transported to Florence should be but waste and more then needes like a tall mans gowne cast ouer a dwarfe as also the manners of Florence shoulde be to pinchinge and straite for the Noble natures and mindes of the gētlemē of Naples And although the gētlemē of Venice vse great embracings and entertainementes amongst themselues and fawne without measure the one on the other by reasō of their offices degrees and fauours they looke to finde when they meete and assemble and choose their officers yet for all this it is not conuenient that the good men of Rouigo or the Citizens of Asolo should vse the lyke solēnities embraceings and entertainemēts one to another haueing no such kinde of cause amongst them Albeit all that same countrie if I bee not deceiued is faine a litle into these kinde of follies as ouer carelesse and apt inough by nature or rather learning those maners of Venice their Lady and Mistris because Euerie man gladly seeketh to tread the steps of his better although there be no reasō for it Moreouer we must haue a regarde to the time to the age and the condition of him to whom we vse these ceremonies and likewise respect our owne calling and with men of credite maintaine them but with men of small account cut them of cleane or at least abridge them as muche as wee may rather giue them a becke thē a due garde Which the courtiers in Rome can very well skill to doe But in some cases these Ceremonies be very combersome to a mans busines and very tedious as Couer your head sayes the Iudge that is busied with causes and is scanted of time to dispatche them And this fellow so full of these Ceremonies after a number of legges and shuflinge curtesis aunswers againe Sir I am very well thus But sayes the Iudge agayne Couer your head I say Yet this good fellow tourning twise or thrise to fro making lowe conges downe to the grounde with muche reuerence and humilitie aunswers him still I beseache your worship let me doe my duetie This busines and trouble lasteth so long so muche tune is trifled that the Iudge might very nere haue dispatched all his busines within that space Then although it be euery honest mans parte and the duety of euery meaner body to honour the Iudges and mē that be called to worship honour yet where time wyll not beare it it is a very troublesome thing to vse it and it must be eschewed or measured with reason Neyther be that self same Ceremonies semely for young mē respecting their Age that ould mē doe vse together Nor yet can it becom men of meane and base condition to vse the very same that gētlemē greate men may vse one to another And if wee marke it well we shall find that the greatest the best men mē of most valour doe not alwayes vse the most Ceremonies thē selues nor yet loue nor looke a mā should make many goodly curtsies vnto them as men that can ill spend their thoughts one matters so vaine Neither must handy crafts men nor mē of base condition buisie thē selues to much in ouer solemne Ceremonies to greate men and Lordes it is not lookt for in suche For they disdaine them more then allowe thē because it seemes that in such they seeke looke rather for obedience and duetie then honour And therefore it is a foule faulte in a seruaūt to offer his master his seruice for he coūts it his shame he thinks the seruāt doth make a doubt whether he is master or no as if it were not in him to imploy him cōmaūd him too These kinde of Ceremonies would be vsed frankely For VVhat a man dothe of duetie is taken for a debte and hee finds him selfe litle beholding to him that doth it But he that dothe more then he is bound to it seemes he parteth with somewhat and that makes men to loue him and to commende him for a liberall man And I remember mee well I haue hearde it sayde that a worthy Graeciā a greate versifier was euer wont to saye that He that could skill to entertaine men with a small aduenture made a greate gayne You shall then vse youre Ceremonies as the tailer shapes his garments rather to large then to litle but yet not so that hee cutteth one hose large inough to make a cloke And if thou doe vse in this point some litle gentle behauiour to suche as be meaner then thy selfe thou shalt be counted lowly And if thou doe asmuche to thy betters thou shalt bee sayde a Gētlemā well taught and courtious But hee that dothe her in to muche and is ouer lauishe shal be blamed as vaine and light and perhaps worse thought of too counted a busie body a fidging fellowe and in wise mens sight a flatterer which vice our elders haue called if I doe not forget me dowble diligence And there is no faulte in the worlde more to bee abhorred or that worsse beseemes a gentleman then this And this is the thirde maner of Ceremonies which simply procedeth of our owne will and not of custome Let vs thē remēber that Ceremonies as I haue alwayes sayd were not so necessarie by nature but a man might doe well inough without them As for example our coūtrie liued it is not long since in maner cleane without any But other mens diseases haue infected vs with these infirmities and many mo So that custome and vse obserued the rest that is more is but waste and such a sufferable leesing as if it be more in deede then is in vse it is not only vnsufferable but forbidden and so vppon the matter a cold and vnsauourie thing to noble mindes that cannot brouse vppon shrubbes and shewes And you shall vnderstand that trusting my owne skill but little in wryting this present treatise I thought good to consult with many and to take the Iudgement of better learned men then my selfe And this in my reading I finde There was a King they call him Oedipus being banished and driuen out of his countrie vppon what occasion I know not he fled to King Theseus at Athens the better to saue him selfe and his life from his enemies that mainely pursued him This Oedipus now comming before the presence of Theseus by good chaūce hearing his daughter speake whome he knew by her voice for he was blind and could not beholde her with his eyes he was so presently striken with ioy that not tarying to doe his allegeaūce and duetie to the King he did presētly embrace make much of his daughter before him his fatherly affection so led him and rulde him so But in the end finding his fault and better aduising him selfe of his doings he would needs excuse it to Theseus humbly prayd his grace to pardon his folly The good and wise King cut of his talke and bad him leaue his excuses and thus saide vnto him Comfort thy selfe Oedipus and
without greate warrantize and this is by reason that youth hauing their libertie nouzeled so long in idlenesse are prone and apt to vice and wickednesse vtterly vndoing them selues thorough their owne wilfulnesse that impossible it is to bring them to any perfection as the olde saying manifestly affirmeth Naturam expellas furca licet vsque recurret That which is ingraffed by nature neither threatenings or any persuasion may alter And if it happen such one who hauing their libertie bée enterteined into seruice what offence so euer he commit to his maister he thinkes it greate scorne to be reformed be is of so vile dogged a nature and this is the cause so many are maisterlesse wherby it commeth to passe that seruices are purchased by money For a number hauing good qualities descended of honest parentage by their meanes are greatly hindered For what is the common saying amongst most men If a Seruingman repaire to a maide or widowe by way of marriage whereby to winne himselfe preferment but straightway they murmur amongest themselues backebiting him shamefully with flaunderous speaches calling him spend thrist A lamentable hearing that all Seruingmen for some lewde perfome sakes shoulde be condemned for this is most certeine that the least faulte a Seruingman comitteth is greatly remembred therefore it standeth them vppon to haue speciall regard to avoyde suspicion considering their credit is their chiefest riches which once being lost of the world they are forsaken An other kind of Seruingmen there is which professeth that life but vpon extremitie and that is the riche Farmours sonne who hearing the drumme sounde preparing to muster is meruellous fearefull to become a souldier lamenting heauily to his cockering mother to he a meanes for him he may not be pressed for saith he I am your onely dearling and to sée me miscarrie it would shorten your days for of this I am assured that if I goe on warfare I am neuer like to returne home againe to my fathers house for my fortune was reade me when I was a little one that I shoulde be shotte quite thorough with a gunne therefore honnie mother as you tender my safetie procure me a seruice that I may farrie at home Then the mother to saue the prettie soule séeketh out some present and in hast repaireth to some Gentleman of credit vppon request made forthwith is receiued thus for feare of his costerd becomes a Seruingman Then Gentlemen perceiuing they may haue seruantes Gratis without wages which will play the Seruingmen drudge in their businesse turne out olde seruitors to go pick dasies who farre from friends acquaintance béeing vnexperte of trade and occupation fall into desperation by meanes of pouertie So that hereby the Farmour maketh a rodde for his owne taile for it standeth by good reason that being once in aduersitie if they haue any sparke of manhood in them rather then they will want reliefe they will séeke to come by it by vnlawfull meanes And who will they lie in weight to robbe and be reuenged of but on such rich churles as were causes of their vndooing And thus they by their double diligence labour take suche paines that they créepe in such fauour with their maister who with their profitable seruice is so infected with couetousnesse that he hath no consideration of his olde seruants true and faithfull diligence who for their long seruice haue well deserued a iust recompense So that the Gentleman and the Yeoman aswell the one as the other haue brought seruices to a verie weake stay that a number at this day haue seruantes and giue them no wages and if they haue any one seruing him which wanteth liuing if he hath not some good qualitie in good faith of his maister he shal be litle regarded Therefore the estate of a seruingman is brought to this point that if he practise not some trade in his youth let him be assured to begge in his age as the prouerb manifestly affirmeth Qui antè non cauet post dolebit He that hath no care afore what mischiefes may afterward insue shall greately repent him Those which vppon such extremitie professe the life of Seruingmen may be properly called Sucklinges or otherwise Caterpillers for they hinder those which longe time haue serued not profiting them selues but wasting their substance So that hereby they thinke to eschewe one mischiefe but vndoubtedly they fall into a worser For they vse a kinde of diligence but to serue their owne turnes But as soone as the brunt is past they beginne to waxe lazie and take heart at grasse thinking with them selues What dizards are we hauing rich parentes and wealth enough to mainteine our calling to moyle toyle in such sort other of our fellowes hauing litle or nothing to take to carrie the countenance of Gentlemē we to liue thus like slaues Then labour is turned to loytering the nosegay in the hatt to an Ostrich fether his russet slapp to a french hose his buckled shooe to a Spanishe pumpe his sparing life to prodigalitie vntill of force they become souldiers for they créepe so déepe into the merchantes bookes and béecome such proper Billmen that in the ende their silkes sweates out all their reuenewes Thus they not content with their owne estates aspire to be Gentlemen by meanes of their fine array that they growe so lustie that they think scorne of their owne parents but it is commonly séene The forward trée beareth lesse fruite What auaileth the mariner to saile without his compasse What good doth a faire house wanting implementes of houshold What profiteth braue clothes in any person wanting witt and gouernement They may be aptly compared vnto a corrupt Carion in a golden cup let them decke themselues neuer so gaie want the chiefest ornament that is Wisedome in good faith they shal be but imbraced amongst the most sort of men for lucre or gaine and foothed for that they haue Therefore in my simple opinion I think it more credit for them to go in the fore ward amongst the number of yeomen then to come last in the number of Gentlemen being alwayes fearefull to challenge that title so that when all is gone from the countrie cart they came and to the London cart they must that they ring suche a peale that they drawe a yearde of cleane hempe besides the knott But nowe to come to the chiefe point and purpose which beautifieth a seruingman which is To be godly Nothing can prosper which we take in hand or goe about vnlesse we applie our minde to the seruice of God for him must we honour aboue all things eyther in heauen or earth beléeue in him onely to be our Sauiour aske for all good things of him alone We must be content not onely for the glorie of God to bestowe our goods but also our life if God so requireth to cleaue vnto him as the foundation of all goodnesse to looke
bread béere or cleane trenchers be wanting Neuer offer to take any dishe from the table vnlesse thou settest a better in his place or else when thou séest it almost emptie but if there be not diuersitie of dishes then take vp the table notwithstanding be not so hastie but vntill such time as they haue talked awhile after their victuals but at the court the sooner the better for there are quicke caruers Use not often figging in and out with a trencher more delighting to fill thy paunche then thou hast care of thy seruice although thy maister espie thée not yet straungers will marke thée Use not any vncomely spéeche at thy meale which shall excéede the boundes of honestie amongst thy fellowes and chiefly before maides considering their chastitie is a daungerous treasure which once being spoiled is neuer recouered For that maide whose eare is pliant to lasciuious talke although her chastitie take no dammage yet suspicion doth grawe amongest the common people Take heede in any wise of horrible swearing least that thou incurre Gods heauie displeasure for Falsa iuratio est damnosa vera iuratio est periculosa nulla iuratio est secura A false othe is damnable a true othe is perilous no othe is safe vnlesse it be before a magistrate in causes of controuersie Report not any thing which shal be spoken at thy maisters table vnlesse it touche thy Prince and Souereigne for so shalt thou soone purchase his heauie displeasure but alwayes haue this saying in thy minde Video taceo I sée and holde my peace which no doubt well obserued shall further thy quietnesse Challenge not to thy selfe finer fare then reason requireth neither finde often fault with any of thy victuals vnlesse thou séest it verie scarce and vnreasonable reuite not the cooke for the same vntill thy maister be priuie of his dealings for some time thy maister may fare but homly by meanes of foule weather and other casualties for many misfortunes be happen in housekeeping Therefore be content with such fare as thou wouldest giue thine owne seruauntes if thou hadst a house of thine owne And if thou happen to trauell to any place where thou séest any nouelties which thou art assured thy maister or maistres well liketh of spare not for the price although it be deare but buy somewhat For what is better estéemed then that which is geason And it is worthie double thankes then if thou were required When thou ridest any iorney with thy maister do not vse to loyter farre behinde and chiefly when he passeth through any towne or village but while thou art in presence of people kéepe a comely order for that is commendable and much for his worship but if thou be carelesse then thou challengest an interest amongest the foure and twentie orders When thou comest at night to thy Inne haue care of thy maister that his lodging may in any wise be swéete and cleanly his shéetes white washed and verie well ayred his bootes sée foorthwith made cleane and stuffed with strawe in time of foule wether and bring them vp to his chamber sée nothing be wanting when he riseth next morning Haue care to the Tapsters what necessaries they bring and reckon what thinges they set on the table for they will vse iuggling to mainteine their brauerie And when thou art abroade in iorney with thy maister be not negligent but at night when thou goest to bed and quietly art laide call to minde what things thou hast done all the whole daye as also what weightie affaires haue béen committed to thy charge and thou shalt with continuall vse bring thy selfe to a moste quicke and perfecte memorie and shalt not onely by this meanes haue a good remembraunce but besides if thou hast spent the daye in the abuse of God and his glorie thou maist with a repentant heart call thine owne conscience to reckoning and aske God mercie and the sooner prepare thy selfe readie when God shall call thée Certeine Letters verie necessarie for Seruingmen W. B. to his singular good Lord for his captiuitie RIght honourable the consideration of my present calamities causeth mée to make my carefull cōplaintes with all humble and duetifull submission persuading my selfe that there is no such way to remedie my griefe and restore againe to it selfe a minde perplexed and pittifully plunged through diuerse déepe distresses then there to vnfolde the same where iustice with mercie where seueritie with remorce where pitie with pardon in the meanest offences ruleth and hath her Souereigntie And whereas I knowe my selfe guiltles of any grieuous and notorious crime I am the more imboldened to write vnto your honour not doubting but there I shall find fauour and grace where God and Nature hath moste aboundantly bestowed the same and that you will of your excéeding bountie clemencie and goodnesse pardon follie not ioyned with any impietie I beseeche you euen for his sake that saued vs all that you will not suffer mée to be vtterly cast away for I am destitute of money and all maner of friendship and vnlesse you speedily shew grace and fauour I vtterly perishe being threatened to be throwne downe amongest the froth and scomme of the vnhappie people I trust your honour remembreth well that more true praise and glorie is atteined by pardoning then by punishing All the Romane Princes were of this opinion We holde it saith the historie more honourable to pardon such as offend vs then to chasten those which resist our power And verily punishment is a thing naturall and humane but to giue pardon and life is the gifte and blessing of God by which it commeth to passe that men estéeme not the greatnesse maiestie of the immortall God for the punishement where with he correcteth vs as for the mercie he vseth Wherefore I humbly yeld and moste willingly submitt my selfe to your honours grace fauour and mercie R. S. to his friend T. D. for his long imprisonment RIght honourable If two brutishe creatures together long continuing be separated they will according to their kind shewe foorth a passion the Lyon will roare the Cow will yell the Swine wil grunt the Dogge cannot but fill the ayre with an intollerable and yrke some howling If this disposition be found in things méere voide of reason vnderstanding much more is the condition of man subiect to sorrowe and heauinesse in whome Nature bréedeth a more quicke and raging sense of féeling in so muche I thinke verily that so many times a man suffereth death howe often in a day he séeth him selfe shut vp or diuided from the societie he dearely and tenderly loueth or exiled the place which he chiefly liketh It is no doubt right terrible to the fleshe to die with the sworde but to be in perpetuall sorrowe and heauinesse of minde may not so well be termed a death as a verie furie and hellishe torment And better it were for many to suffer without feare that
it whatsoeuer is carued vnto thee For it may be thought thou doest disdaine it or grunt at thy caruer Now to drink all out euery mā which is a fashiō as litle in vse amōgst vs as the terme it selfe is barbarous straūge I meane lck bring you is sure a foule thing of it selfe in our countrie so coldly accepted yet that we must not go about to bring it in for a fashiō If a man doe quaffe or carrouse vnto you you may honestly say nay to pledge him geueing him thanke confesse your weakenesse that you are not able to beare it or else to doe him a pleasure you may for curtesie taste it and thē set downe the cup to them that will and charge your selfe no further And although this Ick bring you as I haue heard many learned men say hath beene an auncient custome in Greece and that the Graecians doe muche commend a goodman of that time Socrates by name for that hee sat out one whole night long drinking a vie with another good man Aristophanes and yet the next morning in the breake of the daye without any rest vppon his drinking made suche a cunning Geometricall Instrument that there was no maner of faulte to be found in the same And albeit they say besides this that Euen as it makes a man bould and hardy to thrust him selfe venterously otherwhile in to daungerous perils of life so likewise it brings a man in to good temper and fashion to enure him selfe otherwhile with the daūgers of things not euer chauncing And bycause the drinking of wine after this sorte in a vie in such excesse and waste is a shrewde assault to trie the strength of him that quaffes so lustily these Graecians would haue vs to vse it for a certaine proofe of our strength and constancie and to enure vs the better to resist and master all maner of strong temptations All this notwithstanding I am of a cōtrary mind and I doe thinke all their reasons to fond and to foolishe But we see that Learned men haue suche art and cunning to persuade and such filed wordes to serue their turne that wrong doth carry the cause away and Reason cannot preuaile And therefore let vs giue them no credite in this point And what can I tell if they haue a secret drift herein to excuse and couer the fault of their countrey that is corrupt with this vice But it is daungerous perchaunce for a man to reproue them for it least asmuch happen to him as chaunced to Socrates him selfe for his ouer lauish controuling and checking of euery mans fault For he was so spited of all men for it that many articles of heresies other foule faultes were put vp against him and he cōdemned to die in the end allthough they were false For in truthe he was a very good man a Chatholike respecting the Religion of their false Idolatrie But suer in that he drunke so muche wine that same nyght he deserued no praise in the worlde For the hoggshead was able to holde receiue a great deale more then his companion and hee were able to take if that may get any praise And though it did him no harme that was more the goodnes of his strong braine thē the continencie of a sober man And let the Chronicles talke what they list of this matter I giue God thankes that amongest many the Plagues that haue creapt ouer the Alpes to infect vs hitherto this worst of all the rest is not come ouer that vve should take a pleasure and praise to be drunke Neither shall I euer beleue that a man can learne to be temperate of suche a Mayster as vvine and drounkennes The Stewarde of a Noble mans house may not be so bolde to inuite straungers vppon his owne head and set them downe at his Lorde Maysters table And there is none that is wise will be intreated to it at his request alone But otherwhile the seruaunts of the house be so inalepert and saucie that they will take vppō them more then their Maister of which things wee speake in this place more by chaunce then that the order we haue taken from the beginning doth so require it A man must not vncase him selfe in the presence of any assembly For it is a slouenly sight in place where honest men be met together of good conditiō and calling And it may chaunce he doth vncouer those parts of his bodie which work him shame rebuke to shewe thē besides that it maketh other mē abashed to looke vpō thē Againe I wold haue no mā to combe his head nor washe his hāds before mē For such things would be done alone in your chamber and not abrode without it be I say to washe your hands when you sit downe to the table For there it shall doe well to washe them in sight although you haue no neede that they with whome you feede may assure them selues you haue done it A man must not come forthe with his kercheif or quaife one his head nor yet stroke vp his hosen vppon his legges in company Some men there be that haue a pride or a vse to drawe their mouthes a little awry or twinckle vp their eye to blow vp their cheekes and to puffe and to make with their countenaunce sundrie such like foolishe and ilfauoured faces and gestures I councell men to leaue them cleane For Pallas her selfe the Goddesse as I haue hearde sōevvise mē say tooke once a greate pleasure to soūd the flute the cornet therin she vvas verie cūning It chaūst her on day soūding her Cornet for her plesure ouer a fontain she spide her selfe in the vvater and vvhē she beheld those strāge gestures she must nedes make vvith her mouth as she plaid she vvas so much ashāed of it that she brake the cornet in peces cast it away truely she did but well for it is no instrumēt for a vvoman to vse And it becomes men as ill if they be not of that base conditiō and calling that they must make it a gaine an art to liue vppon it And looke what I speake concerning the vnseemely gestures of the countenance and face concerneth likewise all the partes and members of man For it is an ill sight to lill out the tounge to stroke your bearde much vp and downe as many doe vse to doe to rubbe your hands together to sighe to sorrowe to tremble or strike your selfe which is also a fashiō with some to reatche and stretche your selfe so retching to cry out after a nice maner Alas Alas like a coūtry cloune that should rouse him selfe in his couche And he that makes a noyse with his mouth in a token of wonder and other while of cōtempte and disdaine counterfeteth an ilfauoured grace And Counterfet things differ not muche from truethes A man must leaue those foolishe maner of laughings groase