[Saul and Agag.]
P. iii. 220
Nou forthermore if I schal sein
Of my matiere, and torne ayein
Hic dicit quod vbi et quando causa et tempus requirunt, princeps illos sub potestate sua, quos iusticie aduersarios agnouerit, occidere de iure tenetur. Et narrat in exemplum qualiter, pro eo quod Saul Regem Agag in bello deuictum iuxta Samuelis consilium occidere noluit, ipse diuino iudicio non solum a regno Israel priuatus, set et heredes sui pro perpetuo exheredati sunt.
To speke of justice and Pite
After the reule of realte, 3810
This mai a king wel understonde,
Knihthode mot ben take on honde,
Whan that it stant upon the nede:
He schal no rihtful cause drede,
Nomore of werre thanne of pes,
If he wol stonde blameles;
For such a cause a king mai have
That betre him is to sle than save,
Wherof thou myht ensample finde.1312
The hihe makere of mankinde 3820
Be Samuel to Saül bad,
That he schal nothing ben adrad
Ayein king Agag forto fihte;
For this the godhede him behihte,
That Agag schal ben overcome:
And whan it is so ferforth come,
That Saül hath him desconfit,
The god bad make no respit,
That he ne scholde him slen anon.
Bot Saül let it overgon 3830
And dede noght the goddes heste:
For Agag made gret beheste
Of rancoun which he wolde yive,
King Saül soffreth him to live
And feigneth pite forth withal.
Bot he which seth and knoweth al,
P. iii. 221
The hihe god, of that he feigneth
To Samuel upon him pleigneth.
And sende him word, for that he lefte
Of Agag that he ne berefte 3840
The lif, he schal noght only dye
Himself, bot fro his regalie
He schal be put for everemo,
Noght he, bot ek his heir also,
That it schal nevere come ayein.
[David and Joab.]
Thus myht thou se the sothe plein,
Hic narrat vlterius super eodem, qualiter Dauid in extremis iusticie causa vt Ioab occideretur absque vlla remissione filio suo Salomoni iniunxit.
That of tomoche and of tolyte
Upon the Princes stant the wyte.
Bot evere it was a kinges riht
To do the dedes of a knyht; 3850
For in the handes of a king
The deth and lif is al o thing(4050*)
After the lawes of justice.
To slen it is a dedly vice,1313
Bot if a man the deth deserve;
And if a king the lif preserve
Of him which oghte forto dye,
He suieth noght thensamplerie
Which in the bible is evident:
Hou David in his testament, 3860
Whan he no lengere myhte live,1314
Unto his Sone in charge hath yive
That he Joab schal slen algate;
And whan David was gon his gate,
The yonge wise Salomon
His fader heste dede anon,
P. iii. 222
And slouh Joab in such a wise,
That thei that herden the juise
Evere after dradden him the more,
And god was ek wel paid therfore, 3870
That he so wolde his herte plye
The lawes forto justefie.
And yit he kepte forth withal
Pite, so as a Prince schal,
That he no tirannie wroghte;
He fond the wisdom which he soghte,
And was so rihtful natheles,
That al his lif he stod in pes,
That he no dedly werres hadde,
For every man his wisdom dradde. 3880
And as he was himselve wys,
Riht so the worthi men of pris
He hath of his conseil withholde;
For that is every Prince holde,
To make of suche his retenue
Whiche wise ben, and to remue
The foles: for ther is nothing
Which mai be betre aboute a king,
Than conseil, which is the substance
Of all a kinges governance. 3890
[Solomon’s Wisdom.]
In Salomon a man mai see
What thing of most necessite
Hic dicit quod populum sibi commissum bene regere super omnia Principi laudabilius est. Et narrat in exemplum qualiter, pro eo quod Salomon, vt populum bene regeret, ab altissimo sapienciam specialius postulauit, omnia bona pariter cum illa sibi habundancius aduenerunt.
Unto a worthi king belongeth.
Whan he his kingdom underfongeth,
God bad him chese what he wolde,
And seide him that he have scholde
P. iii. 223
What he wolde axe, as of o thing.
And he, which was a newe king,
Forth therupon his bone preide
To god, and in this wise he seide: 3900
‘O king, be whom that I schal regne,
Yif me wisdom, that I my regne,1315(4100*)
Forth with thi poeple which I have,1316
To thin honour mai kepe and save.’
Whan Salomon his bone hath taxed,
The god of that which he hath axed
Was riht wel paid, and granteth sone
Noght al only that he his bone
Schal have of that, bot of richesse,
Of hele, of pes, of hih noblesse, 3910
Forth with wisdom at his axinges,
Which stant above alle othre thinges.
Bot what king wole his regne save,
Hic dicit secundum Salomonem, quod regie maiestatis imperium ante omnia sano consilio dirigendum est.
Ferst him behoveth forto have
After the god and his believe
Such conseil which is to believe,
Fulfild of trouthe and rihtwisnesse:
Bot above alle in his noblesse
Betwen the reddour and pite
A king schal do such equite 3920
And sette the balance in evene,
So that the hihe god in hevene
And al the poeple of his nobleie
Loange unto his name seie.
For most above all erthli good,
Wher that a king himself is good
P. iii. 224
It helpeth, for in other weie
If so be that a king forsueie,
Quicquid delirant reges, plectuntur Achiui.
Fulofte er this it hath be sein,
The comun poeple is overlein 3930
And hath the kinges Senne aboght,
Al thogh the poeple agulte noght.
Of that the king his god misserveth,
The poeple takth that he descerveth
Hier in this world, bot elleswhere
I not hou it schal stonde there.
Forthi good is a king to triste
Ferst to himself, as he ne wiste
Non other help hot god alone;
So schal the reule of his persone 3940
Withinne himself thurgh providence
Ben of the betre conscience.
And forto finde ensample of this,
A tale I rede, and soth it is.
[The Courtiers and the Fool.]
In a Cronique it telleth thus:
The king of Rome Lucius
Withinne his chambre upon a nyht
Hic de Lucio Imperatore exemplum ponit, qualiter Princeps sui nominis famam a secretis consiliariis sapienter inuestigare debet; et si quid in ea sinistrum inuenerit, prouisa discrecione ad dexteram conuertat.
The Steward of his hous, a knyht,
Forth with his Chamberlein also,
To conseil hadde bothe tuo, 3950
And stoden be the Chiminee
Togedre spekende alle thre.(4150*)
And happeth that the kinges fol
Sat be the fyr upon a stol,
As he that with his babil pleide,
Bot yit he herde al that thei seide,
P. iii. 225
And therof token thei non hiede.
The king hem axeth what to rede
Of such matiere as cam to mouthe,
And thei him tolden as thei couthe. 3960
Whan al was spoke of that thei mente,
The king with al his hole entente
Thanne ate laste hem axeth this,
What king men tellen that he is:
Among the folk touchende his name,
Or be it pris, or be it blame,
Riht after that thei herden sein,
He bad hem forto telle it plein,
That thei no point of soth forbere,
Be thilke feith that thei him bere. 3970
The Steward ferst upon this thing
Yaf his ansuere unto the king
And thoghte glose in this matiere,
And seide, als fer as he can hiere,
His name is good and honourable:
Thus was the Stieward favorable,
That he the trouthe plein ne tolde.
The king thanne axeth, as he scholde,
The Chamberlein of his avis.
And he, that was soubtil and wys, 3980
And somdiel thoghte upon his feith,
Him tolde hou al the poeple seith
That if his conseil were trewe,
Thei wiste thanne wel and knewe1317
That of himself he scholde be
A worthi king in his degre:
P. iii. 226
And thus the conseil he accuseth
In partie, and the king excuseth.
The fol, which herde of al the cas1318
That time, as goddes wille was,1319 3990
Sih that thei seiden noght ynowh,
And hem to skorne bothe lowh,
And to the king he seide tho:
‘Sire king, if that it were so,
Of wisdom in thin oghne mod
That thou thiselven were good,
Thi conseil scholde noght be badde.’
The king therof merveille hadde,
Whan that a fol so wisly spak,
And of himself fond out the lack 4000
Withinne his oghne conscience:
And thus the foles evidence,(4200*)
Which was of goddes grace enspired,
Makth that good conseil was desired.1320
He putte awey the vicious
And tok to him the vertuous;
The wrongful lawes ben amended,
The londes good is wel despended,
The poeple was nomore oppressed,
And thus stod every thing redressed. 4010
For where a king is propre wys,
And hath suche as himselven is
Of his conseil, it mai noght faile
That every thing ne schal availe:
The vices thanne gon aweie,
And every vertu holt his weie;
P. iii. 227
Wherof the hihe god is plesed,
And al the londes folk is esed.
For if the comun poeple crie,
And thanne a king list noght to plie1321 4020
To hiere what the clamour wolde,
And otherwise thanne he scholde
Desdeigneth forto don hem grace,
It hath be sen in many place,
Ther hath befalle gret contraire;
And that I finde of ensamplaire.
[Folly of Rehoboam.]
After the deth of Salomon,
Whan thilke wise king was gon,
Hic dicit quod Seniores magis experti ad Principis consilium admittendi pocius existunt. Et narrat qualiter, pro eo quod Roboas Salomonis filius et heres senium sermonibus renuncians dicta iuuenum preelegit, de xii. tribubus Israel a dominio suo x. penitus amisit, et sic cum duabus tantummodo illusus postea regnauit.
And Roboas in his persone
Receive scholde the corone, 4030
The poeple upon a Parlement1322
Avised were of on assent,
And alle unto the king thei preiden,
With comun vois and thus thei seiden:
‘Oure liege lord, we thee beseche
That thou receive oure humble speche
And grante ous that which reson wile,1323
Or of thi grace or of thi skile.
Thi fader, whil he was alyve
And myhte bothe grante and pryve, 4040
Upon the werkes whiche he hadde
The comun poeple streite ladde:
Whan he the temple made newe,
Thing which men nevere afore knewe1324
He broghte up thanne of his taillage,
And al was under the visage
P. iii. 228
Of werkes whiche he made tho.
Bot nou it is befalle so,
That al is mad, riht as he seide,
And he was riche whan he deide; 4050
So that it is no maner nede,
If thou therof wolt taken hiede,(4250*)
To pilen of the poeple more,
Which long time hath be grieved sore.
And in this wise as we thee seie,
With tendre herte we thee preie
That thou relesse thilke dette,
Which upon ous thi fader sette.
And if thee like to don so,
We ben thi men for everemo, 4060
To gon and comen at thin heste.’
The king, which herde this requeste,
Seith that he wole ben avised,
And hath therof a time assised;
And in the while as he him thoghte
Upon this thing, conseil he soghte.
And ferst the wise knyhtes olde,
To whom that he his tale tolde,
De consilio Senium.
Conseilen him in this manere;
That he with love and with glad chiere 4070
Foryive and grante al that is axed
Of that his fader hadde taxed;
For so he mai his regne achieve
With thing which schal him litel grieve.
The king hem herde and overpasseth,
And with these othre his wit compasseth,
P. iii. 229
That yonge were and nothing wise.
And thei these olde men despise,
De consilio iuuenum.
And seiden: ‘Sire, it schal be schame
For evere unto thi worthi name, 4080
If thou ne kepe noght the riht,1325
Whil thou art in thi yonge myht,
Which that thin olde fader gat.
Bot seie unto the poeple plat,
That whil thou livest in thi lond,
The leste finger of thin hond
It schal be strengere overal
Than was thi fadres bodi al.
And this also schal be thi tale,
If he hem smot with roddes smale, 4090
With Scorpions thou schalt hem smyte;1326
And wher thi fader tok a lyte,1327
Thou thenkst to take mochel more.1328
Thus schalt thou make hem drede sore
The grete herte of thi corage,
So forto holde hem in servage.’
This yonge king him hath conformed
To don as he was last enformed,
Which was to him his undoinge:
For whan it cam to the spekinge, 4100
He hath the yonge conseil holde,
That he the same wordes tolde(4300*)
Of al the poeple in audience;
And whan thei herden the sentence
Of his malice and the manace,
Anon tofore his oghne face
P. iii. 230
Thei have him oultreli refused
And with ful gret reproef accused.
So thei begunne forto rave,
That he was fain himself to save; 4110
For as the wilde wode rage
Of wyndes makth the See salvage,
And that was calm bringth into wawe,
So for defalte of grace and lawe
This poeple is stered al at ones1329
And forth thei gon out of hise wones;
So that of the lignages tuelve
Tuo tribes only be hemselve
With him abiden and nomo:
So were thei for everemo 4120
Of no retorn withoute espeir
Departed fro the rihtfull heir.
Al Irahel with comun vois1330
A king upon here oghne chois
Among hemself anon thei make,
And have here yonge lord forsake;
A povere knyht Jeroboas
Thei toke, and lefte Roboas,
Which rihtfull heir was be descente.
Lo, thus the yonge cause wente: 4130
For that the conseil was noght good,
The regne fro the rihtfull blod
Evere afterward divided was.
So mai it proven be this cas
That yong conseil, which is to warm,
Er men be war doth ofte harm.
P. iii. 231
Old age for the conseil serveth,
And lusti youthe his thonk deserveth
Upon the travail which he doth;
And bothe, forto seie a soth, 4140
Be sondri cause forto have,
If that he wole his regne save,
A king behoveth every day.
That on can and that other mai,
Be so the king hem bothe reule,
For elles al goth out of reule.
[Wisdom in a King’s Council.]
And upon this matiere also
A question betwen the tuo
Nota questionem cuiusdam Philosophi, vtrum regno conueniencius foret principem cum malo consilio optare sapientem, quam cum sano consilio ipsum eligere insipientem.
Thus writen in a bok I fond;
Wher it be betre for the lond 4150
A king himselve to be wys,
And so to bere his oghne pris,(4350*)
And that his consail be noght good,
Or other wise if it so stod,
A king if he be vicious
And his conseil be vertuous.
It is ansuerd in such a wise,
That betre it is that thei be wise
Be whom that the conseil schal gon,
For thei be manye, and he is on;1331 4160
And rathere schal an one man1332
With fals conseil, for oght he can,
From his wisdom be mad to falle,
Thanne he al one scholde hem alle
Fro vices into vertu change,
For that is wel the more strange.
[Mercy and Justice.]
P. iii. 232
Forthi the lond mai wel be glad,
Whos king with good conseil is lad,
Which set him unto rihtwisnesse,
So that his hihe worthinesse 4170
Betwen the reddour and Pite
Doth mercy forth with equite.
A king is holden overal
To Pite, bot in special1333
To hem wher he is most beholde;
Thei scholde his Pite most beholde
That ben the Lieges of his lond,
For thei ben evere under his hond
After the goddes ordinaunce
To stonde upon his governance. 4180
Nota adhuc precipue de principis erga suos subditos debita pietate. Legitur enim qualiter Anthonius a Cipione exemplificatus dixit, quod mallet vnum de populo sibi commisso virum saluare, quam centum ex hostibus alienigenis in bello perdere.
Of themperour Anthonius
I finde hou that he seide thus,
That levere him were forto save1334
Oon of his lieges than to have
Of enemis a thousend dede.1335
And this he lernede, as I rede,1336
Of Cipio, which hadde be
Consul of Rome. And thus to se
Diverse ensamples hou thei stonde,
A king which hath the charge on honde 4190
The comun poeple to governe,
If that he wole, he mai wel lerne.
Is non so good to the plesance
Of god, as is good governance;1337
And every governance is due
To Pite: thus I mai argue
P. iii. 233
That Pite is the foundement
Of every kinges regiment,
If it be medled with justice.
Thei tuo remuen alle vice, 4200
And ben of vertu most vailable
To make a kinges regne stable.(4400*)
Lo, thus the foure pointz tofore,
In governance as thei ben bore,
Of trouthe ferst and of largesse,
Of Pite forth with rihtwisnesse,
I have hem told; and over this
The fifte point, so as it is1338
Set of the reule of Policie,
Wherof a king schal modefie 4210
The fleisschly lustes of nature,
Nou thenk I telle of such mesure,1339
That bothe kinde schal be served
And ek the lawe of god observed.
[The Fifth Point of Policy. Chastity.]
xi. Corporis et mentis regem decet omnis honestas,
Nominis vt famam nulla libido ruat.
Omne quod est hominis effeminat illa voluptas,
Sit nisi magnanimi cordis, vt obstet ei.
The Madle is mad for the femele,
Bot where as on desireth fele,
That nedeth noght be weie of kinde:
Hic tractat secundum Aristotelem de quinta principum regiminis Policia, que Castitatem concernit, cuius honestas impudicicie motus obtemperans tam corporis quam anime mundiciam specialius preseruat.
For whan a man mai redy finde
His oghne wif, what scholde he seche
In strange places to beseche 4220
To borwe an other mannes plouh,
Whan he hath geere good ynouh1340
P. iii. 234
Affaited at his oghne heste,
And is to him wel more honeste
Than other thing which is unknowe?
Forthi scholde every good man knowe
And thenke, hou that in mariage
His trouthe plight lith in morgage,
Which if he breke, it is falshode,
And that descordeth to manhode, 4230
And namely toward the grete,
Wherof the bokes alle trete;
So as the Philosophre techeth
To Alisandre, and him betecheth
The lore hou that he schal mesure
His bodi, so that no mesure
Of fleisshly lust he scholde excede.
And thus forth if I schal procede,
The fifte point, as I seide er,1341
Is chastete, which sielde wher 4240
Comth nou adaies into place;
And natheles, bot it be grace
Above alle othre in special,
Is non that chaste mai ben all.
Bot yit a kinges hihe astat,1342
Which of his ordre as a prelat
Schal ben enoignt and seintefied,
He mot be more magnefied
For dignete of his corone,
Than scholde an other low persone, 4250
Which is noght of so hih emprise.
Therfore a Prince him scholde avise,(4450*)
P. iii. 235
Er that he felle in such riote,
And namely that he nassote
To change for the wommanhede
The worthinesse of his manhede.
Nota de doctrina Aristotilis, qualiter Princeps, vt animi sui iocunditatem prouocet, mulieres formosas crebro aspicere debet. Caueat tamen, ne mens voluptuosa torpescens ex carnis fragilitate in vicium dilabatur.
Of Aristotle I have wel rad,
Hou he to Alisandre bad,
That forto gladen his corage
He schal beholde the visage 4260
Of wommen, whan that thei ben faire.
Bot yit he set an essamplaire,1343
His bodi so to guide and reule,
That he ne passe noght the reule,
Wherof that he himself beguile.
For in the womman is no guile1344
Of that a man himself bewhapeth;
Whan he his oghne wit bejapeth,
I can the wommen wel excuse:1345
Bot what man wole upon hem muse 4270
After the fool impression
Of his ymaginacioun,
Withinne himself the fyr he bloweth,
Wherof the womman nothing knoweth,
So mai sche nothing be to wyte.
For if a man himself excite
To drenche, and wol it noght forbere,1346
The water schal no blame bere.
What mai the gold, thogh men coveite?
If that a man wol love streite, 4280
The womman hath him nothing bounde;
If he his oghne herte wounde,
P. iii 236
Sche mai noght lette the folie;
And thogh so felle of compainie
That he myht eny thing pourchace,
Yit makth a man the ferste chace,
The womman fleth and he poursuieth:
So that be weie of skile it suieth,
The man is cause, hou so befalle,
That he fulofte sithe is falle 4290
Wher that he mai noght wel aryse.
And natheles ful manye wise
Befoled have hemself er this,
As nou adaies yit it is
Among the men and evere was,
The stronge is fieblest in this cas.
It sit a man be weie of kinde
To love, bot it is noght kinde
A man for love his wit to lese:
For if the Monthe of Juil schal frese 4300
And that Decembre schal ben hot,
The yeer mistorneth, wel I wot.(4500*)
To sen a man fro his astat
Thurgh his sotie effeminat,
And leve that a man schal do,
It is as Hose above the Scho,
To man which oghte noght ben used.
Bot yit the world hath ofte accused
Ful grete Princes of this dede,
Hou thei for love hemself mislede, 4310
Wherof manhode stod behinde,
Of olde ensamples as I finde.1347
[Evil Example of Sardanapalus.]
P. iii. 237
These olde gestes tellen thus,
That whilom Sardana Pallus,1348
Hic ponit exemplum qualiter, pro eo quod Sardana Pallus1349 Assiriorum Princeps muliebri1350 oblectamento effeminatus sue concupiscencie torporem quasi ex consuetudine adhibebat, a Barbaro Rege Medorum super hoc insidiante in sui feruoris maiori voluptate1351 subitis mutacionibus extinctus est.
Which hield al hol in his empire
The grete kingdom of Assire,
Was thurgh the slouthe of his corage
Falle into thilke fyri rage
Of love, which the men assoteth,
Wherof himself he so rioteth, 4320
And wax so ferforth womannyssh,1352
That ayein kinde, as if a fissh
Abide wolde upon the lond,
In wommen such a lust he fond,
That he duelte evere in chambre stille,
And only wroghte after the wille
Of wommen, so as he was bede,
That selden whanne in other stede
If that he wolde wenden oute,
To sen hou that it stod aboute. 4330
Bot ther he keste and there he pleide,1353
Thei tawhten him a Las to breide,
And weve a Pours, and to enfile
A Perle: and fell that ilke while,
On Barbarus the Prince of Mede
Sih hou this king in wommanhede1354
Was falle fro chivalerie,
And gat him help and compaignie,
And wroghte so, that ate laste
This king out of his regne he caste, 4340
Which was undon for everemo:
And yit men speken of him so,
P. iii. 238
That it is schame forto hiere.
[David.]
Forthi to love is in manere.
Nota qualiter Dauid amans mulieres propter hoc probitatem Armorum non minus excercuit.
King David hadde many a love,
Bot natheles alwey above
Knyhthode he kepte in such a wise,
That for no fleisshli covoitise
Of lust to ligge in ladi armes
He lefte noght the lust of armes. 4350
For where a Prince hise lustes suieth,
That he the werre noght poursuieth,(4550*)
Whan it is time to ben armed,
His contre stant fulofte harmed,
Whan thenemis ben woxe bolde,
That thei defence non beholde.
Ful many a lond hath so be lore,1355
As men mai rede of time afore
Of hem that so here eses soghten,
Which after thei full diere aboghten. 4360