Two Dyaloges (c. 1549) | Page 8

men for my part. _Bea._ Tell me thy f?tasie I pray the do not suche men passe more vpon the name then the thinge? _Boni._ Methynke thy do. _Bea._ Yf we had a logician here whiche could well and clarkelie defyne what were a kynge, what a bysshoppe, ||what a magistrate, what a philosopher is, paduêture we shuld find som am?g these iolly felowes whiche had rather haue the name then the thynge. _Boni._ Surely & so thynke I. Yf he be a kinge whiche by lawe and equyte regardes more the commoditie of his people then his owne lucre/yf he be a bisshop which alwayes is careful for the lordes flocke c?mytted to his pastorall charge/yf he be a magistrate which frankelie and of good wyll dothe make prouysyon, and dothe all thinge for the comyn welthes sake/and yf he be a phylosopher whiche passynge not vpon the goodes of this worlde, only geueth hym selfe to attayn to a good mynde, and to leade a vertuous lyfe. _Bea._ Lo thus ye may perseyue what a nombre of semblable ex?ples ye may collecte & gether. _Boni._ Undouted a great sorte. _Bea._ But I pray the tel me wyll you saye that all these are no men. _Boni._ Nay I feare rather lest in so sayenge it shulde cost vs our lyues, and ||so myght we our selues shortelye be no men. _Bea._ Yf man be a resonable creature, howe ferre dyffers this from all good reason, that in c?modities apertayning to the body (for so they deserue rather to be called then goodnes) and in outwarde gyftes whiche dame fortune geues and takes awaye at her pleasure, we had rather haue the thynge then the name, and in the true and only goodnes of the mynd we passe more vpon the name then the thynge. _Boni._ So god helpe me it is a corrupte and a preposterours iudgement, yf a man marke and consyder it wel. _Bea._ The selfe same reason is in contrarie thinges. _Boni._ I wolde gladly knowe what ye meane by that. _Bea._ We maye iudge lykewyse the same of the names of thynges to be eschued, and incommodites which was spoken of thynges to be diffyred and c?modites. _Boni._ Nowe I haue considered the thynges well, it apereth to be euen so as ye saye in dede. __Bea.__ It shulde be ||more feared of a good prynce to be a tyraunt in dede then to haue the name of a tyraunt. And yf an euyll bysshop be a thefe and a robber, then we shulde not so greatly abhorre and hate the name as the thynge. _Boni._ Eyther so it is or so it shuld be. _Bea._ Nowe gather you of the rest as I haue done of the prynce & the bysshop. _Boni._ Me thynkes I vnderstande this gere wonderouse well. _Bea._ Do not all men hate the name of a fole or to be called a moome, a sotte, or an asse? _Boni._ Yeas as moche as they do any one thynge. _Bea._ And how saye you were not he a starke fole that wold fishe with a goldê bayte, that wolde preferre or esteme glasse better then precious stones, or whiche loues his horse or dogges better then his wyfe and his chyldrê? _Boni._ He were as wyse as waltoms calfe, or madder then iacke of Redyng. _Bea._ And be not they as wyse whiche not assygned, chosen, nor yet ones appoynted by the magistrates, but vpon ||theyr owne heed aduenture to runne to the warres for hoope of a lytle gayne, ieoperdynge theyr bodyes and daungerynge theyr soules? Or howe wyse be they which busie thê selfe to get, gleyne, and reepe to gyther, goodes and ryches when they haue a mynde destitute and lackyng all goodness? Are not they also euen as wyse that go gorgyously apparylled, and buyldes goodly sumptuous houses, when theyr myndes are not regarded but neglect fylthye and with all kynde of vyce fowle corrupted? And how wyse are they whiche are carefull diligent and busie, about the helthe of theyr body neglectynge and not myndynge at all theyr soule, in daunger of so many deedly synnes? And fynally to conclude howe wyse be they whiche for a lytle shorte transytorye pleasure of this lyfe deserue euerlastynge tormentes and punyshementes? _Boni._ Euen reason forseth me to graunt that they are more then fr?tyke and folyshe. _Bea._ Yea ||but althoughe all the whole worlde be full of suche fooles, a man can scaselye fynde one whiche can abyde the name of a foole, and yet they deserue to be called so for asmoche as they hate not the thynge. _Boni._ Suerly it is euen so as ye seye. _Bea._ Ye knowe also howe the names of a