||A.ii.||

THE HABOVN-
daunt mercie and grace of our
heauenly father Iesu Christ,
maye alwaies strengthen
and defende oure noble
& vertuous Prynce Ed-
ward too the mainte-
naunce of the liue-
ly woord of
God.


Whereas manye histories of olde & auncient antiquitie,
and also al godly & Christiã writers most playnely consêt
together, and agree in this, that dignitie, riches, kinred,
worldly pompe, and renoume, doo neither make men better, ne
yet happiar, contrarie too the blynde & fonde iudgement of
the most part of menne: but by the power and strength of the
mynde, that is, learnyng, wysedome, || and vertue, all menne
are hyghly enriched, ornated, & most purely beutified, for
these bee thinges bothe notable, eternall, and verye
familiar betwene the heauenly father & vs. It is therefore
euidente (most excellent Prince) that the fittest ornamêtes
for your graces tender age, bee, eruditiõ and vertue.
Wherunto you are bothe so ernestly addicte and therin so
wõderfully doo preuaile, that I nede not too exhorte &