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"Men punish with shame as greatest punishment on earth, yea! greater than death; but His punishment is, first, the withdrawing of his favour, and grace, and in leaving his hand to rule the stern to let the ship run without guide to its own destruction; and suffereth so the man that he forsaketh to run headlong as subject to all mishaps, and at last with shameful end to everlasting shame and death. Ye may see continual examples both of the one sort, and of the other; and the better, mark them well that yourself are come of; and consider well your good grandfather, what things there were in him, and his end. And they that knew him noted him thus; first, and chiefly to have a great reverence of God and good opinion of godly things. Next that, there was no man more pitiful; no man more true of his word; no man faster to his friend; no man diligenter nor more circumspect, which thing, both the Kings his masters noted in him greatly. And if these things, and specially the grace of God that the fear of God alway kept with him, had not been, the chances of this troublesome world that he was in had long ago overwhelmed him. This preserved him in prison from the hands of the tyrant* that could find in his heart to see him racked; from two years and more prisonment in Scotland in irons and stocks; from the danger of sudden changes and commotions divers, till that well be

* Richard the Third.

loved of many, hated of none,

in his fair age, and good reputation, godly and christianly he went to Him that loved him, for that he always had Him in reverence.

"And of myself, I may be a near example unto you of my folly and unthriftness, that hath, as I well deserved, brought me into a thousand dangers and hazards, enmities, hatreds, prisonments, despites, and indignations; but that God hath of his goodness chastised me, and not cast me clean out of his favour; which thing I can impute to nothing but to the goodness of my good father, that, I dare well say purchased with continual request of God his Grace towards me more than I regarded, or considered myself; and a little part to the small fear that I had of God in the most of my rage, and the little delight that I had in mischief. You therefore if ye be sure, and have God in your sleeve to call you to his grace at last, venture hardily by mine example upon naughty unthriftiness, in trust of his goodness; and besides the shame, I dare lay ten to one ye shall perish in the adventure; for trust me, that my wish or desire of God for you shall not stand you in as much effect, as I think my father's did for me: we are not all accepted of Him.

"Begin therefore betimes. Make God and goodness your foundations. Make your examples of wise and honest men: shoot at that mark: be no mocker mocks follow them that delight therein.

He shall be sure of shame that feeleth no grief in other men's shames. Have your friends in a reverence; and think unkindness to be the greatest offence, and least punished amongst men; but so much the more to be dread, for God is justiser upon that alone.

"Love well, and agree with your wife; for where is noise and debate in the house there is unquiet dwelling; and much more, where it is in one bed. Frame well yourself to love and rule well and honestly your wife as your fellow, and she shall love and reverence you as her head. Such as you are unto her, such shall she be unto you. Obey and reverence your father-in-law, as you would me; and remember that long life followeth them that reverence their fathers and elders; and the blessing of God, for good agreement between the wife and husband, is fruit of many children.

"Read oft this my letter, and it shall be as though I had often written to you; and think that I have herein printed a fatherly affection to you. If I may see that I have not lost my pain, mine shall be the contentation, and yours the profit; and, upon condition that you follow my advertisement, I send you God's blessing and mine, and as well to come to honesty, as to increase of years."

LETTER II.

"I DOUBT not but long ere this time my letters are come to you. I remember I wrote to you in them, that if you read them often it shall be as though I had written often to you. For all that, I cannot so content me but still to call upon you with my letters. I would not for all that, that if any thing be well warned in the other that you should leave to remember it because of this new. For it is not like with advertisements as it is with apparel that with long wearing a man casteth away, when he hath new. Honest teachings never wear; unless they wear out of his remembrance that should keep and follow them, to the shame and hurt of himself. Think not also that I have any new or change of advertisements to send you; but still it is one that I would. I have nothing to cry and call upon you for but Honesty, Honesty. It may be diversely named, but alway it tendeth to one end; and as I wrote to you last, I mean not that Honesty that the common sort calleth an honest man. Trust me, that honest man is as common a name as the name of a good fellow; that is to say, a drunkard, a tavern haunter, a rioter, a gamer, a waster. So are among the common sort all men honest men that are not known for manifest naughty knaves. "Seek not I pray thee, my Son, that Honesty

which appeareth, and is not indeed: Be well assured it is no common thing, nor no common man's judgment to judge well of Honesty; nor it is no common thing to come by; but so much it is the more goodly, for that it is so rare and strange.

"Follow not therefore the common reputation of Honesty. If you will seem honest, be honest; or else seem as you are. Seek not the name without the thing; nor let not the name be the only mark you shoot at that will follow though you regard it not; yea! and the more you regard it, the less. I mean not by regard it not, esteem it not; for well I wot honest name is goodly. But he that hunteth only for that, is like him that had rather seem warm than be warm, and edgeth a single coat about with a fur. Honest name is to be kept, preserved, and defended, and not to employ all a man's wit about the study of it; for that smelleth of a glorious and ambitious fool. I say, as I wrote unto you in my last letters, get the thing, and the other must of necessity follow, as the shadow followeth the thing that it is of; and even so much is the very Honesty better than the name, as the thing is better than the shadow.

"The coming to this point that I would so fain have you have, is to consider a man's own self what he is, and wherefore he is; and herein let him think verily that so goodly a work as man is,