The Voice of the Last Trumpet Blown, Lesson 9
¶ The Lawyers leſſon.
NOw come hither thou manne of lawe,
And marcke what I ſhall to the ſaye:
For I entende the for to drawe,
Out of thy moſt vngodly waye.
Thy callyng is good and Godly,
If thou wouldeſt walke therin arighte.
But thou art ſo paſſynge gready,
That Gods feare is out of thy ſight.
Thou climeſt ſo to be alofte,
That thy deſire can hauehave no ſtay:
Thou haſt forgotten to go ſofte
Thou art ſo haſty on thy way.
But nowe I call the to repent,
And thy gredines to forſake
For Gods wrath is agaynſt the bent
If thou wylt not my warnynge take.
Fyrſte call vntounto thy memory
For what cauſe the lawes were fyrſte made
And then apply the buſily,
To the ſame ende to vſe thy trade.
The lawes were made vndoubtedlye
That all ſuch men as are oppreſt:
Might in the ſame fynde remedy
And leade their lyues in quiet reſt.
Doeſt thou then walke in thy callyng
When for to vexe the innocent:
Thou wylt ſtande at a barre ballyng
With al the craft thou canſt inuent?
I ſay ballynge, for better name,
To hauehave it can not be worthy:
when lyke a beaſt wythout all ſhame
Thou wilt do wronge to get money
Thyne excuſes are knowen to wel
Thou ſaiſt thou knoweſt not the matter
Wherfore thou ſayeſt thou canſt not tel.
At the fyrſt whoſe cauſe is better.
Thou knoweſt not at ye fyrſt I graūt,
But why wylte thou be retained
Of plaintife or defendaunt
Before thou haſt their cauſe learned?
For ſuch a plea I blame the not,
When neither parties right is knowen
But when thou thy ſelfe doſt wel wot
Thy client ſeaketh not hir owne
It were a Godly way for the,
To know the ende ere thou began
But if that can by no meanes be
To make ſhort ſuite do what thou can
If thou be a mans atturney
In any court where ſo it be:
Let him not wayte and ſpend money
If hys diſpatch do lye in the,
Apply his matter earneſtly
And ſet him goynge home agayne,
And take no more then thy dutyLuke. iii.
For God ſhal recompence thy paine.
If thou be calde a counſellar.
And many men do ſeke thy read:
Se thou be founde no triffellar
Either for money or for dread
But waigh mens matters thorowly,
And ſe what may be done by ryght
And further as wel the neady
As thou wo…ldeſt do the man of might
Se thou hauehave no reſpect at all
To the perſon but to the cauſe
And ſuffer not ſuch trueth to fall,Leuit. xxx
As thou findſt grounded on good lawes
If any man do th… deſire
Him to defende in do…nge wronge
Though he wo…ld giuegive the tri…le hire
Yet geue none eare vntounto his ſong.
Fere not his power though he be king
A duke, an earle, a Lorde, or kinght:
But euermore in thy doynge
ii. Par. xxii.HaueHave the Lordes feare preſent in ſight.
If thou be iudge in commune place,
In the kynges bench, or Eſchequier
Or other court, let not thy face
Be once turned to the bryber.
Beware yt bribes blinde not thy ſight
Deu. xvi. Eccle. xx.And make the that thou canſt not ſe:
To iudge the pore mans cauſe aryght,
When it is made open to the.
Why ſholdeſt thou ſtil admit delaies,
In matters that be manifeſt,
Why doeſt thou not ſeke all the wayes.
That may be, to rid the oppreſte
To thine office it doeth belonge,
Leuiti. xix.To iudge as iuſtice doth require:
Though the party that is to ſtronge
Would giuegive the houſe and land to hire.
I hauehave no more to ſay to the,
But warne the that thou be con…ente
To lyue onelyonly vponupon thy fee
Fearynge the Lorde omnipotent.
And for to ſe that no man wreſte,
The lawes to do any man wronge:
And that no pore man be oppreſte,
Nor hauehave hys ſuite deferred longe.
Now if thou be Lorde Chauncelour,
As Cenſor ouer all the reſte:
Se thou do thy beſte endeuour,
To ſe all open wronges redreſt.
And of this one thyng take good hede
That among them that do appeale:
Thou do not for fauour or mede
Suffer any falſelye to deale.
Beware of them I ſaye that vſe,
Firſte for to tempt the commune lawes
And yet the iudgement to refuſe
When they be like to loſſe their cauſe,
Beware of them, and let them not
Abuſe the courte in any wiſe:
To wery ſuche as by iuſte lot
To clayme theyr ryght do enterpriſe.
When they ſhall make peticion,
Examine them diligently:
And graunt not an Iniunction
To eche falſe harlot by and by.
Graunt thou not an Iniunction
To hym that doth nought elſe entende:
But by ſubtyle inuention
His owne falſehode for to defend.
I n…de not to tell any more,
Of thy duty thou maiſte it ſe:
In Gods ſacret and holy ſore
If thou wylt thereto apply the.
Thus leaue I the thou man of lawe▪
Wyſhynge the to be as willynge:
To folowe as I am to drawe
The backe againe to thy callynge.