of new masters: I haue put forth here in printe this "Prayer and Complaynte of the Ploweman, which was written not longe after the yere of oure Lorde, a thousand and thre-hundred, in his awne olde English, chaingynge there in nothinge, as ferforth as I could obserue it,,other the English or ortographie, addinge also there to a table of soch olde wordes as be now antiquate and worne out of knoulege by processe of tyme. I desyre the to reade it with descrecion and ernestly, or ever thou judge, and, if thou fynde anythinge in it when thou haste conferred it with the Scripture. to thy edificacion or lerninge, geve God thankes. And if here after there shall chaunce to come into my handes any more soch holy reliques, perceauinge this to be accepted, I shall spare nother laboure nor cost to destribute it in to as many partes as I haue done thys, by the help of God, to whome be all honoure, glorye, and prayse, for ever, Amen.

JESU ESU CHRIST, that was ybore of the Mayde Marie, haue on thy pore servantes mercye and pity, and helpe hem in her gret nede to fizte azens synne, and azens the Deuele that is autor of synne; and more nede nes ther neuer to crie to Christ for helpe, then it ys rizt now, for it ys fulfilled that God sayde by Isaye the Prophete, Ze ryseth up erlich to folow dronkenes, and to drinke to it be even; the herpe and other mynstresies bith in your festes and wine. But the warke of God ye ne beholdeth not, ne taketh no kepe to the warkes of his handes: and therfore my people ys take prisoner, for they ne had no connynge; and the

noble men of my people deyeden for honger; and the multitude of my people weren drye for thyrst: and therfore hell hath drawen abroade her sowle, and hath yopened hys mouth withouten any ende. And eft sones,' sayeth Isaye the Prophete, 'The word ys floten a waye, and the hyznes of the people ys ymade seek, and the erth ys infect of hys wonnyers; for they haue broken my lawes, and ychaunged my rizt, and han distroyed myn everlastinge bonde and forwarde betwene hem and me. And therfore cursynge shall deuoure the erthe, and they that wonneth on the ertly shullen don synne. And therfore the erth tilyars shullen waxe wood, and few men shullen ben yleft apon the erth.' And zet, sayethe Isaye the Prophete, "This sayeth God, For as moch as this people nyzeth me with her mouth, and glorifiethe me with her lippys, and her harte ys ferre from me; and they hanydrad more mennys commaundementes then myne, and more draw to her doctrines then to myne. Therfore woll I make a gret wondringe vnto this puple; wisdome shall perish awaye from wise men, and vnderstandinge of readie men shall bee yhid. And so it semeth that another sayenge of Isaye ys fulfilled, there as God bade hym go teach the puple, and sayed, 'Go forth and saye to this puple, Eres hereye and vnderstand ye not, and yes ze haue fixt and ne know ye not. Make blinde the hert of this puple, and make her eres hevye, and close her yeen, lest he se with his yeen, and yhere with his eres, and vnderstand with his hert, and be yturned, and ych hele hym of his syckenes. And Isaye sayed to God, How longe, Lord, shal this be?' And God sayed, For to that cyties ben desolate with outen a wonnyer, and an howse withouten a man.'

There y's mychel nede for to make sorow, and to crye to owre Lorde Iesu Christ hertilich for help and for succoure, that he wole forzeue vs owre synnes, and zeve vs grace and connynge to seruen hym bettur here after. And God of hys endles mercy zeve vs grace and connynge trulich to tellen which ys Christes law in helpinge of mennes sowles, for we beth lewde men, and synneful men, and uncominge; and, yf he woll be owre help and owre succoure, we shullen well perfourme owre purpose. And yblessed be owre Lorde God, that hydeth his wisdome from wise men, and from redye men, and teacheth it to small childern, as Christ teacheth in the gospell.

Christen men han a law to kepe, the which law hath twee parties. Beleve in Christ that ys God, and ys the foundement of her law, and vpon thys foundemente, as he sayed to Peter, and the gospel bereth witnes, he woll byelden hys church. And this ys the fyrst partie of Christes law. The seconde partie of his law beth Christes commaundementes, that beth written in the gospell, and more verilech in Christen mennes hertes.

And, as towchinge the beleve, we beleven that Christ ys God, and that there ne ys no God but he. We beleven, never the lesse, that in the Godhed ther ben thre parsones, the Father, the Sonne, and the Holy Gost, and all these thre parsones ben one God and not many Goddes, and all they beth ylich mizty, ylich good, and ylych wise, and ever have ben, and ever shullen ben. We beleven this God made the worlde of nozt, and man he made after his awne lykenesse, in Paradise, that was a londe of blysse, and zaue hym that londe for his erytage, and bad hym that he

shuld not eate of the tre of knowlege of good and evill, that was amydde Paradyse.

Then the devell, that was fallen out of heven for hys pride, had envye to man, and by a fals suggestion he made man eate of this tree, and breake the commaundement of God; and tho was man ouercomen of the devell, and so he lost his heritage, and was yput out there of into the worlde, that was a londe of trauel and of sorowe, undre the fyndes thraldome to be punyshed for his trespasse. There man folowed wyckednesse and synne, and God, for synne of man, sent a flode in to this worlde, and dreynte all mankynde saue eght sowles. And after this flode he late men multiplien in the worlde, and so he assayed whether man drad hym or loued hym, and, amonge other, he fonde a man that hyzt Abraham: this man he proued whether he loued him and drad hym, and bade hym that he shulde offeren Isaac his sonne apon an hyll; and Abraham, as a trewe seruant, fulfilled his Lordes commaundement, and, for this buxumnes and treweth, God sware vnto Abraham, that he wold multiplie his sede as the gravell in the see, and the sterres of heven; and he behizt to hym and to hys heyres the Londe of Beheest for eretage for ever, zyf they wolden ben his trewe seruantes, and kepe hys heestes. And God helde him forwarde: for Isaac, Abrahams sonne, begat Iacob and Esau, and of lacob that ys ycleped Ysraell comen Gods puple, that he chose to be his seruantes, and to whome he behizt the Londe of Byhest; this puple was in gret thraldom in Egypt, under Pharao, that was Kynge of Egypt; and they cry even to God that he shuld delyveren hem oute of that thraldom, and so he dyd: for he sente to Pharao, Moses and his brother Aaron, and bade hym delyver hys puple to don hym sacryfice, and to fore Pharao he made Moses don many wondres, or that Pharao wold delyver hys puple, and at the last bymyzt he delyvered his puple oute of thraldom, and led hem thorowz a desert toward the Londe of Byheste, and there he gaue hem a law that they shulden lyuen after, when they comen in to her contrey, and in ther wey thider warde, the ten commaundements God wrote himselfe in two tables of stoon. The remnawnt of the lawe he tawzt hem by Moses his seruant, how they shulden do eurichone to other; and, zif they trespased azeyn the law, he ordened how they shulden be punished. Also he tawzt hem what maner sacrifices they shulden do to hym, and he chees hym a puple to ben hys prestes, that was Aaron, and his children to don sacryfices in the tabernacle, and afterwarde in the temple also. He chees hym the remenaunt of the children of Levy to ben seruantes in the tabernacle to the prestes, and he sayde, 'When ze comen in to the Londe of Behest, the children of Levy, they shullen haue noon heritage amonges her bretherne, for ych woll be here parte, and her heritage, and they shullen serue me in the tabernacle by dayes and by nyztes. And he ordened that prestes shulden haue a part of the sacryfyses that weren offred in the tabernacle, and the fyrst begooten beestes, both of men and beestes and other thinges, as the law telleth. And the other children of Levy, that serueden in the tabernacle shulden haue tythinges of the puple to her lyuelood, of the which tythinges, they shulden zeven the prestes the tenth partie in forme of offeringe. The children of Levy, both prestes and other, shulden haue howses, and croftes, and lesuvoys for her becstes

in the Lande of Byhest, and non other eretage; and so God zaue hem her londe of byhest, and bad hem that they ne shuld worship no other God then hym. Also he bade that they shulden kepe hys commaundementes and, zif they dyden so, all her enemyes, a boute hem, shulden drede hem, and ben her seruantes; and, zif they worshippeden fals Gods and so forsoken hys lawes, he byhizt hem that he wold bringgen hem out of that londe and maken hem seruen her enemyes; but yet he sayed he nolde not bynemen his mercy awaye from hem, if they wolden crye mercye and amenden her defautes, and all this was ydone on Gods syde.

And here is mychell love yshowed of God to man. And who so loketh the Byble, he shall fynde that man showed him litle love azyenwarde; for, when they weren ycomen in to her eritige, the forzeyten her God, and worshippeden fals Gods. And God sente to hem the prophetes and hys seruantes foele tymes to bydden hem withdrawen hem from her synnes, and other they flowen them, or they beten hem or the laden hem in prison, and ofte tymes God toke apon hem gret vengeaunce for her synnes; and when they cryeden after help to God, he sente hem help and succoure; thisys the generall proces of the Olde Testamente that God zaue to his puple by Moses his seruant. And all this testamente and this doinge ne was but a schadewe and a fygere of a New Testamente that was zeuen in by Christ. And it was byhoten by Ieremie the prophete, as Saint Paul beareth witnesse in the pistle that he writeth to the Jewys. And Ieremie saith in this wise: 'Lo dayes shall come, God sayeth, and ych woll make a new bande to the hous of Israel and to the hous of fude, not lyche the forwarde that I made withe her faders in the day that I toke her honde to leden hem out of the londe of Egypte; the which forwarde they maden veyne, and yche had lordshippe ouer hem. But this shalbe the forwarde that yche wold maken with hem after thilke dayes: Yche wole zeue my lawes with yn hem in her inwardnesse, and yche wole writen hem in her hartes, and yche wole ben her God and they shullen be my puple, and after that a man shall not teach his neyzebore ne his brother. For all, God sayeth, from the leest to the mest shullen yknowe me, for yche wole forzeuen hem her synnes, and I nele no more thinken on her synnes.'

This is the Newe Testamente that Christ, both God and Man, yboren of the mayden Marye, he tauzte here in this worlde, to bringe man oute of synne and out of the deuels thraldome and seruice to heuen, that ys londe of blisse and heritage to all thoo that beleuen on hym, and kepen hys commaundementes, and for his teachinge he was done to the deth. But the thrydde daye arose azene from deth to lyfe, and fette Adam and Eve and many other folke out of hell, and afterwarde he came to his disciples and comforted hem. After he steyed vp to heuen, to hys Fader, and thoo he sente the Holy Gost amonges his disciples: and in tyme cominge he wole come and demen al mankynde after her werkes, and after the wordes he spake apon erth, some to blisse both in body and in sowle ever with outen ende, and some to payne with outen ende, both in body and in sowle.

This is oure beleue and all Christen mennes, and this beleue ys the fyrst poynte of the Newe Testamente that yche Christen man ys holde

stedfastly to beleue, and rather to suffer the deeth than forsaken this beleue; and so this beleue ys the bred of spirituall lyfe, in forsakinge synne, that Christe brought vs to lyfe.

But for as much as mannes lyuinge ne stondeth not al onlych by bred, he hath yzouen vs a drauzt of water of lyfe to drinke. And who that drinketh of that water, he ne shall neuer afterwarde ben a thurst. For this water ys the clere teachinge of the gospel, that encloseth seuen commaundementes.

The furst is this, Thou shalt loue thy God ouer all other thinges, and thy brother as thy self, both enemye and frende.

The seconde commaundemente ys of mekenes, in the which Christ chargeth vs to forsake lordeship upon our brethern and other worldly worshippes, and so he did hym self.

The thridde commaundemente ys in stondinge stedefastlych in truth and forsakinge all falsnes.

The forth commaundemente ys to suffre in this world diseses and wronges withouten azenstondinges.

The fyfth commaundemente ys mercy to forzeuen oure brethern here trespass, as often tyme as they gylteth, with out askinge of vengeaunce. The syxth commaundemente ys poernesse in spirite, but not to ben a begger.

The seuenth commaundemente is chastyte, that ys a forsakynge of fleshlych lykinges dyspleasinge to God. These commaundementes enclosen the ten commaundementes of the old lawe, and somewhat more. This water ys a blessed drinke for Christen mennes sowle. But more harme ys moch folke wolde drinke of this water, but they mow not come thereto: For God sayeth by Ezechiel the prophete, When ych zeue to you the most clene water to drinke, ye troubled that water with your fete, and that water, so defouled, yezeue my shepe to drinke. But the clene water ys yhidde fro the shepe, and but, zif God cleare this, it ys drede lest shepe deyen for thurst. And Christ, that is the wisdome of the Father of Heuen, and welle of this wisdome, that come from heuen to erth to tech man this wisdome, thorow the which man shuld ouercome the sleyzthes of the deuell, that is principall enemy of mankinde, haue mercy and pite of his puple, and shewe, if it be his will, how this water ys troubled, and by whom, and sith clere this water that his shepe mown drinken here of, and kele the thurst of here sowles. Blessed mote oure Lorde ben, for he hath ytauzt vs in the gospel that, 'ar than he wolde come to the vniuersel dome that shuld come, manye in his name and seyen that they weren Christ: And they shulden done many wondres and begilen manye men. And many false prophetes shulden arysen and begylen moch folke. A Lorde, yblessed mote thou ben of euerich creature, which ben they that haue yseyd that they weren Christ, and haue begyled thus thy puple? Trulich Lorde, I trowe thilke that seyn that they be in thy stede and bynemen thy worship and maken the puple worshupen hem as God, and haue hyd thy lawes from the puple. Lorde, who durst sitte in thy stede and benemen the thy worshupe and thy sacrifice, and durst maken the puple worshupe hem as goddes? The Sauter telles that God ne wole not in the daye of domen demen men for bodilich sacrifices and holocaustes. But God sayeth,