“ By thine own self; and take no heed
Whether the people do thee praise or despise.
Be thou meek in heart, in word, and in deed;
Think not that thou wouldst any man over lead;
Be soft and lowly in speech to every wight;
And use none array that staring is to sight!
Lo! in these three things only standeth pride
If thou commit the least of them three.
Man. From this day forth I will set them aside
And follow the counsel that ye give me.
Meek. Do so, and I will clearly discharge thee:
As for the sin of pride, my soul for thine,
Thou shalt be all whole if thou take this medicine. ”

“ I may say with Job, how vainly do ye cheer me,
When all the words ye give, from truth doth disagree;
And with the wise man, I may most justly say this:
Just [ici] a tamen non luxit in nobis.
Or else, with the prophet, in most sorrowful mood,
The fruit of our justice is turned into wormwood.
Well, the best of you is a detestable vice;
And thou, for thy part, art most stinking Avarice.
Avar. Jesu! when were you wont so foul-mouthed to be,
To give such nicknames? Ah, in faith! dame Verity
Hath had you in schooling of late; well, in God's name! ”

“ That, in the World, such love to Science hath raised!
But yet, to tell you plain, ye four are such
As Science looketh for, little nor much;
For being, as I am, a lone woman,
Need of your service I neither have nor can.
But, thanking the World, and you, for your pain,
I send ye to the World even now again!
Wor. Why, lady! set ye no more store by me,
Worship? Ye set nought by yourself, I see!
Fame. She setteth nought by Fame; whereby I spy her—
She careth not what the World sayeth by her. ”

“ Beware of New Guise, Now-a-days and Nought!
Nice in their array, in language they be large;
To pervert your conditions all their means shall be sought.
Good son! intermise yourself not in their company!
They heard not a mass thi [s] twelvemonth, I dare well say;
Give them none audience! they will tell you many a lie;
Do truly your labour, and keep your holyday!
Beware of Titivillus—for he leseth no way—
That goeth invisible and will not be seen;
He will rond in your ear, and cast a net before your eyne;
He is worst of all: God let him never thene!
If ye displease God, ask mercy anon ”

“ I think ye have forgotten me.
I am Wealth of this realm; look upon me!
For I am to every man loving and friendly:
For Wealth hath no peer.
Health. Brother Wealth! have ye not yet done?
Ye praise yourself above the moon.
Every man may perceive thereby, soon,
That you lack discretion.
Wealth. Wherefore? by God! I cannot say too much.
[Pg 276] I am so wealthy of substance and rich;
In all the world where is one such
As I am of comparison?
Health. Wealth is good, I cannot denay;
Yet praise yourself too much ye may;
For wealth, oftentimes, doth decay:
And wealth is nothing sure. ”

“ I trow ye know me; Good Remedy is my name;
That every day doth take great labour or pain
To amend all faults: I am chosen to the same.
If any man's conscience here doth grudge or shame,
Having in himself remorse, and mends in time and space,
I am Good Remedy, and God is full of mercy and grace. ”

“ And argued with Mercy; God give him shame!
He hath taught Mankind, while I have be vane,
To fight manly again his fone;
For, with his spade—that was his weapon—
New Guise, Now-a-days, Nought hath [he] all to-beaten:
I have great pity to see them weeping.
Will ye list? I hear them cry!
[New Guise, Now-a-days, and Nought enter.]
Alas, alas! come hither! I shall be your borrow.
Alack, alack! veni, veni! Come hither, with sorrow!
Peace, fair babies! ye shall have a napple to-morrow:
Why greet you so, why?
New G. Alas, master! alas my privity! ”

“ The devil, the world, and the flesh, these three in special,
Which setteth division between the soul and the body;
In like wise envy setteth debate between party and party.
I speak for this cause: daily ye may see
How that, by envy and malice, many be destroyed;
Which, if they had lived in peace with patient humility,
Riches and prosperity with them had been employed.
For thereas is peace, no man is annoyed;
For by peace men grow to great richesse;
And by peace men live in great quietness.
I am named Peace, which Envy doth expel.
Envy with me shall never rest ”

“ Dil. Why, foolish Study! thou shalt do no more
But aid my master with thy presence.
Wit. No more shalt thou neither, Diligence!
Aid me with your presence, both you twain;
And, for my love, myself shall take pain!
Study. Sir! we be ready to aid you so.
Wit. I ask no more, Study! Come then, go!
[Tediousness riseth up.
[Ted.] Why, art thou come?
Wit. Yea, wretch, to thy pain!
Ted. Then have at thee!
Wit. Have at thee, again!
[Here Wit falleth down and dieth.
[Ted.] Lie thou there! Now have at ye, caitiffs!
Do ye flee, i' faith? A, whoreson thieves! ”

“ Mankind, sir, heartily welcome ye be!
Ye are the person, without feigning,
That I have evermore desired to see:
Come! let me kiss you. O, benedicite!
Ye be all naked! alas, man! why thus?
I make you sure it is right perilous.
Man. I thank you; but I need none other vesture;
Nature hath clothed me as yet sufficiently.
Guiltless of sin, and as a maiden pure,
I wear on me the garment of innocency.
Inno. Yea, hardely wear that garment continually:
It shall thy body sufficiently safeguard
From stormy weather, my life to jeopard.
The World. Be peace, fair woman! ye are not very wise ”

“ Then shall I, Mercy, begin sore to weep;
Nother comfort nor counsel, there shall none be had;
But, such as they have sown, such shall they reap;
They be wanton now; but, then, shall they be sad.
[Pg 10] The good new guise, now-a-days, I will not disallow;
I discommend the vicious guise—I pray have me excused—
I need not to speak of it; your reason will tell it you:
Take that is to be taken, and leave that is to be refused!
[Enter Mankind.]
Mankind. Of the earth and of the clay we have our propagation ”

“ Nought. He is a good, stark labourer; he would fain do well—
He hath met with the good man, Mercy, in a shroud cell:
For all this, he may have many a hungry meal.
Yet, well ye see, he is politic:
Here shall be good corn; he may not miss it;
If he will have rain, he may overpiss it;
And if he will have compos [t] he may overbliss it
A little, with his arse like.
Man. Go, and do your labour! God let you never thee!
Or, with my spade, I shall you ding, by the holy Trinity!
Have ye none other man to mock, but ever me?
Ye would have me of your set? ”

“ Man. O, Mercy! of all grace and virtue ye are the well:
I have heard tell, of right-worshipful clerks,
Ye be approximate to God and near of His counsel;
He hath institute you above all His works—
Oh! your lovely works to my soul are sweeter than honey.
Mer. The temptation of the flesh ye must resist, like a man;
For, there is ever a battle betwixt the soul and the body:
Vita hominis est milicia super terram.
[Pg 12] Oppress your ghostly enemy, and be Christ's own knight;
Be never a coward again your adversary;
If ye will be crowned, ye must needs fight! ”

“ And for sensuality, I pray you with all my heart
To accept him to your favour and tendrance.
He hath been long of mine acquaintance;
And, on my faith! my heart cannot but grudge
To think that ye should use him as a drudge.
Do as he adviseth you, hardely now and then;
And despise not utterly his counsel
Think that ye be here a worldly man;
[Pg 63] And must do as men that in the world dwell.
Ye are not bound to live like an angel;
Nor to be as God, alway immutable:
Man's nature of himself is full miserable. ”

“ By waste and war, through Ill-Will and Shrewd Wit;
And Liberty is kept in durance and captivity.
God help us all, and send us good remedy for it!
Rem. For to hear this tale, it maketh my heart heavy;
Yet, be of good comfort! God is full of grace, and I am good.
Health. Sir! then I beseech you, help us in the way of charity!
Rem. I would fain, but I cannot tell which way to begin,
Except I might catch Will and Wit; then, I trow, I could
Tie them shorter; for they destroy Wealth, Health, and Liberty by sin.
If I had the thieves, punish them extremely I would. ”

“ They go out and leave Titivillus.
To speak with Mankind I will tarry here this tide,
And assay his good purpose for to set aside;
The good man, Mercy, shall no longer be his guide:
I shall make him to dance another trace! ”

“ I trow your name is Do-little—ye be so long from home;
If ye would go hence we shall come, everyone,
Mo than a good sort!
Ye have liever, I dare well say!
To them ye will go forth your way—
Men have little dainty of your play
Because ye make no sport.
Nought. Your pottage shall be for-cold, sir! when will ye go dine?
I have seen a man lost twenty nobles in as little time;
Yet it was not I, by saint Quintin!
For I was never worth a potful a' worts sithen I was born.
My name is Nought; I love well to make merry;
I have be sithen with the common tapster of Bury. ”

“ Ill-W. Lo, false knave! this is for thy crafty wit;
Now fast by the heels we are like to sit.
Wit. I am content so that I may have company;
If I should be hanged I would be hanged honest.
[And goeth out.
Rem. Go hence with them, and bring Wealth and Liberty.
Health. Come away, ye thieves! now I shall keep you surely!
[And goeth out.
[Pg 306]
Ill-W. Lock us up, and keep us as fast as ye can,
Yet Ill-Will and Shrewd Wit shall be with many a man.
Rem. I am half ashamed that long it hath been said
That noble men by such wretches hath been deceived. ”

“ What hear ye by Conscience?
Envy. Spiritual and temporal set against him, marvellously;
Merchants, men of law, and artificers of every degree;
[Pg 328] They will hang him and they him espy.
Such exclamation goeth through this realm, round.
Cons. Why what fault have they found
With him, so to do?
Envy. His wit is nought, they say; also,
Every man putteth his will thereto,
To banish him for ever.
Cons. I know well it is not as ye say;
For I am Conscience, the high judge of the law.
Envy. Be ye Conscience? alas! that ever I this day saw!
If ye be taken, ye shall be hanged and draw ”

“ Thou art so full of wrath and envy
In thee can grow no grace;
But if thou wilt forsake sensuality,
And be governed by reason, as I shall induce thee,
Thou shalt come to richesse within short space. ”

“ Wealth. Good Remedy! then we must desire your aiding;
For by Good Remedy cometh all our preferring.
Rem. All that I do intend, if ye will thereto agree,
And to be reformable for your own ease,
It is not the thing that lieth only in me.
But my good will, therefore, I will not cease,
To have your love and favour; and thereby to please
All the world over, and to promote this realm;
That you three may prosper—ye perceive what I mean?
The chief part of all wealth lieth in great estates:
Their substance and lands is right commendable.
Prelates of the church is wealthy of riches ”

“ Yet, bade ye me not go out in the devil's name,
And I will abide.
[A leaf of the manuscript has probably been lost at this point. It commences again by the entry of New Guise, Nought and Now-a-days with a band of minstrels.]
New Guise. And ho, minstrels! play the common trace;
Lay on with thy bales till his belly brest!
Nought. I put case: I break my neck—how than?
New G. I give no force, by saint Anne!
Now-a-days. Leap about lively! thou art a white man;
Let us be merry while we be here!
Nought. Shall I break my neck to show you sport? ”

“ By such a knave as he was—
I would I had him here, by the mass!
And no man but we twain.
Man. By my troth! this is ever thy guise:
Look! by whom I set any prize
Him thou wilt most disdain.
[Pg 112]
Wrath. By Christ! he can do none otherwise.
But now, sir! is there any service
That ye will command me?
Man. Yea, marry is there! but my company
Dresseth them forward, passing slowly;
I trow it will not be.
Manhood! thou art good I know for one.
Wrath. Yea, by Christ! and they came everyone
I will not greatly fear.
Envy. By my troth! ”

“ All those that occupy false usury,
And transgresseth the laws of God by iniquity,
All such are accursed I you told;
As for buying and selling needs must be;
And God commandeth to lend to them that are needy,
So it be not to their injury
For lucre to them sold.
Abun. How should I sell? show me your ways!
Cons. Ye may not sell the dearer, for days;
If ye do, it is contrary to God's laws.
Abun. It is used in our country. B3,r.
Cons. It is the more pity;
One such is able to destroy a city.
And God show not His great mercy,
All such are damned by His equity. ”

“ That none of you shall diminish, nor amiss be tane.
I, Good Remedy, therefore, may and will speak without blane
For the commonwealth, and health both of the soul and body:
That is my office and power; and therefore I have my authority.
Wealth. Our Lord continue ye, and we thank you heartily
Both for your good instruction, and for your kindness
That you intend so well for us, Good Remedy.
When we have need, we will desire your goodness.
Health. When we be infect in the soul or body,
Then will I seek Good Remedy for succour. ”

“ And through the world must be thy passage.
Address thyself now towards this journey;
For, as now thou shalt no longer here abide,
Lo! here Reason to govern thee in thy way,
And Sensuality upon thine other side.
But Reason I depute to be thy chief guide,
With Innocency that is thy tender nourice;
Evermore to wean thee from th' appetite of vice.
Man. O Lord of Lords, my Lord God immortal!
To Thee be honour and joy ever to endure;
Whose heavenly empire shall never be final,
[Pg 47] But world without end remain stable and sure ”

“ I can only once again express a sincere hope that some one will in the near future be allowed to reproduce these invaluable Macro Plays in facsimile. Respublica is noteworthy in more respects than one. Obviously written by a Catholic, it is the Reformation in its [Pg 457] social and political, and not in its doctrinal, aspect that forms the pivot of the action of the play. The calmest judgments of posterity incline to the view that the mainspring of the revolt against the Papacy in England rested more on zeal as the tool of worldliness than, as elsewhere, on worldliness as the tool of zeal. ”