The command "Order in the court!" is a well known phrase popularized in movies and books and conversation. In nearly any TV show depicting a courtroom the comment is surely to be made. The command prompts those present to cease from their unorderly conduct and to resume more disciplined behavior. John Colet in both the content and rhetoric of his message exemplifies this idea.
He punctuates his most accusatory ideas with exclamation marks: "And first for to speak of pride of life how much greediness and appetite of honor and dignity is nowadays in men of the church!" Later he laments on multiple occasions: "O Covetousness!" Exclamation marks once again sealing his ideas.
Interestingly even the structure of his message about order in the church among the priestly class has a very cohesive and indeed orderly structure. He divides the sermon into two parts. The points of his subject are enumerated. The first was about pride. "The second secular evil is carnal concupiscence." "Covetousness is the third secular evil." In the forth evil he even lists four sub points outlining its undesirable effects. In the second section he repeatedly starts his thoughts with the words: "Let the laws be rehearsed that..." Thereupon he makes known which law need renewing and strengthening. His message is one of order. His means of delivering that message is one of order. His order in the sermon reinforces its subject: order in the church.
Much like calling a restless courtroom back to order Colet directs his unruly audience in clear terms. No confusion is made about his subject matter. It is listed first and foremost. No surprises are left as to the points he will cover. He summarizes them before he starts. It is easy to see that his orderly message promotes order in more ways than one.
I like how the way Colet delivered his speech is almost a bigger foreshadowing of what his sermon was going to be about - order. I can really see that Colet was one of the brilliant minds here that was forming new ways of thought, and coming up with better means to deliver speeches and improve rhetoric. I'm sure with all of the religious uproar that was going on in his day, he had to be very clear, specific, and orderly with his message and the way he gave it if he wanted to catch his audience's attention and prove his point.
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