0.23BOnum opus laudabila, which is as much to
say,
0.24G
ood wo
rkes though playne are wo
rthy p
ray
se, and
so haue bene
(alway. 0.25Then though with
Bullus Tully style, our Authour doe not frame,
0.26This his fi
rst wo
rke which you
shall heare, yet do accept the
same,
0.27Fo
r why the Sto
ry being g
ood, the matter al
so true,
0.28Doth but declare a matter olde, as it were done anew.
0.29And
sheweth fo
rth how p
rone God is, to helpe
such as are iu
st,
0.30And in that God befo
re all men, doe put a
ssured tru
st,
0.31Of Su
sans lyfe the
sto
ry is, what trouble
she was in,
0.32How narrowly
she
scaped death becau
se
she would not
sinne,
0.33How wonderou
sly
she was p
rouokte, how vertuou
sly
she
fled,
0.34The
strong a
ssaultes of wiked men, that lecherous lu
stes had led,
0.35To raui
sh her, and to pollute, her cha
ste and wyfely view,
0.36This is the
somme of all that
shall be
shewed vnto you,
0.37And though perchaunce
some wanton wo
rde, doe pa
sse which may not
(seeme 0.38O
r ge
stures light not m
eete fo
r this, your wi
sedomes may it d
eeme,
0.39Accoumpt that nought delightes the hart of men on earth,
0.40So much as matters graue and
sad, if they be mixt with my
rth,
0.41Of both which here I tru
st you
shall, as in a my
rrour
see,
0.42And that in
such a decent
so
rt as hurtfull
shall not be,
0.43And fo
r becau
se en
sample g
ood, is m
eete in the
se our dayes.
0.44This hath he done to
sho
rten tyme, to God giue all the p
ray
se.
0.45Thus crauing quyet
sylence now, my
sp
eeche I meane to
spare,
0.46Beholde when Sathan enters place, his mynde he will declare.
1Here goeth out the Prologue, and Sathan entreth in.
2P Among the plagues of th
ee O God,
3Wherewith thou plague
st man,
4Plague
such as I would haue th
ee plague,
6I wallow now in wo
rldly welth,
7And haue the wo
rld at will,
8Into eche hart I cr
eepe by
stealth,
9Of bl
ood I haue my
fill.
But
A.ij.