Laudate pueri dn̄m. vt supra.

¶In as moche as Cry­ste sayth in the Gospell. (Sinite peruulos venire ad me quia taliū est reg­num celorum. Mathei. .xix ^o.) Suffre ye childern to come to me. For of su­che the kyngdom of he­uen is fulfylled / by whom after saynt Austyn (in o­riginali vbi thema) It is not oonly vnderston­de those that ben childern of age. But those that [Page] ben childern pure in clen­nesse from synne & ma­lyce. As the holy appostle saynt Poule sayth (Noli­te effici pueri sensibꝰ. malicia autem paruuli esto­te. prima ad Corintheos xiiij ^o.) Be ye not childern in your wyttes / but from all synne and malyce / be ye childern in clennesse / And in this fourme all maner of people / and all maner of ages in clēnesse of lyf ought to be pure as childern / to whom ge­nerally may I saye (Laudate pueri dn̄m. laudate pueri dn̄m in infancia. laudate dn̄m in adolescencia. laudate dn̄m in per­seuerante etate humana) Prayse ye childern your god in your Infant age / prayse ye hym in your growynge age / and prayse ye hym perseuerauntly. (Vs (que) in senectū et seniū) In your mannes age / And in thyse thre praysynge of thre ages shall stande the processe of this symple collacyon.

¶Thyse thre ages after the consceyte of the ap­postle (ad Galathas) and (ad Romanos) is lykened to the thre lawes That is to saye / to the lawe of kynde / the lawe wryten / and the lawe of grace. The fyrste age is lykened vnto the lawe of kynde. A childe fyrste whan he is in his Infant age is not constreyned vnto no lawes / he is not cor­rected nother beten / and there is no defaute layde vnto hym / but vtterly he is lefte vnto the lawe of kynde. Do he what som­euer he wyll / noo man doth blame hym. Moral­ly the state of man jnmedyatly after synne was verely the state of childe­hode [Page] and Infans hauynge noo nouryce. Whan that man was vtterly left without ony expressyd la­we / hauynge no mayster to his owne naturall In­clynacyon / as to his la­we / there was no lawe of god newe put to hym / Many defawtes dyde he and to many Inconue­nyences he ranne. Cor­reccyon was there none / but vtter destruccyon / as Noes flood destroyenge alle Infantes of man­kynde saue .viij. persones (Genesis .vij ^o.) The de­struccyon of Sodome & of Gomor with other cy­tees (Genesis .xix ^o.) And lyke wyse as a childe ha­uynge noo nouryce nor guyder deputed to hym may as well renne in to the fyre or water as to go besyde. Soo verely in the fyrste age of man in the lawe of kynde. A man beynge without a noury­ce or guyder lefte to his naturall guydynge mys­used soo ferre hymselfe that he ranne to water / where he was vtterly de­stroyed as I sayd before / saue Noes housholde / and also to the fyre whe­re a grete parte was de­stroyed. And verely may­sters yf we clerely consy­dre our lyf and state that we stande in now in thyse dayes I fere me we shall fynde our self soo ferre guyded by our sensuall nature that we shall ne­de to be purefyed to our streyte correccyon with a streyte afflyccyon / as the water or the fyre / and all for lacke of our maysters and nouryces all wrap­ped in neclygence taketh none attendaunce to vs / Our maysters and nou­ryce spyrytuall (Querent (ur) que sua sunt. Et non que [Page] ihesu xp̄i. sunt canes mu­ti non valentes latrare / Ysaye .lvi ^o.) Our tempo­rall rulers (Infideles socij furum diligunt mu­nera sequunt (ur) retribucōis pupillo nō iudicant cau­sa vidue non ingreditur ad cos. Ysaye .i ^o.) This neclygence in our noury­ces spyrytuall and tem­porall causeth in the chir­che Insolent lyf seculer cō uersacyon (In habitu interiori et exteriori vt qua­lis populus talis sit et sa cerdos) In the temporal­te it causeth y ^t manslaughter is not sette by / leche­ry is pleasure / robbery & dysceyte is called cheue­saunce / extorcyon lord­shyp / power / falsehede / a fete of wytte / vsury counted no synne (Quomodo facta est meretrix ciuitas fidelis plena iudicij. Ius­ticia habitauit in ea. nūc autem homicide. Argentū tuū versum est in sco­riam. vinū tuum mixtū est aqua. Ysaye .i ^o.) A merueyllous chaunge / somtyme our reame was pros­perous / now it is in mysery / somtyme ryghtwysnesse was the chyef ruler. now falshede is quarter mayster / somtyme was Inhabytaunt peas loue & charyte / now wrathe and manslaughter / and false dyssymulacyon. Somtyme trouth was mayster of our marchaūtes (nūc vero vsure et dolus) And somtyme trouth stode vp ryght / now he is fallen / Good men haue Inserched the strete where he felle. Some sayd he felle in Lombarde strete / some sayd in Buklars bury / & whan it was vtterly knowe / he was fallen in euery strete (Veritas corruit in plateis) The cause is none other but we lacke our [Page] maysters & guyders that sholde streytly attende in this Infant age of condycyon that we ben in.

¶Whan that Infant a­ge is ended / the fader prouydeth for his childe / for a mayster the whiche gy­ueth Instruccyon in smal doctrynes / as in his Do­nate. Partes of reason / and suche other / the whi­che mayster comunely is called Pedagogis in la­tyn. This mayster gy­ueth cōmaundementes to the childe in his growyn­ge age And he breke them he is sharpely corrected / there is no fawte that he doth but he is punysshed. Somtyme he wryngeth hym by the eeres / somty­me he gyueth hym a stry­pe on the honde with the ferell / some tyme beteth hym sharpely with the rodde. And so with com­maūdementes and shar­pe correccyon he gyueth hym full Instruccyon in the lawer scyence. So in lyke maner after the la­we of kynde. As mankynde grewe in age / almygh­ty god prouyded to man an enfourmer that was called Moyses / the whi­che sholde teche man his pryncypalles and small and rude doctrynes. And so the olde lawe taught to man his Donate and Partes of reason. Also he taught hym how he shol­de gyue to god his par­tes / the whiche were sa­crefyces / oblacyons / and tythes Iustely and truely to be gyuen to god / as it is wryten (Ecclesiasticis .xxxv ^o.. Da altissimo se­cundum donatum eius) That what thou shol­dest gyue to thy neygh­bour and broder his par­tes. That is for to saye / [Page] Almesdedes freely with­out grutchynge. Lenynge of thy good without ony trust or hope of vsury / & forgeuȳge thy neyghbour yf he be in necessyte with out trouble for goddes sake. And lyke wyse as the people vnder Moyses growynge in childhode / thy­se thynges were taught by the whiche specyally goddes lawe & praysynge was encreaced. So in our growynge age in vertue that good lorde (cuiꝰ laus est in ecclia scō (rum)) can not be better praysed than yf we gyue vnto hym Iustly & truely his donat / to hȳ oblacyons sacrefyces and tythes. To our neygh­bour mercyfully geue our almesse. And pyteuously forgyue offences & dettes to theym that ben nedy & may not paye. Thyse ben the thynges that longeth to goddes praysynge in mankyndes childehode / as it is wryten of Thoby (Thobie pri ^o. Hec et his similia puerulus secundū legem obseruabant) In Moyses tyme streyte cō ­maūdementꝭ were gyuen to man / streyte punysshe­mentes / & sharpe correccyons / they were taken by the eere streytly / whan it cōmaunded in the lawe / (Aurem ꝓ aure. dentē ꝓ dente) without ony mer­cy / he that gadred styckes on the Sabot daye was stoned vnto the deth. And for one grutched ayenst theyr mayster Moyses / y ^t whiche was but Pedago­gus / the chosen woman moost accept Maria Aa­rons syster was smytten of god with the Infyrmyte of leprehode. How oftetymes breke we our holy daye / how oftymes grut­che we ayenst our mays­ters / not holdynge vs contente [Page] with noo kyng no­ther prynce / archebysshop nor bysshop. Beynge as varyaunt as the mone / & yet the good lorde spared vs. The olde lawe was harde to obserue / in the whiche tyme god entrea­ted mankynde after his wrathe & punysshement / Wherfore he was called (deꝰ vlcionū) For whoos delyuer mercy cryed to almyghty god to sende mā ­kynde a newe mayster y ^t sholde entreate hym and teche more curtously & it lyked hym (Non ex operibus iusticie q̄ fecimꝰ nos. sed secundū suā misericordiā. ad Titū .iij ^o.) To come downe hymself / & to­ke on hym our mortally­te / gaue vs a newe lawe / wolde suffre none but hȳ selfe to be our mayster / Wherwith all loue & be­nygnyte without sharpe­nesse he taught vs. Noo rude nother grose erthely doctrynes / as they were taught in the olde lawe. But he taught vs sub­tyll thynges / heuenly dy­uynytee / our glorye & our blysse (Docebat eos de regno dei) And as lon­ge as we ben in the scole of mercyfull benygnytee & gentylnesse / though we do fawtes purposynge to amende. So longe he a­bydeth vs pacyently hol­dynge hymself contente / For by cause we ben now in mannes state and par­fyght age with our owne correccyon (Propterea expectat deus vt misereatur vestri. Ysaye .xxx ^o.) And yf we dyfferre & wyll not correcte our selfe here in the scole of mercy / ful greuously & moost sharpely shall we abyde the swer­de of correccyon of his ryghtwysnesse / as dayly by experyence we may fe­le. [Page] Therfore in the thre ages of our lyfe lete vs besye our selfe to prayse god with pure childern. Amendynge our lyfe by dedes of penaunce. And vertuous dedes vsynge. exhortynge you with the wordes of my tyme (Laudate pueri dn̄m)

¶ The fourme and the maner how that we sholde worshyp and loue al­myghty god in the thre ages / that is to saye. In childehode. Yongthe / and Manhode. Is shewed to vs by a prety conceyte of our comyn kalender / in euery boke of seruyce. Ye shall vnderstande that e­uery moneth noted in the kalender is dyuyded in thre partyes. That is to saye (Kalendas. Nonas and Ydus) ¶The fyrst daye of euery moneth is called & named Kalendas The seconde is named not Kalendas / but Quarto Quinto or Sexto No­nas. And so tyll ye come to Nonas. And after No­nas the dayes ben named Ydus tyll ye come to the myddell / & thenne all the moneth after named Kalendas after certayn nombres as the myddes of the moneth is nameth .xix. o­ther .xviij. Kalendas coū ­tynge lesse tyll ye come to the ende. ¶Morally by thyse thre. Kalendas. Nonas & Ydus / is vnderstande the thre ages of man. By Kalendas is vnder­stande childehode. Kalende is as moche to saye (Quasi colendo) For the consuetude of the Romaynes was the fyrste daye of the moneth / that is called Kalendas / falleth to solempnyse to theyr god­des Hely Iuno & Iupy­ter. [Page] So verely the childe­hode of man is dedycate to deuocyon / thenne sette the faders the childern to scole. And thenne be they taught to serue god / & to saye grace / to helpe the preest to synge / for to be meke gentyll and lowely Thenne saye they our lady matens & ben ryght deuoute. Of whom may be verefyed that is wryten by Dauyd (Hec est gene­racio querenciū dn̄m) y ^t is the generacyon that be sely by deuocyon seke al­myghty god. ¶By the seconde daye that is called Nonas I vnderstande the seconde age that is called (Iuuentus) youthe (Non dicunt (ur) quasi nulle) For in y ^t daye the Romayns worshypt no goddes / no­ther in y ^t season was noo festyuall dayes / or elles (None dicunt (ur) quasi nūdine) As moche to saye as a fayer. For in that tyme they occupyed themself in fayers & marchaūdyses / And herto conuenyently may be y ^e youthe of man applyed / that is in specy­all from .xiiij. yeres vnto .xviij. In the whiche he is full of vndeuocyon / & all moost forgeteth to wor­shyp his god or ony saynt And yf he do it with his mouth / his herte is full ferre frō god about worl­dly vanytees / as it is wryten (Populus hic labijs me honorat / cor autē eo (rum) longe ē a me. Ysay .xxix ^o.) Congruently also youth may be named (None .i. nundine) a fayer or market. For in this age is the marchaundyse of the de­uyll. The worlde habundaūtly bought. Here the yonge man byeth a strō ­pettes body for his body and soule. Here all vayne marchaūdyses of y ^e worl­de [Page] ben bought / to the whiche is very prone / & redy our youthe of Englonde as we may see dayly / ther is no vanyte in no partye of the worlde but we ben redy to bye it. Longe he­res and shorte collers of Almayns. Euyll fasshe­ned garmentes / & deuyl­lysshe shoon & slyppers of Frensmen. powches and paynted gyrdels of Spaynardes / newe foūde hat­tes of Romayns. And so is fulfylled the wordes of our lorde wryten in holy scrypture (Ieremie .xi ^o. Elongauerūt a me & ambulauerūt post vanitatē et vani facti sunt) This youthe sayth our lorde hath ferre put hymselfe fro me / & they haue wal­ked after theyr owne va­nytees / & by theyr Inuen­cyons they ben all vayne & vndoubted. This alte­rable vanytees in garmē ­tes is a true argument & a faythfull conclusyon to all wyse straūgers That Englysshmen be as chaū gable in theyr maners & wyttes as they be in out­warde garmentes. And yf this vayne marchaū ­dyse were oonly in youth of the reame it were more tollerable / but (inueterati dierū malo (rum)) Boyes of fyfty yere of age are as newe fangled as ony yonge men be. The whi­che by reason sholde tor­ne theyr face from y ^e worlde consyderynge the ende of theyr lyf. But lytell y ^t is consydered / ye rather in theyr vanytees the ben praysed (Quoniā laudatur peccator in desiderns aīe sue et iniquis benedi­cetur. Psalmo &c. ¶And the thyrde daye is called Ydus / the whiche is as moche to say as (diuisio) a departynge. By whom [Page] I vnderstande the latter age of man / in the whi­che man is dyuyded from the worlde by deth to the ende for to receyue good or euyll as he hath deserued in this presente lyfe. ¶Lyke wyse thenne as in the fyrste parte of the moneth there is but one daye that is called Kalende / the whiche is the fyrst daye of all. But in the later ende there be many dayes that ben named of the worde Kalendas. So in cōparyson of the fyrst daye of thy lyf / that is to saye of thy childehode in the whiche thou were wel dysposed in deuocyon / Multeplye thy good lyf and holy dysposycyon in thy latter dayes / that y ^u mayst deserue our lordes mercy / sayenge with the prophete in the sawter / (Et senectus mea in mi­sericordia vberi) ¶And how be it thou hast often before in thy yonge age & myddell age dyuyded thy lyf. Somtyme to vertue / somtyme to vyce. Ye as now in thy latter age kepe thy lyf holy in ver­tue. Dyuyde it nomore tyll deth dyuyde it after the coūseylles of the gos­pelles (Ioh̄es xix. Non scindamꝰ eam sed sorcia­mur de ea cuiꝰ sit) Lete vs not cutte it / but lete vs drawe lottes whoos it shall be. How be it this texte after the letter is vnderstande of Crystys cote without [...]. Yet conue­nyently it may be vnder­stande of euery mannes lyf or soule (Tunica di­cit (ur) quasi tua vnica) Whether is more surer thyne owne than thy soule / for the whiche prayeth y ^e prophete sayenge (Erue a framea deus alam meā. et de manu canis vnicā [Page] meā) And whyle it is so that man lyueth here in two lyues / & lyuynge af­ter y ^e pleasur of the worl­de / the tother lyuynge he­re in vertue by grace to come to blysse / tho that wol gyue one partye of theyr lyf to vyces / & an other to vertue / and specyally in theyr age. Thyse maner of men dyuyde theyr cote And they nother all the tayllers in y ^e worlde shall neuer make it hole ayen. For as saȳt Ierom sayth in a pystle (Difficile ym­mo impossibile est vt q̄s in p̄senti et in futuro fruatur gaudijs vt hic ventrē et ibi mentē. et de deliciis transiat) It is harde ye it is Impossyble that a man may haue all Ioye in this worlde & also in heuen / here to fylle his body & there to fylle his mynde. For truly the delytes of this worlde and the Ioyes of heuen can neuer be togyder in one cote of thy soule. Wherfore yf thy cote of thy soule be o­nes hoole in vertue with­out ony seme of vyce / de­parte it neuer but lete it retorne (in sortēdm̄) And contynue thy lyf in goodnesse without ony Inter­rupcyon. And lyke wyse as in thy childehode thou begannest vertue oonly / where thrugh in that age thou prayseste almyghty god / so in thy myddel age all wanton vanytees lay­de a parte encresse thy vertue / as tho dyde of whom it is wryten (Ibūt de virtute in virutē quous (que) védeat (ur) deus) And that the ende may be conformable to his pryncyple without dyuysyon folowynge the wayes of Innocency with thyse holy Innocentes. In whoos cōmendacōns syngeth our moder holy chirche [Page] (Nouit dn̄s viā inno­centū qui non steterūt in vijs pccō (rum)) And yf we be in synne to repare ourselfe to the state of grace w ^t out wyll to falle agayne. And in recognysaūce of this gracyous benefyte of remyssyon we may lo­uyngly prayse god as I exhorted you before say­enge (Laudate pueri do­minū) graūt vs all Cry­ste Ihesus (splendor pa­tris corona Innocenciū)