The old people would believe still in my laws,
But the younger sort lead them a contrary way;
They will not believe, they plainly say,
In old traditions and made by men,
But they will live as the scripture teacheth them, &c.
And in another place Hypocrisy urges—
The world was never merry,
Since children were so bold;
Now every boy will be a teacher,
The father a fool, and the child a preacher.
[This is certainly a piece of rather heavy and tedious morality, replete with good instruction, but didactic to a fault. It is deficient in the curious allusions, which abound in other productions of the same kind; and even that mysterious character, Abominable Living, whose introduction promises some amusement and illustration, moves off the scene almost immediately after her first appearance, while Little Bess, whose entrance might have been a vehicle for some diverting or sentimental situation, does not "come on" at all.]
LUSTY JUVENTUS.
THE PROLOGUE OF THE MESSENGER.
For as much as man is naturally prone
To evil from his youth, as Scripture doth recite,[33]
It is necessary that he be speedily withdrawn
From concupiscence of sin, his natural appetite:
An[34] order to bring up youth Ecclesiasticus doth write,—
An untamed horse will be hard, saith he,
And a wanton child wilful will be.
Give him no liberty in youth, nor his folly excuse,
Bow down his neck, and keep him in good awe,
Lest he be stubborn: no labour refuse
To train him to wisdom and teach him God's law,
For youth is frail and easy to draw
By grace to goodness, by nature to ill:
That nature hath ingrafted, is hard to kill.
Nevertheless, in youth men may be best
Trained to virtue by godly mean;
Vice may be so mortified and so supprest,
That it shall not break forth, yet the root will remain;
As in this interlude by youth you shall see plain,
From his lust by Good Counsel brought to godly conversation,
And shortly after to frail nature's inclination.
The enemy of mankind, Satan, through Hypocrisy
Feigned or chosen holiness of man's blind intent,
Forsaking[35] God's word, that leadeth right way,
Is brought to Fellowship and ungracious company,
To Abhominable Living till he be wholly bent,
And so to desperation, if good counsel were not sent
From God, that in trouble doth no man forsake
That doth call, and trust in him for Christ's sake.
Finally, youth by God's special grace
Doth earnestly repent his abhominable living
By the doctrine of good counsel, and to his solace
God's mercy entereth to him reciting
God's merciful promises, as they be in writing:
He believeth and followeth, to his great consolation.[36]
And these parts ye shall see briefly played in their fashion.