perfectnesse: Firste there is no man that doth so wel, but he can saye better, or elles summe men, whiche be now starke nought, shuld be to good: Agayne no man can vtter wyth his tong, so wel as he is able to imagin with his minde, & yet perfectnesse it selfe is farre aboue all thinking. Than seing that saying is one steppe nerer perfectenesse than doyng, let euery man leue maruaylyng why my woorde shall rather expresse, than my dede shall perfourme perfecte shootinge.

I truste no man will be offended with this litle booke excepte it be sume fletchers and bowiers, thinking hereby that manye that loue shootynge shall be taughte to refuse suche noughtie wares as they woulde vtter. Honest fletchers and bowyers do not so, and they that be vnhonest, oughte rather to amende them selues for doinge ill, than be angrie with me for sayinge wel. A fletcher hath euen as good a quarell to be angry wt an archer that refuseth an ill shaft, as a bladesmith hath to a fletcher yt forsaketh to bye of him a noughtie knyfe: For as an archer must be content that a fletcher know a good shafte in euery poynte for the perfecter makynge of it, So an honeste fletcher will also be content that a shooter knowe a good shafte in euery poynt for the perfiter vsing of it: bicause the one knoweth like a fletcher how to make it, the other knoweth lyke an archer howe to vse it. And seyng the knowlege is one in them bothe, yet the ende diuerse, surely that fletcher is an enemye to archers and artillery, whiche can not be content that an archer knowe a shafte as well for his vse in shotynge, as he hym selfe shoulde knowe a shafte, for hys aduauntage in sellynge. And the rather bycause shaftes be not made so muche to be solde, but chefely to be vsed. And seynge that vse and occupiyng is the ende why a shafte is made, the making as it were a meane for occupying, surely the knowelege in euery poynte of a good shafte, is more to be required in a shooter than a fletcher.

Yet as I sayde before no honest fletcher wil be angry with me, seinge I do not teache howe to make a shafte whiche belongeth onelye to a good fletcher, but to knowe and handle a shafte, which belongeth to an archer. And this lytle booke I truste, shall please and profite both partes: For good bowes and shaftes shall be better knowen to the cōmoditie of al shoters,

and good shotyng may perchaunce be the more occupied to the profite of all bowyers and fletchers. And thus I praye God that all fletchers getting theyr lyuynge truly, and al archers vsynge shootynge honestly, and all maner of men that fauour artillery, maye lyue continuallye in healthe and merinesse, obeying theyr

prince as they shulde, and louing
God as they ought, to whom
for al thinges be al ho-
nour and glorye for

euer. Amen

TOXOPHILVS,

The schole of
of shootinge
conteyned in tvvo
bookes.

To all Gentlemen and yomen of Englande,
pleasaunte for theyr pastyme to rede,
and profitable for theyr use

to folow, both in war
and peace.

No maner of man doth or can vse to muche shoo

tynge.

Agaynste vnlawfull gammes and namelye cardes and dise.

Shootyng in war.

16.

[ 21.]

[ 33.]

26.

[ 35.]

28.

[ 39.]

Obedience the best propertie of a Souldyar. 25.

Reasons and authorites agaynste shootynge in war with the confutacion of the same.

God is pleased with stronge wepons and valyaunt feates of war.

The commoditie of Shootyng in war throughe the Histories Greke and Latin, & all nations Christen and Hethen.

Vse of shootynge at home causethe strongeshootinge in warre.

Vse of shootynge at home, except men be apte by nature, and connynge by teachyng, doth litle good at all.

Lacke of learnynge to shoote causethe Englande lacke many a good archer.

In learnyng any thyng, a man must couete to be best, or els he shal neuer attayne to be meane. 47.

29.

[ 41.]

41.

[ 55.]

43.

[ 58.]

46.

[ 62.]

[ 63.]