Of the bryngyng vp of the mayde Whā she is a babe. The fyrste chaptre.

FAbius Quintilian in his boke where he doth instructe & teache an oratour / wylleth his begynnyng and entrance to be taken from the cradell / and no time to be slacked vnapplied to warde thende and purpose of y^e faculte entended: Nowe moche more dylygence ought to be gyuen in a Christen virgine / that we may bothe enfourme her encreace and ordre it and her instruction and entrynge / and that by and by from the mylke: whiche I wolde / if hit were pos­sible / shulde be the mothers: And the same coun­saile gyueth Plutarche and Phauorine / and ma­ny other of the wysest and greattest philosophers. For by that meanes the loue shall be the more be­twene the mother and the daughter / whan none of the mothers name shall be taken from her and put vnto any other. For nurces be wonte also to be called mothers. And the mother maye more true­ly reken her daughter her owne / whom she hath nat onely borne in her wombe and brought in to y^e worlde / but also hath caried styll in her armes of a babe / vnto whom she hath gyuen tete / whom she hath nourisshed with her owne blod / whose slepes she hath cherisshed in her lappe / and hath cherful­ly [Page]accepted and kyssed the fyrst laughes / and fyrst hath ioyfully herde y^e stameryng of hit / couerynge to speke / and hath holden harde to her brest / pray­enge hit good lucke and fortune. These thynges shall cause and ingendre suche reuerent & inwarde loue in the daughter toward the mother agayne / y^t she shall be far more loued & set by of her dough­ter / bycause of y^e loue that she hath so abundantly conceyued towarde her in grene and tender age. Who can nowe expresse / what charite these thyn­ges encreace amonge folke / whan wylde beastes that haue no knowlege nor parceiuyng what loue meaneth / yet loue theyr noryshers and bryngers vp / nor shon the daungers of dethe to defende and saue them? More ouer I wot nat howe / but so hit is / that we sowke out of our mothers teate to ge­ther with the mylke nat only loue but also condici­ons and dispositions. And that is the cause sayth the philosopher Phauorine / that maketh men to maruayle why they se many children / commen of chaste and good women / nothynge lyke theyr pa­rentes / neither in mynde nor body: nor the comen sayeng come vp of nought / whiche is nat vnkno­wen nat vnto children: They that haue bene nur­ced with sowes milke haue rolled in the myer. For that cause the wise mā Chrysippus bad chose the wyseste and beste nurces. Whiche precepte I my selfe wyll ensue and coūsaile y^e mothers / that may nat norisshe their children with their owne mylke / to do likewyse. Neyther I wyl so great diligēce to be gyuē in sekyng a nurce for a boy as for a maide. [Page]Quintilian thought it sufficiēt to cōmaunde that the nurces shulde nat be foule and rude spoken / by cause the wayes and maner of speakyng taken in youth / wolde be harde to gette away. As for their maners he cared nat so greatlye / Whiche the man chylde dothe ofter lerne from home than at home. And yet he doth allege the opinion of Chrysippus as though he allowed the same. But the mayde / whom we wolde haue specially good / requireth al intendaunce bothe of father and mother / lest any spotte of vice or vnclenlynes shulde stycke on her: Let her take no suche thynges neither by her bo­dily senses and wyttes / nor by her norishyng and bryngyng vp. She shall fyrst here her nurce / fyrst se her: and what so euer she lerneth in rude and i­gnorant age / that wyll she euer labour to counter­fete and folowe counnyngly. Therfore saint Hieronyme / whan he dyd teache the daughter of Leta / he warned that the nurce shulde be no drunkarde / nor wanton / nor full of talke and chattyng.

Of the residue of her infancy. The seconde Chapter.

AFter that she is ones weaned and begynneth to speke and go / let all her play & pastyme be with maydes of her owne age / and within the presence either of her mother or of her nurce / or some other honeste woman of sad age / y^t maye rule and measure the playes and pastymes of her mynde / and set them to honestie and verue. [Page]Auoyde all mānes kyn away from her: nor let her nat lerne to delite amonge men. For naturally our loue contynueth the longest towarde them / with whom we haue passed our tyme in youth. Whiche affection of loue is the most stronge with women: bycause they be more disposed to pleasure and da­lyance. Nowe in that age / whiche can nat yet dis­cerne good from badde / they shuld be taught none yuell. And hit is an vngratious opinyon of them that say / they wyll haue theyr chyldren to knowe both good and yuell. For by that meanes they say they shall the better fle vice & folowe vertue. But hit were more suertie / and more profitable / & ther­to more happye / nat onely to do none yll / but also nat ones to knowe hit. For who hath nat harde / that we were cast ī to misery / that selfe houre that the fyrst ancetries of mankynde knewe what was good and what was badde? And verely / fathers y^t wyll nat haue their children vnexpert and ignorāt of yuell / be worthy that theyr childrē shuld knowe both good and yll: And whan they repent them of theyr yuel doyng / shuld call yet vnto remēbrance / that they lerned to do yuel by their fathers mynde and wyll. Let the mayde lerne none vnclenly wor­des / or wātō / or vncomely gesture & mouyng of y^e body / nat so moche as thā whā she is yet ignorant what she dothe / and innocent. For she shall do the same / whan she is growen bygger and of more di­scretion. And it chaunceth vnto many / that what thynge so euer they haue ben accustomed ī before / they do the same afterward at vnwarres and vn­auysedly. [Page]And often tymes suche braydes come v­pon them agaynst theyr wyll. And the worse they be / the oftener they do them. For folkes myndes beare them better awaye. Let the father and mo­ther be well ware that they alowe none vncomely dede of her / neyther by wordes / laughynge / nor countenance / neyther kysse and enbrace her ther­fore: whiche is the foulest dede of all. For y^e mayde wyll labour to reherse often that / whiche she thyn­keth shall please beste her father and mother. Let all her bryngynge vp be pure and chaste the fyrste yeres / bycause of her maners / y^e whiche take their fyrst furmyng of y^t custome in youthe and infancy.

Of her exercise. The thyrde Chapter.

WHan she is of age able to lerne any thȳg / let her begynne with that / whiche ꝑtey­neth vnto the ornamēt of her soule / and the kepyng and ordryng of an house. Howe be it I appoynt no tyme to begynne. Some reken best to begyn at the seuenth yere: in whiche opinion are Aristotel / Eratosthenes / and Chrysippus. Quin­tilian wolde begynne at the fourthe or fyfte yere. But I put all y^e ordryng of this matter in the dis­crecion of the fathers and mothers: whiche may take auysement after the qualities and complexi­ons of the childe: so they be nat letted with inor­dinate affection: by reason wherof some set so mo­che by theyr chyldren / and care so sore for them / y^t [Page]they kepe them from all laboure: leste they shulde fall in to any syckenes. So whan they wene to en­crease and strēgth theyr bodyes / they bruse & wea­ken them. The cherisshynge and suffrance of the fathers and mothers hurteth moche the children / that gyueth them an vnbridled lybertie vnto vice infinite: and specially y^e maydes. But these be re­frayned & holden vnder for the most part by feare: Whiche if hit lacke / than hath she all the bridell of nature at large / and runneth heedlonge vnto mis­chiefe / and drowneth her selfe therin: and cometh nat lyghtly to any goodnes / without she be of na­ture suche as we maye se some. Therfore lette her bothe lerne her boke / & beside that / to handle wolle and flaxe: whiche are two craftes yet lefte of that olde innocent worlde / bothe profitable and kepers of temperance: whiche thynge speciallye women ought to haue in price. I wyll medle here with no lowe matters / leste I shulde seme to make moche ado aboute thynges that be to symple for my pur­pose. But I wolde in no wyse that a womā shulde be ignorant in those feates / that muste be done by hande: no nat though she be a princes or a quene. For what can she do better / or ought to do rather / what tyme she hath ryd her busynes in her house? Shulde she talke with men or other women? And what shall she still talke of? Shall she neuer holde her peace? Or shall she syt & muse? What I praye you? Womans thought is swyfte / and for y^e most parte vnstable / walkyng and wandring out from home / and sone wyl slyde / by the reason of it owne [Page]slypernes / I wote nat howe far. Therfore redyng were the best / and ther vnto I gyue them coūsaile specially. But yet whan she is wery of redynge / I can nat se her idell as it were the women of Perse lande / drowned in volupters and pleasures / sittȳg amonge the companye of gelded men / syngynge and bankettynge contynually: Whiche pleasures were ofte chaunged and renewed to eschewe tedi­ousnes: and thende of one pleasure was the begynnynge of another folowynge. Saynt Hieronyme wolde haue Paula to handle wolle / that moste no­ble woman commen of the bloode of Scipio and Gracchus: whiche was also descended of the ly­nage of kynge Agamemnon the prince of all kyn­ges: and to lerne to dresse it / and to holde and oc­cupie a rocke / with a wolle basket in her lappe / & turne the spyndel / and drawe forthe y^e threde with her owne fyngers. And Demetrias / whiche was as great of byrthe / as myghty of possessions as she / he bad haue wolle in her handes: and her selfe either to spynne / to warpe / orels wynde spyndels in a case for to throw wofe of / & to wynde on clewes the spynnyng of others / & to ordre suche as shulde be wouen. For the dressyng of wolle hath ben euer an honest occupatiō for a good woman. In Rome all maydes / whā they were fyrst maryed / brought vnto theyr husbandes house dystaffe and spyndell with wolle / and wyped / stryked / and garnysshed the postes with wolle. Whiche thyng was a great ceremony with them. And aft / she shulde be made sytte on a felle with wolle / that she myght lerne / [Page]what she ought to do at home. Than after warde she shulde saye these wordes vnto her husbande: Where as y^u arte Caius / there am I Caia. Nowe was this Caia Tanaquil an Etruscian borne / a very noble woman and a sadde / wyfe vnto kynge Tarquine Priscus. Whiche Caia Tanaquil vsed all her labour in wolle. Therfore after her deth she was worshypped for a goddis / and her image set vp with a rocke / as a token and a signe of chastite and labour. Also there was a custome to crye at y^e weddyng oftētymes / Thalassio Thalassio / that is as ye wolde saye / The wolle basket The wolle basket: to thentent / the newe maried wyfe shulde remembre / what she shuld haue to do. Therfore it was rekened a sygne of a wyse and a chaste womā to do that busynes. The kynges sonne of Rome / and noble yonge men of the kynges bloode / whan they fell at argument about theyr wyues / & came sodaynly home to Rome / they founde other of the kynges daughters in lawe amonge theyr compa­nions and mates makynge good chere: But they founde Lucrecia syttyng at her wolle vntyl late in the nyght / and her maydes busy about her / in her owne house. Than all they by one assent gaue her the price of goodnes and chastite. What tyme all the empire and dominion of Rome was in Augu­stus handes / yet he set his daughters & his necis to worke vpō wolle. Like wyse Terence / where he doth describe a sobre & a chaste yōge womā sayth: Gettynge her lyuyng by wolle & webbe. And So­lomon / where he doth speke of the preyse of an ho­ly [Page]woman sayth: She sought for wolle and flaxe: and wrought by the counsayle of her hādes. Nor it maketh no force after my mynde / whether it be wolle or flaxe / for bothe perteyne vnto the necessa­ry vses of our lyfe: and be honest occupations for womē. Anna mother vnto Samuel the prophet / made with her owne hādes a lynen rochet for her sonne. The moste chast quene of Ithace Penelope passed the .xx. yeres that her husbāde was away / with weauynge. Quenes of Macidony & Epyre weaued garmentes with theyr owne handes / for theyr husbandes / & bretherne / & fathers / & chyl­dren: of whiche maner garmentes / kynge Alexā ­der shewed some vnto the quenes of Perse lande / that his mother and sisters had made. Writers of histories make mention / that molde tyme there was wonte in Spayne great wagers to be layde / who shuld spȳne / or weaue most / and tymes were apoynted to brynge forth theyr worke to shewe it / and gyue iugement of hit. And great honour and preyse was gyuen vnto them / that labored moste and dilygentlyest. And yet vnto this day / remay­neth the same mynde and loue of sobre sadnes in many: and thapplyenge of theyr worke is bosted and talked of: And amonge all good women hit is a great shame to be idell. Therfore quene Isa­bell kynge Fardinandos wyfe taught her dough­ters to spynne / sowe / and peynte: of whom two were quenes of Portugal / the thyrde of Spayne / mother vnto Carolus Cesar: & the fourth mooste holy and deuoute wyfe vnto the mooste gratious [Page]kyng Henry the .viij. of Englande. Let the maide also lerne cookery / nat that slubberyng and excesse in meates to serue a great meyny / full of delicious pleasures & glotony: whiche cookes medle with / but sobre and measurable / that she maye lerne to dresse meate for her father / and mother / and bre­therne / while she is a mayde: and for her husbāde and chyldren / whan she is a wyfe: and so shall she gette her great thāke both of the one and thother: whan she doth nat laye al the labour vpon the ser­uantes: But her selfe prepare suche thynges as shall be more pleasant vnto her father and mother bretherne / and husbāde / and children / than if they were dressed by seruātes. And that the more plea­sant / if they were seke. Nor let no body lothe the name of the kechyn: namely beyng a thyng very necessary: without the whiche neither seke folkes can amende nor holle folkes lyue. The whiche oc­cupacion Achilles both a kyng & a kynges son & a lorde most noble dyd nat disdayne to do. For what tyme Vlisses and Nestor came to hym / for agre­ment betwene hym and Agamemnon / he layde y^e tables hym selfe / and tucked vp his clothes / and went in to the kechyn / and prepared theyr meate / to make the noble prīces sobre and tēperate chere / whom he loued so well. Also hit is a thynge perteynyng vnto temperance and honestie: for whan the maistres or her doughter is by / all thynge is done y^e more diligētly. What deyntenes of hāde is that / and what lothyng of the kechyn / that they maye nat abyde to hādle or se that / whiche theyr father / [Page]or mother / or husbande / or brother / or elles theyr childe must eate. Let them y^t do so / vnderstande / y^t they beray & fyle theyr hādes more / whā they lay them on an other mā thā their owne husbāde / thā though they babled & blacked them in soute. And y^t it is more shame to be sene in a daūce thā in y^e ke­chyn / & to handle well tables & cardes thā meate. And worse becometh a good womā to tast a cuppe of drynke in a feast or a bāket / reached vnto her by an other man / than to taste a suppynge in the ke­chyn to gyue her husbande. Therfore by my coū ­saile a woman shall lerne this crafte / that she may in euerye tyme of her lyfe please her frendes / and y^t the meate may come more clenly vnto the table. I haue sene in Spayne and in France / that haue mēded of their sickenes by meates dressed of their wyues / doughters / or doughters in lawe: & haue euer after loued them farre the better for hit. And agayne I haue sene / y^t haue ben hated / as dough­ter of the father and doughter in lawe of the fa­ther in lawe / and wyfe of her husbande / bycause they haue sayde / they coude nat skile of kookery.

Of the lernyng of maydes. The fourth chaptre.

OF maydes some be but lyttell mete for lernyng: Lyke wyse as some men be vn apte / agayne some be euē borne vnto hit / or at lest nat vnfete for hit. Therfore they that be dulle are nat to be discoraged / and those that be apte / shulde [Page]be harted & encoraged. I perceiue that lerned wo­men be suspected of many: as who sayth / the sub­tyltie of lernynge shulde be a noryshement for the malitiousnes of theyr nature. Verely I do nat a­lowe in a subtile and a crafty womā suche lernȳg / as shulde teche her disceyte / and teche her no good maners and vertues: Natwithstandyng the pre­ceptes of lyuȳg / & thexāples of those y^t haue lyued well / and had knowlege to gether of holynes / be y^e kepers of chastite and purenes / and the copies of vertues / and prickes to pricke and to moue folkes to contynue in them. Aristotel asketh a question / why trompetters and mynstrelles / that playe at festis for wagis / and resortynges & gatherynges of people / whom the grekes call in their langage / as ye wolde say / Bacchus seruantes / be euer gy­uen vnto pleasures / and no goodnesse at all: but spēde out theyr thryfte / and theyr lyfe in noughty­nes. He maketh answere hym selfe / that hit is so / bycause they be euer amonge volupteis and plea­sures / and bankettyng: nor here any tyme the preceptes of good lyuyng: nor regarde any man that lyueth well: and therfore they can lyue none other wyse thā they haue lerned / eyther by seynge or he­ryng. Nowe haue they harde / nor sene / neither v­sed any thynge / but pleasure and beastlynes / a­monge vncomely cryeng and shouttyng / amonge dauncers and kyssers / laughers and eaters / drunkerdes and spewers / amonge folke drowned in ex­cedyng ouermoche ioye and gladnes: all care and mynde of goodnes layde aparte: Therfore muste [Page]they nedes shewe suche thynges in theyr conditi­ons and all theyr lyfe. But you shall nat lyghtlye fynde an yll woman / excepte it be suche one / as ey­ther knoweth nat / or at leste way consydereth nat what chastite & honestie is worthe: nor seeth what myschiefe she doth / whā she for goth it: nor regar­dethe howe great a treasure / for howe fowle / for howe lyght / and transitorie an image of pleasure she changeth: what a sort of vngratiousnessis she letteth in / what tyme she shutteth forthe chastite: nor pōdreth what bodily pleasure is / howe vayne and folyshe a thynge / whiche is nat worth the tur­nynge of an hande / nat only vnworthy: wherfore she shulde cast away that / whiche is moost goodly treasure / that a woman canne haue. And she that hath lerned in bokes to caste this and suche other thynges / and hath furnyshed & fensed her mynde w^t holy coūsailes / shal neuer fȳde to do any vilany. For if she can fynde in her harte to do naughtyly / hauyng so many preceptes of vertue to kepe her / what shulde we suppose she shulde do / hauynge no knowlege of goodnes at al? And truely if we wold call tholde worlde to remembraunce / and reherce theyr tyme / we shall fynde no lerned woman that euer was yll: where I coude brynge forth an hundred good / as Cornelia / the mother of Gracchus / whiche was an example of all goodnes & chastite / and taught her childrē her owne selfe. And Portia the wyfe of Brutus / that toke of her fathers wy­sedome: And Cleobula daughter of Cleobulus / one of the .vij. wyse men / whiche Cleobula was [Page]so gyuen vnto lernynge and philosophie / that she clerely dispised all pleasure of the body / and lyued perpetuallye a mayde: at whom the doughter of Pythagoras the philosopher toke exāple / whiche after her fathers deth was the ruler of his schole / and was made the maystres of the college of vir­gins. Also Theano / one of the same secte & schole / doughter vnto Metapontus / whiche had also the gyfte of prophesie / was a woman of syngular cha­stite. And saynt Hieronyme sayth / that the .x. Si­billes were virgins. Also Cassandra / and prophe­tis of Apollo / and Iuno at Cryssa / were virgins / and that was a common thyng / as we rede / that those women y^t were prophetes were virgins eke. And she that answered suche as came to aske any thyng of Apollo in Delphis / was euer a virgine: of whom the fyrste was Phemone / whiche fyrste foūde verse royal. Also Sulpitia / wyfe vnto Cale­no / lefte be hynde her holy preceptes of matrymo­ny / that she hadde vsed in her lyuynge her selfe / of whom the poet Martial writeth on this wyse:

And hit is playnly knowen / that no man in that tyme was more happy of his wyfe / than was Ca­leno [Page]of Sulpitia. Hortentia the doughter of Hor­tentius thoratour / dyd so resemble her fathers e­loquence / that she made an oration vnto the iuges of the cite for the women: whiche oration the suc­cessours of that tyme dyd rede / nat only as a laude and preyse of womens eloquence / but also to lerne counnyng of it / as well as of Cicero or Demosthe­nes orations. Edesia of the cite of Alexandre / kins womā vnto Syryā y^e philosopher / was of so great lernyng and vertuous disposition / that she was a woundre vnto all the worlde in her tyme. Corinna Theia a vertuous woman ouer came the poete Pindar .v. tymes in verses. Paula the wyfe of Senec / enfourmed with the doctrine of her hus­bande / folowed also her husbande in conditions. And Senec him selfe maketh sorowe / that his mother was nat well lerned in the preceptes of wyse men / whiche she had bene entred in at her husbandes commandement. Argentaria Polla / wyte vn­to the poete Lucane / whiche after her husbandes dethe corrected his bokes / and it is sayde / that she helped hym with the makynge / was a noble wo­man of byrthe / ryche and excellent of beautie and wyt / and chastite: of whom Calliope in Statius speaketh thus vnto Lucane /

Also Diodorus the logitiā had .v. daughters ex­cellent in lernynge and chastite: of whom Philo / mayster vnto Carneades / wryteth the historye. zenobia the quene of palmyra / was lerned both in latyn and greke / and wrote an historie: of whom / with other mo in the next boke / I shal tel the mar­uaylous chastite. I nede nat to reherse y^e Christen women / as Tecla disciple of Paule / a scholer mete for suche a noble mayster: and Catharine of Alex­andria / doughter vnto Costus / whiche ouer came in disputatiōs the greattest & most exercised philo­sophers. There was one of the same name Catharine Senēsis a woūdrous coūnynge mayde: whi­che hath lefte behynde her exāples of her witte: in the whiche doth appere the purenes of her moste holy mynde. Nor we nede nat to enuy the pagās for theyr poetis: whiche haue in one house foure maydes all poetis / the doughters of Philippe. And in saynt Hieronymes tyme all holye women were very wel lerned. Wolde god y^t nowe a dayes / many olde mē were able to be cōpared vnto them in counnynge. Saynt Hieronyme wryteth vnto Paula / Leta / Eustachiū / Fabiola / Marcella / Fu­ria / Demetrias / Salma / and Hierontia: Saynt Ambrose vnto other: Saynt Augustyne vnto o­ther: and all maruelous wytted / well lerned / and holy. Valeria Proba / whiche loued her husbande singularly well / made the lyfe of our lorde Christe out of Virgils verses. Wryters of cronicles saye / that Theodosia / doughter vnto Theodosius the yonger / was as noble by her lernyng and vertue / [Page]as by her Empire: & y^e makynges y^t be taken out of Homer named centones be called hers. I haue red epistoles & counnyng workes of Hildegarde / a mayde of Almayne. There hath bene sene in our tyme y^t foure daughters of quene Isabell / of whō I spake a lytell before / that were well lerned all. It is tolde me with great preyse and maruayle in many places of this coūtre / that dame Ioanne / y^e wyfe of kynge Philippe / mother vnto Carolus / y^t nowe is / was wont to make answere in latyn / and that without any studie / vnto the orations y^t were made after the custome in townes / vnto newe princes. And lyke wyse the Englisshemen say by their quene / sister vnto y^e said dame Ioanne. The same sayth euery body by the other .ij. sisters / whiche be deed in Portugale: The whiche .iiij. systers there were no quenes by anye mannes remem­braunce more chast of bodye thanne they: none of better name / none better loued of theyr subiectes / nor more fauored: nor better loued theyr husban­des: none that more lawelye dyd obeye them / nor that kepte bothe them and all theyrs better with­out spotte of vilanye: there were none that more hated fylthynes & wātonnes: none that euer dyd more perfetly fulfyll all y^e pōytes of a good womā. Nowe if a mā may be suffered amonge quenes to speke of more meane folkes / I wolde rekē amōge this sorte the daughters of. S. T. M. Kn. M. E. and C. and with them theyr kyns womā. M. G: whom theyr father nat content only to haue them good and very chast / wolde also they shulde be wel [Page]lerned: supposyng that by that meane they shulde be more truely and surely chaste. Wherin neyther that great wyse man is disceyued / nor none other that are of the same opinion. For the studye of ler­nyng is suche a thyng / y^e it occupieth ones mynde holly / and lyfteth it vp vnto the knowlege of moste goodly matters: and plucketh it from the remem­braunce of suche thynges as be foule. And if any suche thought come in to theyr mynde / eyther the mynde / well fortified with the preceptes of good lyuynge / auoydeth them awaye / orels hit gyueth none hede vnto those thynges / that be vyle and foule: whan it hath other moost goodly and pure pleasure / where with hit is delyted. And therfore I suppose that Pallas the goddes of wysedome & coūnynge / and all the Muses / were feyned in olde tyme to be virgins. And the mynde / set vpon ler­nynge and wysedome / shall nat only abhorre from foule lust / that is to saye / the moste white thynge from soute / and the most pure from spottes: But also they shall leaue all suche lyght and tryflynge pleasures / wherin the lyght fantasies of maydes haue delyte / as songes daunces / and suche other wanton & peuysshe playes. A woman sayth Plu­tarche / gyuen vnto lernyng / wyll neuer delyte in daunsynge. But here parauenture a man wolde aske / what lernynge a woman shulde be set vnto / and what shall she studie: I haue tolde you / The study of wysedome: y^e whiche dothe enstruct their maners / and enfurme theyr lyuyng / and teacheth them the waye of good and holye lyfe. As for elo­quence [Page]I haue no great care / nor a woman nedeth it nat: but she nedeth goodnes & wysedome. Nor it is no shame for a woman to holde her peace: but it is shame for her and abomynable to lacke discre­tion / and to lyue ill. Nor I wyll nat here condēpne eloquēce / whiche bothe Quintilian / & saynt Hiero­nyme folowȳg hym say / was preysed in Cornelia the mother of Gracchus / & in Hortentia y^e daugh­ter of Hortentius. If there may be founde any holy and well lerned woman / I had leauer haue her to teache them: if there be none / let vs chose some man either well aged / orels very good and vertu­ous / whiche hath a wyfe / and that ryghte fayre ynough / whom he loueth well: and so shall he nat desyre other. For these thynges oughte to be seen vnto / for as moche as chastite in bryngynge vp a woman requireth the most diligence / and in a ma­ner all together. Whan she shalbe taught to rede / let those bokes be taken in hande / that may teche good maners. And whan she shall lerne to wryte / let nat her example be voyde verses / nor wanton or tryflynge songes: but some sad sentence / prudēt and chaste / taken out of holy scripture / or the say­enges of philosophers: whiche by often wrytyng she maye fasten better in her memory. And in ler­nyng / as I poynt none ende to the man / no more I do to the woman: sauyng it is mete that y^e man haue knowlege of many & dyuerse thynges / that may both profite hym selfe and the cōmon welthe / bothe with the vse and increasynge of lernynge. But I wolde the woman shulde be all together in [Page]that parte of philosophy / that taketh vpon hit to enfourme / and teache and amende the conditiōs. Finally set her lerne for her selfe alone & her yonge childrē or her sisters in our lorde. For it neither be­cometh a womā to rule a schole / nor to lyue amōge men / or speke abrode & shake of her demurenes & honestie / eyther all to gether orels a great parte: whiche if she be good / it were better to be at home within / and vnknowē to other folkes. And in company to holde her tonge demurely. And let fewe se her / and none at all here her. Thapostle Paule the vessel of election / enfurmyng & teachyng the churche of the Corinthis with holy preceptes / saythe: Let your women holde theyr tonges in congrega­tions: nor they be nat allowed to speake but to be subiecte as the lawe biddeth. If they wolde lerne any thynge / lette them aske theyr husbandes at home. And vnto his disciple Timothe he wry­teth on this wyse: Let a woman lerne in silence with all subiection. But I gyue no licence to a womā to be a teacher / nor to haue authorite of y^e man but to be in silēce. For Adam was y^e fyrst mayde / and after Eue / and Adam was nat betrayed / the woman was betrayed in to the breche of the com­mandement. Therfore bicause a womā is a fraile thynge / and of weake discretion / and that maye lightly be disceyued: whiche thynge our fyrst mo­ther Eue sheweth / whom y^e deuyll caught with a lyghte argument. Therfore a woman shulde nat teache / leste whan she hath taken a false opinion & beleue of any thyng / she spred hit in to the herars / [Page]by the autorite of maistershyp / and lyghtly bringe other in to the same errour / for the lerners commē ly do after the teacher with good wyll.

What bokes be to be redde / and What nat. The .v. Chapter.

SAynt Hieronyme Wrytynge vnto Leta of the teachynge of Paula / cōmaun­deth thus: Let her lerne to here nothȳg nor speke but it that perteyneth vnto the feare of god. Nor there is no dout / but he wyll counsayle the same of redynge. There is an vse nowe a dayes worse thā amonge the pagans / that bokes writen in our mothers tōges / that be made but for idel mē & womē to rede / haue none other matter / but of warre and loue: of the whiche bokes I thȳke it shal nat nede to gyue any preceptes. If I speake vnto Christen folkes / what nede I to tell what a myschiefe is to­warde / whan strawe & drye wodde is cast in to the fire? Yea but these be writē say they / for idel folke / as though idelnes were nat a vice gret inough of it selfe / without firebrondes be put vnto it / wher­w^t y^e fire may catche a mā al to gether & more hote. What shulde a mayde do with armoure? Whiche ones to name were a shame for her. I haue herde tell / that in some places gentyl womē behold mar­ueilous busily the playes and iustynges of armed men / and gyue sentence and iudgement of them: and that the men feare and set more by theyr iuge­mentes than the mennes. Hit can nat lyghtly be [Page]a chaste mynde / that is occupied with thynkynge on armour / and turney / and mannes valiaunce. What places amōge these be for chastite vnarmed and weake? A womā that vseth those feates dryn­keth poyson in her herte: of whom this care and these wordes be the playne sayenges: This is a deedly sickenes / nor yet ought to be shewed of me: but to be couered and holden vnder / leste hit hurte other with the smell / and defile them with the in­fection. Therfore whan I can nat tell whether it be mete for a Christen mā to handle armur / howe shulde it be lefull for a woman to loke vpon them / yea though she handle them nat / yet to be conuer­sant amonge them with herte and mynde / whi­che is worse? Moreouer / wherto redest thou other mennes loue and glosyng wordes / and by lytell & lytel drykest y^e entycemētes of y^t poyson vnknow­ynge / and many tymes ware and wittyngly? For many / in whom there is no good mynde all redy / redē those bokes to kepe hym selfe ī the thoughtes of loue: It were better for them nat only to haue no lernynge at all / but also to lese theyr eies / that they shulde nat rede: and theyr eares / that they shulde nat heare. For as our lorde sayth in the gos­pell: it were better for them to go blynde and deffe in to lyfe / than with .ij. eies to be caste in to helle. This mayde is so vile vnto Christen folkes / that she is abominable vnto pagās. Wherfore I woū ­der of the holy preachers / that whan they make great a do about many small matters / many ty­mes / they crye nat out on this in euery sermone. [Page]I maruayle that wyse fathers wyll suffre theyr daughters / or that husbandes wyll suffre theyr wyues / or that the maners & customes of people wyll dissemble and ouer loke / that women shal vse to rede wantonnes. Hit were fyttyng that cōmon lawes and officers shulde nat onely loke vpon the courtes & matters of sute / but also maners bothe cōmune and pryuate. Therfore hit were conueny­ent by a cōmune lawe to but away foule rebaudye songes / out of the peoples mouthes: whiche be so vsed / as though nothyng ought to be songen in the cite / but foule and fylthy songes / that no good man can here without shame / nor no wyse man w^t ­out displeasure. They y^t made suche songes seme to haue none other purpose / but to corrupt the maners of yōge folkes / and they do none other wyse / than they that infecte the cōmon welles with poy­son. What a custome is this / that a songe shal nat be regarded / but it be full of fylthynes? And this the lawes ought to take hede of: and of those vn­gratious bokes / suche as be ī my coūtre ī Spayne Amadise / Florisande / Tirante / Tristane / and Ce­lestina y^e baude mother of noughtynes. In Frāce Lancilot du Lake / Paris and Vienna / Ponthus and Sidonia / & Melucyne. In Flāders / Flori and White flowre / Leonell and Canamour / Curias & Floret / Pyramus and Thysbe. In Englande / Parthenope / Genarides / Hippomadon / William and Melyour / Libius and Arthur / Guye / Be­uis / and many other. And some translated out of latine in to vulgare speches / as y^e vnsauery cōcey­tes [Page]of Pogius / and of Aeneas Siluius / Euria­lus and Lucretia: whiche bokes but idell menne wrote vnlerned / and sette all vpon fylthe and vi­tiousnes: in whom I woūder what shulde delyte men but y^t vice pleaseth them so moche: As for ler­nynge none is to be loked for in those men / whiche sawe neuer so moche as a shadowe of lernȳg them selfe. And whā they tell ought / what delyte can be in those thȳges / y^t be so playne & folisshe lyes? One kylleth .xx. hym selfe alone / an other .xxx. an other wounded with .C. woundes / and lefte deed / ryseth vp agayne / and on y^e next day made hole & strōge / ouer cometh .ij. gyantes: and than goth away lo­den with golde / and syluer / and precious stones / mo thā a galy wolde cary away. What a madnes is hit of folkes / to haue pleasure in these bokes? Also there is no wytte in them / but a fewe wordes of wantonne luste: whiche be spoken to moue her mynde with / whom they loue / if it chaunce she be stedfast. And if they be redde but for this / the best were to make bokes of baudes craftes: for in other thynges / what crafte can be hadde of suche a ma­ker / that is ignorant of all good crafte? Nor I ne­uer harde man say / that he lyked these bokes: but those that neuer touched good bokes. And I my selfe some tyme haue redde in them / but I neuer foūde in them one steppe either of goodnes or wit. And as for those y^t preyse them / as I knowe some that do / I wyll beleue them / if they preyse them after that they haue redde Cicero and Senec / or saynt Hieronyme / or holy scripture / and haue mē ­ded [Page]theyr lyuyng better. For often tymes y^t onely cause why they preyse them is / bycause they se in them theyr owne conditions / as in a glasse. Final­ly / though they were neuer so wytty and pleasāt / yet wolde I haue no pleasure infected with poysō: nor haue no woman quickened vnto vice. And ve­rely they be but folisshe husbandes and mad / that suffre their wyues to waxe more vngratiously subtyle by redyng of suche bokes. But wherto shulde I speake of folysshe and ignorant wryters / seyng that Ouide woulde nat / that he that entendeth to fle vnchast maners / shulde ones toughe the moost witty and well lerned poetes of the grekes and la­tynes / that wryte of loue? What can be tolde more pleasant / more swete / more quicke / more profita­ble / with all maner of lernyng / than these poetes / Calimachus / Phileta / Anacreon / Sappho / Ti­bullus / Propertius / and Gallus? whiche poetes all Grece / all Italy / yea and all the worlde setteth great price by: and yet Ouide byddeth chaste fol­kes let them alone / sayenge in the seconde boke of the Remedies of loue /

They soūde so in dede / and therfore was he banisshed / nothynge without a cause of y^e good prince. Wherfore I preyse greatly the sad maners either of that tyme / orelles of that prince. But we lyue nowe in a Christen countre: and who is he / that is any thyng displeased with makers of suche bo­kes nowe a dayes? Plato casteth out of the com­mon welth of wyse men / whiche he made / Homer and Hesiodus the poetes: and yet haue they none yll thyng in cōparison vnto Ouidis bokes of loue: whiche we rede / and cary them in our hādes / and lerne them by herte: yea and some schole maisters teache them to theyr scholers: and some make ex­positions and expounde the vices. Augustus ba­nished Ouide hym selfe / and thynke you thā that he wolde haue kept these expositours in the coun­tre? excepte a man wolde reken hit a worse dede to write vice than to expounde hit / and enfourme the tender myndes of yonge folkes therwith. We ba­nisshe hym that maketh false weightes and mea­sures / and that countrefeteth coyne / or an instru­ment: And what a worke is made in these thȳges for smalle matters? But he is had in honour / and counted a maister of wysedome / that corrupteth the yonge people. Therfore a womā shuld beware of all these bokes / lykewise as of serpentes or sna­kes. And if there be any woman / that hath suche delyte in these bokes / that she wyll nat leaue them [Page]out of her hādes: she shulde nat only be kept from them / but also / if she rede good bokes with an yll will and lothe therto / her father and frendes shuld prouyde that she maye be kepte from all redynge. And so by disuse / forgette lernynge / if hit can be done. For hit is better to lacke a good thyng than to vse hit yll. Nor a good womā wyll take no suche bokes in hande / nor fyle her mouthe with them: and as moche as she canne / she wyll go aboute to make other as lyke her selfe as she may / bothe by doynge well / and teachynge well: and also as far as she may rule by cōmaundynge and chargyng. Nowe what bokes ought to be redde / some euery body knoweth: as the gospelles / and the actes / & the epistoles of thapostles / and y^e olde Testament / saynt Hieronyme / saint Cyprian / Augustine / Am­brose / Hilary / Gregory / Plato / Cicero / Senec / & suche other. But as touchyng some / wyse and sad men must be asked counsayle of in them. For the woman ought nat to folowe her owne iugement / lest whā she hath but a lyght entryng in lernyng / she shulde take false for true / hurtful in stede of hol­some / folishe and peuysshe for sad and wyse. She shall fynde in suche bokes as are worthy to be red / all thynges more wytty / and full of greatter plea­sure / & more sure to trust vnto: whiche shall bothe profite the life / and maruaylously delite y^e mynde. Therfore on holy dayes contynually / & sometyme on workynge dayes / lette her rede or here suche as shall lyfte vp the mynde to god / & set it in a christen quietnes / and make the lyuynge better. Also hit [Page]shuld be best afore she go to masse / to rede at home the gospell and the epistole of the day / and with it some exposition / if she haue any. Nowe whā thou comest from masse / and hast ouer loked thy house / as moche as perteyneth vnto thy charge / rede w^t a quiet mynde some of these that I paue spokē of / if thou canst rede / if nat / here. And on some wor­kyng dayes do like wise / if thou be nat letted with some necessary busynes in thy house / & thou haue bokes at hande: and specially if there be any lōge space betwene y^e holy dayes. For thynke nat that holy dayes be ordeyned of the churche to play on / and to sytte idell / and talke with thy gossyppes: but vnto thentent that than thou mayste more in­tentyuely / and with a more quiet mynde / thynke of god / and this lyfe of ours / and the lyfe in heuē / that is to come.

Of virginite. The .vi. Chapter.

NOwe wyl I talke altogeder with the mayde her selfe: whiche hath within her a treasure without comparyson / that is the purenes bothe of body and mynde. Nowe so ma­ny thynges come vnto my remembraunce to say / that I wote nat where is beste to begynne: whe­ther it were better to begynne where as saynt Au­gustyne dothe / whan he wyll intreate of holy vir­ginite. All the hole Churche is a virgyn / maryed vnto one husbande Christe / as saynt Paule wry­teth vnto the Corinthis. Than what honoure be [Page]they worthy to haue / that be the membres of hit / whiche kepe the same offyce in flesshe / that the holle Churche kepeth in faythe / whiche foloweth the mother of her husbande & lorde: for y^e churche is also a mother and a virgyne? Nor there is no­thynge that our lorde delyteth more in / than vir­gines: nor wherein angelles more gladly abyde / and playe with / and talke with: For they be vir­gins also them selfe / & theyr lorde: whiche wolde haue a virgine vnto his mother / and a virgine to his moste dere disciple / and the churche his spouse a virgine. And also he maryeth vnto hym selfe o­ther virgins / and gothe vnto mariages with vir­gins. And whither so euer he goethe / that lambe without spotte / whiche made vs clene with his blode / an hundred and .xl. thousande virgins fo­lowe hym. Hit is writen in the canticles: Our sy­ster is a lytell one / and hath no breastes. Whether that be the sayenge of Christe or angels to y^e soule / in whom standeth the very virginite pleasant vn­to god. Al glorie of y^e kynges daughter is inward sayth Dauid in the psalme. There is that golden clothynge / there is the garment set and powdred with so many vertuous and precious stones. Be nat proude mayde that thou arte holle of body / if thou be broken in mynde: nor bycause no mā hath touched thy bodye / if many men haue persed thy mynde. What auayleth hit / thy body to be clene / whan thou bearest thy mȳde and thy thought in­fected with a foule and an horrible blotte? O thou mayde / thy mȳde is wyddred by burnyng w^t mā ­nes [Page]heate: nor thou fretest nat with holy loue: but hast dryed vp all the good fatnes of the pleasures of paradise. Therfore art thou the foly she mayde / and haste no oyle: and whyle thou rounnest to the sellar / art shutte forthe: and as our lorde in the gospell thretneth / whan thou commest agayne / and knockest / thou shalte be answered: Who art thou? I knowe the nat. Thou shalte say than: knowest thou nat this body closed and vntouched of men? our lorde shall say agayne: I se nat the body: I se the soule open vnto men / and vnto deuylles worse than men / and often knocked at. Thou art proude mayde / bycause thy bealy hath no cause to swelle: whā thy mynde is swollen / nat with mānes sede / but with deuylles. For here howe well thy spouse lyketh the / thou knowest nat thy selfe. O mooste goodly of all women: come forthe and folowe the steppes of thy flockes / and fede thy kyddes by the tentes of the herde men. Thou knowest nat howe all only virginite is good / thou art nat my spouse: come forthe / and go after the steppes of those floc­kes / whom thou hast norysshed in thy mȳde. And syth thou dost nat fede my kyddes / fede thȳ owne: Thou loueste nat me so moche / that am onely the hyghest and the beste herde man. Tarye nere the tentes of the herdmen / whom thou folowest. For if thou folowedest me / only one herdman shulde be knowen vnto the / and nat many. For he wyl haue all to be playne and euen. Thy wombe swelleth nat / nor there is no cause whye: nor lette nat thy mynde than swelle: nor let there be no cause why. [Page]I praye the / vnderstande thyne owne goodnesse mayde / thy pryce canne nat be estemedde / if thou ioyne a chast mynde vnto thy chaste bodye / if thou shutte vp bothe bodye and mynde / and seale them with those seales that none can open / but he that hath the keye of Dauid / that is thy spouse: whi­che resteth so in the / as in a temple most clene and goodlye. Thynkeste thou this any small thynge / that thou mayste receyue onely by purenes that thynge / whiche can nat be comprehended in this holle worlde? Howe glad is a woman / if she beare in her wombe a chylde / whiche shall be a kynge? But thou bearest a kynge all redy nat onely in thy wombe / but also in thy mynde: whiche is more goodly / yea and that suche a kynge / in whose garment this tytle of dignite is wryten: Kynge of all kynges / and lorde of all lordes: of whom prophe­tes haue prophycied: and his reigne is the reigne of all worldes: whose reygne the angel tolde shuld haue none ende. Let vs nowe lyfte vp our selfe a­boue the common people: and let vs dispute this mooste goodly matter with saynt Augustyne: but yet so that thou mayst perceyue vs / and doubtles thou shalte perceyue vs better than we shall our selfe. For we speake of thy goodnes / whiche thou art nat ignorant of: and we shewe the that thyng / that thou haste within the. The holy virgin our lady cōceyued fyrst in her mynde our lorde Christ / and after in her body. And it was a more honora­ble / noble / and excellent thyng to cōceyue in mȳde than in body. Wherfore thou arte pertener of the [Page]more excellent cōception. O happy art thou / that art maruelously mother vnto an excellent & mar­uailous childe. Our lorde in the gospell / whan the womā sayd: Blessed be the wombe that bare the / and the brestes that thou suckedest: he answered / Naye / But blessed by they that here the worde of god / and kepe it. And whan the Iewes tolde hym that his mother and bretherne taryed hym with­out / he asked them: Who is my mother and my bretherne? And poyntyng his hande towarde his disciples: Those be sayde he / my bretherne & mo­ther / and who so els obeyeth the cōmandement of my father. Wherfore virgins and all holy soules / engendre Christe spiritually. Howe be it corporal­ly only one virgin dyd beare god & mā: whiche is spouse and also father vnto all other virgins. O thou mayde / thynkest thou this but a small thing that thou art bothe mother / spouse / and daughter to that god / in whom nothynge can be / but hit be thyn: and thou mayst with good ryght challenge for thyn? For bothe thou gettest and art gottē and maryed vnto hym. If thou woldest haue a fayre spouse / hit is sayde by hym: Thou art beautyfull aboue the children of mā / grace is diffused in thy lyppes. If thou woldest haue a ryche husbande / thou mayst here sayd of hym: Honour and riches is in his house. If thou woldest haue a gētylmā / he is goddis son̄e / and rekeneth fourtene kynges in his petegrewe / and his generations can nat be expressed: and the aūciāte of his stocke is before y^e makyng of y^e worlde / tyme euerlastyng. If thou [Page]woldest haue a myghty husbande / hit is sayde by hym: he is wise in herte / and mighty in strength. And in y^e .xliiij. psalme: Gyrde y^e with thy sworde vpon thy thygh most myghtyly. If thou woldest haue a good one / thou shalte here nothyng oftener of hym / than that he is the best. If thou woldest haue one of great possessions / thou redest of hym / that all thinges be subiecte vnder his fete. And in an other psalme / that all thynges do homage vn­to hym. And that nat onely men be subiectes vnto hym / but also angels / and the elementes / and the heuens: whiche thyng y^e verite it selfe testifieth of his owne selfe / sayeng: Al power is gyuē vnto me in heuen and erthe. If thou woldest haue a wyse husbāde / all thynges be naked & open vnto y^e eies of hym. Nor he is nat onely wyse / but also the ve­ry wysedome hit selfe: nat the wysedome of So­crates / or Plato / or Aristotel / but of god almygh­ty: whiche by that same wysedome hath made & gouerneth this worlde y^e thou seest. Nowe thynke with what diligence this perle ought to be kepte / that maketh the lyke vnto the churche / lyke vnto our lady / sister vnto angels / mother vnto god / & y^e spouse of Christ / besyde worldly honours / whiche ought to haue no place / or a very lytell place / in a christen bodyes hert? But yet also they as it were festyn theyr eies vpon a virgine. Howe pleasaunt and dere to euery body is a virgin? Howe reuerent a thynge / euen vnto them that be yll and vicious them selfe. And amōge those foule & filthy goddis of the pagans / they say that Cybele / whom they [Page]all called mother / was a virgin. And Diana was the moste fauored of the goddis / bicause she was a ꝑpetuall virgin. Also thre thynges made Pallas honorable / virginite / strengthe / & wysedome: and she was feyned to be bredde of Iupiters Brayne / whom they called the greatteste and prynce of the goddis: of whiche nothynge myght growe / but pure / chaste / & wise: So that they thought virgi­nite & wysedome were ioyned to gether. And they dedicated the noumbre of seuen bothe to chastite and wysedome: And saide that the muses / whom they called y^e rulers of all sciences / were virgins: And in the temple of Apollo Delphicus / the wyse woman / whiche inspired with the heuēly spirite / shewed thynges to come vnto them / that deman­ded to knowe / was euer a virgin: whom they cal­led alwaye Pythia. Also saynt Hieronyme saythe that all the Sibylles / whom Varro saythe were tenne in noumbre / were virgins. At Rome there was a temple of Vesta: vnto whom virgins dyd mynister: whiche were called Vestales: and all y^e Senatours wolde ryse and reuerēce them / euery officer gaue them the waye / & they were in great honoure with all the people of Rome. Virginite was euer an holy thing euen amōge theues / brea­kers of Sayntuary / vngratious lyuers / mourde­ters: and also amōge wylde beastes. Saynt Te­cla / as saynt Ambrose sayth / altered the nature of wylde beastes with the reuerence of virginite.

Virginite hath so moche marueylons honoure in hit / that wylde lyons regarde hit.

Of the kepyng of virginite and Chastite. The .vij. Chaptre.

HOwe moche than ought that to be setby / y^e hath ofte tymes defended women a gaynst great capitaynes / tyrantes / & great ostes of men? we haue redde of womē that haue ben ta­ken & let go agayne of y^e moste vnruly soudyours / only for the reuerence of the name of virginite / bi­cause they sayde that they were virgins. For they iugged hit a great wickednes for a short and small ymage of pleasure to mynishe so great a treasure: And euery of them had leauer that an other shuld be the causer of so wycked a dede than hym selfe. O cursed mayde / & nat worthy to loue / the whiche wyllȳgly spoyleth her selfe of so precious a thyng. Whiche men of warre / that are accustomed to all myscheffe / yet drede to take away? Also louers / whiche be blinde in the heate of loue / yet they stay and take auisement. For there is none so outragi­ous a louer / if he thynke she be a virgine / but he wyll alwaye open his eies / and take discretion to hym and deliberation / & take counsayle to change his mynde. Euery man is so sore a drad to take a­waye that / whiche is of so great price / that after­ward neither cā they their selfe kepe / nor restore a­gaȳe: though they shall haue no losse by y^e meāes: And the vngratious mayde douteth nat to lose y^t / whiche ones gone / she shall by no meanes recouer agayne: whan she hath ones lost y^e greattest trea­sure that euer she had. And if motiōs of y^e mynde [Page]may do ought / whiche if they be reasonable and honest ought to beare great rule. Lette her / that hath lost her virginite / turne her whiche way she will / she shal fynde al thynges sorowfull and heuy / waylyng / & mournyng / & angry / & displeaserfull. What sorowe wyll her kynnes folkes make / whan euerye one shall thynke them selfe dishonested by one shame of that mayde? What mournȳg / what teares / what wepynge of the father and mother and bringers vp? Dost thou quite them with this pleasure for so moche care and labour? Is this y^e rewarde of thy bryngyng vp? What cursyng wyl ther be of her aquayntance? what talke of neigh­bours / frendes / and companyons / cursynge that vngratious yonge woman? what mockynge and bablynge of those maydens / y^t enuyed her before? What a lothyng & abhorrȳge of those y^t loued her? What fleyng of her company and desertnes / whā euery mother will kepe nat only their doughters / but also theyr sonnes from the infection of suche an vnchrifty maide? And woars also / if she had a­ny / all fle away from her. And those y^t before sem­bled loue with her / they openly hate her: Yea and nowe and than with open wordes / wyll cast the a­bominable dede in her tethe: that I woūder howe a yonge woman / seyng this / can eyther haue ioye of her lyfe / or lyue at all / and nat pyne a way for so­rowe. Nowe wherto shulde I reherce the hate & anger of folkes? For I knowe that many fathers haue cut y^e throtes of their doughters / bretherne of theyr systers / and kynnesmen of theyr kynnes [Page]women. Hippomenes a great man of Athenes / whan he knewe his doughter defoyled of one / he shutte her vp in a stable with a wylde horse / kepte meateles: so the horse / whā he had suffered great hoūger lōge / and bycause he was of nature fierse / he waxed mad / and all to tare the yonge womā to fede hym selfe with. Pontius Aufidianꝰ a romāe whā he perceiued his doughter to be betrayed / vnto Fannius Saturninus by her tutour / he slewe both her and the seruant. Publius Attilius Phi­liscus slewe his doughter / bicause she defouled her selfe in aduoutry. In the same cite / Lucius Vir­gineus the Centurton / bycause he had leauer lose his doughter / and se her dye a good mayde / than haue her deflowred / slewe with a sworde his wel­beloued and onely doughter Virginea / whan he coude fynde none other meanes / lest she shulde be compelled to be at the lust of y^e iuge. In Spayne by our fathers dayes in Tarraco / two bretherne that thought their syster had ben a maydē / whan they same her great with chylde / they dissembled theyr anger so longe as she was with chylde: but as soone as she was delyuered of her chylde: they throuste swordes into her bealye / and slewe her / the myddewyfe lokynge on. In the same parte of Spayne / whan I was a chylde / thre maydens with a longe towell / strangled a maydē that was one of theyr companyons / whan they toke her in the abominable dede. Histories be full of exāples / and dayly ye se: neither hit is maruaile that these be done of fathers and frendes / and that the affe­ction [Page]of loue and charite is tourned so sodaynely in to hate: whan the women taken with the abomy­nable & cruell loue / all loue caste quite out of theyr harte / hate theyr fathers and mothers / bretherne and children: nat only theyr frendes and aquayn­tance. And this I wolde nat that onely maydens shulde thynke spoken vnto them / but also maryed womē and wydowes / & fynally all women. Nowe let y^e woman turne to her selfe & consydre her owne vngratiousnes / she shall feare & abhorre her selfe: nor take reste day nor nyght: but euer vexed with the scourge of her owne conscience / and bourned as hotte fyre brondes: shall neuer loke stedfastlye vpon any body / but she shall be in feare / leste they knowe some what of her lewednes: that than no body shall speake softely / but she shall thynke they speake of her vnthryftynes. She shall neuer here talkyng of noughty women / but she shall thynke hit spoken bicause of her. Nor she shall neuer here name of corruptyon spoken by any other / but she shall thynke hit mente by her / or of her selfe. Nor no body shall stoure priuely in y^e house / but she shal feare / lest her vngratiousnes be opened / and that she shall be punysshed streyght. What realme woldest thou bye with suche perpetual vexation. Whiche many a man supposeth to be none other payne in hell. The same payne haue wycked men / but women farre sorer / bycause theyr offences be reke­ned fouler / & they be more timorus of nature. And doutles / if hit be well consydred / women be wor­thy these punisshmentes / and moche worse / that [Page]kepe nat theyr honestie diligently. For as for a mā nedeth many thynges / as wysedome / eloquence / knowlege of thynges / with remembraunce / some crafte to lyue bye / Iustice / Leberalite / lustye sto­make / and other thynges moo / that were to longe to reherce: And though some of these do lacke / hit is nat to be disliked / so that many of them be had / but in a womā no mā wyll loke for eloquēce / great witte / or prudence / or crafte to lyue by / or ordryng of the commen weale / or iustice / or liberalite: Fi­nally no man will loke for any other thing of a wo­man / but her honestye: the whiche onely / if hit be lacked / is lyke as in a mā / if he lacke al y^t he shulde haue. For in a womā the honestie is in stede of all. Hit is an euyll keper / that can nat kepe one thyng well / commytted to her kepyng / and put in truste to her with moche commendation of wordes: and specially whiche no mā wil take from her agaynst her wyll / nor touche hit / excepte she be wyllynge her selfe. The whiche thyng onely / if a woman re­membre / hit shall cause her to take better hede / & to be a more ware keper of her goodnes: whiche alone / thoughe all other thynges be neuer so well in saftye / so loste / all other thynges perysshe to ge­ther there with. What can be safe to a womā saith Lucrecia / whan her honestie is gone? And yet had she a chast mynde in a corrupt body. Therfore as Quintilian saythe / she thrist a sworde in to her bo­dy / and auenged the cōpulsyon / y^t the pure mynde myght be seperated frō the defyled body / as short­ly as coude be. But I saye nat this bycause other [Page]shulde folowe the dede / but the mynde: By cause she that hath ones lost her honestie / shulde thynke there is nothynge lefte. Take from a woman her beautie / take from her kynrede / ryches / comely­nes / eloquence / sharpenes of wytte / counnynge in her crafte / gyue her chastite / and thou haste gy­uen her all thynges. And on that other syde / gyue her all these thynges / and calle her a noughtye packe / with that one worde thou haste taken all from her: and hast lefte her bare and foule. There be also other thȳges / both in the body and minde / that helpe a woman vnto the kepynge of her ho­nestie: wherof I wyll speake nowe.

Of the ordryng of the body in a virgin. The .viij. Chaptre.

THough hit were nat for this pour­pose to speke of the body / nat withstādyng for as moche as some thynges that be in y^e mynde come of the reason and complection of the bodye. Therfore must we speke some thyng of y^e ordryng of the body of a virgin. Fyrst of all me thȳke that it is to be tolde theyr father & mother / as Aristotel dothe bydde in his historie of beastes / that is that they kepe theyr doughters / speciallye whan they begynne to growe from chyldes state / and holde them from mennes company. For that tyme they be gyuen vnto most lust of the body. Also the may­dens shulde kepe them selfe / both at all other / and at y^e tyme specially / from either herynge or seyng / [Page]or yet thinkyng any foule thing / whiche thing she shall labour to do. Neuer the lesse at other tymes two / & vnto the tyme that they be maryed / moche fastynge shall be good / whiche dothe nat feble the bodye / but brydell hit / and presse hit downe / and quenche the heate of youthe. For these be only the very and holye fastes. Let theyr meate be meane and easy to gette / neither hotte of hitselfe / nor spi­sed with spices / nor delycate. And they oughte to remembre / that our fyrste mother for meate was cast out of paradise. And many yonge womē that had ben vsed to delycate meates / whan they had nat them at home / haue gone forth frō home & ieo­ꝑded their honestie. Let their drinke be the drynke prepared of nature / that is clene water. Valerius Maximus sayth / that wyne was vnknowen vnto women of Rome in olde tyme / leste they shulde fall in any shame. For bycause it was wonte to be the nexte waye from Bacchus the father of intempe­rance vnto Venus vnlefull. But if theyr stomake will nat beare water / gyue them some ale / or bere / or small wyne / as shall be sufficient to digest theyr meate / and nat enflame theyr bodies. Nor that is nat only good for theyr maners and rankenes of y^e bodye / & wantonnes / to kepe them vnder / but also shall kepe better theyr helthe. I haue redde in an epistole of saint Hieronyme vnto Furia in this maner. Phisitians and suche as wryte the natures of mēnes bodies / and specially Galene in the boke of Helthe saythe / that the bodyes of chyldren and yonge men / and those that be in lustie age / bothe [Page]men and women / be very hotte of naturall heate: and that all meates that encrease heate / be verye noysome for them: and that it is good for them to vse all colde thyng in meates and drynkes: As in contrary wyse vnto olde men / and suche as be full of fleme and colde / hotte meates and olde wyne be best. Wherfore our sauiour sayth: Take you hede to your selfe that your hertes be nat ouer commen with surfet and dronkennes / and the cares of this lyfe. And the apostle saythe: wyne / in whom is le­cherye. Neither hit is wonder that he that made the vessell dyd perceyue this by the vessell / that he made. Where Terence / whose intente was to dis­cribe and shewe the conditions of the worlde / sayd thus: without meate and drynke corage waxeth colde. Therfore fyrste if theyr stomake be stronge inough / take water in thy wyne or drynke / vntyll thy maydes yeres be past: and suche water as is mooste colde. And if thou mayste nat for feblenes / myngle it as Timotheus dyd / with a lytell wyne for thy stomacke and wekenes. Than in meate es­chewe all hote thyng. I speke nat onely of flesshe / where of the vessel of election saint Paule speketh this sentēce / sayeng: Hit is good to eate no flesshe nor drinke no wyne: but also of pulse / all those that be full of wynde & heuye shulde be eschewed. And a lytell before: what nedeth hit vs for to boste our chastite / whiche without hit haue all besyde that apperteyneth / as abstinēce & small fare / it can nat brynge proffe of hit selfe. The apostle werieth his body / and subdueth hit vnto the cōmandement of [Page]the mynde / lest he shulde nat kepe that hym selfe / which he byddeth other to do. Than howe can a yōge woman / that hath a body hotte with meate be sure of her selfe? Nor I cōdēpne nat with these wordes meates y^t god hath ordeyned to vse with surrendryng of thankes: But I take from yonge men / and maydens the kendlyng of lust. For nei­ther the burnynge Etna / nor the countre of Vul­cane / nor Veseuus / nor yet Olȳpus boyleth with suche heate as the bodies of yōge folkes enflamed with wyne & delycate meates / done. All this haue I brought in of saynt Hieronyme / y^t you myght knowe what thynges that maister of chastite dyd teache: whiche writȳg vnto Saluina / had leauer ieoparde the helth of the body thā y^e soule / sayeng: Hit is better that y^e stomake ake / than the mynde / and to rule the body than to do hit seruyce / & stag­ger in goyng than in chastite. The most holy man Gregorius Nazanzenus / that was saynt Hiero­nymis maister / wolde y^t his mayde shuld alay her hunger with bred / & quenche her thyrst w^t water. Hilarius the heremite / whan he lyued in wylder­nes with small foode / scantly preseruyng the lyfe / and yet felte hym selfe dyuers tymes pryckedde with the bodily luste / he weried his body with fas­tynge / sayeng: I shall tame the concupiscence / to make the thynke vpon thy meate / and nat vpon thy pleasure. And this say the disciples of Christ / y^e felowes of saynt Paule / beyng gyuē vnto sobre and chaste religion: As who knewe / that the no­ryshementes of holy men sente by y^e grace of god / [Page]were but symple and small to cōtent nature / with­out any pleasures. Helise norisshed hym selfe and the chyldren of the prophetes with wylde herbes / & he byddeth / make swete the bytter meate with flower / and nat with suger. And he cōmanded the soudiours in Samaria / of whom he had put out the eies / to be fedde with bredde and water. Iohn̄ the Baptist / that was chosen y^e shewer of Christe and y^e lyght to come / was fed in deserte with gras­hops and wyld hony. Habacuch caryed the meate of the reapers vnto Daniell in Babylon / whiche was brede baken vnder the asshes / and a cuppe of water was sente vnto Helie from heuen to refreshe hym with: and yet might god haue sente from heuen partryges / and phesauntes / and capons / and marche payns / as well as breade: but holy folkes nede norishemēt to holde the soule in the body / and nat to drowne hit with. What say philosophers / & y^e maisters of worldly wisedome / al speke of meate that is easy to gette / to kepe the mynde sobre and the body chaste. Socrates the father of Philoso­phie dyd get by sobre dyet / that he was neuer in­fected with any sore or ieoꝑdous sicknes. Also Cor­nelius Tacitus wryteth / that Senec the philoso­pher in all his ryches fedde hym selfe with frute & water: & therfore his body was brought so lowe / that whā his veynes were opened / there wolde almost no blode rēne out. Howe trow you that Xeno­crates lyued / whiche whan his scholers had layde hym a goodly queen in his bedde / and was moche ꝓuoked of her vnto luste / yet he was nat moued? [Page]Plato in his lawes forbyddeth yonge men wyne. Cicero in his officis wolde haue all the lyuing and arraye of the bodye / to be taken to the helthe and strength / and nat for pleasure. And he sayth also / if we wolde cōsydre what excellence and dignite is in the nature of man / we shulde vnderstāde / howe great shame hit is to waste hit awaye riottouslye / and to leade the lyfe delycately & deliciously: and howe honest it is to lyue chastely / sobrely / sadly / & measurably. This sayth Cicero. Also Duidius / gyuynge remedy of loue / byddeth them that shall lyue chastely also to lyue temperately / and eschew suche meate as moueth the body to luste / and wy­nes specially / and to brynge suche to the table as refrayne the luste of the bodye. Whan I speake of hotte meates / I wold be vnderstande in suche ex­ercises also / that heate the body / and of oyntmen­tes / spices / talkyng and also syght of men. For all these be hurtfull vnto the chastite: for they fire the mynde with fylthy and ieoperdous heate. Nor let nat your bed be very softe / but clene: the whiche thyng also is to be regarded in clothes / that they be nat ouer delicate / but without fylthe and with­out spotte: and lyghtly the mynde reioyseth in the clenlynes of the body. And agayne / a deynty and a delycate mynde deliteth in sylkes and costely clo­thes: and what so euer is nat suche / hit counteth harde and greuous. Gregorius Nazanzenus for­byddeth maydes to weare golde and perle. What a foly is it / to wene y^t these wordes of our sauiour Christe (Ecce qui mollibus vestiuntur / in domibus regum [Page]sunt / that is to say / Lo / they that be clothed in delicate clothes / be in kynges houses) shulde be vn­derstanden on this wyse: that those / whiche be in the company of Christen kȳges / shulde be clothed with fyne & costely clothȳg? Christis fayth know­eth no courtes / nor kynges: in the whiche courte we here these wordes: Kynges of paganes haue dominion ouer them: and they that haue power vpon them be called beneficiall / but you shall nat be so / but let the mooste of you be as the leest / and the maister as a minyster. Christis faythe is holy and sad: and as the yocke of hit is easy / pleasant / and swete vnto the soule / and wherin the soule fin­deth reste: so is hit heuy & peynefull vnto the pleasures of the body. Nor let nat a mayde slepe ouer longe / and yet sufficient for her helthe / the whiche we prouyde for on this wyse / that they shall fare better that folowe this sobre dyette of ours / than they that folowe pleasures and delycates: vnto whiche pleasures who so is gyuen / we se be pale & cōsumed. And beside all this / is some labour to be gyuen / and some occupation mete for a virgin / as I haue rehersed. For the deuylles subtilte neuer cometh more soner thā in idelnes: nor Venus ne­uer vseth her craftes more redely in any other ca­sis: and that nat only in women / but also in men: whiche be more stedfaste and constant. Ouide the craftes man of handlyng loue / determineth / that Egisthus set his mynde to defoule Clytemnestra the wyfe of kynde Agamemnon / and to kyll Aga­memnon hym selfe / for none other cause / but by­cause [Page]he was slouthfull. Therfore in the remedies of loue / this is one of the chiefe preceptes / that the darte of Cupide take vs nat idell. For he sayth /

Saint Hieronyme coūsaileth y^e holy virgin De­metrias to eschewe idelnes. And therfore whā she hath done her prayers / to go in hāde with wolle & weauyng / that by suche chāge of workes y^e dayes seme nat lōge. Nor he bad nat / y^t she shulde worke / bicause y^t she was in any pouerte: whiche was one of y^e most noble womē in Rome / and rychest / but y^t by the occasiō of workyng / she shulde thynke on no thyng / but suche as ꝑteyneth vnto y^e seruice of our lorde. Whiche place he endeth in this wise. I wyll speke generally nothing shalbe specially p̄cious in Christis sight / but hit y^t y^u makest thy selfe / either for thȳ owne vse / or ensāple of other virgins / or to gyue vnto thy grād mother / or thy mother: no nat though y^u deale all thy goodes vnto poure folkes. And verily so hit is / for she that wyll be idel / or also gyuē to play / and passyng of her lyfe in pleasures / is nat worthy to haue her meate in the churche of Christe: in the whiche saynt Paule the greattest preachour of Christe cryeth / and pronounceth as a lawe: who that laboreth nat / let them nat eate? this is the cōmen payne of mankynd / gyuen vnto them for the fyrste offence of our aunciant father Adam: thou shalte eate thy bredde in the swette of [Page]thy face. And doubtles those that be subiecte vnto this generall payne / whan they offende and synne no lesse thā other / they shall haue an other payne / either sorer / or elles no lesse. Nowe saynge that I haue bede / that womens myndes shulde be occu­pied / either with worke / orels holy study and com­munication / leste they fall in to vyce by idelnesse: what shulde we thynke by them y^t playe at cardes or dice / whiche maner of pastime / whā hit is foule in a man / in a woman hit is to be abhorred? What can a woman lerne / or thinke / playeng at the dice? the mynde must nedes be altred and turned all to couetousnes / that is of hit selfe inclined ther vnto / and after fall to pariury / for gredines of y^e money. Also on y^e other syde / if men be there she shall here many thinges vncomly for a womā to here. What a foule thynge is hit / to se a woman / in stede of her wolbasket / to handle the table bourde / for her spindell / the dyce / and for her clewe or prayer boke / to turne the cardes? Ther is no wise mā / but he had leauer se her idell / than so occupyed. Nor there is no wyse man / but he wyll curse bothe her that ler­neth suche thinges / and hym that taught hit her / and them that suffred them.

Of the raymentes. The .ix. Chaptre.

HIt semeth to apperteyne vnto the same place / to entreate of thother ornamen­tes of y^e body: Fyrst of peyntyng. Verily I wolde fayne knowe / what the mayden meaneth / that [Page]peynteth her selfe: if it be to please her selfe / it is a vayne thyng: if it be to please Christe / it is a foly: if hit be to delyte men / hit is an vngratious dede. Thou haste but one spouse / & to please hym with / make thy soule gay with vertue / and he shall kysse the for thy beautie. But parauenture thou sekeste some mā to be thy spouse / and woldest please hym with peyntyng: Fyrst I shall shewe the / howe fo­lisshe a thyng hit is / and than howe vngratious. Me thynke hit moche lyke / if thou wyll go about to wynne them with payntynge / as though thou woldest entise or attempt him with a viser: whom whanne thy viser is ones of / thou shalte make as moche to lothe the / as thou madeste to lyke the / whan hit was on. Thou arte but in il case / if thou haue nothyng elles to please hym with / that shal be thy husbande / but onely peyntyng: howe shalt thou please hym / whā thou lackest thy peyntyng? Excepte thou wylte neuer wasshe out that cruste / but go so with a crust of peyntyng to bed / & so rise / & be so with in & a brode amonge folkes. And more ouer / what a payne is hit to entende that peyntȳg for any body / and nat onely for the to kept hit hole styll? What a shame is hit / if any water by chance lyght on hit / or the peyntynge fortune to melte by thoccasion of swette or heate / and shewe the very skynne? there can nothyng be more filthy to se to. And who I pray you / wyl count them to be feyze / that he knoweth to be slubbered with peyntyng / & nat rather the fouler? They lose all the honour of beauty / whā they be peynted. For all the beauty / [Page]that there is / is counted to be in y^e peyntyng. And also the tender skynne wyll reuyll the more soone / and all the fauour of the face waxeth olde / and the breath stynketh / and the tethe rusten / and an yuel aire all the bodye ouer / bothe by the reason of the ceruse / & quicke siluer / and specially by the reason of the sopis / wher with they p̄pare the body / as it were a table / ayenst the peyntyng on y^e nexte day. Wherfore Ouide called these doynges venomes / & nat without a cause. Also Iuuenall asketh a que­stion properly: She that is with so many oynte­mentes slubbered and starched / is hit to be called a face or a sore? The whiche thȳges I wolde more largely intreate / but that I am borne ī that Cite / where as the women haue a vyle name for this thyng: and in my mynde nat without a cause. I wyll rebuke myne owne countre / whiche is to me the most dere / that for shame it may leaue. Nowe if thou canst nat els be maried / hit is better neuer marie / than toffende Christe for it / and be maried to some folisshe man / that shall haue more delite in thy peyntynge than in thy selfe. For what hope canst thou haue in that mā / that hath more delyte in a cruste of whyte Ceruse / than in an honest wo­man? God hath gyuen the a face after the image of his sonne: nor he hath nat gyuen hit nakedde: For he hath inspired the spirite of lyfe / that the image of his lyfe / & all thynge may appere in hit. Why than dost thou ouer couer hit with dirte and myre? The apostle Paule byddethe a man nat to couer his heed / bycause hit is the image of god: [Page]what wyll he say of the image of god in a womās face / so fyled with that myre? And bicause no man shall reken hit as a bourde / Saynt Hieronyme a­gaynst Heluidius writeth in this wyse: She that is peynted by a glasse / and in dispite of hym that made her / she gothe a bout to be fayrer than she is borne. And vnto Furia. What dothe purpurice or ceruse in a Christen bodies face / of whom the one countrefaiteth the rudde of precious stones in the lyppes / the other whitnes of face & necke / whiche is a fyre vnto yōge men / and a fomēt of lechery / & insamples of vnclene myndes? How can she wepe for her synne / y^t must bare her skynne there with / and forowe her face? This apparell is nat the co­ueryng of our lorde / hit is the couer of Antichrist. Howe dare she lyfte vp towarde heuen that face / y^e her maker wyll nat knowe? This sayth saint Hie­ronyme. Nowe here y^e holy marter saynt Cypriā. Goodly apparell and clothyng do nat agre but for harlottes & comen women: nor none hath lightly more precious apparell than they that set no price by theyr honestie & goodnes. And in the scripture / that god wolde haue vs instruct withal & taught / the cite is discrybed an harlot / piked and apparel­led goodly / that shall perishe together with her apparel: and specially bicause of her apparel. Nowe what a madnes is to delyte in that / whiche euer hath done hurte / & hurteth styll: and to wene that thou shalte nat perisshe bycause of y^e / wherby thou knowest that other haue perisshed. For god made neither purple / nor crȳsin shepe / nor taught to die [Page]with the iuce of herbes: neither fyne silkes enbro­bred with golde / perles / or precious stones / to hide the necke in / whiche he made: and to hyde y^e / whi­che god made in man: and shewe that / whiche the deuyll hath founde out & his dampned angelles / whan they felle from the heuenly vertue vnto the erthly cōtagiousnes: thā they taught to peynt the blacke of eies / and ruddines of chekes / and alter the naturall colour of the heares and visage. And verily me thynke that for the drede that our fayth teacheth vs / and for the loue that broderhodde re­quireth / nat only maydes / but also wydowes and wyues / shuld be warned / ye and all womē in gene­rall / that the worke of god ought nat to be defiled with yelowe / or blacke / or redde colours / layde on hit. For god said: Let vs make mā after our owne image and lykenes. Nowe than / howe dare any he so bolde to change that / which god hath made? For they lay violent hand on god hym selfe / whan they go aboute to reforme & change / that whiche he hath made / nat knowyng / that all thyng natu­rall is the worke of god: and all that is by altera­tion / is the worke of the deuyll: Is if a counnyng peynter had peynted any bodies picture coūnyng­ly / expressyng both the forme and qualities of the body / than if an other come and layd to his hand / as though he wolde amēde hit / shuld nat he greatly dismaye and offende the fyrst workman? Than wenest thou to escape vnpunysshed / that offendest god / the workeman of thy body? For though thou be nat an adulterar towarde men / yet whan thou [Page]corruptest and marrest that / whiche is goddis do­yng / thou art a worse adulterar: And where thou thynkest thy selfe gay & well picked / that is a strife agaynst goddis worke and breakynge of trouthe. Thy loroe sayth / thou canste nat make one white heare or blacke / and thynkeste thou thy selfe able to ouercome y^e worde of thy lorde? Thou diest thy heare by a bolde presumption and vngratious cō ­tempte: and afore hande thou signifiest thy heare to be flamed / and vngoodly sinnest with the better parte of the / that is thy heed. These be saynt Cy­prians wordes. Also after these p̄ceptes of Christē men / I am a shamed to reherse oughte out of pa­gans. I wyll lay to only one of the most wiseman Lycurgus / the maker of the lawes of the Lace­demons: whiche whan he wolde haue women of his countre to be regarded by theyr vertue / & nat theyr ornamētes / he banisshed out of the countre by the lawe all peyntyng / and commanded out of the towne all crafty men of pykynge and apparel­lyng. Our lorde sheweth by Osee y^e prophet / that the woman / whiche fel vnto adultery / apparelled her selfe with ouches & brouches / that she myght go wayte vpon mē / and nat her lorde. And if thou apparel thy selfe for god and good folkes / thou art fayre inough / whā thou art good: but thou canst nat please the deuyll / and yll people / excepte thou mynisshe moche of thy naturall fayrenes. What shuld all that gold do to be worne / as though thou woldest she we howe stronge thou arte that canste beare so moche weyghte? Weneste thou to seme [Page]feyrer / nobler / or wyser / if thou haue so moche me­tall vpō the. Nay / neuer a whit. What than / thou wilte saye parauenture / I shall seme the rycher. O vaynes of myde / is that a thought or a sayeng of a christē mȳde? Thou cariest so moche golde a­bout thy necke / y^t doth no good / whā thou deniest a halfpeny vnto them y^t haue nede / & be an hūgred: & robbest thy neighbours / & ꝑauenture thy house­holde / thy children / and thy husbande / that the beames of golde & precious stones shynyng maye dare the eies of them / that be holde the. Is this Christē charite? Dyddest thou sweare this in thy baptyme / whā thou sayddest / that thou for sokeste Satanas & all his pompe? And yet what pompe of Satanas is there / but thou vsest it more super­fluously / thā doth any pagane? Loke well on thy selfe: Thou shalte fynde thy selfe one of Satanas officers / that vsest at home so many chosen mea­tes to the full / bulkynge out capons / pertryges / phesantes / delicate cakes / potages / sauses / and soppes / & all costly / amonge so many of thy poure neighbours / that die for hunger: thou that lyuest in pleasures amonge so many labours / and pay­nes of thy neighbours: thou that goest in sylkes / and fine garmentes amonge so many naked: thou that arte so goodly to se to amonge so many beg­gers: Art thou the disciple of poure Christ / of that faciō? Nay nay / thou art rather y^e disciple of riche Pluto. I wolde nat y^u shuldest go bare necked / nor I wold nat haue y^e to excedȳgly couered / to make a shewe of hit. Folowe Christ / by whom thou hast [Page]pleasure to be named: folowe his sobre and measurable mother / whom men nowe honour as theyr lady / and deuylles drede / and sayntes worsshippe: whose outwarde garment was course clothe and easy to get: and the inner clothyng / that is to say her herte and mynde / gilted with golde / & set with precious stones. Thou canst nat be golde of bothe parties: chose whiche thou wylte haue / thy body or thy soule golden. I can nat reherse al y^e longeth to this matter: yet wyll I speake of smelles some thynges. A Christen mynde dothe nat preyse vn­clenlynes & stynke: for Mary Magdalene poured vpō y^e heed of our lorde oyntmēt of precious spike: wher of all the house smelled: nor that was nat vnpleasant vnto our lorde: but these superfluous sa­uours / and fomētes of the body / whiche the more hit is cherisshed / the more hit ryseth and rebelleth agaynst the soule / and lyke a tyrant ruleth all the man / and draweth al vnto vile fantasy / where the seate is of his delicatnes. Saynt Hieronyme wri­teth vnto Demetrias the virgin / Let a mayde a­udyde / as a mischefe or a poyson of chastite / yōge men with hedes busshed and trimmed / and swere smelling skinnes of out landisshe myse. Wherfore this sayeng of the poet arbiter was spoken:

Alyke sayenge hath Martial.

And Plautus sayethe / A woman euer smellethe [Page]best whā she smelleth of nothyng. But here para­uenture some daungerous dame wolde answere / that with her quicke answeres hath gottē a name of wisedome: we must do some thȳg for our byrth and gentyll blode / and possessions. But what art thou / that so sayest / a christē or a pagane? If thou be a pagane / I wyll nat argue with the: if thou be a christen woman / wite thou well / thou proude woman / that Christe knoweth no suche differēce: that is a poynt of a deuillysshe pride / and nat of a christē mynde. Seest thou nat / howe that is none apparell / but fedynge of thy pride? Hit is an olde sayenge and a trewe: No beest is prouder than a woman well apparelled. Than wilt thou say / we muste nedes do some thyng for thuse of the worlde and customes? Nowe wolde I knowe / whose cus­tome must be folowed: if thou name me wise men / I graunt: if thou say of foles / why shulde they be folowed but of foles? And Quintiliā sayth / thag­grement & concente of good folkes ought to be cal­led an vse. Parauenture there is an euyll custome brought vp / be thou the fyrste to laye hit downe / and thou shalte haue the preyse of hit / and other shall folowe thyn ensample. And as y^e ill ensample is brought in of ill folkes & stablished: so of good folkes hit shalbe put away / and good brought vp. Than if we must euer folowe the customes of the world / we shal neuer amēde / but euer waxe worse: for than shall one fynde an ill vse / & none maye put hit awaye. Nowe whose is that custome / y^e thou talkest of / & of whom was hit taken? Of pagans [Page]womē. Why do nat we thā kepe styll our paganes lawe? For if thou liste be called Christen / vse ma­ners accordyng there vnto. She is a pagane / and knoweth nat god / nor the temperance of lyuynge: And thou that knowest god / and arte christened / what dost thou more thā she? What mentest thou by that that thou renunceddest Satanas with al his pompe / whan thou dost nat onely matche the pagane in Satanas pompe / but also passest her? Nor yet thou folowest nat those sadde and holy pa­gans / but the mooste lewde / and lyght / and full of riotte / vice / and mischeffe. Nor thou folowest nat the women of Lacedemon / that were so honeste / whose quene / y^e wyfe of Lysandre / and her daugh­ters / whā Dionysius the kyng of Syracuse sente them ryche robes / they answered and sayd: They shall do vs more shame than honour. Nor thou fo­lowest nat the women of Rome / that were in olde tyme / vnto whom whan kynge Pyrrhus sent his ambassadour with siluer / & golde / and kercheffes of sylke / there was none so desirous or gredy of apparel or so vnthryftily mȳded / to take any. Quin­ta Claudia / a religious virgin / was reputed for a mys woman / bycause she vsed to weare gaye ray­ment. There was in Rome / after the secunde war ayenst y^e Carthaginās / a law called Opius lawe / that no woman shulde weare ouer halfe a nounce of golde: nor weare no dyuers colored clothynge. Whiche lawe indured vntyl the great outragious superfluite came in to y^e citie / whan women came runnynge forthe / as though they had be madde / [Page]askynge a lycence to weare what they lyste. But Marcus Cato / y^e great wyse man / gaue coūsayle contrary / with an oration ful of wysdome: and .ii. Tribunes spake for them: whose folisshe and feble orations be rehersed in Liute y^e historiographer. But y^e women ouercame with theyr importunite and busines / that the bryddel of their pride might be let slyppe / that they myght do what they luste: Wherof what hurt shulde come Cato tolde before: and as in many of his other sayenges / like wise in y^t he was a true prophet. For what man can tell / howe great a losse is of chastite / caused by this striuynge for apparelle / whan euery one is ashamed to be ouer come of her felowe in raymēt? And whā they be trymmed and dekked / than desyre they to go forthe amonge men to shewe them selfe. And there in is the shyppe wracke of chastite. Plutar­chus saythe / that it is a custome in Egypte / that womē shulde weare no showes / bicause they shuld abyde at home. Lyke wyse if thou take from wo­men sylke / and cloth of golde / and syluer / precious stones / and gemmes / thou shalte the more easily kepe them at home. Also he reherseth .ij. senten­ces / the one of Sophocles the poet / and the other of Crates the philosopher. Sophocles speketh of riche ornamētes thus: That is none ornamene y^u wretche / but a shame and a manyfest shewe of thy foly. Crates saythe / that is an ornament / whiche exalteth: and a woman is exalted with that / whi­che makethe her more honeste: But that doethe neyther golde / nor perle / nor pourple / but suche [Page]thȳges / as be signes of grauite / sobrenes & chasti­te. Democrates saythe, that the adoruament of a womā standeth in scarsite of speche and apparell: In whiche opinion Sophocles is. And amonge the Grekes this was a comon sayenge / and in a maner of a prouerbe: The adornamet of a womā is nat golde / but conditions. Also Aristotell / the moste wyse philosopher / byddeth women vse lesse apparell than the lawe suffereth: and he byddeth them consydre / that neither y^e goodlynes of appa­rell / nor y^e excellence of beautie / nor thabundaunce of golde is of so great estemation in a woman / as is measurablenes and dylygence to lyue well and honestly in all thynges. And of the same opinion be the other wyse men of y^e pagans / that a christen woman maye be a shamed to folowe pagans / nat those sage and wyse men / nor those vertuous and honest women / but the errour of foles & ensample of madde women: and I confesse / that I can nat tell what honest colour women maye lay for theyr apparell / but only that they may seme fayrer / and entise men / whiche were a shame / ye for gentyles. Therfore thou bothe seruest thy pride / and settest the deuylles nettes in thy body / to catche with all the soules of them / that beholde the: thou womā / nat a Christiane / but the mynister of the deuyll / y^e fell thretnȳg of our lorde displeased with y^e / shalbe pronunced vpon the / sayeng by Esaie y^e prophet: Our lorde hath made balde the hedes of y^e daugh­ters of Syon / and in stede of ornament they shall haue shame / and for theyr showes / and slyppers / [Page]and cheyns / precious stones / pommanders / and glasses / & swete sauours / they shall haue stynke: and for theyr gyrdels / they shall haue ropes: and for theyr crispe heare / they shall haue balde patis. These wordes our lorde sayd of women. And this holy martyr saynt Cyprian sayth: There be some ryche women and habundant in goodis / whiche beare theyr treasure on them / and say they muste vse theyr goodes. Fyrste let them knowe / that she is ryche / that is ryche in god: and she is habūdāt of possessions / that is habundant in Christe: and those be good that be spirituall / diuine / and heuenlye / whiche shall abyde with vs in perpetuall pos­session. But & thou array thy bodye sumptuously / and go gayly forthe abrode / and entyse the eies of them y^e beholde the / and drawe the syght of yonge men after the / and nourisshe y^e lust of cōcupiscence / and fyre and kendle the smell of synne / in so moche that thoughe thou perysshe nat thy selfe / yet thou shalt cause other to perisshe / and make thy selfe as a poysoner & a sworde vnto them that se the: thou canst nat be excused as chaste in mynde: thȳ euyll and vnchaste rayment shall reproue the: neyther thou canste nat be counted amonge maydens and virgins of Christe / that so lyuest y^e men shall loue the mordinatly. Thou bostest thy possessions and virginite: but a virgin shulde nat bost her riches / seyng that holy scripture sayth: What hath pride auayled vs? Or what good hath the bost of riches done vs? All they be passed as a shadowe. Thou sayst y^u art ryche / and thynkest that thou must vse [Page]those that god wold thou shuldest haue / vse them, why nat? But yet in goodnes & good wayes / vse them / in suche thynges as god commaunded / and as our lorde taught: Let them fele thy riches that haue nede: let them knowe the to be of power: get wynnynges vnto Christe of thy patrimony: fede god. This saythe y^e martyr saynt Cyprian. Whi­che thynges are a great deale better for a christen woman to knowe and do / than that the pagās do: and hit were mete for them to take hede vnto the philosophers / and nat to folowe y^e dedes of foles / and apply vnto the fantasies of madde folkes: ex­cepte we wolde spende our lyfe madly and folishly. But here some man wold say: what / woldest thou haue women to be fylthy and sluttysshe? Nay ve­rely / I wolde nat haue them so: nor my preceptes be nat so vnclene: nor I lyke nat sluttishnes. And what maner a ones they shulde be / saynt Peter & saynt Paule .ij. defenders of the churche / teache in .ij. shorte preceptes. Saynt Peter saythe: Let nat y^e outward apparell of women be decked with the braydynge of her heare / nor with wrappynge of golde about hit / or goodly clothynge: but the mynde & the conscience / that is nat sene with eies / if hit be pure and quiet / that is a goodly thynge / and excellent afore god. And saynt Paule saythe: women in theyr arraye shulde apparell them selfe with shamfastnes & sobrenes: & nat with braydes of theyr heare / or golde / or perles / or precious clo­thȳg: but as womē ought to do: Let them shewe vertue by good workes. Whan the apostles saye [Page]these wordes / they byd nat women be sluttisshe & slubbered / nor foule with dirte and clowtes: but they counsayle them from superfluous rayment / and wyll them to vse meane clothynge / and suche as is easy to comeby. For mesurablenes hath his clennes / and that farre more pure than the great excesse hath / as hit is more easy to kepe a litle ves­sel thā a great meyny. Let her nat be clothed with veluet / but with wollen: nor with sylke / but lyn­nen / and that course. Let nat her rayment shyne / ne let it nat be sluttisshe: neither let hit nat be to be wondred on: nor let hit nat be to be lothed: as for y^e wearyng of golde / or syluer / or perle / or precious stones / I se nat what hit is good for / sauyng that the vertue of some stones is more sette by than the shewe / as corall or emeraude: if at lest waye those lytell thynges haue so moche vertue in them as men say: but nowe mo seke them for vanite / that he may seme more ryche / than for the vertue. Nor let her nat peynte nor anoynt her face / but wasshe hit & make hit clene: nor dye her heare / but kome hit clenly: Nor let her nat suffre her heed to be full of scurfe: Nor let her nat delite to washe it in swete fauours: nor to kepe hit stynkynge: nor loke in a glasse to peynte her or trȳme her gayly by: but to haue away / if any foule thyng or vncomely be on her heed / that she coude nat els se: and thā let her aray her selfe therby / lest any thyng be in her face to defoule her / beyng els chaste and sobre. Finally that whiche Socrates bad his scholers / lette her thynke spoken vnto her to / y^t they shuld loke them [Page]in a glasse / and if they were fayre / that they shulde se lest y^e mynde were foule: and if they were foule / that with the beautie of the mynde they shuld coū trepeyse the deformite of bodye. Moreouer / let an honeste mayde remembre styll / that beautie hath brought many of them y^t haue hadde hit / in great pride: and many of them that haue sene hit / in to abhominable synne. Wherfore many holy women haue labored to seme lesse fayre thā they were. As for this nedeth nat to byd I suppose / that a womā shall vse no mannes rayment / els let her thynke she hath the mānes stomake / but take hede to the wordes of our lorde / sayeng: A womā shal nat put on mannes apparell: for so to do is abhomynable afore god. but I truste no woman wyll do hit / ex­cepte she be paste bothe honeste and shame.

Of the lyuyng alone of a virgin The .x. Chapter.

HOly writers say that deathe gothe in to the soule by the senses of the body lyke wyndowes: excepte a mā be wisely ware. Folkes be tolled & enticed with the pleasures of y^e worlde: where with also the soule is caughte and holden. Therfore a mayde shulde go but seldome abrode: bycause she neyther hath any busynes forthe / and standethe euer in ieopardye of her chastite / the moste precious thynge that she hath. And let her wayte vpon her mother / nat only whan she gothe forthe / but also at home: Whiche thynge theyr [Page]mothers muste also be charged with. Saynt Hie­ronyme counsayleth Leta / that whan she gothe to her manner place in the countre / she do nat leaue her daughter in her house within the cite: let her nat canne tie maye to lyue without you saythe he: and whā she is alone / let her feare▪ Whiche sayeng I wolde haue thus vnderstanden / that y^e mother shulde take her daughter awaye with her / if she tary any whyles. For els it is no nede to take her daughter with her / as ofte as she goth forthe: and specially if she go to any feastis / or maryages / or metynge of men / or any other lyke place / that she muste go to / or to fulfyll her husbandes pleasure: Where hit is nat mete for the daughter to go: and let there be at home some good womā keper of her chastite. For there is no greatter myschiefe than that that is bredde at home / nor more ieoperdous. Howe shalte thou auoyde y^t / excepte thou eschewe hit vtterly? What auaileth it to saue the wod from all harme / whan there is a worme with in / that eateth hit? I knowe a very good woman / whiche was made the ouersear of maydes / that wolde nat correcte / and take away her sonnes / whā they playde some what wantonlye with wenches / by­cause she loued them some what tenderly / nor kepe from harmynge of theyr chastite. Wherfore hit is to be taken hede of: that the woman / whom the mayde is put in trust to / haue no wanton sonnes / nor bredren: whom she dare nat be agaynst. Let her nat be onely chaste / but also in countenance & grauite / both of wysedome / maners / and speche / [Page]worthye to be had in reuerence: Whose eies & loke they wyl be aferde of & nat only their speche: ye & though they be her elder bretherne / that she feare nothyng in doyng her duety of watche & kepyng: So that she make all thynge belōgynge vnto her chastite / safe with her presēce: and suche as wolde tolle them vnto wantonnes and vice / with her ex­sample is for to be dryuen far away. But she that wyll be hyred of a louer to prouoke to moue with speche and wordes / lacketh the name of a reaso­nable creature: For that is a deuyllysshe thynge: Whiche a mayde shal flee fro / lyke as she wolde frō an edder or a serpēt: whiche all folkes shulde dryue out of y^e countre / as a commen distruction of them all. Hit can nat be tolde / howe moche myschiefe suche womē be cause of. Therfore let nat a mayde ones abyde the syght of suche womē: For they be verye cocatryces: and inspire poyson with theyr loke / and slee with the only beholdyng. Nor let a­ny man thynke that I speake this as a similitude beyonde the veray trouthe: For some be so craf­tye / that they can catche one with a loke / without wordes: and some vse inchauntemētes and char­mes: Where of there be manye examples. Also with the only loke and salutȳg / this serpēt casteth a blotte on the yonge woman / vnto whom she spe­keth and loketh / namely there as suche a woman is knowen: besyde the shame that she causeth in that house / that she resorteth vnto. Therfore let the maide fire vnto her mother / as vnto a sainctuary / and schewe vnto her / what that vngratious [Page]body wolde haue done: orels so auoyde & kepe her selfe from her / that they that se it / maye perceyue by her chere / that she feareth the myscheuousnes of that woman: and so she shall do her selfe good / with the dede / & other with her example: whā she sheweth other maydes / what they ought to feare in that woman. Hit were good for y^e cōmon welth / that inquisition were made of olde poore women / that the ruler of the cite myght knowe howe they gette theyr lyuynge. Also of the seruauntes saynt Hieronyme sayth / I wolde she shulde loue none of her maydes more than an other / in whose eare she shulde vse to rowne and tytle often. What so euer she say the to one / let all here hit: Let her be cōtent with a mayde nat pyked / and fayre / and wanton / that can synge a balade with clere voyce: but sad / pale / and vntrymmed. Also he sayth vnto Deme­trias: Se that none of her felowes do her harme / either with nyce raymēt / or wantō wordes. Haue nought to do with suche women / that haue plea­sure to be sene / and loued / and make theyr boste / that they haue suche a fayre louer / or ryche / or no­ble: and beareth about letters sente from hym / & other whyle sheweth them vnto their cōpanions / or telle his dedes / or reherse his wordes: this he dyd / this he sayd to me: thus he commeth to me / thus he preysed me: auoyde them awaye / be they neuer so nere neighbours / be they neuer so ryche / be they frendes / kyns folkes / alyans / yea though they be thy systers / refuse them: For they be byttē of y^e woode dogge the deuyll: and be fallen woode [Page]theyr selfe: Wherin there is no name so dere / that shulde or ought to bryng a mayde to theyr compa­ny / but rather the mother shulde kylle the chylde / and the syster the brother / & the brother the syster / and syster the sister / & brother y^e brother. Therfore the mayde that wyll do by my counsaile shal passe the tyme with chosen virgins / lyke her selfe: and in good & honest pastimes / and other whyles with holy redynge or cōmunycation / of suche thynges / as she hath redde: but let her talke nothȳg of daū ­synge / or feastyng / or pleasures / leste her cōpaniōs be moued with som false colour of delite: nor let no mā be by. And whan she is lefte of her felowes in her chābre alone / let her nat be vtterly idell: for it is ieoperdous to be idel / specially beyng alone: nor I wold she shuld suffre her mȳde to muse / though hit be neuer so good and holy at the begynnynge: the mynde of a woman is vnstable / and abydeth nat longe in one place / hit falleth frō the good vnto the bad without any labour. And Syrus the poet semeth nat all without a cause to haue sayd / a wo­man that thinketh alone thinketh euyl. Nor Ma­ry Magdalene / whiche sate at the fote of our lorde and herde his worde / dyd nat only vse the contem­plation of heuenly thynges / but she dyd that whe­ther she redde / or herde / or prayde. And so shall by myne aduyse / nat onely a mayde but also any wo­mā. For in many places of this boke we gyue pre­ceptes for all women in generall. Therfore on the holy day let her either rede / or pray / whā she is a­lone: and on the workynge dayes lyke wyse / orels [Page]let her worke. And hit is no doute / but the angell founde Mary doynge some suche thynge / whiche was afcayde / whan she sawe a mānes face / where she was nat wōte. Therfore she is called ī Ebrewe alma that is as ye wold say / a virgin closed in. And this is she y^t Esaie the prophet speaketh of in these wordes: Beholde a virgin closed vp shall cōceyue and beare god and man. And only that mayde cō ­ceyueth Christ / whō fewe knowe / but only Christ. Therfore shall the mayde let no man into y^e house at home / but whom her father by speciall wordes commanndeth to be let in: and in processe of tyme she shal begynne to helpe to ease her mother of her laboure in y^e house. Whom & her father to gether / she shall haue moste dere of all thynges nexte god. And if they cōmāde theyr doughter to go in hande with wolle or flaxe / or any handy worke / she shall nat only execute theyr cōmaūdmēt / without grut­chynge / but also gladly / and with mery chere / & y^t the more dilygently and featly / if the father & mo­ther gette any parte of their lyuyng thereby: and than shall she thynke her selfe happy: and thynke that she rewardeth them / that she shulde of duete / and to norisshe them agayne / y^t haue norished her. Whan a mayde may for house holde busynes be a­lone / and pray / fyrste let her gyue her selfe holly to god / let her worship Christ and his mother / & aske perdone and peace of them / and than consydre her selfe to be a christen virgin / Christis spouse / and y^e folower of Mary: and that the virginite of y^e bo­dy is nought worthe / excepte the mynde be pure [Page]with all / and if that be / nothynge to be more clene nothynge more pleasant to god: and her selfe to be the folower of the moste holy mother of our lorde / and fyrste of all let her countrefete her excellēt ver­tue / that sobrenes and humilite of mynde / whiche was so great / that whan she had all thynges most goodlye and excellent / yet was she neuer the more high mynded / or proude: the most noble mayde y^t had of her lignage .xiiij. kynges: and so many du­kes of Israel cōmyn of suche a noble kyn & ryche / also her selfe made ryche of the wyse men / her selfe moste fayre / moste wyse / and well lerned / & yet for all that / howe euen a mynde dyd she beare / howe humble opinion she had of her selfe / also knowyng of the heuenlye byrthe / beynge mother of suche a sonne: yet disdayned she nat to haue a carpēter to her husbande / and to do hym seruyse / and to go se her kyns womā / & to be with her at her laboryng / and serue her: she dyd set no more by her selfe / thā by any other: nor disdayned none other / in cōpari­son to her selfe / neither for her kyn / nor beaute / nor witte / nor dignite: but she thought her selfe worse than any other / whan she was in dede better than āgels / whose quene she was ordeyned to be. Wherfore I holde nat with hit / that our ladye shuld be paynted so in sylkes and golden garmentes / and decked with gemmes and perles / as thoughe she had had any delite in suche thynge / whan she was in erth here: but nothyng lesse represemeth her / & I had leauer she shulde be purtured in a symple a­ray / and suche as she vsed in dede / that we myght [Page]haue afore our eies y^t humilite of her mynde more playnly / that it mought be an ensample to teache ryche men / and to comforte the poure: and that the poure mennes stomackes may increase / and y^t ryche decrease / & both their stomackes be brought to a reasonable meane / that neither the riche men despeyre / nor the poure be ouer bolde to truste ouer moche. Therfore by my counsaile the mayde shall folowe her example / nat with a faynyng & a dissē ­blyng mynde / but true and stedfaste / leste there be a worse vice lyeng vnder a colour of vertue / as hit were a poyson vnder an holsome thynge / or a sore vnder an holle skynne. Let womē vse no faynȳg / nor clokȳg / to seme good with all: nor let them nat thynke / that they can cloke / orels chaunge the na­ture of thynges: the countrefete is nat lyke y^e very thynge / the couered & shadowed is feble & vnsure / and shalbe at laste open and knowen. Therfore let a yōge woman be in dede / as she sheweth demure / humble / sobre / shamfast / chaste / honest / and ver­tuous / bothe let her seme so / and be so: and let her pray vnto the holy virgin / whom she shal truly re­present with her lyuyng / and be therfore the more pleasāt vnto her / & also vnto Christ / y^t shal aknow­lege her his spouse: let her pray fyrste for her selfe / y^t she may be increased in vertue / & purpose of her holy chastite / and other vertues: secondly for her father and mother / bretherne / systerne / and kyns folkes / and other / for whom her duety is to praye: for her prayer shalbe moste acceptable vnto god / & most effectuous to optayne / bicause hit cōmeth of [Page]a pure and a holy mynde / and moste christiane. I wolde she shulde either vnderstāde what she pray­eth / orels speake in that lāgage / that she doth vn­derstande: or what so euer she prayeth in latyn / let her get hit declared vnto her in her owne tonge before of some body: Nor let her nat wene / y^e prayer stādeth ī y^e murmuryng & waggyng of y^e lyppes / but in the harte and mynde / whan she lyfteth vp her mynde from these vile thynges in erthe vnto heuenly and dyuyne thynges. And where we be cōmanded in the masse / where it is sayde / Sursum corda / that is as moche to saye / as vp our hartes: we answere / Habemus ad dominum / that is to saye / we have vnto our lorde: In whiche answere full many lye / that whan they saye so / thynke in dede vpon some worldly busynes. But Christe sayth / that true worshyppers be these / that worshyp the father in spirite: and that this worshyppynge is moost pleasant vnto hym / and this prayer mooste acceptable. Therfore let her se / that her thought and mynde dyscorde nat from her wordes: let her speke the same within / that she speketh without / ye and holde her tonge outwardly and she wyll / or talke of other matters / so that she crye vnto god inwardly / and saye with the spouse: I slepe / and my harte waketh.

Of the vertues of a woman and exam­ples that she shulde folowe. The .xi. chap.

A woman shall lerne the vertues of her kynde all together out of bokes / whi­che [Page]she shall either rede her selfe or elles here redde. And hit becommeth euery woman to be indowed with all kynde of vertue / but some be necessary for her: as all vice is shamfull and some abhomina­ble and cursed / and some vertuous be for wyues / some for wydowes / some for religious womē: but I wyll speake, of suche as belonge vnto the holle kynde of women. Fyrste let her vnderstande that chastyte is the principall vertue of a woman / and coūtrepeyseth with all the reste: if she haue that / no mā wyll loke for any other: & if she lacke that / no man wyll regarde other. And as the stoicke philosophers reken / that all goodnes standeth in wysedome / and all yll in folye / in so moche that they sayde / onely the myse man to be ryche / fre / a kynge / a cytesyn / fayre / bolde / and blessed: and a fole poure / a thrall / an outlawe / a stranger / foule / a cowherde / & wretched: lyke wyse it is to be iud­ged of chastite in women / that she that is chaste is fayre / well fauored / ryche / frutfull / noble / and all best thynges y^t can be named: & contrary / she y^t is vnchaste is a see and treasure of all ylnes: nowe shamfastnes and sobrenes be the inseparable companyons of chastite / in so moche that she cannat be chast that is nat ashamed: for that is as a co­uer and a vaylle of her face. For whan nature had ordeyned / that our faces shulde be open and bare of clothes / she gaue it the vaylle of shamfastnes / where with hit shulde be couered / and that for a great commendation / that who so dyd loke vpon hit / shulde vnderstande some great vertue to be [Page]vnder that couer: nor no man shulde se hit couered with that vaylle / but he shulde loue hit: nor none se hit naked of that / but he shulde hate hit. Our lorde curseth an vnchaste woman / sayeng: Thou haste the face of an harlotte / thou art past shame. Of shamfastnes cometh demurenes and mesura­blenes: that whether she thynke ought / or say / or do / nothyng shalbe outragious / neither in passiōs of mȳde / nor wordes / nor dedes / nor presūptuous / nor nyce / wanton / pierte / nor bostyng / nor ambiti­ous: and as for honours she wyll neither thynke her selfe worthye / nor desire them / but rather flee them: & if they chance vnto her / she wyll be asha­med of them / as of a thynge nat deserued / nor be for nothing hygh mynded / neither for beautie / nor proprenes / nor kynred / nor ryches / beynge sure y^t they shal sone perisshe / & that pride shal haue euer lastyng payne. Nowe sobrenes kepeth continence lyke as dronkenes & excesse driueth hit out. Euery mā wotteth what foloweth surfet. And vnto sobrenes is ioyned measurable & sklender dyet / whiche thinges be in householdyng y^e womans party / as Plato & Aristotle say full well. The mā getteth / y^e woman saueth and kepeth. Therfore he hath sto­make gyuē hym to gether lustily / & she hath hit takē frō her / y^t she may warely kepe. And of this so­brenes of body / cōmeth sobrenes of minde: nor y^e fā tasies of y^e mynde shall as they were drōke trouble and disease the quietnes of vertue / but y^e she maye both thynke well and do well. Let her applye her selfe to vertue / and be contente with a lyttell / and [Page]take in worth that she hath / nor seke for other / that she hath nat / nor for other folkes / where of ryseth enuye / hate / or curiosite of other folkes matters. The deuotion of holy thynges moste agreeth for women. Therfore hit is a farre worse syghte of a woman / that aborreth deuotion: she muste haue moche stryfe with enuye / whiche is both a folisshe vice and shamfull in women / and yet I wotte nat howe it assauteth them the most sore: but she that is of good behauoure / and hath inoughe to serue her with / shall haue no cause to enuye other / nor to be curious in an other bodis house: and she that is shamfaste / sobre and reasonable of mynde / shall neyther be ragious angre / nor falle to raylynge / crueltie / or bestlynes. For whan hit is naturall for women to be kynde and gentyll / bicause they be fe­ble / and nede the ayde of other / who can be cōtent with out ragious ire and cruelte in a woman: in so moche that she wolde spill that she can nat saue / if nede were / and to kepe her vengeable mynde vnto tyme and occasion of reuēgeance. Suche a wo­man were worthye to haue so moche payne / that she shulde be euen oppressed & brused with noum­bre and weyght of hit / and graunte her selfe ouer commen / and leaue her mynde of angre / venge­ance / and other madnes. For a folishe woman stryueth euen with wylde beast is in angre and enuy / bycause theyr tender and lyght myndes thynke e­uery offence paynful and intollerable / and worthy to be greuously punysshed: and smalle and lyght maters seme great & greuous vnto foly she folkes. [Page]Therfore except a womā either eschewe by crafte / or ouer come by power suche felle enemyes / hit is icoperdye / leste she be distroyed / and haue euerla­stynge payne / bothe in this lyfe / and in an other. Nowe I suppose it be shewed playnly inough / y^t chastite is as the quene of veriues in a woman / and that .ij. inseparable companyons euer folowe hit / and that of shamefastnes commeth sobrenes / of whiche .ij. commeth all the other forte of ver­tues longyng vnto womē, demurenes / measure / frugalite / scarsite / diligence in house / cure of deuo­tion / mekenes / whiche vertues I shall declare all largely in an other place: and she shall fynde them all more habundantly intreated / of holy and wyse menne. Beholde the image of honestie drawen in picture / whiche is so goodly & so excellent of beau­tie / that if hit coulde be sene with oure corporalle eies / as Plato sayth in the boke called pbedo / hit wolde take folkes wonderously with the loue of it selfe. Nor no beautie dothe so enamour our eies / and taketh and holdeth / as honestie shulde bothe take and lede with her / if she were opened and she­wedde vnto vs. Also the maide shall gether by he­ryng and redyng holy examples of virgins / whi­che she may folowe / whom she maye desire and la­bour to be lyke / and specially / as I haue sayd / the mooste excellent and flower of virginite our lady / the mother of Christe / god and man: whose lyfe / nat onely maydes haue for an example to forme & fashen themselfe after / but also wyues and wydo­wes: for she hath ben all thynge vnto all folkes to [Page]prouoke all and brynge them vnto the example of her chastite: vnto virgins the moste demure vir­gin: vnto wyues / the moste chast wyfe: and vnto wydowes / y^e most deuout wydowe: She was the fyrst that toke this strange way of virginite with a bolde stomacke and holy pourpose: she was the fyrst that lyued aboue the worldly custome in ma­ryage an angelles lyfe / without carnall vse: in so moche that she toke her a keper of her chastite / ra­ther thā an husbande: whiche bycause they were wonders / therfore brought she forth a sonne more woderfully / that nature wondred on. And whan she was wydowe / bycause she lyued all in spirite / she lyfte vp her selfe aboue the nature of the body / yet lyuynge in the bodye / hauynge in god a sonne moost obedient / and moste chaste spouse / and most cheryshynge father / that bycause she forsoke all thyng for god / she myght fynde all thynge in god. But what do I holye virgine? What do I enter­pryse? to speke of thyn infinite preyse? Nay nay / that is nat for my dull witte / and rudenes of lan­gage / or this lytle roume / we hadde nede of great tyme & leysure ther vnto / and prompte eloquence / and wytte and counnyng most excellent. But you virgins folowe her / as many as wyll kepe your virginite saffe and holle: Folowe her wyues / as many as care for the pleasyng of your husbādes / and lyste perfourme / that ye haue sworne: you wydowes beholde her / in whom you shall haue bothe frutefull consolation of the losse of your husbande / and counsayle of kepynge your children / and ex­ample [Page]of leadyng the residue of your lyfe. There hath folowed this virgins ordre mighty great cō ­panyes of our thousandes / as the psalmyst sayd: There shalbe virgins brought vnto the kynge af­ter her / whose actes shall profette nat onely them that arre nowe / but also all that shall come hereaf­ter in example. And histories do tell of pagane virgins / that were famous only by chastite: Of whō saint Hieronyme writyng agaynst Iouiniā / grut­ched nat to reherse a great nombre out of the hi­stories of the grekes / bicause he sawe that in this maner of matters folkes wyll be moued moche w^t examples. For hit semeth nat veraye harde / to do that some tyme hath be done. And he reciteth ma­ny / that had leauer lose their lyues than their vir­ginite. Nor I wyll nat do suche a displeasure vn­to that mooste auncient and holy man / as either to passe as superfluous that he hath tolde / or to reherse hit vnder other maner / but by & by wryte here as he hath put in his boke. So than saith he in this wyse / the thyrty tyrannes in Athens / whā they had slayne Phedon at a bāket / they cōmāded his doughters yong maydes / to be brought vnto them / and to be strypped naked lyke harlottes / & to playe on the flore blody of theyr fathers blode / with vncomly and wanton gestures: whiche for a whyle dissemblynge the countenaunce of theyr so­rowe / after that they sawe the folkes merye with drynke / they wente forth / as it were to do their na­turall necessite / and enbrasyng one another / caste downe them selfe into a welle / that they myghte [Page]saue their virginite. In other / doughter vnto De motio y^e price of the Ariopagites / whā she herde y^t her spouse Leostheues was slayne / whiche had bē the cause of Lamyāce warre / slewe her selfe / affyr­myng that though her bodye was yet vntouched of any man / neuer the lesse if she were maried vn­to any after / she shulde haue as hit were a seconde husbande / bycause in mynde she was maryed vn­to the fyrste. The Spartanes / and the Messeny­anes had frendeshyp and confederation to gether longe tyme / in so moche that they vsed to sende ei­ther vnto other virgins to do certayne sacrifyce: So on a season / Whan the Spartanes had sente fyfty virgins / and the Messenyanes wold haue deuouted them / of all that great noumbre was nat one founde / that wolde cōsente to that abhomyna­ble dede / but al died gladly for their chastite. Wherfore many a daye there was great warre betwene them / and in longe space Marmertia / one of their cytyes was destroyed. Aristoclides the tyranne of Orchomene loued a mayde of the cite of Stym­phalis / whiche whan her father was kylled / fled vnto the temple of Diane / &c enbraced the image / nor coude nat be drawen from thens agayne / but was slayne in y^e same place: For whom al the lāde of Arcady was so sore moued / that they made opē warre to reuēge y^t maydes dethe. Aristomenes of Messene / a good & a iuste man / whā he had cōque­red the Lacedemoniās / & on a tyme as they kepte a festyuyte in the nyghte / whiche they called Hia­cinthina / toke away .xv. maydens that were play­enge [Page]in company there / and went all nyght a pace fleyng out of the countre with them: and whan some of his men wolde haue deuoured them / he charged them / as wel as he coude / that they shuld nat do so: and at the last some that wolde nat obey he put to dethe / to feare the reste with all. After / whā these maydes were redemed agayne by their frendes / and they sawe this Aristomenes sewed for the deth of a man / they wolde neuer go home / but lay ꝓstrate at y^e fete of y^e iuges vntil they se hȳ quitte / that was defender of theyr chastite. Howe shulde we sufficiēly preyse the doughters of Sce­dasus of Leuctres / a towne of the coūtre of Beoce / whiche their father being from home / as we rede / had receyued .ij yonge men by the way of hospy­talite / and they dronke with ouer moche wyne / in the nyght rauyshed y^e maydes / whiche whā they had lost theyr virginite / wolde lyue no longer / but kyld one an other: Also the maydes of Locrean be worthy to be spokē of / that had a custome in their countres / to be sende yerely vnto Ilium: whiche custome had contynued a thousande yere / nor yet was there neuer herde tell / y^t any had any report & name of disteynynge theyr virginite. Who can let passe vnspoken of the .vij. maydens of Milesye / whiche whan the frenche men distroyed all about theyr countre / kylled them selfe / leste they shulde be compelled to any villany / leauyng an example vnto all virgins / that vnto an honeste mynde the chaste purenes of bodye oughte to be more regar­ded than the lyfe. Nycanor after he had cōquered [Page]Thebes the cite / was takē in the loue of a mayde / that he had taken prisoner / and wolde haue mary­ed her / whiche thyng might haue pleased a poure prysoner / but she sette more by her virginite / than by his kyngdome / and there kylled her selfe / whi­che thyng he made great sorowe fore / holdyng the deade body in his armes. Greke writers tell of an other mayde of Thebes / that whan her enemy a Macedon had deflowred her / a whyle she dissem­bled her angre / and after founde the corrupter of her virginite slepyng / whom she slewe / and after that her selfe / for ioye that she had auēged her selfe of that abhomynable vilanye: nor she wolde lyue no longer / than she had her virginite: nor dye / tyll she had auenged her chastite. All this sayth saynt Hieronyme. Therfore christen women maye be a­shamed / if any shame were in them / that do nat kepe theyr chastite truly: lyuyng vnder the moste chaste Christe / sonne of the mooste chaste mother / and in the most chast churche / and faythe / seynge that pagans / worshippers of fylthye Iuppiter / & baudy Venus / haue set more by their chastite / thā all other thynges. Where to shulde I recyte here the exāples of holy virgins / to moue them with / that be nat ashamed / that chaste pagans shulde be ones named? Whom shulde I specially shewe them to folowe example of amonge so many thou­sandes / Tecla / or Hagnes / Catharine / Lucia / or Cecile / Agatha / Barbara / or Margarita / or Do­rothe / or rather the holle flocke of the .xj. thousāde virgins / whiche all hadde leauer dye / than they [Page]ennemyes shulde do theyr coursed pleasure with them? Thou shalte skarse fynde .ij. men that shall so stedfastly agre in that holy purpose: wherin .xj. thousande render virgins were to faste and stable. There were infynyte in nombre / that had leauer be kylled / heded / strāgled / drowned / or haue theyr throtis cutte / than lose their chastite, whiche whā they wold nat ste them selfe / yet they sought crafte to come by their deth / whā they were in ieoperdye of their chastite / as Brasilla / a noble maide / borne in Dirchache / a cite of Italy / which whā she saws her ennemye come to be rafte her of her virginite / promysed vnto hym / that if he wolde do her no vil lany / she wolde gyue hym an herbe / where of if he were anoynted with y^e iuse / no wepen shulde perce hym: the man of warre was cōtent with the offre: So she went in to the nexte garden / and there toke vp an herbe / the fyrst that came to hande / and bad hym auēture the fyrst profe on her selfe / of the ver­tue of the herbe / & anoynted her throte there with / and bad hym smyte / to assay: so he smote / and kylled her. Neyther saynt Hieronyme disaloweth / that a woman kylle her selfe / to saue her chastite with. And saynt Ambrose in the .iij. boke / that he wryteth of virgins / laythe agaynst this doubte the example of Pelagey the martyr / saying / there nedeth none other confyrmation / where we haue the dede of a virginne and a martyr / of fyltene yeres of age / whiche with her mother and her sy­ters together / caste her selfe in to a water. Saynt Euseby in the ecclesiastical historie sayth / that one [Page]Sophronia a noble woman / whan she sawe her husbande that was the chiefe offycer of the cyte afferde / & vnable to defende her goodnes agaynst the foule and vnlawful pleasure of Maximine the emperour / closed her selfe in her chambre / & there kylled her selfe: and yet the churche hathe alowed her for a martyr. All these examples of chastite be redde in the churche. Howe dare an vnchaste and a noughty woman come thether / nor be a basshed to bryng a brothelrye in to the cōpany of virgins / and defyle those pure etes with her fylthye lokes / and polute tender yeres with her corrupt voyces? Thou vngratious woman / darste thou name Ca­tharin / Hagnes / or Barbara / and fyle those holy names with thyne vnpure mouthe? Darste thou name thy selfe by any of those names / and make thy selfe in name lyke vnto them / to whom thou arte so vnlyke to in conditions / and a very deedly enemy? Nor cometh hit nat to thy remembrance / whan thou hereste thy selfe called / what maner one she was / whose name thou bearest? And whā thou remembrest / that she was so pure / chast / and good / and agayne thy selfe so vnpure / vnchaste / and vugrations / doste thou nat rage day & nyght / for thought and repentaunce? O thou moost sha­meles of all women / howe darest thou halowe the natiuite of the most pure virgin / that art thy selfe vnworthy euer to be borne? And dareste thou she­we we thy shameles face vnto her most demure eies? And woldest thou haue her to here or loke at the so ouer couerte with noughtynes / whiche whan she [Page]was in this worlde / was neuer wont to se nor here no me / nat though they were full good? Hit were better for the neuer to come in to theyr syght / leste they auenge on the the iniury of theyr kynde: nor to name thy selfe by theyr names / selfe they puny­she the for fylyng theyr names. And I speke in er­nest / for here is no place to bourde in: there shulde be made some decre / that none vnhoneste woman shulde be called Mary. For whye do nat we gyue as moche honoure vnto that name / whom all we a ryse and make reuerence vntyll / as the pagans gaue vnto some of their folkes. For ī Athens / whā Hermodius and Aristogiton had bany shed the ty­rans out of the cite / there was by a decre determi­ned / that no bonde mā / nor any that occupped any vile crafte / shulde be named by theyr names.

Howe the mayde shall behaue her selfe for the abrode. The .xii. Chaptre.

HOrthe she must nedes go some ty­mes / but I wolde hit shulde be as selde as may be / for many causes. Principally bycause as ofte as a mayde goth forth amonge people / so oftē she cometh in iugement and extreme perell of her beautie / honeste / demurenes / witte / shamfastnes / and vertue. For nothyng is more tender / than is the same and estimation of women / nor nothynge more in daunger of wronge: in so moche that hit hath be sayde / and nat without a cause / to hange [Page]by a copwebbe / bycause those thynges / that I haue rehersed / be required perfet in a womā: and folkes iugementes be dangerous to please / and suspititous: and as Ouid saith / we be quicke inough in beleuynge the yll. And as Cicero saythe / Nos thynge fleeth more sweftly than an yll worde / no­thynge gothe soner forth / nothyng is soner taken / nor brodder spredde: that if a sklander ones take holde in a maydes name by folkes opynyon / hit is in a maner euerlastynge / nor can nat be was­shed away without great tokennes and shewes of chastite and wysedome. If thou talke lyttell in cō pany / folkes thynke thou canste but lyttell good: if thou speke moche / they reken the lyght: if thou speke vncoūnyngly / they counte the dull wytted: if thou speake counnyngly / thou shalte be called a shrewe: if thou answere nat quickly / thou shalt be called proude / or yll brought up: if thou answere / they shall say thou wylt be sone ouercomē: if thou syt with demure countenannce / thou arte called a dissembler: if thou make moche mouynge / they wyll call the folishe: if thou loke on any syde / than wyll they say / thy mynde is there: if thou laughe whan any man laugheth / though thou do hit nat a purpose / streyght they wyll say thou hast a fan­tasye vnto the man and his sayenge / and that hit were not great maistry to wȳne the. Wher to shuld I tell / howe moche occasion of vyce and noughty­nes is a brode? Wherfore the poet semeth to haue sayd nat without a cause: It is nat lefull for may­des to be sene abrode. Howe moche were hit better [Page]to abyde at home / than go forth and here so many iudgementes / and so dyuers vpon the / and be in so many leopardies? Nor there is none / that had more nede to folowe this greke sayeng / Lyue vn­knowen. Therfore Tucydides sayde / she was the beste woman / of whom was least talke / either vn­to her preyse / or her dispreyse. A woman shulde be kepte close / nor be knowen of many / for hit is a to­ken of no great chastite or good name / to be kno­wen of many / or be songen about in the cite in son­ges / or to be markedde or named by any notable marke / as whyte / lame / gogle eied / lytell / great / fat / maymed / or stuttynge / these ought nat to be knowen abrode in a good woman. Why than saye som / shuld we neuer walke out of our owne dores? Shuld we euer lye at home? that were as though we shuld lye in pryson. For so doth some proude fo­les take this sayenge / that desyre to se & to be sene. Nay verily they shall go forth some tymes / if nede require / and if theyr father commaunde or theyr mother: but afore she go forth at dore / let her pre­pare her mynde and stomake none other wise / thā if she went to fyght. Let her remembre / what she shall here / what she shal se / and what her selfe shal say. Let her cōsidre with her selfe / that some thȳg shall chaunce on euerye syde / that shall moue her chastite and her good mȳde. Agaynst these dartes of the deuyll fleynge on euery syde / let her take the buckler of stomacke defēded with good exāples & preceptes / & a fyrme purpose of chastite / & a mynd euer bente towarde Christe. And lette her knowe / [Page]that she goth but to vanyte / whiche leste she be ta­ken with it / she had nede to prouide wysely / & that that she shall se forth abrode / is to be counted none other thyng / but a shewe of the lyfe of the worlde: by whose vices set before her eies / she mayelerne / nat only to kepe her selfe out of the contagiousnes / but more ouer to amende her owne fautes: and that what houre so euer she turneth her selfe from god vnto men / whether she lyke them or be lyked of them / she forsakethe Christe: and of Christis spouse sodaynly becometh an adulterar. If she se any goodnes / let her loue hit for Christe: if she se any euyll / let her fle hit for Christe: Let her take hede neuer to garnysshe her selfe so / nor so go / nor do / or speke so / that she be y^e deuylles snare to chat­che men in. She shulde nat onely do none yll her selfe / but as moche as she can / so behaue her selfe / that she be none occasion vnto other of doynge yll: orels shall she be a membre of the deuyll / whose in­strument she is all redye / and nat Christis. They saye / that the holy virgin our lady was so demure and sadde / that if any man cast a wonton eie vpon her / that foule heate was all quenched as though a mā had cast a fyre brāde in to the water. Nowe whan she is apoynted with these thoughtes and suche other / let her go forth with her mother if she haue any / and haue leaue to go: if she haue no mother / let her go with some sadde woman / that is a wydowe / or a wyfe / or some good mayde of vertu­ous lyuyng / sobre of speche / & holy shamfastnes. Homerus writeth / that y^e chast woman Penelope [Page]dyd come forth into the company of her wowers / but nat alone / but with two honest maydes in her company: and also her sonne Telemachus was a monge them syttynge. And as saynt Hieronyme commandeth / whan she goth forth abrode / let her nat beare her brestis and her necke bare / but hyde her face / and with scarsly an eie open to se her way with all: Neither let her desire to se / nor to be sene / nor caste her eies vnstably hither and thether: nor be busye to knowe / who dwelleth in this place / or in that / whiche ought scantly to knowe her owne neighbours. He wolde haue all hyd / faue the eies to lede her y^e way. Nor I can nat se / what honeste or goodnes can be in shewynge of the necke bare: howe be hit that maye be suffered / but to bare the breast and the pappes / and betwene the shulders on the backe / and almost the shulders / howe foule a thyng is that / as the cōmen sayeng is / a blynde man may espy / whan those that se it / some aborre the abhomynablenes: and somme wanton men / seynge the parte of the bodye / nat vsed to be sene / are set on fyre there with. Wherto were gloues or­deyned / but to hyde the handes / that they shulde nat appere / excepte hit were in worke? We rede / that the maides of the cite of Milete were in suche a rage in olde tyme / that in diuers places they hā ­ged theyr selfes / nor any remedye coude be founde for that case / there was commaūded vnder great paynes / that they shulde nat do hit / they sette nat by paynes / nor in dede there is no payne sorer thā deth / & as for y^t they wēt to on theyr owne mȳdes. [Page]Than were they watched and kepte / yet founde they the meanes to dye for all theyr kepyng: than at last there was a commaundement gyuen / that whiche so euer kylled her selfe / shulde be drawen naked and bare / through the market place of the towne in the open day: and that payne only made them a ferde: for they wolde nat be sene naked: no nat whan they were deed. O incredible demure­nes / & worthy to be spoken of / they that feared nat dethe / the extremeste of all sorowe / yet drede they honestie in the deade body: and so was that rage seased. And more ouer Nature her selfe / the wyse mother of all thynges / prouideth for the honestie of women. For a wonderous case / Pliny in his na­turall historie wryteth / that mennes bodies caste in to the see swymme vppe right / and womens on the bealy: so nature hath care and respecte to wo­mēs honesty / & yet they them selfe set nought ther­by. In goyng / let the woman neither walke ouer fast / nor ouer slowly. Nowe whā she is in cōpany of people / let her shewe great sobrenes / both in coū ­tenaunce / and all the gesture of her body / whiche thynge let her nat do of any pride / or to make her selfe the more comely / but of sobre and very christē mynde: nor let her nat beholde men moche: nor thynke that they beholde her. Nowe if the men syt a parte / and talke to gether beholdyng her / yet let nat her thynke / that they talke of her / nor loke at her. For some maydes and yonge women / that haue gottē an opinion of beautie and pretynes in theyr selfe / wene that euerye man loketh at them [Page]only & speke of them / and if any mā loke at them / though it be but by chance / nothynge thynkynge vpon them / yet wene they that they loke at theyr beautie / and than they smyle: and bycause they wyll nat seme to laughe at that matter / they caste forthe some tryfyll / that they thynke shulde make folkes laugh. A man maye some rymes se .xx. syt­tyng to gether / whom if a mā beholde them / they wyll al laugh at ones / and say / they laugh at some worde or dede of some of them selfe / whiche is ne­uer a whyte worth the laughyng: but y^t euery one thynketh her selfe so wonderous fayre and goodly to se and beholde: in whiche doynge they playnly shewe their owne foly & lyghtnes. But the mayde that wyll do after my counsaile / shal nat set by her beautie: nor iudge her selfe fayre: nor laugh at so­ly she or lewde wordes: nor shall reioyse to be mo­che loked vpō / and to be a talkynge stocke for yōge men / whan she hath more cause to wepe for hit / that the mooste excellent goodnes / that she hath / shulde be assauted by so many craftes and enmys / and that her face doth enflame yonge mēnes myn des vnto soule & vnlaufull lustes / whom she kno­weth nat / whether she can withstande or nat. And for as moche as we be in hande with laughynge / whiche is a sygne of a verye lyghte and dissolute mȳde / let her se that she laugh nat vnmesurably. For this I nede nat to byd her / that she shall nat laugh agayne vnto yonge men / y^t laugh towarde her / whiche none wyll do / but she that is nought / orels a fole. Let her nat suffre to be plurked at or [Page]to be touched wantōly: let her chaunge her place / or go away / & nede be: let her gyue nothyng to no man / nor take ought of any man. The wyse man sayth: He y^t taketh a benefyt / selleth his libertie. And ther is in France & Spayne a good sayeng. A womā y^t gyueth a gyft / gyueth her selfe: a womā y^t taketh a gyfte / selleth her selfe. Therfore an ho­nest womā shal nother gyue / nor take. Ful of talke I wold nat haue her / no nat amōge maydes: For as for amōge men to be full of bable / I maruayle that some regarde shame so lytell / that they do nat dispreise hit. That custome was confermed / as I trowe / by the decree of the deuyll / that women shulde be preysed for talkyng eloquently and prōt­ly with men: and that by many houres to gether. What I praye you / shuld an ignorāt mayde talke with a yonge man ignorant of goodnes and coun­nyng inough in noughtynes? What shulde fyre & towe do to gether? What shulde they talke of so longe? What? I am sure of Christe and our lady. nay / but rather by theyr communycation they shall be incenced / and kendled / and whether they wyll or no / shalbe cōpelled to talke of theyr heate: and suche they call women of courte / and I trowe well / of suche courtes as be nowe adayes / that be euen the fathers of outragious vice / and the setis of Satanas: Whiche nat onely a thristen bodye shall keps them from / but also pagannes / if they haue any witte or good mynde. But ye wyll para­uenture saye / They be nat all nought. Fyrste / I can nat tel that: and though they be chast of body / [Page]yet be they vnchaste of mynde: and though they be good of body / yet be they common in hart. Nor they lacke nothynge to make them nought / but a good and cōuenient occasion / bicause they be euer in the eies & company of many folkes. But wher­to shulde I dispute with these folkes? What good man wyll alowe this? Or who wyll lyke hit / but suche as neuer knewe so moche as a shadowe of honestie? Whiche wolde if they coulde brynge hit to passe / haue all womē nought / that they myght the more easylye fulfylle theyr vnsatyable lustes: Whiche be them selfe drowned vppe to bothe the eares in vice / vnhappynes / and vnthriftynes / that they can neither le theyr owne vice / nor other mennes. Fyrste let them put of that cursed darke­nes / where with they be ouer layden: and than shall we beleue theyr iudgementes of vertue. As for a yonge woman and a yonge man / to talke of loue in a corner / is nat mete / though they were bretherne and systerne. There maye be rehersed ma­ny olde examples and newe bothe / of vices that haue be done amonge bretherne and systerne / ha­uyng occasion and tyme secrete. So Amon sonne of kynge Dauid / defloured his owne syster Tha­mar: so Caunus lay by his syster Byblis. Saint Augustine wolde neuer dwelle with his syster in house: He sayde hit was noughte to se a woman / worse to speke with her / and worst of all to touche her. Pion an holy abbot / hadde a syster sore sicke / whiche whā he was desyred to go speke with her / or she died / he closed vp his eies / and was led of an [Page]other body vnto her chābre / and talked with her / and so departed away. Neither I wolde nat haue bretherne to playe with theyr systers / nor kyns men with theyr nere kyns women / be they neuer so good / & chaste / & cōtinent: neither to kysse them / nor groope / nor plucke at them. What shulde that serue fore / but to rype them and prepare redy for suche as be more lewde: that if they desyre anye vnhoneste thynge / the women sette in heate there with / shall thinke on suche thynges as shulde tou­che theyr chastite? Nor in a great courte I wolde they shulde nat crepe in to corners. What wolde they say there / that other folkes may nat heare: if they purpose to speke of that / that is pure and chaste? Neither I wolde there shulde be manye wordes betwene yonge men and maydes / though folkes be by / excepte they be so pure and honeste / that no susspecte of ill can come of them. For some men be so crafty in noughtynes / & can wrappe in darke sentence theyr myndes in suche wyse / that they maye yet be vnderstanden of her what they meane / by that they speke vnto her: and yet shall the double sence cause / that they maye denye that they ment so / and blame her for wronge takynge theyr wordes / and vnderstandynge them in euyll sence / whiche they spake for no harme: and than they set moche by theyr owne witte: whā they be coūnyng in these craftes / though they be deuoyde of al goodnes / but able & coūnyng inough to do yl: whiche thynge dothe nat proue any great wytte but an excercise in noughtynes: whiche as Senec [Page]sayth / is worse / and more foule / than is a dull and slugyshe wytte. For wytte is nat to be rekened in subtiltis and deceytes / excepte we wyll reken de­uylles more wyse than angelles: but one good an­gell is more wise thā all y^e deuylles in hell. At fewe wordes / hit is good to haue very lytell or nought to do with men / and speke very fewe wordes with them / and those full of sobrenes / honestie / and wy­sedome: nor thou shalt nat thereof be rekened the more moope and fole / but the more wyse. And if iudgement shulde be gyuen of thy disposition / I had leauer yll folkes shulde reken the rude / than good folkes badde. Tell me howe moche redeste thou in all the historie of the gospell / that our lady euer spake. The angell cometh in vnto her: & she fynisshed the matter with fewe wordes / and those wyse and sad / & also holy: She gothe for to se Eli­sabeth / & speketh to y^e preyse of god: She brȳgeth forth a sonne / whiche is god: She is lauded of y^e angelles / worshyppedde of the hyrde menne / and holdethe her peace / gatherynge and kepynge in her remembraunce all theyr sayenges. She was honored of the wyse men of the easte / that came thyther a great waye: and what doste thou rede / that euer she spake? Some other pauenture wold haue askedde of theyr countre / of theyr treasure / of theyr lernynge / or of the sterre: but she / as became a yonge mayde / spake neuer a worde. She offereth her sonne in the temple / and whan Sy­meon prophysied of hym / an other wolde haue asked some moo thynges / or elles the reason and [Page]maner of those that be tolde. The olde man tour­ned his sayenge vnto the mayde / spekynge of her sonne: Lowe he is put for a falle and a rysynge a­gayne of many in Israel / & a syng / ayenst whom there shall be spekynge / and a sworde shall cut thy harte / vnto thende that the thoughtes of many hartes in Israel may be opened. Some other wo­man wolde haue asked / whan / howe / and where hit shulde haue bene: but we rede nat / that she said any thynge. She loste her dereste sonne at Hieru­salem: and whan she had sought hym thre dayes / and at the laste founde hym / howe many wordes sayd she to hym? Sonne / why haste thou serued vs so? Lothy father and I sought the carefully, After that whan she was of more age / at a mary­age / she sayd no more but this: Sonne they haue no wyne. And at the crosse she was clene dumine: she asked neuer a whytte of her sonne / neither with whom he wolde leaue her / nor what he wold commaunde her to do / whan he dyed: For she had nat lerned to pratle amonge folkes. All maydes / & al womē folowe you her: for she was but of fewe wordes: but wonderous wise. Theano Metapon­tina a poet / and a mayde excellent counnynge / re­kened / that silence was the nobleste ornament of a woman. And Sophocles is of the same opyny­on: for with silence bothe wysedome and chastite be swetely poudered. Thou arte none atturney of lawe good doughter / nor pleadeste nat in courte / that thou shalte nede to quaple either thyn owne / or thy clyentes matter / excepte thou speke. Holde [Page]thou thy peace as boldly as other speke in courte: and so shalte thou better defende the matter of thy chastite / whiche afore iuste iudges shall be stron­ger with silence than with speche. We rede in histo­ries / that a childe was ones brought in to the com­men place of the cyte at Rome vpon a matter of chastite / and with holdyng downe his eies / on the grounde / and styll silence / defended his matter better than he shulde haue done with longe orati­ons of orators. But nowe to speke of women / saint Susan excused her selfe of the cryme of adulterye with silence / and nat with wordes. Nowe let vs here saint Ambrose. The holy womā Susā helde her peace / and ouer came her enemies: for she de­sended nat her selfe with resonynge of wordes / nor with speche of any atturney / but the holy woman her selfe holdyng her tonge / her chastite spake for her. Also in the boke of virgins he saythe on this wyse: I had leauer a mayde shulde loue to lytle talke than to moche: For if women be commaun­ded to holde theyr peace of holy matters in y^e chur­che / and aske theyr husbandes at home / what shuld maydes do / suppose you / y^t while / in whom shamefastnes garnysheth theyr age / and stylnes cōmendeth theyr shamefastnes? Nor she shall nat onely amonge men behaue her selfe so / but also a­monge women / moderate and litel speche shall be­cōme her / and nat shrylle / nor presumptuous / or signe of a mans stomacke / nor ioyned with othes: whiche thynge whan hit is vncomely in men / hit must nedes be in women abomynable: nor vse her [Page]voyce to be feate and nyce / nor set her countenance to cruelte and frownynge / nor ouer sad and sorow­full / or disdaynyshly / nor dyuersely / nor full of ple­sance / or ouer cherefull / or vnstable / or wandryng / or dissolute / shewyng tokens of a mynde there vn­to accordyng. Some be so shutle mynded / that a­monge theyr companyons they babble out all at large / both theyr owne matters and other folkes / nor haue no regarde what they say / but what so e­uer cometh on theyr tounges ende: and therof co­meth a fārasye to lye, whan they lacke trouth: and hereof ryseth the fable by them / that of one rauyn made an hundred / and of one man slayne / a thou­sande / and of a meane dogge / one more thā an E­lyphant of ynde: in so moche that nowe no man can fynde wordes to reprehende that inordinate & shamfull thyng with al accordyngly. Euery body taketh the matter with myrth and sporte / who so can tell a thynge the moste shamfull / some babble bycause they thynke theyr selfe they can no good / without they talke / or elles that they be nat halfe frendely without they pratle out all secretes they can vnto other / though hit be ryght ieoperdous. Wherfore many wyse men toke occasion of that / to gyue preceptes / that men shulde neuer commytte theyr counsaile vnto women / neither to his syster / his mother / nor his wyfe / but this is but a vice of some / and nat of the holle kynde as hath appered by example of dyuerse / as that woman of Pytha­goras schole and secte / that byt of her owne tonge and spytte out in the face of the tyrant / that dyd [Page]turment her / leste she shulde be cōpelled of necessi­te to telle that she wolde nat. I lette passe here the women of Mylete / whiche kepte theyr husban­des counsaile at Massyle many a day / so longe as was necessarye. Tacitus writeth / that Epicaris bycause she was of counsayle of the treason that Piso wente about / was commaunded to be haled with turmētes / to cause her for to shewe. The fyrst day she was attasted with beatynge and fyre / and that the more greuously / bycause the turmētours were angrye / that a woman shulde set them at so lyghte: yet for all that she was nat ones moued / nor wolde nat confesse that she knewe any thynge. The nexte daye she was broughte vnto the same paynes agayne / and was caryed vp in a chayre / bicause her bones were so haled in sunder / that she coude nat stande / and there she toke a towell / that was tyed about her breast / and fastened hit to the toppe of the chayre in maner of a snare / and putte in her necke / and there hanged by hit with all the weight of her body / and wronge out that lytle lyfe that she had. We rede in the histories of the Athe­nienses / that the concubyne of Aristogiton / whi­che banysshed Pisistrotes children / called Leena by name / whan she was haled vpon tourments / to shewe where her louer was / she suffred al thing styll and paciently. If that harlottes and nough­ty women dyd thus / what shulde we suppose good women wolde do? Let nat the mayde be ouer bu­sye in a nother bodies house / neither riffle vp and serche euerye corner: nor desyre to haue or knowe [Page]more than folkes wyll shewe of theyr owne good wyll. Nor lette her nat skolde and chyde forthe a­brode / neither for small matters / nor thoughe hit were for great possessiōs: hit is better to abyde the losse of her goodes / than of her good name / & ho­nestie / and her shamfastnes / whiche thynges she ought to haue moste in price. As for feastis / great dyners / and bankettes / I wote nat what precep­tes to gyue christen folkes concernynge them / in y^e custome y^e nowe is worse thā amōge pagans: in so moche that he shalbe rekened madde / that wyll nat suffre hym selfe to be taken and drawen with thuse of the worlde / but wyl withstāde suche mul­titude of people hym selfe alone / or els with verye fewe moo. Therfore let the woman gyue an eare vnto the pagane Ouide / bycause she wyll nat re­gard a christēmās wordes: For he in geuȳg those vnthrifty rules of louyng / speketh of these cōmen resortynges vnto playes & feastis in this maner:

Iuuenall the poet / in his boke called Satyrs sayth / that no wyues / that lyst content and please sad and honeste men / wyll be founde or sene at co­men playes / daunsynges / or other great resorte of people. Ouid sayth / that feastis and bankettes be the instrumentes and armour of Venus and Cu­pide. And to say good sothe / what garde of chasti­te can there be / where the mayde is desyred with so many eies / wher so many faces loketh vpō her / and agayne she vpon so many? She muste nedes [Page]fyre some / and her selfe also be fyred agayne / and she be nat a stone. More ouer there is layde great nourysshement vnto that heate / by the reason of meate and drynke of the feaste / and talkyng / tow­chynge / gropyng / and pluckyng / and many other wanton poyntes / wher vnto that vnbriddled Bacchus gyueth libertie and boldnes. What mynde can be pure and holle amonge all this geare / and nat spotted with any thought of luste. The folys­she people weneth a yonge woman doth no synne / excepte she lye with a mā in dede. Than thou that arte christened by the gospell of Christe / howe do­este thou here or rede the wordes of Christe in the gospell / where he sayth: Thou shalte gyue a coūte in the day of iudgement for euery idell worde that thou spekest? Nowe than amonge yōge men and yonge womē / in resortynges & drynkynges / howe many wordes fly to and fro / nat only idle / but also ieoperdous. And also where he saythe: Who so lo­keth vpon an other mannes wyfe / and desyreth to haue her / he hath cōmitted adultery all redy with her in his harte: suppose you nat / that this was ment as well by the woman / beholdynge a man? And to be briefe / thou arte nat christened / nor spy­rituall / but a pagane and carnall / if thou dost nat beleue that thou hast a sprynge of vngratiousnes with in the: And that hit forceth nat / what the mynde be / but the bodye. I dare be bolde to saye / that fewe yonge womē / after they begyn to waxe towarde womās state / come from feastis / and bā ­kettes / and resorte of men with safe myndes. But [Page]some be taken with eloquence / some with delyue­raunce of body / some with one propretie / and some with other: whiche a yonge woman shall fynde in a great multitude of men / set lyke nettes. And hit is an harde thynge to scape vncaught with those thynges / wher vnto she is some thyng inclined all redy. Howe moche were hit better nat to loue this ieoperdy / than to perisshe in hit / as the wyse man sayth? Verely my mȳde is / and I trowe Christis too / that maydes shulde be kepte at home / and nat go abrode / excepte hit be to here masse / and that well couered / leste they either gyue or take occasy­on of snarynge. A christen mayde oughte to haue nothynge a do with weddyng feastis / bankettes / and resortynges of men. Fynally / what myn opi­nion is / concernyng yonge womē / you may knowe by that / y^e I wolde nat haue yōge boyes brought vnto feastis / both bicause hit hurteth the strength and the helthe of the chylde / in his tyme of gro­wynge: and bycause that feastis be the sprynges of great and manye vyces / be they neuer so sobre and moderate. A chylde shall se there many vnco­mely thynges / and lerne moche noughtynes / e­uen amonge aged mē / though they be right wyfe. Wher to shulde I saye amonge women and men / where after theyr myndes be inflamed bothe in­warde & outwardly vnto foule luste / be they neuer so well kepte vnder / yet will they shewe them selfe foule and outragiously: nor wyll be brydled in / nor obey theyr gouernour? What than wyll they do / if they be prouoked forwardes? than in dede there [Page]wyll be neither rule nor measure / nor any respecte of honestie.

Of daunsynge. The .xiii. Chap.

NOWe let vs speake of that thynge / whyche some maydes do nothynge more gladly / and be taught also with great diligence / of bothe father and mother / that is to daunce coun­nyngly. I wyll make no mention here of the olde vse of wrastlyng / whiche both Plato and many of the stoicke philosophers sayd was holsome for ho­neste mennes sonnes: and Cicero and Quintilian called necessarye for an oratour: Whiche was no­thynge but a certayne informynge of gesture / and mouynge of the body / to set and moue all in comly ordre / whiche crafte nowe / as many other be / is clene out of vse. I wyll intreat of this daunsyng / that nowe a dayes is moche vsed / whiche many of the Grekes preysed / as they dyd many moo thynges / some solysshe / and some also fylthy: whi­che y^e sage people of Rome refused: nor we rede nat that euer any of those sad matrōes vsed daūsyng / Salust writeth / that one Sempronia dyd bothe synge and daunce more counnyngly / thā was ne­cessary for a good woman. Also Cicero / defendyng Muren agaynst Cato / whiche had layde vnto his charge / that he had vsed daūsynge in Asia / where he was gouernour for a season / whiche dede was so disalowable / that he durste nat defende hit for well done / but styffely denyed / sayenge more ouer / [Page]that neuer sobre man daunsed / excepte he were madde: neither beyng alone / neither at an honest and measurable banket. Feastynges out of tyme / and pleasant sportis / and delicate pastime brynge euer daūsyng in the laste ende: So that daūsynge muste nedes be the extreme of all vicis. But we nowe in christiane Countreis haue scholes of daū synge / howe be hit y^t is no wondre / seynge also we haue houses of baudry / so moche the pagās were better and more sadde than we be: nor they neuer knewe this newe fasshion of daunsynge of ours / so vnreasonable / and fulle of shakynge and brag­gyng / and vnclenly handlynges / gropynges / and kyssyngis: and a very kēdlyng of leachery. Wher­to serueth all that bassynge / as hit were pydgyns the byrdes of Venus? In olde tyme kyssyng was nat vsed / but amonge kyns folke: nowe is hit a cō ­mon thynge in Englande and France. If they do hit bycause of Baptisme / that they may seme all as bretherne and systerne / I preyse the intent / if other wyse / I se nat where vnto hit perteyneth to vse so moche kyssynge / as thoughe that loue and charite coude none other way stande betwene men and women. Without this were their pourpose / to stere vp their bodily lustis in suche colde coūtreis. Verily me thynketh hit is a foule and a rude ma­ner. But nowe to speke of daunsynge: what good doth all that daunsynge of yonge women / holden vp on mennes armes / that they maye hoppe the hygher? What meaneth that shakyng vnto myd­nyght / & neuer wery / whiche if they were desyred [Page]to go but to the nexte churche / they were nat able / excepte they were caryed on horse backe: or in a charette? Who wolde nat thynke them out of their wyttis? I remembre / that I harde vpon a tyme say / that there were certayne men brought out of a farre coūtrey in to our partis of the worlde / whi­che whan they sawe women daunce / they rounne away wonderslye afrayde / cryenge out / that they thoughte the women were taken with an vnked kynde of francy. And to say good soth / who wolde nat reken women frantycke / whan they daunce / if he had neuer sene women daunce before? And it is a worlde to se howe demurely & sadlye some syt / beholding them that daūce / & with what gesture / pase / and mouynge of the bodye / and with what sobre footynge / some of them daunce. Wherin al­so a man may spye a great parte of their foly: that go about to handle suche a folisshe thynge so sadly: neyther se them selfe haue a matter in hande with out any wysedome / neyther any thynge worthe / but as Cicero saythe a companion of vicis. What holy woman dyd we euer rede of / y^t was a daūser? Or what woman nowe adayes / y^t is sad & wyse / wyll be knowen to skyll of daūsynge / & wyll nat refuse it if she be desyred to daunce? For they knowe wel inough / it is a folisshe thyng / or els they wolde do hit of theyr owne courage. But they wyll nat be gladde to come where daunsynge is. For what chastite of bodye and mynde can be there / where they shall se so many mēnes bodies / & haue theyr myndes entysed by the wyndowes of theyr eies / [Page]and by the meanes of the moste subtyll artificer y^e deuyll. There is also a certayne sayeng of an holy man / that he had leauer plowe and dygge vpon the holy day / than daunce. Saynt Ambrose wry­teth vnto his syster / sayeng in this wyse: Myrthe ought to be in a clere cōscience and a good mynde / and nat in spysed bankettes / and weddynge fea­stis full of mynstrelsye. For there shamfastnes is ill defēded / and vnleful abusion susspected: where the laste ende of pleasure is daunsyng: from whi­che I desyre all virgins of god to kepe them selfe. For no man (as a certayne wyse mā of the pagās saith) daūseth / if he be sobre / excepte he be madde. Nowe than / if that either dronkēnes or madnes be rekened to be the cause of daunsynge / amonge the pagans / what than shulde we counte to be cō ­maūded in the holy scripture: where we rede that Sayncte Iohan the Baptiste / the messanger of Christe was put to deth at the pleasure of a daun­synge wenche? By the whiche thynge we maye take example / that this vnlaufull pastime of daū ­synge hath bene cause of more hurte / than y^e fran­sy of robbers and murtherers. This deedly feaste was prepared with a kyngly largesse and excesse / and watche layde whan cōpany was at the most / and than the doughter / whiche was hydde vp a­fore in secrete / brought forthe to daunce before the people. What coulde the doughter lerne more of her mother / whiche was an harlotte / but to lease her honestie. For nothyng inclyneth folke more to bodily luste / than by vncomly mouyng & gesture / [Page]to shewe the operation of these parties / whiche ei­ther Nature hath hid secretly / or good maner and nourture hath couered: or to play castis with her eies / or shake y^e necke / or swynge her heare. Wher­fore they muste nedes fall in to offence agaynst the maieste of god. For what honestie canne be kepte there / where daunsynge is. So than the kyng de­lyted with that pastyme / bad her aske what so e­uer she wolde. This is saynt Ambrose sayeng.

Of louynge. The .xiiii. Chaptre.

LOue is bredde by reason of company and communycation with men: for a­monge pleasures / feastis / laughynge / daunsyng / and volupties / is the kyngedome of Venus and Cupide: And with these thynges folkes myndes be entysed and snared / and specially the womens / on whom pleasure hath forest dominion. O myse­rable yonge woman / carefull mayste thou be / if thou departe out of that companye entangled all redy / howe moche better had it ben for the to haue bydden at home / and rather to haue brokē a legge of thy body / than a legge of thy mynde? Howe be it yet I wyll go aboute to fynde a remedye to saue the from takynge / if thou be vntaken: and if thou be taken / that thou mayste skape out agayne. I wyll let passe here / that hath be sayde by philoso­pers / and all holy and wyse men agaynst Cupy­des loue: nor I wyll nat reherse the wrytynge of those / whiche seme to haue preysed loue pourpo­sely. [Page]But they / whom I spake of here afore / what araylynge do they make of loue / callynge hym ty­ran / myscheuous / cruell / harde / vnkynde / foule / vngratious / cursed / wicked / & causer of moste vn­happynes. Saynt Hieronyme sayth of loue ī this maner / After thopinion of Aristotel & Plutarche: Loue of the beautie is a forgettyng of reason / and the nexte thynge vnto fransy / a foule vice / and an vnmanerly for an holle mynde / it troubleth all the wyttis / hit breaketh and abateth hygh and noble stomackes / and draweth them downe from y^e stu­dye and thynkyng of high and excellent thynges / vnto lowe and vile and causeth them to be full of gronyng / & cōplaynyng / to be angry / hasty / foole­hardy / strayte in rulynge / full of vile and seruile staterynge / vnmete for euery thynge / and at the laste vnmete for the loue hit selfe. For whan they burne so w^tout measure in desyre to optayne theyr purpose / they lose the moste parte of theyr tyme / in suspeciousnes / mournyng / wepyng / waylynge / syghynge / and complaynynge: where with they make them selfe hated / and in cōclusyon hate their owne selfe. Thus saythe saynt Hieronyme. Who can now expresse with wordes / how moche ꝑiury / what disceytes / what murther / what slawghter / what distruction of cites / of countres / and nati­ons / this loue hath caused? What nedeth me to re­herse here y^e distructiō of Troy made for Helayne: or to tell what great multitude of people was ther slayne: or of y^e great warre betwene y^e Lacedemōi­ās & Meceniās / for the maydēs takē away: or the [Page]holle empire of the Lacedemoniās brought in de­cay by Epaminūdas the capitayne of Thebes / at Leuctras in Boece / whiche toke vengeance vpon them (as Plutarche maketh mētion) for y^e dough­ters of Scedasus rauysshed by the yonge men of Lecedemō? & bycause y^e rulers of the cite regarded nat his complaynt. Kynge Rodeticke of Spayne lost his coūtrey / whan hit was most flowrishyng / for detylynge Cana y^e doughter of Iulian therle / and lefte hit to be ouer ronne and spoyled of the A­garens. Adam also for the loue of Eue / loste & caste away mankynde. Virgil crieth out sayeng: What myschiefe dothe nat golde cause? Naye but what myschiefe doth nat loue cause? It cōpelled Dauid the moste gentyll kynge to cast innocent Vri in to manifest ieoperdye / that he mought haue Barsa­be at his libertie. Solomon the moste wyse kynge was so doted with loue / that he felle to idolatrye. Sampson loste his strength therby. Medea was compelled to all to cutte her brother / and slee her owne children: and Catiline to sle his owne sonne for y^e loue of Oristill / that he myght ryd his house for her. Many yonge women haue hated both fa­ther and mother / and all their kynne bicause they haue letted them of their loue. Many haue poyso­ned theyr owne mothers / that they myght runne away with theyr louers. This inordinate & cruell affection if one myght se it with y^e bodyly eies / he wolde be as ferde as though a wylde beaste were brought sodaynly vpon hym / & wolde rūne away for drede as farre as euer he myght. Wherfore it y^u [Page]be nat enfected all redye with the venome of this serpēt / call ofte vnto remēbrance this lytell verse: Loue may be taken vp at ones pleasure / but nat layde away.

Therfore hit is in thy power to loue or leaue be­fore thou falle in to hit. But after thou be ones in / than art thou nat in thyn owne power / but vnder it / neyther thou canste nat rydde the therof whan thou woldest. Who wolde be glad to receyue home suche a guest? Who wyll nat kepe hȳ away frō his house: For loue fyrst of all troubleth and tosseth al thynge vp set downe at his luste / that hym selfe may beare the more outragious rule / and confoū ­deth and blyndeth y^e witte and reason / that it shall nat se and knowe what is done within / but suffre it selfe to be holly ledde and drawen at loues plea­sure. This cruell venome that so robbethe vs of our syght / and draweth vs ouer a thousande roc­kes and hylles / and many tymes throweth vs in suche a doungian / from whēce we can neuer scape out. There is no dede so vngratious / so cruell / so outragious / or so strange / that we wyll nat do to obey loue. Disceyue frendes / kyl kyns folke / sle fa­ther and mother / mourder chyldren / whom her selfe hath borne / all these be but trifyls for loues pleasure: neither it is rekened any great greuous acte to destroy vtterly theyr countrey / to perysshe an holle realme / or rydde vp all mankynde. What remembrance can here be of holynes / of vertue / iustice / god / of deuotion / or good mynde / all is but iapes / yea and finally thyn owne helth forgotten. [Page]Wherfore / who so is safe inough / and consydereth these thynges / and doth nat his diligence neuer to come in to this rage and fransy / is worthy to be kepte therin / nor neuer to fynde ende or measure of that iuell / but to be vexed bothe day and nyght with the fyre brande of Cupide: neyther to take meate / nor slepe / nor se / nor reste / neither to haue any vse belongynge vnto mankynde. This affe­ction of loue taketh wonders sore the myndes of all folkes / and specially of women: Wherfore they had nede to take the more hede / leste it steale in v­pon them. For it cometh commonly at vnware v­pon suche as wyll take no labour to auoyde hit / whan they be in the danger and occasions therof / nor care what mynde come / but receyue hit whan it cometh / as a swete and a pleasant thynge: nat knowynge what and howe perillous a poyson / ly­eth hydde vnder that pleasāt face. Therfore they shulde specially withstāde the fyrst occasions: whi­che thyng Ouide the maister of loue counsayleth / and as the Prophet in the psalme dothe teache: Suffre nat those chyldren of Babylon to growe vp / but knocke them vpō a stone / and breke them on the harde fyrmamēt of religion / that is Christ / whiche in the cantikels gyueth warnynge vnto virgins / sayenge: Take ye the yonge foxes / whi­che marre your vins. And he cōmandeth to take them the more dilygently / if the vins shewe all re­dy flowers of good frute. Nowe loue by lōge space waxeth more / & gethereth strēgth as many other thynges do / For Ouide sayth /

Gyue none eare vnto the louer / no more thanne thou woldeste do vnto an inchauntoure or a sorce­rer: For he cometh pleasātly and flaterynge / fyrst praysynge the mayde / shewynge her howe he is taken with the loue of her beautie / & that he must be deed for her loue: for these louers knowe well i­nough / the vayne glorious mȳdes of many / whi­che haue a great delyte in theyr owne preyses / where with they be caught lyke as the Byrder be­gyleth the byrdes. He calleth the fayre / propre / wytty welspoken / and of gentyll bloode: Wherof parauenture thou arte nothynge at all / and thou lyke a foole arte glad to here those lyes / & weneste that thou doeste seme so in dede / whan thou arte neuer a whytte so: But put case thou doeste seme so / loke whether he call the wyse and honeste / whi­che if he do nat all thy preyse is nought: and if he do / what maye he hope to gette of the? For if he hope to optayne his purpose therby / than hath he belyed the. How hath he thā hādled his matt? He sayth he is taken with thy propretes: what than? and sayth he shall dye / excepte he maye haue the / yea there is the cause of his complaynt. Therfore beware thou / leste thy selfe be taken also with his wordes / and perysshe as well as he. He saythe he shall dye for the / yea and that he dieth euē streight way. Beleuest thou that? A foole / let hym shewe [Page]the / howe many haue dyed for loue / amōge so ma­ny thousandes as haue bene louers. Loue dothe peyne some tymes but it neuer sleeth. Or though he dyd dye for the / yet it were better for the let hym perysshe / than be perisshed thy selfe: and that one shulde perisshe thā twayne. I nede nat to reherse here / the common songe of louers / whiche they synge onely to disceyue / whan they haue many ty­mes nat one droppe of loue towarde her. For if he had ones fulfylled his appetite of the / than wolde he shewe howe moche he loued the. If he had lo­ued thy good vertues & mynde / as longe as thou haddest lyued / he wolde neuer haue ben full or we­ry of the. But nowe bycause he loued but only thy body / and the shorte pleasure therof / therfore whā the body decayeth / his loue also vanissheth away / and he fylled and saciate with pleasure / lotheth y^e plente. There be nat a fewe examples therof: nei­ther we nede nat to fetche them of the olde worlde. For there is none so ignorant / but he hath harde tell / and seen thousandes of men / whiche whan they had abused yonge women for a season / haue caste them vp in to some stewes / bycause they ne­uer loued them in dede. And manye that haue lo­ued very feruētly / haue bene turned at y^e last from hotte loue vnto mortall hate / and haue kylde their loues / or cutte theyr throttis. There is no cite / wherin those thynges be nat harde dayly. Wher­fore I wonder moche of the foly of yonge women: Whiche wyllyngly drowne them selfe in y^e great see of wretchednes. Wherof come so manye stewes / [Page]and so many harlottis / yea that haue ben cōmen of honeste kynne? What is the cause / that so ma­ny yonge women lye pockye / and scabbed / in spyt­tels / and lazer houses / and that yonge women? What is the cause that so manye go a beggynge / pale and sycke / but these meanes? Wherfore if no regarde of vertue / no regarde of goodnes and ho­nestie may moue the / if none actis of holy virgins may reuoke the / at leste wyse let these miserable chancis ef yonge women turne the / whiche dout­lesse shall light vpō the / if thou folowe on the same waye that they haue gone before. For the louer wyll disceyue the / eyther bycause it is his custome to disceyue / or bycause that is the rewarde of this fylthy loue / orels bycause the pleasure lothed by the reason of abundance / moueth hym so to do. Here vnto many thynges shall profite / that haue bene tolde in the place / where I haue intreated of the kepyng and sauynge of chastite: as that good fare of meate and drynke / do nat kendle & noryshe loue / neither also idelnes / nor ouer moche kepyng of company with men. Lucian the rhetorician en­duceth Venus askynge her sonne Cupide / what is the cause / that whā he woūdeth with his darte of loue / bothe Iuppiter / Neptune / Apollo / Iu­no / yea & her selfe to his owne mother / and finally all the goddis / yet doth he nat ones meddell with Pallas / Diane / and the Musis? Where vnto he answereth: Pallas sayth he: thretneth me / whā I come to warde her / and resisteth and withstan­deth the occasions. Nowe the Musis be ful of ver­tuous [Page]reuerence / and euer occupied with some vertuous labour: and so they kepe them out of loue with theyr study. And Dian runneth about in the woddes and desartes / and so she can nat loue / by­cause she fleeth companye. For moche of loue cre­peth in by the bodylye senses: whiche after nou­rysshed with in tender myndes and thoughtes / groweth vnto more. But parauenture the mayde is caught all redy / than must we seke a remedy for the wounde / afore it cōstrayne her to do that thȳg / whiche shall cause her euer lastynge repentance. Fyrst thou mayst be sory / that thou hast wyttyng­ly throwē thy selfe in to that doungian. Nor those folkes ought to be taken hede vnto / that saye / hit lyethe nat in theyr owne power / to eschewe loue. For so saye some / whiche excuse theyr owne vyce with necessite: as though they had done it agaȳst their wyll. Nor they that so say seme to knowe the power and nature of loue. Also remembre this ly­tell verse: Loue can nat be thrust out / but it maye crepe out. Wherby we maye perceyue / that loue neyther breaketh in violently / nor can be cast out violently. But lyke wyse as hit hath by lytell and lytell crepte in / so by lytell and lytell it may be put awaye agayne. Therfore let nat thy mynde wan­dre. For if it be nat kepte / it wyll runne thyther of hit owne accorde. Some tyme consyder thy selfe / howe many thynges thou haste done folysshelye / blyndly / and without witte / brayne / or reason / by the meanes of loue: And howe moche good tyme thou haste loste in it / with vnprofitable & folysshe [Page]cares / and lost the occasions of many good dedes. Remembre also howe thou haste bourned / howe many thynges thou haste thought / sayd / yea and done / parte folisshe / parte madde / ye and some vn­gratious. Remembre in to what misery thou cas­test thy selfe lyke a blynde body: and what a beny­fit agayne thou haste opteyned / that haste recoue­red thy syght / and a pourpose and wyll to comme vnto better mynde agayne: Whiche thynge thou mayste reken to be a great gyfte of god / and thy selfe to be moche bounde to hym for hit. Therfore set thy selfe vnto some worke / and kepe thy selfe from the syghte and herynge of the parson / that thou loueddest: and if he come by chance in to thy thought / turne thy mynde some other way / either with redyng or prayeng / or some good communi­cation or some honest songe / or studyeng of some mery matter: so that it be clene and honest. And if he / whom thou louest / haue any faute or vice / call that ofte vnto remembraunce / and nat what ver­tue and goodnes he hath: For there is no bodye lyuynge but he hath some thyng / that may be dis­preysed: therfore let that be had fyrste in remem­brance and consydre this / that great vices lye of­ten hydde vnder the coloure of vertue / and many perillous thinges cloked vnder an honest face out­warde. Beautie makethe folkes proude and dis­daynous: noble byrthe maketh them stately: ry­ches / intollerable: strength of body cruell. Ther­fore cōsydre in thy mynde / nat what he hath sayd / that hath lyked the / but what he hath spokē / that [Page]hath dislykedde the: as if he hath eyther done or sayd ought peuysshely / folysshely / foule / horrible / abomynable / lewedely / vnthriftyly / madly / vn­gratiously: and by that that cometh forthe / make coniecture / what lyeth hydde secretely and closely with in. For there is no bodye / but he hydeth his faute as moche as he can / and sheweth his vertue vnto y^e vttermoste / & so the vertue appereth more than it is / and the vice lesse. More ouer we be dis­ceyued with the nere similitudes of vicis and ver­tues / whan euery mā laboreth to seme better thā he is / and we vnwysely / and after the common o­pinion esteme vertues / callyng hym liberall that is a waster / and hym bolde / that is foolehardye / and eloquent / that is a great babler / and wytty / that is inconstant / where with yonge women be ofte disceyued / whan they can nat perceyue the so­the / and iuge the man by that / whiche outwardly appereth: Neither any man goth to his loue / but he setteth hym selfe forthe with all his best propre­tes / that he may seme to lacke nothynge / that any man ought to haue: & by that meanes disceyueth folisshe yonge women / hydyng great vicis / vnder a thyn colour of vertue / as byrders hyde the lyme with meate / and fysshers the hoke with y^e bayte. This a yonge woman ought to consyder / before it be to late to repent / leste she begȳne to waxe wyse / whan hit shall nothynge auayle. And if thou be clene gotten out of loue / & healed / & hast recouered thy syght agayne / than shalt thou se / howe moche thou arte bounde vnto god / that hath taken the [Page]out of thy madnes / and restored y^e vnto thy witte. For what vertuous christē woman / or els pagan / of any wytte or honestie / loued euer any other thā her husbāde. Therfore thou shalte neither desyre thy selfe to be louedde in this wyse / neither by vn­gratious craftes inflame the myndes of men / the whiche fyre shall retourne agayne vnto thy selfe. Many women reioyse to haue louers / whose har­tis they may burne & inflame purposely. O thou vngratious woman / seest thou nat / howe thou bryngest hym in to the possessiō of the deuyll with thy crafte / whither thy selfe shall go also / thereto receyue thy mede / wher ye shall both burne / he for beynge ouer come of the deuyll / and thou for ouer commynge hym for the deuyll / ye shall bothe be payde your wages? Nowe the apostle sayth: The wagis of synne is dethe.

Howe a mayden ought to loue. The .xv. Chaptre.

ANd yet I wold nat a mayd shuld clerely be without loue / for mankynde se­meth to be made and shapen vnto loue / to thentēt / they may be coupled to gether / in charite / and nat with this carnall and fylthy erthly Cupide & Ve­nus / but the heuenly and spirituall / whiche cau­seth holy loue. Wherfore the mayde shall haue to loue the father almyghty god / her spouse Christe / and his mother the holy virgin / and the churche of god / with all the holye virgins / whose soulis [Page]dwelle blessedly in heuē: and theyr names be had in honour / here in erthe. She hath also her owne father and mother / whiche brought her in to the worlde / and brought her vp / and nourisshed with so great labour and care: whom she ought to haue in the stede of god / and loue and worshyp / & helpe with al her power. Therfore let her regarde greatly their cōmandementes / and mekely obey them / neyther shewe in mynde countinance nor testure any stubbernes / but reken them to be as it were a verye image of almyghtye god / the father of all thynge. She hath also to loue / her owne vertues and soule / and mynde gyuen vnto god: and more ouer the eternall pleasure and welthe / whiche ne­uer shall haue ende. Whiche thynges if she loue truely / she shall neither loue man aboue god / ney­ther set more by a baudye felowe / than her spouse Christe: nor regarde more an olde fylthye baude / than the pure virgin Mary: neyther loue better the stynkynge stewes thā y^e holy churche of god: nor the company of vnclene women / aboue the cō ­pany of holy virgins: nor strangers aboue father and mother: nor her body aboue her soule: neither set more by other folkes vices / thā theyr vertues: nor myndes that seruethe deuyl / aboue those that serue god: neyther them that wolde haue her di­stroyed / aboue them that wolde haue her saued: nor a shorte pleasure / aboue ioye euerlastyng: nor the myserye of damned folkes / aboue the perfyte welthe of them that be saued. By these meanes the commandementis of god shalbe more estemed [Page]with her / than the counsayles of a disceytfull mā: and rather gyue credence vnto Christe / than vnto the wordes of a lecherous knaue: and rather fo­lowe the virgin Mary / than bodily pleasure: and haue hym more dere / whom she hath cōciled vnto the / than whom a haudy drabbe counsayleth the vnto. Neyther breke the lawes of the churche / to kepe the lawes of the brothell house: and rather chose y^e company of saynt Catherin / Saynt Hag­nes / saynt Clare / saynt Tecla / and saynt Agatha / than the company of them / of whom bothe y^e lyfe is vnknowen vnto god / and the names vnto mā / and both well inough knowē vnto the deuyl. Nei­ther forsake thy father and mother / to folowe thy louer: nor gyue them perpetuall sorowe / to gyue thy louer the shorte pleasure of thy selfe. Neyther wysshe rather to fare well in thy body / than in thy soule: neither thy body to be in ioye / and thy soule in wo: neyther gyue an eare rather vnto an vn­thrifty tale / than a vertuous: nor beleue the mi­nister of the deuyl / rather thā y^e minister of Christ. For the pleasure is but shorte / and the payne euer­lastynge.

Howe the mayde shall seke an hus­bande. The .xvj. Chapter.

THe wise poet virgil / where he doth brynge in kynge Latinus / and his wyfe Amata / talkyng to gether with Turnus / whiche shulde be their doughters husbāde / theyr dough­ter [Page]also presēt / he maketh the mayde to do no more but wepe and blusshe / without speakynge of wor­des: wherby he signifieth / that it becometh nat a mayde to talke / where her father and mother be in cōmunicatiō / about her maryage: but to leaue all that care and charge holly vnto them: whiche loue her as well as her selfe dothe. And lette her thynke that her father and mother / wyll prouide no lesse diligētly for her / thā she wolde for her selfe: but moche better / by the reasō they haue more ex­perience & wysedome. More ouer / it is nat comely for a mayde to desyre maryage / and moche lesse to shewe her selfe / to longe therefore. It was a custo­me in olde tyme amōge the Romayns / while that chaste worlde lasted / whiche was the example of honestie / that whan a mayde was fyrste maryed / and brought in to her husbādes house / she shulde nat go in at his dore her selfe / but be taken vp and be caryed in by other: as a token / that she came nat thether with her good wyll / where she shulde lose her virginite. Therfore whan the father and the mother be busy about theyr doughters mary­age / let her helpe the matter forwarde with good prayer: and desyre of Christe and his mother with pure affection / that she maye haue suche an hus­bande / whiche shall nat let nor hynder her from vertuous lyuynge / but rather prouoke / exorte / & helpe her vnto hit. And the fathers on theyr par­ties / let them calle to remembrance / the sayeng of Themistocles the noble man of Grece / whyche whan he was asked of one whether he had leauer [Page]marie his doughter to a ryche ill mā / or to a poure good man / made answere agayne: I had leauer haue a man without money / than money w^tout a man. Also let hym remembre the doynge of Pit­tachus / the wyse man of Mytilena / whiche whā a yonge man / that had chose of .ij. wyues / the one of great substance and kynne / the other egall vn­to his selfe of ryches and byrthe / asked hym coun­saile / whether were better to marye: the wise man had hym go to children playenge. Nowe had the children a playe / wherin they were wonte to synge and repete often these wordes: Take to the thy pere: wherby they mēt / that most wysedome was for euerye man to do so. It is a great charge for a mā to seke an husbande for his doughter / neither it ought nat to be gone about negligently. It is a knotte that can nat be lyghtly losed / onely deth vndoth it. Wherefore the fathers and mothers / pro­cure vnto theyr doughters / either perpetuall fely­cite / if they marye them to good men / or perpetu­all misery / maryeng them vnto yll. Here is moche to be studied / and great delyberation to be taken / with good auisement and counsaile / afore a man determyne ought. For there is moche werynes in mariage / & many paynes must be suffred. There is nothynge but one / that shall cause maryage to be easy vnto a woman: that is / if she chaunce on a good and a wyse husbande. O folysshe frendes / and maydes also / that set more by them / that be fayre / or ryche / or of noble byrthe / than them that be good: and caste your selfe in to perpetuall care. [Page]For if thou be maryed to a fayre one / he wyll be proude of his person: And if thou marye to a ry­the one / his substance maketh hym stately: And if thou be maried to one of great byrthe / his kyn­red exalteth his stomacke. Nowe / if thou marye vnto one for his fayrenes / whiche hathe neyther reason / nor vertue / nor any droppe of wytte / as it is ofte proued by experience / as the wyse man of Grece sayd by these goodly Innes / where be foule hostesses: by lyke reason thou myght marye an y­mage or a paynted table. Canst thou fynde in thy harte to be a foles wyfe / for his goodes? Thanne mightest thou as well desyre to be maried to an y­mage of golde. Woldest thou be maried vnto a ge­tylman borne / whiche is of fylthye and nought ye lyuynge / for his blode? as well than thou mygh­teste those the ymage of Scipio or Cesar. And in very dede it were better to be maried vnto an yma­ge / or a picture / or to a paynted table / than to be maryed to a vicious / or a folysshe / or a brayneles man. Wherfore I may better compare them vnto asses / or swyne / lyons / or wolfes / than to mad mē. And in tyme passed / I thought it had bene but a fable / that men telle / howe Palyphat the quene of Candy / dyd lye with a bulle: and other as vn­gratious dedes as that: whiche I haue harde say / other women haue done: but nowe me thyn­keth them all lykely inough to be true / whan I se women can fynde in theyr hartes / to tomble and lye with vicious and fylthy mē / and dronkerdes / and braulers / and dawysshe / & brayneles / cruell & [Page]murderars. For what difference is betwene them and asses / swyne / bores / bulles / or beares? What madnes is it to haue delyte in suche men / and to flee and eschewe wyse men / as Plutarke the phi­losopher sayth / & flee honeste men and good men / as warely as they wolde flee from venomous be­stis? Wherfore it was well and aptly spoken / that a countrey man of myne sayde / that the nature of women was in chosynge mē / lyke vnto the female wolues: whiche amonge a great sorte of males / take the fouleste and worste fauored: but men ne­uer caste any fauoure to a woman / but for some good propretie / either of substāce / person / or witte. And women many tymes loue some men / bycause there is nothynge in them worthye to be beloued▪ wherby they declare the more playnly / that they go without reason. whiche thynge I say by some that haue nothynge a do with theyr reason / but all gyuen and applied vnto their bodye: Agaynst whom I haue spoken sharpely / bicause they dote / and fonde good yonge men / and brynge them to fylthynes and foly / whan they wolde fayne please the women / and se they can nat / excepte they go wyde from all conditions perteynynge vnto men. For lyke as childrē / whiche be gyuē all vnto sporte and playe / neither haue discretion for lacke of age to comprehende any depe matter / haue onely in pryce and regarde those / that can hādle theyr spor­tes and pastymes y^e moste aptly. so women set all vpon pleasures / and volupties / wantonnes / and foly / thynke no man wyse / but those that can well [Page]conuey suche matters: and what so euer pertey­neth to wytte & sadnes / they counte foly: So their discretion is blynded so sore / that they loue / esty­me and set by foles / and coūte them for great wyse men: & abhorre them / that be wyse in dede / hate dispyse / and lothe them / and take them for foles: in lyke maner as folkes that be sicke of a great a­gewe / wene that swete meate is bytter: and as sowes haue more delice in myre and durte, than in swete flowres. What hope shall we haue of them / that haue so feble discretion and so corrupted: For maydes that desyre and wysshe for suche husban­des / in whom be the externall gyftes of fortune / whiche the people calle good / nor haue no respecte vnto thyn warde goodnes / they be worthy to fele perpetuall sorowe / and to be punysshed for theyr errour / so longe as they lyue: bicause they dispise that / y^t is y^e more noble and excellent in dede / in cō ­parison of that / whiche is more vyle & lesse worth. O folysshe mayde / whiche haddest leauer haue cō ­tynuall sorowe in golde and sylke / than haue plea­sure in wollen cloth: whiche had leauer be hated & beaten in rayment of purple and ryche colour / thā beloued and set by in a course garment of meane colour. If thou haddest leauer haue that other / take that thou haste chosen / nor be nat discontent with that / whiche thou hast wyrtyngly takē with thyn owne hādes. More ouer / we haue harde tell of some so folisshe husbandes / that they haue kyl­led theyr wyues / as Iustina a mayde of Rome / borne of noble blode / whom her father & mother [Page]maried vnto a yonge mā of great possessions / but of smale discretion and witte: whiche whā he sawe his wyues whyte necke / as she was stowpyng to vnlose her shone / fell streight in to a suspection and ielosye ouer her / bycause of her beautie: & with a sworde cutte her necke in sunder: of whom was made this epitaphie folowynge:

Fathers and mothers whiche marye theyr chil­dren vnto good and vertuous mates / do nat onely prouyde well for them / but also for them selfe. For they get them suche sonnes & daughters in lawe / that shall be socoure and ayde vnto them in theyr olde age: And if they be noughtys & vngratious / they prouide them of enemyes. Nowe of the sonne in lawe / we haue an example in the gospell: For [Page]saint Peters mother in lawe / whā she lay sicke of great ague / was made holle of our lorde / at thin-stance of her son in lawe: Suche it was to haue so good a sonne in lawe / that Christ disdayned nat to take vnto his disciple. And of y^e doughter in lawe / we rede an example in y^e boke of Ruth: That whā Noemy came home into Iury / her owne coūtre / out of the lande of Moab / her husbāde & her sōnes beȳg deed / & brought w^t her .ii. sōnes wyues / of whom y^e one called Orpha by name / returned / agayne to her owne countrey & frendes / but Ruth kepte styl with her mother in lawe / & both cōforted her with wordes / and nourisshed & kepte her with her labour: in so moche y^t Noemy founde in Ruth / both the loue of a doughter / and dyligent seruyse of a sonne. Noemy had ben a wydowe and deserte in dede / if she had hadde no better a doughter in lawe / than Orpha was: but in as moche as she had Ruth / she was nat all destitute of chyldren / neyther had no cause to name her selfe Mara / that is to saye bytter / as her mynde was to be named. Also after that Ruth had borne the prophet Esai by her seconde husbande called Booz / women dyd make as great semblaunce of gladnes vnto Noe­mye / as though she had had of her owne dough­ter or her owne sonne / nat onely one neuew / but as though she had hadde seuen sonnes her selfe: For they sayd to her in this maner: Ther is one borne nowe of thy doughter in lawe / whiche shall loue the and be better vnto the / thā though thou had­dest seuen sonnes. Nowe afore I make an ende of [Page]this boke / I wyll answere vnto a madde and a frā ticke opinion / whiche bothe maydens and wyues haue / and all the common people in generall / that thynke it is expedyent for maydes / that are come to lawfull age of maryage / to be sene ofte abrode amonge people / goodly and pykedly arayed / and to kepe company and communication with men / to be eloquent in speche / and counnynge in daun­syng and syngyng / yea & to loue hym afore hande / whom they entende to mary: for so they say / they shall y^e more lyghtly mete with a bargayne. A mā might make āswere to all this at ones / but I will examyne it from poynt to poynt / to cōtent nat only the myndes of wyse men / but also of them that be rude and ignorant. What wyse man / I pray you / wolde euer counsaile this thynge / knowyng / that yll is nat to be done / that good may come therof? and specially where the ill is euident inough / and the good neyther certayne nor customed to folowe commenly vpon the dede. Wherfore if the mayde can get no mariage / except she infecte her mynde / and leoperde her honesty on this facion / hit were better neuer to mary: orels to mary only Christe / than to mary fyrste vnto the deuyll / that she maye be maryed to a mā afterwarde. Nowe .ii. thinges there be / the mooste precious that a woman canne brynge with her to a man honesty of body / & good fame: nor there is no man so folysshe and madde / neither so set vpō beautie and couetyse of goodes / neither so vngratious and so vnthrifty of lyuyng / but he wyll be content w^t any wyfe / hauynge these [Page]two: whiche if she lacke / howe can he be content: Than wolde I wytte / whether mayde is y^e more lykely to be of good fame and behauour / whether she that bydeth most at home / or she that walketh moche abrode? At home there is none occasyon of euyll / and forthe abrode euery place is fulle. And of her that taryeth at home / no man maketh que­stion or argument: But of her that walketh mo­che about / euery man wyll say his opinion: wher amonge so dyuers sentenses a mayde shall soone catche a blotte: whiche wyll sticke in no place more soner than on a mayde / neither worse to gette out. Or whiche of them two do men set more by? and whether wil they thȳke of most honest demeaner / her that they se either neuer / or but seelde / or her / whom they mete in euery corner? Verily I thinke they wyll nat beleue / that she kepeth her honestie very well / y^t walketh so ofte forth. And as for pro­uydynge of her maryage / I thynke hit shulde be more profitable for her / to be harde telle of / than seen. For a mayde that is ofte in syght / shall chāce either to say or do / that may displease hym y^t shuld haue her: or some of them that be of his coūsaile: or that he gyueth credence and truste vnto. Wher­by many tymes maryages be broken / euen in the poynt of makyng. And where as they speke of clo­thynge / wherwith to make her gaye / if she be ma­ried but for that / she muste nedes be hated / whan [...]he is without them. For she muste nedes some ty­mes lay away that wede / & be with her husbande at home in meane araye. For commonlye / as we [Page]greatly lyke them / in whom we fynde any speciall goodnes / that we loked nat for / lykewyse we hate them as sore / that disapoynt our hope of any good bountie. For if thou seme pyked and propre vnto thy spouse / and arte nat so in dede / after that he hath takē some great hope of thy beautie / he must nedes hate the / whā he seeth hym selfe dispoyted. More ouer I coude name bothe in this countrey & in mȳ owne / dyuerse maydes / whiche coude ne­uer get mariage / bicause that men were abasshed of theyr costely apparell. What say they? this wo­man wolde spende vp all her maryage good in one gowne / or one broche. Therto by ouer richely apa­relled / maydes be rekened lyght. And as for those that kepe moche companye with men / what man is there / y^t wyll nat suspecte yll by them? Or what husbande shall she fynde so patient / that wyl be cō ­tent to haue his wyfe to company styll and cōmon with men? or wolde nat rather haue suche one / as wolde more gladlye company with her husbande alone / than with a great multitude of mē? Where one shall tēpte her mynde with eloquence / an other with comlynes of person / some with beautie / some w^t lyberalyte / and some with noblenes. For as for maydes to be eloquent of speche / y^t is to say great bablers / is a token of a lyght mynde and shrewde conditions: In so moche that he that shall marye her / shall thynke he hath a serpent & no wyfe. Fo [...] yōge men will prayse her vnto her face / that is fa [...] of talke / and a ioyly dauncer / and full of mery con­ceptes / and playe / and pleasant / and call her well [Page]manered / and wel brought vp / al to haue her at theyr pleasure / but none to mary her: and all beleue that they may quickely opteyne theyr pur­pose of suche one: but neuer a one wylbe gladde to haue suche one to his wyfe / that he seeth is so ap­plyenge vnto euery mannes wyll: they preyse for the tyme all that she doth / bicause they haue delite therin. But and the folysshe maydes coulde here what men speake afterwardes amonge them selfe one vnto an other / without dissimulation: than shulde they knowe in dede howe hartely they preysed them and lyked them: they shulde vnderstāde than / that whan the men called her mery concey­ted / they ment they were bablars / and chatters: and whan they called them lusty tyrers / they mēt they were lyght mynded: and where they called them well nurtred / they ment they were wanton. But some wold say here / yet by these meanes they come by mariage. I graunt / in dede some do: but the moste parte doth nat. For both mo be maried / and that also vnto better husbādes / that neuer go about to tempte no men / the whiche whan they se them selfe begyled with the women / they kylle them vp with yll intreatynge. And this y^e mayde may be sure of / that she shall neuer haue good lyfe with that husbande / whiche she hath gootten by wyles and craftes. Or if there be any man so mad or folisshe / that had leauer haue suche a woman to his wyfe / than one that loueth solitariousnes / and is sad both of behauour and aparell / and mylde of there: suche a mā wolde nat I marye my dough­ter [Page]to: for he muste nedes loue lewdnes and vyce / that setteth more by suche knackes / thā by vertue and goodnes. Nowe wil I speke a fewe wordes of loue / the whiche doteth all maydes for the mooste parte / & disceiueth them greatly / and bryngeth to moche mischiefe. For hit dothe nat become amayd to make any signe / that she wold fayne be maried / or that she loue any yōge man to wedde. For if she loue hym afore or she haue hym / that it be knowē / what shall he thynke / but that she wyll as lyght­ly loue another as she hath done hym / whom as yet she ought to shewe no loue vnto: neither he wil beleue that she loueth hym alone / seynge there is as great cause to loue other. And if he shulde ma­rie her / he wyll thȳke she wyll haue as good mȳde to other as hym selfe / whan she is so lyght of loue. Let euery body excuse y^e matter as they wyll / but in very dede euery woman / that loue the any man vesyde her husbande / is accursed / if she haue a do with hym: and though she haue nat / yet is she an harlotte in mȳde. And there hath bene many that haue loued so outragiously / that they haue bene o­bedient vnto the pleasure of those mē / whom they hoped shulde be their husbandes: And afterward y^t men haue dispised & cast them vp: whiche in my mynde was well and wysely done. For they be vn­worthy for to be maried / that dare shewe an exam­ple vnto those men / whom they shulde haue / howe well they can fynde in their harte to lye with a mā / that is nat theyr husbande. For by likelihode they wyll both do that same with other men afore their [Page]mariage / and in their mariage with theyr adulte­rers. There is no daye / wheron these thynges by chance nat in euery cite: nor there is no woman so ignorāt what is done in the cite / but she hereth tell of these thynges. I haue harde tell in this coun­tre / that wowars haue bene forsakē for none other cause / but bycause there was no loue betwene the parties afore. For the yonge women sayde / they coulde nat loue them / nor fynde in theyr harte to haue them in mariage / whom they loued nat / nor knewe before: and this is a great vse they saye / in Candye. What nede is it to rebuke suche myndes with wordes / whiche who so dothe nat perceyue to be vnchaste / I holde her farre more noughtye than they be. Nowe than louest nat thou thy hus­bande / bycause he is coupled vnto the by goddis lawes and goddis commandement / but bycause thou arte vsed to his loue before? So do drabbes and harlottis / whiche for lyke cause loue theyr lo­uers: and thou arte nat farre vnlyke vnto those drabbes. And so hit chanceth vnto suche women / euen by the punyshemēt of god / that all the loue / whiche they ought to kepe in theyr mariage / they spende it out afore. Wher of this common sayenge came vp: that they that marie for loue / shall leade their lyfe in sorowe. For it chanceth by many / that after the heate of loue is ones past / there foloweth great hate / whiche thyng ofte tymes maketh wō ­dre and talke amonge the people / whan they here tell / howe so great louers within .iii. or .iiij. dayes fal at debate / and begynne to deuorce / or the bryde [Page]cake be eaten. Nor it is no maruayle: for neyther the fyre maye laste / that lacketh wodde: neyther loue / that is nat nourisshed with honest louynge. For amonge yll folkes / as Cicero sayth / can be no sure frendshippe. Wherfore hit is nat expedient to make maryages by loue afore hande / neither to couple and bynde that mooste holy charite with so fylthy and brytell bandes: and yet moche worse is it to make them to marye by stryuyng / and hate / thretnyng / and sute: as whan they go to lawe to gether / the man for the woman / bearynge her in hande / that she is his wyfe: and the woman in lyke maner for the mā. I neuer harde tell of more folysshenes / than for a woman to laboure to haue a mā / agaȳst his wyll / with whom she shall bothe lyue atwynne: and excepte he loue her / she shall lyue in perpetuall sorowe. And loue muste be got­ten with fayre meanes / and nat compelled: For he wyll neuer be a sure frende / that is drawen and holden by force. What a madnes is hit to begynne that sacrament of holy loue with hate? I wolde nat / so god me helpe / haue a seruant agaynst his wyll: moche lesse a mate: neyther hit is nat good to compell a man agaynst his wyll: Nor I wolde the woman shulde be maryed vnto hym / excepte he desyre her with all his harte: nor hit becometh nat the maydes frēdes to pray or labour for a ma­ryage / or ones to offre the mayde of theyr partye: but y^e mā shulde seke for mariage: and so it shulde be done in dede / sauyng that money ruleth and or­dreth all thynge. For nowe they be maryed vnto [Page]money / & money marieth. And as Senec saythe / men drawe theyr wyues to them with theyr fyn­gers. And therfore se we so many sorye and vnluc­kye maryages / whan bothe the partyes se them selfe coupled vnto the money / and nat vnto the mā or the woman. Therfore bothe of them enbraseth and holdeth faste it. And as for the wyfe / the hus­bande kepeth her but as his concubyne / and she hym as aduoutrer: neyther loueth one another / but for the fylthy pleasure of lechery: and elles ei­ther hateth & enuieth other. But they that wolde kepe the nature of thynges holle and pure / ney­ther corrupte them with wronge vnderstandyng / shulde reken / that wedlocke is a bande & couplyng of loue / benyuolence / frendshippe / and charite / cō ­prehendynge with in hit all names of goodnes / swetnes / and amyte. Therfore let the mayde nei­ther catche / and disceyue by subtylte hym / that shulde be her inseparable felowe / nor pull & drawe by playne violence: but take and be taken by ho­neste / symple / playne / and good maner / that ney­ther of them complayne with both their harmes: or say / they were disceyued or compelled.

Of Wedlocke. The fyrst Chaptre.

THis is no place here to re­son either the laudes or dispreyses of wedlocke. Nor the olde questiōs are to be touched: as / Is it for a wyse man to wedde a wyfe? Nor the questions of our christen men / concernynge wedlocke / single lyfe / and virginite / and other / that saynt Augustine / and other doctours of our christen faith haue disputed. I knowe / there haue bene some that haue sore rebuked wedlocke: and that nat only heretickes / as the Manicheis / that vtterly commanded to absteyne from maryage: whose errours be clene damned and banished: but also pagans / whiche haue gyuen iugemēt of the holle kynde of women / vpon certayne euyll: ouer moche folowyng the common gyse / whiche vpon the knowlege of a fewe / deme the holle natiō. So the Carthaginences were defamed as false of promyse: So the Cilicians as theuis and robbers: the Romayns as couetous / the Grekes as inconstant and variable. The honeste wyues ought to hate and blame the noughty wyues: as a shame and sklander vnto all the kynde. And truly no mā durst euer so farre dispreise woman kynde: but he muste nedes confesse / that a good woman is the [Page]beste treasure / and mooste luckye and prosperous thynge that can be. And as Xenophon saythe / she is the greattest cause of mānes felicite. There is nothynge more swete than a good wyfe / sayth the wyse man Theognis: lykewyse Xystus in his sentenses callethe her mannes ioye. Eurypides the poet / whiche was sharpely vexed with .ij. nough­ty wyues / stuffed his tragidies with rebukes and raylynge on women / & he was named in a greke worde / the hater of women: yet neuer the lesse he douted nat to affyrme / that no pleasure was lyke theyrs / that had good wyues. And Hesyodus the poet / a very enemy of women / sayth: that as no­thynge is more infortunate than a mā / that chaū ­ceth on an euyll wyfe: so lyke wyse no greatter fe­licite and welthe any man maye haue / than hath he / that hath a good wyfe. Kyng Solomon / whi­the was bysyde hym selfe for women / and of the moste wyse made the moste vnwyse / often tymes as cursynge his wyckedde dedes / he fyersly rebu­keth women. But so yet that he sheweth playnly by whom he mente. For in his prouerbes he wry­teth / that an vnwyse woman and full of boldenes shall lacke breadde. And as a tre is cōsumed of the tymber worme / so he saythe is a man of an euyll wyfe. But loke in the same boke / howe goodlye & gaye is the preyse of a good woman: of whom he sayth thus: Noble is her husbande in the gates: whan he sytteth with the auncient fathers of the erth. Fortitude and beautie shalbe the rayment of an holy woman / and she shall laugh in y^e laste day: [Page]She hath opened her mouth vnto wisedome / and the lawe of mekenes is in her tonge / her children haue rysen vp and called her the most blessed: and her husbande hath commended her. Many wo­men haue gethered ryches: but thou haste passed them all. These & many other good wordes hath the wyse kynge spoken: whiche are approued and alowed of euery wyse man with one assent. Nowe I force nat for those disputations or more lyke ser­mons that sharpe wytted men haue made of wed­locke. For doutles allerned men byd wed: whiche thynge they dyd them selfe. The .vij. wyse men of Grece were maried fyrst / and after that Pythago­ras / Socrates / Aristotel / and Theophrast / bothe the Catons / Cicero / and Senec: bicause they wel perceyued that nothynge was more after nature / than the couplyng of man and woman: Wherby man kynde beynge in sundrye persons mortall / is made in all to gether euer lastynge: and wherby a man yeldeth agayne vnto his successours / that whiche he taketh of his predecessours: and as hit were rendreth a benifite vnto nature. Aristotel in his morall bokes exorteth wyse men vnto mary­age / nat onely to thentent to haue childrē / but also bicause of company. For that is the principal and greattest vnite that can be. For thus goth y^e mat­ter in dede: Of that consyderation and vniuarsall frēdship / wher with all folkes are knytte to gether as bretherne descēded of god one father of all thȳ ­ges: where with nature her selfe / that in all men is the same / byndeth vs to gether with a certayne [Page]charite / more nere is that frendship / whiche is a­monge folkes of one faith: and it is plucked more narowe by mannes ordynaunce and lawe ciuyle. For citizens fauoure more one an other / than they do foreyns: and of cytyzens our speciall frendes are most dere to vs: of them we loue best our owne kyns folke: and of kyns folke nothynge is more nere than the wyfe: whom the fyrst father of mā ­kynde / as sone as he sawe her / sayde by & by / that it was a bone of his bones / & flesshe of his flesshe. And whan there was yet neyther fathers nor mo­thers / he gaue a lawe / as in the name of nature / sayeng in this wyse: For her sake a mā shall leaue bothe father & mother / and abyde with his wyfe. Who than can denye but that wedlocke is a thing most holy? Whiche god ordeyned in paradise / whā mankynde was yet pure and clene / with no spotte defyled. He chose hit in his mother: he alowed hit with his presence: and wolde do his fyrst myracle at the solemnyte of maryage / and there shewe an euydent token of his godheed / vnto the entent he myght declare / that he was comen to saue them / that were bothe lost by folkes so coupled / & borne by folkes so coupled. But I wryte nat here of the preyses of wedlocke / wher vpon often tymes most eloquente men haue made longe sermons. For I do onely instruct vertuous women.

What a Woman ought to haue in mynde whan she maryeth. The .ij. Chaptre.

wHat tyme a woman maryeth / she shulde calle to remembraunce the begyn­nynge of wedlocke / and busily consyder in her mynde and thought the lawes of it / and so she oughte to prepare her selfe / that so great a sacra­ment fyrste vnderstande / she may afterwarde ful­fyll hit. After that god the prince & maker of this excellēt worke / had brought mā in to this worlde / he thought it vncōuement to leaue hym all alone / and so ioyned to hym a lyuynge creature / mooste lyke vnto hym of mynde and shappe: with whose conuersation and compenable wordes / he myght swetely spēde his tyme: and also bycause of gene­ration / if hit pleased hym. And in dede wedlocke was nat ordeyned so moche for generation / as for certayne cōpany of lyfe / and cōtynuall felowship. Neither the name of husbandets a name of bode­ly pleasure / but of vnite and affinite. God led the woman to the man: whiche meaneth none other thynge / but that god hym selfe was chiefe author and maker of wedlocke. Therfore Christe in the gospell calleth them coupled of god. Assone as the man lokedde vpon the femalle of his kynde / he be­ganne to loue her aboue all thynges / and sayde / Nowe is this a bone of my bones / & fleshe of my fleshe. And for her a man shall forsake both father and mother / and abyde with his wyfe: and they shalbe .ij. in one fleshe. Where hit is sayde in one fleshe / it is to be vnderstanden one fleshe & fleshe / aff y^e ꝓpretie of the Hebrewe speche signifieth mā ­kynde both man and woman. So that they whi­che [Page]fyrste were .ij. man and woman conioyned in wedlocke / be made one. This is the marueylous mesterye of wedlocke / so to myngle and to couple the man and the womā / that .ij. shalbe made one. The whiche thyng also it hath done in Christ and y^e churche / as teacheth Paule the apostle / whiche no power saue only goddes power myght brynge about. Of necessite that thynge must be moste ho­ly / at whiche god is so specially present. Therfore what time a womā cometh here vnto / she ne shuld suppose / that she cometh to daunce / play / and lest / but muste ponder higher thynges in her mynde. God is the ouer sear / the churche is the medya­tryce in maryage. For whiche cause that thynge that is ioyned and fastned to gether by so high auctorite / Christe suffereth nat eyther to be broken or losed of any mortal creature / sayeng in his gospel: That god hath ioyned to gether / man may nat de uyde. Nowe if it be nat lefull to lose it / & that knot is nat to be vnknytte with mannes handes / whi­che god hath knytte: Lyke wyse no man ought to open that thyng / whiche is shutte with the key of Dauid: whiche allonely that immaculate lambe hath in kepynge. Nowe than streyghte in the be­gynnynge / thou that arte an honeste woman / ap­poynt thy selfe / that thou maist in suche wise bȳde hym vnto the with loue / whom god by the sacra­ment hath ioyned vnto the: that the bande maye be easye and lyght. Nor neuer desyre that knot to be vnknytte: nor caste nat thy selfe and hym bothe that is knytte with the / in to grefe without ende / [Page]& ꝑpetuall mysery. For a great ꝑte of this mat (er) re­steth in thy hāde: other with pure chastite / meke­nes / buxum vsȳg of thy selfe / to haue thy husbāde plesāt & louȳg vnto y^e / & to lede thy lyfe welthfully: orels with thy vices of mȳde & body / to haue hym frowarde / & crabbed & to ordeyne for thy selfe gre­uous turment / whiche by deth shall nat be ended. Thou shalt toyle / thou shalt wepe / y^u shalt be trou­bled / y^u shalt curse the day y^t euer thou were ioyned vnto hym / y^u shalte curse hym y^t the begate & her y^t y^e bare / & al thy kyn / ye & al them y^e any thyng dye in thy mariage / if y^u through thȳ owne vices cause thy husbande to hate the. But on y^e other ꝑtie / if y^u by vertuous lyuynge / and buxumnes / gyue hym cause to loue y^e / thou shalte be mastres in a merye house / y^u shalte reioyse / y^u shalte be glad / thou shalte blesse y^e day y^e y^u were marted vnto hym / & all them y^t were helpȳg ther vnto. The wise sētēce sayth: A good womā by lowely obeysaunce ruleth her hus­bāde. Plinius y^e yōger / whā he had a wyfe as his mȳde desyred / he was mylde & gentyll vnto her a­gaȳe / & thāked Hispula his wyues aunte / both for his owne & his wiues sake / saȳg: I thāke you y^e ꝓuided me of her: & she thāketh you bicause you got her me / & as it were haue chosē y^e one vnto y^e other. Aboue all this / y^t fyrste & as I suppose onely chapt (er) of y^e lawes of wedlocke / y^t they shal be .ij. ī one ꝑsō / is y^e very groūd of wedlocke / and y^e bōde of y^t most holy felowship. Wherfore if a womā directe all her thoughtes / her wordes / and her dedes vnto this poȳt / y^t is to kepe truely & safely y^e purenes of wed­locke [Page]/ she cā nat but lyue well & vertuously. Ther­fore an honest & a chaste womā ought euer to haue this in mȳde. Therfore she shall studie both day & night howe she may fulfyl this lawe / & to expresse & shewe it in dede: trustȳg verily here vpō / y^t what so euer she be y^t fulfylleth this law / y^t is to say / y^t re­keneth her selfe & her husbāde all one persō / & so li­ueth / y^t she may both be ī dede / & apere to be all one w^t her husbād / she cālacke no kȳde of vertue: & she y^t doth nat so / shall haue no vertue at al. O reuerēt power of y^e deuine worde / whiche in thre wordes hath cōp̄hēded as moch as mortal mē go about to exp̄sse: nor yet cā nat w^t longe sermōs. Wherfore I wil make nōe other lawe of mariage: for only this is sufficiēt: only this cōteyneth as moch as either mās wit can cōceyue / or mans eloquēce can vtter. Therfore y^e womā shall nat beleue my fātasye / but y^e fyrst father of our kȳd Adā: or rather obey Chri­ste / cōmaūdyng ī y^e gospel of Mattheu / y^t they shal be two ī one ꝑsō. And thā hath she fulfylled al y^e dutie of a vertuous wyfe. This one precepte of god might haue eased me of allabour of writȳg / if y^e it had ētred so depe ī to womēs hartes y^t they might both haue wel ꝑceiued it / & beare in mȳde / & execu­ted it. But nowe to thētēt that it maye sticke more fast / & growe more surely / it must be turned & hād­led many wayes / & be made ī many fashōs / & so be set afore their eies & taught vnto them / that they may both take & kepe it y^e bett. Nat w^tstandyng a wise womā shall remēbre / y^t all y^t euer I say is but one p̄cepte / as it were one mā in diuerse apparell.

Of .ii. the greattest poyntes in a ma­ryed woman. The .iij. Chaptre.

AMonge all other vertues of a ma­ryed woman .ij. there ought to be mooste speciall and greatest: the whiche onely if she haue them / may cause mariage to be sure / stable / dura­ble / easye / lyght / swete / and happy: and agayne / if the one be lacked: it shalbe vnsure / paynfull / vnpleasant / and intollerable / yea & full of myserye / and wretchednesse. These two vertues / that I mean / be chastite and great loue towarde her hus­bande. The fyrst she muste brynge with her forthe of her fathers house. The seconde she muste take after she is ones entred in at her husbandes dore / and bothe father and mother / kyns folkes / and all her frendes lefte / she shall reken to fynde all these in onely her husbande. And in both these vertues she shall represente the ymage of holye churche: whiche is both moste chaste and mooste faythful­ly doth kepe trouthe and promyse vnto her spouse Christe: whiche beynge solicited / and laboured within of so many wowers / that is to say / christen folkes / that haue ben commyn heritickes / and be­syged without of pagans and Iewes: yet neuer hath bene wonne nor corruptedde: and hath euer rekenedde all her good and treasure to reste in her onely spouse Christe. A maryed woman ought to be of greatter chastite than an vnmaryed. For if that thou than pollute and defile thy chastite / as god forbede thou shuldest / herke I pray the / howe [Page]manye thou shalte offende and displease atones / with one wicked dede: Howe many reuēgers thou shalte prouoke agaynst the. They be so many and so henus / that amonge some a man can make no difference / but I shall gether them without any ordre / and set them before theyr eies. Fyrste thou offēdest .ij. Whiche ought to be vnto the both most in price / and moste dere and best / that is to say / al­myghty god / by whose meanes ye were coupled to gether / and by whose deite thou haste made o­the to kepe the purenes of bodye. And nexte vnto god thou offendeste thyne husbande: vnto whom only thou hast gyuen thy selfe: in whom thou breakest all loues and charites / if thou ones be defiled. For thou arte vnto hym as Eue was vnto Adam: that is to say his doughter / his sister / his compa­nion / and his wyfe / and as I myght say another hym selfe. Wherfore thou desperate woman that hast abused thy selfe so / thou farest in lyke maner as though thou h [...]deste strangled / distroyed / or murdered thy [...]. Thou hast broken the great­teste bande that can be in the worlde: Thou haste broken thou false woman the moste holy bande of tēporal lawe: y^t is to say / thy fayth and thy trouth / whyche ones gyuen / one ennemye in the feelde wyll kepe to another / though he shulde stande in daunger of dethe: and thou lyke a false wretche doste nat kepe it to thyn husbande: whiche ought to be more dere vnto the by ryght / than thy selfe. Thou defylest y^e most pure churche / whiche holpe to couple the: thou breakeste worldely companye: [Page]thou breakest the lawes: thou offendest thy coun­trey: thou beatest thy father with a bytter scurge: thou beatist thy sorowfull mother / thy systers / thy bretherne / thy kyns folkes / alyances / and all thy frendes: thou gyueste vnto thy companye ons an example of myschiefe / and castest an euerlastyng blotte and shame vpō thy kynne: thou / lyke a cru­ell mother / castest thy children in to suche a necessi­te / that they can neuer here speke of their mother / without shame / nor of theyr father / without dou­tynge. What greatter offence canne they do: or what greatter wyckednes can they infecte them selfe withall / that distroye theyr countrey / and pe­risshe all lawes and iustice / and mourther their fa­thers and mothers / and finally defyle and marre all thynges / both spirituall and temporall? What good saint / or god / or what man thynkest thou can fauour the / that doste so? All thy countrey folkes / all ryghtes and lawes / thy countrey hit selfe / thy parentes / all thy kynsfolke / and thyne husbande hym selfe shall damne and pu [...]he the: All mighty god wyll auenge moste rygh [...]usly his maieste so displeased and offended of the. And knowe thou this / womā / y^t the chastite & honeste / whiche thou hast / is nat thyne / but committed / and betakē vn­to thy kepyng by thyne husbande. Wherfore thou dost the more wronge to gyue away that thynge / whiche is an other bodies / without the ownuers licence. And therfore the maried woman of Lacerdemon / whan a yonge man desired of her that vn­honest thynge / answered hym: I wolde graūt the [Page]thyne askynge yonge man / if it were myne owne to gyue that thou askest: but that thyng / whiche thou woldest haue / whyle I was vnmaried was my fathers / and nowe is myne husbandes. She made hym a mery and a wise answere. But saynt Paule speketh full wisely for the monition of good women / where he techeth the churche of god / say­eng: A woman hath no power of her owne body / but her husbande. Whiche sayenge oughte so mo­che to kepe a womā / excepte she be to vngratious / from all fylthy actis / that saynt Augustine dothe nat alowe perpetual chastite in a maried woman / without her husbande be content with the same. Wherfore there is an holy mā / whether it be saynt Hieronyme or some other I wote nat well / that dispreyseth one Celantia a vertuous woman and a good wyfe / bicause she auowed perpetuall chastite without her husbandes cōsent. For a womā hath no power on her owne body / no nat vnto the good­nes of continence. Nowe than let euery man con­syder what lycence she hath that whyle vnto the noughtynes of [...]y [...] behauynge her bodye / she is discommended for chastite / her husbande nat be­ynge of counsell. Nowe than / what shal she haue / that commytteth adultery agaynst her husbādes wyll? Herke what wordes this holy man saythe: But this I haue vnderstande also / whiche trow­bleth and greueth me nat a lytell / that thou haste taken vpō the that good purpose of chastite / with­out thyne husbandes wyll / clene contrarye to the commaundement of the apostell: whiche in this [Page]case commaundeth / nat onely the wyfe to be sub­iecte to the husbande / but also the husbande to the wyfe. The wyfe saythe he / hath no power on her owne body but her husbande: Lyke wyse the hus­bande hath no power of his owne bodye / but his wyfe: and thou / as though thou haddest forgottē the bonde of maryage / nor remembryng thy bar­geyne and promise / haste made a vowe of chastite to god / thyne husbande vnknowyng / but it is ieo­perdie to promyse that / the whiche is in an others power. And I can nat thinke that gyfte very pleasant vnto god / where one gyueth away that / whi­che perteyneth vnto .ij. Thus saythe this holye man: whiche if he take vppe so sharpely this ver­tuous woman for an holy thyng gyuyng / whiche was nat in her power for to gyue / what wordes suppose ye / wolde he vse / in rebukynge a wicked or a fylthy dede? And that thou mayste vnderstande more playnly / howe great a vice adultery is reke­ned / bothe of god and man / Christe in his gospell / where he wolde algates that men shall kepe theyr wyues / nor deuorse from them for none occasion: yet he doth excepte adultery. Therfore a mā must be cōtēt with his wyfe / though she be a drōkarde / though she be ireful / though she be shrewde / a wa­ster / a glotten / a vacabonde / as kowlder / a rayler / onely an adulterar is at a mannes lybertie to for­sake. Also the other vices be displeasant in dede / but yet they may be suffred: but she that breaketh the promise of wedlocke / is intollerable. Wherfore Homer the poet / amonge the cursynges and ban­nynges / [Page]that he gyueth vnto certayne men / put­teth this for one of the forest: I pray god sayth he / theyr wyues mutte medle with other men. Also Job prayeth / that if euer he lay in wayte to do his frendes displeasure / this misfortune myght light vpon hym / sayeng: I pray god my wyfe may be an other mannes harlotte: and other men mutte lye downe vpon her. And these poyntes dyd nat only holy christen women vnderstāde / but also pa­gannes: of whom there were some / whiche after they were corrupted / thought them selfe vnwor­thy for to lyue / as Lucrecia / wyfe vnto Collatyne: whose acte is moste famous / for the marueylous loue that she had vnto chastite: and many moo / whiche leste they shulde lose theyr chastite / perys­shed them selfe. What tyme y^e cite of Athens was wonne by Lisander the kynge of Lacedemon / and xxx. tyrātes were set to gouerne the cite / and they ruled moste proudely and hautely / and iaped and mocked the honestie of many women / the wyfe of Niceratus slewe her owne selfe to escape / that she shulde nat be at theyr fylthy pleasure. Also the wyues of the Almannes / of whom Caius Marius had slayne an infynite multitude / desyred hym / that they might be gyuen vnto the religious maides of Rome / called the virgins of Vesta / sayeng / that they wolde lyue as chastely as they shulde: Whiche thynge whan they coulde nat optayne of that harde stomacke of Marius / all in the nyghte nexte ensuyng hāged them selfe. Also in y^e warre / whiche the people of Phoces had with y^e Thessaly [Page]ans / and the Thessalians came in to their countre with an incredeble power / Deiphantus the chiffe capitayne of the Phoceance / counsayled the peo­ple to go agaynst theyr ennemyes: but as for chil­dren / theyr wyues / and aged mē / with other / that were nat able to beare harneis / to shutte them vp in some secrete place / and to brynge them plente of wodde & strawe / that & if y^e ooste were ouer come / they there myght burne them selfe. Nowe whan mooste parte of the people consented to the same / there rose vp an aged man / whiche sayd: It were well done to wytte the womēnes wyll in that mat­ter: that if they agreed therto / than shuld it so be: if nat / he sayde hit was vnreasonable / to apoynt them suche a thynge agaynst theyr wyll: where vpon the women were examyned / whiche answe­red all to gether / that they were very well agreed / with Deiphantus counsayle / and also gaue hym great thankes / bicause he had so well prouyded for the safegarde of them and of theyr countrey: and vpon this pourpose they were conueyed in to a se­create place: Nowe be it the Phocians retourned agayne with the victory: nor I doubt nat / but it was through the merite of the good women. And thus dyd pagans / whiche lyued in the obscurite and darkenes of ignorance. Wherfore christen fol­kes maye be the more ashamed / whiche be rede­med with the blood of our lorde / wasshed with ba­ptisme / instructed with doctryne / and illumyned with lyght.

Howe she shall behaue her selfe vnto her husbande. The .iiii. Chaptre.

HIt were alonge matter and harde to expresse / and therto wōderous / if I shuld reherse euery poynt of the wyues duetye vnto her husbande: Our lorde comprehendeth it in the go­spell with one worde. Therfore let vs remembre / howe we haue sayd before / that she is as one body with her husbande. Wherfore she oughte to loue hym none other wyse than her selfe. I haue sayde before / and ofte shal agayne: For this is the great test vertue of a maried woman: this is the thyng that wedlocke signifieth / and commaundeth that the wyfe shulde rekenne to haue her husbande for bothe father / mother / bretherne / and systers / lyke as Adam was vnto Eue / and as the moste noble and chaste womā Andromache saide her husbāde Hector was vnto her / in these wordes:

And if it be true that men do saye / that frenshyp maketh one harte of two: Moche more trewelye and effectually ought wedlocke to do y^e same / whi­che farre passeth all maner bothe frendshyppe and kynred. Therfore hit is nat sayde that wedlocke dothe make one man / or one mynde / or one bodye of two / but clerely one person. Wherfore the wor­des that the man spake of the woman / sayeng / for her sake a man shulde leaue bothe father and mo­ther / [Page]and byde with his wyfe / the same wordes the woman ought bothe to saye and thynke with more reason. For all though there be one made of two / yet the woman is as doughter vnto her hus­bande / and of nature more weaker. Wherfore she nedethe his ayde and succoure. Wherfore if she be destitute of her husbande / desart / and lefte alone / she may sone take hurte and wronge. Therfore if she be with her husbande / where he is / there hath she bothe her countre / her house / her father / her mother / her frendes / and all her treasure: of the whiche thynge Hipsicratea / wyfe vnto Mithrida­tes the kynge of Pontus / gaue good example / whiche folowed her husbāde in mānes aparayle / whan he was beaten and dryuen out of his lāde / fleyng styll from one place vnto an other / nat ha­uynge / where to reforte or abyde: and where so e­uer he was / she acompted there to be her ryches / her realme / and her countrey. Whiche thynge doubtles was the greattest cōforte and ease of his sorowe and aduersite. Flaccilla / wyfe vnto Noui­us Priscus / and Egnatia Maximilla wyfe vnto Glitto Gallus / both folowed their husbandes out of theyr coūtre / whan they were banysshed / with great losse of treasure and possessions: And they rekened theyr husbandes farre aboue al those vn­to them. Wherfore their names were had in great honour. Also Tauria deserued no lesse commen­dation / whiche whā her husbāde was outlawed / hydde hym vp betwene the silyng and the roffe of her chambre / no moo of counsayle but one mayde [Page]and her selfe: and so saued his lyfe with her owne great ieoperdy. Also Sulpitia wyfe vnto Lentu­lus / whā her mother Tullia watched her diligēt­ly leste she shulde folowe her husbande / that was banyshed / she gotte vpon her poure rayment / and so with .ij. mayde seruauntes / and as many men / stale away and came to her husbande: nor refused to banyshe her owne selfe for his sake / that her husbande myght se in his outlawry her faythfulnes towarde hym. And there haue bene very many / that hadde leauer be in ieoperdye them selfe / than theyr husbandes shulde. The wyfe of Fernando Gonzalis therle of Castile / whan the kynge of the Legion of Germany / whiche is a cite in the parte of Spayne called Astury / hadde her husbande in prison / she came vnto her husbande / as it were to visite hym / and there counsayled her husbande to change raymēt with her / and steale his way / and leaue her in the ieoperdye that shulde falle: and so he dyd. Wherfore the kynge wondryng vpon that great loue of hers towarde her husbande / prayed god to sende hym and his chyldren suche wyues / and so let her go agayne to her husbande. There was also an other of the same kynredde / whiche was maried vnto a certayne kynge of Englande / that what tyme her husbande in warre agaynste the Syryans / had catched a great wounde in his arme with a venomed swerde / and so came home in to his owne countre / nor coude neuer be healed / excepte that venome and matter were sucked out: The kynge seynge that who so euer shulde do that [Page]dede / were in ieoperdy of their life / wolde suffre no man to take it vpon hym. Wherfore in the nyghte whan he was a slepe / his wyfe losed the bandes of the wounde / fyrst her husbande nat perceyuynge / and after warde dissemblyng / and so by lytell and lytel sucked and spitted out the poyson / and prepa­red the wounde curable and redy to the phisition. Wherfore I am very sory / y^t I haue nat the name of that noble woman / whiche were worthye to be commended with mooste eloquent prayses. Howe be it / it is nat vnspoken of / for it is redde in the ac­tes of Spayne / whiche Rodericus the bisshope of Tolet dyd write: From whense I shall ones tran­slate with honorable mention of her. Lyke wyse vpon a season men of Tyrthena came a great me­ny out of their ile vnto Lacedemō / whom y^t Lace­demonyans suspected to go about some subtilte / and ther vpon set them in holde / and iudged them to dye. Wherfore theyr wyues gate lycence of the kepers for to go in vnto them / as it were to visete and comforte them / and there changed rayment with them / and so they in the womens rayment / and their faces couered / as the custome of the coū ­tre was / escaped awaye / and lefte their wyues be­hynde them: whom afterwardes with their chil­dren to gether they recouered agayne / and put all the Lacedemonyans in feare / as Plutarke wry­teth. More ouer Admetus the kynge of Thessaly / hauynge a dysease raynynge vpon hym / whiche coulde neuer be healed / without the dethe of an o­ther body / coude fynde none / that wolde gladly die [Page]for his sake / but his wyfe Alcest. Also many there hath bene / whiche after theyr husbandes dethe / wolde in no wyfe abyde on lyue. Laodamia / after she had harde tell that her husbāde Prothesilaus was slayne at Troy of Hector / she kylde her selfe, And Paulina / wyfe of Senec / wolde fayne haue died with her husbande / and had her vaynes cut / as he had / but she was letted by Nero and holden agaynst her wyll / tyll her armys were bounde / and her blode stopped: nor she lyued nat many ye­res after: And whyle she was alyue / was so pale and so leane with sorowe / that she was a wōder to euery man to loke vpon: and in all the state of her body shewedde manifest tokens of the kynde loue that she hadde to her husbande. The doughter of Demotion / the chiefe mā of Areopagites / a yōge mayde / whā she harde tell of the deth of her spouse Leosthenes / she slewe her selfe: affyrmȳg / that all though she was vntouched / yet bycause she was maryed vnto hym in mynde / she shulde be adulte­ter / if she maryed vnto any other afterwardes. Olde wryters of stories tell / that Halcione wolde nat abyde on lyue after the dethe of her husbande Ceyx: And therfore she lepte downe in to the see. The fables of poetes / whiche were made to in­structe out lyuȳges / adde more vnto the tale / that they were chaunged in to byrdes called Alciones: and so well beloued of the goddes Thetis / that whan so euer these byrdes buylde / there is great caulmenes in the see / and fayre wether in y^e ayre: & that chaunseth yerely at certayne tymes. Wher­fore [Page]for those dayes he called in laten Halcionii / that is as you wolde say / the Halcyon byrdes dayes: and that gyfte they say / the goddis gaue for the great loue of that woman towarde her husbāde. Euad­na / whan she kepte the funerall of her husbande / she lepte in to the fyre and folowed her husbande. Cecinna Petus had a wyfe called Arria / this Ce­cinna / whan he had rysen in batayle with Scri­bonian agaynst Claudius themperour / and was brought to Rome / Arria desyred the sodiours to let her wayte vpon her husbande as a seruaunt: whiche thynge whan they wolde nat suffre / she hyred a fysshers boote / & folowed the great shippe. And within a fewe dayes after the deth of her husbande / kylled her selfe at Rome: and yet had she a doughter on lyue maried vnto Thrasea / the most noble and wysest man in his tyme. Portia dough­ter of Cato / wyfe vnto Marcus Brutus / whā her husbande was slayne / she sought for her owne de­the: and whan weapōs were taken from her / she thruste hote coles in her mouthe / and choked her selfe. Panthia / wyfe of kynge Susius kepte her faith vnto her husbande / beyng in captiuite / and spended out all her goodis for his lyfe: And whan he was slayne in batayle / she dyed voluntarily af­ter hym. The doughter of Iulius Cesar / whiche was maryed vnto Pompey the great / whan one brought vpon a tyme home out of the feelde a cote of her husbādes be bloded / she suspectȳg that her husbande had be wounded / fell to the grounde in swonynge / and almoste deed: with the whiche a­flyghte [Page]of her mynde / she fell to labour of chylde a fore her tyme / and so dyed. Also Cornelia / the laste wyfe of the same Pompei / sayde: Hit was shame for a woman / that coude nat dye with only sorowe whan her husbande was slayne. Arthemisia / the quene of Lyde / dyd drynke the asshes of her hus­bāde / after his deth / bicause for very loue she wold haue her owne bodye to be her husbandes graue. These great thynges haue I rehersed / that wo­men that be nowe a dayes may be ashamed / whi­the wyll nat endeuour them selfe to perfourme o­ther more easye thynges. Wherfore theyr cruelte and wickednes is more intollerable / that can fȳde in theyr hartes to se theyr husbandes lye in trow­ble / damage / and worldly shame / and all y^e sorowe that canne be for a small money / whan they haue inoughe in stoore to rydde them out of dangere.

O harte more harder than any beast / that canste suffre thy blode / thy body / and thyne owne selfe on thy husbandes parte / to be so vexed: Doutles the lawes that suffre that iniquite / haue more regard of money than feith or consciēce. But this maner hath bene lefte vs of the pagans / with many o­ther / whiche abyde more surely in vs / than y^e lawe of Christe doth alowe: whiche commaundeth vs to lay forth both clothyng / metall / and what trea­sure so ouer we haue in store / nat only the wyfe for her husbande / but also one christen man for ano­ther / be he neuer so vnknowen. Wherfore lette the woman vnderstande / that if she wyll nat spēde all her substance to saue her husbande from neuer so [Page]lytell harmes / she is nat worthy to beare y^e name / neither of a good / nor christen woman / nor ones to be called a wyfe: Neither I wold y^t she shulde loue her husbāde / as one loueth his frende / or his bro­ther / that is to say / I will that she shall gyue hym great worshyp reuerēce / great obediēce / & seruyce also: whiche thynge nat only thexāple of the olde worlde teacheth vs / but also all lawes / both spiri­tual & tēporal / and Nature her selfe cryeth and cō ­maūdeth / that y^e woman shalbe subiecte & obedy­ent to the man. And in all kyndes of beastis the femals obey y^e malles & wayten vpō them / & fawne vpon them / and suffre them selfe to be corrected of them: whiche thynge Nature sheweth must be / and is conuenient to be done. Whiche as Aristotel in his boke of beastis sheweth / hath gyuen lesse strength and power vnto the femalles of all kyn­des of beastis / than to the males / and more softe flesshe / and tender heare. More ouer / these par­tes / whiche nature hath gyuen for weapons of defence vnto beastis / as tethe / hornes / spores / and suche other / the most parte of females lacke / whi­che theyr males haue / as hartes and bores. And if any females haue any of these / yet be they more stronger in the males / as hornes of bullis be more stronger than of kyne. In all the whiche thinges Nature sheweth / that y^e males dutie is to succour and defēde / and the femals to folowe and to wayte vpon the male / and to crepe vnder his ayde / and obeye hym / that she may lyue the better. But let vs leaue y^e examples of beastis / whiche make vs [Page]ashamed of our selfe without we passe them ī ver­tue / and lette vs ascende vp vnto mannes reason. Nowe than / what woman wyll be so presumptu­ous and so haute / to disobey her husbandes byd­dynge / if she consyder that he is vnto her in steede of father and mother and all her kynne / and that she oweth vnto hym / all the loue and charite that were due to them all? A ragious and a folisshe wo­man doth nat consyder this / the whiche is disobe­dyent vnto her husbande. Excepte parauenture she wolde say / she oweth none obedience / neither to father nor to mother / nor to none of her kynne. For if she obey them / she must nedes obey her husbād: in whom by al rightes / by all customes / by all sta­tutes and lawes / by all preceptes and commaun­dementes / both naturall / worldely / and heuenly / she oughte to acompte all thyng to be. The womā is nat rekened the more worshipful amonge men / that presumeth to haue mastrye aboue her hus­bande: but the more folisshe / and the more worthy to be mocked: Yea and more ouer than that cursed and vnhappy: the whiche tourneth backewarde the lawes of nature / lyke as thoughe a sodioure wolde rule his capitayne / or the moone wold stāde aboue the sonne / or the arme aboue the heed. For in wedlocke the man resembleth the reason / and the woman the body: Nowe reason ought to rule and the body to obey / if a man wyl lyue. Also saint Paule sayth: The heed of the woman is the mā. Here nowe I entre in to the diuyne commaunde­mētes / whiche in stomackes of reasonable people / [Page]oughte of reason to beare more rule and valewe / than lawes / more than all mannes reasons / and more than the voyce of nature her selfe. God the maker of this holle worlde / in the begynnynge whan the worlde was yet but rude and newe / gy­uynge lawes vnto mākynde / he gaue this charge vnto the woman. Thou shalte be vnder thyn hus­bandes rule / and he shall haue dominion ouer the. The Apostle Paule / teacher of the Christen wyse­dome / that is for to say / of the heuenly wisedome / wolde nat haue the woman to rule the man / but commaundeth her in many places to be subiecte. Peter also / the prince of the apostles / commaun­dethe in this wyse: Lette all women be subiecte to theyr husbandes / as holy women / trustynge in our lorde. Sara was obediēt vnto Abraham / and called hym her lorde. Saynt Hieronyme wryteth vnto Celantia in this wyse: Let the auctorite and rule be reserued vnto thyn husbande: and be thou an example to all thyne house / what soueraynetie they owen vnto hym: Do thou proue hym to be lorde by thyn obediēce / and make hym great with thyne humilite: For the more honour thou gyuest vnto hym / the more honourable thou shalt be thy selfe. For as the Apostle saythe / the heed of a wo­mā is the mā. Nowe the holle body can no where haue more honour / than of y^e heed / this saith saint Hieronyme. But folysshe women do nat se / howe sore they dishoneste them selfe / that take the soue­raynte of theyr husbandes: of whom all theyr honoure muste come: And so in sekynge for honour / [Page]they lose it: For if the husbande lacke honour / the wyfe must nedes go without it: Neither kynred / ryches / nor welthe can a vayle her. For who wyll gyue any honour to that man / whom he seeth mastred by a woman. And agayne / if thy husbāde be honorable / be thou neuer so lowe of byrthe / neuer so poure / neuer so vncomly of face / yet canste thou nat lacke honour: for neither beautie / kynred / nor ryches made Orestilla honorable / after she was ones maried to vngracious Catiline: nor pouerte letted nat Salonia to be honored of y^e Romayns / whiche was wyfe vnto the wyse Cato. But nowe that thou mayste better obey thy husbande / and do all thynges after his mynde / fyrste thou muste lerne all his maners / and consyder well his dispo­sitiōs and state: For there be many kyndes of husbandes / and all ought to be loued / honored / and worshipped / & obeyed / but all must nat be ētreated vnder one maner: For husbandes muste be han­dled / as Terence speketh / after thopinion of Pla­to / sayeng: Mans lyfe is as it were a game at the tables: For if that chance of the dyce / that is nat for them / hit must be amended by crafty playeng: lyke wise in husbādes / if thou haue one after thyn appetite / thou mayste be glad / and he is to be ho­nored / & obeyed: but if he be yll / either fynde some crafte to make hym good / or at y^t leaste wise better to deale w^t. Nowe thy husbande shall be either fortunate or infortunate: Fortune I calle them that haue goodnes either of mynde or of body / or exter­nall: Infortunate I call those / that lacke any of [Page]these thre: they that be fortunate / do easely contēt theyr wyues myndes: and those that be infortu­nate muste haue delyberation taken about them: howe be it / I wolde they shulde rather sette theyr loue on the husbande hymselfe / than on his fortu­nes / or els they shall loue both weakely & more vn­stedfastly: and if fortune ones flee away / as she is wauerȳg and incōstant / she carieth away the loue to gether with her. Nor let them nat loue goodly men for theyr beautie / nor riche men for theyr mo­ney / nor men of great auctorite for theyr honoure: for if they do so / than shall they hate the sekely / the poure / and those that beare no rule. If thou haue a lerned husbande / lerne good holy lessōs of hym: if he be vertuous / do after hym: but if he be infor­tunate / cal vnto remēbraunce the sayeng of Pom­peius the great / a verye noble and a wyse man / whiche whan he was ouer comen of Iulius Ce­sar / and came vnto y^e Ile of Lesbo to receyue his wyfe / and flee away with her / she seynge her hus­bande beaten and ouercomen / fell vnto y^e grounde halffe deed for sorowe / to se her husbande haue su­che a fall: whom Pompeius lyftyng vp in his ar­mes from the grounde / and reuied agayne / spake vnto her in this maner: My dere wyfe Cornelia / moste swete vnto me of all thynges / I wonder of the so noble a woman to be ouer commen in suche maner at the fyrste stroke of Fortune: nowe thou hast an occasion to optayne immortall honore: For as for eloquence / or lernyng in the lawe / or feattes of warre are no matters for women to wynne worshippe [Page]by / her vertue shall onely appere if her hus­bande be caste in aduersite / whom if she loue and worship / nor lothe his mysery / but entreate / as is becommyng to do her husbande / the worlde shall talke good of her perpetually. Wherfore it shall be greatter honour to the to loue Pompeius thus o­uer throwen / than whan he was the prince of all the Romaynes / and gouernoure of the Senate / and lorde of kynges. For as for these thinges eue­ry woman / be she neuer so vngratious / can loue well inough / but to fauore and loue hym that is in aduersite / ther is the poȳt of a good womā. Ther­fore that I am thus ouercommen thou oughtest to loue / as an occasiō to shewe thy goodnes. Wher­fore if thou wepe and wayle for any thyng as lōge as I lyue / thou shewest thy selfe to loue that / whi­che thou lackest and haste lost: and nat to mourne for me that am a lyue. These and suche other wor­des he spake vnto his wyfe at that tyme: whiche sayeng euery good woman shall ponder & considre in her mynde: nor vexe her selfe / if she chaunce v­pon an infortunate husbande: neither hate nor di­spise hym therfore: but rather cōtrary / she ought / if he be poure / to comfort hym / and aduertise hym to cal vnto remembraunce / that vertue is y^e chiefe ryches: and helpe hym with suche honest craftes as she knoweth shall please hym: and suche as her acqueintance & frendes shall alowe: and as is be­commyng for a vertuous & an honest womā. But beware thou fall nat in to suche a wycked mynde / to wyll hym for lucre of money to occupye any vn­honest [Page]craftes / or to do any vnhappy dedes / that thou mayst lyue more delycately / or more welthe­ly / or go more gayly & gorgiously arayde / or dwell in more goodly housyng: and at fewe wordes / cō ­pell nat hym to vse any fylthy occupation or drogery for thy welfare / nor to swete & to toyle / y^t y^u maist lye at ease: For hit were better for y^e to eate browne breade & drynke claye & myry water / thā cause thy husbande to fall vnto any slubbery worke / or styn­kyng occupation / & excedyng labour / for to escape thy scoldyng & chydyng at home. For the husbāde is his owne ruler / and his wyues lorde / and nat her subiecte / neither the wyfe ought to craue any more of her husbande / than she seeth she may op­tayne with his harte and good wyll: wherin / ma­ny womē do a mysse / whiche with theyr vngoodly cryeng and vnreasonable callynge / crauynge / and dullyng vpon them / dryueth them to seke vnlefull meanes of lyuynge / and to do vngratious dedes / to beare out with all theyr glotony & vayne pride: And some be so out of all good reason / and contra­rye to all good vertues of theyr husbandes / that they spende out at large theyr substance & lyuyng. Whiche vyce is the fouler / by cause that woman kynde pretendeth more vertue and deuotion natu­rally than the mankynde dothe: if that she shulde forgette her selfe / and caste awaye all holynes for the loue of money / and suche wyues before rebu­ked in holy scripture / vnder the persons of the wy­ues of Iob and Thoby: Whiche casted folyshly in theyr husbandes tethe / that theyr vertues & holy [Page]lyuyng was the cause of theyr aduersyte: wherin they shewed great wickednes / and nat onely folye: whiche dyd nat beleue that the ryches of vertue was farre greatter / or that hit stode in our lordes power to make moost ryche and welthye with in a moment / who so euer pleased hym. What nedeth a man any other tyrātes to his marterdome / thā wyues of suche disposition / whiche pursue theyr husbandes for theyr good deuotion / beynge them selfe without all deuotion / none otherwyse / than Nero pursued the apostles / or Domician / Maxi­mine / Detius / or Dioclectā dyd pursue other chri­stē folkes in theyr tyme? And I suppose that this wyfe of Iob was lefte hym to make his aduersyte more payneful / and to oppresse hym the sorer with her myscheuous tonge. O cursed and wycked wo­man / that rebukest thy husbāde for his goodnes / whiche thynge the deuyll hym selfe dourste neuer do / for he distroyed al the goodes of Iob / stowe his seruauntes / rydde vppe his chyldren out of the worlde / and fylled hym full of galles and scabbes: yet dyd he neuer rebuke hym / for continuyng styll in his good mynde: but his wyfe rebukedde hym therfore / that a mā myght se howe moche she was more bolde than the deuyll. But let the wyfe trou­ble neuer so moche / the husbande ought to be as glad therof / as were the apostles / that they were rekened worthy to be putte to rebuke for the name of our lorde Iesu: but thou good daughter / that wylt do well / shalt nat withdrawe thyn husbande from goodnes / but rather exhorte hym vnto ver­tue / [Page]thoughe thou shuldeste be sure to lees all thy goodes. Therfore / that thou mayste opteyne the thynge / whiche saynt Paule speaketh of / sayeng: If the husbande be an infidell / he shall be sanctifi­ed by his wyues saythe / remembre also the wor­des of our lorde / that there is no bodye that refu­seth any thynge in this worlde for Christis sake / but he shall haue moche more for hit: both in this worlde and in an other. Fyrst these ryches be sure and certayn / whiche are kepte saffe from all chaū ­ses / neither wasted withī / as mettalles be by ruste & clothing by moughtes / nor without as stolen by theues. And also the prophet in the psalme sayth: that he hath lerned by longe vse and by good expe­rience / that neuer good man was yet destytute / nor any of his children lacked foode. And we haue as it were an obligation of our lorde in the gospel / that we shall trust well on his benygnyte. And vnderstande that our father in heuen wyll fynde vs all thȳg / that we shal nede / if we seke for his kyng­dome / and the iustice thereof. Wherfore if thyne husbande be foule / yet loue his harte and mynde / where vnto thou art maryed in dede. And if thyne husbande be sycke / than must thou playe the true wyfe / comforte hym / norysshe hym / and make as moche of hym / as thoughe he were neuer so holle and so stronge / and so shall he be the lesse payned / if he sethe / as it were / take payne with hym: and in a maner translate and chifte parte of his sycke­nes vnto thy selfe. For she is no good wyfe / that is merye whan her husbande is sorye: or holle and [Page]lustye / whā he is sicke and heuye: byde thou styll by his beddis syde / and lighten his doloure some­tyme with comfortable wordes / sometyme with gentyll fomentations. Touche thou his woūdes thy selfe / touche thou his sore and paynfull bodye with thyne owne handes. Do thou bothe couer and vncouer hym thyn owne selfe: take and beare away the chamber vessel with his water thy selfe. Nor aborre nat these seruices: nor put them nat vnto thy seruauntes / whiche wyll go more slowly about them / bycause they loue hym nat so moche. And whan the pacient perceyueth hym selfe nat loued / his sickenes increaseth. Nowe than shulde a man calle those wyues good and vertuous wo­men / that be so careles in theyr husbandes sycke­nes / that they can be well inough content with su­che sleight seruices as her seruātes do about him. And some there be / that wyll nothyng let theyr ac­customed stations / and feastynges / and visettyng theyr gossyppes / nor breake any of theyr haunted pleasures / though theyr husbandes lye shutte vp sicke at home / but that is no wedlocke / but rather a poynt of concubynes / or cōmen harlottes: whi­che lye with men for theyr wages. Wherfore shuld I be ashamed to name that / whiche the vngrati­ous women shame nat to do. For if thou thynke it maketh no force / nor order thy selfe other wyse in thyne husbandes sickenes / than if it were but thy neighboure / thou arte a foole to loke after / that I shulde name the for a wyfe / whanne thou vseste no wyues gyse. For woldest thou I shulde name the [Page]for a wyfe / whanne thou vsest no wyues maners? For shulde I call hym a weauer that neuer lerned to weaue / nor to drawe the woffe / nor to caste the shuttyll / nor strycke the webbe with the slaye?

Though that vertue by hit selfe can nat fayle to come to lyght / and shyneth well mough in y^e darke by the bryghtnes of hit selfe / nat withstandynge / as moche as lyethe in me / I wyll nat suffer / but that that I haue sene my selfe / & many mo knowe as well as I / I wyll declare / that bothe they that nowe be / and they that shall come here after / may knowe it. Clare the wyfe of Barnarde Valdaure / a fayre and a goodly mayde / whan she was fyrste maryed at Bruges / and brought to bed vnto her husbande / whiche was .xlvi. yere of age / y^e fyrste nyght sawe his legges rolled and wrapped with cloutes / and founde that she hadde chaunsed on a sore and a sekely husbande: yet for all that / she lo­thed hym neuer the more / nor begane nat to hate hym / whom yet she had no space to loue. Nat lōge after that / the forsayde Valdaure fell in to a great sickenes / in so moche / that all phisitions dispayred his lyfe: than she and her mother gaue suche dily­gence vnto the seke man / that of syx wekes conty­nually to gether / neither of them ones put of their clothes / excepte it were to chaunge their smockes: nor rested in the nyght paste one houre / or .iij. at the most / and that but in theyr clothes. The roote of the disease was that we call the frenche pockes / a wonderous sore / and contagious sickenes / phisi­tions counsayled her / nat to touche hym so / nor [Page]come so nere hym: & the same her frēdes coūsayled her. And her cōpanyōs & gossyppis sayde: it was synfully done / to vexe the mā in the worlde / or kepe him lōger on lyue with his sickenes / & bad her pro­uide some good thyng for the soule / as for the body care no more / but howe it myght be buryed: with whiche sayeng she was neuer a whytte abasshed / but very dilygently procured bothe suche as was for the welthe of his soule / and prepared holsome meates for his body: and gaue great intendaunce about hym / oftē chaūgyng his shetes / & his clou­tes / bycause he hadde an excedyng laxe / and mat­ter / and fylthe ranne out of dyuers partes of his body: Wherewith she was so busyed / that y^e moste parte of the day she neuer rested / but rāne vp and downe all the daye longe. So at the laste by the good meanes of his wyfe / Valdaure escaped the great ieoperdye / that bothe the phisitions / and all other men swered / his wyfe hadde plucked hym from deth by stronge hande. And some tested more merily than becommeth christen folkes / and said / that god had purposed to haue slayne Valdaure / but his wyfe wolde nat let hym go out of her han­des. After that / by the reason of an hote humour rennynge from his heed / the grystle within his nose beganne for to canker: Wherfore the phisiti­ons had gyuen hym a pouder / whiche muste be blowē in with a penne or a rede in to his nose / whi­che seruice whan euery man abhorred / bycause of the tedious sauour / his wyfe refused nat to do hit. Also within a whyle his chekes & his chȳne brake [Page]out of scabbes / wheales / and of skales / that no barbour / neither well coude / nor gladly wolde sha­ue hym: than his wyfe with a payre of scyssours / founde the meanes to clippe his berde wōderous properly. Streight after he fell in to an other lōge disease / whiche lasted nere .vij. yere: where she ne­uer beyng weary / with contynuall dilygence and labour about hym / prepared his meate / and eue­ry day dyd salue and bynde his sore and stynkyng legges and rounnyng of matter so hansomly / that thou woldest say / if thou haddest sene her / that she had hādled muske / and nat suche stynkȳg geare. And dyd all this her owne selfe with all other busynes / that was for to do about hym: and yet hadde she in her house .iij. maydes and a daugher of her owne of good age. Moreouer whā y^e ayre of hym & brethe was suche / that no man myght abyde nere by .x. passes: she wolde swere that she thought hit marueylous swete: And ones she was very āgrie with me / bycause I sayde it stanke / for she sayd / it semed vnto her / lyke the sauour of rype and swete frute. Moreouer / whan there was required great coste daylye in the house / to helpe and norisshe the man opressed with so many sickenesses / nor hadde neyther rentes nor other profittis commynge in / she spoyled her selfe of all her rynges / chaynis / broches / and clothes lest he shulde lacke ought durȳg his sickenes: she was content as for her selfe with any fare / so that her husbande myght haue that shulde do his paynful body good / so he by the meanes of his wyfe / with that dolefull body / more like [Page]vnto a graue / thā a body / contynued .x. yere from the begynnȳg of his sickenes / in the whiche space she had two chyldren by hym / and .vj. before. For she was maried .xx. yere in the holle: and yet was she neuer infected / nor ones touched with the con­tagious skabbe / neyther she / nor yet none of her children / but had all theyr bodies bothe holle and clene. Wherby a man may clerely perceyue / howe moche theyr holynes and vertue is worthe / that loue theyr husbandes with all their hartes as du­tie is / whiche doubtles god wyll neuer leaue vnre­warded. So at the last this forsaid man died sicke and olde / and passed out of his contynuall payne. For whose departynge this same Clara his wyfe made suche sorowe / that all that euer knewe her / saye / they neuer sawe woman make suche sorowe for her husbande / that were bothe yonge / holle / fayre / lusty / and ryche: and whan dyuerse came to her / nat for to cōforte her / but rather to shewe her / that they were glad for her sake / that he was gon she abhorted / and in a maner cursed them for their laboure / wysshynge many tymes that she myght haue hym agayne if it were possyble / howe so euer he were / and whan she was of lusty age / after his deth / yet she wolde neuer mary / sayeng: she shulde neuer mete with any that she coulde lyke so well / I wyll nat reherse here her great chastite & holy­nes of lyuyng. For I speke but of y^e loue of a good wyfe: whiche neuer lyghtly gothe alone / but euer coupled / & cōpanyed with all other vertues. Who seeth nat nowe that she dyd nat marie Valdaures [Page]bodye / but his harte / or els rekened his bodye her owne body? Besyde that / she kepeth styll all com­maundementes of her husbande / as reuerentlye as he were yet a lyue / and doth many thynges as she had harde hym speake in his lyfe / sayeng / this myne husbande wolde haue commanded and byd den do. O Euryppides / if thou haddest had suche a wyfe / thou woldest haue preysed all women as faste as thou haste dispreysed them. Or if kynge Agamemnon had hadde suche a quene / she wolde haue taryed many yeres for his retournyng from the sige of Troy. These examples ought nat to be kept vnshewed / to remembre wyues of their due­tye / seynge that lesse matters be put in memorye & writynge. But these be but of folkes of lowe de­gre / wyll some gentle women saye. Fyrste to make answere therto: Clara Valdaure was nat of the loweste degre / and besyde that yonge / and tender / and fayre / and had many seruauntes / vnto whom she myght haue deputed all her busynes / if it had pleased her. And there be many noble womē that do the same / whom I canne nat reherse all / bothe nowe a lyue and that hath bene in tymes paste. But this worlde of ours kepeth in vse only the vi­ces of the olde worldes afore. Arte thou more no­ble than the wyfe of Themistocles / whiche was prince of Athenes / and also of all Grece: and yet she serued her husbande her selfe alway in his sic­kenes? Arte thou more noble thanne Stratonica / wyfe vnto kynge Deiotarus / whiche whan her husbande was sicke / and an aged man / was both [Page]his cooke / his phisition / and his surgian? Or arte thou more noble thanne that quene of Englande / whiche sucked her husbandes wounde? All the noble women of Rome / vsed nor wold neuer suffer any other to touche theyr husbandes whan they were sicke / but them selfe: whose examples there is none nowe a dayes to good to take hede of. For answere me thou woman / that thinkest the better than the Romayns / of whose bloode who so euer was discended / was had in honoure throughe all the worlde: howe be it the verye nobylite is nat to be counted by blode and riches / the whiche rather standeth in noble actis and vertue: and thou with all thy gentrye shall lye vnknowen: whan all the worlde perpetually shall talke of them. Therfore bost nat thou thy noble byrthe / whom either none orels very fewe shall knowe / either in thy lyfe or after thy dethe. But parauenture thou woldest say / I brought goodes & money moughe to make me noble with. O thou fylthy and beastylly woman / that weneste thy selfe to be a wyfe / bycause thou haste a man lyenge by thy syde / weneste thou that wedlocke standeth in that? Thou breakest the la­wes of god and Nature. For if thou woldest tou­the thyne owne body / beynge diseased / and loke v­pon thy sores and handle them / thou oughtest nat to refuse to do the same vnto thyn husbāde / seyng that ye be bothe as one person. Therfore where is that same inseperate mate / whiche thou preten­dest / if thou sterte from hym / whan thou shuldest abyde most nere? Wherfore vnderstāde / that thou [Page]dost nat thy duety / neither to thy brother borne of one woman with the / nor thy father / that begotte the / neyther thy mother / that bare the. Wherfore if thou be ashamed of that / thou mayst lyke wyse be ashamed of that thou dost vnto thy husbande: Whom thou oughtest to regarde more than them all. And many leaue theyr mothers lyenge sicke / nor loue any bodye but them selfes / whiche were worthy to be loued of no body els / and no more be they in dede. Howe often haue we sene bestis with out reason / ruled only by nature / one cherishe ano­ther / and the femall lycke the sores of the male / as kyene / and dogges / lyons / beares / and all other bothe wylde and came? And thou that arte a wo­man / hauyng reason beside thy nature / whiche is more excellent thā all theirs / can nat fynde in thin harte eyther to touche or to se thyn husbandes so­tes / whan thou haste stomacke inough to handle the byles and scabbes of thy concubyne: wherewith many hath bene taken / that a man may wel knowe y^e nat nature but theyr owne vngracious­nes so dothe moue them. Nowe to shewe furder of my matter / if thy husbande were yll / yet ough­test thou to suffce hym / nor stryue with hym / by shrewdenes / leste thou neuer haue ende of sorowe and myschefe: but whan he is more pacified / thā gyue hym warnynge by curtese and gentyll mea­nes to amende his lyuyng. And if he wyll do after thy sayeng / than shalte thou proffitte bothe hym and thy selfe: but if he begynne to waxe angrye / stryue nat with hym / thou hast done thy duetye: [Page]Therfore let hym along and suffre hym / and thou shalte haue nat onely great commendation afore men / but also great merite afore god. And if he by vnthrifty meanes of hym selfe moued and hasty­nes strycke or beate the / thynke it is the correction of god / and that it chaunceth the as a punishmēt for thy synnes. And thou shalte be happy / if thou mayste so with a lyttell payne in this lyfe / bye out the great paynes of an other worlde. Howe be hit there be but very fewe good & wise wyues / whom theyr husbandes wyll beate / be they neuer so vn­happy mē. Also some husbādes there be folisshe & wytles / whom a good wyfe wyll handle wysely i­noughe / and neither prouoke them to angre / nor take from them the honour belongyng to the mā: but beyng hym in good hope / that all thing shalbe done after his wyll. And for his profette shall rule hym well inough by wisedome / as it were a wylde beast tamed: and in all poyntes shall handle hym in lyke maner as many mothers do their children in lyke case / whiche haue most cōpassyon of them / that be in moste misery: of whiche compassion cō ­meth loue and fauour. Wherfore they loue and cherysshe more them that be feble / maymed / folysshe / yll fauored / and sekely / than them that be stronge / holle / wyse / fayre / and lustye. I wyll nat reherse all other infortunes / I wyll gyue a generall pre­cepte of all at ones. If thou be ones maryed vnto hym: and god / the churche / thy father and mo­ther / haue gyuen hym to be thy husbāde and thy lorde / thou must suffer hym / seynge thou canst nat [Page]chaunge hym / and loue hym / worship and honore hym: if thou wylte nat for his owne sake / at the least wyse for theyr sakes / that haue gyuen hym vnto the: and for the promise that thou hast made hym / as many other do loue them that be worthy no loue / only for theyr frendes sakes / whiche hath commytted them vnto theyr truste. And many do bicause of their promise / thynges whiche els they wolde nat. Therfore gyue thy dilygence bothe to seme to do / and to do in dede / y^t whiche thou muste nedes do / be thou neuer so lothe: & so shall all those thynges be lyght and pleasant vnto the: whiche if thou be lothe to do / hit shall be greuous & payn­full. Nowe I perceyue that somme put doubtes / howe farre they ought to obey theyr husbandes: verely in all thȳges y^t be either honest / or without vice / there is no doubte but a woman ought to o­beye her husbandes commandement / as a diuine lawe. For the husbande beareth the roume of god here in erthe vnto his wyfe / and presēteth his per­son. Therfore if there be any thyng / that the wyfe wolde gyue vnto god / she neyther ought nor maye do hit without her husbandes lycence. For what maye a woman reken to be more her owne / than her body and mynde? And yet sayth saynt Paule / that the woman hath no power of her owne body / neither she can nat a vowe chastite vnto god / her husbande either nat wyllynge / or nat knowynge. Wherfore if thyn husbande wolde haue the other wyse occupied / thou mayst nat only nat go forth to daūce or se playes / or go to feastis / and passe tyme [Page]with gossyppes / whiche be poyntes of common harlottes: but thou mayste nat as moche as go pray or walke about to churches / without his lea­ue: or elles be thou sure / that neyther thy prayer is pleasaunte vnto god / nor thou shalte nat fynde god in the churche. God wolde that thou pray and go to the churche / but that is / whā thou hast done thyne husbandes busynes at home / and he hath none other labour to sette the about. And these be the poyntes of wedlocke / whiche god lyketh beste in a maried woman. For in his gospel / he byddeth a man be at one with his frende / or he come nere his aulter: howe moche more than / wold he haue the to be at one with thyn husbande / whiche farre passeth any frende? Wherto goste thou to masse or churches / whan thyne husbande commaundeth other wyse / eyther by wordes expressedlye / or by countinaunce preueyly? Wenest thou to fynde god in the churche whan thou leauest thyne husbade at home either sicke or hungry? Thou mayst fȳde all halowes about his bedde / bothe aulters / god / peace / concorde / and charite / and specially where the man and wyfe be coupled with these thynges. Thou shalt sone make god thy frēde / if thou make thyne husbande thy frende afore. God nedeth nat moche of our seruice. But vertuous lyuynge / and high honour / them he reserueth vnto hym selfe / o­ther thinges to be kepte in the worlde / as loue and concorde. And that is the cause whye he reherseth [...]o ofte charite in his gospell / and sayth / he gyueth [...]is kyngdome vnto those / that haue vsed charite [Page]vnto folkes in this worlde: and casteth out from the inheritaunce of heuen / that hath ben enuious and malytious agaynst theyr euen christen. For thou shalte easily make god thy frende / if thou re­concile thyne euen Christen vnto the before. Ney­ther there is any way more redye vnto goddes fa­uour / than fyrste to optayne fauour of thyne euen Christen. Therfore let a woman thynke that she dothe a great sacrifyce / whan she serueth her hus­bande: and thinke that she visetteth churches de­uoutly / if she be diligent about her husbādes bed. But there be some women / that if their husbande were neuer so sicke / yet wolde they neuer let theyr walkyng of their stations to churches about / and that more for theyr pleasure / than deuotion to god warde. But where to shulde we talke of them? Saynt Paule wrytyng vnto Tymothe speaketh of womannes duete in this wyse: Let the woman lerne with all obedyence / kepynge sylence. For I wyll nat haue the woman to be a teacher / nor to rule her husbande / but kepe sylence. Also writyng vnto the Corinthies / he saythe: Lette your wo­men nat speake in the churche / but if they lyste lerne ought / that they be in doubte of / aske theyr husbandes at home. Whiche lawe in myne opini­on meaneth none other thynge / but that the wo­man ought to lerne of her husbande / and in such thynges as she standeth in doute of / to folowe his mynde / and beleue as he doth: and if the husbāde do wronge / hym selfe shall beare all the blame / the wyfe shalbe out of faute: excepte it be so manifest [Page]that she maye perceyue the faute her selfe playnly mough / or els be taught other wise of suche as the husbande hym selfe myght well inoughe lerne.

For those thynges that be agaynste the lawes of god / she ought nat to do though her husbande cō ­maūde her neuer so moche. For she muste a know­lege one for better than her husbande and haue more in price / that is Christe. The man is heed of the woman / but Christe is heed of the man. Ma­ny holy women of our fayth haue bene sore punis­shed of theyr husbandes / for folowynge Christ is preceptes agaynst theyr wyll. And yet the apostle Paule cōmaunde that he wyfe nat to departe from her husbāde without his leaue / be he neuer so vn­gratious. So great be the bondes of wedlocke / that the Christen myght nat departe from the he­then without leaue. What than ought we to sup­pose / where bothe be Christened / and bothe good? Aristotel sayth: A good woman ought to take the maners of her husbande / as a lawe and rule of her lyuynge / gyuen her by god by the couplynge of matrimony. And hit becommeth her to accorde with her husbande and serue hym / nat onely in prosperite / but also in aduersite. If he lacke good­es / or be sicke of his body / or out of his mynde / let her suffre and obey hym / excepte it be some vnclenly thynge / or vncommelye. Nor let her nat beare longe in mynde / if her husbande offende her / by reason of distresse of his mynde: but lay the cause in his disease and ignorance. For the more paciēt­ly she vseth him in these poyntes / the more thanke [Page]shall he gyue her / whanne he is amended. And if there be any vncommely thynge commanded her by hym / whiche she hath nat done / he shall consy­dre that better after his amendynge. Wherfore a woman ought to absteyne from yll / but in all good thynges / to obeye none other wyse / than thoughe she had ben bought in to the house as a bonde and hande mayde. And in dede she is boughte with a great price / that is to say feloship of lyfe / and pro­creation of childrē / whiche / nothȳg can be greatter nor holyer. Moreouer if she had had a welthy hus­bande / than coude nat her goodnes bene so moche knowen. For hit is but a small acte to handle pro­sperite well. Howe be it to suffre aduersite pacient­ly is counted a great thynge. For in great aduersi­ties and harmes nat to be in extreme dispayre / is a poynte of a noble stomacke. Therfore she hadde nede to praye / that no harme bechaunce her hus­bande. But if any aduersite fall / than let her con­sidre / that she shall wynne great worship there by / if she behaue her selfe well. And let her remembre / that neither quene Alcest shulde haue had so great honoure / nor quene Penolepe so great prayse / if they had lyued in prosperite with their husbādes. For by the aduersite of kyng Admetus and Vlys­ses caused them eternall memory. For in thaduer­sites of theyr husbandes they optayned and that well worthy / eternall glorye / for kepynge faythe and truthe towarde theyr husbandes. For womē wyll take no parte of aduersite / excepte it be suche as be wonderous good. Wherfore to cōclude / it is [Page]becomynge for the wyfe to haue her husbande in honour / and nat dispise hym. These be Aristotles wordes.

Of the concorde of maryed couples. The .v. Chaptre.

HIt were an infinite thyng / nor the tale shulde come vnto any ende / to reherse the goodnes of concorde: and howe all thynge in the worlde / and also the worlde it selfe / standeth to gether by vnyte and concorde: but our pourpose is to speke of wedlocke: in whiche I say / y^e great­test quietnes and mooste parte of pleasure is con­corde / and the greattest trouble and moste parte of misery in it is discorde. They that were of Pytha­goras disciplyne / amonge al the preceptes of Py­thagoras / they kepte these rules / and mooste / and oftest vsed them. That lāguishenes shulde be voyded and put from the body / foly and lewdnes from the mynde / ryotte from the bealye / and sedition out of the cite / and discorde out of the house / and finally intemperaunce out of all thynges. Vlysses in Homer wisheth for an husbāde / a house / and cō ­corde vnto Nausicaa the doughter of kynge Alcy­nous: whiche is the greattest treasure and moste to be desyred that can be. For whan the wyfe and husbande lyue peasably to gether / they cause mo­che sorowe vnto theyr enemyes / moche ioye vnto theyr frendes / and moste of all vnto them selues. Thus he sayde. Howe happy a maryage suppose [Page]we y^t Albutius had / whiche lyued with his wyfe Terrentiana without any displeasure .xxv. yere: And yet more fortunate was Publius Ceter / y^t ly­ued with Ennia his wyfe .xliiii. yere without any grutchyng or cōplaynt. For of discord / cōmeth de­bate / braulyng / chydynge / & fyghtynge. And wo­men be full of whynynge for the moste parte / and yll to intreate: and ofte tymes whā they haue chi­den their husbandes for a lyght matter / it cometh at laste vnto great disturbance. Nor there is no­thynge that so sone casteth the mynde of the hus­bande from his wyfe / as dothe moche scoldynge / and chydyng / and her myscheuous tonge / whiche Solomon lykeneth vnto a droppyng and raynȳg house rofe in the wynter / bycause that bothe dry­ueth the man forthe at the dore. And the forsayde Solomon sayth / that it is better to dwelle in a de­serte and desolate countrey / than in house with a chydynge and an angry wyfe. And a fewe whiche be intollerable / gyue this benifitte vnto the holle kynde / that none semethe good to deale with all: and here of cometh this sayenge: who so hath no stryfe hath no wyfe / as who saye / he that hath a wyfe hath stryfe. And that thyng causeth many / that be quietly disposed neuer to marie. And ther­fore many thynges were writē in olde tyme in the rebuke of woman kynde / and diuorses sought out and sharpely executed. And nowe amōge christen men those thynges before myssed of many / and desyred after. For they say their wynes wolde be better / if they knewe they myght be put away except [Page]they were gentyll. In whiche opynyon after my mynde either the men be disceyued / or the women be starke folys: whiche do nat consydre / that they had nede to be the more obedient vnto theyr hus­bandes / that they myghte lyue the more merilye with them / from whom they canne by no meanes be departed: lest they turne perpetuall necessite in to mysery / whiche they can neuer do away. For it resteth moche in y^e wyues handes to kepe rest and quietnes in the house. For the mā is nat so yrefull as the woman. And that is nat in mankynde one­lye / but also in all kyndes of beastis / as Aristotle saythe. For the males / bycause they haue more bolde stomackes / & are more lusty of corage / ther­fore be they more symple & lesse noysome / for they haue the more noble myndes. And the females cō trary be more malicius / and more set to do harme, wherfore y^e women wyll be taken with light suspi­ciousnes / & ofte complayne and vexe their husbā ­des / and angre them with peuyshe puelynge: but the mā is easyer to recōcile than the womā. Lyke wyse as of men he / whose is most lyke stomacked vnto a womā / nor lusty coraged / will remēbre iniury / longest / and seke for vengeance the most violēt­ly / nor can be cōtēt with a mean reuēgeāce. There was in olde tyme in Rome a chapell of a certayne goddes / in whiche if any disturbāce had bene be­twene the husbande and the wyfe at home / they spake certayne wordes what they list / and were a­greed agayne. And this goddes was named Dici­placa / y^t is to say / please husbande▪ whiche name [Page]sheweth that the husbande ought nat to studye to please the wyfe / but y^e wyfe to please her husbāde. And thoughe the beste parte of these that I haue spoken pertayne vnto concorde / yet wyll I brynge some thynges more nere vnto that purpose. One the moste chiefe and especiall helpe vnto concorde is if the wyfe loue her husbande. For this is the nature of loue to get loue agayne: nor let nat some wonder so moche as they do / whye theyr husban­des loue them nat / seyng they loue nat them / but loke wel lest they loue nat their husbādes so moch as they make sēblāce. Let them loue theyr husbā ­des in dede / and they shalbe loued of them againe. For fayned and counterfeted loue bothe sheweth hit selfe nowe and thanne / and hath nat the veray strengthe and vertue that the faythfull loue hath. More ouer if the wyfe and husbande loue toge­ther / they shall bothe wylle and nylle one thynge / whiche is the very & true loue. For ther can neuer be discorde nor debate betwene those / in whom is one harte / nat desyryng contrary thinge. And one mynde / nat of cōtrary opinion. My mother Blaū ­che / whan she had be .xv. yere maried vnto my fa­ther / I coude neuer se her stryue with my father. There were .ii. sayenges that she had euer in her mouthe / as prouerbes. Whan she wolde say she be leued well any thing / than vsed she to say / euen as though Lodowyke Viues hadde spoken it. Whan she wolde say that she wolde any thing / she vsed to say / euen as though Lodowyke Viues wolde hit. I haue harde my father saye many tymes / but [Page]specially ones / whan one tolde hym of a sayeng of Scipio Africane the yonger / orels of Pomponius Atticus / and I wene hit were the sayeng of them both / that they neuer made agrement with theyr mothers / nor I with my wyfe sayd he / whiche is a greatter thynge. Whan other / that harde this sayeng / wondred vpō it / and the cōcorde of Viues and Blanche was taken vp and vsed in a maner for a prouerbe / he was wonte to answere lyke as Scipio was / which sayd he neuer made a gremēt w^t his mother bycause he neuer made debate with her. But it is nat to be moche talked ī a boke made for an other pourpose / of my mooste holy mother: whom I doubt nat nowe to haue in heuen y^e frute and rewarde of her holy and pure lyuyng. More­ouer / bycause I haue purposed to make a seuerall boke of her actis and her lyfe. And many women that loue indiscretelye breake concorde at ones. Therfore muste theyr discressyon be holpen forthe with some teachynge / and theyr fersenes abated. And that with this one thyng / if they staye theyr mynde and fantasyes / whiche sone caryeth the fe­byll reason of women away with them. Therfore a woman shulde haue great demurenes and sobernes in her mynde / and shewe hit with her dedes. And often I warne her / that she do nothynge for to seme and for a countenance: For that is a thyng of smal value or none. But as she wolde seme to be suche / let her be in dede: and than shall she y^e more truely appere. Let her wene neuer to disceyue any body by clokynge and dissymulation. For men be [Page]nat suche stockes nor stoones / that they canne nat knowe a counterfeted thing from a thyng in dede. And thoughe they disceyue folkes that loke vpon them / yet canne they nat disceyue nature / whiche hath nat gyuen lyke vertue vnto thinges counter feted as true in dede. Lette them make proffe in them selfe. Let them cōsyder / whether they thȳke them honest and sad y^t make coūtenāce of honesty / hauyng none at all or nat: and whether they loue agayne suche as make semblaūce as though they loued them and do nat in dede. Hit were good for a wyfe to vse that counsayle / that Horace the wyse poet gyueth vnto Lollius / howe to vse his frende / vyddyng hym applye hym selfe vnto his frendes appetyte. If he lyste hunte sayth he / do thou nat syt to make versys / but cast vp thy muses / and fo­lowe the herses caryeng the nettes / & leade forthe dogges. Amphion and zetus were bretherne and twynnes borne of Anthiopia / the one was verye coūnyng in harpyng / thother rude and vnlerned. Nowe whan the sounde of the harpe pleased nat zetus / and lyke to departe company betwixte the two bretherne / Amphion therfore layde downe his harpe: and so let the wyfe ordre ber selfe after her husbandes maners / and pleasure / lest he hate and set noughte by her. We rede in histories / that Andromacha Hectors wyfe gaue hay & ootes vn­to his horses with her owne handes / bycause she sawe what delyte her husbande had in them / and kepte them for warre / as dilygently as coulde be. And Cecilius Plinius sheweth in many pistelles [Page]that he loued his wyfe moste derely / in whiche pi­stolles ther is one writen vnto Hispula his wyues awnt / whiche had brought her vp / where he gy­ueth her great thākes / that she so taught her and brought vp / whan she was a chylde: and also she­wed the cause why he loued his wyfe so well / wry­tynge of his wyfe in this wyse: She loueth me / whiche is a sygne of chastite. And more ouer she is greatly gyuen vnto lernyng whiche fantasy she hath taken by y^e loue she hath vnto me. She hath my bokes / and redeth / and lerneth them without boke: & whāso euer I shall pleade / she is wōders carefull: and whan I haue done merueylous ioy­full. She settes folkes to watche / howe I am ly­ked of the people / what countenaunce / what noyse I cause them to make / what iudgement I get in the ende. And whan so euer I reherse a lectoure / she getteth her nexte vnto me / seperate from the o­ther herers with a vayle / and herkeneth moste di­ligently for my prayses. She syngeth my verses / and playeth them on the lute. None other maister teacheth her / but the loue she hath vnto me / whi­che is the best schole maister of all. This wryteth Plinius. A late whā I was at Paris and talked with Guilielmus Budeus at his owne hous / and his wyfe come bye / where as we walked / a goodly personne and a fayre / as a man shulde loke vpon / whiche as I coude deme by her comly maner and countenance / me thought shulde be both a prudēt and vertuous huswyfe. So she after she hadde salued her husbande / with suche reuerence as a [Page]good woman shulde / and had welcommed me cur­tesly and honorably / I asked hym if she were his wyfe / yes forsoth saythe he / this is my wyfe / whi­che so diligently foloweth my pleasure / that she intreateth my bokes no worse than her owne chyl­dren / bycause she seeth me loue studye so well. In whiche thyng me thynke her worthy more preyse than was Plinius wyfe: in as moche as she was lerned her selfe / and this is nat. Nowe howe mo­che more honestly dothe she / than suche as drawe theyr husbandes from study / and counsayle them to luker / playe / or other pleasures / that they may obtayne parte them selfe / either of luker / playe / or volupties / bycause they can get no parte of theyr study. And the foles knowe nat howe moche more sure and veraye pleasure hit were / to haue a wyse man than a ryche or voluptuous. Moreouer they shulde lyue a great deale more quietlye with wyfe men than with ignorant foles / that neuer had set the brydell of reason to rule theyr fantasyes with­al / whiche be for the more parte caried quite away with suche motions as comme in theyr myndes. Nor she shulde loth in her husbande neither study nor any thing els / either by wordes / countenance / or gesture / or any maner of sygnes: she shall loue all thynge in hym / haue all thynge in reuerence / and set great store by it / what so euer he dothe / as­sent all thyng vnto hym / and beleue what so ener he sayth / though he tolde that neither were true / nor lyke to be / nor presume aboue her husbande in any maner thyng she shall reken hym her father / [Page]her lorde / her elder / her better. This shal she both knowlege in dede / and make semblaunce of. For howe can any loue or frendship stande / if thou be­ynge ryche dispise hym poure: or fayre thy selfe / loth hym beyng foule: or thy selfe of great bloode / disdayne hym as of lowe byrthe? Iuuenall saith / there is nothynge more intollerable than a ryche wyfe. Saynt Hieronyme saith the same / writing agaynst Iouyntane. And Theophrast sayth / it is a turment to suffre a ryche wyfe: but I canne nat beleue that / excepte they say / if she be ill and lewde with all. For what a lewdenes is hit / nat to consy­der howe vayne a thyng that money is? for hit is the vylest of all thyng that men be proude of. But many lyghte and frayle myndes wyll ryse a lofte with a lyttell wynde. Ah foole / doth nat wedlocke make all thynge commen? For if that frendshipe make all thyng commen / howe moche more dothe maryage make commen nat onely theyr money / but also frendes / kynsfolke and all thynges elles? Wherfore the Rhomayns as Plutarche saythe / commaunded in theyr lawes / that the husbande and wyfe shulde gyue nothyng one vnto a nother / bycause that neither shulde reken any thynge pry­uatly theyr owne. In a good commen wele Plato sayth / that these wordes / myne and thyne / shulde be put awaye. Than moche more in a good house holde / whiche is than the beste & most perfet / therto moste welthfull / whan there is as one body vn­der one heed. For if it haue many heddes or many bodyes / hit is lyke a monster. Moreouer all the [Page]husbandes and after the similitude of Plutarch / though there be more water thā wyne in y^e cuppe / yet is all the myxture called wyne / so thoughe the woman brynge neuer so moche with her / and the man neuer so lytell / yet all is his. For he muste ne­des haue all that the woman hath / that hath her selfe & is her lorde. And y^u mayst here our lorde say to the: Womā thou shalte be in the rule of thy hus­bande: and he shall haue the maistre on the. Nor he is to be dispised for his fauoure. For thou haste fauour / & he hath y^e / with thy fauour. I wyll nat dispute / howe sklender a thing beautte is / whiche standeth but onely in mennes opynyons. For she that is fayre in one mannes sight / is foule in ano­thers. Howe frayle / and vnto howe many ieoper­dies indangered / howe fletynge / and howe vnsta­ble a thyng is beautie / whā one agewe / one wart / or one heare maye of the mooste goodly make the moste lothsome? And in men no body desyreth su­che grace of fayrnes: but they thynke in a woman very comely: and yet shalte thou rede in the wyse kynges sayeng: fauour is a disceitfull thyng / and beautie is vayne: But the woman that dredeth god / she shalbe preysed. Fynally / seynge that ye be one fleshe / or rather one person bothe thou and thy husbande / than can he neuer be foule that hath a fayre wyfe. And if thou wylte nat suppose neither the wyfe nor the husbāde to be fayre / vertue alone is both beautie & noblenes. I wyll let passe here / howe folisshe a thynge hit is / that they call noble­nes. Whose opiniō and estimation standeth in the [Page]comen voyce of people / whiche is maister of all er­rours. But be thou neuer so noble / if thou marye to one vnnoble / thou arte made vnnobler than he: nor the wyfe can nat be more noble than her hus­bande. For that thynge canne nat be alowed in no kynde of beastis. The chyldren haue the name of the father thorowe all the worlde / as of the better: and than if thou be very noble / either muste he be made very noble / or thou vnnoble. And in the Ci­uile lawe the women haue theyr dignite of theyr husbandes / and nat of theyr fathers / in so moche that those that were commyn of mooste noble fa­ther / if they maryed vnto one of lowe degree / they were nat called noble. And that appered well in y^e noble women of Rome / whiche droue out of the chapell of chastite / that was ordayned for noble women / one Virginia / commen of noble parētes / bicause she was maryed vnto a mā of lowe byrth: & therfore they sayde she was none of them / but of the comen rate of people: neither she denyed that / nor was ashamed to be taken for one of the lowe people / nor dispised the commen people in compa­rison of the noblys / nor abashed to be called Virgi­nia Volūnius wyfe. Also Cornelia / doughter vn­to Scipio / whan she was maryed vnto an house / whiche was in dede great and famous / and hono­rable: Howe be it / nothynge able to be compared with her fathers / beyng her selfe of the best bloode in Rome / and one the mooste chefe of that bloode / doughter of Scipio: whiche was the conquerour of Affrike / the prince of the Senate / and all the [Page]people of Rome / and also of all the worlde most ex­cellent / though she hadde to her mother Emylia / comen of the blode of the Emylians / the most ho­norable and famous / bothe in Rome / and all the worlde: yet she hauynge so great honour bothe of fathers syde and of mothers / had leauer euer be called Cornelia Gracchi / by her husbādes name / thā Cornelia Scipionis. Wherfore some were discontent / whiche for honour vsed to cal her Cornelia Scipionis / by her fathers name. Thesia / sister vnto the elder Dionisius the tyrant of Syracuse / was maried to one Philoxenus / whiche whā he had gone about to do a displeasure vnto Dionisius / and whan he was spyed was constrayned to fie out of Sycille / this Thesia his wyfe was sēt for by the kynge her brother / and rebuked of hym / bycause she dyd nat discouer her husbandes flyghte vnto hym. Whye sayde she / wenest thou that I were so vile and ab­iecte / that if I hadde knowen of his goynge / I wolde nat a gone with all and folowed hym / and bene rather the wyfe of Philoxenus the out lawe in any place in the worlde / than kynge Dionisius syster here at home in my countrey: And all the Siracusyans hadde in great reuerence this gaye and vertuous mynde of hers. And whā the tyrās were banyshed / they bothe worshipped her in her lyfe / and honoured after her deth. Mary the wyfe of Maximilian the emperour / whiche had by her father of inheritance all Flanders and Pycatdye / and the people set nought by the symple and softe disposition of Maximilian / and sewed for all theyr [Page]matters vnto Mary his wyfe / yet wolde she neuer determyne nothȳg without her husbādes aduise / whose will she rekened euer for a lawe / though she myght well inough haue ruled and ordened all as she lyst / w^t his good wyll: whiche vsed to suffer of his mylde stomacke any thing y^t she lyst / vnto his good and prudēt wyfe / & that in her owne goodes. So Mary by obeynge her husbande / and regar­dyng hym so well / brought hym in to great aucto­rite / and made the people more obediēt vnto them both / as though their powers were increased and ayded either by other. And these dueties be in the mynde. Nowe must we brydell the tonge / whiche if the mynde be well brydeled it shall rule it well i­nough. For the cause why many women be catle of tonge is bicause they can nat rule their mȳdes. For ire occupieth them holle / and plucketh out of scaam / nor suffreth any pte of them to rule it selfe: and therfore haue they neyther measure nor reasō in their chydyng and scolding. For they be put be­syde all reason and discretion / whan the fyre hath catched all to gether and made his owne: whiche soone increaseth in softe tymber and apte for fyre: Wherof commeth ragyng / bothe of stomacke and tonge without measure. Whiche I haue ofte wō ­dred on and that in very good and honest women / in whom sauyng this one vice / there lacketh nei­ther chastite nor goodnes manyfolde & great ver­tues. Yet haue I myssed in them moderation and temperaunce of ire & language: in so moche that I haue ben ashamed of it / though none of it hath [Page]pertayned to me / but bene amōge those that haue bene very strangers to me / at least if one Christen body ought to be a stranger vnto an other. There­fore as it is a harde vertue for a woman to temper her tonge / so verily hit is the moste goodly vertue that can be longe to any. Whiche thynge she shall easly do / if she abyde in her owne power / nor suffer her selfe to be caried away with her owne fātasies / as it were with stormes of wether. And this lette her ofte call to mynde specially / and purpose while she is safe & in her owne power / that if she chaunce to falle at wordes with her husbande / she rebuke nat nor dispreyse either his kynne / or person / or cō ­ditiōs / or his lyfe / whiche thing she woteth shulde greue his stomacke. For if he be angred / with su­che a thynge / he wyll bothe be worse to reconsyle / and after that he is agreed agayne / yet as ofte as that worde commeth vnto his remembraunce / he wyll neuer loke merily on her / besyde the displea­sure that it is to god. For our lorde sayth in the go­spell of Mattheu: who so saythe vnto his brother Racha / that is to saye / braynles / shalbe accusable vnto the counsaile: and he that sayth fole / shall be dampnable vnto the pyt of fyre. Nowe than con­syder what thou shalte haue / that makest y^t great raylyng / nat onely on thy brother / but also thy fa­ther / and as moche as lyeth in the / on the deputy of god and all thy kyn. And if thy husbande laye any suche thyng vnto thy charge / be wyse / that it abyde nat in thy remembraunce / but suffre it pa­tiently: and whan he is commen vnto hym selfe [Page]agayne / thou shalte optayne great thanke of hym for thy sufferaunce / and shalte tourne his furious mynde vnto good: and shalte haue hym the more gentyll afterwarde and easyer to deale with. Te­rence / whose purpose was none other / but to ex­presse the conditions of the worlde in his comedi­es / writeth of a chast and honest yonge woman in this wyfe: She as becometh an honeste woman / shamfast / sad / and demure / suffred all the iniures and fautes of her husbande / and kept close the dis­plesures. And for these causes / y^e husbādes mȳde tourned agayne vnto his wyfe / from whose loue he abhorred. And that was the counsayle of the wyfe nurce in Seneke the poet / whiche she gaue vnto Octauia the wyfe of Nero / sayenge: Van­quishe thy cruell husbande rather with obedyēce. Nor let nat a woman cast in her husbandes tethe any benyfyte done vnto hym by her / whiche is an vnsyttyng and a displeasant thynge / yea amonge those that be nothynge a kynne to gether: and he that casteth his benifyte in an other mānes tethe / loseth his thanks that he shulde haue had. For he hath stryken hit out of the others haste. Moreo­uer if thou consyder well / there can be no benifyte done by y^e to thȳ husbāde / to whom thou arte boū ­dē as moche / as vnto thy father or thy selfe other. Nor any good woman wyll make moche rehersall of her kynred or gooddis / whiche thing will light­ly wery her husbande beynge neuer so louynge. The poet Iuuenal sayth / that he had leauer haue a poure woman and of lowe byrth / than Cornelia [Page]the doughter of Scipio Affrican / (of whose ver­tues we haue spoken here before) if she be proude and stately of her fathers noblenes: For he sayth in this wyse:

The sage man Plutarche commaundeth / that in the begynnynge of mariage all occasions of de­bate shulde be eschewed / whan the loue is yet nat wel knitte to gether / and is yet tender and weake / and easye to breake with any lytell cause / as a ves­sell newe made wyll a sonder with a small knocke. Nor let her nat chide a bed. For where shulde they lay awaye theyr displeasure / if they make y^e place troublesome / and comberous with scoldyng / whi­che is most mete for loue and concorde / and as hit were / corrupteth the medicine / that the disease of the mynde shulde be holpen with?

Howe she shulde lyue betwene her husbande and her selfe priuately. The .vj. Chaptre.

HIt were nat vnmete for this place to reherse howe she oughte to behaue her in priuite and secretly vnto her husbande / betwene [Page]hym and her. Fyrst let her vnderstande / that they y^t were wonte to make sacrifice vnto Iuno / whom they called the ruler and ouer fear of wedlocke / ne­uer offred the gall in sacrifyce that they made / but toke it out of the beaste / and cast it away behynde the alter / signifieng that there ought to be neither displeasure / nor any bytternes amonge maryed couples. Also they were wonte to couple Venus and Mercury to gether in mariage / as a pleasure and myrth. For the wyfe shulde couple and bynde her husbande vnto her euery day more and more / with her gentyll and pleasant conditions. For no­thynge doth more drawe and entyse vnto hit / than doth pleasant conditions and swete speche. A wise woman shulde haue in mynde mery tales / & histo­ries (howe be it yet honest) wherwith she may re­freshe her husbande / and make hym mery / whan he is wery. And also she shal lerne preceptes of wi­sedome to exhorte hym vnto vertue / or drawe hym from vice with al / and some sage sētences agaynst the assautes and rages of both fortunes / bothe to plucke downe her husbandes stomacke / if he be proude of ꝓsperite and welth: and cōforte & harte hym / if he be stryken in heuynes with aduersite. So Placidia daughter vnto Theodosius them­peroure / whan her husbande Athaulpus y^e kyng of the Gothiās / was in purpose to vtterly distroy Rome / and the name of Romans / with her swete eloquence and pleasant behauour / brought hym out of that vngratious purpose / & saued her coun­tre. And agayne the wyfe shall make her husbāde [Page]a counsayle of all her sorowes and cares: so that they be mete to tell a wyse man of. She shall take only for her companyon / and talkyng felowe / coū ­sellour / maister / and lorde / and vtter vnto hym all her thoughtes / and rest in hym. For these thȳges make loue and cōcorde. For lyghtly we loue them / whom we tell our counsayle vnto / and as it were vnlade vs of our thoughtes / & in whom we truste moche. And lyghtly folkes loue them agayne / of whom they reken themselfe loued and trusted. A wyse woman shall as moche as she maye / serche diligently whether her husbande haue any ill sus­spectiō ther / wheder ther be any sparkes of āger / or hate / or any resydues or steppes of them lefte in his mynde / if there be any suche thyng / let her la­bour to get it out or hit growe greatter. For these thynges increase lyghtlye with a lytell cause. Let her therfore get this out of her husbandes mynde by gentyll meanes / and content hym agayne. For vnknowyng sickenes increase and distroye y^e body soner / than those that appere. Let her nat stryue to plucke it out / nor handle it harde / lest she fasten it the more sure in / whā she may better auoyde it without any payne / that is to say / without com­playnt / & without gronyng. Nor let her nat thȳke that either god or man is content with her / whyle her husbande is displeased with her. Our lorde sayth in the gospell: If thou come to do thyne of­frynge at the alter / and there remembre that any displeasure be yet remaynȳg betwene thy brother and the / lay downe thyne offryng there / and go be [Page]agreed fyrst with thy brother / and after offer that vnto god / that thou intendest. For thou callest for peace of god in vayne / as longe as thy frende is nat pleased with the / but moche more / if thy hus­bande be nat. What so euer is spoken in the chābre & the holy bed of wedlocke / let her take good hede to kepe more secreate and counsaile / than the sacri­fice of Ceres in Elewce was kepte / or misteries of any other god or goddes. For what madnes is hit to bable out suche thynges / as ought to be kepte so secrete. The wyse people of Athens / whan they hadde warre with Phylyp kynge of Macedony / and had taken letters of his / sente vnto his wyfe Olempias / they wolde nat suffre them to be ope­ned and red / bycause they rekened the secretes of wedlocke to be / as they be in dede / holy / and to be kepte in priuite / nor to be conuenyent to commyne them abrode / or to be knowen of other folkes / than of the wyfe and her husbande. And therfore they sent the letters vntouched vnto Macedone vnto y^e quene. Wherfore they were worthy to haue theyr wyues both to kepe faith and coūsaile with them. Nowe if they dyd that vnto theyr enemye armed agaynst them / howe moche more is it for the to do it vnto thy husbande? Porcia wyfe vnto Brutus proued her owne pacience with a woūde / whether she coude kepe counsayle of great matters or nat. And whā she sawe she coude hyde the wounde and kepe secrete / thā was she so bolde as to aske of her husbande what he studied so carefully vpon: And whan he had tolde her howe they purposed to flee [Page]Cesar / she kepte her as wel as any that was of the same counsayle. Neither the wyfe ought onely to loue her husbande her selfe / but also to se that she make nat other folkes to hate hym / or brȳg hym ī to any ieꝑdy by causyng hym to be ēuyed through her meanes. Nor let nat her vse her husbande to be her page / and reuēge all iniures done vnto her / excepte hit be the parell of chastite / whiche is the most precious thynge that a woman can haue. If any body haue spoken wordes of displeasure or dis­honesty vnto her / or done a thȳg that may seme to greue her tender mynde / let her nat ronne streight to her husbande and kendel his stomacke with fy­rye wordes / suche as angre is wonte to cause. A good woman shall take all suche thynges pacient­ly / and shall reken her selfe safe and sure inough / as longe as her chastite is holle and vntouched: whiche if it be poluted / there is nothynge to be re­kened pure. She shall vse in chamber nat onely chast behauour / but also shamfastnes. And let her remembre that she is a wyfe / in whom Plutarche wolde haue both great loue and great demurenes coupled and ioyned to gether. They saye that the quenes of Perse were wōte to kepe priuate and so­ber feastis with theyr husbādes / but as for in wā ­ton bākettes cam none but syngers / mynstrelles / and concubynes / wedlocke was had in suche reue­rence. For as the noble prince was wonte to say / a wyfe was a name of dignite and nat of bodily lust: so the husbande is a name of couplyng and affini­te / as I haue declared. Nor the husbādes ought [Page]nat to gyue them selfe vnto ouer moche pleasure / nor to delyte in any companye but theyr wyues / but our purpose is nat here to teache the husban­des. Howe be it / it is nat conuenient for them to be maisters of wantōnes and lechery vnto theyr wy­ues. And let them euer remembre this sayenge of Xystus the philosopher: He is an adulterar with his wyfe / who so is ouer excedyng and ouer hote a louer. And let him obey the apostle Paule / sayeng vnto husbādes / that they shulde haue their wyfe as vessels of generation in holynes / and nat in vn­lefull concupiscence or immoderate / as the pagās do / that knowe nat god. The spouse in the canti­cles calleth his spouse syster / to thentent to make his loue more measurable: but we wyll returne a­gayne vnto women. Let them nat defoyle the ho­ly and honeste bed of wedlocke with fylthy and le­cherous actis. The chast wyfe of Spartane / whā she was asked if she vsed to go vnto her husbāde / nay perde sayde she / but he vnto me. For the chast woman neuer prouoked the lust of her husbande / nor vsed the bodylye pleasure / but for her husban­des pleasure. Trebellius Pollio wrytethe / that zenobia the quene of Palmyra / a very well lerned and a wyse woman / was of so great chastite / that she wolde nat lye with her husbande / without she had proued before / whether she were with chylde or no. For whan she had lyen with hym she wolde tarye her tyme / to se whether she had conceyued: and if she had nat / than was she content to suffre her husbandes wyll agayne. Who wolde thynke / [Page]that this woman had any luste or pleasure in her body? This was a woman worthy to be had in honour and reuerence / whiche had no more pleasure in her naturall partes / thā in her fote or her fȳger. She had bene worthy to haue borne childrē with outen mannes company / whiche neuer desyred it / but only for children: or els to haue brought them forthe without payne / whiche gate them without pleasure. But one of our christen women called E­thelffryda / a quene of Englāde / dyd a greatt acte / whiche after she had borne one childe / neuer laye more with her husbande. And yet one Edelthru­dis / a quene of the same countrey / passed her: whi­che had had .ij. husbandes / and made them bothe to kepe perpetuall chastite. There were also other couples / that lyued to gether without carnall dea­lyng / as Henricus Bauarus / the prince of Rome / and Sinegunda his wyfe: Iulianus the martyr / and Basilia his wyfe: and in the cyte of Alexan­der Chrysāthus / and Daria his wyfe: and Amos w^t his wyfe. For these holy folkes vnderstode well inough / that thyng whiche is writē of wyse men / that the bodely pleasure is vnworthy this excellēt nature of ours / whiche we haue of the soule. And therfore euery bodye dispiseth it the more / and ca­steth it away / the more that he hath of that excel­lentnes of the soule / & the nigher that he is to god: and other heuenly myndes neyther wyll vse this pleasure often / except it be suche as haue but bea­stly / vile / and abiecte myndes / and hath taken mo­che of vile nature / and veray lytle of that high & [Page]celestyall nature. You wyues / whanne you put of your smokkes / put vpon chamefastnes / and kepe alway both day and night both in cōpany of other men and of your husbandes / bothe in the lyght & in the darke / that mooste honeste vayle of nature. Let neuer god / let neuer angelles / let neuer your owne consciēce espy you bare of the couer of sham­fastnes. For there is nothyng more foule and loth­some than you be / if you be naked of that Couer. The wyse and sad poet Hesiodus wolde nat haue women to put of theyr smokkes in the nyght / by­cause the nyghtes be the immortall goddes.

Of Ieolosy. The .vii. Chaptre.

CIcero calleth ieolosy / after thopinion of the stowicke philosophers / a care of a mannes mynde / leste an other shulde haue aswell as he / that thynge / whiche hymselfe wolde op­tayne. Hit is called also a feare / leste an other man shulde haue that commen with hym that thynge / whiche he wolde haue to be seuerallye his owne. What wordes so euer they expounde hit with / ve­rely hit is a sore vexation and agony / and a veraye cruell tyranne / whiche as longe as it rayneth and raygeth in the husbandes harte / let the wyfe ne­uer hope to haue pease. Hit were better for them both to be deade / than any of them to fall in to ieo­losye / but specially the man. What paynes or tur­ment can be comparedde: bothe for hym that is vexed with the inquietnes of ieolosye / and hym / of [Page]whom the feare is? Therof ryseth gronyng / com­playnynge / cryenge / with hate bothe of hym selfe and other / and perpetuall suspection of harme / & chidyng / braulyng / fyghtyng / yea & also murder. For we haue both red and harde tell of many / that haue slayne theyr wyues / moued only with ieolo­sy: the whiche affection doth also rage wylde bea­stis. For Aristotle writeth / that the lyon wyll all to teare y^e lyones / if he take her in aduoutry. And I my selfe / with many other moo / haue seen the Cocke swanne kyll his henne / bycause she folowed an other cocke. Therfore lette the woman laboure with all her power / leste this fantasies come vpon her husbande / or if it come vpon hym / to get hym out of it / and cause hym to leaue it. And that shall she do onely by one meanes / that is / if she neyther say nor do / that her husbande may take suspecion of. Saint Paule / saint Hieronyme / Aristotle / and many other great and wyse men counsayle verye well / that folkes neither do ill / nor any thyng that longeth to ill. Parauenture thou wylte saye / that this is an harde thynge. For who can rule other mennes suspeciousnes. Yes / many wayes. Fyrste if thou lyue chastly / and that is the redyest waye. For tyme euer bryngeth forthe the trouthe / and tyme causeth the false hode to fade and vanysshe away / and confermeth and strentheth the trouth. If thou be good / and haue a ieolious husbande / yet mayst thou hope that he wyll put awaye that vnquietnes of mynde. But and thou be noughte / be sure that that fantasy shal neuer go from hym / [Page]but rather increase dayly. Fynally / if thou suffre thy husbandes ieolosy gyltles / thou arte happye / if gylty / thou arte vnhappy. Therfore shalt thou both loue thyn husbāde / and laboure that he may perceyue hym selfe loued: but beware that thou vse no faynynge nor dissymulation: For than the more craftely that he seeth the dissemble / the more sore wyll he hate the. For faynynge neuer lyghtlye commeth to the poynt that it is purposed: but for the more parte clene contrary. I gyue women of­tē warnyng / and ofte in dede they nede warnyng / and moche more the men / that they disceyue nat them selfe / supposynge to be no force / whether one do a thyng in dede or some to do it. For they be but foles and ignorante / that wene they shall alter the nature of thynges with colorynge and faynynge. Let her shewe her selfe nat onely to loue no man so well as her husbande / but also to loue none other at all but hym. If she loue any other / let it be but for her husbandes sake: or if she can nat loue her husbandes frēdes / yet let her nat hate them. For there be many men that can be well content / and there to very gladde / to haue all other thynges / in comon with their wyues / excepte frendes. And in the same mynde be wyues to / as concernyng their maydes / and other women / that they loue. Whan she is forthe a brode / let her vse great demurenes / neither loue gladly to kepe company / or common with other womens husbandes / neither with wo­men that haue a noughtye name / neyther abyde the syght of any baude: as for letters / let her nei­ther [Page]gyue nor receyue / her husbāde vnknowyng. Let her speke but lytell of other womens husban­des / neither prayse theyr fayrnes / or any good pro­pertie of their person / neither gladly gyue an eare vnto any that prayseth them / nor loke moche vpō them / neither do any thȳg afore them / that shulde be occasion to any body to suspecte yll. These must I nedes saye / bycause that I wolde she shulde nat onely eschewe harme / but also euery thynge that beareth the colour of harme. Nowe wyll I speke of the womans ieolosye / whiche if she haue any / I wyll nat greatlye go about moche remedye / to get it away / so hit be nat to moche and to violent / and trouble peace of all y^e house / and vexe her hus­bande. For if it were suche / than hit were good for to seke remedy. Fyrste and formost let the woman consyder / that her husbande is her lorde / nor that she may do by ryght all that he may. For the man is nat so moche bounde as the woman to kepe chastite / at leaste wayes by the lawes of the worlde / for by god is lawe both be bounde in lyke. Let her considre that the man lyueth more at libertie than the woman / & hath more to care fore. For she hath nothynge to se to but her honestye. Let her stoppe her eares vnto suche as tell her ill of her husbāde / and thynke they do hit but to pyke a thanke. Her­myone / wyfe vnto Cadmus the kyng of Thebis / whan she had gone from her husbande moued by ieolosy / she complayneth and soroweth in the tra­gedy of Euripides the poet / sayeng that moche resorte of women vnto her had vndone her / bycause [Page]she had gyuen lystenynge and credence vnto those sklanderars. Therfore if a woman purpose to forsake her husbande for his concubynes / or els for to braule sore with hym / let her call vnto remēbrance the wordes / that a certayne man spake ones / whā he chased a fugityue seruaunt that he had / and he ran in to the backe house: I am glad sayd he / to se the there as I wolde haue put the / and I hadde catched the: so let the wyfe thynke / that she coude do nothyng that shulde more please her husbādes concubyne / than if she ronne from her house and her husbande / or elles be at debate with hym. For than she will thynke to haue his fauour the more / whan she seeth his wyfe caste hit of with her fro­wardnes / besyde y^e speche of people / whiche thȳg is worse for a woman / than to suffre any kynde of payne with her husbande. We rede in storyes that yonge and newe maryed women / whan their husbandes many tymes for the loue of huntynge hath layne out al night / they haue suspected them with other women / and folowedde them in to the woddes and forestis / and there in the darke haue ben kylled with arrowes and torne with dogges / in the steade of wylde beastis / and suffered great payne for theyr curious ieolosy. But howe moche more curtesly and wisely dyd Tertia Emylia wyfe vnto Affricane the fyrste / whiche whan she sawe that her husbande had a fantasye vnto one of her maydes / dissembled the matter / leste she shulde seme to condempne of incontinēcy the vanquissher of the worlde / and the prince of her countrey / and [Page]also her selfe of impacience / that coude nat suffre a wronge of her husbande / whiche was the nobliste mā of the worlde in his tyme. But bycause no mā shulde thynke / that she kepte any grutche in her harte / she maried that same woman / that had ben her husbandes concubyne / vnto an honest man of her owne seruauntes / supposyng that if folkes de­parted out of this lyfe / haue any remembrance or felynge of worldly matters / that dede shulde be a great pleasure vnto her husbandes soule. This wyse woman knewe well inough that she was the wyfe & the lady of the house / whether so euer her husbande went. And if she shulde beare any grut­che that her husbande shulde lye with other wo­men that were but a fantasye of bodely pleasure / and nat of loue. Moreouer / if the wyfe shulde take displeasure with her husbande / she shulde but prouoke him the more: and if she suffre hym / she shal the soner reclame hym / and specially whā he doth perceyue and compare to gether her gentyll ma­ners and his concubynes vnreasonable pryde: for so Terence a peynter and declarer of the world is conditions wryteth in the comedye called Hecyra / that Panphilus was gotten frome Bacchis his concubyne / whom he loued so well / and brought a way his mynde vnto his wyfe / after that he had ones consydered and knowen well hym selfe / and Bacchis / and his wyfe / that was at home / este­mynge bothe theyr maners as they were in dede / howe his wyfe was as an honeste woman / ought to be / sober / demure / and shamfast: and howe she [Page]suffred all the harmes and wronges that her hus­bāde dyd vnto her / & kepte her displeasure in close: than his mynde by lyttel and litle ouer comen par­tly with pite / that he hadde on his wyfe / partlye with wrōges done by Bacchis / fell clene out from Bacchis and tourned all his loue vnto his wyfe / seyng she was of conditions accordynge to his appetite. Thus sayth Terence. Neyther I wyll let passe the dedes of that noble woman / whiche whā her husbande was taken with loue of an other mā nes wyfe / & she sawe hym go dayly vnto her with ieoperdye of his lyfe / bycause of the womans hus­bande and her bretherne / that laye styll in watche for hym / sayd vnto her husbande in this manere: Syr I se you can nat be gotten away from y^e loue of that womā / neither I wyll require that of you / I desyre you only / that you loue nat with so great ieoperdye of your lyfe: she sayth she wyll be cōtent to goo with you. Therfore brynge her home vnto pour owne castell / and I shal leaue her all this the moste goodlyest parte of the place / and go my selfe in to an other / & I promyse you of my fayth to en­treate her none other wyse / thā myn owne syster: if you fynde contrary / dryue me out of the house / and let her abyde. So in conclusyon she persuaded her husbande: and vpon a nyght he brought his concubyne in to his castel / sore tremblyng and fea­ryng her louers wyfe. But she receyued her moste gentelly and courteslye / and brought her in to her chambre / nor neuer called her but syster / and sente vnto ger twys aday / & commaūded she shulde be [Page]entreated more tēderly and dayntely thā her owne selfe / without any token of hate / either in worde or dede. Than sayde she vnto her husbande: Nowe may you vse your loue with lesse care & ieoperdye. So / the mā of an holle yere came nat at his wyfe / whiche was both fayrer and more noble of byrth / and honeste / and in all poyntes more goodly than his concubyne. What she thought in her mynde / only god knoweth: but as farre as men coude perceiue / she toke no displeasure with y^e matter at all / speciallye after she hadde rydde her husbande out of ieoperdye. Moche was she in the churche / and moche in prayer / and euery mā knewe wel inough her trouble / but no man knewe that euer she grut­ched or cōplayned. With in a yere / this man tour­ned his mynde holly vnto his wyfe / and beganne to hate his concubyne deadly / and at the laste put her away and set all his loue vpon his wyfe / in so moche / that euer after he sayd / that al his mynde / his lyfe / and his harte was in her / and nowe he saith he wyll nat lyue lōge after / if it shulde chaūce her to dye. I wyll nat name them / bicause they be both on lyue. These examples haue I brought of them that haue an euident cause of ieolosy. For as for them that be nat sure of any cause / and be vn­reasonable / and intollerable / and cause great vex­acion / both vnto their selfe and vnto their husban­des / for an offence / that they wotte nat whether it be so or nat / as many do / whiche either loue inor­dinatly / or folowe theyr owne fantasyes ouer mo­che / they take lyght suspeciousnes and feble conie­ctures / [Page]for great and euident argumentes. If her husbande bourde with a nother woman / lette nat the wyfe streight suspecte / that he loueth her. A great parte of this affection commeth of beleue / and ryseth ofter of opinion and suspection thā matter in dede. Therfore let nat the woman be taken with euery lyght suspection / whiche ought nat to be moued or agreued though she knewe any thȳg in dede.

Of raymentes. The .viii. Chap.

ALso arayment in lyke wyse as all other thynges oughte to be referred vnto the husbandes wyll / if he lyke symple arayment / let her be contēt to weare it. For if she desyre more goodly and costly / than it appereth that she trym­meth nat her selfe so moche for her husbādes eies as other mennes: whiche is no poynt of an honest woman. What shulde a woman do with golde or syluer / that is a Christen woman / and also whose husbande delyteth nat there in? Thou woman / wylte thou nat apply thy selfe vnto Christis aray­ment at thy husbandes byddynges? whiche ough­test / if he wolde haue it so / to weare the deuylles habyte. Saynt Ambrose speaketh of payntynge in this maner. Here of sayth he / cometh those in­flamynges of vices / to paynte theyr faces with coloures / lest men shulde myslyke them and with the adultery of theyr face they go about adultery of theyr bodye. What a madnes is hit to chaunge [Page]the naturall Ymage / and take a picture / and whi­les they feare theyr husbandes iugement to vtter theyr owne? For she gyueth fyrst iugement of her selfe / that wolde be other wyse thā she was borne: and so while she gothe aboute to be lyked of other / fyrst of all she dislyketh her selfe. Saynt Ambrose in these wordes sheweth what his minde is / if the husbande haue nat speciallye commaunded his wyfe to do so. Neyther anye wyse man wyll com­maunde it. But if he do cōmaūde / or if she knowe that hit be his wyll / than for his mynde and plea­sure let her do this. But than shall she say as saint Hester sayde / whan she was apparelled and tyred with all y^e deuylles pompe. Thou knoweste good lorde (said she) my necessite / & that I abhore this fygne of pride and of myne honoure vpon my hed on the dayes of my pompe / and I course hit as a cloute defyled with blode / neither vse to weare hit on suche dayes as I maye be at rest. Therfore if a woman be at her lybertie to weare what apparell she lyste / lette her remembre that there is no cause greatly desyred wherefore she ought to desyre to be proudely and goodly apparelled / seyng she is ma­ried and hath catched all redy that / whiche other saythe they / hunte for with suche nettes. Saynt Eypryan the martyr byddeth maryed womē take hede / that they do nat flater and excuse their owne fantasyes / and lykynges in themselfe with theyr husbandes / lest whan they lay theyr husbandes for theyr excuse / they take them for fellowes and accessaries of their vice. I haue shewed myne opi­nion [Page]afore alredy / as concernyng apparell: nowe hit is beste to gyue an eare vnto saynt Peter and Paule / whiche bad a christē wyfe weare symple a­raymēt / & be more goodly in holynes of lyuynge / than golde or precious stones. And indede an ho­nest woman hath other more goodly atyremētes / whiche as the wise man Xistus sayth / standeth in chast demeanoure and honest bryngyng vp of her children / as Cornelia Gracchus wyfe was wonte to say: and also in her husbandes honour / or wor­ship. The wyfe of Philo the wyfe man / whan she wente forth vpon a tyme without a goldē garlāde on her hed / and other noble womē dyd weare / one asked her why she had none: she āswered agayne / the husbandes honore and vertue is ornament i­nough vnto the wyfe. Who dyd nat more regarde the wyfe of Cato / whiche was no very riche man / than all the wyues of a great meany of Publicā ­nes / whiche flowed in goodes▪ Also hit was more honore for Xantippe to be wyfe vnto poure Socra­tes / than either vnto Scopa / or any other ryche man in those dayes. Democrates sayth / that the ornament of a woman is small apparell and lytle spech / and she is the mooste honorable that hath the best husbande: nat withstandyng / as I wold haue a myfe to vse no precious apparell lykewyse no more do I alowe fylthy and slobery arayment. Also some thyng must be done for the tyme / place / and common custome / but nat excedyng / but rather moche lesse than they receiue. Aristotle in his bo­kes of house kepȳg wolde haue a womā to vse lesse [Page]raymēt & apparel thā y^e lawes & customes of y^e cite do apoynt. For she ought to cōsyder (sayth he that neither goodly clothyng / nor excellent beautie / nor abundance of golde / shall cause a woman so great worship / as shall sobernes in all thyng / and studye to lyue chast and honestly. Therfore ought she ra­ther to regarde reason / vertue / and holynes / than vayne iugementes and erronious customes / whi­che haue ben brought vp by some vngratious fol­kes / and accepted and confermed by the corrupte and folishe fantasyes of the comon people. Wher­fore some good and vertuous wyues oughte with one asset to resiste and go agaynst suche customes / and by sklender and symple aparell do them selfe that is couenient / and shewe example vnto other what way they ought to take: and hit shulde be a greatt preyse for them to put away an yl custome / than folowe it. Nor there is no dispayre / but some may brȳge downe y^t agayne / which was brought vp by some. For the cōcent and agrement of good women shulde preuayle as moche in goodnes / as the concent of yll women hath preualed in nough­tynes if they wolde ones begynne to stryue to ge­ther / who shulde passe other in honesty / measure and chastite / and reken it a worship to get the vic­tory in these thynges / and nat in the bostyng of ri­ches: whiche thynge doth sone induce lyght myn­des in to great enuie / and stryfe / but fewe doth en­uie that ā other shulde be more vertuous thā she / or more pacient / or lowe her husbande better / but many do enuie / if another shulde haue more ap­parell / [Page]chaynes / broches / ouches / or rynges / than she. O proude and folysshe beastis / euen created vnto vanite and pompe / here vpon ryseth stryfe and procedeth for the with suche feruent myndes / as Cato sayth very wysely in the story of Liuius / that the ryche women wolde haue that / whiche none other shulde be able to come by. And on the other syde / the poure women / lest they shulde be di­spised & nought set by / by y^t meanes they streyne them selfe aboue theyr power. And so whan they be ashamed of that / that they shulde nat / and no­thyng ashamed of that / they shulde be / they robbe both their husbandes and their children / to clothe them selfe with / and leaue hungre and pouerte at home / that they may go forth them selfe ladē with sylke and golde. Wherfore they compell theyr hus­bandes vnto shamfull craftes to get by / and mys­cheuous dedes / with theyr whynyng & gronyng / leste theyr kynse women / alyance / or theyr neigh­boure shulde seme rycher or more gloriously appa­relled than they. And yet al these outragious and intollerable thynges moughte be suffered / if they dyd nat sell away their chastite to get ther by that theyr husbandes either wyll nat gyue them / orels for lacke can nat gyue. Some remedye shulde be founde for these euilles / either by the concente and agrement of rychemennes wynes / whiche with theyr example shulde reuoke other agayne vnto better mynde orels some lawe wolde be made / su­che as y^t lawe was in Rome called Oppius lawe / to [...]rȳ [...]e and measure womens costelynes. These [Page]Christen preachers / shulde folowe the example of the pagane Pythagoras / or rather passe hym in suche a goodly stryfe / of whom the cronicler Iusty ne wryteth in this maner: Pythagoras taught women chastite and obedyence vnto their husbā ­des / and often dyd tell them / that the mother of vertues was sobre diet & harde fare: & he brought to passe with continuall disputyng and preachyng vnto them / that the wyues layde awaye golden and garnisshed clothes / and other ornamentes of theyr state / and refused them as instrumentes of ryote and superfluyte. For he affyrmed that the true garnysshyng and ornamentes of wyues was chastite / and nat clothynge.

Of walkyng abrode. The .ix. Chap.

HIt is becommyng for maried wo­men to go lesse abrode thā maides / bycause they haue y^t whiche y^e maides shulde seme to seke. Therfore lette them caste all theyr mynde to kepe well hym that they haue gotten / & study to please hym onely: The maker of the lawes of the Lace­demonians bad that the wyues / whan they went for the abrode / shulde couer their faces / bycause it was nat conuenient for them / either to loke on o­ther men / or to be loked vpon of other menne / se­ynge they haue at home alredye / whom all onely they ought to loke vpon / and beloked vpō withall. Whiche custome the people of Perse lande / and all thest quarter of the worlde / with most parte of the [Page]grekes did vse. But I wold nat they shuld wrape theyr hed / as nowe adayes the custome is to do in many coūtres of Europe / that is to go vnknowē / and vnsene of other folkes / but them selfe bothe to se and to knowe other. In the whiche doynge / I wondre nat so moche of the womans delyte / delite quod he? Nay I wolde say the thicke shamlesnes vnder that thyne couer / as I do theyr husbandes folysshenes / that do nat se howe great an occasyon of viciousnes it is. They wyll do no harme I wis say they: well / I wold they had neuer done. And though they wolde do none / yet it is nat good to o­pen suche a wyndowe of libertie. Therfore let the womens faces be bare of clothes / but closed and couered with shamfastnes. For that couerȳg was nat so moche ordened to couer the woman / that no man shulde se her / as it was / that she shulde se no man. Fauna wyfe vnto Faunus / kynge of Tha­borigines / lyued many yeres / and yet dyd neuer man se her / but Faunus hym selfe. Therfore after her dethe / she was worshipped for a goddes / and named the good goddes / and her sacrifice was so kepte / that no man mought laufully come to hit / neither any ymage of male beast be ther / while it was a doyng. Nor I say nat this bycause I wold haue women contynually shette vp and kepte in / but bicause I wold haue them go seldome abrode / and belytle amonge men / whiche thing they shall best content their husbandes withall. what plea­sure thynke you hit was vnto kynge Tygranes / whiche whan he had byd Cirus kynge of Perse [Page]vnto a banket / and after the banket was done / moche coīcasion there was of the comely person & fayrnes of Cirus / thā Tygranes asked his wyfe / what she thought by Cyrus? Verily sayd she / I can nat tell: for so god loue me / all the bāket while / I neuer loked at any man / but you. A vertuous wyfe wyll neyther gladlye here other men / nor of them / nor dispute of any mānes person. For what hath she a do with other mennes fayrnes / whiche ought to counte all in lyke fayre and foule / sauyng her husbande. Let her thynke hym fayrer than a­ny other / more proper than any other: lyke as the mother dothe her only childe. In the Canticles of the Byble / the spouse thynketh his spouse fayrest of all women: and agayne / she thynketh hym the fayrest of all mē. Lyke wise Duellius had a great fauour vnto his wyues symplicite / I wyll tell hit in saynt Hieronymes wordes. Duellius sayth he / whiche had the fyrste tryumphe at Rome for bat / tayle on the see / maryed a goodly maide called Bi­lia / whiche was so vertuous and chaste / that she was example vnto all other in that same worlde: whan it was nat only a vice / but also a wonder to se a woman nought. So vpon a tyme this Duelli­us / whā he was aged and weake and tremblyng / chaunsed to fall out and chide with another man / in whiche wordes that other man rebuked hym of his stynkyng brethe: so he wente home displeased there with / and ther blamed his wyfe / bicause she neuer had tolde hym / that he might a foūde some remedy for hit: I wolde haue tolde you sayde she / [Page]but that I wente euery mannes brethe had smel­led so. This noble and chaste woman was to be praysed: for bothe whether she dyd nat knowe the faute of her husbande / or suffred it patiently / and bicause her husbāde dyd soner lerne his faute and hurte of his body by his ennemyes ill wordes thā his wyues lothyng. The same thynges men say / chaūsed vnto Hiero kynge of Stracuse. But those women can nat say so / that kysse many men afore they haue husbandes / and many whā they haue husbādes. what demurenes I wolde haue kepte abrode / it may be perceyued well inough / by that whiche I wolde haue kepte at home in her cham­ber / with her husbande by nyght. wherto shulde I speke of that rude and vncumly maner / whiche is vsed in many countres / that men and their wy­ues shall wasshe both to gether in one bane? This custome is nat ones to be named: for hit is rather beastlye than mete for any reasonable folkes. I wolde haue a woman to here but fewe wordes / namely where men talke / and speake lesse. And if she thynke she shall here or se any vnclenlye thynge / cōuey her selfe away quickly. Kyng Hiero / whom I spake of here before / condēpned y^e poet Epichar­mus in a great some of money / bycause he had re­hersed an vnclenly matter in the quenes presence. Augustus Cesar gaue a commaundement / that no woman shulde come and se wrastelers / bycause they were wonte to wrastell naked. Nor it was no wōder that he dyd so. For this Cesar was he that made y^e lawes of chastite and adultery. Therfore [Page]I wolde nat haue a woman to speke / excepte it be a thynge that shulde do hurte to be kepte in. Nei­ther here / or at least wyse gyue no hede vnto suche matters / as ptayne nat to thēcreasyng of vertue. The poet Iuuenall rebuketh suche women as be wyse / what the people of Seres and Thrace do. and what sturrynge is all the worlde ouer. Also Cato in his oration / that he made of womē / wolde an honest wyfe shulde be ignorant / what lawes be made or anulled in her countrey / or what is done amonge men of lawe in the courte. And here vpō rose this comen sayenge of the Grekes: womens workes ought to be webbes of cloche / and nat elo­quent orations. And Aristotle sayth / it is lesse re­buke for a man to be busye to knowe what is done in his kytchyn / than for the woman what is done without her house. Therfore he byddeth / that she shall neither speke nor here at all of any matters of the realme. Seneke writeth / that his aunt for six­tene yere to gether / while her husbande was pre­sidēt in Egypt / was neuer sene forth of her house / nor neuer resceyued into her house any of that coū ­trey: nor neuer asked any thyng of her husbāde / nor suffered any thynge to be asked of her selfe. Therfore sayth he / that same countrey / whiche is very bablyng / and wyly to fynde faute with theyr rulers / in the whiche many a mā hath ruled with out faute / howe be it nat without an yll name / yet they gaue reuerēce vnto her / as a special example of holynes / & kept in al their raylyng wordes / whi­che is harde for hym to do / that hath a pleasure in [Page]ieoperdus conseytes. And yet vnto this day they wyshe for suche a nother as she: though they haue no hope to get her. It had ben a great thyng / if y^e coūtrey had lyked her but .xvj. dayes / but it was a greatter thyng / that they knewe her nat. These be Senekes wordes. For y^t holy and wyse womā vnderstode well inough / that ofte accompanyeng with men shulde hynder some of her good name: as hit doth no good to fyne clothe to be handled of many. Ther be some womē that beare them selfe high of other folkes honore / as of theyr husbādes brother / kynsmā / and some of a frēde / with whom they haue very small acquantance. What a foly is this to handle thy selfe so / y^t a nother shall be made good and worthy honoure / for his owne vertue / and thou made nought and vnworthy honoure / with a nother bodies vertue? And many there be / that so abuse theyr kynsmennes power / that they make both them selfe / and them that haue the po­wer hated by the meanes: as the wyfe of the bro­ther of Vitellius the emperour / whiche toke more vpon her / bicause of her brother in lawes principa­lite / thā themperours wyfe her selfe dyd. The he­dy domination of y^e sisters of Hiero Kyng of Sira­cuse / moued the people vnto insurrection: where with bothe the kynge and all his children were di­stroyed. There was also in our dayes a certayne noble man / that had a wonderous proude wyfe / and hit chaunsed hym to be tourned out of all his goodes and possessions at ones / whom euery man thought was well serued / bycause the womā vsed [Page]her selfe so proude and arrogantlye vpon her hus­bandes power. Therfore you women that wyll medle with comon matters of realmes and cites / and wene to gouerne people and nations with the braydes of your stomackes / you go about to hurle downe townes afore you & you light vpō an harde rocke: where vpon though you brouse and shake countres very sore / yet they scape & you perysshe. For you knowe neyther measure nor order: and yet whiche is the worst poynt of all / you wene you knowe veray well / and wyll be ruled in nothynge after them that be experte. But you attempte to drawe all thynge after your fantasye without di­scretion. Wene you it was for nothynge / that wyse men for bad you rule and gouernance of coūtreis: and that saynt Paule byddeth you shall nat speke in congregatyon and gatherynge of people? All this same meaneth / that you shall nat medle with matters of realmes or cities / your owne house is a cite great inoughe for you: as for forthe abrode / neither knowe you / nor be you knowen. Thucydi­des wolde nat that a good womā shulde be as mo­che as praysed with the comen voyce: and moche lesse dispraysed. But he wolde she shulde be clerely vnknowen / neither the comon fame to make any mētiō of her. It is no great sygne of honesty for a womā to be moche knowen / talked / and sōge of: and to be marked by some speciall name in many mennes mouthes: as to be called fayre / or coclede yed / skwynt / browne / halte / fatte / pale or leane. For these thynges in a good woman oughte to be [Page]vnknowen abrode / as we haue shewed in the boke afore. Nat withstandyng ther be some that must nedes be a brode / for theyr lyuynge / as those that by & sell: whiche / if it were possible / I wolde nat that women shulde be put to those busynesses: and if it muste nedes be so / let olde women do them / or maryed women that be paste myddle age. But if yonge women must nedes do this / let them be curteise without flatterynge wordes / and shamfaste without presumsion / and rather take losse in theyr marchaundise / than in theyr honestye. I say this bycause of some / whiche do entyse byers to them with excedyng flatteryng wordes. But Plautus saithe / it is no poynt mete for an honest wyfe / but for a harlotte / to flatter other men: whose dissay­tes with in a whyle whan men knowe them / they escheme as warelye as the meremaydes songe. Shamfastnes shall gette a great deale more gay­nes / whom the byer shall coniecture bothe by the face and conditions / wyll neither lye nor disceyue them. A ryche marchaunte hath pleasure in plea­sant wordes and merye conceytes: But yet fewe wyll gyue money for them: and whan it cometh to the marchaundise in ernest / no man wyll beleue suche wanton speche. But howe so euer these matters be / let a woman euer haue this in mynde and remembrance / that the only treasure of a woman is honestye with shamefastnes. Nowe seynge I wolde haue an honeste wyfe thus ordred at home / you maye easily perceyue / howe I do alowe / that she shulde go to warre and hādle armour / whiche [Page]I wolde nat she shulde ones name. And wolde to god all christen men wolde lay them away. Nowe that wydowe Iudith is vanisshed away / whiche was but a shadowe and signyfication of thynges to come / and with her contynence and holynes cut of the hed of Holopherne / that is to say the deuyll. Nowe Delbōra / that iudged Israel / gyueth place vnto the gospell of Christe: howe be it she dyd nat helpe the people of god fyghtyng / so moche by coū saile and feates of warre / as by fastyng / prayeng / and prophecieng: of the whiche .ij. women saynt Ambrose / after that he had intreated in the boke of wydowes / tourned his speche vnto christen wo­men / sayeng: The churche ouercometh nat theyr aduersaries power by secular armour / but with spirituall armour: whiche be strong inough afore god to distroy the fences and the heghtes of spiri­tuall noughtynes. The armour of the churche is faythe / the armour of the churche is prayer / whi­che ouercommeth the aduersary. A womā ought nat to shewe for the abrode any sygne of presump­tion / disdayne / or dayntye stomacke / neyther by wordes / countenaunce / nor pace: but all shall be symple / and ryght for the / demure / sobre / and tem­pered / and spiced with shamfastnes. And bycause the lyght myndes of some wyll be lyghtly sterred with neuer so lytle a blaste of honore / it is necessa­rye to gyue them warnyng / to be more sad & wyse / than to be mouedde with so lytle a wynde / or to be ignorant / howe folisshe and howe lytle worth that thyng is / whiche we calle honoure. What matter [Page]maketh hit / whether thou be called Cornelia / or maysters Cornelia? O tender harte / that wyll be sturred with one sounde of a worde. Thou foole / dost nat thou se / that thou arte no maistres for cal­lynge so? Howe do they that calle women quenes and Empressis / do they make them so / bycause they calle them? The angell Gabriell called his quene and lady but Mary by her name / and thou disdayneste to be called by the name of one better than thy selfe. what an ignorance arte thou in of that thyng / whiche thou desyrest? For men vse to calle that woman theyr lady or maystres / that is theyr paramour. For she in dede is a mannes la­dye and tyrante ouer hym / vnto whom he serueth humbly and subiectly. Moreouer what force is it / whether thou syt or walke fyrste or laste? In some countres / the fyrste hath the preeminence / in some countres the laste / and in some the myddel. wher­fore this thynge is but made by menues opinion / and nat by nature. Therfore if thou wylte do af­ter opinion / and content it / whan so euer thou arte the formooste / thynke thy selfe in that countrey / where the formoste be preferred. whan thou arte in the myddle / thynke thy selfe there where the mydle hath the honour. And whan thou arte the last / suppose thou arte amonge them that mooste esteme the laste. And so where so euer thou arte / thou shalte thynke thy selfe well regarded. And a­gayne on the other syde / lest thou shuldest waxe to haute with thyne honour / whan thou arte in the moste honorable rowme / suppose thy selfe to be a­monge [Page]that people / where that place is the lowest. Nowe as for goynge out of the way / for reuerence to gyue an other rowme / that is nothynge but as the more myghty shulde suffre the weaker / or the holle fauour y^e lame / or the lusty and well lykyng / the weake and sicke / or the empty the laden / or the smyste the sloo. And wenest thou ther is any other cause / why mē speke so gentilly vnto women / and set so moche by them / and speke them so fayre / and haue them in suche reuerence / but bycause that lusty and strong nature doth handle dayntly that other / whiche is weake and feble / where in neuer so lytle an offence wolde soone entre / and be deape imprinted / lyke as thynne and britlell glasses will catche harme lightly? Therfore you get no honore by your owne merites / but of other folkes curte­sie: nor you be nat honored bycause you deserue it / but bycause you sore desyre hit. For whan men se you be so gredy and desyrous to haue honour / and that suche a smalle thynge deliteth you so moche / men be contente to do you that pleasure / and calle you maystresses / and laugh vpon you / and speke gentilly to you. For wordes be no great coste / they gyue you y^e way / bycause it is no great let of theyr iourney / & in the meane season yet they reste themselfe. They set you the highest / for they can syt wel inough bynethe yo: they gyue you the better ap­poynted parte of the house / fyne clothes / golde / sil­uer / precious stones / so do they to theyr children / bycause they shall nat wepe. For they teken you no wyser than chyldren: nor no more you be / as [Page]longe as you be moued with suche childisshe thyn­ges. And to be shorte / they lette you haue suche thynges / as they se displease you so moche / if you lacke them. And hit is an honour and a prayse for the men / bicause they set naught by these thȳges: but bycause they knowe you be of suche appetite / no man rekeneth you the more honorable / bicause you be honored of the men / but rather rekeneneth them curtese and gentyll / whiche do gyue honour vnto them / that they knowe be so lothe to lacke it. I am a man my selfe: nat withstandyng / seyng I haue taken vpō me to teache you / euē for a father­ly zele and charite that I bere towarde you / I wil neither hyde nor dissemble any thyng / that I shal thynke dothe pertayne vnto your instruction and lernyng. Therfore will I open vnto you euen our serretes. Therfore I wolde ye shulde vnderstāde / that we do but laugh at you and mocke you / with that vayne coloure of honour / and the more desy­rous that ye be of honour / y^e more we mocke you / and talke of you in dirision / & gyue vnto you abū ­dantly that pettisshenes / whiche you call honour. But we gyue hit nat for nought. For you gyue a­gayne vnto vs no lyttle sporte and delectatiō with the folysshenes of your opinions and fantasyes. Truely you vnderstāde nat / wher in very honour dothe stande. It is becomyng to deserue honour / but nat to couete hit. For hit shulde folowe and en­sue / & nat be hūted fore. Nowe it shalbe a signe vn­to you / that you deserue honour / whan you be nat agreued to be vnregarded. And that same thynge [Page]that we call honour / is of so frowarde nature and disposiciō / that as philosophers write / a Crocodi­le doth so / hit foloweth them that flee / and fleeth from them that folowe hit: and is sharpe to them that be gentyll to it / and gentyl vnto them that be sharpe vnto hit. Socrates sayth / there is no way more redy vnto honour / than by vertue: the whi­che alonly seketh for none honour / & yet fyndeth it. Saluste writeth / that Cato Vticensis had leauer be good than seme good. Therfore saythe he / the lesse that he sought for honoure / y^e more it pursued vpon hym. Therfore the moste sure way vnto ve­ry honour is vertue / whiche neither can lacke ho­nour / nor taketh indignatiō though it be dispised. Flatterynges / glosynges / & fayre wordes / what woman so euer rekeneth them honour and preyse / is worthy for her folly to haue none other honoure or prayse. And yet there be some so madde / that thoughe they knowe them selfe but flattered / yet they wene they be praysed. What you wretches / knowe you nat howe farre flattery differeth from prayse? Wene you that is prayse / whiche neither the person speketh with his harte / and you knowe to / that it is false that he sayth: and that he spea­keth nat as he thynketh: but either to mocke you / or to disceyue you with all? Beleue no man of your owne goodnes better than your selfe. And she that sercheth and knoweth her selfe well / fyndethe no­thyng in her selfe at al / that is worthy any prayse: But a mynde / whiche thynketh it selfe vnworthy any prayse. If there be any goodnes / it cometh of [Page]god: and thanke hym therfore / gyue hym laudes and thanke. But if there be any euyll / it cometh of our owne vnhappynes. Wherfore the rebuke stā ­deth vnto our selfe / and the prayse perteyneth vn­to a nother. Nowe seynge that worldly honour is of so smal price / it is a poynt of a vile mynde / to enuie worldly thynges vnto any other bodye. And if it be shame to enuie for honour / it is moche more shame to haue enuye at other for money / clothyn­ges / or possessions / for yet is honour better than all they. Neither it is conuenient to haue enuie at other for theyr beautie / or theyr welfare / or plen­tuous temyng: these be the gyftes of god / as al o­ther goodnes be / that folkes haue. Wherfore they that enuie for these / seme nat to haue ēuie at them / that haue these thȳges / but to blame god / whiche so distributeth his benyfytes. And me thynketh there is no more cause why / they shulde be enuied / that haue these / than they that carye bagage on a longe iourney. For what other thynges be the goodes of this worlde / but a troublesome caryage and gardeuyaunce in this lyfe. Yea and worste of all / they plucke downe with their weight vnto the erthe / myndes that be goynge towarde heuen. But if enuye be eschewed / thā shall that vice lightly be put away / whiche comonly ryseth of enuye / that is sute / chydynge / scoldynge / and makynge them selfe busye aboute other folkes matters / to spie and serche what they do / what they say / howe & by what meanes they lyue. Whiche thyng none honest woman will do / but suche as be shamelesse / [Page]and worthye all kynde of rebuke: excepte they do hit of charite / to helpe them & they lacke. For she ought to helpe the poure man / and socoure the or­phane childe. Happy is she / if that be her mynde: of whom the prophet speketh ī the psalme of this wyse: Blessed is he / that taketh vnderstandynge and knowlege vpon a poure man: god shall dely­uer hym in the euyll day: our lorde shall saue hym and quickene hym / and make hym happye vpon erthe: and shall nat cōmitte hym to his ennemies wyll. Our lorde shall socoure hym vpon the bed of his sorowe: good lorde thou hast serched vp all his bed in the tyme of his infermite.

What the Wyfe ought to do at home. The .x. Chaptre.

IF the Wyfe haue skylle to rule an house with those .ii. propreties / y^e we spake of before / that is honesty of bodye / and great loue towarde her husbande / than shall all the mariage be more welthye and fortunate: for without this thyrde poynt / can be no encrease of house: & with­out the other two / wedlocke can nat stande: but it is rather a sore and a perpetuall tourment. A wo­man of Lacedemon / takē ones prysoner in warre / and asked of her conquerer what she coulde do: I can said she / rule an house. Aristotle sayth / that in house kepynge / the mannes duetie is to get / and the womans to kepe. Wherfore nature semeth to haue made them fearefull for the same purpose / [Page]lest they shulde be wasters / and hath gyuen them continual thought and care for lackyng. For if the woman be ouer free / the man shall neuer gette so moche as she wyll waste in shorte tyme: & so their house muste nedes sone decaye. Hit is nat becom­mynge for an honeste wyfe to be a great spender. Nor they be lyghtly no great sparers of theyr ho­nesty / that be so large of theyr money / as Salust saythe by Sempronia / whiche set more price by any other thynge / than she dyd by her worship or her money. For a man coulde nat well perceyue / whether she regarded lesse her money or her good name. Howe be it / I wolde nat haue the woman to be to great a nygarde of her goodes / or to let her husbande to distribute his money vnto holy vse. In so moche that what penye someuer cometh o­nes with in her coffer / shulde neuer fynde way out agayne: as though it were locked in Labyrynth / or Dankes toure: as many women do / whiche haue no discression / howe they shulde saue & kepe a thynge. Therfore the Essens wolde take no womē with them vnto that holy and religious lyfe / whi­the they ledde: bycause the womē coude nat away with that cōmonalte of goodes. For what so euer a woman seeth ones in her hādes / she can nat suf­fre it to go away agayne. Therfore let her vse her householde to sobrenes and measure. For that is more the womans duetye than the mannes. But so yet / that she haue discression betwent measure and auaryce / and sobernes and nygardeshyppe. For it is nat all one to lyue soberly / and be hungre. [Page]Therfore let her se that her house holde lacke nat neyther meate nor clothe. In whiche poynte / I wolde she shulde here Aristotles opinion. Ther be sayth he .iii. thynges / worke / meate / and correcti­on: meate without correction and worke, maketh them proude and wanton: and worke and correction without meate / is a cruell entreatyng / and maketh the seruantes weake and feble. Therfore let the wyfe gyue her seruauntes / worke to do / and sufficient meate / as is a seruauntes duetie. But let her ordre all thynge after her husbandes wyll and commaundement: or at the least in suche wise as she thynketh that her husbande wyl be cōtent: neither be rough and harde with her meyny / but gentyll and fauorable: and as saynt Hieronyme saythe / more lyke a mother than a maystres: and rather optayne reuerence of them with mekenes / than rygorousnes. Where vnto she maye shortely come by the wayes of vertue. For as for chidyng / braulyng / rayllyng / scoldyng / and fyghting / doth neither cause auctorite nor reuerence / but rather hyndreth them. But wysedome / discretion / sadde conditions / and grauite of wordes and sentences / bryngeth all thyng better to passe / than hedynes and violence. For we feare more them that be wise and discrete / than them that be angry and hasty. And a quiete rule maye do more than rygorous. For quietnes is of more auctorite than hasty bre­emnes. Howe be hit I wolde nat wyues shulde be sluggyshe and slouthfull / but I counsaile them to vse reuerent grauite / and neyther sytte so styll as [Page]though they slepte / nor comaunde so folisshely / to make them selfe naughte set by / but to wake and take hede / & be sad without crueltie / sharpe with­out bytternes / diligent without rigorousnes. Netther hate none of theyr householde / if hit be nat a noughty person. And if a seruaūt haue done lōge seruise in her house / lette her take hym none other wyse than as her brother / or her sonne. We loue cattes and dogges / that haue bene norysshed any while in our houses: than howe moche more faith fully ought we to shewe that fauour vnto our euē christen. Also seruauntes agayne on theyr partie muste be warned / to remembre the sayeng of saint Paule / that they do their dutie diligently / meke­ly / and buxomly / yea and merily to / and pleasātly: nor bable / nor murmoure agayne: neither shewe any displeasant countenaunce / leste they lese the thanke of theyr labour / bothe afore god and man. Also kepe theyr handes pure from pyckynge and stealynge. In the whiche poynt all wylde beastis be more kynde than many folkes. For what wilde beaste is so outragious / that wil plucke away any thyng of his profet / by whom he hath be nouris­shed and brought vp: and quite hym with suche a tourne / of whom he hath had so many pleasures. Howe be it no body doth so / but they that be of vile stomackes / and euen worthy to be bondes. Ther­fore seruyng maydes shall loue and worship theyr maisters and maystresses / none other wyse / than thoughe they were theyr fathers and mothers. For the nouryssher and brynger vp is as a father. [Page]Let the seruynge maydes neyther say nor do any thyng / whereof the good wyfe of the house or her doughters may take any example of yll. For ma­ny tymes gyuynge yll example is worse than the dede hit selfe. But nowe to speake of the wyues a­gayne. Obedience and seruice optayned by fayre meanes / is more faithfull and pleasant / than that whiche is gotten with feare. For I wolde all feare shulde be away / but nat obedience. Let nat y^e mai­stres be ouer pleasant of speche to her men seruan­tes / neither compenable and mery / nor vse moche cōuersacion with them / nor bolde none of them to play and dalye with her. I wolde they shulde loue her / but yet nat loue her so moche as obey her. If she wolde nat be fearedde of them as a maystres / yet cause them to reuerence her as a mother. For seruantes couet moche theyr libertie: and if a lyt­tel be gyuen them / they will take more. I will nat byd the man so straytly to be ware / that he make nat his seruantes ouer homelye with hym / as I wyll the woman / whiche I wolde shulde nat be moche conuersante amonge her seruauntes / nor medle moche with them / neither rebuke and cor­recte the mē / but leaue that for her husbāde to do. Let her be all to gether amonge her maydes / whiche I wolde shulde be of honeste demeanour / and chaste of body / where vnto y^e maistres shall helpe moche with her example: and also with teachyng and shewyng / and diligent ouer lokynge / that no­thyng be preuye vnto her howe her maydes lyue. Let her laye remedies agaynst vice / as hit were [Page]preserues agaynst sickenes. If she spie or suspecte any that do nat ordre them selfe well / nor can nat remedy it by chydyng or correction / put her out of her house / for y^e poyson wyll sone infecte all that is nigh about it. And the suspecious people thȳketh y^e maydes lyke theyr maystresses. Howe ofte saith saynt Hieronyme / that the maystresses be iudged and knowen by the maydens? In so moche that there is a prouerbe amōge the grekes / that whel­pes haue theyr maistresses cōditions. The yonge men in Terence coniecture the maystresses honest lyuyng / by y^e maydes course & neglygēt apparell. The poet Homer maketh mention / y^t wise Vlisses after he came home / kylled the seruynge maydes that hadde lyen with the wowers / bycause they both shamed and rebuked his house / & were thoc­casions of ieoperdye vnto the chastite of his wyfe Penelope: but she her selfe dyd kepe her occupied with those craftes that I spake of in y^e fyrst boke / and kepte her seruauntes at theyr worke: and so dyd chaste Lucrece / whom y^e kynges sonnes foūde watchyng and workynge vpon wolle amonge her maydes / whiche thynge a wyfe shall do more dili­gently and busyly / if any parte of the fyndyng of her house be gotten there by. Solomon where he prayseth an holy woman / saythe: She fought for wolle and flexe / and wrought by the counsayle of her handes. Theano Metapontina / whan one as­ked her / what wyfe was the beste / she answered with a verse of Homer in this maner:

By that diligence (saythe the wyse kynge) she is made lyke a marchandes shyppe / bryngynge her breade from farre countre. And lest he shulde seme to call her a sluggarde / he saythe moreouer: And she rose by nyght / and gaue prayse vnto her house holde / & vnto her maydes / nat only worke but also recreation of theyr labour and refection: whereof whan they haue had sufficiēt / she dealeth the reste in almose. She hath opened her hande saythe he / to the nedy / and raught her fȳgers vnto y^e poure. A holy woman ought nat to set her mynde so sore on gatherynge of goodes: but that she distribute vnto poure folkes / & helpe them that haue nede: nor that nygardelye / but largely: remembrynge that she gyueth hit for her owne aduantage: and shall receyue moche more & better rewarde / bothe in this worlde / and in an other. The wyse man sa­yeth: She shall nat care for her house / for feare of colde snowe: she shall nat feare / though she gyue a peny vnto a poure man / nat only nygardly / wryn­gynge it through her fyngers: but also with open hande largely: she shall nat feare: for by her dili­gence and occupyeng of woll / her house shall lacke nothynge / necessary for bothe wynter and somer: and all her householde shall be arayed in lyned clo­thyng. For there is nothing better in a house / thā to be well fed and clothed: nat for pleasure / but for theyr necessite: nor dilicatly / but profitably. Howe be it vertue is yll kepte / whiche is moued and inti­sed with cōtrary examples nygh about. Therfore [Page]let the wyfe her selfe fyrst of all / shewe example of sober fare: and so shall she make her seruaūtes the most easily to folowe the same: orels her seruaun­tes wyll thynke hit nat reason to require of them / that she wyll nat do her selfe. And so shall she euer haue them murmurynge and grutchynge to kepe her commaundement. Therfore let her kepe her selfe euer sober / nat so moche bicause of her seruaū tes / as for her owne sake. For what a filthy thȳge is drounkenes and glotony? The greattest assay­lers of chastite & shamfastnes / and enemyes of honest name. For euery man wyll abhorre a drounkē woman and a great glouttō / as an vnlucky signe. Euery man knoweth / that chastite standeth in ieoperdie amonge excesse of meates. I wolde y^e wyfe shulde be ignorāt of nothyng that is in her house / but loke vpō all thyng often tymes / that she maye haue them redye in memorie: leste whan she shall haue nede of them / either she shall nat knowe of them / orels haue moche trouble in sekȳg of them. Also consyder in what cōdition and state her house holde standeth: howe moche she may spēde: howe moche she maye kepe: howe she maye clothe: and howe she may fede. For the wyse man sayth: She hath consydered the wayes of her house. This di­ligence shall encrease moche her house holde store. I wolde she shulde be euer amonge her maydes: whether they be in her kychene dressing of meate / orels spynnynge / or weauyng / or sowyng / or brus­shyng. For whyle the maistres is by / all thynges shall be better done. And as the wyse men sayde / [Page]Nothȳng shall better fede an horse / or better tylle the grounde / than the mayster and the maysters to haue an eie to theyr householde store. There is nothing that kepeth an house louger or better thā dothe a diligent eie of the good wyfe. And whā she hath done this / let her be euer busy with her owne worke / neither eate her breade idell. And thā doth she obey god / whiche wold nat haue vs to eate our breadde without swete of our face. And than she fo­loweth the exāple & precepte of saynt Paule / whi­che dyd nat eate his breade idel amonge them / vn­to whom he shewed the mysteries of our lorde / but laboured and toyled daye and nyght / as moche as he hadde leysour from the minysteryng of goddes worde / and wroughte styll / bycause he wolde put no bodye to charge / often rehersynge and sayeng / that he was nat worthy to eate y^t refused laboure. The wyfe shall let no man come in to the house / excepte her husbande commaunde. Whiche thynge also Aristotle byddeth. And whan her husbande is forthe adores / than kepe her house moche more diligently shutte. And yet as Plautus sayth / it is conuenient for a good woman to be all one / both in her husbandes absence and presence. And bicause the busynes and charge with in the house lyeth v­pon the womans hande / I wold she shulde knowe medycines and salues for suche diseasis as be co­men / and rayne almost dayly: and haue those me­dicynes euer prepared redy in some closette / wher­with she maye helpe her husbande / her lytle chyl­dren / & her house holde meyny / whan any nedeth / [Page]that she nede nat ofte to sende for the phisition / or by all thyng of the potycaries. I wolde she shulde knowe remedies for suche diseasis as come often / as the cough / the murre / and gnawynges in the bealy / the laxe / costyfnes / the wormes / the heed ache / paynes in the eies / for the agewe / bones out of ioynt / and suche other thinges / as chaunce day­ly by lyght occasions. More ouer / let her lerne to knowe / what maner diet is good or badde / what meates is holsome to take / what to eschewe / and howe longe / and of what fassion. And this I wold she shulde lerne / rather of the experience and vse of sad and wyse women / than of the counsaile of any phisition / dwellynge nigh about: and haue them diligently writen in some lytle boke / and nat in the great volummes of phisycke. A vertuous wyfe / whan she hath ryd her householde charge and bu­synes / shall euery day ones / if she may / or at y^e least on the holy dayes / get her selfe in to some secreate corner of her house / out of companye: and there for a whyle / lay a part out of her mȳde all care and thought of her house: and ther with a quiet mȳde gatheryng her wyttes and remēbraūce vnto her / dispise these worldly thynges as tryffels / frayle / and vnsure: and that sone shall vanysshe awaye / and bicause the length of our lyfe is so shorte / and passeth so swiftely / that hit semeth nat to be led a­waye but plucked awaye / neyther to departe / but flye awaye. After this / let her lyfte vp her mynde vnto the studye and contemplatyon of heuenlye thynges / by some holy redynge: than confesse her [Page]synnes vnto almighty god / and desyre mekely per done and peace of hym: and pray fyrst for her selfe: and than / whan she is in more fauour with god / for her husbande: and than for her children: and after for all her house holde: that our lorde Iesus of his grace wolde inspire good mynde in to them. Saynt Paule / the messanger of almyghty god / where he informed and taught the churche of the Corinthyans / begynnyng sayth in this wyse: If any man haue a wyfe that is an infidell / if she be content to tarye with hym / let hym nat put her a­waye. And if any Christen woman haue an hus­bande an infidell / if he be cōtent to dwell with her / ler her nat go from hym. For the man / that is an infidell / shall be blessed by his faythfull wyfe: and the woman that is an infidell / shall be blessed by her faithfull husbande. For what canste thou tell woman / whether thou shalte be cause of thy hus­bandes saluation? Or what canste thou tell man / whether thou shalte be cause of thy wyues salua­tion? Whiche sayeng prayneth partely vnto pra­yer. For as saynt Iames sayth / the continual prayer of a good mā or a good womā may do moche: and parte vnto the example of lyuynge. Whiche thyng saynt Peter the apostle sheweth / where he saythe: Lyke wyse women / be you subgettes vn­to your husbandes / that they that will nat beleue the worde / maye be wonne without the worde / by their wyues conuersacion / whanne they consyder your demeanoure in holye feare. I haue redde of many Christen women / whiche by theyr meanes [Page]haue brought their husbandes vnto holy and vertuous lyuyng: as Domitia / whiche amended her husbande Flauius Clemens / kynse man vnto the emperoure Domitian: and Clotildis / wyfe vnto Clodouius the kynge of Fraunce: and Iuguldis / wyfe vnto Hermogillus the kyng of Gothia: and many other women moo / whiche haue broughte theyr husbandes to good order and vertue.

Of children and the charge and care about them. The .xi. Chap.

Fyrst of all if thou beare no children / take it with a pacient & a cōtēt mynde: & in maner reioyse / y^t thou lackest y^t incredible payne & busynes. There is no place here to declare / what mysery she must suffre / whyle she is great: what dolore and perell / whan she laboreth. More ouer / what werynes & care she hath in the nourisshyng and bryngyng vp of them / leste they shulde waxeyll / or any mysfortune by chaunce them: what cō tinual feare she hath / whyther they go: what they do / lest they do or take any harme. Verily I canne nat expresse y^e cause of this great desyre / that wo­men haue to beare children. Woldest thou be a mother? Wherto? That thou mayst replenysshe the worlde: as who say / the worlde coude nat be filled / excepte thou brynge forthe a lytell beaste or two: orelles that god coulde nat reyse chyldren vnto A­braham of these same stones. Be neuer carefull in [Page]the house of god / howe hit shall be fylled: he wyll prouide well inough for his house / that it shall nat be emptie. But parauenture thou feareste the re­buke of barēnes. Thou arte a Christen woman. Therfore vnderstande / that nowe this sayenge is past / Cursed be that woman in Israell that is ba­renne. Thou lyueste nowe vnder a lawe / where in thou seeste virginyte preferred aboue maryage: and herest the sayeng of thy lorde: wo be vnto women / that be great and beare chyldrē: and blessed be they / that be baren: blessed be the wombes that beare nat / and the breast is that gyue nat souke. Howe canst thou tell / whether god wyll haue the to be one of those happy and blessed womē? Howe moche more shamfully dyd the woman of Flaun­ders / whiche had be maried almost fyfty yere / and neuer had childe / and after that her husbāde was deed / maryed vnto another man / layeng only for her cause / to proue whether the faute was in her selfe or in her husbande / that she had no chyldren. Wherfore she was worthy to beare a chylde with great payne and werynes: and in her laboure to be delyuered of her chylde and her lyfe both / with extreme tourment. Howe be it I can nat tell / whether she had any other cause to marye agayne / at the least wyse she layde that / whiche semed moste honest in the cares of the folisshe people. Parauē ­ture thou woldest fayne se children comen of thyne owne body: shall they be of any other fassyon tro­west thou / than other chyldren be? and thou haste chyldren of the cite / and also all other Christē chyl­dren [Page]/ whom thou mayst beare motherly affection vnto. And thynke that they be all thyn. For so the lawe of mankynde doth exorte the / and our faithe commaūdeth. Wher to haue you so great a delyre of chyldren you women? For if the cares and so­rowes / that chyldren cause vnto theyr mothers / were paynted you in a table / there is none of you so gredy of children / but she wolde be as sore aferde of them as of deth: and she that hath any / wolde hate them lyke cruell wylde beast is / or venymous serpentes. What ioye / or what pleasure can be in children? Whyles they be yonge / there is nothing but tediousnes: and whan they be elder / perpetu­all feare / what wayes they wyl take: if they be il / euerlastyng sorowe: and if they be good / there is ꝑpetuall care / lest they shulde dye / or some harme bechaunce them: and lest they shulde go away / or be chan̄ged. What nede me to brynge in Ortauia / syster vnto Augustus / for an example? I wolde there were nat so many examples / as there be / of suche as haue be made of welthy & fortunate mo­thers myserable / and pyned away / and died for so­rowe. More ouer / if thou haue many / than haste thou greatter care / where the vnthriftynes of one shall wype away all the ioye that thou hast of the reste. And this I meane by the sonnes. Nowe to speake of the doughters / what a tourment of care is hit to kepe them? And in maryeng them / what payne shall she haue? besyde this / y^e fewe fathers and mothers seeth good chyldren of theyr owne. For very goodnes whiche is neuer without wyse­dome / [Page]cometh nat but in discreate age. Plato cal­leth hym happy / that may attayne in his last age vnto wysedome and good lyfe. But whan the chil­dren be of that age / fathers and mothers be tour­ned to douste. O vnkynde woman / that doste nat reknowledge howe great a benyfite thou haste had of god / that either neuer dyd beare children / orels loste them before the tyme of sorowe? Wherfore Euripides sayd full well:

Therfore thou that bearest nat / put nat y^e faute of thy barennes in thy husbande: for the faute is parauenture in thy selfe: whiche arte comdemp­ned to be baren / either by nature or by the wyll of god. And greattest philosophers agre in this opi­nyon / that women beare no children more longe of them selfe than of theyr husbandes. For nature neuer broughte forthe but very fewe baren men / and many women. And that vpon great consyde­ration / bicause there is more losse in the barennes of the man / than of the woman. For there cometh more increase in generation by the man / than by the woman. Wherfore woman / if the barennes be in the / thou dotest vngraciously in vayne: for ther shall neuer man get the with chylde. And so thou conceiuest many vngratious dedes in thy mynde: but thou shalte neuer conceyue any frute in thy wombe. And many tymes by the ryghtous pro­uision of god / vnknowen vnto vs / there commeth none issue in mariage. For lyke as hit is y^e gyfre of [Page]god / that good children be hade / so is it his gyfte / that any children be had at all. Therfore to seke a­ny other remedy than by prayer / is nat only super fluous / but also a cursed dede. Therfore aske chil­drē of god / & that good childrē. For if thou haue an ill chylde / hit were better beare a snake / or a wolfe. Therfore aske thou a chylde as Anna / wyfe vnto Helcane / dyd aske: Whiche by prayer / wepȳg / and holy lyuyng optayned a sonne / a prophet and iuge of Israell / called Samuell: lyke as the other An­ne / wyfe vnto Ioachim / whiche trustyng holly in god / bare Mary the quene of the worlde / vnto mā ­nes saluatiō. Also Elisabeth / wyfe vnto zacharie / whiche had ben baren / brought forth saint Iohn̄ / the messynger of our lorde: Whiche gatte many a childe vnto Christ: aboue y^e whiche saynt Iohan, there was neuer man borne of woman. Our lorde gaue Isaac the image of Christe / & y^e begynner of .ij. great nations of people / vnto Sara in her olde age: whiche was nat discontent with her barren­nes / in that tyme / whan barrennes was rekened a great shame. The angell of our lorde shewed vn­to the wyfe of Manna / a good and a chast womā / that Sampson shulde be borne of her / the iudge and delyuerer of Israell. Suche children do they optayne / that so aske. For they that be conceyued of synne and wickednes / can be naught elles / but vngratiousnes. The wordes of the angell vnto Sampsons mother be these. Thou art baren and without children: howe be it thou shalte conceyue & beare a sonne. Therfore se thou drynke neyther [Page]wyne nor ale / nor eate any vnpure thȳg. For thou shalte conceyue and beare a sonne / whose heed no razec shall touche: for he shalbe blessed of god from his babes age / & from the wombe of his mother: and shall begynne to delyuer Israell out of the hā ­des of the philystyns. These wordes put me in re­membraunce nowe / to gyue women with chylde warnyng / that so longe as they be great / they nei­ther eate so moche to take surfet of / nor drynke to be drounke with. For many chyldren haue after­wardes vsed y^e same thynges / that theyr mothers delited in / whā they were with chylde with them. Nowe for to declare / what diligence oughte to be gyuen to chyldren in the bryngynge vp of them / were to longe to be comprehended in this boke / if I shulde teache euery thȳg at large. Wherof ma­ny counnyng men / both of olde tyme & late / haue writē moche in bokes made purposely for y^e same matter. I wyll touche a fewe thȳges / y^e methȳke pertayne vnto the duetie of a wyse house wyfe.

Fyrste of all / let the mother reken her childrē to be all her treasure. There came vpon a tyme a great ryche woman vnto Rome / out of the countrey of Campanya / whiche was hosted and lodged with the noble womā Cornelia / wyfe of Gracchus: ther this ryche woman shewed out her great treasure vnto Cornelia / abundaunde of syluer and golde / ryche raymentes / and precious stones: Whiche whan Cornelia had preysed / than desired this wo­man of Campany / that she wolde do so moche a­gayne / as shewe her treasure: Cornelia answered / [Page]that she wolde do so at nyght. Nowe were her children gone to schole / and were nat yet comen home. So at nyght / whā the chyldren were comē home / she shewed them vnto this womā / and sayd: these be my chiefe treasure. Another tyme a certayne woman of Ionia / made great boste and shewe of glorious clothes / of great price and goodly worke / Cornelia sayd: this woman maketh great bost of her clothes / but my foure sonnes, indued with all kynde of vertue / be vnto me in steade of precious clothes / with costly worke / and all treasure. Ther­fore in kepyng of this treasure / and increasyng it / there is no labour to be refused. Loue shall make all labour lyght and easye. Wherfore she shall nou­risshe them with her owne mylke: and obey the cō maundement of nature / whiche gyuyng .ij. brea­stis with mylke / vnto euery woman delyuered of childe / semeth to crye and byd euery woman / that hath borne childe / to kepe childe as other lyuynge creatures do. Also that wyse and lyberall mother of all thyng / Nature hath tourned all that blode / whiche wente vnto y^e nourisshement of the childe / whyle hit was in the mothers wombe / after that the chylde is borne / she sendeth hit vppe vnto the breastis / tourned into whyte mylke / to nourisshe the childe with all: neither forsaketh the tēder ba­be / after that it is borne / but nourissheth hit with the same fode / where of she hath made hit. But I haue spoken inough of this matter in the boke a­fore. After wardes / if the mother can skyll of ler­nyng / let her teache her litle children her selfe / that [Page]they maye haue all one / bothe for theyr mother / theyr nouryse / and theyr teacher. And that they may loue her also the more / and lerne with better corage / and more spede / by the meanes of the loue / that theyr teacher hath towarde them. As for her daughters / she shall besyde the lernyng of y^e boke / instructe them also with womennes craftes: as to handle wolle & flexe / to spynne / to weaue / to sowe / to rule and ouer se an house. Neyther a vertuous mother ought to refuse lernynge on the boke / but nowe and than studye and rede holy and wyse mē ­nes bokes: and though she do it nat for her owne sake / at the least wyse for her childrē / that she may teache them / and make them good: As Euridice / whan she was of great age / sette her selfe vnto ler­nynge / and study of philosophy / onely to thentent / that she myght teache her children: and so she did. For the babe fyrste hereth her mother / and fyrste begynneth to enforme her speche after hers. For that age can do nothyng it selfe / but coūterfet and folowe other: and is counnyng in this thing only. She taketh her fyrst conditions and information of mynde / by suche as she hereth / or seeth by her mother. Therfore it lyeth more in the mother / thā meu wene / to make the conditions of the children. For she maye make them whether she wyll / very good / or very badde. Nowe howe she shall make them good / I wyll gyue a fewe shorte rules. Let her gyue her diligence / at least wise by cause of her children / that she vse no rude and blounte speche / lest that maner of spekyng take suche route in the [Page]tender myndes of the children / and so growe & in­crease together with theyr age / that they can nat forget it. Children wyll lerne no speche better / nor more plaȳly expresse / thā they will their mothers. For they wyll counterfete both the vertue and the vice / if any be in it. Iames / the kyng of Aragone / after that he had wonne my countre Valence / out of the handes of the Agarenes / whiche inhabited the citie that tyme / he droue out the people / and commaunded men of Aragon / and womē of Iler­da to go dwell in hit. So the children that came of them bothe / with all theyr posterite / kepte theyr mothers language: whiche we speke there vnto this daye. For the space of more than .ij. hundred and .l. yere. Tyberius Gracchus / & Gayus Grac­chus / were coūted the most eloquent mē of Rome / and they lerned it of their mother Cornelia / whose epistols were red in the olde worlde / full of pure eloquence. Istrina the quene of Scythia / wyfe vn­to kyng Aripithis / taught her son Syles y^e greke tonge. Also Plato commandeth / that nurces shall nat vse to tell vnto children vayne and tryflyng fa­bles. This same thynge is to be charged vnto the mothers tonge. For by the reason of suche bryn­gyng vp: some / after they be come to sadder age / haue suche childysshe and tender stomackes▪ that they can nat abyde to here any thyng of wisedome or sadnes / but delyte all together in bokes of pe­uysshe fables / whiche neither be true / nor lykelye. Therfore mothers shall haue redy at hande plea­sant histories and honest tales / of the comendatiō [Page]of vertue / and rebukynges of vice. And lette the childe here those fyrst: and whan it can nat yet tell what is good and what is badde / it shall begynne to loue vertue and hate vice: and so growe vp and waxe with those opinyons: and shall go about to be lyke vnto them / whom he hath harde his mo­ther cōmende: & vnlyke vnto those / who she hath dispraysed. The mother shall reherse vnto them the laudes of vertue / and the disprayse of vice / and repete oftē tymes / to dryue them in to the childrēs remembraunce. I wolde she shulde haue some ho­ly sayenges and preceptes of lyuynge commenly in vse / whiche harde dyuers tymes / shall at y^e laste abyde in the childrens remēbraunce / though they gyue no hede vnto them. For children rounne vn­to theyr mother / and aske her aduise in all thyng: they inquite euery thyng of her: what some euer she answereth / they beleue and regarde and take hit euen for the gospell. O mothers what an occa­sion be you vnto your children / to make them whether you wyll / good or badde? Than shulde ryght and good opinions / and the pure fayth of Christe be enfunded in to theyr myndes / to dispise riches / power / honour / pompe / nobilite / and beautie / and to reken them for vayne and folisshe thynges: but iustice / deuotion / boldenes / cōtynence / counnyng / mekenes mercye / and charite with mankynde / to reken these thynges goodly / and worthy to be re­garded and vsed: and to coūte them the true & sure goodes. Neither to haue in honour suche men / in whom those thynges be / that we spake of before / [Page]but in whom these be. What someuer shall be spo­ken of any man / or done wisely / wyttyly / or honest­ly / let her prayse it vnto them. And what someuer any mā hath done leudely / subtylly / falsely / sham­fully / wickedlye / vngratiously / rebuke that sore. Whan she enbraseth her chylde and kysseth it / and wyll pray hit some good lucke / let her nat pray of this fassion: God make the rycher than euer was Cresus / or Crassus: god make the more honoura­ble / than euer was Pompeus or Cesar: god make the more fortunate thā euer was Augustus. But let her praye on this fassion: Christe gyue y^e grace to be good and continent / and to dispise fortune of the worlde / to be vertuous / and folowe his steppis to do after saynt Paule / and make the more iuste thā euer was Cato / holyer than Socrates or Se­necke / more counnyng than Plato or Aristotle / or more eloquent thanne Demosthenes or Tullius. These let her reken for great thinges / and to be desyred. These let her seke and wisshe for / that wolde pray for good thinges. Let y^e mother neuer laugh at any worde or dede of the chylde / done leudelye / shamfully / noughtely / wantonly / or piercely / nor kysse it therfore. For childrē wyll lyghtly vse them selfe vnto suche thȳges / as they se be pleasant and delectable / vnto theyr father and mother: nor will nat loue them / after they be comen to mannes or womās estate. Therfore the mother shall correcte the chylde for suche doynge: and let it knowe / that it neither doth well / nor she is nat cōtēt ther with. And agayne on the other syde / let her enbrace and [Page]kysse it / whan so euer it doth any thynge that is a sygne of goodnes. The stoicke philosophers saye / that ther be certayne fyeres or sedes / whether you wyll call them / bredde by nature in vs / of y^e same iustice / in the whiche that fyrst father of mākynde was made by almyghty god: that littell fyer / if it myght increase in vs / it wolde brynge vs vp vnto the perfection of vertue / and blessed lyuyuge. But it is drowned with corrupte opinions and iugemē tes. And whan it begynneth to lyghte and flame vp a littell / it doth nat onely lacke nourisshement / but also is quēched with cōtrary blastis of wynde. Fathers and mothers / nources / scholemaysters / kyns folkes / frendes / acquayntance / and the com­men people / whiche is a mayster of great errour / all these do that they can to plucke vp those sedes / of vertue by the routes / and to ouer whelme that littell fyre / as sone as it begynneth to appere. But all they regarde ryches moche / and gyue honoure vnto nobilite / and reuerēce vnto honour / and seke for power / and prayse beautie / & worshyp pompe / and folowe pleasures. But they trede pouertie vnder fete / and mocke symple mȳdes. They suspecte deuotion / and hate counnynge: and all kynde of vertue they call folly. And whā someuer they pray for any thyng / they wysshe for those that I spake of before. But if any body ones name these other thynges / they abhorre them as vnluckye sygnes. And therfore these lye vnder fete / and be dispysed. Neither any man applieth hymselfe vnto them: but those other thynges be in regarde and price: [Page]and all men rounneth vnto them. For whereof I praye you commeth this / that we haue so many leude felowes and fooles / and so fewe good & wyse men? Whan that the good nature of mankynde is more inclined of it owne selfe vnto vertue / than vnto vice. Therfore a good wyfe shall withstande these corrupted opinions / with other better / and more mete for Christen folkes: and shall nourisshe vp in her children that lyttell fyre / that I spake of before: and water those sedes with the droppes of good teachynge / that the fyre maye ryse vp vnto great lyght / and the sedes vnto moche and good corne. Let her nat breake the strēgth both of theyr bodies / theyr wittes / and vertue / with wantō and daynty bryngyng vp. I haue sene very fewe men come to great profe of either lernyng / witte / or vertue / that had be dayntly brought vp. Neither the bodies can come vnto their due strēgth / whā they be febled with delicate kepynge. And so whan mo­thers wene they saue their childrē / they lese them: and whan they go about to kepe them in helthe & strength / they folysshly mynysshe both their helth and theyr lyfe. Let them loue theyr chyldren well / as conuenyent is and spare nat. For who wolde eyther anull or dispreyse the lawe of nature? Or what a crueltie is hit / nat to loue them that thou hast borne? But yet let them hyde their loue / lest y^e children take boldenes there vpō / to do what they lyste. Nor lette nat loue stoppe her to punisshe her children for theyr vices / and to strength their bodi­es and wittes with sadde bryngynge vp. For you [Page]mothers be the cause of mooste parte of ylnes a­monge folkes: wherby you maye se / howe moche your children are beholdyng vnto you / whiche in­duce noughty opinions in to them with your foly. For you haue the bryngyng vp of them: and you alowe theyr vnthriftynes. And whan they be go­ynge vnto high vertue / and abhorre the ryches of the worlde / and the pompe of the deuyll: you with your wepynge / and sharpe rebukynge / call them backe agayne in to the deuylles snares: bycause you had leauer se them ryche thā good. Agrippy­na / mother vnto themperour Nero / whan she had asked south sayers of her sonne / whether he shuld be emperoure / yea sayde they / but he shall kyll his mother: let hym kyll her sayd she / so that he maye be emperour. And so he both was emperour & kylled her. But whan it came to y^e poynt / Agrippyna wolde nat gladly haue bene kylled / and repented that her son had thempyre. Fynally you / through your cherishyng wil neither let them take laboure to lerne vertue: and haue a pleasure to fyll them full of vices with delicatenes. Therfore many of you wepe and wayle (for I speke nat of all) and be well punysshed and worthyly in this lyfe / for your madnes. Whan you be sory to se your chyldren su­che as your selfe haue made them. Nor you be lo­ued of them agayne / whan they perceyue them selfe vnloued of all other for your loue. There is a certayne tale of a yonge mā / whiche whā he was led to be put to deth / desyred to speke with his mo­ther: and whan she came / layde his mouthe to her [Page]eare / and bote it of: And whan y^e people that were by rebuked hym: callȳg hym nat only a these / but also cursed / for so entreatynge his mother / he an­swered agayne: This is the rewarde for her bryn gynge vp. For if she / sayd he / had corrected me for stealing my felowes boke out of the schole / whiche was my fyrst thefte: thā had I nat proceded vnto these mischeuous dedes. But she cherysshed me / & kyssed me for my doyng. Nowe where to shulde I reherse the madnes of those mothers / that loue better those children / that be foule / croked / leude / dullardes / sluggardes / droūkerdes / vnruely / and folisshe / than those / that be fayre / vpryght / coun­nyng / quicke witted / inuentyue / sober / treatable / quiet and wyse? Whether is this an errour of fol­kes myndes / or a punysshement of god / deserued for their syns / to make them to loue suche thȳges / as be worthy no loue? Dūme beastis cherysshe e­uer the fayrest of their whelpes / or byrdes / & lightly hit is a sygne of good proffe in them / whan the dāmes make moche of them. Also hūters knowe that that shalbe the best dogge / whiche y^e damme is most busye about / and for whom she careth the most / and carieth fyrst in to her lytter. But in mā ­kynde that is the moste vile and the least worthe / that the mother loueth most tenderly. If you will beloued in dede of your children / and specially in that age / whan they knowe what is true and holy loue / thā make them nat to loue you ouer moche / whan they knowe nat yet what loue is: but sette more by a spised cake / a hunnye combe / or a pece of [Page]sugare / than by bothe father and mother. No mo­ther loued her childe better thā myne dyd me: nei­ther any chylde dyd euer lesse perceyue hym selfe loued of his mother than I. She neuer lyghtely laughed vpon me: she neuer cokered me: and yet whā I had ben .iii. or .iiij. dayes out of her house / that she wyst nat where / she was almost sore sicke. And whan I was comen home / I coulde nat per­ceyue that euer she longed for me. Therfore was ther no body / that I more fled / or was more lothe to come nyghe / than my mother / whan I was a childe. But after I came to yonge mānes estate / there was no body / whom I delited more to haue in syghte. Whose memorye nowe I haue in reue­rence / & as afte as she cometh to my remēbraūce / I enbrace her with in my mynde and thoughte / whan I can nat with my body. I had a frende at Paris / a very well lerned man: Whiche amonge other great benefites of god / rekened this for one: that his mother was deade / that sherysshed hym so wonderously: Whiche (sayd he) if she had lyued / I had neuer come to Paris to lerne: But had syt styll at home all my lyfe / amōge dicyng / drabbes / delycates / and pleasures / as I begounne. Howe coude this man loue his mother / that was so glad of her dethe? But a wyse mother shall nat wysshe for pleasures vnto her childe / but vertue? Nor for ryches / but for counnyng / and good fame. And ra­ther for an honest dethe / than for an vncomly lyfe. The women of Lacedemon / had leauer their son­nes shulde dye honestelye for the defence of they▪ [Page]coūtrey / than fle to saue theyr lyues. And we rede in histories / that many of them haue kylled with theyr owne hādes / theyr sonnes / that were cowardes and dastardes / pronouncyng these wordes:

Sophia whiche had .iij. goodly daughters / na­med them with .iij. names of vertue / hope / faith / and charite / and was very glad to se them all dye for the honour of Christe / & buried them her owne selfe / nat farre from Rome / in y^e tyme of Hadryan themperour. Let nat the mothers be so diligēt in teachynge theyr children craftes to gette good by / as to make them vertuous. Neither shall bydde them take exāple of suche as haue gathered mo­che goodes in shorte space: but rather of suche as haue comen vnto great vertue and goodnes. The people of Megara is dispreysed / and nat without a cause / for teachyng theyr children nygardshyppe and couetyse: and in stede of honest children / made them sparynge bonde men. Wherfore they caused suche thynges / as wese chaunseth nowe adayes / that with byddyng them so ofte / seke for good / get good / increase theyr good / and gether good by all meanes / they caused their children to do myschiefe & vngratious dedes. The whiche faute is a great parte in the fathers and mothers / whiche be coū ­saylours / causers / and setters vpon / and as good reason was / whan the children coulde fynde none other wayes to come by ryches / they robbed their fathers and mothers. And if they sawe that all [Page]was so well and closely layde vp / that they coulde nat come by it / than begoūne they to hate theyr fathers and mothers / and wysshe for theyr dethes / and seke meanes to rydde them away. And hit is playnly knowen / that many haue poysoned theyr fathers & mothers / bycause they thought to lōge / to tarry tyll they dyed for age. Often tymes they rebuke theyr fathers and mothers of theyr owne vices / as though they had lerned them by theyr example or neglygence. For the vnthrifty yonge man / whiche had an vnthrifty father / sayd of this fassyon: I wyll impute myne vnthriftynes vnto my father. For I was nat brought vp with sadde meanour / neither vnder the lawe of a well ordered house / whiche moughte haue instructed my ma­ners better / & plucked me from those vices / that myne age was inclyned to. But whan that fyrste age of children ought to be holden vnder / & kepte in by sad orderyng / lest it fall vnto vice / through o­uer mothe libertie / from whiche it will be harde to plucke them agayne: and as the wyse man coun­sayleth / neuer haue the rodde of the boyes backe: specially the daughters shulde be handled with­out any cherysshyng. For cherysshyng marreth y^e sonnes / but hit vtterly distroyeth the daughters. And mē be made worse with ouer moche libertie / but the women be made vngratious. For they be so set vpon pleasures and fantasyes / that excepte they be well brydled and kepte vnder / they rounne on heed in to a thousāde myscheffes. Nowe howe the daughters oughte to be brought vp / I haue [Page]shewed in the boke afore. Therfore y^e mother shall rede hit / bothe bycause there be many thynges pertaynynge vnto maryed women / and bycause hit is the mothers dutie / to se that the doughters do that we teache there. And whan the mothers haue prouided as well as they cā by wordes / that no foule / vncomely / or vnclenly thynge / or ieoper­dous / or vngratious abyde in the childes mynde / than shall they prouide moste of all / both by exam­ple and dedes / that the childe se nothynge / whiche can nat he counterfeted & folowed without shame. For as I sayd before / y^t age is euen almost lyke an ape / and doth nothynge of it selfe / but all by coun­terfetynge of other. And though the fathers and mothers by their auctorite and loue / and also commaundement / put the ill examples of other folkes out of the chyldrens myndes / yet they can nat re­buke that they do them selfe: or though they wold rebuke it / yet wyll nat children be so moche moued with that / y^t they here / as with that / that they se. Wherfore the poet Iuuenall saythe full well / that thexamples of fathers & mothers / may do more / than a great deale of warnyng and teachyng / of a great sorte of maisters: for they shal do them more hurte by thexample of one ill dede / thā they haue done them good by moche holy counsaylyng. And therfore the afore sayd poet counsayleth wyfely in the .xiiii. Satyre on this maner.

Celius Plinius dispreiseth Numydia Ouadra­tilla / bycause she kepte and sherisshed players and testers / more than was conuement for a noble wo­man. Nat with standynge he cōmendeth the elde womās wisedome in this poynt / bicause she wolde nat suffre her Neuewe Quadratus / to loke vpon her players / neither with in her house / nor in the comon playeng place. And whā someuer she wold here them / or was about to take her pastyme in playenge at the cheseis / she vsed to commaūde her neuewe to go his waye and studye his boke. The same afore sayde Plinius / gyueth great thankes by a letter vnto Hyspula / his wyues aūte / bycause she had brought vp and instructed his wyfe with good lernynge / whiche neuer sawe any thynge in her auntes house / but honest and vertuous: and no doubte / moche more diligence ought to be gyuē about the doughters / that nothynge blotte theyr demucenes / thastite / or sadnes / bycause these thȳ ­ges be required more perfite in a woman than a man. And the females in all kyndes of beastis be folowe example moste wittily / and euer more redely and more peiferely the vices / whiche thyng the male doth also. Wherfore she wyll lightly do that / [Page]whiche she seeth her mother do / or any other wo­man that she seeth regarded of folkes. Neither she can refrayne her selfe / if she haue their example for auctorite. Wherfore in suche countres / where the noble and gentyll women be badde / there be but fewe of the lowe degre and comunaltie good. And than they that be brought vp of yll women / be nat lyghtly any other them selfe. Howe be it y^e daugh­ter resembleth nat so moche her mother / as her y^e hath brought & norisshed her vp. Wherfore many bastardes / whiche haue be brought vp with their graunmothers on the fathers syde / beynge vertu­ous womē / haue gone out of theyr mothers kȳde / and felowed the lyfe and holines of their granmo­thers / that nourisshed them. Cato thelder / banys­shed Gaius Manlius out of the senate house / by­cause he kyssed his owne wyfe / his doughter be­ynge by. For that ignorant age vnderstādeth nat / Wherfore euery thyng is done / but it wyll represēt the same actis / lyke as a glasse representeth the fassions of bodies / set afore it / but nat in the same condition. Whiche thynge the most wyse and holy man Eleazar vnderstandyng / whan he was com­maunded by y^t statute of kyng Antiochus / to eate swynes flesshe / and refused it / and was counsailed by pagannes that were his frendes / at least wyse to make countenance / as though he dyd eate hit / that he myght vnder y^t coloure escape / as though he had obeyed the kynges wyll / he made answere that he had leauer dye / than do any thynge that myght gyue yll example to yonge folkes / & spake [Page]vnto them in these wordes. For it is nat cōuenient nor becommyng for myne age / to vse any symula­tion / that yonge men may suspecte Eleazer / whi­che nowe is paste ixxx. yet is and tenne of age / is turned vnto the lyfe of alyantes and infidels: and so they by the meanes of my symulation / and for a litell space of this corruptible lyfe / shall be discey­ued: and by that meanes shall I get a shame and course vnto myn olde age. For though I scape the punysshement of men / at this present tyme: yet shall I nat scape the handes of almighty god / nei­ther quicke nor deade. Wherfore I will do as is be comyng for myne age / dye boldly / and leaue an ex­ample of noble stomacke vnto yonge men / whan I shall take an honest dethe with a redy and bolde minde / for the most holy and vertuous lawes. As sone as this was sayd / he was streight caried vn­to executiō / and they that ledde hym / whiche were more fauorable to hym before / were than displea­sed / for the wordes that he hadde spoken / whiche they thought y^t he had sayd of p̄sumtion / but whā he was nygh beaten to deathe / he tried out & said: Lorde thou that haste holye knowlege / thou kno­west playnly / that whan I might haue bene deli­uered from deth / yet I suffre harde paynes of my body: & I suffre them gladly with all myn harte / for dreade of the. And so he departed awaye / lea­uynge a memoriall of his dethe / for an example of vertue and boldenes / nat onely vnto yonge men / but vnto all his nation. Therfore the sōnes shulde be enformed and taught with examble of theyr fa­ther. [Page]Neither ther ought any thyng to be shewed vnto them / that maye be tourned lyghtely vnto vice / lest they tourne it more lyghtely / both by the reason of theyr owne ignorance / and by y^e reason of mannes nature / whiche is inclyned vnto the wors. Our lorde punysshed Hely / the iudge and bisshop of Israell / nat bycause he gaue any yll ex­ample vnto his sonnes Ophin and Phinees / but bycause he dyd nat punysshe his yll and vngrati­ous sonnes. Therfore he perysshed with a fall out of his chayre / and the heritage of his benifice was gyuen awaye vnto another kynred. Nowe howe moche more greuous vengeaunce wyll he take v­pon suche fathers / as teache theyr children either by counsayle / or by theyr example / to lyue vngra­tiously: and seynge that the punysshement of the sonnes whiche were adulterars / redounded vnto the father / bycause he dyd nat prohibet them / as moche as lay in hym: What shall he do to suche fathers / that excite and moue theyr children vnto le­chery / pleasures / & vngratious acces / either with wordes / orels with dedes? And on the other syde / of the woman that accustonies her children vnto vertue / the maister of the pagannes saynt Paule / speaketh in this maner? The woman hath gone out of the waye by transgressyon / howe be hit she shall be saued by bryngynge for the of children / if she continewe in faithe / charite / and holynes with chastite.

Of twyse maryed women / and of stepmothers. The .xij. Chap.

SVche as marye agayne / after the dethe of theyr fyrste husbandes / besyde all that we haue write here before / muste be warned this thynge / to take hede / lest they displease theyr husbandes / whiche they haue / with ouer moche rehersyng of theyr fyrst husbandes. The conditiō of the worlde is suche / that euer folkes reken thyn­ges past better than thynges that be present: the cause why is / bicause no felicite is so great / but it hath moche displeasure and bytternes myngled with it: whiche so longe as it is p̄sent / greueth vs fore: but whā it is ones gone / it leaueth no great felynge of it selfe behynde it: and for that cause we seme y^e lesse troubled with sorowes paste / thā with sorowes present. Also age rounneth on a pace / whiche may euery day wors than other suffre displea­sure / & is more feble to sustayne casualties chaun­synge. More ouer the remembraunce of the four­ther and more lustye age / and as it were a compa­ryson of hit with the more paynfull age / causeth great werynes of the present state / and longynge for that whiche is past. But Solomon wolde nat haue suche thoughtes to come in to the mynde of a wise man / for to reken the yeres past better than the yeres present. Neither a wyse woman oughte to counte or reken her husbande / whiche is deade / better thā hym / whiche she hath on lyue. For they be ofte disceyued in this poynte / bycause / if any [Page]thyng dislyke them in theyr husbāde / whom they haue / than call they to remembraunce only suche poyntes as pleased them in theyr fyrst husbādes. And that thyng they do y^e more spiteously / if theyr present husbande discontent their mynde in those thynges / wherin their fyrst husbandes dyd them pleasure / than without all consyderation of other thynges / they compare theyr husbādes together onely in that: and there vpon ryseth payne / why­nynge / and troublous wordes / agayne theyr hus­bandes. And whyles they bewayle & complayne the mys of theyr deade husbande / they kepe no­ther. As for stepmothers they haue an yll name / as malicious towarde theyr husbādes chyldrē: of the whiche thyng there be many examples in me­morye. Therfore women muste be warned ofte to rule their owne braydes and fantasyes of mynde: for there of cometh the fountayne and begynnyng of all both ill and good. And if thou suffce thy braydes to rule the / they wyll brynge vpon the a great noumber of troubles / and myseryres / which afterwardes thou shalte nat lyghtely shake of. But if thou rule them / thanne shalte thou lyue holly and fortunatly. And that thynge thou shalte optayne / if thou wylte study diligently / whyles thy mynde is at rest and quietnes / howe thou mayste behaue thy selfe / whan causes of motion and trouble come vpō the. Therfore stepmothers be nat rough and vnreasonable / sauynge suche / whose passions and braydes of mynde playeth the tyrātes ouer them: and they do nat rule theyr braydes / but folowe & [Page]serue them. For she that is ledde with discretion / reason / and cōsyderation / shall rekē her selfe & her husbāde all one. And therfore she shall coūte both his childrē & hers comen to them both. For if that frendship make all thing comen amonge frendes / in so moche that many haue loued and fauoredde theyr frēdes children as theyr owne / howe moche more abundantly and perfetly ought wedlocke to cause the same / whiche is the hyghest degre / nat only of all frendshippes / but also of all bloode and kynred. Moreouer / she ought to haue compassyō of theyr tender and weake age / in remembraunce of her owne. For if she haue children / she shall loue others to remembrynge that the chaunce of the worlde is in difference / and that her chyldren shal fynde suche fauoure of other folkes / whether she dye or lyue / as she hath shewed to other folkes children. And in dede a good woman wyll be vnto her husbandes chyldren that / whiche she maye here them cal her so oftē / that is mother. For what wo­man is so farre out of all humanyte and gētilnes / that wyll nat be moued and mytygated with this worde / mother / of whom so euer hit is sayde. And specially of chyldren / whiche can nat flatter / but speke so euē w^t theyr stomacke / lyke as they wolde theyr owne mother / of whom they were borne? Howe swete is the name of frendship? Howe ma­ny displeasures and hateredes doth it put awaye: Thame / howe moche more effectuall oughte the name of mother to be / whiche is full of incredible charite? Thou most irefull woman / dost thou nat [Page]mollyfye / whan thou herest thy selfe named mo­ther? Thou arte more ragious than any wylde beaste / if that name wyllnat sturre the. For there is no beaste so ragious and cruelle / but if another yonge of hit owne kynde faune vpon hit / hit wyll be by and by mylde vnto hit. And thy husbandes children can nat make the gentyll and mylde with swete wordes. Thou arte called mother / and she­west thy selfe an enemye. Thou many tymes ga­therest hate without cause / and vseste vpon that weake and immcent age. And whan it were conuenyent / that all Christen mē shulde be as bretherne to the in beniuolēce and charite / thou hatest those / that be conioyned vnto the in house and blode / and that be bretherne vnto thy chyldren. Hit is mar­uayle / that the soule of their mother doth nat pur­sue the / vexe and trouble the. Do you vnderstāde / you stepmothers that be suche / that your vnruely ire and hate commeth but of the dreames of your owne folly. For why do nat stepfathers hate theyr wyues childrē in lyke maner? For there is no stepfather / but heloueth his wyues saie as wel as his owne. I haue redde of many stepfathers / that hath gyuen the inheritance of realmes vnto their wyues sonnes / euen as they had bene their owne / as Augustus sefte thempyre of Rome vnto Tybe­rius / and Claudius vnto Nero ▪ And yet had Au­gustus childrens childrē & childre of them agaye: and Claudins had a sonne. Whiche thynge they dyd nat for lacke of knowlege / that they were nat theyr owne sonnes / but bycause they perceyued in [Page]reason and consideration / that there was no cause of hate betwene stepfathers and steppesonnes / ex­cepte theyr owne condition dyd cause it. For what offence hathe stepsonnes made vnto theyr stepfa­thers / excepte they haue offended them bycause they were nat theyr owne sonnes. As for y^t thynge lay in goddes handes / and nat in mannes power. Yea but some wolde say / y^e stepfathers do nat play and trifle with theyr stepsōnes / as theyr mothers wolde. To make answere there vnto / by that ar­gument theyr naturall fathers do nat loue them. But wherto shulde I say any thyng of the stepfa­thers loue / whan there be some mothers so mad / that they wene theyr husbandes loue nat theyr owne naturall children / bycause they do nat trifle and fole with them all the daye and all the nyghte styll / as them selfe doth. Man can nat dote as the woman can. For that same stronge stomake of mā can holde and couer loue well inough / and ruleth it / and dothe nat obey hit. But you stepmothers / why do nat you euer kysse / combe / and pyke your stepchildren / as you do your owne: ther is so great darkenes of mysty fātasies ī your mȳdes / y^t what so euer you loue / you thȳke euery body shulde loue y^t same / & that no man loueth y^t inough: and what so euer you hate / you thinke is worthy to be hated of euery man / and that euery body loueth that to moche. And some there be / whiche whā they hate theyr stepsonnes deadly / yet they swere they loue them: whiche be madde / and if they beleue / that any man wyll beleue them: And yet they be more [Page]madde / if they wene to disceyue god. Doest thou loke after / that Christe shulde here the / whā thou callest hym father / whan thou wrythyest awaye from the steppe chyldren / callynge the mother? Saynt Johan thappostle dothe nat beleue that a­ny suche doth loue the inuisible god / that hateth his brother / whom he loketh vpon.

Howe she shall behaue her selfe with her kynsfolkes and aly­aunce. The .xiii. Chap.

THe great lerned man Nigidius Figulus sayth / the deryuation and significa­tion of syster is as though I wolde saye / seperate and goynge asyde / bycause she is seperate & goeth in to another house and kynred. Whiche thyng se­yng it is so / y^t womā that is maried shall begynne to be more seruyseable vnto her alyaunce / than to her kyns folkes / and so hit is conuenient for many causes. Forst / bicause she is as it were skyfted and planted in to that kyn / vnto whiche she shall beare children / and the whiche she shall multtylye with her temynge. Secondly / bycause she hath the be­nyuolēce and loue of her owne kynsfolkes alredy. Therfore she must seke for the loue of her alyaunce after wardes. Thyrdlye / that her chyldren maye haue the more loue of their fathers kynted / whan they shall be holpen nat only with the beniuolence of theyr father / but also of theyr mother. And in shorte conclusion / hit shall be cause of many plea­sures / [Page]if thou be loued of thyne alyaunce / & many displeasures if thou be hated. And this was the thynge that those men loked after / whiche skyfted manage out of kynred in to other folkes / that loue and frendshyp amonge peaple myght spreade the broder. Therfore it is conuenient / diligētly to get the loue of thyne alyaunce / or if thou haue it all re­dy / to kepe & holde it. Hit is saide / y^t mothers in la­wes beare a stepmothers hate vnto theyr dough­ters in lawes. And agayne / doughters in lawes beare no great loue and charite towarde their mo­thers in lawe. Therfore Terence after the comon custome and opinyon of people / sayth: All mother in lawes hate their doughter in lawes. And these was a mery woman / whiche whan she sawe her mother in lawes image made in sugare / she sayd / hit was bytter. Plutarche / and saynt Hieronyme takynge of his auctorite / where he writeth agaȳst Iouinian / telleth / that it was an olde custome in Lepers / a cite of Affcyke / y^t a newe maryed wyfe / on the nexte daye after her maryage / shulde come vnto her mother in lawe / and pray her to lende her a porte: and she shulde say she had none: to thenrēt that the yonge wyfe myght knowe / by and by af­ter her maryage / the stepmotherly hate of her mother in lawe / and be lesse greued afterwardes / if a­ny thyng bechanced that she wolde nat. But whā I consyder the cause of this enemyte / me thynke both theyr enuies very folysshe. For the man stan­deth as hit were in the myddes betwene his mo­ther and his wyfe: and so either of them hateth o­ther [Page]/ as an expulser of her selfe. The mother is discontent / that all her sonnes loue shulde be tour­ned vnto her doughter in lawe: and the wyfe can nat suffce any to beloued / but her selfe. And there of ryfeth hate / enuye / and braulyng / as it were be twene two dogges / if a man stryke and sherysshe the one y^e other beynge bye. Pythagoras scholers in olde tyme / and those that were of his secte / dyd nat reken frendship mynysshed / the mo that come vnto it: but to be y^e more encreased and strēgthed: so the mother ought nat to thynke her selfe a mo­ther euer the lesse / if her sonne marye a wyfe: nor the wyfe ought to counte her selfe a wyfe the lesse / if she haue a mother in lawe: but rather either of them ought to reconsile the man vnto the other / if any discorde chaunce betwene them. Thou folishe mother in lawe / woldest thou nat haue thy sonne to loue his wyfe / whiche is a companyon & frende inseparable? Coudeste thou haue suffered nat to haue bene loued of thyne owne husbande? What greatter mysery canst thou wisshe vnto thy sonne / than for to dwell with his wyfe with displeasure? And thou folysshe doughter in lawe / woldeste nat thou haue thy husbande to loue his mother? doest nat thou loue thy mother? Thou shalt be loued of thy husbande: as his felowe and dere mate: and thy husbāde shal loue his mother / as vnto whom he is dounde / for his lyfe his norisshyng / and his bryngyng vp: and therfore he oweth great loue & kyndnes. The daughter in lawe / knowynge that her husbāde and she is all one / shall reken her hus­bandes [Page]mother her owne / and shall loue her and reuerence her no lesse than her naturall mother / but be more seruiseable vnto her / that she maye bynde her the more to loue her. She shall nat be displeased / if her husbande loue his mother / but rather and she be a good and a vertuous womā / if she se hym nat behaue hym selfe vnto his mother accordynge lyke / she shall exhorte hym and desyre hym to behaue hym selfe as a son ought vnto his mother. There is no mother in lawe so out of rea­son / but she wyll be the better content / if she knowe her doughter in lawe chaste / & louyng to her hus­bāde. Agrippina / nece vnto Augustus thēperour by his doughter Iulia / whiche was maried vnto Germanicus / neuew vnto Liuia thēpresse / by her sonne Drusus / she was hated of Liuia / both as a doughter ī lawe / and as a stepdoughter / & was of her owne nature bothe sharpe & shrewed inough: but she was so chaste of body / and so louyng vnto her husbande / that with those two vertues she al­tered y^e fyerce mynde of her mother in lawe Liuia / and tourned hit to good. The doughters in lawe ought to nourisshe and sustayne theyr mothers in lawe in theyr necessite / none other wyse / thanne if they were theyr owne mothers. Ruth / a Moabite borne / lefte her countre and all her kynne / for her mother in lawe / bycause she wolde nat leaue the olde myserable woman in sorowe and heuynes. Therfore she bothe comforted her with wordes / & nourisshed and founde her with her laboure / and in all conditiōs fulfylled the roume of a doughter: [Page]neither that same great charite of Ruth lacked re­warde: For by the counsayle and helpe of her mo­ther in lawe she gate Booz vnto her husbande / a great ryche man / and bare Isai the prophet / and was graundemother to kynge Dauid / of whose stocke our lorde Christe was borne.

Howe she shall lyue with her sonne or her doughter maryed / and howe with her sonnne in lawe and doughter in lawe. The .xiiij. Chap.

AS it is conuenient for the wyfe to apply her selfe vnto her husbandes discre­tion and wyll in all other thynges: so whan any of her children shall be maryed / & that both Aristotle in the seconde boke of house kepyng / teacheth / and reason byddeth / that the holle auctorite ouer the childrē shulde be gyuen to the fathers. So by the lawes of Rome / chyldren were nat vnder the mo­thers rule / but the fathers: and that so longe as he lyued / though they were maried / and of great age / excepte they were at theyr owne lybertie. Nowe howe great power ought fathers to haue ouer theyr owne children / whā god wolde y^e Ioseph shulde haue some auctorite ouer Christe? Chan­gell of our lorde / what tyme he shewed vnto Io­sephe in his dreame / that that / whiche was in the wombe of Mary / was nat conceyued by mannes generation / but by the power and worke of the ho­ly goost: She shall sayd he / beare a sonne / & thou shalte call his name Iesus. He sayd nat / she shall [Page]beare the a sonne / as thuse is to say to the owne fa­thers. For women beare children vnto theyr hus­bādes: and yet he sayd / thou shalt call hym. Wherby he signyfied the power and auctorite of hym / whiche was his father apparent / whan he hadde said vnto y^e virgin / His name shalbe called Iesus. A wyse woman shall nat pursue her doughter in lawe / nor wene y^t she wynneth loue w^t hatyng her / neyther of her nor of her sonne. If she loue her / & gyue her good coūsayle / and teache her: And if she do afore her suche thynges / as maye be example vnto her doughter in lawe / both of chastite and so bernes: And if she make no discorde betwene the maried couples / but if any chaunce betwene them by reason of other / auoyde it / and reconsyle them agayne with all her myght: Fynally / if she beare a motherly affectiō towarde her doughter in lawe / she shall lyghtely brynge to passe / that bothe her sonne shall be more bounde vnto her / and shall op­tayne great loue and reuerence of her doughter in lawe. For howe moche more shall he loue her / of whom he hath ben borne / & by whom he hath his wyfe / both more chaste and more sober / and better agreynge with hym / wherby he shall be bounde vnto her nat only for that benyfite / that she is his mother / but also bicause she hath be y^e instructrice of his wyfe / and causer of a great parte of his feli­cite? And the doughter in lawe on her partie shall beare none other minde vnto her mother in lawe / than if she were her owne mother / by whom she hath [...]othe gotten more knowlege / and is made [Page]better / & hath her husbāde more pleasant & louȳg vnto her. And in a sharpe & a rygorous mother in lawe all thyng chaūseth cōtrary. As for y^t daught̄ y^t is maryed / the mother shall nat desyre to haue so moche her owne / as whā she was a mayde / but re­mēbre / y^t than she is skyfted in to another house & kynred / to ēcrease y^t stocke: but she may counsayle her that y^t is good / or put her in remēbrāce / whan she is maryed / of suche coūsayles as she gaue her / whā she was vnmaried: but she shal nat mel with her in suche poyntes / as she thȳketh will displease her sonne in lawe. She shall nat leade her to chur­ches / nor brynge her home / nor speke to her / if she thynke it be agayne her sonne in lawes wyll. Nei­ther let any folysshe woman say to me on this ma­ner: what / may I nat speke to myn owne daugh­ter? She is thy daughter in dede / but nowe she is nat thy womā. For what so euer ryght thou had­dest to her / thou hast gyuen it ouer to thy sonne in lawe. Therfore and thou loue thy daughter / and woldest se her happy / that is to say lyue in cōcorde with her husbande / exhorte her alwaye / and gyue her counsaile to obey her husbāde in euery poynt / nor lette her ones speake with the without he wyll gyue her leaue. For who so euer wyll haue more li­bertie with a mans wyfe / thā y^e husbāde wyll suf­fre is an adulterer. And who so euer toucheth any thyng of an other mans agaynst the owners wyll / is a thefe. She shall loue her son in law none other wise thā her owne son: but yet she shall reuerēce hȳ more than her owne son. For a woman ought nat [Page]to thynke / that she may be as homely ouer her son in lawe / as her owne sonne: but she shall desyre his welfare as moche as her owne son / and gyue hym as good counsayle & exhortation: but yet in suche maner / that she may seme rather to exhorte and require hym / than byd and commaunde hym.

Of a wyfe well worne in age. The .xv. Chaptre.

A wyfe well shotte in age / shall do as philosophers saye the byrde of Egypte doth / whiche whan hit is olde / purgeth all the fyl­thy humours of hit body with spices of Araby / & sendeth forthe of hit mouthe a wonderous swete breth: so a woman / whan she is past the pleasure of the body / and hath done with bearyng & bryn­gyng vp of children / than shall she sauour & brethe all heuenly / she shall neither say nor do any thyng / that is nat full of holynes / and that may be example for yonger folkes to take hede of. Thā as Gor­gy as the Rethorycian saythe / her name shall be­gynne to spryng and be knowen / whan her person is vnknowen: than her lyfe / holyly passed before / shall begynne to appere: than in dede a vertuous woman shall rule her husbande by obeysaunce / & shall brynge to passe / that her husbande shal haue her ī great auctorite / whiche afore tymes hath ly­ued euer vnder her husbandes rule. Archyppa / wyfe vnto Themistocles / by diligent obediēce vn­to her husbāde / optayned of hym suche loue / that [Page]he agayne / whan he was the most wyse and most noble man / yet folowed he his wyues mynde / al­most in euery thyng: and there of came this fasfiō of argumēt / whiche in bordes was comen amōge the grekes: what someuer this childe wyll / they ment Theophantus Themystocles sonne / whom the mother loued tenderly / thā argued they thus: What someuer this childe wyll / the mother wyll: What so euer y^e mother wyll / Themistocles wyll: and what so euer Themistocles wyll / all the cite of Athens wyll: and what so euer the cite of Athens wyll all grece wyll. Our lorde commaūded Abra­ham / to take hede vnto Saras wordes / bycause she was aged / and past the lust of the body. Wher­fore she wold nat coūsaile hym any childishe thȳg / or that he nede to be ashamed of / by the reason of her wanton body. Therfore whan a wyfe cometh vnto this estate / and all her children maryed / and her selfe tydde out of wordly busynes / than let her loke to the grounde with her body / yeldyng it vn­to the grounde / but with her mynde beholde the heuen / whither her mynde shulde flytte / and lyfte vp all her sensis / her thought / and all her mynde vnto god / and prepare and applye her selfe holly to her iourney / nor thynke nothynge / but that per tayneth vnto her iourney / whiche drawethe to­warde. But lette her be wyse leste in steade of holynes / she falle in superstion / by the reason of igno­rance. Let her be moche in holy workes: howe be it / yet trust more vpon the mercy and the goodnes of god / nor trust nat on her selfe / as though by the [Page]reason of her workes / she myght come thether / as she intendeth / rather than by the benyfite & gyfte of god. And whyles her harte is lustyer than her body / leaue some of her bodily labour / and labour more with her mynde. Let her praye more & more intentyuely: let her thynke often of god / and more feruētly / fastles / and wery her selfe lesse with wal­kyng about vnto churches. Hit is no nede to my­nisshe her aged body / and forsake her norysshyng. Let her do good vnto other / by gyuȳg them good counsayle. Let her do them good also with exāple of her lyfe / of the whiche commodite a great parte shall retourne vnto her selfe.

Of the mournynge of wydo­wes. The fyrste Chaptre.

A Good Woman whan her husbād is deed / ought to knowe / that she hath y^e greatteste losse & dāmage / that can bechaunce her in the worlde: and that ther is taken from her the hart of mutual and tender loue towarde her: and that she hath loste nat only the one halfe of her owne lyfe (as lerned men were wonte to saye / whan they had loste them / whom they lo­ued derely) but her selfe also to be taken from herselfe all to gether / & perisshed. Of this cause maye come honest wepynge / sorowe / and mournynge / with good occasion / and waylynge nat to blame. Hit is the greattest token that can be of an harde harte and an vnchast mynde / a womā nat to wepe for the dethe of her husbande. Howe be it there be .ij. kyndes of womē / whiche in mournȳg for their husbandes / in contrarye wayes do bothe a mys: That is bothe they that mourne to moche / & those that mourne to lyttel. I haue sene some womē no more moued with the dethe of theyr husbandes / than it hadde bene but one of lyght aqueyntance / [Page]that hadde dyed: whiche was an euident sygne of but colde loue vnto theyr husbādes. Whiche thȳg is so foule / that none can be more abhomynable / nor more cursed. And if a manne aske them / why they do so / or rebuke them / they answere agayne / the nature of the coūtrey so requireth. And y^e same excusis laye they for them / that vse to put y^e cause of theyr vices in some planet / or qualitees of the ayer or erthe / where they dwell. But the nature of the countrey is cause of no vicis. For than the coū ­trey ought to be punysshed / and nat y^e offensours. We take no vice of the heuen / or ayer / but of our owne maners. For vnder euery skye is both good lyuynge and yll. Nor there is no countrey so wret­ched in the worlde / that it ne hath some good peo­ple there in: nor none so good / but hit hath some naught. I haue sayd here afore / that I haue sene some / nothyng moued with the deth of their hus­bandes. Lyke wyse / I haue sene some / that wold with a ryght good wyll haue quitte their husban­des lyfes with theyr owne. Wherfore ther is no re­son / why they shulde lay theyr fautes in the condi­cion of the Region. For in the countrey / that is cal­led Getica / y^e ayer is colde / and yet say the Pompo­nius Mela / that the very womē lacke no stomake to dye on the bodyes of theyr husbādes / and haue a speciall desyre to be buryed with them. And by­cause chat the custome is there to mary many wo­men vnto one mā / there is great stryuyng amōge them / whiche shall haue y^e prayse there in / of them that shall gyue the iudgement. The victory is gy­uen [Page]to the most vertuous: and hit is a great plea­sure to them y^t may optayne hit. Lyke wyse great lerned men wryte / that women vse to do in Ynde. Also in olde tyme the women of Almayne / from whens the Flandryns toke theyr originall & fyrste begynnyng / maried neuer but of maydes: and so made an ende of all hope and desyre of mariage at ones. For they toke one husbāde as one body and soule / and neuer desyred / nor thought of maryage after hym: as though they loued the matrimony it selfe / and nat the husbādes. Wherby nowe thou mayst se / that vertues and maners be chaunged with abundance / ryches / and pleasures: and the euyll fyre of ryches quencheth the good fyre of charite. All the lawe of Christe soundeth noue other thyng / but charite / loue / and heate. For our lorde sayth: I am comen to cast fyre in to the erthe / & go about nothyng so moche as to make it to bourne. But whanne we couple the ryche deuyll to poure Christe / and vnto sobre vertue / reuell and dronke­nes / vnto chast sadnes desolute and wanton plea­sures / pagante and hethennes vnto Christianite / and the deuyll to god: than god disdaynyng suche felowship taketh his gyftes from vs / and leaueth vs the gyftes of the deuyll. Nat withstandyng / it may so chaunce / that there be in womēs myndes suche constauncy and stedfastnes / that they maye comforte them selfe: and though they be ouercome & opressed / may by wysedome yet recouer agayne. That wolde I greatly preyse in a man / but in su­che a frayle kynde / hit is no good token to haue so [Page]passynge great wysedome. I haue harde of great wyse men / that haue taken very heuyly the dethe of but lyght frendes / and wepte for them habun­dantly. Solon / whiche made the lawes of the people of Athens / one of the .vij. wyse men / commaū ­ded his owne buryall to be kepte with wepȳg and waylynge / that his frendes myght shewe / howe moche they loued hym. Also after that Lucrecia was slayne in Rome / whan Iunius Brutus / whiche was reuengeor of her dethe and rape / done by the kynges sonne / had dryuen the kynges out of Rome / and warre was made agaynst the kynge: In the fyrst settynge together / this Brutus was kylde / and y^e wyues of the cite mourned a twelue moneth the deth of hym / that had be the defender of their chastite. And yet mourned they / but an o­ther womans husbande / and bicause he defended an other womās chastite. Tha howe moche more oughtest thou to mourne the deth of hym / that is the defender of thyne owne chastite / sauer and ke­per of thy body / father and tutour of thy children / welthe of thy house / householde / and thy goodes / yea and more to / thy gouernour & lorde? And thou woldest wepe in dede / if thou shuldest nat departe rycher from hym / than thou camest to hym. But nowe the ioye of money / taketh away all the grefe of thy sorowe. Thou woldest wepe for his dethe / if thou haddest loued hym / whan he was on lyue. But nowe thou art nat sorye for his departynge / whom thou settest nothyng by / whā thou haddest hym. Also many be glad / that theyr husbādes be­gone [Page]/ as who were ryd out of yocke and bondage: and they reioyse that they be out of domynion and bonde / and haue recoueredde theyr lybertie: but they be of a folysshe opinion. For the shyppe is nat at liberte / that lacketh a gouernour / but rather destitute: neither a chylde that lacketh his tutoure / but rather wandrynge without order and reason. Nor a woman / whan her husbande is gone: For thā she is in dede (as she is called) a wydowe / that is to say / desarte and desolate. Than is she in dede tost at aluētures / as a shyp / lackynke a maister: and is caried without discression and cōsyderatiō / as a childe whan his ouer seer is out of the waye. Here parauenture some wolde say / He was suche an husbāde / that better were to be without hym / thā to haue hym. But so wolde neuer good womā say / nor yll kepe it in. For if he were of the beloued as the lawes of god do commaunde / he shulde be / that is to say / as he were thy selfe: thou wolde be as sorye that he shulde dye / as thy selfe. Vnto an il woman / excepte her husbande let her haue her It­berte to all vices / that her mynde lyeth to / he is in tollerable. But vnto a good woman / no husbande can be so yll / that she ne had leauer haue his lyfe than his dethe. But what shulde I speake moche of this matter? I haue shewed inough in y^e boke a fore / that she is neither worthy y^e name of a good woman nor wyfe / that can nat loue her husbande with all her harte / as her selfe. O circumspecte nature / or rather god / the mooste wyse mayster of all good maners. There is no kynde of vertue / but [Page]he hath created some lyuyng thyng / that vseth it / for to reprehende & reproue those that dispice that vertue: as bees by theyr crafte reproue y^e leudnes of them / that can nothyng do: And y^e faithfulnes of dogges damneth the vntrustynes of fals peo­ple: shepe condemne fraudes and gyles with their symplenes: stockedoues and turtuls gyue exāple of true & faithfull loue / in mariage. For those byr­des / as Aristole sayth / lyue content with one male nor take none other. The turtle doue / whanne her male is deade / neither drynketh lyquore / nor syt­teth on the grene tre ne commeth amonge none of her felowes playenge & sportyng together. These chast and holy loues meaneth Solomon / whā he calleth his spouse to hym / sayeng: The voyce of a turtle doue is harde in our realme: And cōpareth his spouse some tymes to a turtell / and some tyme to a stocke douue. Also they that can haue no mea­sure in theyr wepyng and mournyng / be as farre to blame on thother syde. For whan they be newly wounded with the chaunce / they confounde and fyll all the place full of cryeng / & teare their heare / beate theyr breastis / and skratche theyr chekes / & knocke theyr heddes to the walles / & their bodyes to the grounde / and drawe forth longe the tyme of theyr mournynge / as in Secill / Asia / Grece / and Rome: in so moche / that the senate was fayne to make statutes and lawes / whiche was called the lawes of the twelue tables / for to modyfie and ap­pease the mournyng. And therfore y^e apostle also / whan he wrote to this people / was compelled to [Page]comforte them / sayenge: Bretherne / I wolde ye shulde haue knowlege of those that slepe / that ye be nat sory and pēsyfe / lyke other people that haue no faythe. For if we beleue that Iesus is deade / and reuyued agayne: so shall god lyke wyse bryng agayne with hym al that be deade by him. Nowe a wydowe / let her bewayle her husbāde with har­ty affection / and nat crye out / nor vexe nat her selfe with dasshyng of her handes / neither beatynge of her body: but let her so mourne / that she remēbre sobernes & measure / that other may vnderstande her sorowe / without her owne hostȳg & vtteraūce. And after that the fyrst brōte of her sorowe is past and swaged / than let her begynne to study for con­solation. Nowe here will I nat brynge forthe pre­ceptes out of the longe volumes of philosophers. For my purpose is to instructe a Christen woman with Christis philosophy: in cōparyson of whom / all mannes wy sedome is but folye. My mynde is to seche a remedy. Let vs remēber y^e sayeng of the apostle / that they whiche slepe with Iesu / shall be brought of god with Iesu agayne. Wherfore we ought to be of good cōforte. And she that is a wyse woman / let her remembre that all men be borne / and lyue in this lawe and condition / to paye theyr duete vnto nature / as theyr creditoure / whan so e­uer she asketh it / of some soner / of some later: howe be it all be coupled with in the comon lot and rate / to be borne / & lyue / and dye: but our soules be im­mortal / and this lyfe is but a departyng in to a no ther eternall lyfe and blessed / to them that haue [Page]passed wel and vertuously this temporall and trā ­sitory lyfe. The whiche thyng the Christen faythe maketh easye inough / nat by our desarte and me­rite / but of his goodnes / the whiche with his deth losed vs from the bādes of dethe: and deth of this lyfe is but as a saylȳg out of the see in to y^e hauyn. They that dye / go afore / and we shall sone come after: and whan we be departed and losed out of this bony / shall leade our lyfe in heuen vnto that tyme / y^t euery man shall receyue his owne body agayne: howe be hit nat so coumberous and heuye as it is nowe / but lyghtly couered and arayde: with it we shall haue blessed and euer lastynge lyfe. This is the true and sure christyan consolation / whā they that be a lyue thynke and trust / that theyr frēdes / whiche are deade / be nat seperate from them / but only sente before in to y^e place / where with in shorte space after they shall mete to gether full merily / if they wyll do theyr diligence / that they may by the exercise of vertues come thether / as they beleue y^t they be gone. These thinges ought christē prestis to shewe and tell vnto yonge wydowes / and com­forte theyr heuy myndes with these consolations / and nat as many do drynke to them in the funeral feast / and byd them be of good chere / sayeng / they shall nat lacke a newe husbāde / and that he is pro­uided of one for her all redy / and suche other thyn­ges / as they cast out at bākettes and feastis / whā they be well wette with drynke.

Of the buryeng of her hus­bande. [Page]The .ij. Chaptre.

ALso amōge many other thynges / that we vse after the example of y^e pagās / this is one to kepe the buriall with great solēnite. For the pagans and gentils beleued / that if y^e bo­dye were vnburyed / the soule shulde haue great payne in helle / and that the royaltie and cerimoni­es of buryenge shulde be an honour bothe to them and theyr successours. Nat withstandynge / there were some of them / that coūted these but fātasies and vanitees. For Virgyll in the person of Anchi­ses / whom he induceth for an erāple of wisedome / sayth / that y^e losse of sepulture is but a small thȳg. And Lucane in this maner sayth:

Nature in her quiet lap doth all thyng receiue. He is couered w^t the sky / y^t hath none other graue.

Also wyse philosophers / as Diogines / Theodo­rus / Senec / & Cicero / but in especiall Socrates / did proue by great reasōs / that it forsed nat where the carcas became and rotted. Marcus Amilius / whiche was the chefe of the senate of Rome / com­maunded his sonnes alyttell before he departed forth of the worlde / to cary hym out on a bere apoȳ ted without any shetes or purple / nor shulde spēde vpon any other solemnitees beside past .x.s. for he sayd / the corses of noblemen were commended by theyr owne noblenes / and nat by coste of money. Valerius Publicola / and Agrippa Menemius / y^e one beynge banissher of the kynges / and restorer of the comon lybertie / the other broker and arby­trator of the comon peace / and many other mo ex­cellēt [Page]men / dyd vtterly dispice the royalte of sepul­ture: in so moche that whā they had bene in great auctorite & ryches / yet they lafte nat behȳde them so moche as to hyre an ouer sear of y^e funeral with. And if they had counted so great goodnes in buri­eng / as the people supposed / they wolde sure haue sene there vnto. Nowe I wyll speake of our mar­tyrs of the Christyan faythe / whiche cared nat / where theyr deed bodyes lay / so y^t the soules fared well. For Christe / what tyme he shall restore the soules to y^e bodies / shall easely fynde in his house / whiche he knoweth wel inough / the least asshes of the bodye. Saynt Augustyne in the boke that he named y^e Cite of god / in the fyrst sayeth: All these busynes / as kepynge of the corce / and order of the sepulture / and royalties of the funerall / be rather the consolations of them that lyue / than any ease to y^e deed. For if solemne buryeng myght helpe an iuyll man any thyng / than shulde poure buryeng orels none at all / hyndre a good mā: but we se far contrary / nor y^e great royalte of sepulture dyd nat ease the payne of the ryche man / spoken of in the gospell: nor hit was no rebuke to the lazer man / that his body lay on the erthe abiecte and nought set by. For after warde the ryche man was punys­shed in hell for his yll lyuyng / and the lazer was refresshed in the lap of Abraham / & had his rewarde for his lyfe innocētly & vertuously spente. Neither I wolde nat y^t sepulture shulde be put awaye. For holy fathers / as Abraham / Isac / and Iacob / and Iosephe / whan they dyed / commaūded moche of [Page]theyr buryeng. And Tobias was preysed of y^e an­gel of god / bicause he had burted deed people. But all the ornamētes of sepultures ought to go to the profet of them that be deed / and nat to them that lyue. For he that is deed must make his rekenȳge to god only / whiche reioyseth of y^e merites of them that be deed / done before in theyr lyues / and of the clene & pure myndes of them that be alyue. Ther is no shewe of ryches nor pride pleasant to hym / but holle trust and hope in hym / and charite with thyn euē Christen. For if thou gyue almys / thou shalte haue almys: and if thou be mercifull / thou shalte receyue mercye. Therfore make frendes to thy selfe and to thy louers / that are deed / with thy worldly treasure / that thou mayste fynde in the o­ther lyfe them that shall receyue the in to eternall herborowe. For our lorde in the gospell gyueth paradise to them / that gyueth the workes of mercy: and denyeth hit to them / that denye the workes of mercy. Also he teacheth the wayes of gyuyng al­mes / that thou gyue none of thy goodes to them that be of great habylyte / and maye quyte the / or do a better tourne for y^e agayne: but gyue to poure folkes and beggars / that be nat able to do as mo­che for the agayne: and so thou shalte haue great rewarde of god. Thanne howe moche is hit bet­ter to cloth poure strangers / than thy ryche kyns­folkes / and poure lay men / than riche prestis: and that that is spēded on waxe and costly sepultures / to be bestowed on poure wydowes / and fatherles children / and suche as lacke? And moche surer and [Page]more plentuous aduantage shall comme hereof. And in the day of thy weping / thou shalte remem­ber them that euer wepe / beyng opressed with ne­cessite: their teares shall folowe thyn: their mirthe shall chere the. Thy frende that is deed shall finde them atournees and aduocates / moste pleasant to the iudge eteruall / to pleade his matter / and be as diligēt in his peryll as in theyr owne. Nowe it ap­pereth well inough / what I iudge of those wydo­wes / that disceyue their creditours of theyr pay­ment / to brynge forthe theyr husbandes royally / orels do nat accomplysshe and perfourme the wyll and bequestis of y^e deed mā / whiche thyng ought to be done speciallye. I nede nat to declare here / howe moche men be boūde to the payeng of theyr dettes / nor howe moche the fulfyllyng of testamē ­tes ought to be regarded. For y^e true and durable honour of the corce standeth in mennes hartes / & nat in the pompe of sepulture / or tombes of mar­ble and metall / costly wrought. For men saye well by the buryeng of a good mā / be it neuer so poure: and pray for hym / and curse sumptuous tombes / and that the more spitously / if the money be ill gotten / that it was made with.

Of the myndyng of her hus­bande. The .iij. Chaptre.

LEt a wydowe remēber / and haue styll before her eies in her mynde / that our soules do nat perisshe together with the body / but [Page]be losed of the bondes of our corporall grocenes / and be lyghtned from the burden of the body / and that death is nothyng / but a seperation of y^e soule from the body / and that the soule departeth nat so from the body in to an other lyfe / that it clerely gy­ueth ouer our matters here in this worlde / & they haue bene ofte tymes harde of them that were on lyue / and they knowe moche of our actis and fore times by the shewing of angels / that go betwene. Wherfore a good wydowe ought to suppose / that her husbāde is nat vtterly deade / but liueth / both with lyfe of his soule / whiche is the very lyfe / and besyde with her remembraunce. For our frendes lyue with vs / thoughe they be absente from vs or deade / if the lyuely image of them be imprinted in our hartes / with often thynkyng vpon them / and dayly renewed / and theyr lyfe euer waxe fresshe in our myndes. And if we forgette them / than they dye towarde vs. The bretherne of Valeria Mes­salina / that was Sulpicius wyfe / asked her after her husbandes deth (bicause she was yet in the flowers of her youth / and helthfull of body / and therto goodly of beautie) whether she wolde marye a­gayne: Nay verily sayd she: for Sulpicius is still alyue to me. And this was y^e sayeng of a pagane / nat assured of the eternall lyfe. Than what shulde a christen woman do? Lette her kepe the remem­raunce of her husbande with reuerence / and nat with wepyng: and let her take for a solempne and a great othe / to swire by her husbādes soule / and let her lyue and do so / as she shall thynke to please [Page]her husbande / beynge nowe no man but a spirite purified / & a deuine thynge. Also let her take hym for her keper and spy / nat only of her dedes / but also of her conscience. Let her handell so her house & householde / and so bryng vp her children / that her husbande may be glad / and thinke that he is happy to leaue suche a wyfe behȳde hym. And let her nat behaue her selfe so / that his soule haue cause to be angry with her / and take vengeaunce on her vngratiousnes. Cyrus the elder kynge of Perse / whan he dyed as Xenophon wryteth / commaun­ded his sonnes to kepe his memory with deuotion and purenes / for cause of the honour of the god im­mortall / and the worshyp and the immortalite of his soule. Let y^e wydowe make an ende of wepȳg / leste we shulde seme to mourne for our folkes / that are departed / as thoughe we counted them clene deed / and nat absent.

Of the chastite and honestie of a wy­dowe. The .iiij. Chaptre.

IN gyuyng instruction to a christen woman / whom may a man do better after / than saynt Paule / that sayd / he was all thinge to al men? to thentent that he might wynne them to Christe: also putteth in his owne laudie & prayse the busyues of all churches: so he / writȳng to the Corinthies / saythe on this maner: Let syngle fol­kes applye them selfe to the busynes of our lorde / howe they may please hym: and let maried folkes [Page]take hede of worldlye matters / howe they maye please and content theyr spouses. For hit is conue­nient / that the wyfe be all at her husbandes wyll / and that a syngle woman gyue her selfe hollye to Iesu Christe / whiche is spouse of all good and ver­tuous woman. Therfore thā let passe all that trȳ ­myng and arayeng of her body / whiche whan her husbāde lyued / might seme to be done for his plea­sure: but whan he is deed / all her lyfe and all her apparell muste be disposed and ordered after his will / that is successour vnto her husbande / that is immortall god vnto mortall man. Therfore must only the mynde be pyked and made gaye: for that only is it that Christe marieth / and in the whiche Christe resteth and deliteth. But those that intēde to mary / tyre & tryme vp them selfe / and that that I haue sayd before of maydes / may be applyed to this place: yet moche lesse is becomynge for a wy­dowe to garnisshe vp and paynte her selfe: whiche shulde nat only seke for no bargayne / but rather refuse them offered: neither take any offers / but fore agaynst her wyll / and compelled to the secōde ma­ryage / if she be a good woman. Howe be hit in a mayde goodly arayment maye be more suffered / but in a wydowe it is to be discōmēded. For what bodye wolde nat abhorte her / that after her fyrste husbandes death / sheweth her selfe to longe after an other / and casteth away her spouse Christ / and marieth the deuyll fyrst / & fynst man / beyng bothe wydowe / wyfe / & adulterar? But they haue bothe a more easy state and cōdition / & more ouer better / [Page]that shewe theyr wydo wheed in theyr clot hynge / and behauyng of theyr body & maners. For they that be neuer so vngratious / yet haue a fauour to them that be good and honest: and by suche tokēs as they se in them / cast / if they shulde marie with them / and chaunce to die afore them / what maner of wydowe they shulde leaue behynde them. For Iensure you / there is no husbāde / that wolde nat haue his dethe mourned of his wyfe / and be hym selfe desired of her / and myssed: and seyng that we haue suche preceptes for maryed folkes / bothe of philosophers / and the apostles / what shulde we thynke that theyr iudgement was of wydowes? By whom the apostle Paule wryteth to Timothy on this maner: A very wydowe and desolate wo­man trusteth in god / and is in prayer day & night / and she that is delicate and easefull / is deed / ye be­yng on lyue. Therfore byd them kepe them from blame. For they seme to lyue in the syght of those that se them eate and drynke / and go / and speake / and do other workes of lyfe. But and one coulde perse with his syght in to them / or entre with in y^e secretes of their myndes & thoughtes / he shulde se that poure synfull soule / howe it is put from god / and spoyled and depriued of his lyfe. Thus saynt Paule sayth / Thus saint Hieronyme / Thus saint Ambrose / Thus saynt Augustyne / Thus al sayn­tes and holy men / with one voyce and opinion say / That wepynge / and mournyng / solytarines / and fastyng / be the most precious doures and ornamē ­tes of a wydowe. Moreouer / what feast is / what [Page]playes and daunces a wydowe shulde vse / saynt Paule doth shewe / whan he byddeth her be in prayer day and nyght: and so whan her mortall hus­bande is deed / she myght be at more lyberte with the immortal / and more by leasure / and ofter talke with hym / and more pleasantlye / yea and to saye more playnly / a wydowe ought to pray more intē ­tyfely and ofter / and faste longer / and be moche at masse and preachyng / and rede more effectually / & occupie her selfe in y^e contēplation of those thȳges / that may mende her lyuyng and maners. Anna / the doughter of Phanuell / commen of the tribe of Aser / whiche lyued with her husbande seuen yere after her maryage / & whan she had bene wydowe fourscore yere and foure / our lorde Christe founde her in the temple / out of the whiche she had neuer departed / but euer in fastyng and prayer day and nyght. And in dede I wolde haue greatter vertue and perfection in a wydowe / than in a wyfe. For y^e wyfe must apply her selfe to the wyll of her mortal husbande / to whom she is maryed / but y^e wydowe hath taken Christe to her husbande immortall. Wherfore it is reason / that all thyng be more excel­lent and accordyng for suche a spouse / and wordes more sadde and sober. For the communycation of euerye bodye is lyghtly a glasse and a myrrour of the mynde / and conditions of them. For hit is an olde prouerbe: Suthe as the lyfe is / suche is the cōmunication. And foule and vnclene speche hur­teth the mynde. Ill speche corrupteth good condi­tions / as saynt Paule saythe. After the wordes of [Page]y^e poet Menander / I wolde that a wydowe shulde nat only speke suche wordes / as myght shewe her selfe chast & honest / but also that myght instrucre the herars with lernyng / and amende them with example of her lyuyng. For mākynde hath speche to couple wysedome & vertue to gether: & though it seme to do no more but vtter the thought of the mynde / yet doth it cause bothe lernynge & vertue. And though a woman be losed out of the bādes of worldly matrimony / let her yet nat thȳke that she may do what her lust. For often tymes wydowes do shewe / what they haue bene in maryage / & vn­der the lybertie of wydoweheed / open and shewe that whiche they kepte in before for feare of theyr husbandes. As byrdes / whan they be out of their cagis / by and by tourne to theyr olde conditions: Lyke wyse many women shewe out at ones the vices that they dissembled (so as they coulde whyle that theyr husbandes lyued) after that the lettes that they had of theyr husbandes be taken away. For than shall hit be knowen / what nature or con­dition a woman is of / whan she may do what she wyll. And as saynt Hieronyme sayth / she is chast in dede / that may do iuell and she lyste / & wyll nat. Therfore a woman had nede to worke more ware­ly / whan bothe the disprayse of vices and y^e prayse of vertue is imputed to her selfe. For as longe as her husbande lyued / he had a great parte of both. In the wydowheed Christe her spouse wyll lyght­ly helpe her that wyll lyue vertuouslye. And if we do any thyng well / we ought to thanke hym ther­fore: [Page]and if we do ill / it is to be referred to our selfe. And as a man hath all his ioye in his wyfe / if she be good / in like wyse no man can beleue howe pleasant and amiable she is to Christ / that playeth the wydowe in dede / that is to say / the whiche beyng desolate in this lyfe / hath all her hope and truste / and all her ioye and delyte in Christe. And suche saynt Paule commaundeth to the bysshoppes to haue in regarde: for by theyr prayer the churche optayneth many thynges of Christe. For suche a one deserued to se Christe fyrste in the temple / and to prophesie of hym to them that were presēt. Suche a wydowe is praysed by the mouthe of god / & is commended to vs in this commaundement in the .C.xxx. psalme / where our lorde sayth: I shal blesse this wydowe. And in y^e prophet Esai: Thou shalte nat hurte a wydowe / or a childe that is vn­der age. For if thou hurte them / they shall crye to me / and I shall here theyr cryenge / and shalbe dis­pleased / and strycke y^e with my sworde / & your wy­nes shalbe wydowes / and your childrē fatherles.

Howe they shall vse themselfe at home. The .v. Chaptre.

NAt withstandynge that holy men wolde wydowes shulde be ofte in the chur­che / and styll in prayer / yet they dyd nat vtterly forbyd them worldly busynes. For saynt Paule saith of wydowes / wrytynge vnto Tymothe: If any widowe haue chidren / or childrēs children / let her [Page]fyrst lerne to handle her owne house vertuously / & do for her progenitours agayne. Let the wydowe teache this / let the childrē lerne this / that is to be­haue them selfe lowly & louyngly to theyr fathers and mothers / graundfathers & graundmothers. For we se hit chaunseth ofte tymes / that they that be broughte vp with a wydowe / by the meanes of her ouer moche sufferaunce and cherysshynge / be stobborne & inobedient to them / whom they shuld obeye: in so moche that in some countreis / and in­especiall in myne / hit is vsed in a comon prouerbe / to call them wydowes kocneis / that be ill brought vp children / and that be selfe wylde and vnthryfty yonge men. Therfore I wolde counsayle a yonge womā / beyng a wydowe / to put the bryngyng vp of her children vnto some good & sad man. For she is so blynded with the loue of them / that she thyn­keth she dealeth hardly with them / whan she ma­keth of them most Howe be it some hath be great wyse women / and hath brought vp theyr children both very well & wysely: As Cornelia / y^t brought vp Gracchus her son: & Veturia / whiche brought vp Martius Coriliane: in so moche / that what noble acte so euer he dyd in the cōmon welthe / either at home or from home / he was euer incited with this thyng / that he myght do so / that it myght be alowable to his mother / y^t had brought hym vp. But howe children shulde be brought vp? I haue taught in the boke afore. Therfore let the wydowe loke there / whatsoeuer maketh for this purpose. And as for theyr householde / y^e appostle aforesaid / [Page]wrytethe of hit. If any wydowe do nat se to her owne frendes specially / she denyeth her fayth / and is worse than an infidell. Yet lest she be to homely / to put her selfe in presse / in company of her seruaū ­tes / namely if she be yōge / let her here what saynt Hieronyme sayth / writyng vnto Saluina. Chastite sayth he / in women is a brytyll thyng / and lyke a goodly flower wyddereth and dryeth with a ly­tell wether / and a small blaste: and namely if the age be apte to vice / and the aucthorite of the hus­bande lacking / whose spirite is the defender of the wyfe. What shulde a wydowe do amonge a great noumbre of men seruauntes / whiche I wolde nat she shulde set at nought / as bondmen / but abasshe and regarde as mē. Howe be it / if she haue a great house / y^t requireth moche mannes seruice / let her make some wel aged man ruler / that is sadde and discrete / and of good conditions / whose honestie shalbe his maistres worship. For I haue knowen many that haue shutte vp theyr dores / and haue nat comen abrode / and yet haue had an yll name with theyr owne seruaūtes / whom ouer gorgious aꝑell of y^e seruāt hath caused to be suspected / orels y^e welfare & good lykyng of his bodye / or age apte for pleasure / or pride / or high mȳde / by the reasō y^t he knewe he was loued of his maystres: whiche loue / though hit be well hyd / yet many tymes hit appereth / whan he dispiseth his felowes / as they were his bondmen. These be the wordes of saynt Hieronyme: vnto the whiche I adde this more o­uer / That beste is for a wydowe to mynysshe her [Page]householde / in especial of mē / and to take vnto her some well aged woman / wyse and vertuous / with whom she may leade her lyfe: and aske counsayle of her in suche matters as pertayne to women. And if she be aged her selfe / let her take to her some olde man / that is some kynsman of hers / or of her alyaunce / whom she may trust vnto. And fynally / let her euer vse the counsaile of that man / that she knoweth hath good wytte / and wolde her profet / and is trusty. The olde Romayns wolde / that the women shulde euer be vnder the rule of theyr fa­thers / and bretherne / and husbandes / & kynsmē. Let her dwelle rather with her mother in lawe / or her husbandes alyaunce and kynsfolkes / thanne with her owne / both for the remembraunce of her husbande / for whose sake hit may appere / that she loueth better his kyn & his blode / than her owne. And in as moche as she is trāslated in to that kyn­red / vnto the whiche she hath borne children / or at the least wyse shulde haue done. More ouer / y^e dis­cipline of chastite is rekened more strayte amonge alyance / thā kynsfolkes: bicause there is lesse che­risshyng and libertie. But a vertuous womā wyll nat be so moche moued with all these thynges / as with the remembraunce and loue of her husbāde. For so Antonia / doughter vnto Marcus Antoni­us the iudge / wyfe vnto Drusus / ledde all her lyfe with her mother in lawe. Lyke wyse Liuia lefte her house and her countrey to dwell with her mo­ther īlawe Noemy. Excepte ther be with her mo­ther in lawe some nyce and wanton yonge men / y^t [Page]maye cause a blotte in her good name / or put her chastite in ieoperdye: or excepte the womē that be her alyans / be nat of all the beste fame: for than it is more wysedome to go to her owne kynsfolkes.

Howe they shall behaue them selfe forthe. The .vj. Chapter.

OTher whyles they shall haue cau­ses to go abrode. Therfore lette them go co­uered / and shewe in dede / what theyr name mea­neth. For y^e name of a wydowe in Greke & Latine / is as moche to say / as desolate & destitute. Wher­fore ther is moche difference betwene one goynge alone / and companied with men. And seynge that so great sadnes of behauour and arayment is re­quired in a wyfe / than what ought to be cōsydered in a wydowe? She ought to shewe example vnto other / bothe of chastite / sobernes / and honestye. And seynge that they ought to gyue example to o­ther / howe can it do well / that they shulde go forth appoȳted in y^e armour of the deuyll / both to shewe the pompe and vanite of theyr owne mynde / and set the snares of Satanas in steade of the exāple of Christ? Wherfore saynt Ambrose sayth ful wel / that with mournyng garmentes / and sad and de­mure lokes / wanton & nyce lokes be kepte vnder / and vnlaufull lustes quenched. The surest is nat to go moche abrode: and whā she goth / to be com­panied with some good & sad womā. Let her seche to no churches / where as is reforte / but where as [Page]no body is / and where none occasions is of trespas­syng / and good quietnes and occasyon of prayeng. Let her nat kepe moche company with freris and prestis. For the deuyll is craftye / and by longe vse hath lerned by what crafte euery bodye may be o­uer comyne. And if he haue oportunyte / he wyll sone brynge his purpose to passe: for he hath none other thynge to occupie hym selfe with. If a wy­dowe wolde aske any counsayle / let her chose some aged man / that is paste the lust of the worlde / nor is infected with any vices nor is set vpō couetous­nes / nor will set his mȳde on flatery for hope of vā ­tage of lucre of money / & that is wel lerned / by moche experience hath gathered great wysedome / that he neither kepe her mynde strayter thā nede is / nor let her haue ouer moche the brydle of liber­tie / nor dothe counte nothynge more precious nor dere than trouth and vertue: let her / what so euer she douteth shewe to hym / and be aknowē to none other body. Saynt Hieronyme writeth to Eusta­chium / and gyueth her suche maner counsaile. If thou doute any thyng of scripture / or be ignorant in it / aske of hym that is commendable of lyuȳg / & for his age excusable nor hath any euyll name / & that may saye / I haue disposed the to one man to yelde a chast virgine vnto Christe. And if there be none that can expounde and declare thy doutes / it is better to be ignorant safely / thā to knowe with ieoperdye. For in courtes and ī resorte of mē / and gatheryng of people / a wydowe shulde nat medle. In y^e whiche places there is great ieoꝑdy of those [Page]thynges / that a wydowe ought to sette moste by. And a wydowe / y^e is chast / honest / of good fame / & vertuous ought to do so / y^t she maye do good / nat only to her selfe / but also to other folkes. A brode / and afore manye mennes eies and handlynges / shainfastnes by lytell and lytell gothe awaye / and honestie and chastite commeth in ieoperdye: and though they be nat ouer comen / yet they be sore assayled. And as for the ouercōmyng euery mā will say / nat as the thyng is in dede / but as he lusteth. More ouer / the cares of this worlde cowle the loue and desyre of heuenly thynges: and as our lorde sayth in the gospel / The sede falleth amonge thor­nes / that is choked with thoughtes and busynes of this present lyfe: neither is suffered to growe vp to good corne: And lyke wyse as a see / that the wynde hath lyen sore vpon / is yet tossed and trou­bled / after that the wynde is layde / and y^e tempest gone: so mans mynde lately comē out of busynes of y^e worlde / yet casteth ī his mȳde & studie y^e same thinges / & pāteth after his labour: nor can nat aft his trouble come streyght to it selfe. And whā the mȳde is troubled / what maner of prayers can be sayd? verely as you may se / carefull and vnquiet sauorynge of the myre and dyrte of this peuysshe worlde: lyke as whan a ryuer or foūtayne is trou­bled a man can drawe no water but full of mudde. The quietnes of minde is that that lyfteth vs vp hyest vnto y^e speche of god / as it dyd mary Maud­sene / whiche all mannes and worldely busynes gyuen ouer / satte at the feete of our lorde diligently [Page]herynge his worde. Therfore is she commended by the testymony of Christe / that she had chosē the best partye / y^e whiche shulde nat be takē from her. But here wolde some say / My landes be in perill / I am sued. Vnto that / here the sayenge of saynt Ambrose. Do nat complayne / y^t thou arte alone: For chastite requireth solytarines: and a chast woman desyreth secretnes. But y^u hast matters & bu­synes / & fearest y^e attourne of thyn aduersary / plea dyng before y^e iuge. But our lorde entreateth for y^e sayeng: Gyue iugement for the fatherles chylde / & iustifie the wydowe. But yet thou woldest kepe thȳ heritage. The heritage of chastite is far gret­ter: y^e whiche a wydowe ought better to kepe thā a wyfe. And if thy seruant offende / forgyue hym. For it is better y^e y^u forbeare an others faute / than vtter thyn owne. Thus saith saint Ambrose. Also I wolde y^u shuldest vnderstāde / y^e my mynde is to haue her matter the moste tendred of the iudges / that hath but feble attournes / or none at all. For than shall the iudges take on them the roume of attourneis / whan they withstande often tymes myghty defenders and aduocates. For naturally we hate them that haue great power and ryches / and helpe them that haue lyttell / and go about to put downe them that exalte them selfe / & to helpe vp them / that be humble and lowely. Also it is or­deyned of nature / that in mennes opinions / as y^e wyse man sayth / in all maner of stryfes the great­ter shall seme to do y^e wronge / yea though he haue it done to hym / bycause he maye do more. And the [Page]same that I haue sayd of iudges / vnderstāde me to haue spokē of attourneis. Vnto whom / al y^e wydowes matter shalbe more credible / whom they se ouer shamfast to defēde her owne quarell: and her matter shalbe so moche more recommended vnto them / the lesse that she recommendeth it. And her cause shalbe more like to be good / whom mē thȳke so good and vertuous / that she wyll neither aske nor holde that is nat her owne. So a good womā shall nat bryng with her to the courte argumētes of pleaders in y^e lawe / but the auctorite of recorde. And she that is bablyng / and busye / & troublous / muste nedes wereye men / and make them to lothe her / and hyndreth her of y^e socour that I spake of. And this I haue sayde by good iudges and aduo­cates / or at y^e least suche as she knoweth nat to be yll. For some be so nyce and wanton / that they will sell theyr counsayle and iugementes for theyr vn­thrifty pleasure of their body. Vpon whom dout­les the common good order and maner wolde take punysshement / sauyng that the lawes / as y^e wyse man sayd / be lyke the coppe webbes / that take all littell beastis / and let the great alone. But a good wydowe / if she knowe y^e they be suche / as she may well inough by theyr name that they haue of the people / she shall eschewe them & fle / nat only with the losse of her goodes / but also ieoꝑdie of her selfe / if nede were. And the same I wolde she shulde do by all that be wanton and vicious. Nowe of run­nyng about to other mennes houses / saynt Paule hath a precepte / that those wydowes ought to be [Page]abiecte / as mysfamous / that rounne ydell from house to house: and nat only idell / but also be bab­blars & ful of wordes / where as is nat cōuenient. For there be some / whiche whan they thinke their selfe they haue done all theyr owne busynes / than without shame they medle with other folkes busi­nes / & gyue counsaile / as though they were great sages / and exhorte and gyue preceptes / rebuke & correcte / pyke fautes / and be wondrous quicke of syght from home / and at home blynde inough.

Of seconde mariages. The .vij. Chaptre.

NOr to condēne and reproue vtterly seconde mariages / it were a poynt of here­sye. Howe be it that better is to absteyne thā ma­rye agayne / is nat only counsayled by Christyane purenes / that is to saye by diuine wysedome / but also by pagans / y^t is to say / by worldly wisedome. Cornelius Tacitus / as I haue rehersed / sayth / y^e women of Almayne were nat wonte to marie but of maydes: and thoughe they were wydowes in theyr youthe / yet wolde they nat marye agayne / and specially the noble women. Valeria / syster vn to Messala / and Portia the yōger doughter of Ca­to / whan there was praysed vnto her / for her good nes / a woman that had betwyse maried / Portia answered / An happy & a chast dame wolde neuer marye oftener than ones. Cornelia / the mother of Caius & Titus Gracchus / whan she was moued with great ꝓmises by Ptolome y^e kyng of Egypt / [Page]to marye agayne / she refused / & had leauer be cal­led Cornelia Gracchus wyfe / than the quene of E­gipte. Also seconde mariagis were rebuked in playes & enterludes / and verses of poetes in this maner: Ofte maryeng can nat be without occasiō of reprehēsiō: And a womā y^t marieth many / can nat please many. Nat w^tstādyng wydowes lay many causes / wherfore they say they must marie agaȳe: of whom saint Hieronyme speketh in this maner / writȳg vnto y^e holy womā Furia. Yōge widowes / of whom there hath many gone bacwarde after y^e deuyl / after y^t they haue had theyr pleasure by maryeng in Christe / be wōte to say / My goodes spillē dayly / y^e heritage of myn auncetry perissheth / my seruaūtes speke stubbournely & p̄sumtuously / my mayde wyl nat do my cōmaūdement / who shal go before me forthe? Who shall answere for my house rēte? Who shall teache my yōge sōnes? Who shall bryng vp my yōge doughters? And so they laye y^t for a cause to marye fore / whiche shulde rather let them frō it. For she brȳgeth vpon her childrē an e­nemie / & nat a norisher: nat a father / but a tyrāne. And she inflamed with vicious lust / forgetteth her owne wōbe: & she y^t late afore sat mournȳg amōge her children / that ꝑceiue nat their owne losse & harmes / nowe is pyked vp a newe wyfe. Wher to lay­est thou y^e cause in thyne enherytāce / & pride of thy seruaūtes? cōfesse thyn owne viciousnes. For none of you taketh a husbāde but to y^e intent y^t she wyll lye w^t hym / nor excepte her lust pricke her. What a ragiousnes is it / to set thy chastite commō lyke an [Page]harlotte / y^t y^u mayst gether riches? And for a vile / & a thȳg y^t shall sone passe away / to fyle thy chastite / y^t is a thȳg most precious & euerlastȳg. If y^u haue childrē alredy / what nedest y^u to marie? If y^u haue none / why dost y^u nat feare y^e barēnes / y^t thou hast proued afore: & auēterest vpō ā vncertayne thȳg / & forgost thyn honestie & chastite / y^t y^u wast sure of. Nowe y^u hast writȳg of spousage made y^e / y^t within shorte whyle after / thou may be cōpelled to write a testament. The husbande shall feyne hym selfe sicke / & shal do on lyue & in good helthe / y^t he wolde haue to do whā y^u shalt die. And if it chaūce y^t thou haue children by thy seconde husbāde / thā ryseth strife & debate at home w^t ī thy house. Thou shalte nat be at libertie to loue thyne owne childrē equal­ly / neither to loke indifferētly vpō them / y^t y^u haste borne: y^u shalt reache them meat secretly: he wil ē ­uie hym y^t is deed / & excepte y^u hate thyn owne childrē / y^u shalt seme to loue their father yet. And if he haue childrē by a nother wyfe / thā shall players & gesters rayle and gest vpō y^e / as a cruel stepdame. If thy stepson be sicke / or his heed ake / y^u shalte be diffamed for a witche: & if y^u gyue hym nat meate / y^u shalt be accused of cruelte: & if y^u gyue any / y^u shalt be called a poysoner. What I pray y^t / hath seconde mariages so pleasāt / y^t cā be able to recōpēce these euylles? Thus saith saynt Hieronyme. As for the preyse of cōtynēce & chastite / & coūsailyng from se­cōde mariages / what cā I be able to say after y^e e­loquēt fositayne of saint Hieronyme / or y^t swete dilicates of saynt Ambrose speche? Therfore who so [Page]desyreth to knowe any thyng of those matters / let hym loke it of them. For it longeth nat to my pur­pose / to recite al theyr sayenges here. For I do nat ītēde to write exortatiōs vnto any kȳde of lyuyng / but to gyue rules / howe they may lyue. Neuer y^e lesse / I wolde coūsaile a good woman to cōtinue in holy wydowhed / namely if she haue childrē: which thyng is y^e intēt & frute of matrimonye. But & she dout / lest she can nat auoyde y^e prickes of nature w^t y^t life / let her gyue an eare vnto saint Paule thayo stel / writȳg vnto y^e Corinthies ī this wife: I say to vnmaried women and wydowes / it were good for them / if they kepte them selfe as I am: but yet if they cā nat suffre / let them marie. For it is best to marie thā bourne. And y^e same apostle writeth vnto Timothe thus: Put away yōge wydowes / for whan they haue abused them selfe at large / than wolde they mary to Christ / & are cōdēned bicause they haue refused theyr fyrste ꝓmyse / & walke idle from house to house / neither ōly idle / but tryflȳg & bablyng / pratȳg & talkyng / suche thynges as be cōmeth nat. Therfore I wold y^t y^e yōger shuld marie / & brȳg forth childrē / & rule their house / & gyue their enmy none occasiō to say il by them. For ther be some / which streight after their cōuersion haue folowed Satanas. Yet let them beware / y^t they do it nat by & by aft their husbādes death. For y^t is a tokē y^t they loued nat them for whose deꝑting they haue so sone lefte sorowyng / mournyng / & al desire of them. And if they must ꝓuide ought for theyr house or children / let them se to hit before the busy­nes [Page]of maryage and dominiō of a newe husbāde. And lette them get suche husbandes as be accor­dynge for wydowes to be maryed vnto / nor yonge men / wanton / hote / and full of playe / ignorante / and riotous / that can neither rule theyr house / nor theyr wyfe / ne theyr selfe neither: but take an hus­bande some thyng past mydle age / sober / sad / and of good wyt / experte with great vse of the worlde: whiche with his wisedome may kepe al the house in good ordre: whiche by his discretiō may so temper and gouerne all thyng / that there maye be al­waye at home sober myrthe and obedience / with­out frowardnes / and y^e house holde kepte in theyr labour and ductye / without payne / and all thyng clere and holle. And lette them were and knowe / that these contentes hym / whose pleasure onely they shall all more esteme / thanne the holle coun­treys besyde