He herers shall be made
attent or diligent to giue
audience / yf the oratour
make promyse yt he will
shew them new thynges /
or els necessary or profita[-]
ble / or yf he say yt it is an
harde mater that he hath in handelynge /
or els obscure & nat easy to be vnderstād /
except they gyue right good attendaunce.
¶ wherfore it is expedyent that yf they
wyll haue the percepcion of it / that they
gyue a good eare. But as concernyng the
newnesse or profyte of the mater / it ma-
keth nat all onely ye herer to gyue a good
ere (which thynge is called attencion) but
also maketh hym well wyllynge for to be
present / whiche is beneuolence.
¶ Docilite.
Ocilite whereby we make the
mater playne & easy to be per-
ceyued / is nat greatly required
in this kynde of oracion / for it
is belonging properly to derke
and obscure causes / in whiche we must p[ro]-
myse that we wyl nat vse great ambages /
or to go (as mē say) roūde about the bussh /
but to be short and playne.
¶ Of narracion whiche is the se-
conde p[ar]te of an oracion.
¶ The Narracion or tale wherin p[er]sones
are praysed / is the declaryng of theyr lyfe
& doynges after the fasshion of an historie.
The places out of the whiche it is sought
are: The persones byrthe. His chyldhode.
His adolescencie. His mannes state. His
old age. His dethe and what
foloweth after.
N his byrthe is consydered of
what stocke he came / what chaū[-]
sed at the tyme of his natiuite or
nighe vpon / as in the natiuite of
Christe shepeherdes hard angelles synge.
¶ In his chyldhode are marked his
bryngynge vp and tokens of wysdome cō-
mynge: As Horace in his fourthe Satire
sheweth / how in his chyldhode his father
taught hym by examples of suche as were
than lyuynge to flee from vice and to gyue
hym selfe to vertue.