The second tome of homilies of such matters as were promised, and entitled in…The second tome of homilees of such matters as were promised, and intituled in…

We must have change of apparel, one afore dinner, another after, one of the Spanish fashion, another Turkey, and to be brief, never content with sufficient. Our saviour Christ bad his Disciples ¹they should not have two coats: but the most men, far unlike to his scholars, have their presses so full of apparel, that many knoweth ⟨p. 218⟩not how many sorts they have. Which thing caused Saint James to pronounce this terrible ²curse against such wealthy worldlings. Go to ye rich men, weep and howl in your wretchedness that shall come upon you, your riches are corrupt, and your garments are moth eaten, ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and in wantonness, ye have nourished your hearts, as in the day of slaughter. Mark I beseech you, saint James calleth them miserable, notwithstanding their riches and plenty of apparel, forasmuch as they pamper their bodies, to their own destruction. What was the rich glutton the better for his sine fare and costly apparel? Did not he nourish him self to be tormented in hell ³fire? Let us learn therefore to content our selves, having food and raiment, as saint Paul ⁴teacheth, least desiring to be enriched with abundance, we fall into temptations, snares, and many noisome lusts, which drown men in perdition and destruction. Certainly, such as delight in gorgeous apparel, are commonly puffed up with pride, and filled with divers vanities. So were the daughters of Zion & people of Jerusalem, whom Isaiah the Prophet ⁵threateneth, because they walked with stretched out necks and wandering eyes, mincing as they went, and nicely treading with their feet, that almighty God should make their heads bald, and discover their secrete shame. In that day, saith he, shall the Lord take away the ornament of the slippers, and the cauls, and the round attires, and the sweet balls, and the bracelets, ⟨p. 219⟩