Th' abundant grace of the power divine, Which doth illumine the world environ, Preserve this audience, and cause them to incline To charity, this is my petition; For by your patience and supportation A little interlude, late made and prepared, Before your presence here shall be declared, Which of a few conclusions is contrived, And points of philosophy natural. But though the matter be not so well declared, As a great clerk could do, nor so substantial, Yet the author hereof requireth you all, Though he be ignorant, and can little skill, To regard his only intent and good-will; Which in his mind hath ofttimes pondered, What number of books in our tongue maternal Of toys and trifles be made and imprinted, And few of them of matter substantial; For though many make books, yet unneth ye shall In our English tongue find any works Of cunning, that is regarded by clerks. The Greeks, the Romans, with many other mo, In their mother tongue wrote warks excellent. Then if clerks in this realm would take pain so, Considering that our tongue is now sufficient To expound any hard sentence evident, They might, if they would, in our English tongue Write works of gravity sometime among; For divers pregnant wits be in this land, As well of noble men as of mean estate, Which nothing but English can understand. Then if cunning Latin books were translate Into English, well correct and approbate, All subtle science in English might be learned, As well as other people in their own tongues did. But now so it is, that in our English tongue Many one there is, that can but read and write, For his pleasure will oft presume among New books to compile and ballads to indite, Some of love or other matter not worth a mite; Some to obtain favour will flatter and glose, Some write curious terms nothing to purpose. Thus every man after his fantasy Will write his conceit, be it never so rude, Be it virtuous, vicious, wisdom or folly; Wherefore to my purpose thus I conclude, Why should not then the author of this interlude Utter his own fantasy and conceit also, As well as divers other nowadays do? For wisdom and folly is as it is taken, For that the one calleth wisdom, another calleth folly, Yet among most folk that man is holden Most wise, which to be rich studieth only; But he that for a commonwealth busily Studieth and laboureth, and liveth by God's law, Except he wax rich, men count him but a daw![10] So he that is rich is ever honoured, Although he have got it never so falsely. The poor, being never so wise, is reproved. This is the opinion most commonly Thoroughout the world, and yet no reason why; Therefore in my mind, when that all such daws Have babbled what they can, no force of two straws! For every man in reason thus ought to do, To labour for his own necessary living, And then for the wealth of his neighbour also; But what devilish mind have they which, musing And labouring all their lives, do no other thing But bring riches to their own possession,