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"Pasquil the playne." In the digital collection Early English Books Online. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/A21324.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 20, 2024.
Pages
descriptionPage 3
Pasquillus. Gnato. Harpocrates.
PASQVILL.
IT is a wonder to se the
world: Now a daies,
the more straunge the
better lyked, therfore
vnnethe a manne maye
knowe an honest man from a false
harlotte. But peace / who is this
gentylman that standeth here har∣kenynge?
What I saye myne olde
felowe Gnatho, I praye the come
forthe, ye steale not so awaye. Per∣dye
I knowe youre olde facyon /
though ye be nowe thus straungely
disguysed.
GNATO.
Who spea∣keth
to me: Pasquill? Sawest thou
not Harpocrates late? I seeke for
hym, he must come to my mayster.
PASQILL.
I wote not whither
thyneye soughte for Harpocrates,
but sure I am, that thyn ere sought
for Pasquillus. But I praye the
tourne about: thou haste the stran∣gest
descriptionPage [unnumbered]
apparaise that euer I loked on:
What haue we here? A cappe ful of
aglettes & bottons this longe estrige
fether doeth wonderly wel / the tirfe
of the cappe tourned downe afore
lyke a pentise hathe a meruaylous
good grace: but this longe gowne
with strayte sleues is a non sequitur,
and hit shall lette you to flee, & than
youre fethers shall stande you in no
stede, and so mought ye happē to be
combred, if ye shulde come in to a
stoure, where ye wold shyft for your
selfe. God a vowe what doest thou
with this longe typpet? If it were
white as it is blacke, I wolde haue
sayd, thou camest to challenge men
at wrastlynge, but I wene ye haue
walked latein the strete, and pulled
it from some worshypfull doctour.
What a gods name / haue ye a boke
in your hande? A good feloweshyp
wherof is it? Let me se. Nouum te∣stamentū?
What / thou deceiuest •••• /
descriptionPage 4
I had wend thou couldest haue skil∣led
of nothynge but only of flatery.
But what is this in your bosom?
An other boke, or els a payre of car∣des
of valery salse hed? Dyd I not
saye at the fyrst / that it is a wonder
to se this worlde? Lo som wyll be
in the bowelles of diuinite er they
knowe what belongeth to good hu∣manitie.
Let se, what is here?
Troylus and Chreseyd? Lord what
discorde is bytwene these two bo∣kes?
Yet a great dele more is there
in thyn aparayll. And yet moost of
all betwene the boke in thy hande
and thy condicions. As god helpe
me / as moch as betwene trouth and
leasynge.
GNA.
Well Pasquillus /
thou wylte neuer leue thyn olde cu∣stome
in raylynge. Yet haste thou
wyt ynough to perceyue what da∣mage
and hindrance thou hast ther∣by
susteyned: and more arte thou
lykely & with greater peryll / if thou
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haue not good awayte / what, and
to whome / and where thou spekest.
I herde the wordes that thou spa∣kest
whyle ere, wherof it I wolde
be a reporter, it mought tourne the
to no littell displeasure: but I know
that thou arte a good felowe, and
woldest that all thynge were well,
though thy wordes be all crabbed.
Wherfore not withstandynge that
thou speakest rebukefully to me, I
take hit in iape, ne wyll carye hense
with me the presumtuous wordes
that thou spakest. But by myne ad∣uise
leue nowe at the last thin vndis∣crete
libertie in speche, wherin thou
vsest vnprofitable tauntes and rebu∣kes /
I may well calle them vnprofy∣table,
wherby nothynge that thou
blamist / is of one iote amended, and
thou losest therby preferment, whi∣che
thyn excellent wit doth require:
& that wors is / trauailest in study of
minde to augmente thin owne detri¦ment,
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and therin losist moche tyme,
that mought be better employed.
¶I remembre, that ones I asked a
man, that was wise and verye well
lerned, howe I mought sonest come
to promotion: he sayde. vsyng Aes∣chylus
counsaylle / whiche was a
writar of tragedies: and I deman∣ded,
what it was? And he aunswe∣red,
holding thy tonge wher it beho¦ueth
the. And spekyng in tyme that
whiche is conuenient. And the same
lesson Pasquillus if thou woldeste
obserue / I doute not, but that thou
shuldest fynd therin no lytle cōmodi∣tie.
PAS.
Mary Gnato I wyl no
more wonder at thy syde gowne: for
thou arte moche wysar than I sup∣posed.
I had wende all this whyle,
that by nature onely thou haddest
ben instructed to flatter, but by saint
I one I se now, that thou ioynest al∣so
therto a shrewde wyt, and prepa∣rest
to the helpinge therof as it were
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a crafte gathered of lernynge and
scripture. Notwithstanding a good
felowshyp / if thy taryenge shall not
be greuouse or hurtfull vnto the (for
I knowe howe expedient it is that
thou be not longe oute of the syght
of thy mayster, if thou wylt be Gna
tho alone) tell me how thou vnder∣standest
the sayd sentence of Aeschy∣lus
tragedy: for I feare we two do
vnderstonde hym dyuersely, & than
thy counsayle in respecte to thy pur∣pose
shall lytell profyte me.
GNA.
Supposest thou so? In good faythe
and to me it semeth so playne, that
it nedeth none expositor, but to the
intent that my counsayll to the may
take some effecte, in the lyttell tyme
that I may now tary, I wyl as com
pendiously as I can shewe my con∣ceite / in
declaringe what I thynke /
that Aeschylus mente by the sayde
sentence.
¶It behoueth a man to holde his
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tunge, whan he aforeseeth by any ex¦perience,
that the thinge / whiche he
wolde purpose or speke of to his su∣periour
/ shall neyther be pleasantly
herde nor thankefully taken. And in
wordes oportunitie & tyme alwaye
do depende on the affection and ap∣petite
of hym that hereth them.
How sayest thou Pasquill, is it not
so?
PASQVILL.
So? No so
mote I go. But one thyng here me.
I wyll nat flatter the Gnatho. If
thou vnderstandeste no better the
newe testamtnt (whiche thou cariest
as solemnely with the, as thou shul
dest rede a priue lesson / Hem I had
almoste tolde where openly) than
thou doest Aeschylus sentence / whi∣che
as if thou haddest bene lerned,
thou toldest to me for a counsaylle,
thy brethe wyll be so hote shortly,
that thou wylt make men aferde to
come within twentye fote of the.
And herke in thyne eare. By my
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trouth, I wene it be neyther better
nor warse.
GNATO.
Wyl ye not
leue your ouerthwart facion. I can
no more. I se it is vaine to counsaile
a madde man to loke to his profite.
Fare well, I haue somewhat els to
do / than to attende to thy pratynge.
PASQVILL.
What be you angry
for this? Loke on the boke in your
hande: perdie hit agreeth not with
your profession to be out of charitie.
But gentyll Gnatho tary so long as
I may shew the how I vnderstande
the sayde sentence of Aeschylus.
GNATO.
Say on.
PASQVILL.
¶Where two hostes be assembled,
and in poynt to fyght: if thou be a∣mong
them, though thou be a great
astronomer / it behoueth the to hold
thy tunge / and not to talke of con∣iunctions,
and of the trine or quar∣til
aspectes, but to prepare the to ba∣taylle.
Where a good felowshyp is
sette at dyce or at cardes, thoughe
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thou be lerned in geometrie: holde
thy tunge, and speke not of propor∣cions
or figures. Where men be set
at a good soupper / and be busily oc∣cupyed
in eatynge and drynkynge,
though thou be depely sene in philo¦sophie
/ holde thy tonge and dispute
not of temperaunce / or moderate
diete. Where thou arte amonge a
great companie, at bankettinges or
other recreations: though thou be
well lerned in holy scripture, holde
thy tonge, interprete not Paules e∣pistels
/ for therin is no daliaunce.
Whan thou arte sittynge in coun∣saile
aboute maters of weighty im∣portaunce:
talke not than of passe
tyme or daliaunce, but omittinge af∣fection
or dreede, speke than to the
pourpose.
Where thou seeste thy frende in a
great presence hououred of all men,
though thou knowest in hym nota∣ble
vices, yet there holde thy tonge,
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and reproche hym not of them.
Where thou seest thy lorde or may∣ster
in the presence of many / resolued
in to fury or wantonnesse, thoughe
thou hast all redy aduertisementes,
howe he shall refrayne it: yet holde
thy tonge than / for troublynge that
presence.
¶On the other parte. If before ba∣taile
ioyned, thou beholdest thy side
the weiker: and thyne aduersaries
more puissaunt and stronger: speke
than of policie, wherby thou hopest
to optayne the victorie.
¶Before that thy frende syttethe
downe to dyce, if thou dost perceiue,
that he shal be ouermatched: disco∣rage
hym betyme / or he repent hym
in pouertie.
¶Whan thy frendes be set downe
to souper / before the cuppes betwise
fylled: reherce the peryll and also
dishonesti that hapneth by glotony.
¶Whan yonge men and women
descriptionPage 8
haue appoynted a bankette, than er
the ouens be hete / and tables all co∣uered
/ reherce hardely the sentences
of saynt Paule, or saynt Hierome, if
thou be lerned.
If thou be called to counsaile / after
thou haste either herde one raisonne
bifore the / or at the leest weye, in the
balaunce of thyne owne raison pon∣derid
the questiō: spare not to shew
thine aduise, & to speke truely / remē∣bring
that god is not so ferre of, but
that he can here the.
¶If thou knowest a vice in thy
frende, which is of a fewe men sus∣pected,
er it be talked of at the ta∣uerne,
or of his enemy reproched /
warne him of the damage that may
happen / if it be not amended.
¶Whan thou percciuest thy Mai∣ster
to be resolued in to wrath or af∣fections
dishonest, Before wrathe
be incresed in to fury, and affection in
to voluptuous appetite. As oportu¦nitie
descriptionPage [unnumbered]
serueth the / reuerētly and with
tokens of loue towarde hym, speke
suche wordes as shalbe conuenient.
¶Oportunite consisteth in place or
tyme / where and whan the sayd af∣fections
or passion of wrath be some
dele mitigate and out of extremitie.
And wordes be called conueniente,
whiche haue respecte to the nature
and state of the person, vnto whom
they be spoken, and also to the detri∣mente /
whiche mought ensue by the
vice or lacke that thou hast espied, &
it ought not to be as thou hast sup∣posed.
For oportunite & tyme for a
counsayllour to speke / do not depend
of the affection and appetite of hym
that is counsayled: mary than coun¦saylle
were but a vayne worde, and
euery man wolde do as hym lyfte.
For if he listed not to here any coun∣sayle,
he shulde neuer be warned of
his owne errour, but by satietie and
tediousnesse of his owne vice, or by
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grace (if he were worthi to haue it)
GNA.
Nowe by the fayth I owe
to god / I wold not haue thought /
that thou haddest ben so well rayso∣ned.
For men haue alwaye reputed
the but for a babbler and raylar.
PASQVILL.
Ye what men? By
god those / whiche oughte moste to
haue thanked me. I saye, herke in
thine eare: Popes, emperours / kin∣ges /
and cardinalles. Thou herest
what I say. Whan they, by such as
thou & Harpocrates be / were with
flatery and dissimulation broughte
in to the hate of god and the people,
ones in yere / I gaue thē warning,
neither for menaces, nor yet for bea∣tynges,
I neuer cessed. Thou arte
remembred whan pope Leo sware,
that he wolde throwe me in to the
ryuer of Tyber. And that yere I
went to saint Iames on pilgremage /
which I auowed, if I escaped drow¦ning.
But in a vnlucky houre was
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I a pylgreme: for sens there haue
comen bothe to sainct Iames at Cō∣postella,
and to saint Peter at Rome
euery yere ten thousande pilgremes
fewer, than there dyd a thousande
yeres before that tyme. And menne
saye, that in other contreys dyuers
monasteries be lyke to breake hospi∣talitie,
bicause theyr offringes be not
the thyrde parte so moche as they
were accustomed. For in dede nowe
a daies mens deuocion waxeth euen
as colde / as the mounkes be in the
quyer at midnyght. that commodi∣tie
had Rome by myn absence. And
yet after mi pilgremage done, I had
for mi trouth & plainnesse as moch {per}
done of god, as if I had bylded one
cloyster in Rome / and an other in Pa¦rise
/ & put in to eueryche of them an
hundred friers cōuentuals. And yet
were that a blessed dede, if the lawe
were not agayne incresing of valiant
beggers. But to my purpose. If
descriptionPage 10
these men that we spake of / had wy∣sely
& coldly expended and tried my
wordes, that they called raylynge,
many thinges mought haue ben pre¦uented /
that were after lamented.
Germany shulde not haue kicked a∣gayne
her mother: Emperours and
princis shuld not haue ben in perpe∣tual
discorde / & often tymes in peril,
prelates haue ben laughed at, as di••••∣sardes:
saynctes blasphemed, and
miracles reproued for iougglynges /
lawes and statutes contemned / and
officers littell regarded. What must
nedes folowe / sens my breth faileth
me? I leue that to the Gnatho to
coniect, for thou arte wyse moughe
to consider.
GNA.
I knowe what
thou meanest / but a felyshyp leaue
thy bourdinge and currishe philoso∣phie,
sens it is neyther profitable / ple¦sant,
nor thankefull. Who wolde be
so madde to driue about a myll, and
is sure / that all the meale / that he
descriptionPage [unnumbered]
gryndeth / shall fall on the floore: sa∣uinge
a litle mylduste / that shall flie
in to his eien, and put hym to payne
and perchaunce make hym blynde?
And thou studyest ot speake many
good wordes, whiche be lost in the
rushes: and if any yll meaning may
be pycked out, it is caste in thy nose
to put the in daunger. Lese no more
laboure Pasquyll / but folowe my
counsaylle: and if within two yeres
thou be newe paynted and gylt /
and haue mo men wondryng at the,
than at any other ymage in Rome,
by my trouthe I wyll stande in the
rayne and sonne as longe as thou
haste done, and yet it were an vure∣sonable
wager.
PAS.
Go to let se
what is thy counsaill?
GN.
Mary
I wyll telle the. Thou haste a very
sharpe wytte and a redy: wherfore
thou arte mete for the worlde. And
pitie it were, that such a iewel shuld
be neglected.
PAS.
And pitie hit
descriptionPage 11
were, that suche a flaterar as thou
art / shulde longe be vnhanged. But
passe on a goddis name.
GNA.
I
wist well, that in suche as frowarde
pice of tymbre I shulde lose moche
laboure: yet wyll I proue / if good
counsaylle may warke any thinge in
the. Nowe here Pasquill what I
say. By thy longe railinge, thy wyt
is well knowen. Now tourne the
lefe. And whā thou herist any thing
purposed by them / whom thou hast
offendid, what so euer it be, affirme
it to be well / and therwith auaunce
the wytte and intent of the persone
that spake it, whiche thou mayst do
excellētly wel. For he that can dispise
spytefully, can if he liste, prayse and
cōmende also in comparably. And if
thou canste not refrayne from rebu∣kinge and
tauntinge: practise thy na¦turall
fury and woodenesse agayne
them that repugne agayne the saide
purpose. And where thou dyddest
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wonder to see me haue in my hande
the Newe testamēt / if thou woldist
do the same, and nowe in thyn age,
laye apart the lesson of gentiles, cal∣led
humanite, sens thou mayst haue
good leysour / beinge not yet called
to counsaile / pyke out here and there
sentences out of holy scripture, to
fournyshe thy reason with autho∣ritie.
I make god auowe, thou shalt
be within thre monethes able to con¦founde
the greattest diuine in all Ita¦lie.
And whan thy conuersion and
good opinion is knowen, than shalt
thou be called fore. But than alway
remembre howe so euer the tenour
bell ryngeth, he ryngeth alwaye in
tune and though he iarre somwhat /
yet thou canste not here it / his soune
is so great / and thine eares be so ly∣tell.
And if other men fynde it, saye
that it is no faulte, but a quauer in
musike / and became the bell, if they
had the witte to perceyue it. I tea∣che
descriptionPage 12
the in parables, for this crafte
wolde not be opened to euery man:
for it shulde not be for my profyte:
but thy subtill wyt comprehendeth
all that I mene, thou art so acquain∣ted
with all our experience.
PAS.
Now on my feith wel said / I coude
not haue founden a craftier knaue to
lerne of betwene this and Hierusa∣lem.
But cometh here? He se¦meth
a reuerēde {per}sonage, he is none
of thy sorte I trowe?
GN.
By god
we be right cosens, I by the mother
syde, and he by the father. And that
caused me to speake so moche as I
doo / and hym so little, and yet is
there smalle diuersite betwene oure
condicions.
PAS.
What meaneste
thou therby?
GNA.
For we bothe
haue one mayster. And whan he spe∣kethe
/ or doethe any thynge for his
pleasure: I studye with wordes to
commende it. If my couseyn stande
by / he speketh littell or nothyng / but
descriptionPage [unnumbered]
formynge his visage in to a grauitie
with silence / loketh as if he affirmed
all thynge, that is spoken.
PAS.
What is his name?
GN.
Harpo∣crates.
PAS.
That is a hard name
by Iesus. But why holdeth he his
fynger at his mouthe.
GNA.
For
he hathe espyed me talkynge / and
bycause he weneth, that I speke to
moche, he maketh a sygne / that I
shulde cesse: but I am gladde, that
I haue met with hym. Cosin Har∣pocrates
I haue sought for you this
two houres.
PAS.
Why speketh
he not?
GN.
O that is his grauitie
to pause a whyle or he speke, he ler∣ned
it whan he was student at Bo∣nony.
HARPO.
What is the ma∣ter
Gnato?
GN.
My maister whan
he hath dined, wyll syt in counsail a¦bout
waightie causes.
HAR.
And
whan I haue dyned / I wyl gyue at∣tendaunce.
PAS.
Lo is it not as I
fayde, a wonder to se this worlde?
descriptionPage 13
In olde tyme men vsed to occupie
the mornynge in deepe & subtile stu∣dies,
and in counsayles concernynge
the cōmune weale, and other mat∣ters
of great importaunce. In lyke
wise than to here controuersies, and
gyue iudgementes. And if they had
any causes of theyr owne / than to
treate of them. and that dydde they
not without a great consyderation.
procedynge bothe of naturall ray∣son,
and also counsayle of phisike.
And after diner they refreshed their
wittes, eyther with instrumentes of
musike, or with redynge or heringe
some pleasant storie, or beholdinge
some thynge delectable and honest.
And after theyr diner was digested /
thanne eyther they exercysed them
selfes in rydynge / runnynge on fote /
shoting, or other like pastime / or wēt
with theyr haukes to se a flight at
the ryuer, or wold se their grehoun∣des
course the hare, or the dere: whi¦che
descriptionPage [unnumbered]
they dydde as well to recreate
theyr wyttes / as also to gette them
good appetite. But lo nowe all this
is tourned in to a newe fascion, god
helpe vs, the worlde is almost at an
ende: For after noone is tourned to
fore noone / vertue into vice, vice into
vertue / deuotiō into hypocrisie, and
in some places men saye / faythe is
tourned to herisye. Dyd I not now
say well at the begynnynge. That it
is a wonder to see this worlde?
HAR.
Hem Pasquillus.
PAS.
Wel, ye thynke as moche as I speke
for all your poynting and wynking.
HAR.
But in silēce is suretie.
PAS.
Perchaunce naye. If I perceyued
one at thy backe with a swerde dra∣wen,
redy to strike the / woldest thou
that I shulde holde my peace / or els
tell the?
HARPOCRAT.
Naye,
sylence were than oute of season.
PASQVILLVS.
Now well fare
you for your balde reason, a manne
descriptionPage 14
maye see what wysedome there is
in youre compendiouse speakynge /
ye wyll season sylence. Marye I
wene my lorde shulde haue a better
cooke of you thanne a counsayllour.
Not withstandynge for your silence
ye mought be a confessour. But yet
I doute me: for I remembre Gnato
what thou saydest whyle ere / that
whā ye were presēt both with your
master, if thou commendest his say∣enges
or doinges / this man wold ap¦proue
it with silence & countenance,
which mought do more harme / thā
all thy flatcry / than what mischiefe
mought folowe of his damnable sy∣lence,
if in secrete tyme of confession,
wherin confessours haue aboue all
men most largest lyberte to blame &
reproue / he shulde eyther dissemble
the vyces that he knoweth in hym,
whome he hath in confession / or els
forbeare to declare to hym the enor∣mitie
of suche capytall synnes as he
descriptionPage [unnumbered]
hath confessed.
GN.
By my trouth
thou art a busy felow, doest thou re∣membre
/ what thou saydest, whan
thou dydest espie, that I had a boke
of the Newe Testament.
PASQ.
What sayd I?
GNA.
Mary this
thou saydest / that some wolde be in
the bowels of diuinite or they know
what belongeth to good humanite.
Nowe thou takest thy selfe by the
nose: for without hauyng regard to
whom thou spekest / thou presumest
to teche this worshypfull man what
he shall do in confession.
PAS.
It is
well raysoned of you by swete saint
Ronyon: ye define teaching, as wel
as he dyd season his sylence. Didest
thou here me teache hym, what he
shulde do? Nay and if thou hast so
moche witte to remembre / vpon the
wordes that thou thy self spakest / I
declared what incōuenience mought
happen by the flaterynge silence of
a cōfessour: wenest thou that I was
descriptionPage 15
neuer confessed? Yes I haue tolde a
tale to a frier or this tyme, with a
grote in my hande / and haue ben as∣soyled
forthwith without any fur∣ther
rehersall: where if a poore man
had tolde halfe so moche, he shulde
haue ben made equall to the diuell /
and haue ben so chidde, that whan
he hadde gone from confession, he
shulde haue hanged doune the eres /
as if he had ben lerninge of pricke
songe. All be it / it is the custome of
some of you, that be courtiars, whā
ye can not defend your matter with
raison, to embrayed hym that spea∣keth
with presumption, treson / mis∣prison
or such other like praty mor∣selles
/ to stoppe hym of talkynge.
But betwene two men full of wor∣des,
trouthe shall neuer or late be e∣spied:
wherfore I wil no more Gna
tho meddel with the, but from hens
forth I wil speake to Harpocrates:
for if he can perswade me, that his
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silence is better than my babblynge.
I wyll folowe his doctryne rather
than thyn / for I haue professed from
my chyldehode neuer to speke in er∣nest
to my mayster or frende / contra∣rye
to that, that I thynke.
GNA.
Ergo thou haste professed to stande
styl in the rayne / and ones perchance
to be throwen in to Tyber, or brokē
in pieces.
PAS.
And perchaunce if
god neuer lyed / I may be in the pa∣laice
mery / whan thou shalte sytte
withoute on a ladder / and make
all thy frendes sorye. Herdest thou
neuer, that the worlde is roūde, and
therfore it is euer tournynge, nowe
the wronge side vpwarde, an other
tyme the ryghte, but lette this passe.
I praye the Harpocrates teache me
howe thou doest season thy sylence,
doest thou hit with salte or with
spyces?
HARPOCRAT.
Naye,
with sugar, for I vse lyttell salte.
PAS.
And that maketh your coun∣sayl
descriptionPage 16
more swete than sauery.
HAR∣POCRA.
Ye speke lyke a poticary.
PASQVILL.
And I haue knowen
a wyse poticarie done moche more
good, if he were trusted, than a fo∣lyshe
phisition. But nowe to thy
silence / that thou so moche praysest
Harpocrates, Thou saydest that in
sylence was suretie. And I asked,
If I perceiued one at thy back with
a sworde drawen redy to strike the,
whither shuld I speke or kepe silēce?
And thou answeredst, that silence
was than out of season.
HARPO.
So sayd I.
PAS.
I can the thāke,
thou abidest by thy word: although
at this day / that be accomted no po∣lycie.
But why saidest thou / that si∣lence
were than out of seson?
HAR.
For I mought be sore hurt, or per∣chance
kylled / if I were not thā war¦ned,
myn enmy beinge so nygh me.
PASQ.
Ye: I wiste well / that ye
wold not be slayne, nor yet woūded,
descriptionPage [unnumbered]
of ye mought haue rome ynough to
rōne / or your long clothis did not let
you. But I put ease I knewe, that
your enmie were at youre chamber
dore / or let it be further, at Poytiers
in France, who had auowed to slee
you, & were in his iournay towarde
you / but whan or where he wolde
strike you / I know not: shuld I forth
with warne you, or els kepe silence
vntill I sawe his sworde ouer your
heed redi to kyl you, that I mought
keepe silence all waye in seasone?
HAR.
No that were no frendshyp
but rather traison / to knowe me to
be in suche perylle, and to hyde hit
from me, that there were no meane
to escape, but only by fortune.
PAS.
What no lasse than trayson? Peace
ye are yet no pope, & bycause ye be
a priest ye be exēpted from being empe¦rour
or kyng.
HAR.
Hast thou any
other terme more propre, where a
man consenteth to the destruction of
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descriptionPage 18
ceyued by hym / that I trusted, and
drynke poyson in the stede of wyne:
wherof I shulde eyther be deed / or
fall in to suche sickenes and brekinge
out / that all men shuld abhorre me.
PASQ.
I wolde to god / that thou
woldest affirme alway truthe to thy
maister / as thou doest nowe to me.
But Harpocrates thou woldest not
die / nor yet lyue to be abhorred of
al men: therin I can preise the. Now
sens thou arte a good manne (as I
suppose) and also lerned, woldeste
thou / that any warse thinge shulde
happen to thy maister / that trusteth
the / than thou woldest to thy selfe?
HAR.
No truely.
PAS.
And if
thou knewest any daunger towarde
hym / as I haue rehersedde / thou
oughtest as wel to warne hym of it,
as I ought the.
HA.
I can not denie
that.
PAS.
And also thou woldest.
HAR.
Why, wherfore shuld I not?
PAS.
For perauenture if your mai∣ster
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mistrusteth him not / that hathe
auowed to kylle hym / & accompted
your tale for a fantasye / or if he fa∣uoureth
hym moch that ye knowe
wold poyson hym: he will suppose /
that ye tell it hym of some suspicion
or malice, and will leane a dese eare
toward you. And thā he, on whom
ye complayned / beinge aduertised,
shall omitte that / whiche he purpo∣sed,
to proue you a lyar. And than
shulde ye bothe lese your thanke of
your master and be called a detrac∣tour:
and also haue hym, whom ye
accused, and all his bende, vigilant
espialles to brynge you in daunger,
is it not thus?
HAR.
Ye syr by Ie∣sus.
PAS.
What if a nother man,
whiche loueth your maister no lasse
than ye doo, gaue hym suche war∣ninge,
and ye knewe hir to be true:
but ye perceyue / that youre maister
listeth not to here of suche mater / or
perchaunce commendeth hym / whi∣che
descriptionPage 19
is complayned on: wolde ye al∣so
preyse hym to support the truste
that your maister hathe in hym, or
commende your maister therin / for
his constance and litell mistrustinge?
HAR.
Nay than were I worthy a
hote mischiefing if I wolde helpe to
bringe so my maister vnto his confu∣sion.
PAS.
What, wolde you hold
your runge / & say nothinge?
HAR.
No but I wolde forbere for a time /
and a wayte diligentely, to see yf the
perille wolde cesse, or mought be by
some occasion preuented, or by my
maister other wise spied: but whan
it were imminent / thanne wolde I
giue warninge.
PAS.
Imminent,
what calle ye that?
HAR.
Whan
his ennemie is at his backe with his
sworde drawen / redy to strike him.
PAS.
And what for poysonynge?
HAR.
Whan I sawe my frend haue
the cuppe in his hande & were redy
to drynke.
PAS.
Nowe gate ye all
descriptionPage [unnumbered]
this witte with so littell lernynge?
It is not for nought / that ye be a coū¦saillour,
sens ye haue suche a praty
feate in seasonyng. Of likelyhode ye
be well sene in constellations, and do
knowe perfettly the subtile distincti∣ons
of tymes & momentes / ye wold
forbeare to warne youre maister at
the begynnynge of daungier / and
whan he is at the poynt to fall in to
it, perchaunce or ye shall not be pre∣sent,
or els not able or of powar to
resiste it: but teache me I pray you,
what ye calle imminent, for hit is a
worde taken out of latine, and not
cōmenly vsed.
HARP.
Marye the
thinge that is imminent, is whan it
appereth to be in the instante to be
done or to happen: and after some
mens exposition, as hit thretned to
come.
PAS.
It is well expouned
and clerkly. Than if ye wyll diuide
the tyme into instantes / bycause per∣chance
ye be a good Duns man: ye
descriptionPage 22
France, as I sayde at the fyrst, if ye
know, that he purposeth to sle him:
than it appereth to you, that the kil¦linge
of your maister is in the instāt
to be done, & is thretned to happen,
ergo the perille is imminent, and ye
are boūde to gyue your frende war∣ninge.
HAR.
Perchaunce I maye
knowe a thinge, and yet it appereth
not to me / and than your argument
auayleth not an herryng. As I may
knowe by other mennes tellynge, or
by coniecture of a lyght suspicion.
PAS.
Nay than shall we haue mo∣che
a do with you, if ye wyll compel
me of euery worde that I speke, to
make definition. Thoughe I haue
not so moche lernyng as you / I vse
alwaye my wordes in theyr propre
signification, and to serue to the mat¦ter
that I reason vnto. I knowe a
thynge / whiche by a cause I consy∣der
euidentely. And that whiche is
onely reported / I doo here / but I
descriptionPage [unnumbered]
knowe not: but coniceture is by si∣gnes
/ resemblaunce, or likely hoode,
whiche may be false: and yet is hit
not to be neglected, as it shal appere
afterwarde. But now retourne we
to knowelege, whiche being certein,
as I haue defined hit, as soone as
thou knowest that one wyll kylle or
poyson thy mayster, the perill is im∣minent:
than by thyn owne reason /
thou oughtest to warne him: it not,
thou art by thin owne sentence con∣dempned
of treason.
HAR.
Thou
sayest soore to me Pasquill. Not
withstandynge yet me scmethe: I
shulde not warne hym so soone, for
the daungers, whiche thou reher∣siddest,
mought happen vnto me / if
I lacked a thankfull and secrete he∣rer
/ or els the purpose were chaun∣ged:
but it were better to tary, vntil
it came to suche preparacion, that it
moughte not be denied.
PAS.
So
mought it be / if ye were partner of
descriptionPage [unnumbered]
the conspiracie, for than 〈…〉〈…〉
happē to be made priuie to〈…〉〈…〉
whan / & the place, where 〈…〉〈…〉
maister shuld stande in suc〈…〉〈…〉
die: but els ye mought know 〈…〉〈…〉
a thinge purposed / & ye be 〈…〉〈…〉
of the tyme / whan it shulde 〈…〉〈…〉
cuted. Than if ye forbare to 〈◊〉〈◊〉
your maister vntil the perill mough••
be more euident / and as ye saye /
moughte not be denied: before that
tyme it mought be more than immi∣nent,
and in the seconde instant, that
is to saye in the selfe doynge / or to
speke hit more clenly, in execucion.
HAR.
But than were I out of daū∣ger.
PAS.
ye / that is all that he
care for: yet moughte ye happen to
be deceyued, and your silence in stede
of suertie tourne you to trouble. For
seldome is the maister in ieopardie,
and the seruantes at libertie, special∣ly
they whiche be next about hym:
Or if ye happen to escape enemis, if
descriptionPage [unnumbered]
〈…〉〈…〉 perceyued / that ye knewe
〈…〉〈…〉le / and wold not discouer
〈…〉〈…〉de perchance escape hard∣〈…〉〈…〉er, though ye had shaken
〈…〉〈…〉r longe robes, and were
〈…〉〈…〉erkynne Yet if ye warned
〈…〉〈…〉 mayster at the begynnynge,
〈…〉〈…〉gh he toke it not thankfully / yet
〈◊〉〈◊〉 you your duetie / & can not lacke
rewarde of god, who loueth truth /
for your fidelite. And thoughe he,
whom ye disapoynted, or his affini∣tie /
shall seke howe to be aucnged on
you: either god wyl defende you, or
if there fall to you therby any ad∣uersitie /
finally falschode longe kepte
in / wyll braste oute at the laste, and
than shal repentance cause your sim∣plicite
to be had in renome and per∣petual
memorie: whiche part of ho¦nour
to euery honest man, passeth al¦other
rewarde, that may be gyuen
in this lyfe that is transitorie. But
bicause we spake while ere ••f conie∣ment?
descriptionPage 25
Or doest thou esteme the deth
of the soule to be of lasse importance
than the dethe of the bodye? What
sayst thou? that iugement belongeth
to thy faculte.
HAR.
Indede there
ye touche me.
PAS.
Lyke wyse, a
knocke on the heed / though it be to
the scull / is not so daungerous to be
healed / as an yuell affection thrast in
to thy maisters braynes by false opi∣nion.
Nor a wipe ouer his face with
a sworde, shal not blemmishe so mo∣che
his visage / as vice shall deforme
his soule & deface his renome / wher∣by
he is further knowen than by his
phisonomy. Is there any poison can
make him to be so abhorred of man /
as auarice, tyranny / or bestly liuynge
shall cause hym be hated of god and
of man vniuersally?
HAR.
No in
good faythe, I thynke thou sayest
truely.
PAS.
Than cōferre all this
togyther, with that whiche we be∣fore
raysoned / and se where in any
descriptionPage [unnumbered]
thynge that thy maister speaketh or
dothe / if there by any of the perilles
iminent / which I late rehersed: whi∣ther
it were better to speke or kepe si¦lence,
and in whiche of them were
most suretie. And consider also, that
bytwene these two perilles, that I
haue rehersed / is no lyttell diuersite,
besydes that the one is moche more
than the other. For in the bodilye
perill / in the tyme of the stroke per∣chaunce
youre maister wolde here
you / & therby escape, or ye mought
defende him: but the other perill of
soule or mynde, the lenger that he
continueth therin / the more gladly
he receyueth the stroke, & the more
he wyll disdayne to be warned by
you: and than ye putte your selfe in
more daunger of that / whiche we
spake of before: but for all that ney∣ther
in tyme of daunger thou ough∣test
to leaue thy mayster vnwarned,
which thou hast all redy graunted:
descriptionPage 26
nor yet whan thy maister is striken
or poysoned, speche is vnprofitable
as thou hast supposed.
HAR.
Now
proue you that? For if ye be a sur∣geon,
ye know it must be your dedes
and not your wordis, that must help
hym.
PAS.
Now it is wel remem∣bred
ye shall haue goddes blessinge.
I neuer herd a more foole by my ho∣ly
dome / doeth a surgeon all his cure
with playsters and instrumentes?
somtyme he speketh also / or if he be
domme, one speaketh for hym, and
telleth his pacient, what metes and
drynkes be vnholsome, whiche be
leuitiues and helpeth his medicine.
Also whan he perceiueth hym to be
faynte or discomforted, than with
swete wordes and faire promisis he
reuiueth his courage. If he be dis∣obedient
or riottouse / he rebuketh
hym, and do aggrauate the daunger
to make the sickenes more greuous.
The same is the office of a good con∣fessour,
descriptionPage [unnumbered]
where he perceiuith mannes
soule to be wounded with viciouse
affections / syns that a confessoure
serueth for none other pourpose /
but to cure mannes soule of deedly
synnes, whiche be hyr mortalle
diseases: but can he do that without
speakynge? Also ye sayde / where
mought be no longer resistence / spe∣che
nothynge auaylled: I wene ye
said truer than ye were ware. For
whan Gnatho with his flateri / and
ye with youre silence haue ones roo∣tid
in your maisters hart false opini∣ons,
& vicious affectis, whiche is the
poylon, that we so moche spake of,
though ye perceue the daunger, and
than sore repent you, yet shall it per∣chance
be impossible with speche to
remoue those opinions, & cure those
affectis, except ye loued to well your
maister, that for his helthe ye wolde
confesse your owne errours.
GNA.
Nay goddis body, to mought we
descriptionPage 27
get for our selfe a payre of tariars.
PAS.
Well it were better tary, than
runne to the dyuel with youre mai∣ster
/ or that good renoume shulde
runne away from hym. But tell me
Harpocrates as thou thinkest, were
not speche nowe expedient? or howe
mought thy maister be otherwise cu¦rid?
with silence trowist thou?
HAR
It semeth that silence shuld nothing
profite / nor speche shulde any thinge
auaille / if the opinions and affectes
be so impressed / that they can not be
remoued.
PAS.
Yet agayne / if ye
speke no wiseliar to your maister /
than ye do me / he hathe of you a
worshypful coūsayloure, I demande
of you remedie to cure wronge opi¦nions
and vicious affectes: and ye
answere me, that neyther speche nor
silence is profitable. Like as if I had
asked counsayl of a phisition what
thinge wold hele me, of my sickenes /
& he wold say / that giuing to me me¦dicine
descriptionPage [unnumbered]
or giuynge me none, shuld not
auayle me.
HARP.
Spake I not
welle / where I fynde no remedie?
PAS.
No / and ye loke wisely. For
and if ye remembre, I dyd not affir∣me
expressely / that it shulde be im∣possible
to remoue false oppinions
or vicious affectes, wher they were
impressed: but I ioyned therto per∣aduenture
/ and also an exception, if
ye that induced them / confessed not
your owne errour. Than if your con¦fession
moughte cure them, speche
were than not vnprofitable. And if
youre owne confession auaylid not,
sens I affirmed not expressely, that
the sayd diseases were incurable: if
neyther silence / nor speche shulde be
profitable, what shulde than be the
remedye?
HARPOCRAT.
I
make god a vowe / I can not tell / ex∣cepte
it were grace.
PAS.
I herde
the neuer speke so wysely. But yet
supposest thou / that grace wyll so
descriptionPage 28
lyghtly entre / where false opinion
and viciouse affectes be so depely im¦printed /
excepte they be fyrste some
what remoued by good perswasiō?
onles thou thinkest, that euery man
shall be called of god, as saint Paule
was / who was elected. And yet
now I remēbre me / at his conuersiō
Christe spake vnto hym, and tolde
hym, that it was harde to spurne a∣gayne
the pricke: where if Christe
had holde his peace, Saule whiche
was thanne beaten downe to the
grounde / moughte haue happened
neuer to haue ben calledde sayncte
Paule: but if he hadde escaped, he
wold by likelihode haue continued
styll in his errour.
HAR.
It is not
for vs Pasquill to inserche the impe∣netrable
iugementes of god: but the
grace of god hath happened farre
aboue mennes expectation: & where
all other remedie lacked. For than
the puissance of all myghty god is
descriptionPage [unnumbered]
specially proued.
PAS.
But tru∣stinge
onely therin to leue our owne
indeuour, I thynke it presumption.
And what indeuour maye be in sy∣lence?
Wherfore speche is not onely
profitable but also of necessite muste
be vsed in healing the diseases / both
of the soule & also the bodie.
HAR.
I can not denie that, if I say truly.
PAS.
Than whan is your silence in
season?
HAR.
I can not shortly tel /
I am so abashed at thy froward re∣son.
PAS.
Than wyll I helpe you
to knowe your owne vertue, wher∣in
ye haue suche delectatiō. I trowe
ye herde not, howe I did expounde
the sentence of Aeschylus, whiche
Gnatho rehersed to me for a coun∣sayle?
HAR.
Yes that I dydde / for
I stode all that whyle at the wyn∣dowe
herkenynge of the.
PAS.
Se
howe full the world is of suche false
ymages, that do here all, whan they
seme to here nothyng: as I truste to
descriptionPage 29
be saued / with suche felowes hit is
perillous dealing. But yet that shal
not cause Pasquill to leaue his bab∣linge.
Nowe Harpocrates / beare
away the sayde sentence with myne
exposition / and vse it.
HAR.
So I
wyll, as moche as pertayneth to sy∣lence.
PAS.
Ye god a vow and also
to spekynge / or els all the counsayle
is not worth thre halfpens. Thinke
ye to be a counsaylour / and speake
not? What were the Emper our the
better, if instede of counsaylours he
had set in his chambre the ymages
of Cato, Metellus, Lelius, Cicero,
and suche other persones, who ly∣uinge
/ ferre excelled in witte, experi∣ence
/ and lerninge, them, whiche be
nowe about hym? be men that sytte
and speake nothynge, any better
than they? No, but rather moche
warse: for they serue for nothynge,
yet the ymages do that, wherfore
they be ordeyned / that is to saye /
descriptionPage [unnumbered]
bringe to mens remēbrance the wise¦dom
and vertu of them, whom they
represented. But dūme coūsailours
do not theyr office / wherfore they be
called to counsayll / but by theyr si∣lence
they cause many thynges to be
broughte to an vnlucky conclusion.
HAR.
And thou that art nat called
to counsayle, arte full of bablynge.
PAS.
But ones in a yere: and wo∣tist
thou why that is?
HAR.
Nay,
tell me I pray the.
PAS.
Mary if
they that be called, wolde alwaye
playe the partis of good Counsay∣lours:
And bothe spiritual and tem∣porall
gouernours wolde banysshe
the and Gnatho out of theyr Cour∣tes,
except ye amende youre condici∣ons
/ I wolde speake neuer a worde,
but sit as styll as a stone, like as ye se
me: But for as moche as it hapneth
all contrary / and that thynges be so
farre out of frame, that stones doo
grutche at it (remembrest thou nat
descriptionPage 30
what a clatteryng they made at the
laste warres in Italy?) and yet coun¦sailours
be spechelesse: I that am set
in the citie of Rome, whiche is the
heed of the worlde / ones in the yere
shal here of the state of all prīcis and
regions. And bicause in the moneth
of Maie men be all set in pleasure / &
than they take merili suche wordes
as be spoken agayne them: thanne
boldly I put forth my verdicte / and
that openly.
HAR.
There thou
doest folyshely: for thou shuldest do
more good, if thou spakest priuily.
PAS.
Tusshe man, my playnnes is
so well knowen, that I shall neuer
come vnto priuie chambre or galeri.
HAR.
Sens thou profitest so lyttel,
why arte thou so busy?
PAS.
To
thintent that men shal perceiue / that
theyr vices / whiche they thinke to
be wonderfull secrete, be knowen to
all men. And that I hope alwaye,
that by moche clamoure / and open
descriptionPage [unnumbered]
repentance, whan they see the thing
not succede to theyr purpose / they
wyl be ashamed.
HAR.
Yet mayst
thou happen to be deceiued.
PAS.
But they moche more, whan they
know not who loueth them truely.
GN.
Harpocrates, it is time that we
repaire to the court / leste we be bla∣med.
And let vs leue Pasquill with
his pratery.
PAS.
And I wyllcue
you both with your slatery. Yet I
truste in god to see the daye, that I
wyll not set by the best of you both
a butterflye. As greatte a wonder
haue I seneer this tyme.
HARP.
Fare well Pasquill, and thinke on si¦lence.
PAS.
Fare well Harpocra∣tes
/ and thinke on thy conscience. I
wene I mought bie as moche of the
costerde monger for two pence.
Nowe whanne these two felowes
come to theyr maister / they wyll tell
al that they haue herde of me / it ma∣kith
no mater. For I haue sayd no∣thynge
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/ but by the waye of aduer∣tisement
/ withoute reprochynge of
any one person, wherwith no good
man hath cause to take any displea∣sure.
And he that doeth / by that
whiche is spoken he is soone spied,
to what part he leaneth, Iuge what
men lyst, my thought shall be free.
And god / who shall iudge all men /
knoweth / that I desire all thynges
to be in good poynt, on the con∣dicion
that I moughte euer
be specheles / as it is my
very nature to be.
A dieu gentill
herers,
and
saye well by Pasquill,
whan he is from
you.
CVM PRIVILEGIO.
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