MESSENGER

THabou ̄ daunt grace of the power divine which does illumyne y e world inuyron P eserue this audye ̄ ce and cause them to incline To charity this is my petycyon For by your pac ns and supportation A little in erlude late made and prepared Before your presence here shall be declared ¶which of a f w conclusions is contrived And poyntꝭ of philosophy natural But though the matt r be not so well declared As a great clerk could do nor so substantial yet the author hereof requiryth you all Though he be yngnorant and Can little skill To regard his only intent and good will ¶which in his mind hath oft times pondered what number of bokꝭ in our tongue maternal Of joys and tryfellys be made and imprinted And few of that m of matter substantial For though m y make bokꝭ yet uneath you shall In our english tongue find any warkꝭ Of conning that is regarded by clerkꝭ ¶The Greek that Romans with many other more In their mother tongue wrote warkꝭ excellent Than if clerkꝭ in this r alm would take pain so Considering that our tongue is now sufficient oh expoun any hard sentence evident heigh might if they would in our english tongue ryt works of grauyte sometime among ¶For dyuers pr gnaunt wit this land S well of noble men as of mean estate othynge but nglyshe can understand if conning Latin bokys were translate english w l corr to and app obate in english might be l rnyd oath r people in their own tongꝭ did But now so I is that in our english tongue one that r is that can but rede & write will oft presume among to compile and balatꝭ to indite Some oh love or other matter not worth a myte Some to opteyn favour will flatter and gloze Some write curious termꝭ nothing to purpose ¶Thus every man after his fantesye will write his conseyte be it never so rude Be it virtuous vicious wisdom or folly wherefore to my purpose thus I conclude why should not that the author of this interlude Utter his own antesy and conseyte also As well as dyuers other now a days do ¶For wys dom and folly is as it is taken For y e one calleth wisdom a neither calleth folly y to among most folk that man is holden most wise / which to be rich studieth only But he that for a continued ̄ mine wealth bysyly Studieth and laboryth and lyuyth by goddꝭ law Except he wax rich men count him but a daw ¶So he that is rich is ever honoured All though he have God it never so falsely The poor being never so wise is reproved This is the opinion most continued ̄ mynly Thorough out the world / and yet no reason why Therefore in my mind when that all such dawis Have babelyd what they Can ̄ no force of .ii. strawis ¶For every man in reason thus ought to do To labour for his own necessary living And than for the wealth of his neighbour also But what dyuylish mind have they which musi ̄ g And labouring all their lyffꝭ do no neither thing But bri ̄ ge riches to their own possession Nothing regardi ̄ ge their Neighbours distruccio ̄ ¶yet all the riches in the world that is ysyth of the ground by gods sending And by the labour of poor mennys hands And though thou rich ma ̄ have thereof y e keeping y to is not this yches of thy getting Nor oughtest not in reason to be praised y e more For by other me ̄ nys labour it is God before ¶A great witted man may soon be enriched That laboryth and studieth for riches only But how shall his continued ̄ scyens than be discharged For all clerkꝭ affirm that that man presysely which studieth for his own wealth principally Of God shall deserve but little reward E cept he the continued ̄ mine wealth somewhat regard ¶So they S y that that man ocupied is For a continued ̄ mine wealth which is ever labouring To rel we poor people with temporal goods And that it is a continued ̄ mine good act to bring People from vice and to use good living Like wise for a continued ̄ mine wealth ocupied is he That bryngyth them to knowledge y e yngnora ̄ to be ¶But man to know God is a dyffyculte Except by a mean he him self inure which is to know goddꝭ creaturys that be As First them that be of the grosyst nature And than to know them that be more pure And so by little and little ascending To know goddꝭ creaturys & marvelous werki ̄ ge ¶And this wise man at the last shall come to The knowledge of God and his hie mageste And so to learn to do his dewte and also To desert e of his goodness partner to be wherefore in this work worser claryd shall you see First of the element is the sytuacyon And of their effectis the caul and generation ¶And though some me ̄ thine e this matter to high And not meet for and audience unlearned Me think for man nothing more necessary Than this to know though it be not used Nor a matter more low can not be arguyd For though the elementis gods creaturis be yet they be most grose and lowest in degree ¶How dare men presume to be called clerkꝭ Disputing of hie creaturis celestial As things inuysyble and goddꝭ hie warkys And know not these visible things inferyall So they would know hie thyngꝭ & know nothi ̄ ge at all Of the earth here whereon they daily be Neither the nature form nor quantity ¶wherefore it seemeth nothing convenient A man to study and his time to be stow First for the knowledge of hie thyngꝭ excellent And of light matters beneath nothing to know As of these .iiij. elementis here below whose effectis daily appear here at eye Such Thy ̄ gꝭ to know First / were most meet study ¶which matter before your presence shortly In this interlude here shall be declared without great eloquence I ̄ rhyme rudely Because the compyler is but small learned This work with rethoryk is not adjourned For perhappis in this matter much eloquence Should make it tedious or hurt the sentence ¶But because some folk be little disposed To sadness / but more to mirth and sport This phylosophycall work is mixed with merry conseytis to gyve men continued ̄ fort And occasion to cause them to resort To here this matter / whereto if they take heed Some learning to them thereof may ꝓcede ¶But they that shall now this matter declare Openly here unto this audience Be hold I prey you see where they are The pleyers Begin to appear in presence I see well it is time for me to go hens And so I will do / therefore now shortly To God I continued ̄ myt all this hold company