Where ar the prynces and kynges of Babylon And also of Jude and kynges of Israell Where is the myghty and valiant Sampson He had no place in this lyfe ay to dwell Where ar the Prynces myghty and cruell That rayned before Christ delyuered vs from payne And from the Dongeons of darke and ferefull hell _Ilz sont toutz mortz ce monde est choce vayne._ Of worldly worsyp no man can hym assure In this our age whiche is the last of all No creature can here alway endure Yonge nor olde, pore man nor kynge royall Unstable fortune tourneth as doth a ball And they that ones pas can nat retourne agayne Wherfore I boldly dare speke in generall We all shall dye: _ce monde est choce vayne_. Ryches nor wysdome can none therfro defende Ne in his strength no man can hym assure Say where is Tully is he nat come to ende Seneke the sage with Cato and Arture The hye Arystotyll of godly wyt and pure The glorious Godfray, and myghty Charlemayne Thoughe of theyr lyfe they thought that they were sure Yet ar they all dede: _ce monde est choce vayne_. Where ar the Phylosophers and Poetis lawreat The great Grammaryens and pleasant oratours. Ar they nat dede after the same fourme and rate As ar all these other myghty conquerours Where ar theyr Royalmes theyr ryches and treasours Left to theyr heyres: and they be gone certayne And here haue left theyr riches and honours So haue they proued that this worlde is but vayne. So I conclude bycause of breuyte That if one sought the worlde large and wyde Therin sholde be founde no maner of dere That can alway in one case suerly byde Strength, honour, riches cunnynge and beautye All these decay, dayly: thoughe we complayne _Omnia fert etas_, both helth and iolyte We all shall dye: _ce monde est choce vayne_. * * * * * Of predestynacion. [Illustration: That man that lokyth for to haue a rewarde Whiche he hath nat deseruyd to obtayne And lenyth his body vpon a rede forwarde Whiche for waykenes may hym nat well sustayne Forsoth this fole may longe so loke in vayne And on the Crauys he styll shall bacwarde ryde Cryenge with the doue, whose flyght shall hym ay gyde] It is vnlawfull, man to be dilygent Or serchynge goddes workes to set his thought Howe he hath made the heuen and fyrmament The erth the see and euery thynge of nought Yet of some Folys the cause hereof is sought, Whiche labour also with curyosyte To knowe the begynnynge of his dyuynyte These folys forgettynge their owne fragilyte Wolde loke to knowe the ende of euery thynge Boldly disputynge in goddys pryuete And what rewarde is ordeynyd for men lyuynge Of many folys this is the moste musynge Whiche labour dayly with besy cure and payne. To knowe what god doth discerne and or ordayne