Here begynneth the booke whiche is called the body of polycye And it speketh of vertues and of good maners, and the sayd boke is deuyded in thre partyes. The fyrst party is adressed to prynces. The seconde to knyghtes and nobles: and the thyrde to the vnyuersal people. The fyrst chapytre speketh of the dyscrypcyon of the body of polycye.

¶ Of the thyrde estate of the people. Capitulo. lv.

HEre foloweth the thyrde estate of y^• people whi∣che ben the men of crafte and the labourers of the erthe that we take for the laste partye of the body of polycye whiche is lykened to y^• legges / & the feete / ••nd of the feete Pulcarque speketh yet and that they sholde be soo soueraynely taken hede too and, kepe them so well that they be not hurte in no maner of wyse. •• For the hurte of theym maye hurte the body ryght peryllously wherfore the body hathe the more nede too take hede therto for hurtynge of hymselfe / for they sease not to labour by the erthe that is to vnderstonde for the dyuerse laboures y^• men of ••••a••∣te vseth and doo whiche ben necessary to the body of man / and may in no wyse be without them / lyke as mannes body maye not passe but that he sholde go lewdely and he had lost his fete but treynynge on his hondes with ••••••••e payne & on his body also. In lyke wyse he sayth it is of the comon thynges / for put away the labourers and them that vse the craftes and it may not be susteyned but all shall fall. For the offyce of men of craf∣te whiche clarkes calleth artyfycers that some men settel ytell by / yet it is a fayre thynge and a good / and ryght necessarye / as it is sayd before. And amonge all other thynges that ben i•• ought moost to be alowed for bycause that amonge al worlde ly thynges it is the thynge that appocheth nexte y^• scyences / for they put in vre y^• the scyences haue shewed before as Arystotle saythe in his Methaphysyke / for he telleth y^• theyr werkes ben the effecte of scyences / lyke as geometry whiche is the scyence

of measures & of proporcyons without whiche no crafte maye passe / and so of other: And thus wytnesseth an exposytoure whi che saythe that they of Athenes wolde haue made a meruayl∣lous auctoure too the goddesse of ••apyence / that was called ••ynerue. ••nd for bycause they wolde make it notably and of curyous entayle they toke counsayle of the moost excellente maysters / soo they wente to Platon as for the moost soueray ne Phylosophre at that tyme in all scyences. ••ut he sente them agayne to one that was called ••••clydes as for the moost soue ••ayne mayster in the crafte of measures. For he composed geo metry / the whiche is redde euery daye in the generall studyes and by this a man maye knowe that the craftes foloweth scy∣ences ••••r masouns ••arpenters / and all other of what crafte that euer they be of worketh after the techynge of scyence and to the worshyppe of arte / It is to knowe Ualere saythe that ar te wyll folowe nature as whan a werkeman countre fayteth proprely a thynge that nature hathe made Lyke as a paynter that shall be soo connynge a man in his crafte that he wyll ma ke a fygure soo lyke a man that euery man maye knowe the man by y^• same fygure. ••••so they wyl make a byrde or another beest y^• euery mā maye well knowe it is lyke vnto another. In lyke wyse a Caruer of ymages wyll doo the same / and thus of all other craftes. And therfore some saye that arte is lykened to an Ape in nature. For lyke as an Ape counterfayteth many dyuers maners of man / soo arte foloweth grete plentye of the werkes of nature. ••euerthelesse he saythe after warde that ar te may not folowe nature in all thynges. ••lso we sholde prayse euery subtyll man in his crafte and byleue hym for bycause of the grete experyence that he hathe in y^• same. For it is no doub te that there is noo man so properly maye speke of a thynge as he that knoweth it. And amonge these men of crafte / there ben many subtyltees lerned and more comonly amonge them than

amonge other people / whiche is ryght notable and fayre▪ But for to speke nowe of theyr maneres and condycyons I wolde & it pleased god that theyr maner of lyuynge myght be suche as god wolde be pleased wyth. For our lorde wolde that theyr ly••e sholde be comonly sobre / and not more delycate than longeth ••n to them whiche maye cause them to leue theyr laboure▪ For the lechery of taruernes and the pleasaunces that ben v••••d at Pa∣rys maye brynge them to many inconuenyentes and my••che∣ues. ¶ And of the voluptuous lyfe of suche people and other ly ke to them Arystotle speketh and sayth that moche people sen••e to be as beestes for bycause they chose lechery before al other o•• lytes / and of this false opynyon speketh holy scrypture in the ••e conde chapytre of the boke of Sapyence / and sayth that the ry me of our lyfe is shorte and full of grete ••nuye and in the ende we haue no rest / wherfore these foule glottons in Lechery saye we wyll vse our yonge lyfe in folowynge of our lustes / and we wyll tyll our belyes with wyues and metes / and we wyll she∣we ouer all the traces of our gladnesse / and without fayle suche folysshe and vayne wordes men may often tymes here not one ly of the symple people / but as well of other people that for by∣cause of theyr estate be holden for wyse men: Therfore the co∣mon people for bycause that they be not for the moost party ler∣ned in holy scrypture / they sholde folowe the predycacyons and the wordes of god shewed by worthy doctours and noble ••lat∣kes / whiche ben profytable to all crysten people. ¶ Al••o Iusty ne recyteth in the. xx. boke de ••rogue Pompee / that in the Cy te of ••raton wherin were paynymes and myscreauntes Pye togoras the Phylosophye whiche was a paynyme withdrewe them from theyr euyll lyuynge by his exhortacyons. For wh•••••• as the people were vycyously dysposed to ••lotony / to vyces / & to Lechery / by y^• introduceyon of Pyetogoras they were brou∣ght agayne to contynence and to clene lyuynge / This phyloso

phre blamed gretely the vyce of Lechery / and shewed howe by ••hat vyce dyuers Cytees were fellen in to ruyne ••he taught y^• ••adyes and other men tolyue chastely / and that they sholde be sobre in theyr metes & drynkes. And the sayd Pyctogoras dyde so moche by his wyse amonycyons that the ladyes lefte theyr ••yce arayes. And the men to leue theyr glotonyes / for as lon∣ge as he was amonge them and that was the space of twenty yere they contynewed in good lyuynge by the good meanes of his techynge / and this good dede Iu••tyne saythe of hym. For in the towne of Methapontus / whiche is in Puyle / where as Pyctogoras was borne the people hadde hym in so grete reue∣rence that of the house where he dyed in▪ they made a temple & Worshypped the sayd Pyctogoras as a god / soo it were greate nede to haue suche a man nowe a dayes in many places with that there were people that wolde worke after his counsayle.