• R. and.
• M.

HAppely as I romyd me in the churche of Paules nowe. xx. dayes a goo, lookynge for cer­tayne my companions, that hither might haue stalled a meting, ther walked vp & downe by me in the body of the Church a gentilman, fayre dressed in Silkes, golde, & Iewels, with iii. or iiii. seruaunts in gaye lyueryes, all brodered with sundry colours attēding vpon him I aduised him wel as one that plesed me much, for his proper personage and more for the wearing of his gere, and he agein at eche check made in our walking caste earnest lokes vpon me, not such as by his holowe frowninges, and percyng aspect myght pretend anye malyce or disoay­ne: but rather shoulde sygnyfye by hys cherefull countenannce that hee noted in me somthinge that lyked him well, and coulde be content to take some occasion, to imbrace myne acquaintance.

[Page]Anone whiles I deuised with my selfe what meanes I might make too vnder­stand his behauor, & what sort he was of for mans nature (as ye know) is in those thinges curious, specially in such as pro­fesse courting, he humbled him selfe farre beneth my expectation. & began to speke fyrst after this maner. Sir it seemeth to me that we haue both one errand hither for I haue marked you well nowe more then halfe an houre, stalking vp & down alone without any cōpani somtime with such heauy and vnchearful countenaūce as if ye had some hammers workinge in your head, and that breache of company had moued your patience, and I for my part, what face soeuer I set on the mat­ter, am not all in quiet: for had all promi­ses bene kept, I shuld or this houre haue sene a good pece of money told here vp­on the Fonte. And as many indentures obligations & other writinges sealed as cost me twyse. xl. s. for the drawing & cū ­sayle, but as to me: let thē that be a cold [Page] blow y ^• coles, for I am already on y sure syde and if I misse of my hold this way, I doubt not to pynche them as nere by an other shyfte, though in deede I must cōfesse, y ^• vnkindnes & breache of promys is so much against my nature y ^• nothing can offend me more. And you on y ^e other side, if your greefe & tarrying be the same that I take it, ye cannot do better, then to make little of the matter, for ye seeme to be a man y ^• wadeth not so vnaduised­ly in y ^• deepe but that alwaies ye bee sure of an anker holde: and therfore let vs by myne aduise forget such idell grefes and whyles noone tyde draweth on, talke of other matters y ^t may quickē our sprits to make a mery dinner. Perchaūce this oc­casiō may confirm a ioiful acquaintaūce betwene vs. Sir (quod I) as touchinge y ^• cause of my long abiding here, it is not very great, neither is it tied to any such thrifte as yee speake of, but lacke of com­pany wyll sone lead a man into a brown studdy. Wel then (quod he) if your head [Page] be fraught w ^t no heuyer burden it is an easy matter to lighten your [...]ode, for a ly­tle greef is sone forgotten. But I praye you syr, long ye not to the court, me thin­kes I haue seene you er now and cannot cal it home where it shuld be.

A good workeman by saint Mary: nowe doo I easly foresee wythout anye instruction further wherto this matter tēdeth: but yet tell what further talke had yee.

I tolde him I was yet but a rawe Cour­tier, as one y ^e came from schole not many monethes afore, and was now become seruant to my Lord Chaunceler of Eng land, partly to see experience of things, the better to gouerne my selfe here after, & cheefly too haue a staffe to leane vntoo to defend mine own. And he again com­mendid me much therin, declaring, how diuarse notable persons, rashely by igno­rance misguiding thēselues, were sodeyn ly shaken a sunder, and fallen on y ^• rockes of extreme penury. And how some other euen goodly wittes circumspectly wor­king [Page] in all their doinges, haue by want of such a leaning stock, bin ouerthrowen with tirans power. For which cause ( qd he) like as I cannot but praise your wa­ry working in this your first courting: so for my Lorde your masters sake, you shall not lacke the best that I may do for you. For albeit y ^• I am much beholding to all the Lords of the counsell (as whō they stick not at al times to take to their bord, and vse sometime for a companion at play) yit is he my singuler good Lord aboue all the rest, & if I shall confesse the truth, a great part of my liuing hath ri­sen by his frendly preferment, & though I say it my self, I am to olde a courtier, and haue seene to much to bear nothing away, and in case our acquayntaunce hold, & by dayly company gather deepe roote: I shall now and then shew you a lesson worth the learning, and to thend hereafter each of vs may bee the bolder of the other, I pray you (if ye bee not o­therwise be spoken) take a capō with me [Page] at dinner. Though your fare bee but homely, and skante, yet a cuppe of good wine I [...]ā promis you, & al other lackes shalbe supplied with a friendly welcom. I thank you sir ( qd I) ye offer me more gentlenes then I can deserue, but sins I haue taried all this while, I will abyde the laste houre, too proue howe well my companyons wyll holde theyr appoynt­ment, and for that cause I will forbeare too trouble you till an other tyme, nay not so (quod he) yet had I rather spende xx. [...]. then that my Lorde your Mayster should knowe but that the worst grome of his stable is as dere to me as any kins­man I haue, and therefore laye ail excu­sis aside, and shape your selfe to kepe mee companye for one dinner, whyle youre man and myne shall walk here togither tyll. xii. of the clocke, and yf your friends happen too come hither hee shall bring them home to vs. I loue too see Gentyll men swarme, and cleaue toogyther lyke Burs.

Howe then, went ye home too [Page] gether?

What els, wonlde ye haue me forsake so gētle a friend, & so necessary ac­quayntaunce.

Go to, say on. Lo how gentle lambes are ledde to the slaughter mans folde, howe sone rechylesse youthe falleth in suare o [...] crafty dealinge,

sone after we cam home to his house: the table was fayre spred with Dyaper clothes, the Cupborde garnyshed wyth much goodly plate, and laste of all came foorth the gentyll woman hys wyfe clo­thed in Silkes and embrodred workes, the attyre of her head brodred wyth gold and Pearle, a Carkenet about her necke agreable thereto, wyth a flower of Di­amondes pendente thereat, and manye faire ringes on her finger. Besse ( qd. he) bid this gentleman welcome, and wyth that she courteously kyssed me and after moued communication of my▪ name, my naturall country, what tyme my father dyed, and whether I were Maryed yet or not, alwaies powdring our talk with suche pretye deuyses, that I sawe not a [Page] woman in al my life, whose fashions and entertainment I liked better.

The good man in the meane season had bin in the Kitchin, and sodeynly retour­nyng and breakyng our talke, somwhat sharpely blamed his wife that the dyner was no further forward, and whiles she withdrew hir from vs, by like to put all thinges in a good readines, come on ( qd he) you shal go see my house the while, it is not lyke your large country houses, [...]oumes ye wote in London be straight, but yet the furnyture of them is costly enough, and victayles bee heere at such hygh pryses, that much money is soone consumed, specially with thē that main­taine an ydell houshold, neuertheles as­sure your selfe, that no man is welcom­mer than you to such cheere as ye fynde. And consequently bringing me through diuers wel trimmed chambers, y ^e worst of them appareled with verdures, some with rich cloth of Arras, all with beds, Chayres, and Cusshins of Silke, and [Page] Gold, of sundry colours sutably wroght. Lo heere quod hee a poore mannes lod­gynge, which if ye thinke it may do you any pleasure (for y ^• Innes of London be the worst of England) take your choyce and hartely welcome, reseruing but one for my Lord my voyfes Cosin, whome I dare not disapoint least happely he shuld lowre and make the house to hot for vs. I gaue him thanks as meete it was I should, neither yet refusing his gentil of­fer, for in deed mine own lodging is som­what lothesome, and pestered with com pany: nor yit imbracing it, bycause hy­therto I had not by any meanes, deser­ued so great a pleasure.

So downe we came againe into the parlour, and found there dyuerse gentil­men, all straungers to me, & what should I say more, but to dinner we went.

Let me here thē what matters were moued at dinner time, and how ye passed the after none, tyll the company brake vp, and sundred themselues.

That can I readily tell you, I haue not yet forgotten it sins, don it was so late, as touchinge our fare, though per­trych, and quayle, were no daintyes, and wyues of sundry grapes flowed abun­bantly, yit spare I to speake thereof, by­cause ye haue demaunded a cōtrary que­stion. So soone as wee had well viteled our selues, I wot not how, but easely it came to pas that we talked of ne wes, na mely of Bullin, how hardly it was won, what pollicy then was practised too get it, and what case the Souldiers had in the se [...]dge of it, in so much that the least progresse the King maketh into the in­lend partes of the Realme, dislodgeth mo of his trayne, and leaueth them too theyr owne prouision, with lesse relefe of vyttels, then had the worst, vnwaged auenturer ther.

From this the goodman lead vs to talk of home pleasures, enlarginge the beaul­ties of peace, & Londō pastimes, & made so [...]oly a discourse therof y ^• to my iudge­ment [Page] he semed skilfull in al thinges. My thinkes ( qd he) such simple fare as this taken in peace, without feare & daunger of gonshot, is better then a princes pur­uciance in warre, where eache morsel hee eateth shall bring w ^t it a present feare of sodein mischaunce or vyolent hostilitie: & though that in the open cam [...]e none myght haue more familiar accesse to the nobilitie then here at home, yet for my part (I thanke God) I haue no cause to complain, eyther bycause of their gentle­nes, no vssher kepes the dore betwen me and them when I come to visit thē, or y ^• y ^• greatest princes refuse not somtimes to hallow my pore table & house with their person. Which (be it, spokē w ^tout bost or imbraiding) doth somtyme cost me. xx. li a day. I am sure that some of this com­pany doo remember what a braue cōpa­ny of Lords supt with me the last term, and I thinke how yee haue hard, howe some of them gat an. C. [...]i. or. ii. by their comming, with this and that lyke talke [Page] consumed was our dinner, and after the table was remoued, in came one of the wayters with a fayre syluer boule full of Dyce and Cardes, now maysters (quod the goodman) who is so disposed, fal to: here is my. xx. li. win it & weare it. Then eache man chose his game, some kepte the good man company at the hasard, some matched thēselues at a new game called Primero.

And what did you the whyle?

They egged me to haue made one at Dice, and tolde me it was a shame for a­gentleman not to kepe gentlemen com­pany for his xx. or xl. crownes neuerthe­lesse bycause I alledged ygnorance, the gentilwoman sayd I should not sit ydel al the rest being occupied, and so we ii. fel to saunt fiue games a Crowne.

And how spedde you in the end?

In good fayth, I passed not for the losse of. xx. or xl. s, for acquayntance, and so muche I thinke it cost me, and then I left of, ma­rie [Page] the Diceplayers stacke well by it and made very fresh play, sauing one or two that were cleane shriuen, & had no more money to lose. In the end when I shuld take my leaue to depart, I could not by any meanes be suffered so to breake com­pany, onlesse I would deliuer the gentil­woman a Ring, for a gage of my return to supper, & so I did, and to tel you al in few words, I haue haunted none other since I got that acquaintance, my meat and drinke and lodging is euery way so dilicate, that I make no hast to chaunge it.

And what pay you, nothing for it? haue ye not an ordinary charge for your meales?

None at all, but this deuice wee haue, that euery Player at the fyrst hand he draweth, payeth a Crowne to the box, by way of a releef towards the house charges.

Ye may fare well of that price at the starke staring stewes.

In good fayth and me thinketh it an easy burden, for him y ^t wil put his xl. l. in [Page] aduenture to pay the tribute of a crowne▪ and fare well for it, whose chaunce is to lose a. C. crownes or. ii. wold neuer haue spared one to make a newe stocke wyth al. And whose hap is to wine, were a ve ry churle to be a nigarde of so lytle,

Is euery man a player there or doo some go scotfre:

Who so listeth not to put muche in hazard plaieth at mum­chaūce for his crowme with some one or other. So some goeth free & some be at double chardge, for alwayes we haue res pecte that the house bee releued, and it standeth so muche the more with good reason, because that besydes the greate charges of vittels, and great attendance of the seruants, and great spoyl of nape­ry and houshold stuff the good man also loseth his. xx. or. xl li. to kepe vs compa­ny.

And what do you the whyles▪ I am sure ye be not yet so cunuinge as too keepe such workemen company.

And why not I pray you is it so hard a thing to tel. xx. or to remember. ii. or. iii. chann­ces: [Page] but yet in dede I play litell my selfe, onlesse it be at the Cardes, otherwyse I am the goodmans half [...]or the most part, and ioyne both our luckes to [...]ither.

How spe [...] ye ther for the most part?

Not alwa [...]s so wel as I wuld wish I will bee playne with you as with my frende, it hath coste me. xl. [...]. within this seuyght. But I vouchsafe my l [...]sse the better, I had such fayre play for it, and who would not hazarde. xx. pounde a­monge suche quyet company, where no man gyues a soule woorde, at one good hande, a man maye chaunce as I haue often seene to make his fourty pounde a hundred. And I haue seene again a man beginne to play with v. c. marke landes and once yet er the yere wēt about wold haue old land if he had had it.

Per­chaunce so to.

But his locke was too badde, the lyke falleth scarcely once in a hundred yeres

That is but one doc­tors opinion. I see it beetyde euery day, though not in this so lardge a propor­cion [Page] and bicause I se you so raw in these things, that ye accounte that for moste vnfained frendshippe wher most deceite is ment, and being alredy giuen to play, may in fewe dayes come further behind then al your trauaile of your latter yeres can ouer take agayne. I can neyther for beare thee for the zeale I beare vntoo you, or the hatred I beare too the occu­pacion too make you vnderstande some partes of the sleyghtes and falshoddes that are commonly pracised at Dice and Cardes. Opening and ouerturning the things, not so that I would learne you to put the same in vse, but o [...]ē theyr wic ked snares.

I thank you for your gen­tyl offer, I would bee glad to know the worst, least happely I should fall in such craftye company, but youder at my lod­ginge commeth none but men of woor­s [...]pe, some mounted vpon mules faire trayped, some vppon fyne hackeneyes with foote clothes, all such as I dare saye would not practyse a poynte of le­gyerdymeyne [Page] for an hundred pound.

Well, as to that, there lay a strawe tyll anone, that the matter lede vs to speake more of it. And in the meane season, let this be sufficient. That so sone as ye be­gonne your decbaration of the firste ac­quayntaunce in Poules, I felte afore hande the hookes were layed too pycke your purse wyth all.

Wyste I that, I would from hence­forth stand in dout of myne owne hands, the matter hath such appearaunce of ho­nestie.

Well harken to me a whyle. There is no man I am sure that hath expery­ence of the world, and by reading of hys­tories conferreth our time to the dais of our elders, but wyll easely graunte that as tyme hath growen and gathered in­crease by running, so witte [...]irst planted in a feaw, hathe in tyme taken so many rootes, that in euery corner ye may finde new braunches budding and issewinge frō the same. For profe wherof to speake [Page] of one thing amonge many that at this tyme may serue our purpose. Although the greke and latin histories be ful of no­table examples of good princes, that vt­terly exiled Dicinge, out of their seygn o­ries & cuntries, or at the least held thē as infamed persons. yit fynde I not that in those our forefathers dayes, any the like slyght and crafty deceit was practised in play, as now is common in euery corner. Yea and he namely Hodge setter whose sirname witnesseth what opinion men had of him, though xl. yeres agone was thought pereles in crafty playe, and had as they say neyther mate nor felowe, yet nowe towardes his death was so farre behind some yonger men in that know­ledge, that I my selfe haue knowen mo then. x [...] that could make him a foole: and cannot suffre him to hame the naue of a workeman in that facultie.

And it is not yet. xx. yeres agone sins al that sought their liuing that waye, as then were few in nomber, scarcely so ma­ny [Page] as were able too maintayne a good [...]ray so were they much of Hodge setters estate, the next doore too a begger, nowe such is the misery of our tyme, or such is the licentious outrage of idel misgouer­ned persones, that of only dycerse a man myght haue halfe an army, the greatest nomber so gayly bee seene, and so full of money that they bash not to infinuat thē selues intoo the company of the hiest, & loke for a good hour to creepe into a gē ­tlemans roome of the pryuie chamber.

And heere of you may right well assure your self that if their cost were not exce­ding great, it were not possible by the on ly helpe thereof, to leade so sumptuous a lyfe as they do alwaies, shynynge lyke blasynge starres in their apparell.

By nyght, tauerning with Trumpetes, by day spoiling Gentlemen of their inhe­ritaunce, and to speake all at once, lyke as all good and lyberall scyences had a rude beginninge, and by the industrye of good men, beeinge augmented by ly­tle [Page] and by litell at laste grewe to a iuste perfectiō: so this detestable priuy robery from a few and deceytful rules is in few yeres grown to the body of an arte, and hath his perculiar termes, and therof as great a multitude applied to it, as hathe Gramer or Lodgicke, or any other of the approued sciensis, neyther let this seeme straunge vnto you▪ bycause the thinge is not commonly knowen, for this facul­tie hath one condition of iugling, that yf the sleght be once discouered marde is al the market. The firste precepte thereof is to be as secret in working, as he that keepeth a man company frō London too Maydenhead. & makes good chere by y ^• way, to the ende in the thycket to turne his pricke vpward, and cast a weauers knot on both his thumbs behind him, & they to thentent y ^t euer in al companyes they may talk familierly in all apperance & yet so couertly in dede, that their pur­pose may not bee espied: They call theyr worthy arte by a newe found name, cal­linge [Page] them selues Chetors, and the di [...]e chet [...]rs, borowing the terme frō among our lawers, with whom all such casuals as fall vnto the Lord at the holding his lets, as waifs, straies & such like bee cal­led chetes, & are accustomably said to bee escheted to the lords vse.

Trow ye thē that they haue any affinity with our men of Law

Neuer with those that he honest, mary with suche as bee amby­dexters & vse to play on both the hands they haue a great League, so haue they also with all kynde of People, that from a good order of ciuilitie, are fallen and resolued as it were from the hardnesse of vertuous liuing: to the delycasy and soft nesse of vncareful ydelnesse, and gainfull deceyte.

For gayne and [...]ase be the only prickes that they shote at. But what righte or honest meanes they myght acquire it, that parte neuer commeth in question a­mong them.

And hereof it riseth that lyke as lawe [Page] When y ^• terme is trewly cōsidered, signi­fieth an ordinaunce of good men, establi­shed [...]or the cōmon wealth, to represse all vic [...]us lyuing: so these Chetors turned y ^• cat in y ^• pan, geuing to diuerse vile pat­ching shyftes, an honest, and godly titell, calling it by the name of a law. [...]ycause by a multitude of hateful rules a multy­tude of dregges and draffe, as it were all good lerning, gouerne and rule their y­del bodies, to the destruction of the good laboring people. And this is the cause that dyu [...]se crafty sleyghts deuised only for guyle, hold vp the name of a Lawe, ordayned ye wote to mayntayne playne dealing. Thus giue they their owne con uer auce the name of cheting law, so doo they other termes, as sacking law: high law, Fygging law, and such lyke.

what meane ye herby, haue [...]e spoken brod English al this while, & now begin to choke me with misteries, and queiut termes?

No not for that but always ye must consider, y ^• a carpēter hath many [Page] termes familier inough to his pretensis that other folke vnderstand, not at al, & so haue the chetors not without greate nede (for a falsehod once detected) can ne­uer compasse the desired effect: neither is it possible to make you grope y ^e bottome of their arte, onles I acquaint you with some of their termes. Therefore note this at the first: that S [...]ckynge Lawe signifieth horedome, Hyghe law, robbe­ry. Figginge law, picke purse crafte.

But what is this to the purpose, or what hane chetors a do w ^t hores or the­ues.

As moch as with their very en­tere frende, y ^t hold all of one corporation. For the first & origynall ground of Che­tinge is, a coūterfea [...]e coūtenaūce in all things: a studdy to seme to be, & not to be in deede. And bycause no great dysceyte can be wrought but where speciall trust goeth before, therfore the chetor whē he pitcheth his haye to purchace his profit en [...]orceth all his wittes to win credite & opinion of honesty, and vprightnes. [Page] Who hath a great outward shew of sim plicity thē y ^e pick purse: or what woman wil seeme so seruent in loue as wil the cō mon h [...]rlot: so as I told you before the foūdation of all those sortes of people is nothing els but mere simulation, & b [...]g in hand. And like as they spring all from one rote, so tend, they al to one end, idely to lyue by rape, and rauin, deuouring the frute of othermens labors, al the ods be twene thē be in y ^e meane actions, y ^• leade towards the end & final purpose

I am almost wery of my trade alredy to heare y ^• out gay gainsters are so strōgly allied with theues, and pickpurses But I pray you procede & let me heare what sundry shyftes of disceyt they haue to meete all wel togither at y ^• close?

That is more then I promised you at the beginning, & more then I intended to perform at this time, for euery of thē kepeth as gret sco­les in their own faculty, as y ^• chetors do. And if I should make an open discourse of euery wrynkel they haue to couer and [Page] worke disceit with al, I should speake of mo sundry queint conueiances, then bee rockes in Milfourd hauen, to defend the ships frō the boisterus rage of weather. But I wil first go forward with that I haue in hand, & by y ^• way as occasiō shall serue, so touch the rest y ^t ye may see their workmanship, as it were a farre of, more then halfe a kenning. The chetor for the most part neuer receyueth his scholler to whom he wil discouer the secrets of hys arte, but such one as before he had from some welth and plenty of things, made so bare, and brought to such misery, that he wil re [...]use no labor▪ nor leane no stone vnturned, to pick vp a penny vnderneth. And this he doth not, but vpon a great skyll. For like as it is an old Prouerbe and a trew, that hee must n [...]edes goe, whome the Dyuell dryueth, so is there not such a Dyuell to force a man to an extreme refuge, as is necessity and want, specially wher it hath proceded of abun­dance.

[Page]Therfore the chetor vsing necessitie for & great part of perswasion, when he hath sucked this nedy companion so dry that there remayneth no hope too presse any drop of further gayne from him, taketh some occasion to shew him a glinse of his faculty, and if happely he fynd him egle eyed, & diligent to marke, auone shapith him in such a fashiō, as that he wil raise a new gayne by him, and with all some­what releue his vrgent pouerty. Then walking asyde intoo some solitary place he maketh the first waye to his purpose after this or the like maner. I am sure it is not yet oute of youre remembraunce how late it is since yee firste fell into my company, how great losse ye had at play before we entred in any acquaintance, & how litle profit redounded vnto me, sins ye first haunted my house, neither can ye forget on the other syde, how frendly I haue enterteyned you in euery condition making my house, my Seruauntes, my Horses, myne apparel, and other things [Page] whatsoeuer I had, rather commō to vs both thē priuate to my selfe. And now I perceyue that of a youthfull want ones & as it were a childish ouersight, ye haue so dēly brought your self (vnwares to me) so far vnder the hatches, and are shaken with lauish dispence y ^t ye cannot find the way to rise agein, and beare any sayle a­mong men as heretofore you haue done, Which thing whyles I deepely consider with my self, I can not but lament much youre neglygence, and more the harme that is like to ensu vpon it: For first your friendes beeinge as I haue hard many in nomber, and all of worship, shall con­ceyue such inward greef of your vnthrif­tines, that not one will vouchsafe a gen­tyll playster to quench the malice of this srettinge corosie, that penury hath ap­plyed. And I againe bycause my happe was to haue you in my house, and too gaine a litle of other mens leauings, shal be counted the cause of your vndoing, & slaundred [...]or taking a fewe fethers out [Page] of y ^e nest whē other had stolen the birds alredi, for which causes, & specially to help you to maintain your self like a gētleman as hitherto of your self ye haue bin able. I can be contēt to put you in a good way so as treading the step̄s y ^t I shal appoint you, neither shall ye neede to run to your frends for succor, & al men shal be glad to vse you for a companion. But wi [...] I y ^• I shuld find you crafting w ^t me in any point & void of y ^• fidelity, & secretnes (some spar ks wherof I haue noted in your nature) assure your selfe, y ^• I would neuer make you priuy to y ^e matter, but giue you ouer to your own prouision, perchance to end your life w ^e infamy & wretchednes. The yong man y ^• lately flowed in plenty & plea sures, & nowe was pinched to y ^e quick w ^t lack of al things, humbled himself anone to be wholy at his deuocio [...], & gaue him a thowsand thankes for his great kynd­nes. Thē forth goeth y ^• chetor, and fur­ther saies: though your experience in the world be not so great as mine, yet am I [Page] sure ye see y ^t no man is able to liue an ho­nest man, onles he haue som priuy way to help himself w ^t al, more then the world is witnes of. Think you y ^• noble men could do as they do if in this hard world they shuld maintain so great a port only vpon their rent? Think you y ^• laweiers could bee such purchassers if their pleas were short, & al their iudgements, iustice, & conscience. Suppose ye y ^• offices would be so derely bought, & y ^• biers so sone enriched if thei coūted not pillage an honest point of purchace Could marchaūts w ^t out lies false making their wares, & selling them by a croked light to deceiue y ^e chapmā in the thred or colour grow so sone rich, & to a barōs possessiōs, & make al their poste­rity gētlem [...]n? What wil ye more who so hath not some ankerward way to helpe himself, but foloweth h [...] nos [...] (as they say alwais straight forward) may wel hold vp y ^e head for a yere or ii. but y ^• iii. he must nedes sink & gather y ^e wind into beggers hauen. Therfore mine aduise shal be y ^• [...]e [Page] beate al your wittes, & spare not to breke your brains alwais, to saue and help one Your acquaintaunce I know is great, a­mongs your coūtry men, such as be rich and ful of money, neuerthelesse more sim ple then that they know what good mai be done in play, and better it is that eche man of thē, smart a litle, then you to liue in lack. Therfore seke them out besely at their lodginges: but alwais beare them in hand that ye met thē by chaunce, then wil it not be hard to call them hyther to take part of a supper, and hauinge them once within the house dores dout ye not but they shal haue a blow at one pastime or other, that shall lighten their pursis homeward, my selfe wil lend you money to kepe thē cōpany, & neuerthelesse make you partaker of y ^e gain, & to y ^e end ye shal not bee ignorant by what meanes I wil cōpasse the matter, come on go we vnto my closet, & I shal giue you a lessō worth y ^• lernyng, Thē bringeth he forth a gret box w ^t dice, & first teacheth him to know [Page] a [...].

a gods name what stuf is it▪ I haue often hard men talk of false dice, but I neuer yet heard so dainty a name giuen them.

so much the soner may ye be deceued, but suffer me a while & breke not my talk, & I shal paint you anō a pro per kind of pouling, [...]o here saith the che­tor to this yong Nouisse, a well fauored die that semeth good & square: yet is the forhed longer on the cater and tray, then any other way, and therfore holdeth the name of a lāgret, such be also called bard cater tres, bicause commonly the longer end will of his owne sway draw down­wards, and turne vp to the eye sice sinke, deuis or ace, the principal vse of them is at Nouē quinque. So long as a paier of bard quater tres be walking on the bord so long can ye cast neither v. nor. ix. onles it be by a great mischance that the rough nes of the bord, or some other stay, force them to stay and run against their kind. For without quater trey, ye wot that, v­nor. x. can neuer fall.

By this reason [Page] he that hath the first dice is like alwaies to strip, & robbe all the table aboute?

Trew it is, wer ther not another help, & for y ^• purpose an od man is at hand, called a flat cater tre, & none other nūbre. The graunting that tre or quater be alwaies one vpon the one die, if ther is no chaūce vpō the other die but may serue to make v, or ix. [...] so cast foorth & lose all, therefore (sayth y ^• maister) marke well your flat & lerne to know him surely whē he rūneth on y ^• bord, the whiles he is abrode, ye for beare to cast at much, & keping thꝭ rule to auoyd suspection, bicause I am knowen for a plaier, yee shal see me bring al y ^e gain into your hands

But what shift haue they to bring the flat in & out:

A ioly fine shifte y ^t properly is called foysting, & it is nothing els but a sleight to cary ease ly within the hand, as oftē as the foister list. So y ^• when either he or his partener shall cast y ^e dice, the flat comes not abrod, til he haue made a great hande, and won as much as him list. Otherwise the flat [Page] is euer on onles at few times y ^• of purpose he suffer the s [...]ly soules to cast in a hand or it. to giue them courage too continew ther play and liue in hope of winning.

This gere seemeth very straūg vnto me, & it sinketh not yet into my brain, how a man might carry so many dice in one hād & chop them & chaunge them so often & y ^• thing not espied:

so iugglers cōueiāce semeth to exceede the compasse o [...] reason til ye know the feat. But what is it that labor ouercōmeth not? And trew it is, to [...]oyst finely, & redily, & w ^e the same hand to tel money, to & fro is a thing hardly lear­ned, & asketh a bold sprite, & long experi­ence though it be one of y ^• first be lerned. But to return to the purpose, if happely this young scholler haue not so redy and so skilful an eye, to deser [...]e the flat at eue­ry time that hee is foysted in (for vse ma­keth mastery, aswell in this as in other thinges) then partely too helpe this ig­noraunce withall, and partly too teache the younge Cocke to crowe, all after the [Page] chetors kind, the old col [...] instructeth the yong in the termes of his arte after this maner. Y [...] know that this outragious swering and quarelling that some vse in play, giueth occasion to many to forbear, that els would aduenture much mony at it, for this we haue a deuise among vs y ^t rather we relent & giue place to a wrong, then we wold cause the play, by stryfe to cause any company to break, neither haue we any othes in vse but lightly these: of honesty, of truth, by salt, Martine, which when wee vse them affirmatiuely, wee meane always directly the contrary. As for example, it haply I say vnto you whē the dice commeth to your hands of hone sty cast at all, my meaning is that ye shal cast at the bord or els at very little. If when a thing is offered in gage I swere by saint Martine I thinke it fine golde, then meane I the contrary, that it is but copper. And like as it is a gentle and old prouerbe, Let losers haue their wordes: so by the way take forth this lesson, euer [Page] [...]o shew gentlenes to y ^• silly foles, & crepe [...]f ye can into their very bosoms. For har der it is to hold them when ye haue thē, thē for the first time to take thē vp. For this yong wits bee so light, & so waue­ring, y ^• it requireth great trauel, to make thē alwais daūce after one pipe. But too folow y ^• we haue in hand bee they young be they old, that fauleth into our laps, & be ignorant of our arte, we call them all by the name of a cosin, as men that wee make as much of, as if they were of our kinne in dede the gretest wisdome of our faculty resteth in this point, dy [...]yg ently to forsee to make the cosin sweat, y ^• is to haue a wil to kepe play, & cōpany, and al waies to beware that we cause him not smoke, least that hauing any fele or sauor of gyle intendid agaynste hym, he slyppe the collor as it were a hound, & shake vs of for euer. And whensoeuer ye take vp a cosin, be suer as nere as ye can to kno­we a forehand what store of byt he hath in his buy, that is what mony he hath in [Page] his purse, & whether it bee in great cogs or in small, that is gold or siluer, and at what game he wil sonest stoupe that we may fede him w ^t his owne humor & haue coules redy for him. For thousands ther­bee, that wilnot play a grote at nouen & yet wil lose a hūdred poūd at y ^e hasard, & he y ^• wil not stoupe a dodkin at y ^• dice, per chaunce at cardes wil spend Gods cope, therfore they must be prouided for euery way. Generally your fine chets though they be good, made both in y ^• kings bēch & in y ^• marshalsea, yet Bird in Holburn is the finest workman, acquaint your self w ^t him, and let him make you a ba [...]e or ii. of squarters of sundry sisis, some lesse, some more, to throw into y ^• first play, til ye per ceiue what your cōpany is. Then haue in a redines to be roisted in whē time shal­be, your fine chetes of all sorts, be sure to haue in store of such as these be. A bale of bard sink deusis & flat sīk deusis, a bale of bard [...]i. easis, & flat vi. easis: a bale of bard quater tres, & flat quater tres. The ad­uantage [Page] wherof is al on y ^• one side, & cō ­sisteth in the forging. Prouide also a bale or. ii. of Fullans for they haue greate vse at the hasard, and though they be square outward. Yet being within at the corner with lead, or other pōdorus matter stop­ped, minister as great an aduantage as any of the rest. ye must also be furnished with high mē, & low mē for a mūchāce, & for passage. Yea & a long die for euen and od, is good to strike a small stroke with al for a crown or ii. or the price of a diner As for Gords and bristle dice be now to grose a pracise to be put in vse, light gra­uiers there be, demies, cōtraryes & of all sortes, forged cleane against the appa­raunt vantage. Which haue speciall, and sūdry vses. But it is inough at this time to put you in a remembrance what toles yee must prepare too make you a worke­man. Hereafter at more leasure▪ I shall in structe you of the seuerall vses of them al, and in the mean season take with you also this lesson, that▪ when fine squariers [Page] only be stirring, ther rests a great help in cogging, that is when the vndermost dy standeth dead by the weighty fall of his fellow, so that if v [...]. be my chaunce, and x. yours, graunt that vpon the die I cogge and keepe alway an ace, deuce, or tray, I may perhaps sone cast vi. but neuer x. and there be diuers kindes of cogging, but of all other the spanish cogge bears the bel, & seldome rayseth any smoke. Gramercy sayeth the scholer, and now thinketh he himself so ripely instructed, that though he be not yit able to begyle others, yit he supposeth himselfe sufficiently armed a­gainst al falshod that might be wrought to bringe him to an afterdeale, and lyttle seeth he the while how many other ends remain, how many points ther be in slip­per [...] chetors science, that he shall not yit be skilfull inough to tagge in their kind, perchaunce in iiii. or. v. yeres practise.

Why haue they any deper reaches to lift a man out of his saddel, and ridde him of his money, then ye haue opened already?

Alas this is but a warning, and as it wer the shaking of a rod to a yoūg boye, too feare him from places of perill. All that I haue told you yit or that I haue minded to tell you, greeth not too the purpose, too make you skilfull in chetors occupacion. For as sone would I teach you the next way to Tyburn, as to learn you the practise of it: only my mening is to make you see as farre into it, as shuld a cobler into a tanners facultie, to know whether his lether be wel lyquored, and well & workmanly drest or not. And like as I wold not wish a cobler a currier, lest two sundry occupatiōs rūning to gither into one, might perhaps make a leawd London medley in our shoes, the one v­sing falshod in working, the other facing and lying in vttering. ▪So seeke I to auoyd, that ye should no [...]oth be a cour­tier (in whome a lyttle honest moderate play is tollerable) and withall a Chetor, that with all honesty hath made an vn­defensable dormant [...]efyance. For euen [Page] this new nurtured nou [...]s (not withstan ding hee is receiued into the Colledge of these dubble dealers, & is become so good a scoller that he knoweth redily his flats and barris, and hath bin snapper with y ^• old cole. at. ii. or. iii. deepe stroks, yea and though he haue learned to verse, and lay in [...]he reason well fauoredly to make the cosin stoupe, al the cogges in his buy) yet if he once wex slow in seeking out cosins, and be proud of his new thrift, & so good ly a passage to recouer his olde losses, the knappe of the case, the goodman of the house, calleth secretly vnto him the third persō for the most part a man that might be warden of his cōpany, & talketh with him after this maner. Here is a younge man in my house, if ye knowe him, that hath bene one of the swetest cosins aliue, so long as he was able to make a grote, nowe at the laste I wote not howe hee came by it, but he hath gotten some kno­ledge and talkes of a greate deale more then he can in dede. Mary a langret hee [Page] knoweth metely wel and y ^t is al his skil. I made much of him all this month by­cause he hath great acquaintance of men of the country, and specially the clothe men of the west partes, and at the begin­ning wuld euery day fil the case with io­ly fat cosins, and albeit he had no know­ledge too worke any feate him selfe, yet did I vse him alwais honestly, and gaue him his whole snappe, too the end hee should be painfull and dilygent too take the cosyns vp, and bringe them to the blow. Now waxen is he so proud of hys gain bicause he hath gotten [...] new chaine fyet new, apparell, and some store of by te, that I can not gette him once out of the dore, to go about any thing. Take some paynes your self (sayth he) & bryng some of your owne Cosins home or els iet al alone for me. Thus if ye see that no­thing marres him, but that he is to fat, & might we make him once leane again as he was within this month, thē shuld we see the hungry horson trudge.

[Page]Ther shold not be sturring a cosin in any quarter but he wuld wind him straight. Therefore come you in anone like a straū ger & he shal see him take you vp roūdly. If yee lacke contraries to crossebite him with all, I shall [...]end you a payre of the same sise that his chetes be.

Is ther no more fydelity amonge them can they not be content one false knaue to be true to his felow, thogh they conspire to rob al other men?

Nothing lesse did not I warne you in the beginninge that the end of the sci [...]ce is mere disceyt, & would ye haue themselues against their kynde, to work contrary to their professiō. Nay they be euer so like themselues, that whē all other deceytes fayle, looke which of them in play gett [...]s any store of money into his hands, he wyll euery fote as he draweth a hand, be fygging more or les and rather then fayle crame it & hyde it in his hose, to make his gaine greatest. Then when they falle to the diuysion of the gayn, & the money that y ^e cosin hath [Page] lost is not forth cōming, nor wilbe cōfes­sed amōg thē, it is a world to here what rule thei make, & how the one imbradeth y ^e other with disshonesty, as if ther were some honestie to be foūd amōg thē. What shuld I thē speke of swearing & staring wer they alwaies as liberal of [...], as they bee of othes, I had rather [...]ring a b [...]gger to haue y ^• reward of a cheter, thē to y ^• best almes knights roome y ^• y ^• king giues at Wyndser. But these stormes ne­uer fal but in secret coūsels w ^tin thēselues & then peraduenture y ^e sironger part wil strip y ^e weaker out of his clothes rather then he shuld flocke away with y ^• stuffe, & make thē lou [...]s to labour for his luker.

Then is it but foly to recouer my los­sis in yōder company, & if ther can not be one faithful couple foūd in the hole band how might I hope y ^t am but a straūger to win an vnfayned friend amōges them

As for in that case neuer spek more of the matter, & be as sure as ye are of your Creade, y ^t al the frēdly entertainemēt ye [Page] haue at your lodging is for no other end but for to perswade you to play, & bring you to losse, nether was it any better thē falshod in felowship when the goodman got yōu to be half, and seemed vnwilling ly to lose both your monies.

By these meanes other must I vtterly for beare to hasard any thing a y ^e dice, or liue in dout & suspectiō of my frend, whēsoeuer I fall to play.

No question therof, for y ^e con­tagion of chetinge is uowe so vniuesall y ^e they swarme in euery quarter, & therfore ye cannot be in safty from deceit, onles ye shun y ^• company of hasarders, as a man wuld flie a scorpiō.

Thē am I suffici­ently lessoned for the purpose, but bicause at the first our talke matched Dice and cardes toogether like a couple of frendes that draw both in a yoke, I pra [...] you is ther as much crafte at cardes as ye haue rehersed at the dice?

Altoogether, I wuld not giue a point to chuse, they haue such a sleyght in sortinge, and shufflinge of the Cardes, that playe at what game [Page] ye will al is lost afore hand. If. ii. be con­federated to begyle the third, the thing is compassed with the more ease, then i [...] one be but aloue, yet ar ther many wais to deceiue. Primero now as it hath most vse in court, so is there most disceyt in it, some play vppon the pricke, some pinch the cards priuily with their nayls, some turne vp the corners, some mark them w ^t fine spots of inke One fine trick brought in a spaniard, a finer thē this innēted an Italian, & wan much money w ^t it by our doctours, & yet at the last they wer both ouerreched by newe sleyghtes deuysed here at home. At trump, saint, & such o­ther like, cutting at y ^• neck is a great van tage, so is cutting by a bum card (finely) vnder & ouer, stealing the stocke of the decarded cardes if there brode lawes be forced aforehand. At decoy, they drawe easily. xx. handes together, & play al vpō assuraunce when to win or lose. Other helps I haue hard of besides, as to set y ^• cosin vpon y ^e bench with a great looking [Page] glasse behinde him on the wall, wherin the chetor might alwais see what cards were in his hand. Somtimes they work by signes made by some of the lokers on. Wherefore me thynkes this amonge the rest proceded of a fine in [...]encion. A gam­ster after he had bin oftentunes bitten a­mong y ^• chetors, & after much losse, grew very suspicious in his play, that he could not suffer ani of the sitters by to be priuy to his game: for this the chetors deuised a new shift. A woman should sit sowing besides him, & by the shift or slow draw­ing hir needell, giue a token to the chetor what was the cosins game, so that a few examples in sted of infinit that might be rehearsed, this one vniuersall conclusion may be gathered, that giue you to play, & yeld your self to losse.

I feele well that if a man happen to put his money in ha­sarde, the ods is great that he shall rise a loser, but many men are so continent of their hands that nothing can cause them to put ought in aduenture: & some again [Page] vnskilful, y ^• lack of running forceth them to forbeare.

I graunt you wel both. But neuertheles I neuer yet saw man so hard to bee vanqu [...]shed but they would make him stoupe, at one law or other.

And for that purpose their first trauel is after y ^• they haue takē vp y ^• cosin & made him somwhat sweat, to seke by al means thei can to vnderstand his nature, and whervnto hee is inclined. If they find y ^• he taketh pleasure in y ^e cōpany of femals, then seke they to strike him at y ^e sacking law. And take this alwais for a maxime y ^• al the bauds in a cōtrey be of y ^• chetors familiar acquaintaunce. Therfore it shal not be hard at al times to prouid for this amorus knight, a lewed lecherous lady, to kepe him louing cōpany. Thē fal they to banketing, to minstrels, masking, and much is the cost that the sily cosin shalbe at in Iewels, apparell and otherwise: he shal not ones get a graūt to haue scarsly a licke at this dainty ladiys lappes. And euer among she layeth in this reason. [Page] For hir sake to put his xx. or. xl. crowsau in aduenture ye wot not (saith she) what may be a womans lucke. If he refuse it, lord how vnkindly she taketh the mater & cannot be recōsiled w ^t lesse then a gown or a k [...]rtyl of sylk, which cōmenly is a re­ward vnto hir by knap of the case, and y ^e cut throtes his complites, to whom the matter is put in daying. Ye and the more is if haply they perceiue y ^• he estemed not brou [...]id ware, but is enamored w ^t virgi­nitie, they haue a fine cast w ^tin an houres warning, too make Iohn sylu [...]rpin as good a mayde, as if she had nēuer come at stewes nor openid to any man hir qui­uer. The mistery thereof ye s [...]all vnder­stande by this my tale which I my selfe sawe put in experience. A young roister­ly gentylman desyring a mayden make to content his wanton lust, resorted to a baude, and promised her good wages to prouide him a maide against y ^• next day he declared vnto hir y ^• he toke more ple­sure in virginitie, then beuty, but if both [Page] came together y ^• pleasure was much the more thankefull, & her reward shuld be y ^e better. This mother baud vndertoke to serue his turne according to his desire, & hauing at home a well paynted, manerly harlot as good a maid as fletchers mare that bare three great foles, went in the morning to the Apothecaries for halfe a pynt of swete water y ^• cōmonly is called Surfulyng water, or Clynkerdeuice, & on the way homeward turned into a no­ble mans house to visite his coke, an old acquaintance of hirs: vnneth had she set hir [...]ete within the kitchin, & set downe hir glasse the more hansomely to warme hir afore the raūge, but anone the Coke had taken hir in his armes, and whyles they wrastled more for maners sake of y ^• light, then for any sqemishe besines, had she bene behinde y ^e dore. Down fel y ^e glas & spilt was y ^e water, out alas ꝙ y ^e womā quiet your selfe qd y ^• coke, let vs go into y ^e buttry to brekefast, & I will by y ^e a newe glas, & pay for y ^e filling. Away they wēt [Page] out of the kitchin, & the boye that turned a couple of spits deliting with the sauor of the water, let first one spite stand & af­ter another always w ^t one hande taking vp the water as it dropped frō y ^• bord by him, & washed his eyes, his mouth, & all his face withall. Sone after y ^• this likor was with the heat of y ^e [...]ier dried, & soked vp in the boies face, down came the coke again into y ^e kitchin, & finding the breste of the capon all burnt, for lacke of tur­ning, caught vp a great basting stycke to beate the turnspytte, & happly casting a sower loke vpon him, espyed the boyes mouth & eyes drawn so togither & closid that nether had he left an eye to loke w ^t ­all, & scarsly myght ye turne your lyttell fynger in his mouth. The cooke abashed with the soden chance, [...]anne about the house half out of his wit, and cried y ^e kit­chē boy is takē, he cā nether se nor speke, & so the pore boy w ^t his starched face cō ­tinewed more then halfe an houre a wo­deryng stocke to all the house, tyl a man [Page] of experiēce, bad bath his face w ^t hot fat be [...] broth, wherby forth w ^t he was resto red to as wide a mouth, & as opē eies as he had before▪

A good miracle & soone wrought. If maydes be so easy to make no meruel it is we haue such store in Lō ­dō. But forth I pray you with your pur­pose, when whoredome hath no place what other shifts haue they to raise ther thrifte vpon▪

a. C. mo then I can re­herse, but most comenly one of these that folow. If it be winter season when mas­king is most in vs [...], then missing of theyr chept helps, they spare not for cost of the derer. Therfore first do they hyer in one place or other, a sute of ryghte maskinge aparel, and after inuites diuers gestes to a supper all such as be ther of estimacion to giue thē credit by their acquaintance or such as they thinke, will be liberall to hazard some thing in a mumchance: by which meanes they assure thēselues at y ^• least to haue the supper schot free. Per­chaunce to win. xx. li. aboute. And how [Page] soeuer the cōmen people esteme the thing I am cleane out of dout y ^• the more halfe of your gay maskes in Lōdon ar groun­did vpō such cheting craftes, and tend on ly y ^• pouling, & robbing of the kinges sub­iectes. An other ioyly shift & for the sub­tyle inuenc [...]ō and finenes of wit excedeth far al the rest, is the barnardes law.

Which to be exactly practised asketh iiii. persōs at the least, eche of them to play a lōg seueral part by him selfe. The firste is y ^e taker vp, of a skilful man in all things, who hath by lōg trauill cunnid w ^t oute y ^e boke a. C. resōs to insimate him selfe into a mās acquayntaunce. Talke of matters in law, and he hath plenty of casis at his fingers ends y ^• he hath sene tried & rew­lid in euery of the kinges courtes. Speke of grasyng and husbandry no man kno­weth mo shires then he, no mā knoweth better where to rayse a gayn: & how the abusis & ouerture of pricis might bee re­dressed. Finally enter into what discorse of things they li [...]t, were it into a browm [Page] mans facultie, hee knoweth what gaine they haue for old boots & shoes, & whēce their gain commeth, yea & it shall escape him hard, but that ere your talk break of he wilbe your cuntry man at least, & per­aduenture either of kinne, or aly, or some soule si [...] vnto you, if your reach surmoūt not his too far. In case he bring to passe that ye be glad of his acquaintance, and content with his company, playd is the cheef of his part, and he gyueth place to the principall player the barnard, neuer­thelesse he lightly hath in his company a man of more worship thē himself, y ^• hath the countenance of a possessioner of land and he is called the verser. And though it be a very hard thing to be a perfite ta­ker vp, and as it were a man vniuersally practised in all accidentes of a mans life, yit doth the Barnard go so farre beyond him in cunning, as doth the suns somer brightnes exceede the glimmering light of the winter sterres. This bodyes most comon practise is, to come stūbling into [Page] your company, like some rich farmor of the cuntry, a stranger to you al, that had bin at some market town there abouts, bying and selling, & there tipled so much Malmsy, that he had neuer a redy word in his mouth, & is so careles for his mo­ney that out he throweth an hundreth or. ii. of old aungels vpō the bordes ende, and standyng some what a loofe calleth for a pot of ale and sayeth: masters I am some what bold with you, I pray you be not agreuid that I drinke my drinke by you: and minister such idel drōken talke, that the verset who coūterfeatith the gē tilman cōmeth stoutly, and sittes at your elbowe, praing you to call him neare, too laugh at his folly, betwene thē. ii. y ^• mat­ter shalbe so workmāly cōueied & so sine­ly arguid, y ^• out cōith a pair of old cardes wherat y ^• barnarde teacheth y ^• verser a newe game, y ^• he supposeth coste him. ii. potts of ale for y ^• lerning not past ā hour, or. ii. before. The first wager is drink, the next. ii. pence, or a grote, & lastli to make y ^• [Page] tale shorte they vse y ^• matter so y ^• he that hath. lxxx. yeres of his backe, and neuer played for a grote in his life, cannot re­fuse to be the verseres halfe, & cōsequētly at one cutting of the Cardes to louse all they play for, be it an. C. li. and if perhap pes when the money is lost, the cosin be­gins to smoke and sweare that the dron­ken knaue shal not get his money so thē standeth the rubber at the dore, and dra­weth his swerd, and picketh a quarel to his owne shadow: yf he lacke an osteler, or a tapester, or some other to fall out w ^t al. That whiles the strete & company ga ther to the fray, as the maner is, the bar­nard steales away w ^t all the stuffe, & pic­kes him to one blinde tauerne or other, such as before is appointed among thē, & ther abidith the cōming of his compa­nions to make an equall porcion of the gain, & whēsoeuer these shiftes may not take place, thē lede they y ^• cosin to y ^• gase of an enterlude, or the beare baytyng at paris gardē, or some other place of thrōg [Page] where by fyne fingered Fegge boye, a grounded disciple of Iames Elis, picked shalbe his purse, and his money lost in a moment, or els thei run to the last refuge of all, and by a knot of lusty companions of the h [...]gh law, not only shake the harm lesse body out of all his clothes, but bind him, or bob him to bote, that lesse had bin his harm to haue stouped low at the first, and so to haue stopped their greedy mouthes, then to saue himselfe so long, and in the end to bee fleesed as bare as a new shorne shepe, and perchaunce so farr from his freends, that he shalbe forced to trip on his ten to [...]s homeward for lacke of a hackney to ryde on, and beg for hys charges by the way.

Now speake ye indeed of a redy way to thrift but it hath an yll fauoured successe many times.

I wot what you meane, you thinke they come home by Tiburne, or S. Thomas of Watrings, and so they do in dede, but nothing [...]o sone as a man wold suppose, they be but pety figgers, and vnlessoned [Page] laddes that haue such redy passage to y ^• gallowes. The old theues go thorow w ^t their vsies wel. xx. or xxx. yeres together & be seldome taken, or tainted, specially y ^• figge bodies, y ^• haue a goodly corporaciō for the relefe. Their craft of all others re­quireth most slyght, and hath a merue­lus plenty of terms & strange language, and therfore no man can attayne to bee a workmā therat, til he haue had a good time of scoling, and by that meanes they do not only know eache other well, but they be subiecte to an order, suche as the elders shal prescribe. No man so sturdy to practise his feate but in the place apoyn­ted, nor for any cause once to put his fote in an others walke. Some. ii. or. iii. hath Pauls church in charge, other hath west minister h [...]ule in terme tyme. Diuerse chepesyde w ^t the flesh and fish shambles, some y ^e borough & [...], some the court, & part folow marketts & fayres in the country with pedlers footepackes, and generally to all places of assemb [...]y. [Page] Some of them are certeinly pointed as it were by their wardens to kepe y ^• haūt with comission but a shorte whyle, and too enterchaunge their places as order shalbe made to auoyde suspicion. By oc­casion wherof when soeuer any stroke is workemanly striken though it were at new castel the rest of y ^• Fygge boyes that keapes residente in London, come forth with pronosticate by whome the worthi feate was wrought, & one great prouisiō they haue: that is a soueren salue at all times of nede a tresurer thei chuse in som blind corner. a trusty secret frende. That whēsoeuer ther cōmeth any Iuels plate, or such geare to their share, the present sale therof might chaunce to discouer the matter, the same els committed in [...]o his hands in pledge as it wer of money lent, & he taketh a byll of sale in default of re­payment as if all thinges were done by good fayth, and playne dealing. So that whensoeuer he shall seke to make money of this gages, at the end of ii. or iii. mo­nethes, [Page] if any question arise how he came by them he sheweth anone a fayre byll of sale for his discharge, frō Iohn a knocke or Iohn a stile, a man that neuer was, ne uer shalbe found. And such theft by this occasion is euer manerly couered.

An other help they haue that of euery purse that is clenly conueyed, a ratable porcion is dewly deliuered into the tresu rers hands. to the vse that when soeuer by some misaduenture any of them hap­pen to be taken, & layd in prison, this com mon stock may serue to satisfie the party greued and to make frendes to saue them from hanging. Now haue ye a kalender as it were to put you in remembrance of the che [...]e poyntes & practises of cheting, inough I suppose to serue for a warning that ye withdraw your self from yonder costly company, wherin if my experience may serue to giue you occasion to eschew such euils, I shalbe glad of this our hap­py metyng.

Yes doubt ye not there­of but that this talke hathe wrought [Page] alredy such effectes in me that though I liue a. c. [...]eres. I shall not lightly fall into the chetors snares [...]ut because ye spake of the principal pointes, wherby I con­ceiue that yet some smal sparkes remaine vntouched, I pray you put mee oute of doubt therof, and then on gods name ye shal gladly departe, with as many than­kes as if ye had disbursed a large sum of mony for redemption of my land, & saued it from selling. For had not forewarnyng come, the marchaunt and I muste with in fewe dayes haue coped together, as did my bedfelow but now the last weke, whose lossis I pytie so muche the more, as that now I vnderstand by what che­tory it was woon.

The feat of losyng is easely learned, & as I told you in y ^e be­ginning y ^• the chetors beate & besy their brayues, only about fraude & subtyltie, so can it not be chosen but geue them sel­ues ouer al to that purpose, & must euery day forge out one new poynt of knauety or other, to deceyue the simple w ^tall: as of [Page] late I knew a young gentliman so wary in his doings y ^• neither by dice or cardes nor by damosels of daliaunce, nor of the wais afore rehersed, could be made stope one penny out of his purse. For this the chetor consulted with the leawd lady in this case deuysed. That she should dally with the gentleman, & playing with his cheine should find the meane to [...]epe it a whyle, till they might fyg a ly [...]ke or i [...], to make a lyke by. Done it w [...] anone, & within few dayes after another made of copper equall in length to that. At the gentlemans next returning to the house, the Damoselles dallied so long with the chaine, sometyme putting it about her necke, and sometimes about his, that in the end she foysted the copper chayne in the othe [...]s place, and therby robbed him of better then xl [...]. This and the like shifts I forbere to remember. Soner bi­cause the deceit resteth not in any slyght practyse at dice, and cardes, neuertheles bycause chetors were the first inuentors [Page] as well of this as of all other falshod in felowship that now dayely is put in vse at all maner of games, as when one man lost not many yeares agon an C. li. lande [...]t shooting, by occasion that some that shot with him on his side, were boty fe­lowes againste him, another was ryd of [...]i. C. li. at the tennis in a weke, by the [...]raud of his stopper. Me think they can­not bee better rewarded then sent home to the place they came fro.

And since chetors were the first autors therof, let them al [...]o bear the blame. And hauing disclosed vnto you as briefefly as I can the principal practises of the chetors crafty facultie, & other workemen of their alliance, I wyl byd you farewel, for this tyme.