charms, he thinks it divine and marvellous, and he can offer no
effectual resistance. Lovers are blind and are driven by every kind
of unreasonable impulse. Women deceive men, and men also deceive and
betray women.
CAP. IV. The knight has little need to fear bodily wounds, which may
easily be healed; but love is not to be cured by physicians, and this
deprives him both of reason and of honour.
CAP. V. Those who seek fame and worldly honours only, are hardly better
than those who are conquered by women.
CAP. VI. The good woman is one whose praise is above all things. The
bad is a subtle snare for the destruction of men. She paints her face
and uses every art to deceive. The world is treacherous, but woman is
more treacherous still.
CAP. VII. The good knight, who labours neither for gain nor for glory,
and is not conquered by love, obtains the victory over the enemies of
the Church and of his country, and gives us the blessing of peace.
CAP. VIII. The bad knight is the causer of many evils in the other
orders of society. He deserves to have Leah, not Rachel, as his bride.
Those who follow wars for the sake of the spoils are like vultures
that prey upon the corpses of the dead. Alas, in these days gold is
preferred to honour and the world to God.
CAP. IX. Another estate remains, that of the cultivators of the soil,
who provide sustenance for the human race in accordance with the divine
ordinance laid down for Adam. These at the present time are lazy and
grasping, as well as few in number; one peasant now asks more wages
than two did in past time, and one formerly did as much work as three
do now. We know from recent experience what evil the peasant is capable
of doing. God has ordained, however, that nothing is to be had without
toil; therefore the peasant must labour, and if he will not, he must be
compelled.
CAP. X. There are also the casual labourers, who go from one employment
to another and always find fault with the food that they get from
their masters. These are irrational like beasts, and they should be
disciplined by fear of punishment.
CAP XI. In cities there are chiefly two classes, the merchants and the
craftsmen. The former sin by not regarding festivals and holy days.
CAP. XII. Usury and Fraud are two sisters, daughters of Avarice, to
whom the dwellers in cities pay honour. Usury is forbidden of old, but
by a gloss on the text it is now approved.
CAP. XIII. Fraud is worse, because it is common to all places. From the
young apprentice to the master all practise it in selling.
CAP. XIV. Craftsmen, who make things, follow the laws of Fraud, and so
do those who sell articles of food, as meat, fish, bread, beer and so
on.
CAP. XV. It is an ill bird that fouls its own nest, and it is
shameful for a citizen to benefit strangers at the expense of his
fellow-citizens. It is an evil thing when one of low condition is
exalted to the highest place in the city. The evil man is a common
scourge; but though he be mounted on high, he shall fall and perish.
CAP. XVI. The man whose tongue is unrestrained is as a pestilence among
the people. The tongue causes strife and many evils; it breaks through
every guard and devours like a flame. None can say how many evils the
tongue of the talkative man brings about in the city: it causes discord
and hatred instead of peace and love; and where peace and love are not,
there God is not. The citizen who thus plagues his fellows should be
put to death or banished: it is expedient that one should die, lest the
whole people should perish.
Thou ruler of the city, labour to bring about harmony and peace, and
above all deal prudently. Great consequences often follow from small
things, and the fire which seems to be extinguished may blaze up again.
Justice and peace, which formerly reigned, must be restored, so that
the ruin which overtook Rome and Athens may be averted from our city.
LIBER SEXTUS.
CAP. I. Besides the three degrees of society above described, there
are those who are called ministers of the Law. Of these some labour
for true law and justice, and these I praise; but most practise an art
under the name of law which perverts justice. The advocate will plead
the cause of any man who pays him, and compels his rich neighbours
to give him gifts, for fear that evil should befall them. He has a
thousand ways of making his gains; the great and powerful break through
his snares, but the weak and defenceless are caught in them. Like the
bat or the owl he loves darkness rather than light: yet sometimes the
biter is bitten.
CAP. II. The advocate oppresses and plunders the poor, and rejoices in
discord as a physician in disease. He contrives every device to enrich
himself and his offspring; he joins house to house and field to field.
But his heir dissipates that which he has gathered together, and a
curse comes upon him at the last.
CAP. III. The land is ruined by the excessive number of lawyers.
As a straight stick appears crooked when plunged in water, so does
straightforward and simple law become distorted in the mind of the
lawyer. As clouds conceal the sun, so do advocates obscure the
clear light of the law. Conspiracy, they say, is unlawful, but they
themselves conspire to protect one another, and the law has no power
over these.
CAP. IV. They ascend by degrees from the rank of apprentice to that of
serjeant and so to the office of judge. The administration of justice
is disturbed chiefly by three things, gifts, favour, and fear. Those
who make friends with the judge will hardly lose their case.
CAP. V. O ye who sell justice for gain, learn what end awaits you. The
higher you rise, the greater will be your fall: the more wealth you
gather, the greater will be your misery. O thou judge who seekest after
wealth, why dost thou attend to all things else and neglect thyself?
Thou wilt gain the world, but lose heaven. All worldly power comes to
an end, and so, be sure, will thine.
CAP. VI. As regards the sheriffs, the bailiffs, and the jurymen at
assizes, they are ready to accept bribes and pervert justice. As the
toad cursed the harrow, so I curse these many masters, who are all
unjust.
CAP. VII. Laws, nevertheless, there must be, to punish the
transgressor; and if there are laws there must also be judges. The
worst of evils is when justice is not to be had, and this causes a land
to be divided against itself. Much depends upon the ruler: for the sins
of a bad king the people are punished as well as the king himself. The
higher a man’s place is, the worse is the effect of his evil-doing.
A law is nothing without people, or people without a king, or a king
without good counsel.
[69]Complaints are everywhere heard now of the injustice of the high
court, and the limbs suffer because the head is diseased. The king
is an undisciplined youth, who neglects all good habits, and chooses
unworthy companions, by whose influence he is made worse. At the same
time older men give way to him for gain and pervert the justice of the
king’s court. None can tell what the end will be: I can only mourn over
these evils and offer my counsel to the youthful king.
CAP. VIII. Every subject is bound to serve his king, and the king to
govern his people justly. Hence I shall endeavour to set forth a rule
of conduct for the honour of my king.
First then, I say, govern thyself according to the law, and enforce on
thyself the precepts that are fitting for others. A king is above all
others; he should endeavour to overcome and rise above himself. If thou
art above the laws, live the more justly. Be gentle in thy acts, for
thy wrath is death. Endeavour to practise virtue in thy youth and to
avoid evil communications.
CAP. IX. Avoid false friends and those who stir up war for the sake of
their own profit. Resist those who will tempt thee to evil, O king.
Take vengeance on wrong, and let justice be done without fear or favour.
CAP. X. Show mercy also, where mercy is fitting, and listen to the
prayer of the poor and helpless. Let fit men of proper age and
sufficient wisdom be appointed to administer justice.
CAP. XI. Be not exalted with vain glory, O king, or moved by sudden
wrath to violence. Be liberal to those who need thy help, and give alms
to the poor of that which God has given thee. Avoid gluttony and sloth.
CAP. XII. Above all things, O king, flee from the enticements of
fleshly lusts. Take example by the sin of David, and by that of the
Hebrews who were tempted by the counsel of Balaam. One consort is
sufficient for thee: be faithful to her.
CAP. XIII. O king, thou art the defender in arms of thy people.
Remember the deeds of thy father, whose praise is sounded everywhere
and whose prowess was above that of Hector. He was just and liberal; he
made prey of foreign lands, but he protected his own. France and Spain
both felt his might, and he broke through the ranks of his enemies like
a lion. The land was at rest under that great prince: the nation was
secure from its enemies. O king, endeavour to deserve the praise which
thy father won. Peace is the best of all things, but it must sometimes
give way to war.
CAP. XIV. A king must not prey upon his people; their love is his chief
glory. He should remember that true nobility does not come from noble
descent but from virtue. Study to know thyself and to love God.
CAP. XV. O young king, remember how Solomon in his youth asked for
wisdom to rule well, rather than wealth or long life, and how God
granted his prayer and added also the other blessings. Wisdom is above
everything for a king, and this makes him acceptable to God.
CAP. XVI. Whatever thou hast, O king, comes from God. He has given thee
beauty of body, and thou must see to it that there be virtue of the
soul corresponding to this. Worship and fear God, for earthly kingdoms
are as nothing compared with his.
CAP. XVII. Death makes all equal; rich and poor, king and subject, all
go one way. Prepare thyself, therefore, for thy journey, and adorn
thyself betimes with virtue. May God direct thee in the right way.
CAP. XVIII. [70]The king is honoured above all, so long as his acts are
good, but if the king be avaricious and proud, the people is grieved.
Not all that a king desires is expedient for him: he has a charge laid
upon him and must maintain law and do justice.
O king, do away the evils of thy reign, restore the laws and banish
crime: let thy people be subject to thee for love and not for fear.
CAP. XIX. All things change and die, the gems that were bright are
now dimmed, the Church herself has lost her virtue, and the Synagogue
becomes the spouse of Christ. The good men of old have passed away, and
the bad of old live again. Noah, Japhet, Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, Moses,
Aaron, Elijah, Micaiah, Elisha are gone; Nimrod, Ham, Belus, Ishmael,
Abiram, Korah, Dathan, Zedekiah, and Gehazi survive. Peter is dead, but
Tiberius lives; Paul is reconverted into Saul; the examples of Gregory,
Martin, Tobit, and Job are neglected. Benedict is dead, but Julian
lives: there is a new Arius, a new Jovinian, who spread their heresy.
CAP. XX. As the good men in the Church of God have passed away, so also
the men who were famed for prowess in the world are gone, as Trajan,
Justinian, Alexander, Constantine, Theodosius, Julius, Hannibal,
while the bad still survive, as Nero, Dionysius, Tarquin, Leo, and
Constantius. Solomon is dead and Rehoboam survives. The love of David
and Jonathan is gone, but the hatred of Saul still lives; the counsel
of Achitophel is followed and that of Hushai rejected; Cato is banished
and Pilate is made judge in his stead; Mordecai is hanged and Haman is
delivered; Christ is crucified and Barabbas is let go free.
CAP. XXI. Temperance and chastity also have disappeared. Socrates and
Diogenes are dead, Epicurus and Aristippus still live; Phirinus is
dead and Agladius survives; Troilus and Medea are dead, while Jason
and Criseida remain; Penelope and Lucretia have passed away, Circe and
Calipso still live. The laws of marriage are no longer kept in these
days, chaste love is all but unknown, and adultery everywhere prevails.
Women have no modesty, no chastity, and no patience: vice blooms and
flourishes, while the flower of virtue is trodden under foot.
LIBER SEPTIMUS.
CAP. I. Now the golden head of Nebuchadnezzar’s statue is gone, and
the feet of iron and clay remain: the world is in its final stage of
deterioration. There are principally two causes, lechery, which leads
to sloth, and avarice, which is ever unsatisfied.
CAP. II. The avaricious are merciless to the poor, and their hard
hearts are typified by the iron of the statue. He is wretched who is
ever desiring more, not he who has little and is content.
CAP. III. The fragile clay signifies the frailty of our flesh, which
shows itself in fornication and adultery. There is also hypocrisy
everywhere, which conceals the foulness within by a fair show without.
Yet it will not escape detection.
CAP. IV. Things that were good are now changed into the opposite forms,
truth into falsehood, wisdom into folly, love into lust, learned into
ignorant; servants are become masters and masters servants. Nothing
pleases now but flattery. Courts do not keep their former honour:
knights there are in plenty, but little valour. Weakness grows and
strength is depressed, there is much talk but little action, the
burdens of war without the advantages. Justice has departed and fraud
has taken its place; even those of one family feel envy and hatred
one against another. Friendship is treacherous and seeks gain like a
harlot: hatred is everywhere common, but love is as the phenix. There
is no faith anywhere, and the right hand cannot trust the left. All cry
out against the world and say that it is growing worse and worse.
CAP. V. The world is indeed full of evil and impurity, and this life is
a perpetual warfare, in which all that is good perishes and all that
is evil prevails. Even the elements of the world change and pass away,
and much more human things. No degree is exempted: the hearts of kings
are disturbed by fear of change, and terrors prevail in spite of royal
banquets and bodyguards.
CAP. VI. Man was created for the service of God, and the world was
given for his use. He was made in the image of God, and he learnt
gradually the purpose of his creation and to love his Creator.
CAP. VII. All things were put under his feet, and were made to minister
to him. He ought therefore to remember whence he is and who gave him
these things. Again, when by man’s sin the race of man was corrupted,
the Creator himself restored and redeemed it, taking the form of a
servant. Man ought therefore to confess him as Lord and follow his
precepts with a devout mind.
CAP. VIII. Man is a microcosm or lesser world, and according as he does
ill or well, the greater world is good or bad. Man ought therefore to
aim at high things, and not to submit himself to the rule of sin.
CAP. IX. When death comes, when the throat is dry and the face
bloodless, when the eyes are fixed and the tongue silent, when the
pulse beats no more and the feet can no longer move, what then will
the proud man say? The body in which he prided himself is now food
for worms, his strength is less than that of a fly, and his beauty is
turned into loathing. His wealth and his pomp avail him no longer, the
serpent is his attendant and the charnel-house is his bed-chamber.
CAP. X. The envious man, who once gnawed upon others, is now himself
devoured: he who laughed at the misfortunes of others, laughs now no
more; the heart that so much murmured now suffers putrefaction; the
sting of envy can pierce no more.
CAP. XI. He who was full of anger, now cannot move his head; he who
uttered furious words, now cannot make a sound; he who terrified others
by his threats, now does not scare away the worm which eats his heart.
CAP. XII. What can avarice do for him who has served her? He has no
chest but his coffin, no land but the seven feet of earth in which he
lies. He who preyed upon others, is himself the prey of death; he who
closed his purse against the poor, is now himself in want.
CAP. XIII. The slothful man who was given to sleep, has now abundance
of it, with the cold earth instead of his soft bed-coverings. He who
seldom came to the church, now never leaves it, but his time for prayer
is past.
CAP. XIV. Gluttony is no longer a pleasure; the body which delighted in
choice food and drink is now full of vileness and horror, the abode of
foul reptiles.
CAP. XV. The man who took pleasure in lechery, delights in it now no
more. His members are preyed upon by the serpent, and he can no longer
use his hands, his eyes, or his tongue in the service of lust. No
longer can he commit incest or violate the honour of virginity.
CAP. XVI. Answer, thou sinful man, what will thy pride do for thee
then, thy envy, thy anger, thy sloth, thy gluttony, thy lechery, or thy
avarice? All the glory of this world perishes and passes away.
CAP. XVII. Everything passes away, wealth, honour, beauty, power,
learning, and pleasure. Our flesh grows old as a garment and we perish.
He is happy and a true king who rules himself, he is a slave (though
called a king) who is subject to his own vices. Our life is so short
and death comes so soon, that we ought all to prepare for our journey
hence. Death comes when we least expect it, and takes away our wealth
and strength, nor can any man redeem himself with gold, or move with
gifts the Judge who judges all things justly.
CAP. XVIII. Death is common to all, but to the good it is a cause of
joy, to the evil of sorrow. The good will pass by means of death to a
place of perfect peace and perfect joy, such as cannot be described or
imagined.
CAP. XIX. The evil-doer has a twofold death, the death of the body and
the death of the soul. No words can tell the torment of that second
death, which is eternal. How terrible will the Judgement be and how
direful the sentence! Happy are they who shall escape such punishment.
CAP. XX. Let each man remember what his condition is, and let him
repent in time, turning himself to the service of his Creator. Let him
submit to punishment in this life, that he may escape that which is
eternal: for it is the property of God to forgive and to have mercy.
CAP. XXI. Almost everyone, however, follows the lusts of his flesh and
neglects the cause of his soul. The unrighteous have power everywhere,
and all vices flourish.
CAP. XXII. The days are coming which Christ foretold, and the signs
which he predicted are visible now. God’s sentence is still delayed, in
order that the sinner may have room for repentance. Hardly even a few
just men are found to save the world from destruction.
CAP. XXIII. Each one of the various degrees of society has departed
from its true virtue, and the deadly vices have rule over the whole.
Prelates are worldly, priests unchaste, scholars lazy, monks envious
and self-indulgent, knights are evil livers, merchants defraud,
peasants are disobedient and proud. The enticements of the world have
overcome them all.
CAP. XXIV. I love all the realms of Christendom, but most of all I
love this land in which I was born. From other lands I stand apart and
am not involved in their calamities; but this country of mine, which
brought me up from childhood and in which I dwell, cannot suffer evil
without affecting me: by its burdens I am weighed down; if it stands, I
stand, if it falls, I fall. Therefore it is that I bewail its present
divisions.
One thing above all things is needful, and that is justice, with which
is associated peace. If in other lands the sins of the flesh prevail,
yet there they are to some extent compensated; for there justice
prevails and all are equal before the law. Among us, however, not
only is there carnal vice, but justice is absent; so that a terrible
vengeance is being prepared for us by God.
We, who have always been favoured by fortune, are now brought low; this
land, which was once reputed so wealthy, is now poor both in virtue
and in possessions; my country, which was so strong, is made feeble by
unjust judgements; she who was so fertile, is now sown with salt; she
who had Fame for her sister, is now infamous, all her praise is taken
away and her glory is departed. Her lords are sunk in sloth, her clergy
is dissolute, her cities full of discord, her laws oppressive and
without justice, her people discontented.
O land barren of virtue, where is thy past fortune? omens appear which
presage thy fate, and all point to thee as an example. It is not by
fortune or by chance that this comes about, but by our sins; and the
grace of God even now may be found by repentance. I pray that God may
show us his mercy and accept our tears. We know that thou, O God, art
alone to be worshipped, that thou art the ruler of all things, and not
fortune. Show pity therefore, O God!
CAP. XXV. Such were the verses which came to me by inspiration in my
sleep. It is not I who speak them, but the common voice of all. Let him
who feels himself in fault amend his ways, and he who feels himself
free from fault may pass untouched. I accuse no man; let each examine
his own conscience.
The world is neither evil nor good: each man may make of it what he
will by his own life. [71]But this I say, that sin committed and not
purged by repentance receives at length its due reward.
The conclusion of the _Vox Clamantis_, as altered from the first
version, is doubtless intended as a fitting form of introduction for
the _Cronica Tripertita_, which comes in as an appendix added in later
years. It will be noted as regards the prose which forms a transition
to this, that Gower has in the end brought himself to think that the
misfortunes of the earlier part of Richard’s reign were intended as a
special warning to the youthful king, whom he formerly relieved from
responsibility on account of his tender age, and that the tyranny
of his later time sprang naturally out of his disregard of this
preliminary chastisement. This change of view is also to be traced in
the successive forms assumed by the paragraph relating to the _Vox
Clamantis_ in the author’s account of his books (‘Quia vnusquisque,’
&c.).
Of the contents of the _Cronica Tripertita_ it is unnecessary that more
should be said than is contained in the Notes to this edition. Of the
remaining pieces the _Carmen super multiplici Viciorum Pestilencia_
is dated by the author as belonging to the twentieth year of Richard
II. The _Tractatus de Lucis Scrutinio_ is probably somewhat later, and
the poem ‘O deus immense,’ &c., is said in one of the titles prefixed
to have been composed near the end of Richard’s reign. Besides these
there is a group of Latin poems referring to the accession of Henry
IV, ‘Rex celi, deus,’ &c. adapted from the _Vox Clamantis_, ‘H. aquile
pullus,’ and ‘O recolende, bone,’ with several short occasional pieces
belonging to the last years of the author’s life. One of these has
reference to his blindness and to the end of his activity as an author
which was caused by it, and in connexion with this we have also the
epistle to Archbishop Arundel prefixed to the All Souls MS. of the _Vox
Clamantis_ and other Latin poems, and apparently meant to accompany the
presentation of this particular copy. To Arundel also is addressed the
short piece referring to the comet of March 1402, and finally we have
the lines in which allusion is made to the short-comings of executors.
It is probable also that the four lines which afterwards appeared upon
the poet’s tomb, ‘Armigeri scutum,’ &c., and which are given by the
Glasgow MS., were written by Gower himself.
Some reference ought perhaps to be made in conclusion to the list of
Gower’s works given by Bale and copied by others, with a view to the
question whether he was acquainted with any works of Gower which are
not known to us. In his _Scriptorum Illustrium Catalogus_, p. 524 (ed.
1559) he says that Gower wrote
‘_Speculum Meditantis_, Gallice, Lib. 10.
‘_Confessionem Amantis_, Anglice, Lib. 8, “Eorum qui ante nos
scripserunt.”
‘_Vocem Clamantis_, Latine, Lib. 7, “Scripture veteris capiunt
exempla.”
‘_De compunctione cordis_, Lib. 1.
‘_Chronicon Ricardi Secundi_, Lib. 3, “Opus humanum est
inquirere.”
‘_Chronicon tripertitum_, Lib. 3, “Tolle caput mundi C. ter et
sex.”
‘_Ad Henricum quartum_, Lib. 1, “Nobilis ac digne rex Henrice.”
‘_De eodem rege Henrico_, Lib. 1, “Rex celi deus et dominus.”
‘_De peste vitiorum_, Lib. 1, “Non excusatur qui verum non
fateatur.”
‘_Scrutinium lucis_, Lib. 1, “Heu quia per crebras humus est.”