of the lawes and gouernours / dyd re­strayne from doynge of yuell and synfull dedes / as exēpted from the iurisdiction of the bishoppe, and of the rulers of the common welthe / they haue a more libertie to synne and offende. So that by feyned profession of pouertie / they flee pouertie: by feyned profession of chastite / they prouide for theyr carnall lust: and by feyned pro­fession of obedience / they fynde the meane / that they wyll be constrayned to obey no man. Farther more / there be other / the whiche by some chaunce were driuen to this maner of life: One bicause he coude nat opteyne the fauour of some mayde / that he vehemently loued: an o­ther [Page] bicause he was stryken with great feare in the tyme of a tempeste / of a sickenesse / or of an other peryll / he made suche a vowe. Some be drawen to religion by one that hath bene afore tyme theyr derely beloued companyon. Some with shamefull eggynges / as hit were buguls be drawen in to the ditche by the nostrils. Some also be truste in to religion by theyr vn­kynde and vngentyll parentis: or elles by theyr tutours / to the entent to be eased of theyr coste and charge: they moost specially lay awayte to attrappe and disceyue the symple youthe / the whiche is verye easye to begyle. But I wolde counsayle the clene contrarye / that rude and ig­norant youth shulde nat be wrapped in an insti­tution, out of the whiche they can nat be drawen backe agayne. One ought to be a christen man betymes / and a monke at leiser / howe be hit he is a monke at the ful / who so euer be a pure chri­sten man. Nor there be nat a fewe / the whiche be ledde to religion by superstition / or elles by folishenes / the whiche beynge ignorant in what thynge the very religion restethe / seme as they thynke them selfe / gaye monkes / if they weare a gyrdyll or a hoode. And therfore thou shuldest maruayle neuer a deale / thoughe thou se them more lewde and wycked after they haue profes­sed religion / than they were before. Thus myn owne good Ioyce / whan thou haste gotte the knowlege and vnderstandyng / what thyng the [Page] true religion is / after thou haste assayed / thy wytte / thy bodye / and thy mynde / and whan thou hast spyed out a kynde of lyuynge mete for thy purpose: and whan thou haste founde out a feloweshyppe / the whiche all to gether with one assente / haue fullye determyned theyr myndes to lyue after Christe: than gette the thither. But loke that thou leaue all couetousnes of this worlde at home: for other wyse it were frustrate or a thynge in vayne to forsake the worlde / if thou shuldest carye the worlde with the in to the same monasterie. Carye no maner of delecta­tions of Aegypte with the / if thou wylte spede the to the lande that floweth or aboundeth with mylke and hony. Many thynke them selfe the verye folowers of saynt Antony / and of saynt Paule / if they haunte no drabbes / nor vse no daunsynge / nor wyll nat be dronken / thoughe they with in forthe be all to moysted or sprincled with hatred / enuie / detraction / poysonfull wor­des / and are proude and stately of conditions / frowarde / and vntreatable / and are louers of them selfe: and for theyr wynnynge and aduan­tage they openly flatter great princes: and wit­tyngly and of a fore caste they suffre the glory of Christe to be obscured and blotted out / to thende that they maye procure theyr owne glorye. Inceste / that is to say carnal copulacion vtterly prohibited or foule polucion is a sklaunderous crime / and yet I trowe they be nat clere of those [Page] vices: but this flatterye passethe an hundred incestis / and the mischiefe therof spredeth moste largely ouer all mankynde. Nowe ꝑauenture thou wylte saye to me / that all monasteries dis­please the: nor there can be founde no where a flocke / that hath with pure myndes consented to lyue after Christe. But yet loke that thou so leaue and forsake the worlde / that thou mayste accompany thy selfe with who so euer be mooste innocente: and repute thy selfe to be in a monas­tery / where so euer thou be conuersant amonge them / that loue trouth / pure chastite / sobrenes / and temperance / and do both in worde and dede expresse the same. Nor thou shuldest nat thȳke, that there wanteth any thynge for the to vowe / if thou accomplyshe and fulfyll the vowe that thou madest to Christe at thy christenyng. Nor thou shuldest nat desyre the habite of the white frere or elles of the blacke / if thou obserue and kepe clene vndefiled / the fayre whyte vesture or garmēt that was delyuered to the in baptisme. Nor be nat dyspleased with thy selfe / thoughe thou be nat of y^e flocke of blacke friers or white, so y^t thou be of the flocke of true Christē people.

Thus farewell myn owne good Ioyce.