came this fellow in here with interrupting of Christ's sermon, and received the answer which I have rehearsed. "Thou man, thou fellow, (quoth he,) who hath made me a judge among you?" And he said unto all the audience, "Videte et cavete ab avaritiâ,” See and beware of covetousness. Why so? "Quia non in abundantiâ cujusquam vita ejus est, ex his quæ possidet," For no man's life standeth in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. We may have things necessary, and we may have abundance of things, but the abundance doth not make us blessed. It is no good argument, "Quo plus quisque habet, tanto beatus vivit," The more riches that a man hath, the more happily and the more blissfully he liveth. For a certain great man, that had purchased much lands, a thousand marks a year, or I wot not what, a great portion he had; and so on the way as he was in his journey towards London, or from London, he fell sick by the way; a disease took him, that he was constrained to lie upon it. And so being in his bed, the disease grew more and more upon him, that he was by his friends that were about him very godly advised to look to himself, and to make him ready to God; for there was none other likelihood but that he must die without remedy. He cried

HAPPINESS NOT PRODUCED BY RICHES. 105

out, What! shall I die? (quoth he;) wounds! sides! heart! shall I die, and thus go from my goods? Go, fetch me some physician that may save my life. Wounds and sides! shall I thus die? There lay he still in his bed like a block, with nothing but, Wounds and sides! shall I die? Within a very little while he died indeed, and then lay he like a block indeed. was black gowns, torches, tapers, and ringing of bells; but what is become of him God knoweth, and not I.

There

But here by this ye may perceive, that it is not the abundance of riches that maketh a man to live quietly and blissfully. But the quiet life is in a mediocrity; "Mediocres optime vivunt," They that are in a mean do live best. And there is a proverb which I read many years ago: "Dimidium plus toto," The half sometimes more than the whole. The mean life is the best life, and the most quiet life of all. If a man should fill himself up to the throat, he should not find ease in it, but displeasure, and with the one half he might satisfy his greedy appetite. So this great riches never maketh a man's life quiet, but rather troublous. I remember here a saying of Solomon, and his example, "Coacervavi mihi argentum et aurum," I gathered silver and gold together, saith he; I provided me singers, and women

which could play on instruments, to make men mirth and pastime. I gat me psalteries and songs of music, &c., and thus my heart rejoiced in all that I did. But what was the end of all this? "Cum convertissem me ad omnia," &c., When I considered, saith Solomon, all the works that my hands had wrought, &c., lo all was but vanity and vexation of mind'; and nothing of any value under the sun. Therefore, leave covetousness; for believe me, if I had an enemy, the first thing that I would wish to him should be, that he might have abundance of riches; for so I am sure he should never be in quiet. But think ye there be not many that would be so hurt? But in this place of the gospel, Christ spake and declared this unquietness, and uncertainty of great riches, by a similitude and parable of a great rich man, who had much land, that brought forth all fruits plentifully. And he being in a pride of the matter, and much unquiet by reason that he had so much, said to himself, "What shall I do, because I have not room enough wherein to bestow my fruits, that have grown unto me of my lands? I will thus do, saith he, I will pull down my barns, and build greater barns; and I will say to my soul, My soul, thou hast much goods laid up in store for many years, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.

THE COVETOUS MAN.

107

But God said to him, "Stulte, hâc nocte animam tuam repetent abs te," Thou fool, thou fool, this night will they take thy soul from thee again, and then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? Even so it is with him, saith Christ, that gathereth riches unto himself, and is not rich toward God, &c. But yet the covetous man can never be content. I walked one day with a gentleman in a park, and the man regarded not my talk, but cast his head and eye this and that way, so that I perceived he gave no great ear to me, which when I saw I held my peace. At last, "Oh, (quoth the gentleman,) if this park were mine, I would never desire more while I lived." I answered and said, "Sir, and what if ye had this park too?" for there was another park even hard by. This gentleman laughed at the matter. And truly I think he was diseased with the dropsy; the more he had, the more covetous he was to have still more and more. This was a farmer that had a farm hard by it, and if he might have had this park to it, he would never have desired more. This was a farmer, not altogether so covetous a man, as there be many now-a-days, as for one gentleman to rake up all the farms in the country together into his hands all at once.

And here one suit more to your Highness.

ers, usurers.

There lacketh one thing in this realm, that it hath need of; for God's sake make some promoters. There lack promoters, such as were in king Henry the Seventh's days, your grandfather. There lack men to promote the king's officers when they do amiss, and to promote all offenders. I think there is great need of such men of godly discretion, wisdom, and conscience, to promote transgressors, as rent-raisers, oppressors of the poor, extortioners, bribI hear there be usurers in England, that will take forty in the hundred; but I hear of no promoters to put them up. We read not, This covetous farmer, or landed man of the gospel, bought corn in the markets to lay it up in store, and then sell it again. But and if it please your Highness, I hear say that in England, we have landlords (nay, steplords I might say,) that are become graziers, and burgesses are become regraters, and some farmers will regrate and buy up all the corn that cometh to the markets, and lay it up in store, and sell it again at a higher price, when they see their time. I heard a merchantman say, that he had travailed all the days of his life in the trade of merchandise; and had gotten three or four thousand pounds by buying and selling but in case he might be licensed or suffered so to do, he would get a thousand