But oh thou vn-happy yong Gentleman , whatsoeuer thou be , that art thus matched , heere must I breathe awhile , and admonish thee with a few notes of my councell of experience : for I know thy couetous desire of money is such , and so great , that thou hadst rather become debter for forty pounds , then to spare forty shillings out of thy Purse : therefore take this Lesson from a tongus of experience . Thou wert better giue one of these Fellowes ten pound , then to bee bound for fifteene , for what so remaineth thou sauest , when all that thou vantrest , thou loosest : And be thou assure , though thou wilt finde he time to satisfie thy couenant , yet will thy Creditor worke thee an Arrest , which ( vntill hee bee fully contented and payd ) will giue them little ease , and lesse liberty . But I feare me , all in vaine doe I giue this Councell to a Prodigall , that is tied to couetousnesse with siluer linkes , for Prodigality and Couetousnesse chained together , are two extreme Passions , & so violent , that no Physicke can cure , but Beggary & Death : Beggary is the end of Prodigality , & Death the end of Couetousnesse : yet in my minde of them both the couetous man is the worser : for with his riches he doth no man good , no not so much as himselfe , when the Prodigall by the vndoing of himselfe enricheth many : therefore the best that may be said of the prodigall , concludeth an vndoing of himselfe and his posterity .

I haue read in the Workes of a famous Phylosopher , which saith , The Prodigall man neuer obserueth time , beginning nor end , vntill ryot hath consumed him and his patrimony . And where is it consumed , but in Ordinaries , Dicing-houses , Bowling-allies , and such like assemblies , which if they were suppressed , many a mans land would be kept from selling , many a mans necke from the halter , and the Common-wealth ( perhaps ) from further mischiefes . And from my heart I wish , that vpon the gate or dore of euery Tabling-house , and Bowling-alley , might bee set a Whip and a Halter for a singe , then surely all vnthrifts and their associates would be ashamed to come to those places , vnlesse shame had vtterly forsooke them .

I haue but yet begun to anatomize the head of these Sanctuaries of Iniquity , there are heapes and whole bodies of euils follow : The deceite of Dice , the charge of Strumpets , the sleight of Consenage , and the cunning of Brokage , is all that I haue yet layd vpon our wilde-headed yong Gentlemen , which ( like Carrions ) onely prey vpon Gold , Siluer , and such like Carriage , these bee but sucking Flyes , the biting Scorpions come after ; euen as a Bird that hath but one feather limed , by striuing fettereth her whole body : So the vnfortunate yong Gentleman , which is brought behinde hand by the hazard of Dice , through a vaine hope to redeeme himselfe , followeth his mischiefe , to the spending of the last payment of all his Estate ; and thou ( to helpe him forward ) some one Spy of the Lawe , or other : namely , a Petty-sogger ( the reuerence done vnto the Laws , and good Lawyers reuerenced ) is euermore sneaking into the Company of rich Heires , and still keepes an Alphabet of all such Gentlemens names that frequenteth these common Gaming-houses ; his eyes are setled vpon their Dispositions , and his exercise is daily to search the Rolles , and the Office of the Statutes , to learne what Recognizances , Morgages , and Statutes do charge their lands .

This is the pernitious Broker , the other helped the néedy Gentleman to money , at fifty in the hundred losse , but hee helpeth him to sell land at fiue yeares purchase .

I must heere digresse from the Prodigality of the Gentleman , vnto the Couetousnesse and Vsury ( I cannot well say ) of the Citizen , although he dwelleth in the Citty , for the true Cittizen , ( whereof London hath plenty ) liueth vpon his Calling , bee hee a Merchant , venturing abroad , or Trades-man liuing at home : But these Shames of good Cittizens , I meane such as tradeth but only to a Gaming-house , or at the furthest , trauelleth but to a Bowling-alley , a Horse-rifling , the meeting of Gentlemen at an Ordinary , and such like .

There with ease and safety doe these fellowes gather wealth and riches as fast as the good Cittizen with much hazard , and farre trauels .

These Caterpillers come not thither to play the vnthrifts , but to prey vpon vn-thrifts , and yet for company , and to auoyde suspition , they will sometimes play the Good-fellowes , and now and then sport a pound or two .

These men néed not too greedily seeke for purchases , for the necessity of decaying Gentlemen , and yong Cittizens , will make them faire offers , and their Spyes ( as I sayd before ) will giue them knowledge where there is sound dealing .

Now amongst these fellowes , there is such deceite coloured with cleanly shifts , as many gentlemen are for a trifle shifted out of their liuings without hope of recouery for it is well knowne , that the extremity and hard dealing of such men , hath impressed a naturall mallice in the hearts of Gentlemen against Cittizens , in so much that if a Gentleman purpose to scoffe a Cittizen , hee will call him , A trimme Merchant . Likewise the Cittizen scoffing the Gentleman , will call euery common fellow , A Iolly Gentleman .

Truly , truly , in my minde , this mortal enuy betwéene these two worthy Estates , was first begotten by the cruell vsage of couetous Merchants in former ages , by hard bargaines gotten of Gentlemen ; and still neurished as reuenges taken of both parties .

Thus one mischiefe drawes on another , and in my opinion gaming houses are the chiefe Fountaines thereof : which wicked places first nourisheth our yong men of England in pride , then acquainteth them with sundry shifting companions , whereof one sort cozeneth them at dice and cardes , another sort consume them with riotous meetings , another sort by Brokage bringeth them in debt , and out of credite , and then awaiteth Couetousnesse and Vsury to sease vpon their liuings , and the officious Sergiant vpon their liberties : and all this ( as I said before ) principally proceeds by the frequenting of gaining houses .

But let vs now search deeper into these wounds of a Common-wealth , for if wée consider all things aright , there is more fouler matter behind , and such things as makes my heart bléed to thinke of ; wée haue but yet spoken of those gaming houses , which are chiefly for the intertainement of Courtiers and Gentlemen , the others bée of a more prinate standing , which be called Common-houses , where the vulgar and inferiour sort of people resort , such as haue poore wiues and children , and Families to care for , surely , the inconuenience cannot chuse but bee great , when a poore man leaueth his house , and the company of his wife and family , and dineth abroad amongst Gaimesters , whose wits bee still labouring which way to deceiue him .

This order me thinkes is a bad order , and a breach of credite , to sée a Trades-man , or one that gets his liuing by the sweate of his browes , to eate and drinke abroad ; vnlesse one neighbour inuite another , but sufferance hath brought this disorder to such a custome , that it is now made a daily practise amongsts our poorer sort of Cittizens . Marry , the Maisters of these gaining houses want no Guests , for where Carion is , Crowes will be plenty , and where mony is stirring Cheaters will not be idle .

Yong Cittizenes , for the most part , depend vpon their Credite , and therefore are loath that there should be an open knowledge of their vnthristinesse : all the better ( I say ) for the biting Cheater , for close in a chamber one of these Cogging Knaues getteth more money in an howre , then many an Honest Man spendeth in one yeare .

But aboue others , this one thing is much to be lamented , by this 〈◇〉 delight , 〈…〉 Cittizens consunne other mens goods , who ( perhaps ) laboured painefully to get them , when Gentlemen , although that they vndoe their posterity , spend but their owne goods and lands .

The eares of the Magistrates are daily full of the breaking of Yong Marchants , and here I lay before their eyes , the causes thereof ; euen these wicked meeting places , they bée places vnto which Magistrates come not , and therefore the abuses vnknowns vnto them , but I thinke it a worke of much honesty to reueale them , and in the Magistrate a worke of more iustice to reforme them , and although this be true that I write , and the euils more then I will speake of , yet I finde my conscience frye from their shifts , as I presume that no man , ( as saulty ) will or can reprehend 〈◇〉 for those kind of courses , and to kéepe my selfe more cléere from them , I will passe by these stréetes , where these one houses are planted , and blesse mee from the iuticements of them , which indeed are many and more dangerous , in that they please with a vaine hope of gaine .

There now comes into my mind , a pretty saying of a distemperate Direr , which solemnly 〈◇〉 sweare , that he beléeued , that Dice were first made of the bones of a Witch , and Cardes of her skin , in which there hath euer since remained a kinde of Inchantment , that whosoeuer once taketh delight in either , shall neuer haue power vtterly to leaue them : for , quoth hee , a hundred times haue I vowd to leaue both , yet haue I not the grace to forsake either : But now againe to the possibility of Reformation to ouercome this inticing mischiefe .

If the Magistrates surnai'd but these vile houses by honest Conseruators , you should finde the painefull trauels of Capitall Magistrates much eased , many mens liues shall bée saued , Gentlemen haue more land , and Cittizens greater store of money , which mettle is the greatest strength of a Citty , for where money is not scarce , Trafficke is plenty , which supporteth all Citties : but to my purpose , these deuilish houses are causes , that Marchants haue so much land , and Gentlemen so little gouernement .

I haue alredy showne , to what exetremity the better sort of these houses bring a number of our florishing yong Gentlemen ; to what misery the second sort , ( called Ordinaries for Cittizens ) bring a great number of yong Marchants .

Now remaineth the discouery of the third sort of these haunts , which are placed in the Sub-vrbs of the Citty , in Allies , Gardanes , and other obscure corners , out of the common walkes of the Magistrates . The daily Guestes of these priuy houses , are maister-lesse men , néedy Shifters , Théeues , Cut-purses , vnthrifty seruants , both Seruing-men and Prentises : Here a man may picke out mates for all purposes saue such as are good : Here a man may find out fellowes , that for a pottle of wine , will make no more conscience to kill a man , then a Butcher a beast : Here closely lie Saint Nicholas Clearkes , that with a good Northerne Gelding , will gaine more by a Halter , then an honest Yeoman will with a teame of good horses : Here are they that will not let to deceiue their father , to rob their brother , and fire their neighbours house for an aduantage . These braue Companions will not sticke to spend frankly though they haue neither lands nor goods by the dead , nor honesty by nature : But how will this hold out ? Fire will consume wood without maintenance , and Ryor make a weake pursse without supply .

Gentlemen ( for the most part ) haue lands to make money , and the yong Cittizens way to get credite ; but these idle fellowes haue neither lands nor credite , nor will liue by any honest meanes or Occupation : yet haue they hands to filtch , heads to deceiue , and friends to receiue , and by these helpes , most commonly , shift they badly well .

The other vpon currant assurance , perhaps , get money for twenty Markes , or twenty pounds in the hundred , but these that worst may hold the Candle ; they vpon their owne , or vpon their Maisters Apparell , Brasse , Pewter , Linnen , Wollen , or such like , will find Brokers or Friperers , that for eight pence in the pound for euery monthes vse , will boldly for halfe the valew take these pawnes .

Surely , it séemeth that this famous Citty is fore charged with these Make-shiftes , considering that so many Stréetes and Laines are filler with these netty Brokers , or Cherish-theeues , I pray God that in the principall places and Stréets of the Citty there bée not of this Faculty , that will make fifty or thrée-score pound profite in the hundred , which is swéete gaine : I haue heard some say , that a double pawne taketh away the feare of the Statute , which is a Iewish Vsury , and high time to bee rooted out of our Christian Gouernment .

Some of these kind of couetous Vserers , are so hard-hearted that I doubt they neither feare God , nor reuerence man , neither will they pardon father , nor acknowledge mother , but will make marchandise of their owne children , they will neither regard brother or kindred , nor yet kéepe faith with their friends ; but beare false witnesse , offend the Widdow , and oppresse the Orphant , oh how great is this folly of theirs , to loose life , to seeke death , and to banish themselues from heauen eternally .

I haue heard some of that profession say , that Vsury ( I meane Brokage ) is turn'd from a sin to an Occupation , because being estéemed as a Trade , they would be accounted honest men , but rather in my minde they bée termed Théeues , for the Broker agréeeth before , with the Borrower , to receiue more then was borrowed , because before hee steale , hee tels the party how much hée will steale , as though hée stole by law ; nay , I may say without law , for like a mistery these Brokers haue deuised more sorts of lending vpon pawnes then there bée trickes at Cardes , but I am affraid to shew you them , lest I should teach you to bée of that kind ; but yet some few examples will I héece venture on , as hereafter followeth , the parties I do know now resident in London .

I know a Broker that will take no Interest for his money , but will haue the Lease of your house , or your land , in vse , receiuing rent for the same till you pay your principall againe , which will come to a greater gaine then thrée-score in the hundred .

I know another that will take no interest money , but will haue Pewter , Brasse , Shéetes , Plate , Table-clothes , Napkins , and such like things , to vse in his house , till his money come home , which will loose more in the wearing then the Interest of the money will come to .

I know another that will take a pawne twice worth the money that hée lends , and agrée with the Borrower to redéeme it at a day , or loose it , by which meanes the poore borrower is forced sometimes for want of money to loose his pawne for halfe the valew .

I knew another that will not lend , but buy at small prices , and couenant with the borrower to buy the same againe , at such a price , at such a day , or loose it this is a fellow that séekes to cozen the Law , but let him take héed least the deuill his good maister to 〈◇〉 nothing , and at the last carry him post into hell .

I know another that will land out his money to men of Occupations , as to Butchers , Bakers , and such like , vpon condition to bée partners in their gaines but not in their losses , by which meanes , hée that takes 〈◇〉 the 〈◇〉 , and dentures all , is forced to giue the Broker halfe the profits for his money .

I know another , for his money lending to a Carpenter , a Bricke-layer , or a Plaisterer , will agrée with them for so many daies worke , or so many wéekes , for the loane of his money , which if all reckonings bée cast will come to a deere interest .

I know many about this Citty that will not bee seene to be Brokers themselues , but suffer their wines to deale with their money , as to lend a shilling for a peny a weeke to Fish-wiues , Differ-women , Dringe-wenches and suth like : these be they that looke about the Citty like Rats and Weasels , to gnaw poore people aliue , and yet go inuisible .

This if it be well considered of is a Iewish Brokage , for in deed the Iewes first brought vsury & brokage into England , which now by long sufferance haue much blemished the ancient vertues of this Kingdome : let vs but remember this one example , how that in the time of King Henry the third , the good Cittizens of London , in one night slew fiue hundred Iewes , for that a Iew tooke of a Christian a penny in the shilling Vsury , and euer after got them banished the Citty ; but truely these Brokers afore-said deserue worse then Iewes , for the 〈◇〉 like vnto Strumpets , for they receiue all mens money , as well the Beggars as the Gentlemans ; nay , they will themselues take money vpon Brokage , to bring their Trade into a better custome , which in my minde is a wicked custome to liue onely by sinne .

The good Magistrates I hope will ouer-looke these euils , least these euils ouer-rule their posterity , but especially these Tabling houses , wherein so many hundred Shifters maintaine themselues gallantly , to the vndoing of a number of good Gentlemen , Cittizens , Trades-men and such like ; for if the 〈◇〉 in 〈…〉 leuel of London , were truely 〈…〉 ●ay they would amaze a good 〈…〉 were discouered , and then no 〈…〉 find their faults , or Repentance shew their amendment .

To conclude , it is euery mans case in this land that hath care of his Posterity , to be suitors for reformation , the euill hereof euen perisheth the marrow and strength of this happy Realme , I meane the ability of the Gentry is much weakened , and many good Cittizens almost wasted by haunting of these vngracious houses : if this my discouery bee considered of by wisedome , I presume it will prous beneficiall to this glorious Monument of the Land , London I meane , which the Lord blesse and keepe in this her wonted prosperity , Amen .