Aspects of Kentish Local History

minorem scissionibus & rend them in peces onto ther very fowndations. Therfor accordyng to this prophicie yt is to be ferd that the very cause of this your oppression now of days, is, for that maney religiouse men do not lyf after the holly perfection of ther religion: for if they war trew israelites always seing God by ther holy living dowtles God wold not suffre them thus myserably to be oppressyd; and this thing apperith well in the old law, for so long as the children of israell lyvyd after the lawes of God, ther enymys cowld never have ony power uppon them, but whan they forsoke the lawes of God & fell abominably to synne than God suffred Nabugodonoser kyng of babilon, as apperith 4 Regum ultimo and also that tyrane Kyng antiochus as apperith 20 machai to ouercome the children of Ysraell & to distroy ther cittes & rob & spoyle ther temples; and for this cause the prophite David in this psalme, Deus, venerunt gentes in hereditatem tuam, poluerunt templum sanctum suum &c. Pituously doith kry onto God for help & soker, saying, Usquequaque irasceris in finem. Alas good Lord wolt thow style suffre owre enymys thus to ouercome us & spoyle owr temples; we know well thow dost thus punysh us for owr iniquite & syne, ne reminisceris iniquitatum antiquarum nostrarum. Therfor now we beseche the mercifull Lord remembre no more our old offensys, sed cito anticipent nos misericordie tue, but take us schortly onto thy mercy. Quia pauperes facti sumus nimis for our enymys hath browgth us onto greate & extreme pouertie. Thus religiouse men now of days may welle confesse with the holly prophite Dauid

quia pauperes facti sunt nimis, that they be browgth onto wonderfull povertie & great oppression for ther iniquite & syne: Here yow see than the cause, why that God sufferyth his children of israell his religiouse peple to be oppressyd. Therfor I proposse now to schow you how & by what means they may be delyuered from this ther seruitute; trewly they can be delyuered no other ways but only as the children of israell war. They war delyuered from the seruitute of kyng pharo & thegiptions by the help & means of [a] man callyd Moyses, which Moyses was in the singler favor of God, in so moch that God dyd gyve first onto hym the knowlege of the old law, wich therfor is callyd onto this day lex moseica, Moyses law. Whan, I sey, this Moyses did see into how greate myserie & bondage that the children of israell war browgth, than ascendit in cor eius, than God did put into his harte, ut visitaret fratres suos filios Israell, that he schuld delyuer his brothern the children of israell from yt by his visitasion, And God schowyd onto hym the maner how he schuld delyuer them, for he commawndyd hym to go onto kyng pharo & say this message onto hym. Dominus Deus Hebreorum vocauit nos, ibimus viam trium dierum in solitudinem, ut immolemus domino Deo nostro, And it please yowr grace (said Moyses) onto kyng pharo, The Lord & god of us the children of Israell hath callyd us to cume onto hym into Wyldernes, by the space of iiith days yourney ut immolimus domino