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Rules for an Honest Life
¶Martyne the bysshop of Dumience, vnto the moste gloryouse & peaceable kyng Myto / kynge of Gallicia in Spayne sendeth gretynge▪
I Do very well know (most gentell kyng) the feruent thyrste of your minde, whiche vnsacyably gapeth after the lycure of sapyence / and without cease coueteth those thynges that floweth from the ryuers of morall scyence. And for this cause you haue monysshed me often tymes, by
your letters, to wryte vnto your magestye, by the waye of epystle, some consolation, or exhortation, or els some other thynge, what so euer it were / I sholde sende it vnto you. But all though this laudable desyer of your deuocion requyreth this thynge of me: neuertheles I perceyue it wyll be imputed vnto me, (of some busye persons) as a poynt of presumpcion aboue my knowlege, yf I sholde trouble your royal dygnite, with assydual letters, or (as I myght saye) with vyle letters.
And therfore, lest I shold other abuse the lybertye of your godly motyon, in to moche bablynge, or els seme to denye your holly desyre, in holdynge my peace, I haue sent you this lyttell boke, faythfully to satysfye your desyrours ears / not garnysshed with ye shew
of sophystrie nor logyke, but takē out of the playnest of pure symplycite. The which boke I haue not wryten, specyally for your instytution (in whom is naturally quycknes of wysdom) but generally for those that gyueth atendaūce vpon you / vnto whom it shalbe very, ꝓfytable to redde, to lerne, & to print perfectly in theyr memorye. The tytle therof is: The rule of an honest lyfe / which▪ I wolde shold be so called, bycause it doth not intrete of the hygh and perfecte thynges, that a fewe contemplatyue & heuenly persons doth kepe, but rather it doth teache those thynges, that may without the knowledge of diuine scryptures, by the naturall lawe of mans intellygens, ye of the lay people & craftes men, so that they lyue well & honestly, be playnly vnderstand & kept.
¶The boke. AFter the opinions of many wyse men, there be defyned iiii. kyndes of vertues, wherwith a mans mynde ones bewtyfyed, maye attayne vnto the honestye of good lyuynge. Of these iiii. one is called Prudence / an other Magnanimyte or fortytude / the thyrde Contynence or temperaunce / and the fourth Iustyce or ryghtwysnes. All the whiche vertues togyther with theyr offyces, here vnto them annexed, maketh a man honest, cyuile, and well manered.
¶Prudence. Who so euer therfore yt coueteth to folowe prudence, let hym then order his lyfe iustely, accordyng vnto reason / & ponder & way all thynges before, and gyue vnto eche thynge the value and dygnite / not after the opinions of
many men, but accordynge vnto theyr qualite and nature. For you shall vnderstande that there be some thynges that semeth to be good, and be not / & there be some that apereth not to be good, & yet they be good. What so euer therfore you possesse of transytorye thynges, make not to moch vpon them / ne do not exteme that thyng to be of great value or pryce, whiche is casuall & vayne. Nor kepe not ī hugger mogar your goodes as though they were other mens, but bestowe them for your necessyte as you wolde your owne.
yf you do enbrace and loue prudence, you shall be all wayes one man: & lyke as the cause of thynges, and varyete of tymes dothe requyre, so behaue your selfe / do not chaunge your selfe in any affayers or busynes / but rather apply
your selfe, lyke your hande, which is euer one both whan you sprede it abrode into a palme / and also whan you gather it togyther into a fyste. It behoueth a prudēt man to take councell with aduisement, and not suyftly (by lyghte credence) to fall vnto falsehode. Of dowbtfull thynges gyue no rasshe iudgement, but deferre the sentence vntyll you haue forther knowlege.
Affyrine nothynge styfely, bycause all thyng that semeth trewe, is not trewe in dede: lyke as many tymes that whiche (at the fyrste scyte) appereth to be vncredyble, is not alwayes false, for oftentymes the trueth bareth the face of a lye / and falshode lorketh vnder ye symylytude of trueth. And euen as a frende somtymes sheweth a lowerynge countenaunce, & a flaterer
a fayre face, so is falshode colored with the lykelyhod of trueth to the entent he maye begyle and deceyue.
yf you intende to be prudent, beholde thynges a farre of, and consyder in youre mynde, what thynges maye chaunce hereafter. Let nothyng be vnto you soden or vnloked for / but behold all thyng before hande. For a prudent man doth not saye: I thoughte these thynges, wolde not haue come thus to passe. Bycause, he dothe not doubte, but seeth furely before, nor he doth not suspecte and feare / but doth cyrcumspectly prouyde and beware.
yow shall serche out the cause of euery thynge, and when you haue founde out the begynnynges. you shall caste what wyll come of the endes of the same.
you shall vnderstande that in certeyne thynges you ought to perseuer and contynewe, bycause you haue begonne, but some thynges you maye not begyn, wherin to perseuer is great hurte & daunger. A prudent man wyll not deceyue other, nor he hym selfe can not be deceyued. Let your opynyons he sure iudgementes. Do not receyue nor suffer wandrynge cogytacions and thoughtes, that be lyke vnto dreames / wherwith yf you please your mynde, you shall be heuy and pensyfe, when you haue ordered all thynges the beste waye you can: but let your cogytacyōs be stedfast stable and suer, whether it doth delyberate & take aduysement / whether it doth inquyre & serche / or whether it doth contemplate and studye, let it not swerue from the trueth.
Suffer not your communycacyon to be ydle, nor in vayne, but other swade and exhorte, or speke of dyuine thynges, or comforte other, or els cōmaunde and teache. Laude and prayse other moderatly / blame and rebuke very seldom For to moch praysynge, is as well worthy reprofe, as immoderate rebukynge / bycause that semeth to procede of flatery, & this to come of malyce. Gyue testymony vnto trueth, and not vnto frendshyp. Promyse with aduysement, perfourme it to the vttermoste.
yf your wytte and mynd be prudent, ordre well thre tymes. Dyspose and rule well thynges present / prouyde wysely for thynges to come / and remembre those that be paste. For he that thynketh nothyng of the tyme past, destroyeth his lyfe: and who that studyeth
nothynge for the tyme to come, falleth into all thynge vnwaers. Put in your mynde the dyspleasures that be to come, and also the cōmo dytees, to the entent, you maye suffer them pacyently & these modetaetly. Be not contynually tedyously occupyed, but somtyme quiet, and refresshe your mynde with recreacyon / and take hede your recreacyon be full of the studyes of wysedome and good cogytacyons For a prudent man doth not wether nor waste with ydelnesse. He hath his mynde somtyme relaxed to recreacyon, but neuer clene separate from good occupacyon / he quyckeneth thynges yt be dull / he dyspatcheth spedfully those that be dowtfull / he molyfyeth and maketh easye thynges that be harde, and paynfull / and ouercometh those that be dyffyculte to attayne vnto. For he knoweth
what he ought to do, and whiche waye to go to worke / and quyckly and perfytly seeth all thynges at ones. Of thynges manyfeste and knowen, he iudgeth obscure and hydde / of small he deameth the greate / of them that be present he decerneth the absente / and of the partes he conceyueth all the hole.
Let not the authoryte of hym that speaketh moue you / ne who it is that speaketh do not regarde but marke well what is sayde / nor do not studye how you shall pleayse many / but whom and what they be take good hede.
Seke for that, that maye be founde / studye to lerne that whiche maye be knowen / and couet that, that may be laufully desyred before them that be good. Do not assocyat your selfe with your better, in whose company you shall
tremble for feare, & in depertynge from hym you shall haue a fall. Then call vnto you holsome councell, when the prosperyte of this lyfe fauereth you. Then staye and stande faste, as you wold in a slyppery place / and suffer not your inocyons and passyons to ronne at large / but loke about you whether they intende, and how farre they may lawfully god.
¶Magnanimite. FOrsothe yf Magnanimite, whiche is also called fortytude, be in your stomacke, you shall lyue in great suertye, fre without dyspleasure, vnfearefull, without daunger, and mery with a quyet conscyence. It is a meruelous good thyng of a mans mynde, not to tremble nor feare, but to be stedfaste vnto hym selfe, and to beholde quyetly the ende of
this transytory lyfe.
yf you be of a valyaū stomack you shall neuer counte dyspleasur or damage to be done vnto you, you shall saye of your enemy: He hath not hurt me, but he dyd intende to hurte me. And when you haue hym in your powre and subieccyon, you shal counte your selfe suffycyently reuengyd, to be able to punysshe hym. For you shall well knowe, that to forgyue and perdon, is the moste excellent and honest kynde of reuengynge.
Rayle of no man pryuely in corners. Uudermynge ne dysceyue no man. Go playnly to worke and speke boldly to a mans face. For fraude and dysceyte becommeth a cowerde. Make no conflycte nor baytell with any man, except it be in your owne defence. you shalbe a bolde and a valiant man, yf you
nother yeberde rasshely vpon daū gers, as one that were foolehardy nor yet feare them lyke a dastard / For there is nothyng that maketh a dredfull mynde, but the conscyence & knowlege of a gyltye lyfe.
¶Contynence. YF you loue cōtynence, cut away all superfluyte. Kepe togyther your desyres in a narow strayt. Consyder wt your selfe how moch nature doth requyre of dewtye, & not how moch she coueteth vnlawfully. yf you be cōtynent you shall come to this poynt, that you shall be content & suffycyent with your owne selfe. And he that is vnto hym selfe satysfyed & suffycyent, is borne with ryches abundaunt. Put vnto concupycence a brydle. Cast away all those thynges that doth flater and please which intyseth and draweth the mynde with
preue voluptie & delectatiō. Eate without crapulosyte, and surfet not. Quench your thurst, & quaffe not, and beware of dronkenesse. Take hede you do not in festes & other copanyes reproue & dampne such ꝑsons, whose maners you do not alowe. Ne delyte not to moch in such delicious pleasurs, as you haue present / nor yet couet those that you haue not. Se that your fare be of an easy coste, and come not vnto voluptuouse pleasures, but vnto meat. Let hūger styre vp your appetit, & not dainty dysshes Refreshe your desyres with a lytle bicause you ought only to care for this thyng, yt is, to labour yt they maye sease. And thus lyke as you be made after ye diuyne & godly symylitude, so endeuer your selfe as moch as you maye, to forsake the fleshe, & cleue vnto the spyryte.
yf you studie to haue cōtynence dwell not wantonly, in places all of pleasure, but in good ayre helthfully, nor do not couet to be knowen as a lord by your house, but let your house be knowen by ye mayster. Do not fayne to be, that you be not, nor yet to appere to be better then you be. Take good heed of this thynge, that pouertye be not vnto you fowle, that is to saye do not dyspyse it as a thynge vyle & lowthsome, nor frugalyte fylthy nor symplycyte neglecte, nor yet playnes paynfull or greuouse.
And yf your goodes be small, neuertheles let them not be nygardely vsed, nor do not dysperaetly dysprayse your owne, nor wt grudge prayse other mens. yf you loue contynence, fle all fylthy thynges before they come vnto you, feare no mā more then you do your own
selfe, byleue that all thynges be more tolerable then fylthynes. Abstayne also from foule & fylthy cō municacyō, for ye sufferaūce therof increaseth & nouryssheth vnclenlynes & vnchaste bowldenes. Loue better fruetful cōmunicaciō, than those that be eloquent, those that be trew, rather then such as be flaterynge & fayre. Myxte somtyme myrth with maters of grauite, but yet temperate them & set them in theyr place, without the detrymēt of chastite & sadnes, for laughyng is reprochefull: yf it be immoderate / yf it be wanton & chyldyshe, or yf it be nyce & folyshe. Laughynge also (yf it be superstycyously prowde, yf it be lowde and shryll, yf it be dysdaynyng & malycyouse yf it be preuy & wysperynge, or yf it ryse of other mens hurte & dyspleasure) maketh a man haetful.
yf therfore ye time requireth myrth & sporte, take hede you vse them also with grauite and wysdome, that no man fynde faute with you to be roughe and curyshe, nor yet to dyspyce you as though you were worthy to be caste out of cō pany. Use no rude carterly fashyon, but gentell cyuyle maner. Use myrthe without checkynge / sporte and pastyme without lyghtnesse / spekynge without lowde voyce / goenge without lowde noyse and trampelynge / and reste without slouth and slogeshnes.
And when that other spende the tyme folyshly / occupye your selfe about some honest thynge vertuously. yf you be contynent, shonne flaterers, and be as loothe to be praysed of naughtye fylthy persons, as you wold to be laudyd for filthy dedes. Reioyce & be glad
so often as you dysplease those yt be naught, & counte the naughty estymacyons of yll persons to be very laude and prayse vnto you. It is the most hardest thyng that belongeth vnto contynence, to auoyde the pleasable and glosynge speche of flaterers: whose cōmunicocyon melteth a mans mynde with a certayne delectation. Gette no mans amyte or frendshyppe by flateryng, nor suffer no man to get yours by such wayes. Be not malaparte boulde, nor yet presumptuouse prowde. Humilyate your selfe and do not dysdayne / but kepe grauyte and sadnes.
Take monycyons gentely, and pacyently reproches. yf any man doth chyde you worthely, counte that he profyteth you / yf he blame you vnworthely, you shall know that he entendyd verely to profyte
you. Feare not sharpe and bytter wordes, but beware fayre & flateryng speche. Fle your owne vyces & fautes, and be not to curyouse a sercher of other mens, nor yet a bytter and greuouse rebuker, but (without tawnte & checke) a corrector / so that you myxte your monycyons with hillaryte & gentelnes, and gyue ꝑdon vnto hym yt erreth Do not extoll any man to hygh / ne dysprayse no man to lowe. Be a styll hearer of them that speketh vnto you, and a prompt & dylygēt teacher of them yt wyll heare you. Answer gently vnto hym that speketh vnto you, & vnto hym that cō tempneth departe quyckly, and do not go awaye checkynge & brawlynge, nor yet cursynge. yf you be contynent, take hede of the mocyons and dysposycyons, bothe of your mynde & also of your body,
that they be not vncomly nor out of fassyon / & do not lytell regarde them, bycause they be preuy and secrete / for it shall not skyll though no man seeth them / it is suffyciēt when you know them your selfe. Be mouable and flexible, but not lyght & waueryng / constant & sted fast, but not selfe wylled nor obstynate. Remēber, & let it not be greuouse vnto you, to haue the knowlege of some thynge. you shall counte euery man to be equall wt you. yf you contempne not your inferyores by pryde, you shall (in lyuyng well) be out of the feare of your superyores. In requytynge beneuolence, be not neglygente, nor do not apere to be folyshe dylygent. Be gentell vnto euery man, & a flaterer vnto none / famylier vnto a few, and iust & trewe vnto all. Be more cyrcūspect ī your iudgement
than in your cōmunicaciō more strayter in your lyuyng, then in your outward countenance. Be a mercyfull punyssher, & abhorrer of crudelyte. Be nother a spreder of your owne good fame, nor yet an haeter of other. Gyue no lyght credence vnto rumors, cryems, & suspycyons / but rather be moost agaynst such malicyouse persons that crepeth vnder ye cloke of symplycyte to hurte other. Be slow vnto yre, & vnto mercy be prompte & redye. Be stronge and stedfaste in aduersite, & in prosperyte be cyrcū specte and ware. Be an hyder of your own vertues, lyke as other be of theyr vyces. Be a dyspiser of vayne glorye, and not an egar requyrer of the houour, whiche god hath indued yow withall. Laugh not to scorne the vnwysnes, and ygnoraunce of other. Be of fewe wordes, but a pacyent hearer of
them that speketh. Be dyscret and sad, but dyspyse not them that be merye. Be desyrous of wysdome & redy to lerne / and those thynges that you know teache with all dylygence & gentelnes, & those yt you know not, desyer to be taught, wt out any shamfastnes or hydynge of your ygnoraunce.
¶Iustice. WHat is the fourth vertue Iustyce? but a cōuencyō & cōuenaunt of nature? inuented to the helpe & cōfort of many. & what is iustyce? forsoth not our institucyō nor ordynaūce, but a dyuyne lawe & bond of mans socyete. In this we may not way and ponder what shalbe expediēt & necessary, yt is expediēt & necessary what someuer iustyce sheweth vnto vs. who soeuer therfor you be yt desyreth to folow this iustyce. Fyrst drede & loue god, yt you may be loued of god
Trewly you shal loue god, yf you wyl imytate hym ī this / yt is to say Be wyllyng to profyte all men, & to hurte none. And then euery mā wyll call you a iust & a ryghtwyse man, euery man wyll laude you, euery man wyll worshyp you / and euery man wyll loue you. To the entent you maye be iust, you shall not onely do no hurt, but you shal also wtstand naughty doers. For, to do no hurt, is not iustice, but to abstayne from yll is iustyce. Therfore begyn at these, yt you take not awaye other mens goodes / & endeuer your self to cōme vnto hygher ꝑfection / yt you may also helpe to restore thynges taken awaye / and castygate, punyshe & holde strayt robbers and spoylers of other.
Implycate no cōtrouersy of yt ambyguite & dowtfulnes of spekyng but behold the qualytie & menyng
of the mynde. It shall not skyll whether you affyrme or sweare, when so euer you intreate of the truth, you shal wel know yt you intreate both of fayth & religyō. For yf in swerynge, god sholde not be called to wytnesse, & yet vnto hym that sweareth not by hym, he is wytnesse. Do not than ouerslyppe the trueth, leste you ouerpasse the boundes & law of iustyce. And yf you be cōstrayned at any tyme to vse a fayned word / vse it not for ye clokyng of falshode, but for the custodie & kepynge of trueth. And yf you chaunce to be cōpelled to saue your fydelyte or honeste wt a fayned word / do not make a lye / but rather excuse your selfe: bycause where as the mater is honest, the ryghtwyse dylcloseth not secretes nor coūcelles, but kepeth thynges that sholde be close, and speaketh
those thynges that may be laufully spoken. And thus he is in peace quyet, & sure tranquylyte / & whyles other be ouercome with theyr yll doenges, he vāquessheth those yt be yll. yf therfore you endeuer to studye these thynges gladly and wtout drede, loking for the ende of your pylgremage. you shal merely with a quyet conscyence, beholde the calamyte and heuenes of this wretched world, & quyetly the dysquyetnes & trouble, & sauely the wyckednes & daungers of ye same
These. iiii. kyndes of vertues with these instytucyons & offyces vnto them belongyng, wyll make you a perfyt man. yf you kepe the mesure & straytnes of them with a iuste intent of good lyuynge.
The moderatiō of ye .iiii. vtues ¶For yf prudence passe her boū des, you shalbe craftye, and your
wytte & inuentyon tymorouse and fearefull, you shall seme to be a seker of secretes, a sercher of all maner of fautes, you shalbe counted to be a watcher of other men, a suspycyouse & a busy ꝑson euer fearyng, cōtynually sekīg, & alwayes faynyng some thynge. And one yt occupyeth suttle suspicyons to the reproch of ye cryme & faute of some other: you shalbe poynted wt the fyngar, yt is to say, you shalbe surely noted, to be one full of sutteltye, a dowble felow, an enemye to symplycyte & playnnes, an inuentor of fautes. And in cōclusyō you shalbe called (wt one voyce) of euery man a naughty body. Prudēce therfore beyng not measured with reason, bryngeth a man into these dyshonestes, & shames. But who so euer ledeth his lyfe in ye euen & equale balaunce therof hath nothyng ī hym suspicious nor crafty
¶Also yf Magnanimytye stretceth beyonde his due measure, he maketh a mā a thretenar, a proude facer & craker, trobulous and dysquyet, hasty to auaunce hym selfe to excell in all thynges that ben spoken of, honesty set clene aperte which at euery mynute styreth vp his browes, lyke as a beest or wyld boore setteth vp his brystels, and suffereth nothynge to be quyete / he stryketh one man, he dryueth & chaseth awaye an other. But all though he be a bolde and valyant chāpyon, yet for all yt he can not suffer thynges aboue his strength but at last, other dyeth a wretched deth, or elles leueth a lamentable ende and memorye. The measure therfore of magnanymite, maketh a man nother fearefull nor folehardye.
¶Furthermore let cōtinēce kepe
you within these lymites. Beware you be not a nygarde, ne scrapse nor kepe your goodꝭ suspyciously & fearefully, as though you shold neuer haue ynough, nor set not to moche by tryfulles of no value, but kepe contynence by the rule of medyocryte or meanes, yt you be not gyuē to voluptuosite nor seme to be prodygal or vyciouse, nor yet thorough couetouse catchynge to be vyle and fylthye.
¶Fynally iustyce must be orderyd by the way of mediocryte leste (she beynge apoynted cōtynually by a lyght & wāton gwyde) neglygens of the mynde do folowe: As when you do not correcte nor reforme the lyuing of nawghtypackes, nother for great fautes nor for smale, but do permytte the libertye of naughty doynge, other to suche as flater & pleyse you, or els vnto them yt prowdly contempneth
you. And agayne to be to rygorouse & strayte, shewenge no fauour nor gentelnes, you shall apere vnto men to be sharp & cruel. Therfore the rule of iustice ought to be so louyngly kept, yt the reuerence therof wexeth not vyle by to moch sufferaunce of neglygence, nor yet (thorough to cruell straytnes) lese ye grace of humanyte.
¶yf any man therfore desyreth to ordre his lyfe (wtout faute) not onely for his owne vtylite & profyte, but to the profyte of many other / let hym kepe (by the same path of mediocryte) this rule of the aforesayde vertues accordyng to ye qualyties of places, tymes, ꝑsons, & causes / lyke as he were ascēdynge into ye top of an hygh hyll hauyng on euery syde broken dyches, yt he may shone rasshe madnes, & also ouercome slouthfull cowerdnes.