Two Dyaloges (c. 1549) | Page 8

holy man,
then to be well lerned, vertuous, & holy in dede. _Boni._ I knowe a
good sorte of suche men for my part. _Bea._ Tell me thy fãtasie 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
amõg 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
cõmytted 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 exãples 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 cõmodities 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 cõmodites. _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 frãtyke 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