'No, my lord,' said he, 'I speak not but from a
good zeal, which I ought to have; for holy men have had a good zeal, as
it is said, "The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up;" and we sing in our
church, that those who mocked Elisha as he went up to the house of God,
felt the effects of his zeal; which that mocker, that rogue, that
scoundrel, will perhaps feel.'--'You do this perhaps with a good
intention,' said the Cardinal; 'but in my opinion, it were wiser in you,
and perhaps better for you, not to engage in so ridiculous a contest
with a fool.'--'No, my lord,' answered he, 'that were not wisely done;
for Solomon, the wisest of men, said, "Answer a fool according to his
folly;" which I now do, and show him the ditch into which he will fall,
if he is not aware of it; for if the many mockers of Elisha, who was but
one bald man, felt the effect of his zeal, what will become of one
mocker of so many friars, among whom there are so many bald men? We have
likewise a Bull, by which all that jeer us are excommunicated.'--When
the Cardinal saw that there was no end of this matter, he made a sign to
the fool to withdraw, turned the discourse another way; and soon after
rose from the table, and dismissing us, went to hear causes.
"Thus, Mr. More, I have run out into a tedious story, of the length of
which I had been ashamed, if, as you earnestly begged it of me, I had
not observed you to hearken to it, as if you had no mind to lose any
part of it. I might have contracted it, but I resolved to give it you at
large, that you might observe how those that despised what I had
proposed, no sooner perceived that the Cardinal did not dislike it, but
presently approved of it, fawned so on him, and flattered him to such a
degree, that they in good earnest applauded those things that he only
liked in jest. And from hence you may gather, how little courtiers would
value either me or my counsels."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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