The Voice of the Last Trumpet Blown
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The source of this document is the Early English Books Online (EEBO-TCP) website. Those books were transcribed in a character for character manner and can be very cumbersome to read since there was no standard spelling during that time. Many spelling variations such as "unlesse", "vnlesse", and "vnles" regularly appear.
This project was conceived to clean up those books as much as possible and make them more accessible to the interested reader, leading to the creation of a massive list of variant spellings and their corrections. This was used to clean up the text, but is of course only as complete as the list itself. Because of the nature of the original transcription, some words have missing characters or places where the original language (e.g., Greek) was not transcribed. This effort does not change that. Be aware that the original transcription can also be faulty and in some cases entire sentences may be missing.
Although this is no substitute for a properly compared, proofed, and scholarly edition, I believe that the result is a document which is far more accessible, particularly for searching for terms using standard spelling. The document has been cleaned and presented in what I hope is a pleasing and useful format for the vast majority of Christian brothers and sisters who just want access to read these spiritually nourishing works.
However, a word of warning: The Puritans were a very diverse group of people and their age was characterized with godliness, but also much upheaval, disputation and strife. They disagreed on many doctrines and some of these works contain less orthodox or Scriptural views than others. The reader is strongly advised to read with discernment, particularly if it is unknown whether author is trustworthy.
This project took a huge amount of time and skill to bring to fruition. I would particularly like to thank David Jonescue for the initial list of Puritans he found on EEBO and the concept behind this project as well as the continuous, unceasing efforts toward seeing this complete. Without his labor, this would not be available. Alex Sarrouf was invaluable in providing the initial list of over 7,000 spelling variations he had identified and corrected, as well as continuing to review more than 16,000 additions to that list for any typos.
Logan West
(with David Jonescue and Alex Sarrouf)
www.puritansearch.org
The voice of the last trumpet blown bi the seventh Angel (as is mentioned in the eleventh of the Apocalypse) calling all the estates of men to the right path of their vocation, wherein are contained x • i. lessons to twelve several estates of men, which if they learn and follow, all shall be well and nothing amise.
The voice of one criyng in the desert.
Luke. iii.
Make ready the Lord's way. Make his paths strayte. Every valey shall be filled, and every mountain and little hill made low. And things y t be crooked shall be made straight and hard passages shall be turned into plain ways, and all flesh shall se the health of God.
Esa • . xl
The contents of this boke.
- i. The Beggers lessone.
- ii. The Seruauntes lesson.
- iii. The Yeomans lesson.
- iiii. The Lewde priests lesson.
- v. The Scholers lesson.
- vi. The Learned man's lesson.
- vii. The Physicians lesson.
- viii. The Lawiers lesson.
- ix. The merchants lesson
- x The Gentilmans lesson.
- xi. The Maiestrates lesson.
- xii. The Woman's lesson.
The beggars lesson.
WHo so would that all things were well,
And would himself be without blame:
Let him give ear, for I will tell,
The way how to perform the same.
Fyrste walk in thy vocation,
And do not seek thy lotte to change:
For through wicked ambition,
Mani mens fortune hath been strange
The Beggers lesson.
IF God have laid his hand on the,
And made the low in all men's sight:
Content thyself with that degree,
And se thou walk therein upright.
If thou I say, be very poor,
And lack thine health, or any limb:
No doubt God hath enough in store.
For the if thou wilt trust in him.
And continue in patience:
No doubt he will feed the alway,
By his merciful providence.
Call thou on him, and he will move,
The hearts of thē that dwell the bye:
To give the such things for his love
As serve for thy necessity.
When Daniel was in the den
Abacucke was sent to him then,
With a pot of potage and meat.
From Ahab and queen Jezebel:
The Ravens fed him by the way,
As the story of kings doeth tell.
The Ravens birds left in the nest:
Are when they cry fed of the Lord
Though they know not to make request
Trust thou therefore in God above,
And cal on him with confidence:
To feed the of benevolence.
But if at any time thou lack,
As though the Lord did the fo
•
sake,
Or did to the displeasure beat.
But in such case call to thy mind
What plenty God hath to the sent
That thou shalt many things misspent.
Then think God's justice could not leave
The vnplaged for that thou hast:
To live upon and not to waste.
Thē must thou needs give god glory,
And be moste earnestly sory,
For that thou hast his gifts misspent.
But if thou find thy conscience clear
As few men can I am right sure:
Then let Job's trouble be thi chere,
That thou mayest patiently endure,
Yet be are thy cross patien
•
ely:
For the ende shall turn to thy good,
Though thou lie in the streets & die.
Pore Lazarus died at the gate,
But afterward in rest he sat
When the riche glutton was in hell.
S
•
ay thou thyself therefore upon
And doub
•
les thy vocation
Thou shall
•
not think miserable
Neith
•
r shalt thou grudge or repyne,
That thy poverty is so great:
But shalt thyself ever incline,
To God's will who doeth the viset.
Thou shalt not grudge, when y
u
doeste crave
Of any man his charity:
Though at his hand thou canst naught have
But shalt pray for him hertely.
That if he have this wordly riches,
And yet hath not Godly pitye.
Thus doing thou dost walk upright
In thy calling thou mayest be sure:
And art more precious in God's sight,
Then men that be rich paste measure.
The Seruauntes lesson.
BRother come hither unto me,
And learn some parte of discipline:
For I am sent to enstruct the,
And teach the some Godly doctrine.
I am sent to call the I say,
Back frō thy stout & stubborn mind:
Take hede therefore, and bear away
Such lessons as thou shalt here
•
inde.
Fyrste considre that thy calling,
Is to do service and obey:
Bearinge that he shall on the lay.
If he be cruel unto the,
And over charge the with labor:
Call to the Lord, and thou shalt be,
Shortely out of his cruel power.
Remembre thou Jacob's kynred,
That in Egypt were sore oppressed:
The Lord brought them to quiet rest.
They could not cry so sone but he,
And right so will he do by the,
And se all thy great wrongs redressed.
He will I say deliver the,
Out of bondage and servitude.
Master of a great multitude.
And because thou didst walk upright
Shewynge thyself obedient:
The fear of God omnipotent.
And like service as thou hast done,
Thou shalt have done to the again:
For sense the world was first begone
Never true servant lost his pain.
Jacob served full fourtene yere,
And dea
•
t truly with his master:
And was exceadinge riche after.
Fourtene yere he served Laban,
Who was made riche by his labor:
But afterward Jacob began,
To grove to much greater honor,
Laban was never of such might
As Jacob was within short space:
For his true service in God's sight,
Had purchased him favor and grace.
Thus seest thou how god doth regard
The good service of servants true
And howe he doth in them reward
The service that is but their due.
It forceth not what manner man
In thy service a Christian,
Doynge as Christ commandeth the.
But if thy master be wicked,
And would have the do wyckedly:
Then se that thy faith be pitched
On thy Lord God most constauntly
Call to thy mind good Daniel,
Who served his prince fayethf
•
lly
Notwithstandynge he was cruel
And eke his Lord God's enemy.
Serue him truly I say, for why,
God hath bade that thou sholdest do so:
But do thou nothing wickedly,
Neither for well nor yet for woe.
Se thou serve him as faithfully,
As he were thy Lord, and thy God:
Neither for the fear of the rod.
But for the conscience thou dost bear,
To thy Lord God's commandment.
That is for love, and not for fear,
Of any wordly punishment.
Do thus and then thou shalt be sure,
Thy Lord will ever prosper the:
And at his good will and pleasure,
Thou shalt not miss to be made free.
But if thou wilt be still sturdy,
And do thy service with grudging:
The Lord shall
•
lage the worthily,
With manifold kinds of scourginge.
Thou shall be put to drudgery,
Many a day
•
, ma grea thine head:
A
•
d be kept still in slavery,
Al thy life days till thou be dead.
And if thou chance to renew away,
Either th
•
u shalt be brought again:
Or else when thou doest chance to stay,
A worse master shall the retain.
Once thou
•
halt be certain of this,
Tha
•
if thou ref
•
se thy calling:
Of misery
•
hou
•
halte not miss,
Th
••
gh thou esca
•
e sudden fallinge.
Yea though thou do prosper a while
And se
••
e to have fortune thy friend:
Yet thou doest but thyself begile,
For misery shall be thine ende.
For as thou didest thy master serve,
So shall all thy servants serve the:
And as thou didst his goods preserve
So shall thy goods preserved be.
And beside this God's wrath is bent,
Towarde the for disobedience:
Wherefore unless thou do repent
He will add thereto vehemence.
He will plage the here wonderously,
And at the ende caste the in pain:
Where thou shalt lie eternally,
And wys
•
he to be a slave again.
Repent therefore, I the advise,
And seek thine own salvation:
And then thou must in any wise
Walk still in thy vocation.
Do thy service diligently,
And show no disobedience:
Be thou not stout, but still apply,
And do all things with reverence.
Refuse nothing that must be done,
But do it with all redines:
And when thou hast it once begone.
Then set a side all slothfulness.
Be true, trustye, and trifle not,
Be gentle and obediente:
And blessing shall light on thy lot,
For doing God's commaundem
•
nt.
To make an ende have still in mind,
Thine estate and condition:
And let thine heart be still enclinde,
To walk in thy vocation.
The Yeomans lesson.
THou that art borne the ground to till,
Or for to labor with thine hand:
If thou wilt do naught that is ill,
Desire not idle for to stand.
But se thou do plow, plant, & sow,
And do thy nedeful business:
As one that doeth his duty know
And will not the Lord's will traunsgres.
For what doest thou if thou desire,
To be a lord or gentilman:
Other then heap on the God's ire,
And show thyself no Christian?
For Christ's sheep do hear his voice
Six days, and in the seventh rejoice
And give somewhat to the neady.
It doeth also bid the beware,
Of the desire to be alofte:
For he that doeth for honor care,
Falleth in Satan's snares full often.
Have mind therefore thyself to hold
With
••
the bosides of thy degree:
And then thou mayest ever be bold
That God thy lord will prosper the.
And though the Lord give the plenty
Be thou never the more greedy
Nor set thy mind on gathering.
But think the Lord doth these things send
To the as to his stuard true:
That wilt not his goods wast & spend,
But bestow thē where they be due.
And if with thy labor thou get
Money much more then thou dost need:
Do not thy mind on raiment set
Neither on deuity food to feed.
Set not (I say) thy mind on pride,
Neither upon deliciouse fare:
Neither forget at any tide,
To give the pore that thou mayest spare.
But when thou hast sufficient,
Then hold thyself therewith content
As with the wage of thy travail.
The rest if ought remain unspent,
Upon thine own necessity)
Bestowe as he that hath it sent,
Hath in his word commanded the.
And if thou find not written there,
That thou mayest heap thy chest w
t
gold
To bye great liuelode for thine heir.
Ho
•
e darest thou then be so bold.
Howe darest thou be bold I say,
To heap up so much go
•
lde in store:
Out of the due that thou shouldest pay,
To them that be pore, sick and sore?
That heap together ho
•
se and Land:
As m
•
n that woe
•
lde never find stay,
Til all the earth were in their hand.
What, will ye dwell alone (sareth he)
Upon the earth that is so wyde?
Wyll you leave no parte thereof free
From your vnsacrable pride?
Ye need not to be so gready,
For the Lord doeth you plainly tell:
That great houses shall stand empty,
And no man left therein to dwell.
And Moses saith that thou shalt build
Thy self nor leave them to thy child.
Nor any other of thy kynne.
And why? because thou hast no mind
To keep the lords commandment.
But sekest ever for to find.
Ways to increase thine yearly rent.
No manner threatnynge can the let.
From purchasinge the deuel and all
It is all fyshe that cometh
•
oner.
To ma
•
ntayne thy great pride with all
Well turn again
•
the advise.
And I
•
iue to walk in thine estate:
And set gods fear before thine eyes.
Leste when thou wouldest it be to late.
And have in thy mind evermore,
Whyche is in deed gods holy lore.
To walk in thy vocation.
But if the Lord do the not bless.
In thy labors with g
•
eat plenty
Yet thank thou him never the less.
Thou hast more then thou art worthy.
If thy Landlorde do raise thy rent
Se thou pay it with quietness:
And pray to God omnipotent,
To take from him his cruelnes.
So shalt thou heap coles on his head
And purchase to thyself great rest.
By the same man thou shalt be fed,
By whom thou wast before oppressed
For God who ruleth ech man's heart,
Shall turn thy Landlordes hert I say:
And shall all his whole life convert
So that he shall be thy great stay.
Or else if he be not worthy,
To be called to repentance:
No doubt thy Lord will him destroy,
Or take from him his heritaunce.
Sure thou shalt be he will the set
Fre from thy Landlordes tyranny:
For he did never yet forget
Any that walked orderly.
But if thou wilt needs take in hand
Th
•
ne own wrong for to remedy:
The Lord him self will the w
t
stand,
And make thy Landlord more gredye.
And where before thou paiedst great rent
Thou shalt now lose thy house & all:
Bicause thou couldst not be content
Wyth patience on him to call.
In like sort, if thy prince will take,
More tribute thē thou canst well spare:
Se thou pay it him, for God's sake,
For in his need both thou and thine,
Are his to maintain his estate:
It is not for the to define,
What great charges thy king is at.
Yea though thou se evidently,
That he wasteth much more then need:
Yet pay thy duty willyngely,
And doubtless God shall be thy mede.
Now touching thy religion,
If thy prince do command the ought:
Agaynst God's Euangelion,
Then pray for him still in thy thought.
Praye for him still, I say that he
May have Godly understanding:
To teach God's word to such as be,
Committed to his gouerninge.
And se thou do not him despise,
But answer him with reverence:
And though y
u
mightest, yet in no wise,
Do thou forget obedience.
Take not his swerd out of his hand,
(Yea,
•
hough thou mightest his force w
t
stand)
Thy master Christ hath taught y
u
well
When he would no resistence make:
Neither against
•
he powers rebel
When men were sent him for to take.
Yet if the Lord have given to the
Such knowledge that thou art certain
Of thy faith knowing it to be
Of the truth do therein remain.
For though man may thy body kill
Yet oughtest thou not him to fear:
Wherefore be bold, do not despair.
Behold I say Christ to confess
Wi
•
hout fear of this worldly pain.
For when thou shalt be in distress
Christ shall acknowledge the I say
If thou conquer by suffering:
That thou must walk in thy calling
But if thou do lyf
•
e up thy sword
Agaynst thy king and Souerayne:
As worthy therewith to be slain.
Yea, thou mayest not grudge or repine
Aga
•
nst thy king in any wise
Though thou shouldst se
••
lain w
t
thine
Tha
•
he were wicked past all sise
•
eyen
For it is God tha
•
appointeth,
Kings and rulers over the route:
Them for to be obeyed
•
o doubt
Deserueth that plage at God's hand:
And se thou do forth with begin
Thine own wickedness to withstand.
And thought y
t
thei them selves could point
A better priest in Israel,
Then Aaron whom god did annoynte
But what came of their fantasie?
Was not destruction their ende?
God did destroy them suddenly
Because they would his works emēde.
Let this example suffice the.
To keep them obedience
To such as god shall set to be
Ouer the in preeminence.
If thou do th
•
s, thou shalt besure
That god thy lord will ever se
That though thy rulars be not pure
Yet they shall ever defend the.
Contrary wise, if thou Rebel.
Be sure the lord will the destroy
Which thing hath been declared well.
Within this realm very lately.
For notwithstanding that our king
And eke our rulars euerychone
Be merciful in their doing
Yet have the Rebelles cause to move.
And why? because no rebels shall
Escape gods hand unpunished
For god him self doeth princes cal
Hys Christ's and his annointed.
Who so therefore doth them resist
For god him self doeth them assist
Agaynste them over whom they reign.
If thou therefore find the grieved
Wyth men set in authority.
Seke not thou to be avenged
Let me take vēgaunce (saith the lord)
Do thus, and scripture doeth record
That thou shalt have all thy desire.
Thou shalt have thy desire, I say
Upon the wicked magistrate
If thou wilt keep thyself always
Within the bounds of thine estate,
Thus leave I the, with threatenyng
To the thy souls damnation
If thou mislikynge thy calling
Wylt needs chayng thy vocation.
The lewd or vnlearnned priests lesson.
THou that art lewd without learning
Whom commonly men cal syr John,
Geue care for I will say somethynge
Concerning thy vocation.
Thou art a man void of knowledge
And eke of all good qualities
Only mete for to diche and hedge
Or else to plant and gra
•
se men's tres.
Thou art not as y
u
wouldest be calde
An offerar of sacrifice
•
or though thy cro
•
ne were .iiii. times balde
Yet canst y
u
not so bear our eyes.
For it is plain in holy write
For sin, either in flesh or spirit
Though he be both learned and wise.
For Christ was once offered for all
To satisfy for all out sin
And hath made free that erst were thrall
The faithful floke of Iacobes kin.
To offer sacrifice therefore
Thou art not called I tell the plain
And can no more for us be slain.
Thy state therefore and thy calling
And not to live by forstalling.
And name thyself one of the kyrcke
If thou therefore wilt live for aye
And reign with Christ forever more
Desyre no moe masses to say
Geue over all thy typpillinge
Thy tauerne gates, and table play.
And learn to walk a sober way.
And if thou have any liueing
Se thou apply the to learning
Wyth all diligent endeavor.
But to this ende se thou study
That when thou hast the truth learned
Thou maiste profit other thereby
Whom in time past thou hast harmed.
And se thou go not Idlely
From house to house to seek a place
To say men a Mass secretly
Their favor thereby to purchase.
Put not the ignorant in hope
That they shall se all up again
That hath been brought in by the Pope
And all the preachars put to pain.
But if thou canst do any good
In teaching of an A. B. C.
A primer or else Robinhede
Let that be good pastime for the▪
Be ever doing what thou can
Teaching or learning some good thing
And then like a good Christian.
Thou doest walk forth in thy calling.
But if thou wilt knowledge reject
And all honest labors refuse
Then art thou none of gods elect
Repent therefore I the advise
And take wholesome counsel by time
And take good hede in any wise
That knowledge double not thy crime.
Thus leave I the, making promise
To make for the petition
That thou mayst leave the popishnes
And walk in thy vocation.
The Scholars lesson.
COme hither young mā unto me
Thou that art brought up in learning.
Geue ear a while, I will teache the.
How thou shalt walk in thy calling.
First mark wherefor schools were erect
And what the foundars did intend
And then do thy study direct
For to attain unto that ende.
Doubtless this was all their meaning
To have their contrie furnished.
Wyth all kinds of honest learning,
Whereof the public wealth had need.
Call thou therefore to memory,
What knowledge thy country doeth:
And apply the same earnestly,
By all the means that thou canst make lack
And when thou art determined
What knowledge thou wilt most apply
Then let it not be loytered,
But seek to get it speedily.
Spend not thy time in Idleness.
Nor in vain occupacyon
But do thyself wholly address
To walk in thy vocation.
Se thou do not thy mind so set
On any kind of exercise:
That it be either stay or let
To thy study in an wise.
To fyshe, to foul, to hunt or hawk
Or on an instrument to play
And some whiles to comune and talk
No man is able to gain say.
To shore, to bawle, or caste the bar
To play reuise or toss the ball
Or to
•
enne base like men of war
Shall hurie thy study naught at all.
For all those things do recreate
The mind if thou canst hold the mean
But if thou be affectionate
Then dost thou lose thy study
•
eane.
And at the last thou shalt be found
To occupy a place only
As do in Ag
••
me ziphras round.
And to hinder learning greatly
For if thou hadst not the lyueyng
An other should that would apply
Him self to some kind of learning
To profit his country thereby.
If thou therefore wilt not be found
Worthy gods indignation
Make thy study perfect and sound
And walk in thy vocation.
Let not time pass idelly
Lose not the fruit of any hour
Or else suffer him to supply
Thy place that will him endeuoure
Thou doest but rob y
e
cōmone wealth
Of one that would be a treasure
Better thou were to live by stelth
Then for to work such displeasure,
But haply thou wilt say again
Shall I surrender my living?
Shall I not thereupon remain
After I have gotten learning?
Yesse thou mayest keep thy liueyng still
Tyll thou be called otherwise
Thou must thyself still exercise.
When thou art thoroughly learned
Then se thou teache other thy skyll
If thou wilt not be reconed
Teach them, I say, that thou doest se
Wyllinge to learn thy discipline
And unto them se thy life be
A boke to lay before their eine.
Let them never se the Idle
Nor hear the talk vndiscretly
And by all the means possible
Let all thy doings edifye.
The learned man's lesson.
THou learned man, do not disdain,
To learn at me a simple might
Thy g
•
eat abuses to refrain
And in thy calling to walk right.
Thou art a man that sittest hie
In the simple men's conscience
To live therefore dissolutely
Thou shouldest be unto them offense.
Offence, I say, for they should think
All that thou doest to be godly
Wherefore do not at this thing wyncke
But do emend it speedily
Emend thy wicked life I say
And be (in deed) a perfect light
As Christ our savior doeth say
For it is thy vocation
How great abominacion
Art thou then if thou go astraye?
But therein lieth the whole matter
To know which way y
u
shouldest them lead
Wherefore I will the not flatter
But tell the truth wythouten dread.
Thou must thyself humiliate,
And strive to enter the strait gate
Where few men do find away in
Thys way thou canst not walk so long
As thou wilt travail sea and land
And frame all the words of thy tongue
To get promocion at man's hand.
Thou must humble thyself I say
And not aye seek to be aloft,
For he that walketh in rough way
And looketh hie, stumbleth full often.
Thou must acknowledge that y
u
art
Through sin unworthy thine estate
And that thy discipline and art
Can not bring them at that gate.
Thou must, I say, strive to enter
And not to get promotion
For Christ's congregation.
How dost thou walk in this calling
When thy mind is earnestly bent:
To gather up eche man's fallynge,
By all the ways thou canst invent?
Geue ear I say, therefore thou fole,
And learn thy first lesson again:
And do not his docrtyne disdain.
He willeth the first to apply
The great beam out of thine own eye
And thine abuses to forsake.
And then he would that in no wise
Thou shouldest be stacke or negligent
To pycke the motes out of men's eyes
Teachyng them how they should repent
If thou wilt that they do repent
That the whole some of thine intent
Is to make them like unto the.
For if thou wilt them to refrain
Murder, thesse, whoredom and Incest
If they se thief things in the reign
They will all thy doctrine deteste.
If thou forbid them gluttony
And will them the flesh for to tame
They myll defy the utterly
If they se the not do the same.
If thou tell them of apparayle
Or of ought wherein is excess.
Then will they say, thou doest but rail
Unless thou be therein faltnesse.
What shouldest thou speak of usury,
When thou doest take unlawful gain?
Or rebuke men for Simony.
When nothing else doeth in the reign
Maye not the lay man falsely say,
I learned of the to by and sel,
Benefices, which to this day
Thou canst put in practice full well?
Whye should not I, as well as thou
Have benifices two or three?
Sence thou hast taught me the way how
I may keep them and blameless be?
I can set one to serve the cure
That shall excel the in learning
More then thou dost me I am sure
And also in godly lyueynge:
I can keep hospitalitye
And give as much unto the pore
In one yere as thou doest in three
And will perform it with the more
Alas that ever we should se
The flock of Christ thus bought & sold
Of them that should the shepperdes be.
To lead them falsely to the fold.
Repent this thing I the advise
And take the to one cure alone
And se that in most faithful wise
Thou walk in thy vocation.
Then shall no lay man say by right
That he learneth his mysse of the
For it is plain in ech man's sight
That thou doest walk in thy degree.
More over, if thou chance to be
Made a prelate of high estate
To thine office lo
••
e that thou se
And lea
•
e not thy flock desolate.
And first before all other things
And appoint them honest lyueynges
To be the people's enstructers.
Let none have care within thy See
In whom any great vice doth reign
The people are not good certain.
Through thy defalte, thou shalt answer
Wherefore I do the admonish
To loke earnestly to this gear.
Loke unto it thyself I say
And trust not to a trifellar
That will allow all that will pay
Son what unto the regester.
Se that they do enstructe the youth
Of ech parri he diligently
And trayne them up in the lords
•
ruth
So much as in their pour shall lie.
Now if so be thou be called
To be thy princes councellour
Be ware thou be not corrupted
By the vain desire of honor.
Be not careful howe for to hold
Thy self still in authority
But to speak truth be ever bold
Accordyng to gods verity.
Wyncke not at faltes that thou shalt se
Though it be in thy Souerayne
But do as it becometh the
Exhorte him all vice to refrain.
If thou perceive him ignorant
In any point of his duty
Se thou do him not check or taunt
But tell him with sobriety.
Tel him his fault, I say, plainly.
And yet with all submission,
Lest thou do seme to speak vainly.
For gettynge thy vocation.
Thus have I told the as I would
Be told if I were in thy place.
To the intent that no man should
Have cause to tell the to thy face.
Thus do I leave the with wyshynge
To the a will for to advance
God's glory by godly learning
And not thy lyueyng to enhaunce.
The Physicians lesson.
GEue ear master Physician,
And set a side thine vrinal:
And that with expedition
For I, the last trumpet do cal
Geue care I say, and mark me well.
And printe all my words in thy mind:
For eche thing that I shall the tell
Thou shalt both true and certain find.
God made the to succor man's need.
As Jesus Sirach wrytteth plain
That many thousands thou hast slain.
But now am I sent from the king
Of pour and domination
To call the from thy murtherynge
To walk in thy vocation.
Fyrst, where thou dydest her to fore use
To have respect to the rich man
I would not now thou shouldest refuse
To help the pore man if thou can.
Help him I say though it be poor
And hath nothing wherewith to pay
For his master hath yet in store
And if thou do on him thy cure
For his sake y
t
ga
•
e herbs their strength
Thou shalt undoubtedly be sure
He will rewa
•
de the a
•
the length.
This master of his doth regard
Mercye so much that he hath told
Al his that thei shall have reward
And thynkest thou that he will not
Reward them that give medicine?
Thou hast no such mistrust I woe
In his promies that is divine.
I say therefore, if thou canst cure
The pore man's so
•
e or malady
Of thy reward thou shalt be sure
If thou wilt show on him mercy,
But if thou suffer him to lack
Thine help because he lacketh goulde
No doubt whē thou shalt a compt make
Thy confidence shall be full cold.
Then show thy writing if thou can
Wheron thou bearest the so bold.
That thou wilt viser no sick man
That canno
•
live thy pursse with gold
Bringe forth thy writing then, I say
If thou have any such in store
Whereby thou mayst require ech day
A noble of goulde, or else more.
And show by what right y
u
mayest take
Two pense for the sight of water
Whē thou knowest not thereby to make
The sick man one farthyng better.
Yea if a man should try the well
To prove what thy coūtyng can do
He should find that thou canst not tell
Whether the man be sick or no.
I grant the water showeth something
But not so much as thou dost crake
Neither is thy labor condyngue
That thou shouldest money for it take.
But if so be thou canst espy.
By the water what is a mysse
Teache him how to seek remedy
And worthy some reward, that is.
But if thou do but guess, as doth
The blind man that doth cast his staff
Though thou by chance hit one the soth
Thy labor is scrase worthy crafe.
Thou doest burgesse money to wyne
And w
t
strange words make mē agast
And yet thou thynckest it no sin
To cause pore mē their goods to wast.
But no
•
e I say to the,
•
epent
And do thyself hensforth employe
To use the gift God hath the sent
To the profit of thy contrere.
Let not lucre make the profess
Before thy knowledge be perfect
For he that ministereth by guess
Shall not so sone heal as infect.
Apply the earnestly therefore
To get phisickes perfection,
That thou mayest ease the sick and sore
And remedy infection.
And shut not up thine help from such
As stand in most need of the same:
And certes thou shalt gain as much
By them, as by men of great fame,
To make for them a recompense:
Wherefore doubt not to be paid,
Both for thy labor and expense.
But if thou wilt not take my read,
But follow after lucre still:
I will put the out of all dread,
Thy last reward shall be full ill.
For when cruel death shall the sting,
And thy life from the separate:
Then shalt thou se thou hast nothing,
Thy silly soul to recreate.
Wherefore I must needs greatly fear
That in that extreme Agony:
Thou wilt of God's mercy despair
And so perish eternally.
Take hede therefore, take hede bi time
Let not slyppe this occasion:
But speedily repent thy crime,
And walk in thy vocation.
The Lawyers lesson.
NOw come hither thou man of law,
And marcke what I shall to the say:
For I entende the for to draw,
Out of thy most ungodly way.
Thy calling is good and Godly,
If thou wouldest walk therein arighte.
But thou art so passynge gready,
That God's fear is out of thy sight.
Thou climest so to be alofte,
That thy desire can have no stay:
Thou hast forgotten to go soft
Thou art so hasty on thy way.
But now I call the to repent,
And thy gredines to forsake
For God's wrath is against the bent
If thou wilt not my warning take.
Fyrste call unto thy memory
For what cause the laws were first made
And then apply the busily,
To the same ende to use thy trade.
The laws were made undoubtedly
That all such men as are oppressed:
Might in the same find remedy
And lead their lives in quiet rest.
Doest thou then walk in thy calling
When for to vex the innocent:
Thou wilt stand at a bar ballyng
With all the craft thou canst invent?
I say ballynge, for better name,
To have it cannot be worthy:
when like a beast without all shame
Thou wilt do wrong to get money
Thyne excuses are known to well
Thou sayest thou knowest not the matter
Wherefore thou sayest thou canst not tell.
At the first whose cause is better.
Thou knowest not at y
e
first I grant,
But why wilt thou be retained
Of plaintiff or defendaunt
Before thou hast their cause learned?
For such a plea I blame the not,
When neither parties right is known
But when thou thyself dost well wot
Thy client seaketh not hir own
It were a Godly way for the,
To know the ende ere thou began
But if that can by no means be
To make short suite do what thou can
If thou be a man's atturney
In any court where so it be:
Let him not wait and spend money
If his dispatch do lie in the,
Apply his matter earnestly
And set him going home again,
For God shall recompense thy pain.
If thou be calde a counsellar.
And many men do seek thy read:
Se thou be found no triffellar
Either for money or for dread
But weigh men's matters thoroughly,
And se what may be done by right
And further as well the neady
As thou woe
•
ldest do the man of might
Se thou have no respect at all
To the person but to the cause
As thou findst grounded on good laws
If any man do th
•
desire
Him to defend in do
•
nge wrong
Though he woe
•
ld give the tri
•
le hire
Yet give none ear unto his song.
Fere not his power though he be king
A duke, an earle, a Lord, or kinght:
But evermore in thy doing
If thou be judge in commune place,
In the kings bench, or Eschequier
Or other court, let not thy face
Be once turned to the bryber.
Beware y
t
bribes blind not thy sight
To judge the pore man's cause aryght,
When it is made open to the.
Why sholdest thou still admit delays,
In matters that be manifest,
Why doest thou not seek all the ways.
That may be, to rid the oppreste
To thine office it doeth belong,
Though the party that is to strong
Would give the house and land to hire.
I have no more to say to the,
But warn the that thou be con
•
ente
To live only upon thy fee
Fearynge the Lord omnipotent.
And for to se that no man wreste,
The laws to do any man wrong:
And that no pore man be oppreste,
Nor have his suite deferred longe.
Now if thou be Lord Chancelor,
As Censor over all the rest:
Se thou do thy best endeavor,
To se all open wrongs redressed.
And of this one thing take good hede
That among them that do appeal:
Thou do not for favor or mede
Suffer any falsely to deal.
Beware of them I say that use,
Firste for to tempt the commune laws
And yet the judgment to refuse
When they be like to loss their cause,
Beware of them, and let them not
Abuse the court in any wise:
To weary such as by just lot
To claim their right do enterprise.
When they shall make petition,
Examine them diligently:
And grant not an Iniunction
To eche false harlot by and by.
Grant thou not an Iniunction
To him that doth naught else entende:
But by subtle invention
His own falsehode for to defend.
I n
•
de not to tell anymore,
Of thy duty thou maiste it se:
In God's sacret and holy sore
If thou wilt thereto apply the.
Thus leave I the thou man of law▪
Wyshynge the to be as willynge:
To follow as I am to draw
The back again to thy calling.
The Marchauntes lesson.
NOwe marcke my words thou
Marchaunte man,
Thou y
t
dost use to bye and sel,
I will enstruct the if I can,
How thou mayest use thy calling well.
Fyrst se though
•
cal to memory
The ende wherefor all men are made
And then endeavor busily
To the same ende to use thy trade.
The ende why all men be create
As men of wisdom do agre
Is to main
•
ayne the public state
In the country where they shall be.
Apply thy trade therefore I say
To profit thy country wythal:
And let conscience be thy stay
That to pollynge thou do not fall.
If thou venter into strange lands,
And bring home things profitable:
Let pore mē have them at thine hands.
Upon a price reasonable.
Though y
u
mayest thy money forbear
Til other men's store be quire spente
Yet if thou do so that thy ware
May bear high price, y
u
shalt be shente
Thou shalt be shent of him I say
That on the seas did prosper the
And was thy guide in all the way
That thou wentest in great ieopardye.
For he gave the not thy richesse,
To hurt thy country with all,
Neither gave he the good success
That thou sholdst therbi make mē thral
But thy richesse was given to the
That thou mightest make provision:
In far contreys for things that be
Nedefull for thine own nation.
And whē by God's help y
u
hast brought
Home to thy cōtry am good thing
Thē shouldst y
u
thanke him that all wrought
For thy prosperouse returning.
Which thing thou canst not do in deed,
Vnles thou walk in thy calling
And for his sake th
•
t was thy speed
Content thyself with a living
But oh me think I write in vain,
To marchaunte men of this our time
For they will take no manner pain.
But only upon hope to clime.
So sone as they have ought to spare,
Beside their stock that must remain:
To purchase lands is all their care
And all the study of their brain.
Ther can be none unthrifty heir
Whō they will not smell out anon
And handle him w
t
words full fair
Til all his lands is from him gone
The fermes, the woddes, and pasture
That do lie round about London
Are hedged in within their mowndes, grounds
Or else shall be ere they have done
They have their spies upon eche side
To se when ought is like to fall:
And as sone as ought can be spied,
They are ready at the first call.
I cannot tell what it doeth mean
But white mea
•
e beareth a great price
Which some mē think is by the mean
That fermes be found such marchādice
For what is it when the pore man
That erste was wont to pay but lite
Must now needs learn (do what he cā)
To play either double or quite?
If ye ask of the coliar
Why he selleth his coles so dere:
And right so of the wodmongar
They say marchaūtes have all in fere.
The wod (say thei) y
t
we have bought
In times past for a crown of gold
We cannot have if it be ought:
Under ten shyllynges ready told
I am ashamed for to tell,
Halfe the abuse that all men see:
In such men as do by and sell,
They be so bad in eche degree.
I will therefore do what I can
To make plain declaration
How thou that art a marchaunt man,
Mayest walk in thy vocation,
Apply thy trade as I have told,
To the profit of thy country
And then thou mayest ever be bold,
That thy Lord God will guide thy way
Thou shalt not need to purchase lands
Neither to take leases in grounds
That whē thou hast thē in thine hands
Thou mayest for shyllinges gather pounds
Thou shalt nor need to bye or sel
Benefices which should be free:
To true preachers of God's gospel
To help thē with that hell
•
les be.
No more shalt thou need for to lend,
Thy goods out fo
•
unlawful gain
In such sort that by the years ende,
Thou shalt aye have enough in store
For the and thine in thy degree:
And what shouldest thou desire more,
Or of higher estate to be?
Let it suffice the to marry
Thy daughter to one of thy trade:
Why shouldst thou make hir a Lady
Or bye for her a noble ward?
And let thy sons euerychone
Be bound prentise years nine or ten
To learn some art to live upon
For why should they be gentilmen?
There be already men mowe
That bear the name of gentil blood
Tel thou me then, what need hast thou,
So vainly to bestow thy good?
•
or thou canst not promote thy sonne
But thou m
•
st bye him lande & rent
Whereby some must neades be undone
To bring to pass thy fond intent.
Some man perchance, need doth compel
To mortgage his land for money
And wilt thou cause him for to sell,
The liuelode of his progeny?
Tel me if y
u
wouldst have thy son,
(If haply he should stand in need)
To be so served when thou art gone
Of merchants that shall the succeed?
Do thou as thou wouldst be done by
As very nature doeth the reach
Unto all the Lord's creatures reach.
And if any man stand in need
Lende him freely that thou maiste spare
And recompense the in thy ware
And show mercy unto the pore:
And God that is most merciful
Shall evermore increase thy store.
And in the ende when nature shall,
Ende thy peregrination:
Thou shalt have Ioye emong them all,
That walk in their vocation.
But if thou do refuse to walk,
In thy calling as I have told
Thy wisdom shall be but vain talk,
Though thou be both ancient & old
Say what thou wilt for to defend
Thy walking inordinately:
Thou shalt be certain in the end
For in the world there cannot be
More great abomination
To thy Lord God, then is in the
Forsakynge thy vocation.
The Gentilmans lesson
THou that art borne to lande and rente,
And art clipped a gētilman:
Geue eat to me, for mine curent
Is to do the good if I can.
Thou art a man that God hath set
To r
•
le the route in thy country,
Good knowledge rather then money.
For ignorance shall not excuse
When all men shall give a rekeninge.
And judge after ech man's doing.
Fyrst I advertise the therefore,
And require the in Christ's name:
That of knowledge thou get the store,
And frame thy living to the same
Get the knowledge I say and then
Thou shalt perceive thine own degree:
To be such that among all men,
Thou hast most need learned to be.
Thou shalt perceive y
u
hast no time
To spare and spend in banketyng
For though thou watch til it be prime,
Thou shalt have enough to doing.
Thou shalt not find any leisure
If thou do once take a pleasure
In vsynge thine own calling well.
For parckes of Deere thou shalt not care
Neither for costuous building:
For apparel, or for fine fare
Or any other worldly thing.
Thy mind shall be still ravished
With the desire to walk upright.
And to se all vice punished,
So much as shall lie in thy might.
Thou shalt delight for to defen
•
e
The pore man that is innocent:
And cause the wicked to emende,
And the oppressor to repent.
Thou shalt have delight in nothing
Sauynge in doing thy duty:
Whych is under God and thy king
To rule them that thou doest dwell by.
Thou shalt not think y
t
thou mayste take
Thy rent to spend it at thy will
For ought that he doth well or ill.
But thou shalt find y
t
thou art bound
Then the pore men that till the ground
If thou regard not thy duty.
Thou shalt not find that thou mayest reise
Thy rent or leauy a great fine
More then hath been used always
For that only is called thine.
For as thou doest hold of thy king
So doeth thy tenaūt hold of the
And is allowed a lyueynge
As well as thou in his degree.
If thou therefore wouldst not thy king
Should take of the more then his due
Whye wilt thou debate the living
Of thy tenant and cause him rue.
For knowledge will tell the that thou
And right so will she tell the howe
Thou maiste discharge all thy duty
She will teach the to be content
Wyth that thou haste by heritage
And eke to live after thy ren
•
e
And not to fall into outrage.
If thou may dispende. xl
•
li,
Thou majesty not live after .lx.
Neither mayest thou enclose thy ground
That thou mayest make it yerly more.
For knowledge will teach the to seek
Other men's health more thē thine own
And rather to feed on a leke
Then one house should be overthrown.
Thou shalt by hir learn that y
u
art
A father over thy country
And that thou ough
•
est to play the part
Of a father both night and day.
Thou shalt by knowledge understand
And in their cause s
•
ch men w
t
stand,
As show them selves over gready.
In fine knowledge that is Godly
Will teach the all that thou shalt do
Belongynge to thine own duty
And other men's duty also.
Get the knowledge I say therefore
That thou mayest be worthy thy name:
For without hir thou mayest no more
Be calde a Gentilman for shame.
For without knowledge thou shalt be
Of all other most out of frame:
Bicause there is nothing in the
That may thy lust chastise or tame.
Without knowledge, y
u
wilt follow
Thy flesh and fleshly appetite:
And in the lusts thereof wallow
Setting therein thine whole delight
Without knowledge y
u
wilt oppress
Al men that shall be in thy power.
And when they shall be in distress
Thou wilt them cruelly devour
Without knowledge thou wilt araie
Both the and thine past thy degree
And eke maintain outragiouse play
Til thou have spent both land and fee.
To make an end, unless thou have
Knowledge remayninge in thy breste
Thou shalt be worse then a vile slave
That doth all honesty detest.
Get the knowledge therefore I say,
And eke the fear of God above:
And let thy study be alway
To know what thing doth the behoove.
But first before all other things
To guide them all thy doings
That thou delight not in trespace.
For he that doth delight in sin,
Shall never govern his life well:
Nor any Godly knowledge wyn,
Then seek for knowledge busily
And leave not of ty she be found
And whē thou hast hir perfectly
To the Lord's fear let hir be bound
And let them two bear all the swea,
In thy doings early and late:
Let them agre and ende their plea
Before thou do appoint the state.
By their advise survey thy Lande
And keep thy courts doeth far & nere
And se they do fast by the stand,
In thine housekepynge & thy chere
Gaue them present before thine eyes,
In all thy deeds what so they be:
In cessions and eke in assise,
Let them not be absent from the.
Let them rule all thy family
And eke enstructe thy children young:
That they may thine office supply
When w
t
his dart death hath the stonge
And last of all, leave them to guide
Thy children and their families:
That thine house and stock may abide,
And r
•
le the route in godly wise.
No more to the have I to say,
But that thou keep God's fear in sight
And make it the guide of thy way
As well by bright day as by night.
So doing I dare the assure
That in the ende thou shalt obtain:
The blysse that shall ever endure
Wyth Christ our master for to reign.
The Maiestrates lesson
WHo so thou be that God doth call
To bear the sword of punishment.
Mark well my woo
•
des, & take thē all
Accordyngly as they be meant.
When thou art in Authority
And hast the bridle rain in hand
Thē be well ware that Tyranny
Do not get the within hir band.
Loke not upon thy sword alway
But loke some time on thy balaunce
And se that neither do decay
In the time of thy governance.
For, to punish with equity
Is and aye shall be bysemynge
Whereas to
•
ewe extremity
Is found rather a blood suckeynge.
If any man be accused
Se thou hear him indifferently
And let him not be punished
Tyl thou know his cause thorowli
If he have wrought against y
e
laws
So that i
•
stice would have him die
Then
•
n thy balaunce lay his cause
And judge him after equity
If he did it of ignorance,
Of need or by compulsion
Or else by fortune and by chance
Then must thou use discretion
Consyder what extreme need is
And home force may the weak compel
And howe fortune doeth hyt and mysse
When the intent was to do well
And though the evidence be plain
And the accusares credible
Yet call to mind the elders twayne
And if thou find them false or vain
Forged to work their brother ill
Then let them suffer the same pain
That he should have had by their will
Much might be said in this matter
Out of the works of writers old
And for to prove it the better
Many late stories might be told
But I leave this to the study
Of them that have had exercise
In judgment, in whose memory
It is as still before their eyes.
I thought mete to touch it only
That thou mightest have occasion
To call to mind the chief duty
Of thy state and vocation.
Which is to scan the euide
•
ce
And eke to try the accusars all
Though thei be men of good credence
Leste haply the just be made thral.
Moreover, it behooveth the
If thou wilt walk in thy calling
To se that all good statutes be
Executed before all thing
For to what ende do statutes serve
Or why should we hold parliamente
If men shall not such laws observe
As in that court we shall invent?
And what thing shall a realm decay
So sone as when men do neglect
The wholesome laws, as who should say
They were in deed to none effect?
For in that realm the myghtie shall
Worcke after their fancy and will
For there the pore may cry and call
For help and be oppressed still.
Se thou therefore to thy duttie
In this behalf both day and night
And let none break such laws f
•
ely
But let thē know y
t
laws have might
Let them all know I say that thou
Art set to minister justice
And that thou madest thereto a vow
At the takeynge of thine office.
Wincke not at things y
t
be to plain
Leste godli knowledge flee the fro
And thou flyt into endless pain
At such time as thou must hense g
•
.
For if thou wilt not minister
Justice to them that do oppress
What are the people the better
For the, when they be in distress?
The heauenli housband man therefore
Who planted the vice to suppress
Shall dry thy ro
•
e forever more
Be ware of this vengeance betyme
Leste it come on the suddenly
When y
u
wouldest fain reap̄t thy crime
But shalt dispere of gods mercy:
For what thing causeth men dispeire
Of gods mercy at their last ende
But their conscience that saith thei were
Tolde of their fault & would not mende.
If thou therefore doest se this thing
And wilt wink at it willingly
I say that when death shall the stinge
Thou shalt dispeyre of gods mercy.
Yet ha
•
e I more to say to the
Concerning thy vocation
Which if it grow still must needs be
Double abomination.
For he that byeth, must needs sell
Thou knowest already what I mean
I need not with plain words to tell
If sin have not blinded the cleave.
Se unto it I the advise
And let not offices be sold
For god will punish in strait wise
Suche as with him will be so bold.
He will not aye suffer his flock
Of wolves to be so devoured
Neither shall they y
t
would him mock
Escape his hands unpunished.
When he plagued Kynge Pharaoh
In Egypt, and can bring to pass
All that he listeth now also.
He spent not all his power upon
The
•
ynge Nabuchodonozer
That he should not have might in store.
Take hede, take hede, I say therefore
That thou fall not into his hand
For if thou do thou art forlore
Yet one thing more I must the tell
Which in no wise thou mayest forget
If thou wilt profess gods Gospel
And thine affraunce therein set.
Thou must not covet imperie
Nor seek to rule strange nations
For it is charge enough perdie
To answer for thine own commons.
Let thy study therefore I say
Be to rule thine own subjects well
And not to maintain wars alway
And make thy contrei like an hell.
Let it suffice the to defend
Thy limites from invasion
And therein se thou do entende
Thine own people's salvation.
For, mark this. If thou do invade
And get by force commodity
The same shall certainly be made
A scorge to thy posterity.
The woman's lesson.
WWho so thou be of woman kind
That lokest for salvation.
Se y
u
have ever in thy mind.
To walk in thy vocation
If thy state be virginity
And hast none housband for to please
Then se thou do thyself apply
If thou be under a mesties
Se thou learn hir good qualities
And serve hir with all redines
Haueyng gods fear before thine eyes
If thou se hir wanton and wild
Then se thou call upon god still
That he will keep the vndefylde
And keep from the all manners ill
Auoyde idle and wanton talk
Auoyde nyce lokes and daliaunce
And when thou doest in the stretes walk
Se thou show no light contenaunce.
Let thine apparayle be honest
Be not decked paste thy degree
Neither let thou thine hede be dreste
Let thine hear bear the same color
That nature gave it to endure
Laye it not out as doeth an whore
That would men's fantacies allure
Paynt not thy face in any wise
But make thy manners for to shine
And thou shalt please all such men's eyes
As do to godliness enclyne.
Be thou modeste, sober and wise
And learn the points of houswyfry
And men shall have the in such price
That thou shalt not need a dowry
Studye to please the lord above
Walkynge in thy calling upright
And god will some good man's hert move
To set on the his whole delight.
Now when thou art become a wife
And hast an housbande to thy mind
Se thou provoke him not to strife
Lest haply he do prove unkind
And hath of the, the governance
And that thou must of him be led
Accordyng to gods ordinance
Do all thy business quietly
And delight not Idle to stand
But do thyself ever apply
To have some honest work in hand
And in no case thou maiste suffer
Thy servants or children to play
For there is naught tha
•
may sooner
Make them desire to ten away
Se thou keep them still occupied
From morne till it be night again
And if thou se they grow in pride
Then lay hand on the brydle rain
But be thou not to them bitter
Wyth words lacking discretion
For thine housband it is fytter
To give them due correction
But if thou be of such degree
That it is not for the semely
Emonge thy maidens for to be
Yet do thyself still occupy
Do thyself occupy I say
In reading or heary
•
g some thing
Or talkynge of the godly way
Wherein is great edifiynge
Se thy children well nurtered
Se them brought up in the lords fear
And if their manners be wicked
In no case do thou with them bear.
And if thine housbande do outrage
In any thing what so it be
Admonish him of his last age
Wyth words mylde as becometh the.
And if he do refuse to hear
Thy gentle admonition
Yet se if thou can cause him fear
God's terreble punission
Do what thou canst him to allure
To seek god by godly lyueynge
And certainly thou shalt be sure
Of life that is everlasting
And was the chief occasion
That sin hath pearsed through us all
Yet shalt thou have salluation
Thou shalt be false I say, if thou
Kepe thyself in obedience
To thine housband, as thou dydste vow
And show to him d
•
e reverence
But in faith must all this be done
Or else it do
•
h nothing avail
Take though
•
never so great travail.
Thou must believe and hope that he
Tha
•
bade the be obedient
Wyll be right well
•
leased with the
Because thou holdest the content
Now, if thine housband be godly
And have knowledge be
•
ter then
•
hou
Then learn of him all thy duty
And to his doctrine se thou bow
Se thou talk with him secretly
Of such things as do the behoove
And se thou observe thorowlye
All such things as he shall aproue
Seke to please him in thine array
And let not new tryckes delight the
For that becometh the alway
That with his mind doth best agre
Delyte not in vain tatyllars
That do use false rumors to sow
For such as be great babbelars
Wyll in no case their duty know
Theyr coming is alway to tell
Some false lie by some honest man
They are wrosse then the devil of hell
If a man would them thoroughly scan
They will find faute at thine array
And say it is for the to base
And haply ere they go away
They will teach the to paint thy face
Yea if all other talk do fail
Before the idle time be spent
They will teach the howe to assayle
Thyne housbande with words vehement
Thou maste swear by gods passion
That longe before thou sawest his head
Thou haddest ech gallant fassion
And wilt again when he is dead
Thou must tell him that he may hear
Wyth a loud voice & eke words plain
That y
u
wilt some time make good chere
With right good felows one or twain.
I am ashamed for to write
The talk that these gossepes do use
Wherefore, if thou wilt walk upright
Do their company quite refuse
For they are the deuelles ministres
Sent to destroy all honesty
In such as will be their hearars
And to their wicked read apply
And lokeste for salvation
Se thou learn thy doctrine at hir.
And walk in thy vocation.
She was alway obedient
To hir housband, and calde him lord
Doeth in most open wise record.
Folow hir, and thou shalt be sure
To have as she had in the ende
The life that shall ever endure
Unto the which, the lord the send
Amen.
The Boke to the Reader,
It pleased mine Autor to give me to name
The voice of the last trump (as Saint John doth write)
Thinking thereby to avoid all the blame
That cōmunely chaunseth to such m
••
write
Plainly to such mē as walk not upright
For truth getteth hatered of such as be il
And will suffer nothing that bridleth their will
I sought do displease you, let me bear the wyre
For I am the doer of that which is done
I barcke at your faults, but loath I am to byte
If by this barking ought might be won
And for this intent I was first begun
That hearing your faults ye might thē emende
And reign with your master Christ at the ende.
Imprinted at London by Robert Crowley dwelling in Eli rentes in Holburne. The yere of our Lord God. M.D.XLIX. the .xxix. day of Nouembre.
Auiore eodem Roberto Croleo
Cum priuilegio ad imprimendum solum.