The.xix. Chap. Of impryesonmen • e and comforte there agaynste

Anthony. THat shall I Cosin with good will: & fyrste if we […]oulde considre what thing impriesonment is of his owne nature, we should not me thinketh haue so greate horror therof. For of it selfe it is perdie, but a restraynt of liberty, which letteth a mā frō going whither he would.

Vincent. Yes by. S. Mary vncle, me thinketh it is much more sorowe than so. For beside y• […]t & re[…]rainte of libertie, it hath many moe displeysures & very sore griefes knitte & adioyned therunto.

A[…]thony. That is Cosin very true in dede. And those paines, amōge many sorer thā those, thought I not after to forgeat: howbeit[…] I purposed now to cōsider first impri[…]sonmēt, but as impriesonment onely wtout any other cōmoditie beside. For a mā maye be perdy imprisoned, & yet not set in ye stockes, nor colored fast by the necke, & a mā may be let walke at large where he will & yet a payre of f[…]tters fast riueted on his legges. For in this coūtry ye wote well & in Cicile & port[…]ngale to, so goe there all ye slaues. Howebeit, because yt for such thinges mennes ha[…]tes hath such horror therof, albeit that I am not so mad as to goe about, to proue yt bod[…]ly paine were no paine, yet syth yt because of these maner of paines, we so specially abhore the state & condicion of prisoners, we shoulde me thinke well perceiue that a great parte of our horror groweth of our owne fantasie if we would cal to mynde & consider the state and condicion of many other folke in whose state & condisiō we would wishe our self to stand taking thē for no prisoners at al y• stand yet for al that in much part of ye self same pointes yt we abhorre imprisonment for. Let vs therfore cōsider these thinges in order. And first as I thought to beginne, because those other kindes of grieues yt come wt impriesonmēt are but accedentes therunto, & yet neither such kindes of accedētes as be eyther proper thereunto, but yt they may (almost al) fal vnto a mā wtout it, nor are not such accedentes therinto[…] as are vnseperable therfro: but yt imprisonment may fal to a mā, and none of all the therwt. We wil I saye therfore begin wt ye cōsidering what maner paine or cōmoditie we should reckin impriesonment to be of him selfe & of his owne nature alone. And than in the course of our communicacion, you shal as you lust encreace & aggreue ye cause of your horror wt ye terror of those painful accedentes.

Antony. I am sory yt I did enterrupte your tale. For you were about I se wel to take an orderly way therin. And as yourself haue deuised, so I beseche you procede. For though I reckin impriesonmēt much y• sorer thing by sore & harde handling therin, yet reckē I not ye inpriesonment of it selfe any lesse thā a thing very tedious, al were it vsed in ye most fauorable maner ye i[…]possiple might. For vncle, if it wer a great prince yt were takē prisoner vpō ye fielde, & in ye hand of a christē king, which vse in such case (for the cōsideraciō of theyr former state (and the mutabl[…] chaūge of ye warre) to shewe much humanitie to thē, & in very fauorable wise entreate thē. For these infidele Emperours handle often times the princes that they take, more villanously, then they doe the poorest men, as the great Tamberlayne kepte the greate Turke whan he had taken him, to treade on his backe alwaye while he lepte on horse backe. But as I beganne to saye by the sample of a prince taken priesoner, were the impriesonmente neuer so fauorable, yet were it in my minde no litle griefe in it selfe for a man to be pinned vp, though not in a narowe chaumber, but although hys walke were right large, and right fayre gardens to therin, it coulde not but grieue hys hearte to be restrained by an other man, wythin certaine limittes and boundes, and lese the libertie to be where him lust.

☞Anthony. Thys is Cosin well considered of you. For in this you perceiue wel, that imprysonment is of hym selfe, and hys owne very nature alone, nothing els but ye retaining of a mannes persō wtin the circuite of a certaine space narrower or larger as shalbe lymited to him, restraining his libertie frō the father going into any other place.

Vincent. Uery wel said as me thinketh.

☞Anthony. Yet forgat I Cosin, to aske you one questiō

Vincent. What is yt Uncle?

Anthony. Thys loe, if there be two mē kepte in two seuerall chābers of one great castle, of which two chābers, ye tone is much more larger thā the tother: whither be the prisoners both or but ye tone, yt hath the lesse rowme to walke in?

Vincent. What questiō is it vncle, but yt they be priesoners both as I said my selfe before, although ye tone lay fast locked in slockes, & the tother had al the whole castel to walke in.

Antony. Me thinketh verely Cosin, yt you say ye truth, & thā if prisonmēt be such a thing as your self here agre it is, y• is to witte, but a lacke of libertie to goe whither we lust, now would I faine witte of you what any one mā you knowe yt is at this daye out of prison?

Vincent. What one mā Uncle? Mary I knowe almost none other. For suerly[…] prisoner am I none acqainted wt yt I remēbre.

Anthony. Thē I see wel you visete pore prisoners selde.

Vincent. No by my trouth vncle, I crye god mercy, I send thē somtime my almose, but by my trouth, I loue not to come my self, where I should see such misery.

Antony. In good faith Cosi Uincēt, though I saye it before you[…] you haue many good condicions: but suerly though I say it before you, to ye cōdicion is none of thē: which cōdiciō if you would amende, than should you haue yet ye moe good cōdiciōs by one. And peraduēture by mo thā.iii. or foure. For I assure you, it is harde to tel howe much good to a mannes soule ye personal visiting of poore prisoners doth. But nowe sith you can name me none of them that are in priesō, I praye you name some one of al thē, yt you be, (as you saye) better acquainted wt, men I meane, yt are out of prison: for I knowe me thynke as fewe of thē as you knowe of ye tother.

Vincent. That were vncle a straūge case, for euery mā is vncle out of priesō, yt may goe whither he will, though he be ye pores[…] begger in ye towne. And in good faith vncle (because you reckē imprisō ment so smal a matter of it self) the poore begger yt is at his libertie & maye walke where he wil, is as me semeth in better case, then is a king kepte in prieson yt can not goe but where men geue hym leaue

☞Antony. Well Cosin, whether euery waye walking beggre be by this reason out of priesō or no, we shal cōsidre farther whē you wyl: but in ye meane while I can by thys reasō see no prince yt semeth to be out of prison. For if the lacke of libertie to goe where a mā wyll be impriesonment, as your selfe saye it is. Than is the great Turke by whom we so feare to be put in prisō, in prison already him selfe. For he may not goe where he wil, for and he mighte, he woulde into Portingale, Italie, Spaine, Fraūce, Almayne & Englād & as farre on an other quarter to: both preter Iohns land & ye graund Canis to. Nowe ye begger yt you speake of, if he be as you saye he is, by reason of hys libertye to goe where he will, in muche better case then a kinge, kepte in prieson because he can not goe but where mē geue h[…]m leaue: thā is yt begger in better case not onely then a prince in prieson, but also thē many a prince out of prison to. For I am sure there is many a begger yt maye wtout let, walke farther vpō other mennes grounde, thā many a prince at his best libertie maye walke vpō his owne. And as for walking out abrode vpon other mēnes, yt prince might happe to be sayd naye, & holden faste, where that begger with hys bagge and hys staffe would be suffered to goe forth & holde on his waye. But for as much Cosin, as neyther the begger nor ye prince is at free liberty to walke where they will, but that if they would walke in some place, neither of thē both should be suffered, but men would wtstand thē & say thē nay: Therfore if priesonmēt be (as you graūte it is) a lacke of liberty to go where we lust, I can not se but as I saye ye begger & the prince, whom you recken both at libertie, be by your own reasō restrayned in prison both.

Vincent. Yea but vncle ye tone & the tother haue waye inough to walke: ye tone in his owne grounde, ye tother other mennes, or in ye common hye waye where they may walke till they be both wery of walking, ere any mā say thē nay.

Antony. So may Cosin ye king yt had as your self put ye case al ye wole castle to walke in, & yet you say not nay, but that he is prisoner for al yt, though not so straitly kept, yet as verely priesoner as he yt lieth in ye storkes[…]

Vincent. But they may goe at ye least waies to eu[…]ry plac[…] yt they nede, or yt is cōmodious for them, & therfore they doe not will to goe but where they may goe[…] and therfore be they at libertie to goe where they will.

Anthony. Me nedeth not Cosin to spende the time about ye inpugning euery parte of this answere for letting passe by, yt though a priesoner were wt his keper, brought into euery place where nede requiered: yet […]ith he might not whē he woulde, goe where he would for his onely pleasure, he were you wote wel a prisoner stil. And letting passe ouer also this, yt it were to thys begger nede, & to this kinge cōmodious to goe into diuerse places, where neither of thē both maye come: And letting passe also that neyther of them bothe is lightly so tēperatly determined, but yt they both faine so would doe in dede, if this reason of youres put thē out of prisō, & sette thē at libertie, & make thē fre (as I wil wel graunt it doth if they so do in dede) yt is to wit, if they haue no wil to goe, but where they maye goe in dede. Thā let vs loke on our other prisoners, enclosed wtin a castle[…] & we shal finde yt the s[…]raites[…] kepte of thē both (if he get ye wisdome, & the […]race to quiet his own mind, & holde him selfe content wt yt place, & long not (like a womā wy[…]h child for her lustes) to be gadding out any where els[…] is by ye same reasō of youres while hys will is not longing to be any where elles, he is I saye at his free liberty, to be where he will, and so is out of prieson to. And on the tother side[…] if though his wyll be not longing to be any where elles, yet because that if is wyll so were, he shoulde not […]o be suffered, he is therefore not at hys free libertye, but a prisoner styll: so sith your free begger that you speake of, and the prince that you cal out of prieson to, though they be (which I weene verye fewe be) by some special wysdome, so tēperately disposed, yt they haue not the will to be, but where they see they maye be suffered to be, yet sith yt if they would haue that wil, they could not thā be where they would, they lacke theffecte of free libertie & b[…] both twayne in prison to.

Vincent. Well Uncle, if euery man vniuersally be by thys reason in priesō already after ye very property of imprisōmēt, yet to be imprisoned in this speciall maner, which maner is onely comonlye called imprisonmēt, is a thing of great horror & feare, both for the straytnes of the keping, & the harde handling yt many mē haue therin, of al which griefes & paines, & displeasures in this other general imprisonmēt yt you peake of, we fele no thing at al, & therfore euery mā abhorreth the tone, & would be loth […]o come into i[…]: & no mā abhorreth ye tother, for they fele no harme, nor find no faulte therin. Wherefore vncle in faith though I can not finde answeres cōuenient wherwyth to auoyde your argumētes, yet to be plaine wt you, & tell you ye very trouth, my mind findeth not it selfe satisfied in thys pointe. But euer me thinketh y• these thinges wherwith you rather cō uince & cōclude me, thā induce a credence & perswade me yt euery man is in prison already[…] be but sophistical fātasies. And yt (except those yt are comonly called prysoners[…] other men are not in prieson at all.

Antony. Wel fare thy heart good Cosin Uincent. There was in good faith no word yt you spake since we talked of those matters, that halfe so well liked me as these that you speake nowe. For if you hadde assented in wordes, and in your minde departed vnperswaded, than if the thing be true that I saye, yet hadde you loste the frute. And if it be peraduenture false, and my self deceiued therin, thā whyle I should wene that it liked you to, you should haue confermed me in my foly. For in good fayth Cosin, suche an olde foole am I, that thys thyng, in the perswading wherof vnto you, I had went I had quit me wel, and when I haue al done, appeareth to your mind but a trif[…]e and a sophisticall fantasy, my self haue so many yeres takē for so very substauncyall trueth, that as yet my mynde cannot geue me to thynke it any other, wherefore lest I playe as the frenche prieste played that had so long vsed to say Dominus with the seconde sillable long, at the last he thought it must nedes be so, and was ashamed to saye it short, to thentent that you may the better perceiue me, or I the better my selfe, we shall here betwene vs a litle more considre the thyng, and hardely spet well on your handes and take good holde, and geue it not ouer agaynste youre owne mynde, for than were we neuer the nere.

☞Vincent. Naye by my trueth vncle, that entended I not, nor no thyng did yet since we beganne, and that maye you wel perceiue by some thynges, which without any greate cause, saue for the farther satisfaccion of myne own mynd I repeted and debated agayne.

Anthony. That guise Cosin holde on hardely styll, for in this matter I purpose to geue ouer mi part, except I make your selfe perceiue, both that euery mā vniuersally is a very prisoner in very prieson, plainly without ani sophisticacion at al, & that there is also no prince liuing vpon earth, but he is in worse case prisoner by this generall imprisonment that I speake of, than is many a lewde simple wretche, by ye speciall prisonment, that you speake of, and ouer thys that in this generall imprisonment that I speake of, mē are for the time that they be therin, so sore handled and so hardely, and in such painful wyse, that mens hertes haue with reasō great cause as sore to abhorre this hard handlyng that is in this imprisonmēt, as the other that is in that.

Vincent. By my trueth vncle these thinges would I faine see wel proued.

Anthony. Tel me thā Cosin by your trueth, if there were a mā attainted of treasō or of felony, & after iudgement geuen of his death, & yt it were determined that he should dye, onely the time of his exequcion delayed, tyl ye kinges farther pleasure knowen, and he therupon deliuered vnto certayne kepers and put vp in a sure place, oute of whiche he could not scape, were thys man a prisoner or no?

Vincent. This man ꝙ he? ye mary that he were in very dede, if euer any man were[…]

A[…]thony. But nowe what if for the tyme that were meane betwene his attender and his exequcion, he were so fauourably handled that he were suffred to doe what he woulde, as he was whyle he was abrode, and to haue the vse of hys landes and hys goodes, and his wyfe and his children, lycence to be with hym, and his frendes leaue at liberty to resort vnto hym, and his seruauntes not forbodden to abide aboute him: & adde yet therunto, that the place were a great castell royall with parkes and other pleasures therin, a very great circuite about, yea adde yet and ye will, yt he were suffered to goe and ryde also, both when he would and whither he would, only this one pointe alway prouided and foresene, that he should euer be surely sene to and safely kepte from scaping, so that toke he neuer so muche of his own minde in the meane while all other waies saue scaping, yet he wel knew that scape he could not, and that when he were called for to exequciō, and to death he should, now Cosin vincent what woulde you cal this man[…] a prisoner, because he is kept for exequcion? or no prisoner beecause he is in the meane whyle so fauourably hādled, & suffered to doe al yt he would saue scape, and I bydde you not here be hastie in your aunswere, but aduise it well, that you graunte no suche thyng in haste, as you would after misselike by laysor, and thinke your selfe deceyued.

Vincent. Nay by my trueth vncle, this thing nedeth no s[…]udy in my mynde, but that for al this fauour shewed him, and all hys libertie lent hym yet being condemned to death, and beyng therfore kept, wi[…]h such sure watche layd vpon him yt he cannot scape, he is all that while, a verye playne prisoner styll.

Antony. In good fayth Cosin me thinketh you saye very true, but thē one thyng muste I yet desire you Cosin to tell me a litle farther. If there were an other laid in prisō for a fraye, and thorowe the Iailors displeasure were bolted and fettered, and layd in a low dongeon in the stockes, where he might hap to lie peraduenture a while, & abide in the meane season some pain, but no daunger of death at al, but that out again he should come wel inough: whither of these two priesoners stode in worse case, he that hath all this fauour, or he that is thus hardely handeled?

Vincent. By our lady vncle, I wene the most parte of men if they should nedes choose, had le[…]er be suche prisoners in euery poynt as he that so sorely lyeth in the stockes, then in euery poynt such as he that at suche libertie walketh aboute the pa[…]ke.

Antony. Considre thā Cosin whither this thing seme any sophestry to you, yt I shal shew you nowe. For it shalbe such as semeth in good fayth substauncially true to me, and if it so happe that you thinke otherwyse, I will bee very glad to perceiue whiche of vs both is beg[…]iled. For it semeth to me Cosin first that euery mā coming into thys world here vpon earth as he is created by God, so cometh he hither by the prouidence of god: is this any sophestrye first or not?

Vincent. Naye verely, this is very substanciall trueth.

Anto[…]y. Now take I this also for veri trueth in my mind, that there cometh no man nor woman hither into thearth, bu[…] yt e[…]e euer they come into the world, out of the mothers wombe, god condemneth them vnto death by his own sentence and iudgement, for the original sinne that they bring with them contracted in the corrupted stocke of our forefather Adam: is this thinke you Cosin, verely true or not?

Vincent. This is vncle very true in dede.

Antony. Thā semeth this true farther vnto me, yt god hath put euery man here vpō thearth, vnder so sure and vnder so safe kepyng, yt of al ye whole people lyuing in this wide world, there is neither mā womā nor child, would they neuer so farre wander about and seke it, that possibly can fynde any way whereby thei may scape frō death: is this Cosin a fond imagined fā tasy, or is it very trueth in dede?

Vincent. Naye this is no imaginacion vncle, but a thyng so clerely proued true, that no mā is so madde to say nay.

Antony. Than nede I no more Cosin, for than is al yt matter playn and open euident trueth, which I sayd I toke for trueth, which is more a litle yet now, then I tolde you before, when you toke my proofe yet but for a sophistical fantasy, & said yt for al my reasoning that euery mā is a prisoner, yet you thought, yt excepte those, whō the comē people cal prisoners, there is els no mā a very prisoner in dede, & now you graunt your selfe againe, for very substauncial trueth, yt euery mā is here (though he be the greatest king vpō earth) set here by ye ordinaūce of god here in a place (be it neuer so large) a place I saye yet (& you say[…] thesame) out of which no mā can scape but yt therin is euery mā put vnder sure & safe keping to be redely fet forth, when god calleth for him, & that thā he shal surely die, & is not thā Cosin by your own graunting before, euery mā a very prisoner, whē he is put in a place to be kept, to be brought forth whē he would not, & himselfe wote not whither?

Vincent. Yes in good fayth vncle, I cannot but wel perceiue this to be so.

Anthony. This were you wote wel true, although a man should be but takē by ye arme, & in faier maner lead out of this world vnto his iudgemēt, but now while we wel know, yt there is no king so great, but yt al ye while he walketh here, walke he neuer so lose, ride he with neuer so strong an army for his defence, yet himselfe is very sure (though he seke in the meane season some other pastyme to put it oute of hys mind) yet is he very sure I say, y• scape he cannot, & very wel he knoweth, that he hath already sentence geuē vpon hym to dye, and that verely dye he shal, and that himselfe (though he hope vpon long respyte of his execucion) yet can he not tell how soone. And therefore, but if he be a foole, he can neuer be without feare, that eyther on the morow, or on the self same day, the grisely cruel hangman, death, whiche from his fyrst coming in hath euer houed aloofe, and looked toward him and euer lye in a wayte on hym, shal amydde among al his royaltie and al his mayn strength, neyther knele before hym, nor make him any reuerence, nor with anye good maner desyre him to come foorth, but rigorouslye and fiercely grype hym by the very brest, and make all hys bones rattle: and so by long and diuerse sore tormētes, stryke him starke dead in thys prieson, and then cause his bodye to bee cast into the grounde in a foule pytte, within some corner of the same, there to rotte and bee eaten with the wretched wormes of the earth, sending yet hys soule out farther vnto a more fearefull iudgement, whereof at hys temporall death, hys successe is vncertayne, and therefore thoughe by Goddes grace not out of good hope: yet for al that, in ye meane while in verye sore dreade and feare, and peraduenture in peryl vneuitable of eternal fyre too. Me thinketh therfore Cosin, that as I tolde you, thys kepyng of euery man in this wretched worlde for execucion of death, is a very playn imprisonment in dede, & ye as I say such yt ye greatest kyng is in this prisō, in much worse case in all hys wealth, then many a manne is by the other imprysonmente, that is therein sore and hardelye handled. For where some of those lye not there attaynted nor condemned to deathe, the greatest manne of thys worlde, and the moste wealthye in this vnyuersall pryson is layde in to be kepte vndoubtedly for deathe.

☞Vincent. But yet vncle in that case, is the tother prysoner too: for he is as sure that he shall dye to perdye.

Antony. That is verye trueth Cosin in dede, and wel obiected too: but then must you consider, that he is not in daunger of death, by reason of that prisō, into which he is put, peraduenture but for a light fray: but his daū ger of death is by the other imprisonment, by which he is prisoner in ye great prisō of this whole earth, in which prisō al ye prīces therof be prisoners as wel as he, if a mā condēned to death wer put vp in a large prisō, & while his execuciō wer respited, he wer for fightyng with hys felowes put vp in a straight place: part of ye same he is in daūger o[…] death in yt straite prisō, but not by ye being in yt, for therin is he but for ye fray: but his deadlye imprisonment was ye other (ye larger I say) into which he was put for death. So the prisoner yt you speake of, is beside ye narow prisō, a prisoner of ye brode world, & al the princes therof, therin prisoners with him. And by ye imprisonment, both thei & he in like daunger of death, not by ye straite imprisonment, yt is commonly called imprisonmēt, but by yt imprisonmēt which (because of y• large walke,) mē cal it libertie, and which prison you thought therfore but a fantasye sophisticall, to proue it any prison at al. But now may you me thinketh very playnely perceiue that this whole earth is not onely for all ye whole kynde of man a very playne prison in deede, but also that eueri man without excepcion euen those that are moste at theyr libertie therin and reckō themselfes great Lordes and possessioners of very greate pieces therof, and thereby waxe with wantonnes so forgeatfull of theyr owne state, that they weene they stande in great welthe, doe stande for al that in dede, by the reason of theyr imprisonmente in this large prison of the whole earth, in the selfe same condicion […]hat other doe […]tande, […]hiche in the narow prisons, whiche onelye be called prisons, and whiche onelye be reputed priesons in the opinion of the common people stande in the most fearefull and in the most odious case, that is to wit, condemned already to death. And nowe Cosin, if this thing that I tel you, seme but a sophisticall fantasye to your mynde, I would be glad to knowe what moue[…]h you so to thinke. For in good fayth as I haue told you twise, I am no wyser but that I verely wene, that y• thing is […]hus of very plain trueth in very dede.