"be no rule for sb." - what does it mean?

[szaroczek]

A sentence from "Young Goodman Brown":

"Howbeit, I have nothing to do with the governor and council; they have their own ways, and are no rule for a simple husbandman, like me."

What exactly (!) does the bold expression mean, please?

[Gillnetter]

A sentence from "Young Goodman Brown":

"Howbeit, I have nothing to do with the governor and council; they have their own ways, and are no rule for a simple husbandman, like me."

What exactly (!) does the bold expression mean, please?

The ways of the governor and the council do not apply to the writer. They have their ways and the writer does not have to attend to these ways.

[szaroczek]

Does this "are no rule" modify the "governor and council" or to "their ways"?

[szaroczek]

I mean, from grammatical point of view, is it like "the governor and council are no rule for a simple husbandman..." or "their own ways (governor's and council's) are no rule for a simple husbandman..."?

[RobMasters]

The ways of the governor and the council do not apply to the writer. They have their ways and the writer does not have to attend to these ways.

??

[szaroczek]

Well, I am still a little confused, too... I just don't get this syntax construct. Sens is sort of more of less understandable but how to understand grammatical construction of this phrase