¶ Other thus it is: or thus it shoulde bee.
THe golden world is now come agayne,
God is knowen, beleued, loued, & otheyed:
True doctryne is taught, and false exyled cleane,
Sinne is mortified, all vice is decayed.
Peace doeth take place, all warres be delayed,
Youth is brought up in learnyng vertuouslye:
Common wealth doeth flourish, pouertie hath ayde,
Other thus it is, or thus it shoulde be.
¶ Kynges and Princes, doe Gods lawes aduaunce,
Iustice and equitie also, they doe maintayne:
They loue peace, they hate war and variaunce,
Vice they suppresse, and vertue cause to raigne.
To get learning & knowledge, they take great payne
They make good Iawes, and see them kepte iustlie:
To defend their cuntries, great trauel they sustaine,
Other thus it is, or thus it shoulde bee.
¶ Maiestrates and officers, each one in their degree,
Geue good ensample of obedience and liuyng:
For the common wealth also, they take great studie,
They execute iustice iustlie, in euery kynd of thyng.
To the poore pouertie, they be good and louyng,
The wylfull they restrayne from their iniquitie:
To the humble and good, they be gentle & benigne,
Other thus it is, or thus it shoulde bee.
¶ Bishops and Ministers, doe themselues apply,
Sincerelie to preach Gods holie law and Gospell:
Accordyng to their doctrine, they liue vertuously,
In hospitalitie, and almes deed, they greatly excell.
They geue good example, for other to doe well,
They be chaste, and sobre, and full of humilitie:
They studie the Scriptures, all vice they doe expell,
Other thus it is, or thus it shoulde bee.
¶ Iudges that sit in iudgemēt, matters for to heare
Be so uncorrupte, that no bribes they wyll take:
Tyll they heare both parties, they stop the one eare,
By the lawe deliberately, the cases they debate.
By euidence and witnesses, the truth they out beate
Falsehod they fetter, but right they doe set free:
Iust iudgement they geue, none can entreate,
Other thus it is, or thus it shoulde bee.
¶ Iustices Gentlemen, peace doe maintayne.
The Queenes lawes and statures, they see executed:
Contention and variaunce, they doe subdue cleane,
The uppressour they punish, the naughty is rebuked.
The sturdy they correcte, the poore be refreshed,
They lyue on their landes, rented reasonablie:
Matters before them, be iustly and soone ended,
Other thus it is, or thus it shoulde bee.
¶ Mayours and Bayliffes, and all other officers,
Of Cities, Boroughes, and of Townes corporate:
They studie such decrees, and such godly orders,
That the people be wel ruled. Treat paine they take
For the common weale. Tumult and debate
They destroy. But they encreace godly unitie:
They cause plentie by prudence, dearth they abate,
Other thus it is, or thus it shoulde bee.
❀ All Lawyers doe perswade their clients to agree,
Rather then at the lawe, to spend out their money:
Yf they wyl not, they search their case profoundlie,
And therein they proceed, without fraude or delay,
They bryng it to iudgement, or to some godly stay,
Yf they promise their clientes, they performe iustly:
They take reasonable fees for their paynes alway,
Other thus it is, or thus it shoulde bee.
¶ The Commons feare God, and obey the Queene,
They come to heare Gods wurd, and together pray:
Disobedience in no case, is now no more seene,
Contention they hate, they loue peace always.
Euery one is content, to liue as he may,
The rich helpe the poore, yea and that gladly:
The poore be content, and for them doe pray,
Other thus it is, or thus it shoulde bee.
¶ Parents doe bryng vp their children very godly,
Children obey their elders, and folow their aduice:
Husbandes loue their wiues, and they them hartely
Women be sober and gentle, neither proude nor nice.
Seruants be faithful, they need no warning twice,
to vertue & learning, youth geueth all their studie:
Yf any fall in decay, he is holpen agayne to arice,
Other thus it is, or thus it shoulde bee.
¶ Al Subiects faithfully, pray for their Queene,
That God may endue her Royall hart alway:
With faith, feare, and loue, before him to be seene,
And for her honorable counsell they humbly pray.
That good lawes and statutes, set furth they may,
To the wealth of the realme, and communaltie:
That the queene may rule wel, and they truly obey,
Amen. God graunt that so it may bee.
¶ FINIS.
¶ Imprinted at London without Aldersgate, in little Britaine by Alexander Lacy.