To the reader.
Yf thou be a man that haſt wyfe and childrē, firſt loue thy wyfe, acordynge to the enſample of the loue, wherwith Chriſt loued the cōgregacion, and remembre that ſo doynge, thou loueſt euen thyſelfe: yf thou hate her, thou hateſt thine awne fleſh: yf thou cheriſhe her and make moch of her, thou cheriſeſt & makeſt moch of thyſelfe for ſhe is bone of thy bones, & fleſh of thy fleſh.[1] And who ſo euer thou be that haſt children, brynge them vp in the nurtour and informacion of the Lorde.[2] And yf thou be ignoraunt, or art otherwyſe occupied laufully that thou canſt not teach them thy ſelfe, then be euen as diligent to ſeke a good maſter for thy childrē, as thou waſt to ſeke a mother to beare them: for there lieth as great weight in the one as in ye other. Yee better it were for thē to be vnborne, then not to feare God, or to be euel brought vp, which thynge(I meane bryngynge vp well of children) yf it be diligently loked to, it is the vpholdinge of all comon welthes: and the negligence of the ſame, the very decaye of all realmes.
Fynally, who ſo euer thou be, take theſe wordes of ſcripture in to thy herte, and be not onely an outwarde hearer, but a doer therafter, and practyſe thyſelfe therin: that thou mayeſt fele in thine hert, the ſwete promyſes therof for thy conſolacion in
all trouble, & for the ſure ſtablyſhinge of thy hope in Chriſt, and haue euer
an eye to ye wordes of ſcripture, that yf thou be a teacher of other
thou mayeſt be within the boundes of the trueth, or
at the leeſt though thou be but an hearer or
reader of another mans doyn
ges, thou mayeſt
yet haue
knowlege to iud-
ge all ſpretes, and be fre from
euery erroure, to the vtter deſtruccion
of all ſedicious ſectes & ſtraunge doctrynes, that
the holy ſcrypture maye haue fre paſſage, and be had in re-
putacion, to the worſhippe of the author therof,
which is euen God himſelfe: to whom
for his moſt bleſſed worde be
glory & domynion
now & euer.
Amen.
