ALthough swete cosyn ye be wyse ynoughe of your selfe, nor nede not other mens coun­sel, yet for y^e old frendeshyp contynued from our chyl­hode betwyxte vs & also for your kyndnes towardes me / & fynally because of the streyght alyaunce betwyxt vs: I thought it my du­ty (if I wolde be the man whom ye always haue take me for / that is to say your frend and louer) of such thynges as I iudged to be­longe moste to the preseruation and dygnyte of you and yours / gladly and frely to auertyse you. Other mens profyght sometyme we espye better then our owen. I haue ofte folowed your coun­sell, [Page] whych I haue found no lesse profytable than frendly. Nowe if ye agayne wyll folowe myne I trust it shall repent neyther me of my counsellynge / nor you of The narra­tion. your folowyng. Our frende An­tony Bald supped with me y^e last nyght, one that is (as ye knowe well ynough) your great frende and nere kynsman. An heuy feste and full of tearys. He shewed me (which was a great sorow to vs bothe) that the good gentyll wo­man your mother is departed, y^t your syster for sorowe and desyre is entred in to a house of barren nunnys / that the hope of your stocke is turned onely vnto you / that your frendes with hole as­sent haue offered you a wyfe of great substaunce, of noble blode, of excellent beautye, of gentyl ma [Page] ners, and fynally whiche berethe great loue towards you. That ye yet, this notwithstandyng, for some immoderate sorowe, or els some superstitious holynes haue so determyned to lyue a chast lyf, and neuer to marye, that nouther for the care of your stocke, nor loue of yssue, nor for any reque­stes, prayers, or tearys of your frendes ye canbe plucked awaye from your purpose. But ye by myne aduyse shall chaunge thys mynde, and leuyng bachelershyp, a forme of lyuynge bothe barren and vnnaturall, shall gyue your selfe to moste holy wedlocke. In whiche mater I couet that ney­ther y^e loue of your frēdes which els ought to ouercō your mynde, nor myne authoryte any thynge shulde ayde my cause / if I shewe [Page] nat by clere reasons that this shal be for you bothe moste honeste, most profytable and moste plea­saunt, yea what wyll ye say if (as this tyme requyre) also moste ne­cessary?

FOr fyrst of al / if thē regard of honestye moueth you / which with good men is hyghly consydered, what thyng is more honeste then matrimony, wher­unto Christ hymselfe dyd greate honoure and worshype, whiche vouche saued nat onely to be pre­sent with his mother at the ma­riages, but also consecrated y^e ma riage feste with the fyrst fruetz of his myracles? What is more holy then that which y^e creatour of all thynges hath ordeyned, copeled, sanctifyed? whiche dame nature her selfe hathe enacted? What is [Page] more laudable than hit, whyche who reprehendeth / is condemna­ble of heresy? So honorable is matrimony, as is the name of he­retyke slaunderous. What is a thyng of more equite, then to ren dre that to the posterite / whiche we our selfes receyued of oure auncestrye? What acte on the con trarye syde is done with les con­sideration, than vnder the zele of holynes to flee y^t, as vnholy & vn godly, which god the well and fa ther of all holynes wolde haue counted most holy? What thynge is farder from all humanite / than man to abhorre from the lawes of mānes estate? What is a more vn kynde acte than to denye that to your yongers, whiche if ye toke nat of your elders, ye could nat be he that myght denye? Now if we [Page] requyre y^e Authour of matrymo­ny, The Author of ma­trimo­nie. it was founded and ordeyned nat of Lycurgus, nat of Moses, nat of Solon, but of the hyghe & myghty worker of all thinges, of hym it was also praysed / enhone­sted and consecrate. For at the be [...] Man fyrste created / forthe with was co­puled with a wyfe. gynnyng when he had made man of y^e slyme of y^e erthe he thought y^t his lyfe shulde be vtterly mysera­ble and vnplesaunt, if he ioyned nat Eue a cōpagnion vnto hym. Wherfore he brought forthe the wyfe nat of the erthe, as he dyd mā, but out of the rybbes of Adā, wherby it is to be vnderstād that nothynge ought, to be more dere to vs then y^e wyfe, nothyng more conioyned / nothynge more faste glued vnto vs. The selfe same After ye flode of Noye. god after the flode / when he was at one agayne with mankynde [Page] enacted (as we rede in scripture) the law of ma­trimo­ny renu ed. this lawe fyrst, nat that we shuld loue bachelarshyp / but to crease / to multiply / to replenyshe y^e erth. But howe coulde that be, onles men wolde gyue theyr labour to wedlocke? And leste we shulde here fynd cauellations / allegyng the liberte of the old law of Mo­ses, or the necessite of that season / I pray you what meaneth y^t sen­tense repeted also in the new law of Christ / ratifyed and confirmed by Chrystes owne mouthe? For this cause (sayth he) shall man leue Math. xix. father and mother and styck to his wyfe. What thynge is more holy than the natural loue of the chyld to his father? And yet the feythe of wedlocke is preferred aboue it By whose authorite? by goddes. At what tyme? when nat only the [Page] olde law floryshed / but also when the newe lawe of Christ began to sprynge. The father is forsaken / the mother is forsaken / and the wyfe is stycked to. The son (in y^e Ciuile lawe) emancipate / that is to saye enfranchysed & out of his fathers bondes / begynneth to be his owne man & at lybertye. The son, in the same lawe, abdicate / that is to saye forsaken and dys­herited of his father / ceaseth to be his son. But only deth vndo wed locke, if yet y^t deth vndo it. Now syr if y^e other sacramētes of Chri­stes chyrch be had in greate vene ratiō, who seeth nat y^t moch wor­shype ought to be gyuen to this, which was both ordeyned of god, & fyrst of all other? And the other in erth, this in paradise / the other for remedy / this for solas / y^e other [Page] were put to in helpe of nature, which was fallen, only this was gyuen to nature at the fyrst crea­tion. If we count the lawes holy which be institute of men, shall nat the lawe of wedlocke be most holy whiche we haue receyued of hym, of whom we haue receyued lyfe? and which began in maner euen at one tyme with mankind? To be short / because he wold con ferme this lawe by sum example / when he was a yonge man / and bydden (as sayd is) to the brydale, he cam thyther gladly with his mother, and nat contended with so doyng, dyd also greate honour to the feste with hys wonderfull worke / makyng none other wher the prosperous cōmencemēt and beginning of his myracles? Why A confu­tatiō. than (ye wyll say) dyd Christ him [Page] selfe absteyne from wedlocke? As thoughe ther be nat very many thynges in Christe / whyche we ought rather to maruayle at, thā folowe. He was borne without carnal father / he ꝓceded without payne of his mother, he arose frō dethe to lyue when the sepulcre was closed, what is nat in hym aboue nature? Let such thynges be appropriate to hym. Let vs (lyuynge within the lawe of na­ture) wonder & prayse y^e thynges that be aboue nature / but folowe those workes y^t be for our capa­cite. But he wolde be borne of a virgyn. Truth it is, of a virgyn / but yet wedded. A virgyn to his mother becam hym y^t was god, but y^t she was wedded, she signy­fied vnto vs what we ought to do Uirginite be cam her whiche (by [Page] the dyuyne inspiratiō of the holy ghost) beyng pure & immaculate brought forthe hym whiche was most pure & vnspotted / but yet Ioseph was her husbande, whiche thyng setteth forth vnto vs the cō mendation of the lawes of wed­locke. How coulde he more com­mend wedlocke, then whā he wyllyng to declare y^e preuy & wonderfull coniunction of the diuyne na­ture with the humane body and soule, and wyllyng to declare his ineffable & eternall loue towarde his chyrch (that is to say, the com­pany of Christian people) calleth hymselfe the brydegrome and the chyrch his spouse? Greate (sayth Paule) is the mystery of matrymo­ny: To the Ephesians the v. Cha. in Christe and in the chyche. If ther had ben any cople in erth more holy, if there had be any [Page] bonde of loue and concorde more religiously to be kept, than wed­locke / vndoutedly he had fetched his similytude from thens. What lyke thyng do ye euer reade, in all scripture of bachelershyp? Hono­rable wedlocke and the immaculat bryde bed is spoken of. Bacheler­shype is nat ones named. Nowe The law of the Iwes syr, Moses law abhorreth baren wedlocke, and therfore we reade that some were put out of the co­mynalte for the same cause. And why so? suerly because they ly­uyng vnprofytably to the comon wele, & for there owne syngular auayle, dyd nat multyply the peo ple with any issue. If thā the law dāneth baren matrymony muche more it dāneth bachelers. If the infirmyte of nature escapeth nat punyshment, certes the frowarde [Page] wyll shall nat eschape. If they were punished whose nature say led to ther wyll / what haue they deserued / whych wyl nat so moch as put to theyr good wyll, that they be nat barren? The lawes of the Hebrues gaue this honou­re to matrymonye / that he that maryed a new wyfe, shuld nat be compelled that yere to goo forthe to the batel. The cite is in greate ieopardy if ther be not men of ar­mes to defende it, but nedes it must decay if there be nat wedded men, by whom the youth cōtynu­ally faylynge may be supplyed. Also the lawes of y^e Romans pu­nyshed The law of ti [...] mar [...] them that were bachelars in remouyng them from all pro­motions of the cyte. But such as had encreased with chyldren the commune weale / to them they or­deyned [Page] a reward openly to be gy­uen, as it were for theyr wel deset uynge. The lawe of the. iii. chyl­derne is a sufficyēt proue for this mater. for I wyll nat here re­herse all y^e reste. Lycurgus made The law of the La cedemo­nians. a lawe that they whyche maryed nat wyues, shuld in somer season be dryuen from the enterludes & other syghtes, and in wynter go about the market place all naked and curse them selues, sayng they suffred iuste punyshmēt, because they wolde nat obey the lawes. Nowe wyll ye know how much matrymonye was set by in olde tyme? Consyder the punyshment for y^e defoyling of it. The Grekes The ba­tel of Troy. ones thought it expedyent to re­uenge the breche of matrymonye by contynuall warres enduryng the space of. x. yeres. Further­more [Page] by the lawes nat onely of the Romaynes / but also of the Hebrues and other nacyons / ad­uowterers sholde lose ther lyues. The thefe was delyuered by pa­ynge. iiii. tymes so muche as he The law of the ro mans had stolen / the syn of aduowtrye was punyshed with the axe. Also amonge the Hebrues he was sto­ned to deth with the peoples han The law of the Iwes. des whych desyled that, without whyche the people shulde nat be. And the rigor of theyr lawes nat contented therwith / suffered also that he whyche was found in ad­uowtre shuld be put to deth with out iudgement / with out lawes / gyuyng that libertye to the grefe of y^e wedded men, whiche vnneth is graūted to hym y^t in ieoperdye of lyfe defendeth hymselfe. Dout­les wedlocke muste nedes seme a [Page] ryght holy thyng whych defyled can nat be repurged without mā nes blode / & the reuengyng wher of / is neyther cōpelled to abyde y^e lawes nor the iudge / y^e whiche se­uerite & rigour of law is neyther in murdre nor i treson. But what stand we alday in wryttē lawes? This is the lawe of nature / nat grauen in tables of bras, but in­wardly fyxed i our hartes, which who wyll nat obey, he is nat so much as to be estemed a mā much les a good cytizen. For if (as the Stoikes, men of sharpe iudge­mentes The Stoikes do dyspute) to lyue wel is nothynge els, but to folowe the guyde of nature / what thing is so agreable to nature as matrymo­ny? For nothynge is so naturally gyuē nouther to man, nor yet to any other kynd of brute bestes as [Page] that euery one shuld preserue his kynd frō destructiō & by propaga tion of posterytye to make it as it were immortall, whych without carnall copulatiō (as euery man knoweth) can nat be brought to pas. And it semeth a foule shame dum bestes to obey y^e lawes of na ture, & men (after the maner of gy auntes) to byd batell agaynst na­ture, whose worke if we wyll be hold with yees nat dasselling, we shall perceyue y^t her wyll is that ther be in euery kynde of thynges a certeyn spyce of wedlocke. For I omytte to speake of trees, in A certier Kynde of wedloc­ke i trees whom yet by y^e authoryte of Pli­nie wedlocke is founde with so manyfeste diuersyte of the male & female, that if the male tree shulde nat with hys boughes lye vpō y^e female trees that stande aboute [Page] hym couetyng as it were a med­lyng to gether, they shulde abyde baren and fruteles. I holde my In precy ous sto­nes. peace of pretious stones, i whych the same author wryteth (but nat he alone) that ther is founde both male & female. I pray you hath nat god so knyte all thynges to gether with certeyn bondes, that one thynge doth neade an others help? What thynk ye to the heuen whych turneth about with cōty­nual mouyng? I pray you whyle it maketh the erthe leynge vnder neth, whych is mother of al / with sundry kynd of thynges fruteful, pouring seed (as it were) vpon it / doth it nat thoffice of an husbād? But to renne through eche thing were ouer longe. Nowe, to what purpose haue we spoken thys? Suerly, that ye may vnderstand, [Page] by suche naturall commyxtions, euery thynge to haue his beynge and continuance, without which althynges to be dyssolued / to pe­ryshe / & to fall away. It is feyned A fabule & the ex­position therof. by the olde & wyse poetes (whose study was to couer the preceptes of philosophye vnder mystycall fabuls) that gyauntes the sonnes of the erthe, hauynge feete lyke serpentes, dyd caste mountaynes vpon montaynes that reached vp to heuen, and so standynge vpon them warred agaynst the goddes. What sygnifieth this fable? Su­erly that certeyne vngodly per­sones / wylde / and of an vngentle nature dyd greatly abhorre from matrimonyall concord / and ther­fore they were caste downe hede­longe with Iuppiters thunder bolt / that is to saye / they vtterly [Page] decayed and cam to nought, sythe they eschued the thynge, wherby mankynd is only preserued. But the selfe same poetes haue feyned that Drpheus beyng a poete and a mynstrell dyd moue with the swete note of his musycall instru mēt y^e hard rockes of stone. What meaned they hereby? Nothynge els, but that a wyse & an eloquent man dyd fyrst prohybet the stony men / and whyche lyued after the maner of wylde beastes / frome leyng at large / & brought them to the holy lawes of matrymonye. Wherfore it appereth euydently that who so euer is nat touched with desyer of wedlocke semeth to be no man, but a stone / an en­nemy to nature / a rebelle to god / by his owne foly sekynge hys de­cay and vndoynge. But goo to, [Page] sythe we be fallen into fabuls no thynge fabulous nor veyne / the same Drpheus whē he descended downe to hellys and ther moued Pluto lord of hell and the soules ther abydyng on suche wyse that he myght easely leade away with hym Euridice his wyfe / what other thynge suppose we that the poetes thought, than that they wold commend vnto vs the loue of wedlocke, whyche also in helle is counted holy and relygyous? Hereunto also belongethe, that the antyquite made Jupiter lord of wedlocke, and named hym for the same purpose Gamelium / & made Juno the lady of women in chyldbed, callyng her pronubam and Lucinam, Superstityous­ly errynge (I graunt well) in the names of the goddes, but nat er­rynge [Page] in this that they iudged matrimony a thyng holy & wor­thy to be regarded of the goddes. Surely there haue bene dyuerse lawes / cerymonyes / and vsages among dyuerse peoples and na­cions. But ther was neuer naci­on so barbarous / so farre from al humanite / with whom the name of wedlocke hathe nat be recoun­ted holy / hathe nat be recounted worshypfull. This the Thrasian this the Sarmate / this the man of Inde, this the Greke / this the Italion / this the Brytan furdest of all the worlde, or if ther be any further then they, haue had in hyghe reuerence. And why so? For of necessyte that thynge must nedes be cōmen, whyche the com­men parent of all / hathe empryn­ted, and so inwardly emprynted, [Page] that the sense and feelynge of it, hath nat onely perced y^e turtyls / and the doues / but also the moste cruell wyld bestes. For the lyons be gentil and meke to theyr lyon­nesses. The tygrees fyght for theyr whelpes. The asses stycke nat to renne thrugh fyers leynge in theyr waye for the sauegarde & defence of theyr fooles. And thys they call the law of nature which as it is most stronge, so it is most large. Wherfore lyke as he is no A simili­tude. dilygent husband, which conten­ted with the thynges present, ten­dethe ful curiously the trees redy growen / but hathe lytle regarde outher of settyng or of graffyng / because y^t of necessite within few yeres those orcheyardes (be they neuer so well kepte) must decaye and become desolate. So in lyke [Page] wyse he is to be iudged an vndy­ligent cytizē in y^e publyke weale, which cōtented with the cōpany present, hath no respecte nor con­sideraciō to supply newe in place of the olde. Noman therfore haue ben counted a noble and worthy citizen, which hath nat bestowed his dilygence in begettyng chyl­derne and bryngynge them ver­tuously vp. Among the Hebrues & Persyans he was most hyghe­ly commended, y^t had moste plen­ty of wyues, as thoughe the con­tre were most bound to hym, that with most chyldern had enryched it. Do ye studye to be more holy then was Abraham? He shuld ne­uer haue ben called Pater multa­rum gentium that is to say / the Father of many peoples / and that of goddes owne mouthe, if he had [Page] fledde the company of hys wyfe. Do ye labour to be reputed more religious thā Iacob? He stycked nat to bye his wyfe Rachel with so longe apprentyshode and bon­dage. Be ye wyser than Solo­mon? But what a flocke of wy­ues keapte he at home? Be ye chaster then Socrates? Whyche suffered at home in hys house Xantippe that wayward woman nat only (as he was wont to geste hym selfe) because he myght lerne pacyence at home, but because he wolde seme nat to halt in thoffyce of nature. For he a man (whome the dyuine answere of Apollo on­ly iudged wyse) vnderstode full wel, that vnder thys lawe & con­dition he was begotten, to thys he was borne / this he dyd owe to nature. For if it haue bene well [Page] sayde of the olde phylosophers / if it haue bene nat without cause cō fermed of oure dyuines, if it haue bene ryghtly euery where pro­nounced as a prouerbe, that god A pro­verbe. nor nature haue made no thynge frustrate nor in vayne / why (I pray you) hath god geuē vs these membres? why these pryckes and prouocatiōs? why hath he added the power of begettynge, if ba­chelarshyp be taken for a prayse? yf one wold gyue you a pretious gyfte, as a bowe / a garment / or aswerde, ye shuld seme vnworthy the thyng that ye haue receyued, if outher ye wolde nat, or ye could nat vse it. Where as all other thynges be ordeyned by nature with moste hygh reason, it is nat lykely that she slumbered & slepte in makyng only this pryue mem [Page] bre. Nor I here nat hym whiche A confu­tation. wyll saye vnto me that / that foule ychynge and pryckes of carnall lust haue come nat of nature, but of syn. What is more onlyke the trowth? As though matrymony (whose offyce can nat be executed without these pryckes) was nat before syn. Moreouer in other bestes I praye you from whens commeth those pryckes and pro­uocations? of nature, or of synne? wonder it is if nat of nature. And as touchyng the fowlnes / surely we make that by our imaginaciō to be fowle, which of the selfe na­ture is fayre and holy. Els, if we wolde weygh the thynge, nat by the opynyon of the people, but by the very nature, howe is it les fowle (after y^e maner of wylde bestes) to eate / to chaw / to dygest, [Page] empte the bely, thā to vse the law full & permytted plesure of the bo dy? But vertue (ye say) is to be obeyed rather than nature. As thoughe / that is to be called ver­tue whyche repugneth with na­ture, from whens if vertue haue nat his fyrste begynnynge, certes it can nat be it, whyche may with excercyse and lernynge be made perfecte. But the apostles lyfe de­lyteth you, for they also folowed bachelarshyp, and exhorted other to the same. Lette thapostolycall men folowe thapostles, whyche (because there offyce is to teche & instructe the people) can nat both satisfye theyr flock & theyr wyfes, if they shuld haue any. How be it that thappostles also had wyues, it is euidently clere. Let vs graūt bachelarshyp to y^e bishops. What [Page] do ye folowe the appostes forme of lyuynge, beynge so farre from the offyce of an apostle, syth ye be a man bothe temporall and also without offyce? It is lycenced them to be without wyues, to the entent they may the better attend to begette the more chylderne to Christ. Let this be y^e pryuilege of prestes & relygyous men, whych (as it appere) haue succeded the Essenes forme of lyuyng whych damned holy matrymony. Your estate requireth otherwyse. But Chryst hymselfe (ye wyl say) haue pronounced them blessed whyche Mat. 19. haue gelded thē selfes for the kyng dom of god. I reiecte nat the au­thoryte, but I wyl expound Chri stes meanynge. Fyrste of all, I thynk this sayng of Chryst to ap­perteine especially to those times [Page] when it was expediēt to be moste redy & lose frō all wordly bussy­nesses. Then was the tyme that they shulde fle & ren hyther & thy­ther through all landes, the perse cutoure was at hande on euerye syde. But now such is the state of thynges & tymes, that no where ye may fynd the purenes and per fection of maners les spotted and contaminate, than amonge wed­ded persons. Let the swarmes of monkes, fryers, chanons, & nun­nys auaunce theyr professyon as moch as them lust. Let them bost as moch as they wyll, theyr cery­monyes & dysguysed cotes (wher by they be chefely knowen from the tēporall) suerly the most holy kynd of lyfe is wedlocke puerly & chastly kept. Forthermore nat he onely geldeth hymselfe which ly­ueth [Page] without a wyfe, but he why che chastly & holyly doth thoffyce of wedlocke. And wold god they were trewly chaste, so many as cloke theyr vyces vnder the glo­ryous tytle of chastite and castra tyon, whyche vnder the shadowe of chastyte doo more fowly rage in fylthy and bestely abhomyna­tion. For I am ashamed, so helpe me god, here to reken vp, in to what shamefull abhominatyons they ofte tymes falle, whyche doo thus repugne agaynste nature. To be shorte, Christ neuer com­maunded bachelarshyp to none erthly persone, but he openly for­byddethe deuorcement. Suerly He thyn­kethe yt expedyēt for pre­stes to haue wy ues. me thynke, he shulde be nat the worste counsellour for y^e cōmune weale (cōsyderyng the fashyons & manners of men) whyche wolde [Page] graunt also the prestes & relygy­ous persons lycence to mary, na­mely sythe ther is euery where so greate a multytude of prestes, of which (alas) how few lyue a chast lyfe? How moch better were it to tourne theyr cōcubyns into wy­ues, so that those whome they haue nowe with greate infamye, and with an vnquyet conscyence, they myght then haue openlye with an honeste fame, and beget chylderne whom they may loue as trewly legytymate, and bryng them godly vp, so that nother the father shall be ashamed of them, nor they of ther father. And this (I trow) the officyals of byshops shulde haue procured long a go, but that greater gaynes aryse by the concubyns, then shuld by the wyues. But virgynyte (ye wyll A confu­taryon. [Page] say) is a dyuyne thynge, an ange­lycall thyng. Trewthe it is, but, on the contrarye syde, wedlocke is an humane thynge. I nowe speke to a man beynge my selfe a man. A cōmēdable thyng, certes, is virgynite, but yet so that this prayse be nat transferred to ouer many, whyche commendation if euery man commenly wyl begyn to vsurpe, what can be sayde or thought more hurtfull and more ꝑnycious than virginyte? More ouer thoughe in other men vir­gynyte shuld moste of all deserue prayse, yet suerly i you it can nat lacke blame, in whome it nowe standeth to preserue youre no­ble stocke, worthy of an immor­tal contynuāce. Fynally he is but a very lytle of, from the prayse of virgynite, whyche kepeth purely [Page] the law of wedlocke, and whyche hath a wyfe to the cntent to beget chylderne, and nat to satysfy hys wanton luste. Yf the brother, in the law of Moses, be commaun­ded The sues lawe. to rayse the seade of his bro­ther, whych dyed without yssue, wyll ye suffre the hope of your whole lygnage to be vtterly ex­tynte, namely syth it is returned to you only? Nor I am nat so ig­norāt but y^t I know welynoygh that the praises of virginite haue ben rehersed, and celebrate with great volumes of sum of our olde fathers. Among whom Hierome Hierome so auaūceth it, y^t in maner he des­piseth wedlocke & was prouoked of the byshoppes that were of the trew opinyō to rechaūt & synge a newe song. But let this heate be graunted to those tymes. Howe [Page] I wolde wysh those y^t thus euery where without dyscretion do ex­horte the youthe (nat yet knowen to them selfes) to bachelarshyp and vyrgynyte, to bestowe theyr labour in descryuynge the forme of chaste & pure matrimony. But yet they whyche ar so well plea­sed with virginite be nat dysplea sed with the warres agaynste the Turkes whyche passe vs so farre in numbre, whose iudgement if it be ryght, it shall folowe that it be chefcly thought ryght & holy, busyly to beget chylderne & sup­plye youthe suffycyent for the vse of the warres. Except perchaūce they thynke to prepare gonnes, weapōnys, shyppes to y^e warrrs, & thynke lytle neade of men. The same do alow to slee w^t the swerd the parentes of infideles, to the in [Page] tent that theyr chylderne myght be baptysed, yea vnknowyng al­so. If this be trewe, howe gentyl ler a dede were it to brynge the same to effecte with the offyce of intermaryinge, eche with other. No nation is so cruel that abhor reth nat the murdre of infauntes. Lawes of princes in maner with lyke rigoure punyshe them that cause that, which is conceyued in the womā to com forth deed, and them that make them baren with medycynes. Why so? Forther is smal diuersyte betwyxt hym that murdereth that whyche begynne to be borne, and hym whych pro­cureth that nothyng can be borne Thys that in your body eyther dryeth vp, or with y^e great daun­ger of your helth putryfyeth and corrupteth, whyche in your slepe [Page] falleth away, had ben a man if ye were a man your selfe. The olde lawe of the Iewes curseth hym whych when he is commaunded to lye with his brothers wyfe y^t is deade, casteth his seade on the erth that nothyng shuld be engengred, and is iudged vnworthy lyfe, whyche enuyeth lyfe to the frute y^t is to be borne. But howe lytle from hym differ they, which haue enioyned themselfes perpe­tuall barrennesse? Do they nat seme to kyl so many mē, as shuld haue ben borne, if they had gyuē theyr labour to the begettynge of chylderne? I pray you if a manne haue a pece of groūd rancke of na ture, whyche vntylled, he suffreth to be contynually barren, is nat this man punyshable by y^e Ciuile lawe, bycause it is for the profete [Page] of the commuue wele that euery man tendeth well his owne? Yf he be punyshed whych neglecteth his grounde whych (be hit neuer so well tyld) bryng forth nothyng els than wheate / or beanes / or pese, what punyshment is he wor thy whyche refuseth to tylle that groūd which tylled beareth men? And in tyllage of the erthe is re­quyred a longe and paynefull la­bour, here the short tyllage is al­so entysed with a pleasure / as it wer a reward prepared therfore. Wherfore if the sense of nature, if Aepiloge honestye / if naturall affectyon / if deuotion / if gentelnes / if vertue any thynge moue you, why ab­horre ye from that whych god or­deyneth, nature enacteth, reason entyseth / the scryptures bothe of god and man prayse / the lawes [Page] commaūde, the whole cōsent of al natyons approue / to whyche the ensample of euery good man pro uoketh? That if the most parte of thynges (yea whyche be also byt­ter) ar of a good mā to be desyred for none other purpose, but by­cause they be honeste, matrimony doutles is chefely to be desyred wherof a man may dout whether it hath more honesty thā pleasure For what thynge is sweter, then with her to lyue, with whome ye may be most streyghtly copuled, nat onely in y^e beneuolence of the mynd, but also in the cōiunction of y^e body. Yf a greate delectation of mynde be taken of the beneuo­lence of our other kynsmen, sythe it is an especyall swetnes to haue one with whom ye may commu­nycate the secrete affectyons of [Page] your mynde, with whom ye may speake euen as it were with your owne selfe, whom ye may sauely truste, whyche supposethe your chaunces to be his, what felycyte (thynke ye) haue the coniunction of man and wyfe, than whych no thynge in the vnyuersall worlde may be founde outher greater or fermer? For with our other fren­des we be conioyned onely with the beneuolence of myndes, with our wyf we be copuled with most hyghe loue, with permyxtyon of bodyes, with the confederate bād of the sacramēt, and fynally with the felaweshyp of all chaunces. Furthermore in other frēdshyps, howe greate symulation is ther? howe greate falsyte? Yea they, whome we iudge ouer best fren­des, lyke as the swalous flee [Page] awaye, when somer is gone, so they forsake vs, when fortune tur neth her whele. And somtyme the frescher frende caste out the olde. We here of fewe, whose fydelyte endure tyll theyr lyues end. The wyues loue is with no falsite cor rupted, with no symulation ob­scured, with no chauuce of thyn­ges mynyshed, fynally with deth only (nay nat with deth neyther) with drawen. She, the loue of her parentes / she, the loue of her systers / she, the loue of her bre­therne despyseth for the loue of you, her onely respecte is to you, of you she hangeth / with you she coueteth to dye. Haue ye ryches? ther is one y^t shall saue it / ther is one y^t shall encrease it. Haue ye none? ther is one that may seke it yf ye haue wealth / your felycyte [Page] is doubled / if aduersyte, ther shal be one whych may conforte you, whych may syt by your syde, whi­che may serue you / which may co uet your greffe to be hers. Do ye iudge any pleasure to be cōpared with this so great a coniunctiō? Yf ye tary at home ther is at hand whyche shall dryue away y^e tedy­ousnes of solytary beyng. Yf frō home / ye haue one that shall kysse you whē ye departe / long for you whē ye be absent, receyue you ioy ously whē ye returne. A swete cō ­paygnyon of youth / a kynd solas of age. By nature yea any felaw­shyp is delectable to mā, as whō nature hath created to beneuolēce and frendshyp. Thys felawshyp then howe shall it nat be moste swete, in whyche euery thynge is comune to them bothe? And con­trarily, [Page] if we se the sauage bestes also abhorre solytarye lyuynge & delyted in felawshyp, in my mynd he is nat onys to be supposed a man, whych abhorreth frō this fe lawshyp most honest & plesaūt of all. For what is more hatefull thē y^t man which (as though he were borne onely to hymself) lyueth for hymselfe, seketh for hym selfe / spa reth for hymself / doth cost to hym selfe, loueth no persone, is loued of no persone? Shall nat suche monstre be adiudged worthy to be caste out of all mens compa­nye into the mydde see with Cy­mon the Athenyense, whyche be­cause he fledde all mens com­paygny, was called Misanthro­pus that is to say hateman? Ney ther dare I here propound vnto pou those plesures whyche (wher [Page] as they be naturally moste swete to man) yet (I can nat tell how (of the greate wyttes they be dyssem bled, rather than despysed. Albe it, who can be borne with so rigo rous a dysposytion (I wyll nat saye dumppyshe and dastardly) whyche maye nat be taken with suche kynde of pleasurs, namely if he maye attayne them without the offense of god & mā / without the losse of his good name? Cer­tes I wold cal hym no man but a playne stone. Albeit, that plesure of bodyes is the leste parte of the goddes that wedlock hathe. But ymagyn that ye can contempne this, as vnworthy tor a mā (how be it without these we deserue nat onys the name of a man) let it be put (if ye wyll) a monge the most base commodytes of wedlocke / [Page] nowe syr what can be more amia ble then chaste loue / nay what more holy & honest? There accres seth by the meanes a swete flocke of alyesses / ther is dubled the nū ­bre of parentes / of bretherne / of systerne / of neuewes. For nature can gyue one only mother / one only father. By wedlocke, an other father / an other mother is goten, whiche (because they haue cōmitted theyr owne fleshe vnto you) can nat but loue you moste tenderly. Nowe syr, how hyghly wyl ye esteame this thyng, when your fayer wyfe shall make you a father with a fayer chyld? When sum litle yong babe shall play in your halle whiche shall resemble you & your wyfe? Which with a myld lyspyng, or amyable stam-(merynge [Page] shal cal you dade. Now adde, vn to your wyfes loue, y^e bond more strong then any adamāte, which nat dethe hym selfe can braste a sundre.

Oh how blessed (sayth Flaccus) be they Horace. whom ye fast knot of wedlocke doth tey whose stedfast loue by no pleit cā starte Tyll only dethe them tweyne do parte. Ye haue them that may delyght your age / y^t may close your eyes / y^t may do thoffyce of the buryals / in whōe ye may seme regenerate / whome beynge a lyue, ye shalbe thought nat to haue dyed. Your gooddes which ye haue goten go nat to straūg heyres. Thus, whē ye ar passyng out of the worlde, & haue fully executed all to gether, yet nat dethe hym selfe can seme sharpe nor bytter vnto you. Age must crepe vpon vs all / whether [Page] we wyll or nat. By thys polecye nature hath prouided that in out chylderne & neuewes we may be renewed & florysh fresh agayne. For who cā bere age heuyly whē in hys sonne he beholdethe his owne vysage that he hymselfe bare whā he was yong? Deth is p̄pared for all. But by this only waye the prouydence of nature assayethe (as it were) a certayne immortalite, whyll she thus ma­keth one thynge to yssue out of an other (lyke as a yong plante whi­che is cut of, from y^e tree sprigeth freshly vp) nor he semethe nat to be vtterly quēched, which dyeth, leuynge issue behynd.

BUt I know well ynoughe The refu­tation of the incō ­modities of marya ge. what among these, ye mur mure against me. A blessed thing is wedlocke, if al proue acording [Page] to the desire. But what if a way­ward wyfe chaūceth? What if an vnchaste / what if vnnatural chyl­derne? There wyll renne in your mynd thexamples of those whom wedlocke haue brought to vtter destruction. Heape vp as muche as ye can, but yet these be y^e vices of men & nat of wedlocke. Beleue me, an euyll wyfe is nat wont to chaunce, but to euyll husbondes. Put thys vnto it / that it lyeth in you to chuse out a good one. But what if after the mariages she be mard? Of an euyll husbande (I wyll well) a good wyfe may be mard. but of a good / the euyll is wont to be refourmed & mended. We blame wyues falsly. No man (if ye gyue any credence to me) had euer a shrewe to his wyfe, but thrughe hys owne defaute. And [Page] of good parētes comūly be borne lyke chylderne. Howbeit the chyl derne also (howe so euer they be borne) communly do proue suche, as they be formed and fashoned in ther bryngyng vp. Nowe syr / I see no cause why ye shuld feare ielowsye. Thys is the syknes of folyshe louers. The chaste & law­full loue knoweth no ielowsye. What do y^e tragedes cum to your mynde? This aduouterous wo­man stroke in sūder her husbond with an axe. This poysoned him. That woman with her hatefull maners did dryue her husbond to deth. Why rather do nat Cornelia wyfe to Ciberius Graccus cum to your remembraunce? Why do nat Alcestis so good a wyfe of nat so good an husbond? Why do stat outher Iulia wyfe of Pompeiꝰ [Page] or Portia the wyfe of Cato renne in your mynd? Why do nat Arte­misea worthy eternall memorie? Why do nat Hypsicratea wyfe to Mithridates kynge of Pontus? Why com nat into your mynde y^t most gentle behauiour of Tertia Aemilia y^e wyfe of Scipio Afri­canus? Why do nat y^e faythfulnes of Turia? Why do nat Lucretia and Lentula cum in mynd? Why do nat Arria so hyghly commen­ded of Plinie? Why do nat other innumerable, whose honest and chaste lyuynge / and faythfulnes towarde theyr husbandes coulde nat be altered nor corrupted nat by dethe? A rare byrd in erthe (ye say) is an honest woman. And ymagine ye agayne youre selfe worthy to haue a rare wyfe.

A good woman (sayth y^e wyse mā) [Page] is a great felicite. Be bold to hope oon worthy for yor maners. And very muche (as touchynge thys mater) lyeth in the fashonynge of her & in y^e behauyng of your selfe towardes her whome ye chose. But sweter (ye wyll say) is liber­te. Who so euer taketh a wyfe, taketh a payre of fetters whiche nothyng saue only deth can shake of. What can be swete to a man a lone? If libertie be swete, it were best (by myne aduyse) to take a cōpaygnion with whom ye may part this so plesaūt a thing. How beit, what is more free than this bondage, wher eyther is so bond to other that neyther wolde be enfraūchysed? Is nat euery man bound to his frende? Yet no man complayneth that hys liberty is take away. But ye feare leste if Orbitas [Page] dethe shuld take away your chyl­derne ye shulde fall in to sorowe. Yf ye fere to be chylderneles, for this very cause ye ought to mary a wyfe whiche only may be the cause that ye be nat chyldernles. But what serche ye out so dily­gently (nay so narouly and curi­ously) al the incomodities of ma­trimony, as who shulde say the sengyll lyfe had no incommodie at all? As who shulde saye, ther were any lyfe of man that is nat subiecte to al the chaunces of for­tune. He must get hym out of the world which wyl bere no incom­modite. That if ye wyll haue re­specte to the lyfe in heuen, thys lyfe of man is to be sayd a dethe / & no lyfe. But if ye kepe your mind within y^e boūdes of mans estate / nothyng is neyther sauffer, ney­ther [Page] quieter, neyther pleasaūter, neyther amiablear, neyther hap­pyer, than y^e wedded lyfe. Marke the thyng by y^e ende. Howe many se ye, whiche haue onys assayed wedlocke, that go nat gredely to it agayne. Dyd nat my frende Mauricius (whose excellent pru dēce is nat vnknowne vnto you) after the deth of hys wyfe whom he so singularly loued, marye the next monethe after a newe wyfe? Nat so greatly for thimpaciencie of hys luste, but he thought hys lyfe no lyfe without a wyfe, a swete company on of al thynges. Dothe nat Iouius our frende nowe wooe his fourth wyfe? So he loued them when they lyued y^t he semed comfortles. So, when one dyed he hated to be a wydo­wer, as thoughe he fayntly had [Page] loued them. But what reason we of honestie & plesauntnes, when nat only profete entysethe but al­so necessite constrayneth to wed­locke? Take matrimony awaye, and within fewe yeres mankynd shalbe vtterly gone. Xerxes kyng of Persea when he beheld out of an hyghe tower the great multi­tude of men he could nat refrayne weapynge, bycause y^t of so many thousandes of men, within thre score yeres none shulde be lefte a lyue. Why the thynge that he vn­derstode of hys armye, do nat we cōsidre of al mankind? Wedlocke taken away, who one, of so many regions, prouinces, realmes, ci­ties, townes, within an hūdreth yeres shalbe lefte alyue? Go we nowe and auaūce bachelarshyp, whiche bryngeth mankynd to de­struction. [Page] What pestilence, what plage, can be sent on man eyther frome heuen or frome helle more hurtful? What of any flode can be feared more daungerous? What can be loked for, more heuy and greuous, though y^t fyer of Phae­ton shulde cum agayne whan all the worlde was destroyed with fyar, And yet (for al that) in suche trobelous sesons many are wont to be lefte alyue, but by bachelar­shyp, suerly, nothing can be lefte. We se what a route of diseases, how many casualtyes, dayly and nyghtly lye in wayght vpon the fewenes of men. Howe many do the pestylence take away? Howe many do y^e see swalo we vp? How many do batell consume. For I wyll nat speke of these quotydi­ane dethes. Dethe flyeth aboute [Page] euery Where, he ronneth, he ca­ryeth, he hasteth toquenche man­kynd, and do we yet auaunce ba­chelarshyp & flee wedlocke? On­les perchaunce the lyfe of the Es­sens and Dupolitans (whiche do dampne wedlocke) do please vs, whose pestilente sectes be multy­plyed and encreased with vngra­cious people neuer faylyng. Do we loke that god wyll geue vs y^e same vertue that he hath geuen (as they saye) to the bees, so that without the cōpaynie of woman we myght be greate with chyld, & gather with our mouthes sedes of posterite out of the flowers? Do we requyre that lyke as the poetes fayne y^t Minerua yssued out of Jupiters braynes, so in lyke maner chylderne shuld leape out of our hedys? Or (to be short) [Page] that accordyng to the olde fabuls, men shuld sprynge out of y^e erthe, out of stones throwen forth, out of hard trunkes of trees? Out of the lappe of y^e erth many thynges do sprynge without our laboure. Lytle plantes sprynge vp often­tymes vnder the shadowe of theyr mother. But vnto man nature hathe gyuen one only way of de­ryuyng yssue, whiche is, that by the mutuall laboure of man and woman mankynd shulde be pre­serued, whiche if men wolde flee as ye do, truly these thynges which ye so hyghly auaūce shuld nat be. Ye auaunce bachelarshyp, ye magnifie virginite. But ney­ther bachelars neyther virgyns shulde be if ye take away the vse of wedlocke. Why then is virgi­nite preferred? Why is it in so [Page] hyghe reputacion, if it be the de­struction of man? It was com­mended / but for a time, and but in fewe, for it pleased god to she we to men a certayne token, and as it were a representacion of the heuenly lyfe where they neyther marye nor be geuen in mariage. Mat. 22. But for an example a fewe be suf­ficient, a multitude is nat profy­table. For lyke as nat al groūdes A symyly tude. (be they neuer so ranke) be sowen to the sustenaūce of man / but part is let a lone / part dyght to y^e plea­sure and feedyng of the eyes. For the very copie and plentie of the thyng in so muche arable ground suffreth sum parte to be lefte bar­ren and fruteles. But if none at al were sowen, who seeth nat but that we muste returne to y^e frute of trees wherwith they lyued in [Page] olde tyme before the inuencion of tyllage. So bachelarshyp in so greate a multitude of men / in a fewe (I graunt) is commēdable, in all, a thynge greatly to be dis­praysed. But admyte y^t in other men virginite had y^e name of an hyghe vertue, yet in you suerly it shuld be vitious. For other men shal seme, to haue entēded a pure­nes of lyuyng / ye shalbe iudged a trayterous murderoure of your lygnage, whiche, when ye myght haue maynteined by honest wed­locke, ye haue suffred to peryshe by foule bachelarshyp. Admyt it lawfull, out of a greate numbre of chylderne to offer one virgyne to god. The vplandyshe men whiche dwell in the coūtree offer to god the fyrst of theyr frute / nat theyr whole croppe. But ye, must [Page] remembre that ye only be lefte the laste / and the leuynges of your stocke. And I pray you what di­uersite is there whether ye slee or refuse to saue hym which may by you only be saued & easly saued? But the example of your syster A vio­lation prouoketh you to chastite. Nay, for this very cause only, ye ought moste chefely to eschue bachelar­shyp. For now ye vnderstand that the hope (which before was com­mune to you bothe) of preseruing your stocke is reuolued and caste whole vpon your backe. Let us pardone the frayle kynde of the woman / let vs pardon the vndes­crete age. The mayde ouercomen with sorow did a mys. Thrughe the entysmētes of folyshe women and folyshe fryars she hathe caste her selfe hedlong. Ye beyng elder [Page] muste nedes remembre that ye be a man. She wold nedes dye with her auncestres, but your laboure must be that they dye nat. Your syster hath withdrawen her selfe of her dutye, remembre now that ye ought to fulfyll the partes of two. The doughtars of Loth stycked nat to lye w^t theyr father, iudgyng it better to mayntayne they? lygnage by vnlawfull and abhominable inceste than to suf­fre it clene to fal awaye. And wyl nat ye then by matrimony which is, honest, holy, chaste, without offence, with hygh plesure mayn tayne your stocke, which shal els be vtterly extyncte?

UUherfore let vs suffre them to folowe the lyfe of Hippo­lytus, The cō clusiou. let them (I say) embrace bachelarshyp, whiche eyther can [Page] be husbandes but fathers can be none, or whose bare lyuynge is nat able to brynge vp chylderne / or whose stocke may be maintey­ned by other, or suerly is suche, that better it were for the cōmune weale to be quenshed, than mayn teyned. But ye whā (wytnessyng the physician a man neyther vn­lerned nor no lyar) ye seme by your nature very apte to engen­dre muche posterite, whē ye haue greate enheritaūce, commynge also of a stocke, so good, so noble, that without greate synne and y^e great hurte of the cōmune weale it can nat be quenched, further­more sythe your age is iusty and floryshynge, nor ye lacke nat the beautie of y^e body, and when ther is offered you a wyfe, so lusty a mayde, so well borne as may be, [Page] thaste, sobre, demure, godly, ha­uyng an aungels face / with fayre landes, when your frendes be­seche you, your kynred weape, your affinite cal on / your natyue coūtree requireth / the very deade corses of your auncestres rysyng out of theyr graues obteste the same of you, do ye yet tary, do ye yet thynke vpon bachelarshyp? Yf a thyng scase honest shulde be required of you / yf an hard thing, yet eyther the requestes of your frendes, eyther the loue of your stocke ought to ouercum your mynd. Howe muche then, more ryght and conuenicnt is it, that the teares of your frendes / the affection of your coūtree / the na­turall loue of youre auncestres ought to obteyne y^t of you, wher­unto goddes lawes and mannys

[Page] exhorte / nature pricketh / reason leadethe / honestie allurethe / so many cōmodities ꝓuoke / necessite also cōstreyneth? But nowe we haue brought forthe argumentes abundantly ynoughe. I truste longe ago (throughe myne ad­uertysmēt) ye haue chaunged your purpose / and applyed your mynd to holsom­mer counselles. Fare ye well.