A BREEFE Discourse declaring and approuing the necessarie and inuiolable maintenance of the laudable Customes of London Namely of that one whereby a reasonable partition of the goods of husbands among their wiues and children is prouided With an answer to such obiections and pretensed reasons as are by persons vnaduised or euil persuaded vsed against the same AT LONDON Printed by Henrie Midleton for Rafe Newberie 1584. Iuris ciuilis de consuetudine Axiomata siue maximae Consuetudo vim habet rei Iudicatae Consuetudo est optima legum interpres Conuentio consuetudo vincunt legem Consuetudo firmata est vbi simili aliquando contradicto Iudicio quid est obtentum seu Iudicatum Caepta vsucapio vel praescriptio per defunctum continuatur per haeredem cum in omne ius defuncti succedat haeres Profunda requie humano generi prospexit vsucapio Barto Vsucapio est quies periculi solicitudinisque litium Cicero A BREEFE discourse declaring and approuing the necessarie and inuiolable maintenaunce of the lawdable Customes of London WE finde it necessarie in all common wealthes for subiects to liue vnder the direction of Lawes constitutions or customs publickly knowen and receiued and not to depende only vpon the commandement and pleasure of the gouernor be the same neuer so iust or sincere in life and conuersation For that the Law once enacted and established extendeth his execution towards al men alike without fauour or affection whereas if the word of a Prince were a lawe the same being a mortall man must néedes bee possessed with those passions and inclinations of fauour or disfauour that other men be and sometimes decline from the constant vnremoueable leuell of indifferencie to respect the man besides the matter if not to regard the person more than the cause Wherfore it was wel agréed by the wisest Philosophers and greatest politicks that a dumme lawes direction is to be preferred before the sole disposition of any liuing Prince both for the cause afore touched and for other reasons which I will here omit But to descend to the particularities of my intention and to treate of the validitie and inuiolable obseruation of some laudable I might terme them sacred customes being the principall ioyntes and verie sinowes of all good corporations and fellowships and being also the mainteiners of a sacred vnitie and natural amitie betwéene the husband and his wife the parentes their children which as Aristotle the wise Philosopher termeth it is the beginning of a citie For what is a citie but a manifold and ioynt societie consisting of many housholdes and liuing vnder the same Lawes fréedomes and franchises so I must néedes confesse them to be the procurers causes of sundry good effectes to the general estate of the citie wherein they be obserued as of the other side they may bréede sundrie inconueniences in such a citie where the same are violated and broken with allowance and impunitie I will therfore shortly shewe the nature of a Custome and the difference which it holdeth from a publicke Lawe And next I will declare how necessarie the same are to manage the gouernment and to entertain the prosperitie and traffique of this citie and namely that one good custome which I entende to speake of Lastly I wil endeuour to aunswere those pretensed reasons and coulourable obiections made against the precise maintenance and defence thereof First then I suppose that a Custome which iustly deserueth that name is of no lesse reuerent regarde and authoritie than a written lawe passed and allowed in Partliament which notwithstanding I doe graunt that there are certaine differences betwéene a lawe and a custome for the Custome taketh his force by degrées of time and consent of a certaine people or the better part thereof but a lawe springeth vp in an instant receiueth life from him that is of soueraigne authoritie to cōmand A Custome enlargeth it selfe by plausible entertainement and acceptable circumstances of time occasion with generall liking and allowance whereas a Law is commanded and published by power and receiued by dutifull constraint and that often against the good-will of them that are bounde by it for which cause Chrysostome not improperly compared the Custom to a King and the Lawe to a tyrant Moreouer the Custome doeth neither promise a rewarde for obseruation nor inflict a punishment for violation therof wheras the Lawe alwaies importeth either a consideration of gaine or a terror of punishment or damage if the same be not a Lawe of enlargement or permission that disanulleth the prohibitions of a former Lawe Finally a Custome is applyed to the commoditie of some one prouince circuite or citie and grounded vpon a speciall reason of conueniencie or cōmoditie for those persons or place where it is obserued whereas the Lawe hath a generall reason See 34. H. 8. B. custome 59. A mā may not prescribe or plead a custome per totam angliam for that is cōmon law no custome otherwise if the custome had beene pleaded to be in such a citie or countie as Gauelkind Gloc. Fee and such like extended to the whole Nation bound by the same without priuate consideration of the due importances of any peculiar place or people Therefore it is well saide and put in vre by the common Lawyer Quod consuetudo ex rationabili causa profecta priuat communem legem That a Custome grounded vppon reasonable and honest consideration abridgeth or altereth the iudgement of the cōmon Law So that in Customes the estate or condition of the people are to be respected and such Customes as are consonant to reason and most appliable to the estate and qualitie of such people are to be allowed For example the Custome of Boroughenglish Burchenglish yet in force in sundrie places of Englande whereby the younger sonne is to inherite his fathers lande hath taken strength by this reason that the father may if he be not careles and secure to doe his children good traine vp his elder sonnes in some good trade or occupation by which they may bee able to get their owne liuing whereas the youngest by the impotency and tendernesse of his yeares may be perchaunce vnapt and vnable for such instruction And so the Custome commendable that prouideth for the reliefe of the young and impotent Also by an olde custome of this lande in sundrie boroughes and townes landes were deuisable by wil though the Lawes of Englande pronounced such deuises to be voide and the reason was But see now the statute of 32 H 8. ca 2 and 34. H. 8. c. 5. of Explanation for that inhabitants of Boroughes or Cities whose traffique and trade resteth much vppon mutuall trust credite are oftentimes indebted at the time of their death Wherefore it was thought méete that they might deuise their lande for the due satisfaction of their creditors which to do they were enabled by the Custome In Kent and other places of this lande the Custome of Gauelkind
companies So that this custome made in furtherance of mutuall accounts doth verie much enable the prisoner to procure his libertie and pay his det Also if the prisoner be poore and of himself vnable to pay Vide 4. E 6. plo com 36. this toleration of their going abroad with the kéeper is a good meane for him to procure the almes and reléefe of other charitable people thereby the sooner to purchase his libertie Whereby it appeareth what reckoning the lawe maketh of them in consideration of their great hazard by sea through danger of shipwracke or piracie and aduenture in strange countreys by falshood and negligence of factours or by warres betwéene Princes the inconueniences and mischiefes whereof are not so offensiue or preiudiciall to anie as to merchants whose condition as it may by a fortunate voiage be much enriched and aduaunced so may it by any of the mischaunces aforesaid be so empaired ouerthrowen that it may turne himselfe his wife and familie to vtter calamitie and distresse Therefore as the hope comfort of the wife hauing commonly no assurance of ioynture in the citie nor expectation of dower as other women haue and also of the children being for the most part borne to no great patrimonie other than that which their fathers shall by their vertuous industrie acquire doth onely depend vpon the fortune of their husbands or fathers trauaile it hath laudably and conscionably béene obserued for a custome and is yet by the wiser and better sort religiously regarded that when any citizen of London dyeth his wife shall haue the third parte of his goods and the children another third part equally to be diuided among them according to the proportion of his goods and himselfe another third part to dispose by his last will testament at his pleasure A partition so reasonable and grounded vppon so good consideration the qualitie and estate of the Londoners considered that if it were not approued by custome but to be proposed in the wisest and highest court of Parliament whether it were fit to haue the force of a law I thinke no man vnlesse he were a Timon by nature or a Diogenes by disposition no man I say possessed with common humanitie would gainesay or impugne it Doth not the common law now in force giue the husband presently by the intermariage al the goods and chattels of his wife though the same be of the value of 10000. pounds so that when shée is once his wife the law disableth her to giue or dispose any thing that was hers before And shall not the husband be bound by semblable obligation of reason to leaue his wife the third part of his goods and if the lawe be in that respect defectiue as what law in the world except the law of God is without his imperfections shall not the custome supply it in such sort that no barbarous and vncharitable or cautelous and vnkind practises by déede of gift or otherwise shall disapoint or defraud the same especially here in London where the good estate of men for the most part consisteth in mouables by reason of their continuall trades and exchanges so that their wiues cannot assure thēselues of their dowrie cōmonly called thirds as they might if their husbands were seased of lands in fée simple Also the comfortable socitie betwéene husband wife is of that pretious estimate and honorable reputation before God and man that there may not possibly a more sacred and straite coniunction be imagined among the children of men Charondas the Philosopher calleth them Homosipios which signifieth fedde with the selfe same foode And Epimenides another Philosopher calleth them Homocapuos which is as much to say as vsing the selfe same smoke and the selfe same manger as it were drawing the selfe same breath Finally the scripture giueth expresse charge to eche man to tender his wife with extraordinarie good offices by saying Thou shalt leaue thy father mother Matth. cap. 19 Mark cap. 10. 1. Cor. cap. 7. Ephes cap. 5. and cleaue to thy wife If the force of custome did not enforce the matter these onely considerations were sufficient to proue that there should be nothing priuate nothing peculiar nothing proper but euery thing in common euery thing equally interested betwéene the husbande and the wife The like though not equall affection is commaunded by the Apostle to the Colloss 3. by the fathers towards their children You fathers be tender and louing vnto your children and discourage them not But let vs sée what account our common law hath made of the like customes sounded vppon the loue and affection betwéene man and wife It was vsed of auncient time in Gauelkind land hath receiued the allowance and iudgement of a good and lawfull custome that if the husband be attainted and executed for a felonie by him committed M. 8. H. 3 presc 60. yet shall his wife for the solace of her losse and desolation haue her dowrie of his land 8. E. 2. Itin. can prescript 50. and also the heire shall inherite the same according to that olde saying The father to the bough the sonne to the plough although the common lawe by rigorous imputation to make men more fearefull to offende in crymes of such quality P. 35. H. 6.58 extendeth the punishmēt though not to the persons of the wife children yet to their fortune so farre as it may turne to their vtter impouerishment and discomfort In the citie of Yorke there is a custome that the husband may enfeoffe his wife of such laude as he shall purchase which though it be against the rule of the common lawe which disableth the husband to conuey any lande to his wife by feoffement or déede 12. H. 3. pre◠6.1 yet by force of the custome it was adiudged to be lawfull and effectuall Also the custome of manie places in England is that the wife shall enioy the whole land of her husband in name of her dowrie as it appeareth by M. Litt. himselfe Litt. ti Dower and the husband cannot by any cautele or deuise defeate her therof And in some other countreys they haue the moitie or tene part and generally by the common lawe the thirde part In Northwales the custome is so beneficiall for wiues that although they be sure of their thirds of such land as their husbands shall chaunce to be seased of at any time during the mariage yet are they to haue the moitie or tone parte not onely of his goods moueables but also of his leases be the termes thereof neuer so long Not manie yeres agoe the custome of Taunbean was alleaged and allowed by the court of the Kings bench 14. Eliz. that the husband or wife whether so euer of them did happen to ouerliue should haue the inheritance or fée simple land of the other by suruiuor a custome verily neither contrary to reason nor repugnant to religion as no well disposed or good
is mainteined which importeth an equall diuisiō of the enheritance to be made among all the brethren a Custome partlie grounded vpō a natural consideration for that al the sonnes holde the like obligation of nature desert with their parentes in the which they haue an equall interest and also suffered to take place in Kent and other places of this lande in those daies most inclinable to rebellion to the intent to enféeble their forces and to bring their great houses and families to impuissance and decay thereby to disable and discourage them from such vnlawefull and violent attemptes And to come néerer to the matter this famous and renowned citie of London hath many laudable and auncient Customes which though they derogate and differ much from the rules of the common Lawe yet haue they béene not onely approoued by inuiolate experience of sundrie ages but also haue béene of olde ratified and confirmed by sundry actes of Parliament and charters of Princes and namely by the statute of Magna Charta by these wordes following Magna charta cap. 9. Quod ciuitas London habeat omnes libertates suas antiquas consuetudines quas habere consueuit which is That the citie of Londō haue all their auncient liberties customes which they haue vsed to haue The words folowing for other cities c. be Quod habeant omnes libertates liberas consuetudines suas which signifieth that they shall still retaine their liberties free customes that is to say their fréedomes immunities as to be discharged of tolle pontage and such like Whereas the Citie of London hath prouision made by that estatute for all vsages and customes whatsoeuer Verily as the citie of London beareth oddes and prerogatiue ouer other cities in England being the Metropolis or mother Citie thereof so are the inhabitantes of it no lesse necessarie than profitable members of the cōmon wealth in transporting our commodities into other lands and enriching vs with the benefits and fruits of other countries The citie of Rome and Citizens of the same had that prerogatiue as in other thinges so also in their executions for causes capital that they should not be crucified being a death of great torment and infamie but only beheaded The benefit of which Custome S. Paule claymed and obteyned in the time of Nero pretending that he was a citizen of Rome The saide Citizens also by the dignitie and reputation of their citie were not for any transgression or offence to be fettered whipped or scourged which priuiledge likewise the saide S. Paule toke hould of who being oppressed by the calumnious accusations and outcries of the Iewes was by commandement of Claudius Lisias the captaine to be examined by torture of whippes Actes 22. what was the cause of that generall murmure and exclamation of the people against him yet S. Paule by alleadging that he was a frée man of Rome not onely deliuered himselfe frō the iniurie and rage of the people but also made the captaine much afraide of question or punishment for the indignitie offered vnto him so great was the maiestie of that Citie and so reuerent the reputation of all such as were accounted members thereof Athenaeus termed Rome in those daies very fitly Epitome totius orbis an abridgement of the whole worlde for the continuall concourse and resort of all nations thither We may deriue thence an argument for our purpose that London beeing woorthie that title Epitome totius Angliae in respect of the necessarie repaire frequent assemblie of al estates therein whether it be for Iustice by the Lawes of this land which are here administred or by trade of marchandise which is here so great that it may be termed totius occidentis emporiū and chieflie because of the fauorable and often soiorne of our most roiall and gracious soueraigne whose maiesties chamber this is as it alwaies hath béene of her most noble progenitors the same is no lesse woorthy of sundry preheminences which by Custome and Charter it enioyeth aboue other Cities of this lande We finde in our Lawe bookes that the scholers of Oxford claymed a priuiledge by custome to haue preferment of any house or lodging that was to be lette in the citie of Oxforde 40. E. 3. fo 17. Vide Brooke Prescr 8. the same was allowed in the common place in Westminster where Iustice Finchden a man of great reckoning at that time saide that it is reason that they which are principal instruments of great good in the common wealth should haue beneficiall customes for the maintenance of their societies the like reason saith he serueth for the merchantes of the staple in Westminster and also for the Iustices of Assises or Iustices in eyre to haue the like prerogatiue Also it is not vnfitte to remember that the barons of the lande haue diuers prerogatiues aboue other subiectes that is they shall not bee sworne when they passe vppon their Péeres and if they bring an appeale the defendant shall not wage battaile against them and they are exempted out of all returnes in Iuries and shall not be sworne in Léetes and all in respect of their dignitie and for the necessarie vse of them in gouernement of the common wealth So that persons of néedefull employment in the estate haue alwaies béene sauoured in all their honest Customes or prescriptions and especially the Citizens of London and the rather for the great presumption and opinion conceiued of their experience who being trayned by harde education in great vse of seruice and affaires and also by their trauaile and traffique beyonde the seas by continuall negotiation with other Nations must néedes by al reasonable likelihoode procure vnto themselues great iudgement and sufficiency to manage a politicke regiment in their citie according vnto that verse of the Poet Homer in the beginning of his treatise of wise Vlisses his aduentures remembring his trauaile into sundrie Nations and Cities Die mihi musa virum captae post tempora Troiae Qui mores hominum multorum vidit vrbes The sense whereof may be wel expressed in English verse without time thus All trauailers do gladly report great praise of Vlisses For that he knewe manie mens maners and sawe manie cities Which opinion of their pollicie and experience conceiued and approued by the noble Princes of this lande in all ages doeth euidently appeare by the manner of their gouernment whereat strangers do no lesse enuie than admire séeing so populous a citie conteyning by true estimation more then 500 thousandes of all sortes of inhabitants managed not by cruell viceroyes as is Naples or Millaine neither by proude Podestà as be most cities in Italie or insolent Lieuetenantes or presidentes as are sundry Cities in France whose presidents are noble men or captaines hauing their persons enuironed with a guarde of souldiers and holding their cities possessed with a garrison aswell in the quietest calme of peace as in the hoatest combustion of warre but by a man of
husband can denie when he entreth into consideration of these holie duties and good obseruances that are cōmended and commaunded in holie scripture Read the Epistle to the Ephesians ca. 5. If then these customes beare sway in sundrie places and are publiquely approued by iudicial sentences what citizen wil be so senselesse what Londoner so loose what merchant or other fréeman so inconsiderate and vnregardfull of his owne good estate and so readie to defile his own nest as once to attempt or practise the violation or breach of so good a custome What is he who séeing the estate of London is preferred before other cities of the lande by the benefite and meanes of their most profitable customes that will giue a daungerous example to abrogate the same and to call their vsages in question A custome if it haue béene once notoriously discontinued or interrupted loseth the title and appellation of a custome and by instance giuen of the time when it was disused lacketh a great part of his authoritie Then vnnatural or at least wise vnaduised is that citizen which to serue his priuate humor bringeth a generall custom either into question by his fraud or by his example into contempt Pernicious also is the president of one custome called in question to the ruine of the rest Namely when as the citie by their counsell in her maiesties courtes of Westminster claiming the benefite of their customes See before in the case of robberie how carefull the citie was to auoide this danger and to preserue their custome and also in the case of the attaint before 7. H. 6. c. may be encountred confronted with a counterplea giuen by themselues that such of their owne Aldermen commons haue by their déedes and deuises either disaffirmed or disanulled the same A practise as of great condemnation in them that do it so no doubt of great ouersight incircumspection in them that suffer it But somewhat to satisfie the idle cauils pretended to the contrarie saith some one is not the generall lawe of England sufficient to manage the gouernement of London as wel as of all other subiectes but that Londoners must haue priuate customes and vsages of their owne This obiection made by the enuiers or enimies of the wealth of London howsoeuer they make shewe to the contrarie rather deserueth a hisse than a replye and is sufficiently confuted in the former discourse But it is further vrged by some hard husbands my wife is frowarde vndutifull and hath not deserued it Shée is a foole and cannot rule it Shée will marrie againe and enrich some other with the fruite of my trauaile Wherefore I thinke it necessarie to abridge her of that liberalitie which the custome doth extende Also my children be euill enclined disobedient or vntractable or some of them be Wherfore I may with reason depriue them of the benefit of this custome First to answere the vndutifulnes I wish thée whosoeuer thou art to summon and conuent thy selfe to the tribunall seate of thy inwarde minde Aug. in lib. confess as S. Augustine saieth to make conscience thy iudge thy cogitations the witnesses thy actions the accusers thy memory the register or record to giue in euidence and let it be discussed in all due circumstances whether thou didst not likewise forget the offices of a good husband and defraud her of her duties 1. Corinth ca. 7 as S. Paule sayeth or prouoke her to impacience which the same Apostle forbiddeth in these wordes You husbandes be louing to your wiues Coloss ca. 3. and no way be bitter vnto them Peter Epist 1. ca. 1. Which also S. Peter remembreth in aduising husbandes to dwell with their wiues sincerely and according to knowledge in doing honor vnto them as to the weaker vessell Let it I say bee examined in the consistorie of thy conscience whether thou either by thy fault wittingly or negligently by thy default or by thy vnkindnesse vnduly hast caused her being the weaker vessell to be the more intollerable If thou finde thy selfe condemned by thy conscience let remorse be thy executioner and amendment with kindnesse towardes thy wife be thy penance but if thou finde thy selfe guiltie of no want of affection loue or good cariage of thy selfe towardes her so that her vndutifulnesse procéeded of her selfe yet I pray thée remember the benefits which God hath giuen thée by her meanes whether they be giftes of fortune in bettering of thy estate or eschewing of sinne by her lawfull and comfortable companie or the blessing of children a soueraigne good in this worlde thy children being the monuments of thy life and being vpon earth the repayrers of thy decaie And let these fauours and graces enioied by her company couer and counteruaile her other imperfections whatsoeuer Folow therein the example of the wise Socrates who being demanded how he could endure the continuall scoulding vexation of his wife Zantippe likewise asked of the other why he suffered the rackling and vnpleasant noyse of hens and Turkeies in his house because said the other they lay egges and bréed chickens for me and so said Socrates Zantippe beareth me children which good turne alone couereth and dispenseth with infinite defectes Calicratides the Athenian being demaunded why he a man so nobly descended but hauing matched with a base Thessalian woman yet by his last will bequethed vnto her all his substance leauing his other friendes and kinsfolkes vnregarded because saide he she is my wife meaning that shee who was by his iudgement and choice made woorthie to be his wife should be vnwoorthie of nothing that was his Which may also satisfie that seconde point of supposed folly in the wife and want of discretion to marshall so great a proportion of wealth as the custome will giue her Wherefore wouldest thou marie with a foole if thou thoughtest her vnwoorthie of the rights of mariage then séeing thy choice hath estopped thy testimonie of her folly thy dutie towardes thy wife shall binde thée to fauour and conceale her weakenesse and to performe that which the custome pronounceth to be conuenient It can not be euill bestowed vpon her whose right by custome demaundeth it and whose estate and imperfections haue néede of it whereas if the husband may be permitted by this colour to defeate his wife many inconueniences and disorders might ensue Leges se accōmodant ad ea quae frequentius non quae raro accidunt Bartolus First a generall Custome which is as also a generall Lawe neuer prouided for such rare accidentes as seldome fall in experience but for thinges that ordinarilie and cōmonly happen should be broken to the generall scandale and offensiue example of all through the inhabilitie of one which were a thing vnreasonable Likwise then might husbandes if that were admitted for a iust allegation easilie deuise and publishe that or some other imperfection to be in their wiues and thereby bereaue them of their right No more
then it is a iust counterplea or barre to a womans dower to alleadge that shée is a foole no more is the imputation of such simplicitie honest and sufficient to exclude her from her portion No it is wel said and maintained for a maxime in the common Lawe Better it is to suffer a mischiefe than an inconuenience Lesse harmeful and hatefull it is for a man to swallowe twentie of these light offences and to disgest sundrie of these pretensed scruples than by violating of a custome no lesse common than commendable to leaue to posteritie an odious memorie and obloquie of his name The last obiection against wiues is no lesse ridiculous than Tyrannicall grounded vpon an vniust desire to restraine them from mariage Mariage is an honorable ordinance of God fit and necessarie for all persons disposed thereunto to the auoyding of sinne and maintenance of a comfortable and sociable christian life To restraine or prohibit the same either in maides or widowes as S. Paule sayth is the doctrine of diuels Tim. ep 1. ca. 4 And to indent or condition with any that he or she shall not marie 43. E. 3.6 is a condition limited against lawe and by the same pronounced vnlawfull and vnreasonable Make it thine owne case admitte thou diddest match with a welthie wife whose furniture and riches hath increased thy estate if God should call for her wouldest thou in a kinde memoriall of the benefittes attained by her meanes make thy selfe a votarie to liue vnmaried Doe those which marie great heires being women and after their wiues deathes enioy their whole inheritance by the curtesie of England making their wiues heires to expect during their liues take it for any matter of conscience or scruple to marie again Vnlesse it be in some place where the force of the custome and the benefit of the liuing ioyned together worke a contrarie resolution in some husbands which Custome annexed to Gauelkind landes in Kent and other places is of this qualitie 16. E. 3. aid 129 19. E. 3. aid 144 that the husband shal after the desease of his wife be tenant by the curtesie of her lande as long as he remaineth vnmaried whether he haue issue by her or not but vpon his next mariage shall vtterly forgoe all his interest therein A custome therefore the lesse vnresonable because the restraint of mariage of the one side is counteruailed by the beneficiall fauour of the other side to haue the land by the curtesie without issue and also for that he is to depriue the next heire of his wife who perchance hath béen maried with him but fewe moneths or daies of the profite and commoditie of the whole land during his life But chiefly because it is a custome grounded grewen in continuance to such religious obseruation regard that it séemeth an offence of conscience to infringe it But in our case sithens there is neither custom nor conscience to warrant thy wil why shouldest thou then séeme to quarell with the lawfull libertie of thy wife if shee suruiue thée shée being weake by kind and education and thereby lesse able to direct her occasions and gouerne her estate without a companion and coadiutor no on Gods name referre her to her owne choyce conscience therein and make it no pretence and colour to abridge her of her right because shée séemeth inclynable vnto that which God hath ordained all men and women do embrace As to the feare and suspition pretended that another in matching with thy wife should be enriched by thy trauaile what should moue thée to make that superstitious account of thy goods whē thou art gone Were they any longer thine than while thou hadst life licence to employ them Thou must néedes knowe acknowledge besides thy daily experience by the verie Etymologie and signification of the word the true nature qualitie of the thing These worldly goods are called temporall because they serue one but for a time they are termed transitorie for that their property is fléeting from one owner vnto an other they are named moueable or currant because all their grace and credite is in running remouing into diuers handes according to that rude and olde but yet true latine ryme Omnia mundana per vices sunt aliena Nunc mea nunc huius post mortem sunt alterius This worldly wealth each day doeth change Their owners as we see Nowe mine nowe his and after death An others goods they be Then sithence thy wealth hath wayted vpon thée all thy life long wouldest thou require the same to rest at thy deuotion after thy death If that séeme impertinent and vnprofitable vnto thée then relinquish this care and suffer the goods of this world to haue their naturall course and condition which is to be still in exchange passage posting from hande to hande seruing all men vt peregrinationis viaticum That is A pilgrimes charge or defrayment in his iourney Hieronymus in Epist as S. Hierome termeth it And addresse thy minde to the desire of such goods as are neither temporall transitorie currant nor moueable but perpetuall permanent constant and not only immutable but inestimable But finally to satisfie the last obiection against thy children I wish thée to looke backe vnto that I haue saide that thou mayest not for a priuate iniurie or displeasure séeme as much as lyeth in thée to supplant and abrogate a publicke custome to the no lesse preiudize than offence of a great number that haue interest therein In enriching thy sonne thou dost discharge the duty of a naturall father towardes him which if he prodigally or wickedly mispend or abuse he carieth his owne condemnation and prooueth a wilfull enemie to himselfe The good father mentioned of in the gospel Luke cap. 15. who at the suite of his vndutifull disobedient sonne that wold néedes abandon the seruice and attendance on his father to runne the course of an extrauagant libertine with lewd companie gaue him a great portion of his wealth is not any way blamed by our Sauiour for that indulgence but rather recommended to all posteritie as a true paterne of a kinde father S. Paule commaundeth the father to be well affected to his children Colloss cap. 3 and no way to discourage them What may bréede greater discouragement or discontentment in any childe than to sée himself by the place of his birth and the good fortune of the citie intitled to the commoditie of a good custome and yet iniuriously by his owne father whose affectiō should be alwaies occupied and earnest in procuring the good of his children disappointed of his hope and defrauded of his right And as well as some hauing iust cause of displeasure againe their sonne and childe may in this vnlawefull and disorderly sort practise their reuenge so may some other inconsiderate and wilfull father vpon a conceipt taken against a good sonne and of singular desert for that he concurreth not with