The.xix. Chapter

NOr I saye not this to the entent to comforte riche men in heaping vp of riches, for a lytle comforte is bente inough thereto for them. They be not so proude hearted and obstinate, but that they would I wene, to that counsayle be with right lytle exhortacion verye conformable. But I say this for those good mē to whom god geueth substance, and the minde to dispose it well, & yet not the minde to geue it all awaye at once, but for good causes to kepe some substance still, should not dispaire of goddes fauour for the not doing of the thing, which god hath geuen them no commaundemēt of, nor drawen by anye special calling therunto. acheus loe, that clymed vp into the tree for desier yt he had to behold our sauiour, at such time as Christ called aloude vnto him & sayd: zacheus, make hast & come downe, for this daye must I dwel in thy house. Zacheus was so glad therof, & so touched inwardly wt special grace to the profite of his soule, that whereas al ye people murmured much that Christ would call him and be so familiar with hym, as of his owne offre to come vnto his house, considering that they knewe him for the chiefe of the Publicanes, that wer customers or tolle gatherers of themperours dueties: all which whole company were among ye people sore infamed of rauine, extorciō and bribery, & than zacheus, not onely the chiefe of that felowship, but also growen greatly riche, wherby the people accoumpted him in theyr own opinion[…] for a man very sinneful and nought: he forthwith by the instinct of ye spirite of god, in reproche of al such […]emerarious bold & blynd iudgement geuen vpon a man, whose inwarde mind and sodayn chaunge they cannot see, shortly proued them all deceiued and that our lord had at those fewe woordes outwardly spokē to him, so touched him, that his grace so wrought in his heart within, yt whatsoeuer he was before, he was than, vnwares vnto them all sodaynly waxen good: for he made haste & came downe, & gladly receiued Christ, and sayd: Loe lord, the one halfe of my goodes here I geue vnto poore people: & yet ouer that, if I haue in any thing deceued any mā, here am I ready to recompence him foure folde asmuche.

Vincent. Thys was vncle, a gracious hearyng, but yet I marueile me sūwhat wherfore zacheus vsed his woordes in that maner of ordre. For me thinketh he shoulde first haue spoken of making restitucion vnto those whom he had begyled, and than speake of geuing his almose after. For restitucion is, you wote well, duetye, and a thing of such necessitie, that in respect of restitucion, almose dede is but voluntarye. Therefore it might seme, that to put men in mind of theyr duetie in making restitucion fyrst, and doing theyr almose after[…] zacheus should haue sayd more conueniently if he had sayd fyrst that he woulde make euery man restitucion whom he had wronged, & than geue halfe in almose of that ye remayned after, for only that might he cal clerely his own.

☞Anthony. This is true Cosin, where a mā hath not ynough to su[…]fise for bothe: but he that hath is not bound to leaue his almose vngeuen to the poore man that is at his hand, and peraduenture calleth vpō him til he goe seke vp al his creditors, and al those that he hath wronged, so farre peraduenture asundre, that leauing the one good dede vndone ye while, he may before they come together change that good mind again, and dooe neither the one nor the other. It is good alway therfore to be doing some good out of hand, while we thynke thereon: grace shall the better stande with vs, and encrease also to goe the farther into the other after: and this I aunswere, if the man had there done the one out of hand, ye geuing I mean[…] half in almose, & not so muche as speake of restitucion till after, where as nowe though he spake the one in ordre before the other, and yet all at one time, the thing remayned still in his libertie to put them both in execucion after such ordre as he should than thinke expedient. But nowe Cosin did the spiri[…]e of god tempre the tongue of zacheus in the vtterau[…]ce of these wordes, in suche wyse as it may wel a[…]peare the saying of the wyse man to be verifyed in them, where he sayeth: Domini est gubernare linguam. To god it belongeth to gouerne the tongue.

For here when he sayde he would geue halfe of hys whole good vnto poore people, and yet besyde that, not onely recomp[…]ce any man whom he had wronged, but more than recompence him by three times asmuche again: He double reproued the false suspicion of the people that accoūted him for euil, y• than reckoned in their mind al his good gotten in e[…]fect with wrong, because he was growen to substaunce in that office, which was commōly misused extorciously. But his wordes declared that he was r[…]p[…] inough in his reckoning, yt if half his goodes wer geuē away, yet wer he wel able to yeld euery man his dueti[…] with ye other half & yet leaue himselfe no beggar neither: for he said not he would geue al away. Would god Cosin y• euery riche christen man that is reputed right worshipful (yea & which yet in my mind, more is r[…]ckoned for right honest too) would and wer able, to do the thing tha[…] litle zacheus yesame great Publican[…] (were he Iewe or wer he Painim) said: yt is to we[…]e, with lesse thē halfe his goodes recompence euery man whom he had wronged.iiii. times as much: ye, ye Cosin, asmuch for as much hardly, and than they […]hat shal receiue it, shall be content (I dare promise for thē) to let the other thrise as muche go, & forgeue it, because it was one of the hard poyntes of the olde lawe, wheras christen men must be ful of forgeuing, and not vse to require a[…]d exact theyr amendes to ye vttermost. But now for our purpose here, notwithstāding that he promised not, neither to geue away al, nor to become a beggar nether, no nor yet to leaue of his office nether, which albeit yt he had not vsed before peraduenture in euery poynt, so pure as. S. Iohn baptist had taughte thē the lesson. Nihil amplius quam constitut[…] e[…]vobis faciatis. Doe no more thē is appoynted vnto you. Yet forasmuch as he might both lawfully vse his substance yt he minded to reserue, and lawfully might vse his office to, in receiuing the Princes duetie according to Christes expresse commaundement. Reddite que sunt Se[…]ar[…]s, […]efari. Geue themperour those thinges that are his, refusing al extorcion & bribery beside: our lord wel allowing his good purpose, and exacting no far[…]her foorth of him concernyng hys worldly b[…]haueour[…] auns[…]ered and sayd: Ho[…]e salus facta […]st hui[…] d[…]mui eo quod ipse […]ilius sit Abrahe. This day is heal[…]h comen to this house, for that he too, is the sonne of Abraham. But now forgeat I no[…] Cosyn, yt in effecte thus farre you condiscende vnto me[…] that a man may be riche, and yet not out of the state of grace, nor out of goddes fauour: howbeit you thinke that though it maye be so in some tyme, or in some place, yet at this time, and in this place, or any such other like, wherein be so many poore people vpon whom they be, you thinke, bounden to bestowe their good, they can therfore kepe no riches with good conscience: Uerely Cosin if y• reason would hold, I wene the world was neuer such any where, in which any man might haue kept any substaunce without the daunger of damnacion, as for since Christes dayes to the worldes end, we haue the witnes of his own word, that there hath neuer lacked poore mē, nor neuer shal: for he sayed himselfe. Pauperes semper habebitis vobi[…]cum, quibus quum vultis, bene[…]acere po[…]estis. Poore men shal you alway haue with you, whom when you wil you may doe good vnto: so that as I tell you, if your rule should hold, then wer there, I wene, no place in no time since Christes dayes hetherto, nor as I thinke in as lōg before that neither, nor neuer shal there hereafter, in which there could any man abide riche without the danger of eternall dā nacion, euen for his riches alone, though he demeaned it neuer so well. But Cosin, men of substaūce must there nedes be, for els shal you haue moe beggars pardie, thē there be, & no man left able to relieue another. For this thinke I in my mind a very sure conclusion, that if al the money that is in this cūtrey, were to morowe next brought together out of euery mans hand, and layd al vpon one heape, and than deuided out vnto euerye man alike, it would be on the morrowe after worse than it was the day before. For I suppose whan it were all egally thus deuided amōg al, the best should be left litle better, than a begger almost is now: and yet he that was a begger before, al that he shalbe the richer for y• he should therby receiue, shal not make him much aboue a begger stil: but many one of ye riche me if their riches stode but in moueable substaunc[…], shalbe safe inough frō riches haply for al their life after. Men can not you wote well liue here in thys worlde, but if that some one mā prouide a meane of liuing for some other many, euerye man cannot haue a ship of hys own, nor euery man be a marchaunt without a stocke, and these thinges you wote wel must nedes be had: nor euery mā cannot haue a plowe by himselfe. And who might liue by the taylors craft, if no man were able to put a gown to make? who by masonrye? or who could liue a carpenter, if no man were able to builde neither churche nor house? Who should be makers of anye maner of cloth, if there lacked men of substaunce to set sondry sortes a worke? Some man that hath but two duccates in his house, we[…]e better forbeare them bothe and leaue hymselfe not a farthing, but vtterly lese all his owne, than that some ryche man by whome he is w[…]ekely sette a worke, shoulde of his money lese the one halfe, for than were himselfe like to lacke worke. For surely the riche mannes substaunce is the weispring of the poore mans liuing. And therfore here would it fare by ye poore man as it fared by ye woman in one of Esopes fables, which had an henne that layde euery daye a golden egge, tyll on a day she […]hought she would haue a great mayny of egges at once, and therefore she kylled her henne, and fo[…]nd but one or twayne in her belly, so that for couetise of those sewe she lost manye. But nowe Cosin, to come to your dout how it may be that a man may with conscience kepe riches with him, when he seeth so many poore men vpon whom he may bestowe it: Uerely that might he not with conscience do, if he mu[…]t bestowe it vpon as many as he may. And so must of trueth euerye […]iche man doe, if all the poore folke that he seeth, be so specially by Gods commaundement committed vnto his charge alone, that because our sauiour saith: Omni peten[…]ite, d[…]. Geue euery mā that asketh the, therfore should he be boūd to geue out stil to eueri beggar that wil aske him, as long as any penny lasteth in his purse. But verely Cosin, yt saying hath, as S. Paule saith[…] and other places in Scripture, neede of interpretacion. For as holy. S. Austen saith: Though Christ say, geue euerye man that asketh the: he saith not yet, geue them al that they wil aske thee. But surely al wer one, if he meint to bynde me by cōmaundement to geue euery man without excepcion somewhat, […]or so should I leaue my selfe nothing. Our sauior in that place of ye.vi. Chap of S. Luke, speaketh both of ye contēpt yt we should in heart haue of these worldly thinges, & also of ye maner yt men should vse toward their enemies. For there he biddeth vs loue our enemies geue good wordes for euil, & not onely su[…]fer iniuries pacientlye bothe by takyng away our goodes and harme done vnto our bodies, but also be ready to suffer the double, and ouer that, to doe thē good agayne, that dooe vs the harme. And amonge these thinges he biddeth vs geue euerye manne that asketh, meaning that in the thing that we may conueniently do a mā good, we should not refuse it, what maner of man soeuer he be, though he were oure mortal[…] enemy, namely where we see, yt but if we helpe him our self, ye person of ye man should stād in peril of perishing, & there saith: Si esurierit inimicus tuus, da illi cibū. If thine enemy be in hunger, geue him meate. But nowe though I be bound to geue euery maner of man in some maner of his necessitie, wer he my frend or my foe, christen mā or heath[…], yet am I not vnto al men bound alike, nor vnto any man in euery case alike. But as I began to tell you, ye differēce of ye circumstances make great change in the matter. S. Paul saith[…] Qui non prouidet suis, est infideli deterior. He yt prouideth not for those yt are his, is worse thā an infidele. Those are ours that are belo[…]ging to our charge, either by nature or law, or any cōmaundement of god, by nature as our children, by law as our seruantes in our houshold: so yt albeit these two sortes be not ours al alike, yet would I thinke that ye least to be ours of ye twayn: that is to wete, our seruantes, if they nede & lack, we be b[…]undē to loke to them, & prouide for their nede, & see so farforth as we may, that they lacke not ye thinges yt should serue for theyr necessitie, while they dwel in our seruice. Me semeth also yt if they fal sicke in our seruice, so yt they cānot do ye seruice yt we retain thē for: yet may we not in any wise turne them then out of dores, & cast thē vp cōfortles while they be no[…] able to labor & helpe themselfe, for this wer a thing agaynst al humanitie. And surely if he wer but a waifaring mā yt I receued into mi house as a geast, if he fal sicke therin, & his money gone, I reckon my self boū den to kepe him still, and rather to begge aboute for his reliefe than cast him oute in that case to the peryll of hys lyfe, what losse soeuer I shoulde take thereby in keeping of him. For when God hath by suche chaunce sente him to me, and there once matched me with hym, I reckon my selfe surely charged with him, till I maye without perell of his life, be well and conueniently discharged of him.

By Goddes commaundement are in our charge, our parētes, for by nature we be in theyrs[…] sith as. S. Paul saith, it is not ye childrens part to prouide for ye parētes, but the parentes to prouide for the children, prouide I meane conueniently good learning or good occupacions to geat theyr liuing by with trueth and the fauour of god, but not to make prouisiō for thē of such maner of liuing as to godward they should liue ye woorse for: but rather if they see by their maner, yt to much woulde make them nought, the father should then geue them a great deale the lesse. But although ye nature put not ye parentes in the charge of the childrē: yet not onely god cōmaundeth[…] but the ordre of nature also compelleth, yt the children should both in reuerent behaueour, honor their father & mother, & also in al their necessitie maintain thē, & yet asmuch as god & nature both bindeth vs to the sustenance of our own father, his nede may be so litle, though it be sumwhat, and a frēd mans so great, yt both god & nature also would I should in suche vnequal nede, relieue that vrgent necessitie of a straunger, yea my foe, & gods enemy to, the veri Turke or Sarazin before a litle nede, & vnlikely to do great harme in my father and in my mother to, for so ought they bothe twayne them selfe to be well content I shoulde. But nowe Cosyn out of the case of suche extreme nede well perceiued and knowen vnto my selfe, I am not boundē to geue euery begger that will aske, nor to beleue euery faytor that I mete in the strete, that will saye him selfe that he is very sycke, nor to reckon all the poore folke committed by God only, so to my charge alone, ye none other man shoulde geue them nothinge of his, tyll I haue first geuē out al myne, nor am not boundē neyther to haue so euill opiniō of all other folke saue my selfe as to thinke, yt but if I helpe, the pore folke shal al faile at once, for god hath left in al this quarter no mo good folke nowe but me: I may thinke better by my neyghbour, & worse by my selfe than so, & yet come to heauen by goddes grace well inough.

Vincent. Marye Uncle but some man wil peraduenture he right well cōtent in such cases, to thinke his neyghbours verye charitable, to the entent yt he maye thinke him selfe at libertie to geue nothing at al.

Anthony. That is Cosin verye true, so wyll there some be contente eyther to thinke, or make as though they thought, but those are they yt are contente to geue noughte, because they b[…] nought. But our question is Cosin not of thē, but of good folke, yt by the keping of worldely goodes, stande in great feare to offend god. For ye acquieting of theyr cōsciēce speake we […]ow, to the entent y• they may perceiue what maner of hauing of worldly goodes & keping therof, maye stand wt the state of grace. Nowe thinke I Cosin yt if a mā kepe riches about him for […] glorye & royalty of ye worlde, in cōsideraciō whereof h[…] taketh a great delite, & liketh him self therfore ye bette[…] taking ye poore for ye lacke thereof as one farre wors[…] thā him self, such a mind is very vaine, foolishe, prou[…] and suche a man is verye naughte in dede. But o[…] the other side, if there be a mā such as would god the[…] were many, yt hath vnto riches no loue, but hauing […] fal aboundantly vnto him, taketh to hys owne par[…] no great pleasure therof, but as though he had it n[…] kepeth him selfe in lyke abstinence & penance prieu[…] as he woulde doe in case he hadde it not, and in su[…] thinges as he doeth openly bestowe somewhat n[…] liberally vpon him selfe in hys house after some maner of the worlde, lest he should geue other folke occasiō to meruaile & muse, and talke of his maner, & missereport him for an ipocrite, there in betwene god & him doth truely proteste & testifie as did the good Queene Hesther, that he doth it not for any desier therof in the satisfying of his owne pleasure, but woulde wyth as good wil or better, forbeare the possession of riches, sauing for the commodytie that other men haue by hys dysposing […]hereof. as percase in keping of a good housholde in good christē ordre & fashiō, & in se[…]ting other folke a worke wt such thing as they gaine theyr liuing ye better by his meanes. This mānes hauing of riches I might me thinketh in merite, ma[…]ch in a maner with an o[…]her mānes forsaking of al if there were none other circumstaunces more pleasaunt vnto god farther added vnto the forsaking beside as percase for the more feruent contemplacion, by reason of the solicitude of al worldly busines l[…]ft of, which was the thing that made Mary Magdalenes part the better. For els woulde C[…]ris[…]e haue canned her muche more thanke to goe about and be busy in helping her sister Martha to dresse hys dinner, than to take her stoole and sytte downe at her ease and doe nought. Nowe if he that haue thys good and riches by him, haue not happely fully so perfecte minde, but somewhat loueth to kepe him self from lacke, and not so fully as a pure christen fashion requireth, determined to abandō his pleasure: wel, what wyl you more, the mā is so much ye lesse perfecte, than I would he were, and happely than him self woulde wishe, if it were as easie to be it as to wishe it, but yet not by & by in the state of damnacion, no more thā he ye forsaking al, & entring into religion. is not yet alway so clere depured f[…]ō al worldly affeccions as him selfe would very faine he were & much bewa[…]le[…]h yt he is not: of whō some man yt hath in the world willi[…]ly forsaken y• likelihode of right worshipf[…]l roumes, hath afterward had much adoe, to kepe him selfe frō the desier of ye office of cele[…]ar or sextayn, to beare yet at ye leastwyse some rule & auctorite, though it were but among ye belles. But god is more merciful to mannes imperfecciō, if ye mā know it, & knowle[…]ge it, & mislike it, & litle & litle labour to amend it, thā to reiect & cast of him y• after as his frailetie can beare & suffer, hath a general intēt & purpose to please him & to preferre or set by nothing in al this world before hym. And therfore Cosin, to make an ende of this piece wtal A negotio perambulante in tenebris. Of this deuil I meane yt the prophet calleth busines walking in the darknes if a mā haue a mind to se[…]ue god & please him, & rather lese al the good he hath than wittingly doe deadly si[…]ne[…] & would wtout murmure or grudge, geue it eu[…]ri whitte awaye in case that god should so commaūde hym and intende to take it paciently if god would take it from him, & glad would be to vse it vnto gods pleasure, & doe his diligence to knowe and to be taught what maner vsing therof god would be pleased wyth: & therin frō tyme to time be glad to folowe the counsayle of good verteous men, thouge he neyther geue awaye all at once, nor geue euerye man that asketh hym, neyther (lette euerye man feare and thynke in thys world, yt al the good that he doth or can doe, is a great deale to litle) but yet for al that feare, let hym dwel therwith in the faythfull hope of Goddes helpe. And than shall the trueth of god so cōpasse him about (as the proph[…] saith) with a pauice, that he shal not so nede to dreade y• traines & the temptacions of this deuil yt the prophete calleth busines, walking about in the darkensses, but that he shall for all the hauing of riches and worldlye substance, so auoyde his traines and his temptacions, that he shal in conclusion by the greate and almighty mercye of god, geat into heauen well inoughe. And nowe was I Cosin aboute loe, after thys piece thus ended, to bidde them to bringe in our dinner, but now shal I not nede loe, for here they come with it already.

Vincent. Forsoth good Uncle god disposeth and temeth your matter and your dinner both I trust. For the end of your good tale (for which our lorde rewarde you) and the beginning here of your good dinner too, (from which it were more than pietie that you shoulde any lenger haue taried) mete euē at the close together.

Anthony. Well Cosin, nowe will we saye grace, and than for a while[…] wil we leaue talking, and assaye howe our dinner shall like vs, and howe fayre we can fall to feding, which done you know my customable guise (for maner I maye not cal it) because ye gyse is vnmanerly to bydde you not fare well, but steale awaye from you to slepe: but you wote well I am not wonte at after noone to slepe longe, but euen a litle to forgeatte the worlde. And when I wake, I will againe come to you, and than is (god willyng) all thys longe daye oures, wherein we shall haue time inough to talke more than shall su[…]fice for the finishing of thys one parte of our matter, which onely nowe remaineth.

☞Vincent. I praye you good vncle kepe your customable maner, for maner maye you call it well inough: for as it were againste good maner to looke that a man shoulde kneele downe for courtesie whan his knee is sore, so is it very good maner that a man of your age agrieued with suche sondry syckenesses besyde, tha[…] suffre you not alway to s[…]epe when you should. Lette his slepe not slyppe awaye, but take it when he maye: And I will vncle in the meane while steale from you too, and spede a little earrande, and returne to you againe.

Antony. Tarye while you will, and when you haue dyned, goe at your pleasure, but I pray you […]arye not long.

☞Vincent. You shal not nede vncle to putte me in mynde of that, I woulde so fayne haue vp the remnaunte of our matter.