rve, or question asked:[50]
to every man, according to his degree, who chose to ask for it there was
free fee and free lodging; bread, beef, and beer for his dinner; for his
lodging, perhaps, only a mat of rushes in a spare corner of the hall, with
a billet of wood for a pillow,[51] but freely offered and freely taken, the
guest probably faring much as his host fared, neither worse nor better.
There was little fear of an abuse of such licence, for suspicious
characters had no leave to wander at pleasure; and for any man found at
large and unable to give a sufficient account of himself, there were the
ever-ready parish stocks or town gaol. The "glory of hospitality" lasted
far down into Elizabeth's time; and then, as Camden says, "came in great
bravery of building, to the marvellous beautifying of the realm, but to the
decay" of what he valued more.

In such frank style the people lived, hating three things with all their
hearts: idleness, want, and cowardice; and for the rest carrying their
hearts high, and having their hands full. The[52] hour of rising, winter
and summer, was four o'clock, with breakfast at five, after which the
labourers went to work and the gentlemen to business, of which they had no
little. In the country every unknown face was challenged and examined--if
the account given was insufficient, he was brought before the justice; if
the village shopkeeper sold bad wares, if the village cobbler made
"unhonest" shoes, if servants and masters quarrelled, all was to be looked
to by the justice; there was no fear lest time should hang heavy with him.
At twelve he dined; after dinner he went hunting, or to his farm or to what
he pleased.[53] It was a life unrefined, perhaps, but coloured with a
broad, rosy, English health.

Of the education of noblemen and gentlemen we have contradictory accounts,
as might be expected. The universities were well filled, by the sons of
yeomen chiefly. The cost of supporting them at the colleges was little, and
wealthy men took a pride in helping forward any boys of promise.[54] It
seems clear also, as the Reformation drew nearer, while the clergy were
sinking lower and lower, a marked change for the better became perceptible
in a portion at least of the laity. The more old-fashioned of the higher
ranks were slow in moving; for as late as the reign of Edward VI.[55] there
were peers of parliament unable to read; but on the whole, the invention of
printing, and the general ferme