Men lerned.
Sētēces.
Of thys Nobylyte, haue I no doubt (lady most faythfully studyouse) but that yow are, with many other noble women & maydēs more in thys blessed age. If questyon were axt me, how I knowe it? my answere wolde be thys. By your godly frute, as the fertyle tre is non other wyse than therby knowne, Luce. vj. I receyued your noble boke, ryght frutefully of yow translated out of the frenche tunge into Englysh. I receyued also your golden sentences out of the sacred scriptures, with no lesse grace than lernynge in foure noble lāguages, Latyne, Greke, Frenche, & Italyane, most ornately, fynely, & purely writtē with your owne hande. Wonderfully ioyouse were the lerned men of our cytie, Murseus, Buscoducius, Bomelius, Lithodius & Imānus, as I shewed vnto them the seyd sentences, in beholdynge (as they than reported) so moch vertu, faythe, scyence, & experyēce of lāguages & letters, specyally in noble youth & femynyte. Through whych occasyon there be of thē (I knowe) that can not witholde their lerned handes frō the publyshynge therof, to the hygh prayse of God the geuer, neyther yet from wrytynge to your worthy grace for studyouse contynuaunce in the same. Your seyd sētēces, they saye farre passeth the Apohthegmes of Plutarchus, the Aphorismes of Theognis, the Stratagemes of Isocrates, the graue golden coūsels of Cato & the manyfolde morals of Iohan Goldeston the great allegoryser, with soche other lyke.
The first clause.
Hypocrytes.
Hate.
Happye.
Tuters.
Rulers.
Your first written clauses in .iiij. speches latyne, frenche & Italyane, out of the xiij. Psalme of noble Dauid, mēcyoneth that the vnfaythfull reckeneth folyshly in their hartes, there is no God. Wherupō so corrupt they are in their vayne coniectures, and so abhomynable in their dayly doynges, that not one of their generacyō is godly. By thys do your grace vnto vs sygnyfye, that the baren doctryne & good workes without fayth of the hypocrytes, whych in their vncōmaunded latyne ceremonyes serue their bellyes & not Christ, in gredyly deuourynge the patrymony of poor wydowes & orphanes, are both execrable in themselues, and abhomynable afore God for though those paynted sepulchres haue the name of the lorde in their mouthes, & greatly boast the good workes of the lawe, yet knowe they not what belongeth to hys true honoure, but hate in their wycked hartes both hys gloryouse name and worde. The true doctryne of faythe, and the feare of God, wyll that wycked sort (whome thys psalme wryngeth) not heare, but styll tormēt the conscyences of myserable wretched ydyotes for aduauntage of Masses and momblynges. Happy are they of thys latter age, that in the Gospell haue receyued the sauynge helth out of Syon (as your grace hath done) beynge clere from the stynge of those vyperouse wormes. Blessed be those faythfull tuters & teachers whych by their most godly instruccyons haue thus fashyoned your tender youth into the ryght ymage of Christ and not Antichrist. Yea most blessed be those godly gouernours and magistrates, whych haue traueled and yet laboryously trauayle with worthy Moses, to brynge Gods people clerely out of their most wretched captyuyte.