which our breasts, choked with vices, are enveloped, tell, and
reveal, O muse, with a mournful countenance, if you care to touch
the heart of the spectator with your lament.--The wretched and
profane people seem to form their wishes in consideration, not
of the price of virtue, but of flax or wool: what is done in the
evening is unwrought in the morning. O cares of men! O how much
emptiness there is in things!--Every eye is blind to justice;
every mind is large to injustice; a thousand hopes of men and
the differing aspects of things depend on the dice and uses of
fortune.--When chaste maidens join in dance with the strumpet,
when the Arabs play the pauper under the robe of a beggar, when
Tydeus denies his faith to his Polynices, then, if you are
admitted to the spectacle, my friends, can you restrain your
laughter?--If you are anxious to know all men by their several
failings, who practise sloth, who are the plotters of treason,
who the servants of Mammon, who the despisers of God, we must
observe the manners of every age of life.--The boy, as he learns
the use of feet, hates the doors, flies abroad; he respects
things and honours less than the least; anger and joy succeed
each other with short intervals, for his changes are sudden.--The
youth flies from his tutor and confinement; he delights in
horses, dogs, dice, and wine, a hunter of his pleasures, whose
occupation is with women, a slow provider of useful things,
prodigal of money.--When arrived at manhood, that he may rule
the citizens and dictate to the prætor, that he may extend his
possessions with a longer cable, and fill his bags with greater
treasure, he seeks riches and friendships, and is a slave to
honours.--Many serious troubles surround the old man, either
that, from stinginess, he spares his perishing wealth, or that
he handles his riches with fear, lest they should fall to the
thief; he is one who delays long, depending on hope, inactive,
and greedy of the future.--Thus difference of time causes variety
of ages; the tender age is occupied on the affections of the
heart, the man on lofty things, but he whom old age bends, his
breast glows with avarice and miserable cupidity.--In this
respect the whole mind of men grows old, which, while it seeks
things external, is ignorant of itself in the pursuit; ambition
is not quieted by success: the love of money increases as fast
as the money itself increases.--But in this point alone may
vice claim some credit, that it is always prevalent among the
great; yet that disposition which respects no control is the more
conspicuously criminal, in proportion as the sinner occupies a
higher station.--Rome, lying in the depths of turpitude, ranks
virtues beneath filthy lucre; fluctuating under the waves of a
vacillating mind, she overthrows, builds, and changes square
things for round.--She despises the bland countenances at which
but now she smiled; she cherishes in her placid breast those whom
before she rolled down; while she receives money, she treats
and revises: what she sought she despises, and seeks again what
lately she let go.--If she does not perceive rightly a thing in
any manner whatever, and has not forgotten the custom which she
first learnt, she smells of the custom of the cask, which will
keep very long the odour with which it was once endued while
fresh.--Before the cardinals and before the patriarch, a pound
overcomes the Bible, money the accused, and a marc Mark, the
law sparing to him who is not sparing, gives only as much grace
as each has money in his purse.--If you seek the balance of the
judges, you should seek it with copper, since the favour of the
balance hangs from copper; you should not ask respite, but ask
what they ask; whence you obtain it nobody will inquire, but you
needs must have it.--When you are turned over to the notary, pour
out your bribes; he will at once extricate you from your cause,
when, why, or whence it may arise, and will subject the canons to
the form that is round (i. e. the coin), whom prosperity delights
not a little.--Rome teaches all that they should fly over to
expediency, that they should offer heart and hand to Mammon
rather than to God; thus it happens that the branches smell of
a bad root; where the head is infirm, the other members are in
pain.--The archbishops tread under foot the necks of the clergy,
and extort tears in order that they may be dried by gifts; nor,
if the poor wretches bring few or not good ones, do they take
them in good part, or acknowledge them with favour.--If any one
begins to complain of an injury, they immediately stretch their
ear to the cause, their hand to the gift; if they once receive
a thing of the plural number, to-morrow the same basenesses may
be done as yesterday.--The bishop loves a cheerful giver, and
dares either right or wrong after the smell of a bribe, unable
to resume, after he has thrown shame aside, the blush once
rejected from his worn brow.--Nor is there less baseness in the
archdeacon; whom he has once taken up, whether in earnest or in
joke, he holds; nor has he mercy for the needy or the naked;
the leech which will not let go the skin till he is filled with
blood.--The dean, born to everlasting wiles, that he may explore
the creed (symbolum) and the things which succeed, changing the
tune of his tongue and yesterday’s garments, migrates with humble
speech to the obscure taverns.--The priest, whatever either the
dead or the living give, carries all to his fireside-woman, to
whom he gives himself and what he has; he of the holy name and
the equal mind, who meditates the law of the Lord by day and by
night.--The laymen resting on the words of the clergy who depart
from them, pay less attention to the words than to the character
of the teacher: nor can laws subdue the senses of men by
threats and torments, so much as the example of the ruler.--The
luxurious princes stir kingdoms and states, that they may lead
armies, inflicting the punishment of a tax on the rustic and the
miserable citizen; for whenever the kings run wild, the Greeks
pay the piper.--They who are occupied with the cares of the
kingdom or of the court, detract while they smile, and when they
flatter they are plotting damage or disgrace; there is neither
faith nor honesty in those who follow camps.--If a citizen
perceive you, he caresses that he may burn you; if you lay down
ten, he puts the payment of his stake to another time; he cheats
you out of your own; look to it, while it lasts; he may perish
behind the wine and the dice, who leaves care till to-morrow.--If
any one going to the houses of the lawyers, carries his money
openly, he also is a simpleton; for when he sleeps in his bed
weary and full, people live by rapine, the guest is not safe
from his host.--Thus rapine, snares, treachery, and strife, lead
people into error, misery, and folly; thus ambition and luxury,
and the revered possession of riches, allure the foolish minds of
all men.--But what availeth luxury and power to those miserable
people who, despising virtues, esteem only things that produce
evil, such as gold, gems, and heaps of wealth? when our labour
is expended on what is injurious to us, the misery of mortals is
on the increase.--What avails it to talk of purple, gems, gold,
land? With riches we have feuds, losses, pleas, fastings, fears,
and justly sleepless cares come in a long train.--The poor man
reigns more safely than he that amasses wealth, who, while the
informer deprives the lord of his favour, or the lurking spoiler
spoils him who is laden, he, an empty traveller, will sing before
the thief.--They who are destitute often live more pleasantly
under a slight hut of brick or mud, than those who are delicately
clothed in the palaces of kings; he will be ever a slave who
knows not how to use moderation.--But if you seek abundance of
true property, reject superfluity, seek what is enough, strip
yourself of riches, and die naked; delay not this, for those who
are prepared are ever injured by delay.--If while you are on
your road to what is more useful, fear dissuade hope, or delay
endanger success; change not your mind, nor slacken your reins;
the grateful hour will arrive when least expected.--Treasure up
that which you cannot abuse, having a care of the needy, the
blind, the lame, and the dumb; serve your soul, and not your
mind or your skin; you owe little to pleasure, but more to your
salvation.--No one is safe on a king’s throne, or in a sanctuary,
since it can be expressed neither by tongue nor pen by how
slender a thread the destinies of men hang under the imminent
approach of death.--While you navigate prosperously the far side
of the sea, weigh not the present but the future, and considering
the poop more than the prow or the oar, act as though you thought
every day your last.
* * * * *
The foreign policy of Henry III. was even less manly than that of
his father. Among the many songs of the Normans and Poitevins,
reclaiming the assistance of their ancient sovereign, we may give
as an example the Sirvente of Bernard de Rovenac, addressed to
Henry and his contemporary James I. King of Aragon, from whom
Louis IX. had taken Languedoc to give it as a portion to his
brother Alphonsus. There is internal evidence that it was written
about 1229, the year in which Henry III. made his ill-conducted
expedition into Brittany.
A SIRVENTE AGAINST KING HENRY.
[Raynouard, Choix, tom. iv. p. 203.]
Ja no vuelh do ni esmenda
Ni grat retener
Dels ricx ab lur falz saber,
Qu’en cor ay que los reprenda
Dels vils fatz mal yssernitz;
E no vuelh sia grazitz
Mos sirventes entr’ els flacx nualhos,
Paupres de cor et d’ aver poderos.
Rey Engles prec que entenda,
Quar fa dechazar
Son pauc pretz per trop temer,
Quar no’l play qu’ els sieus defenda,
Qu’ans es tan flacx e marritz
Que par sia adurmitz,
Qu’el reys frances li tolh en plas perdos
Tors et Angieus e Normans e Bretos.
Rey d’Arago, ses contenda,
Deu ben nom aver
Jacme, quar trop vol jazer;
E qui que sa terra s prenda,
El es tan flacx e chausitz
Que sol res no y contraditz;
E car ven lay als Sarrazis fellos
L’anta e’l dan que pren say vas Lymos.
Ja tró son payre car venda
No pot trop valer,
Ni s cug qu’ ieu li diga plazer,
Tró foc n’abraz e n’essenda
E n’ sian grans colps feritz;
Pueys er de bon pretz complitz,
S’al rey frances merma sos tenezos,
Quar el sieu fieu vol heretar N Anfos.
Coms de Toloza, la renda
Que soletz tener
De Belcaire us deu dolar,
S’al deman faitz lonj’ atenda
Vos e ’l reys que us es plevitz;
L’enprendemen n’er aunitz,
S’ar no vezem tendas e pabalhos,
E murs fondre, e cazer autas tors.
Ricx homes, mal yssernitz,
En vey hom vostres malz ditz,
E laissera us, s’ie us vis arditz ni pros,
Mas no us tem tan que ja m’en lays per vos.
TRANSLATION.--I wish neither for the gifts and favours--nor to
obtain the good-will--of the rich, with their false wisdom;--but
I have in my heart the intention to reproach them--with their
vile deeds ill-conceived;--and I don’t wish to be agreable--my
Sirventes among the cowardly idlers,--poor in heart and heavy in
riches.
The English King, I pray him to hear it,--for he causes to
fall--his little glory by too much timidity,--for it does not
please him to defend his own people,--and thus he is so cowardly
and so vile,--that he seems to be asleep,--while the French King
takes from him with impunity--Tours, and Angiers, and Normans,
and Bretons.
The King of Aragon, without any doubt,--ought really to have the
name--of James; for he is too willing to lie down;--and whoever
it be that takes his land,--he is so cowardly and caitiff,--that
he does not even contradict it;--and he revenges on that side
against the felon Saracens----the shame and damage which he
receives on this side towards Limoux.
Until he have revenged his father,--he cannot have much
esteem,--nor let him imagine that I will speak to please
him,--unless he ravage and put in flames,--and unless great
blows be struck.--For there will have been accomplished great
honour,--if he narrows the domains of the French King,--for Don
Alfonse desires to inherit his fief.
Earl of Toulouse, the rent--which you used to hold--from
Beaucaire, you ought to regret,--if you make long delay to
demand it,--you, and that King, because you are in league;--that
undertaking will not be disgraced,--if we now see tents and
pavilions,--and walls fall and high towers break.
Rich men, ill-advised,--one sees your evil sayings,--I would let
you alone, if I saw you hardy and courageous,--but I do not fear
you so much as to leave it on your account.
* * * * *
The following Sirvente, by the same author, is also directed
against Henry and James, and was written about the year 1250. It
repeats the same articles of accusation, and its object was to
persuade those kings to invade the dominions of Louis, while he was
himself absent on his crusade.
A SIRVENTE AGAINST KING HENRY.
[Raynouard, tom. iv. p. 205.]
D’un sirventes m’es grans volontatz preza,
Ricx homes flacx, e non sai que us disses,
Quar ja lauzor no y auria ben meza,
Ni us aus blasmar, e val pauc sirventes
Que laza quan blasmar deuria;
Pero si tot vos par follia,
A me platz mais que us blasme dizen ver,
Que si menten vos dizia plazer.
Amdos los reys an una cauz’ empressa,
Selh d’Arago et aisselh dels Engles,
Que no sia per elhs terra defeza
Ni fasson mal ad home qu’el lur fes,
E fan merces e cortezia,
Quar al rey que conquer Suria
Laisson en patz lur fieus del tot tener;
Nostre Senher lur en deu grat saber.
Vergonha m pren, quant una gens conqueza
Nos ten aissi totz vencutz e conques,
E degr’ esser aitals vergonha prezza,
Quom a me pren, al rey Aragones
E al rey que pert Normandia,
Mas prez an aital companhia
Que ja nulh temps no fasson lur dever,
Et anc non vitz autre tan ben tener.
E pus no pren en la leuda torneza
Qu’a Monpeslier li tollon siey borzes,
Ni no y s venja de l’anta que y a preza,
Ja no ’lh sia mais retragz Carcasses,
Pos als sieus eys no s defendria,
Assatz fa sol qu’en patz estia;
Patz non a ges senher ab gran poder,
Quan sas antas torna a non chaler.
Ges trop lauzar, quan valors es mal meza,
Non apel patz, quar mala guerra es;
Ni ja per me non er per patz enteza,
Mielhs deuria aver nom gauch de pages,
E dels ricx que perdon tot dia
Pretz, e ja fort greu no lur sia,
Quar pauc perdon e pauc lur deu doler,
Quar ges de pauc non pot hom trop mover.
Lo reys N Anfos a laissat cobezeza
Als autres reys, qu’a sos ops non vol ges,
Et a sa part elh a preza largueza,
Mal a partit qui reptar l’en volgues;
E dic vos que m par vilania
Qui partis e qui ’l mielhs s’ atria,
Mas ges pertant non a fag non dever,
Quar a pres so qu’elhs no volon aver.
Ricx malastrucx, s’ieu vos sabia
Lauzor, volontiers la us diria;
Mas no us pessetz menten mi alezer,
Que vostre grat no vuelh ni vostr’ aver.
TRANSLATION.--I am seized by a great desire of writing a
sirvente,--O rich yet cowardly men! and I know not what I shall
say to you,--for there will be little room for praise;--nor dare
I blame you, and a sirvente is worth little--which praises when
it ought to blame:--but though it may seem all folly to you,--yet
it pleases me more to blame you by telling the truth,--than if I
spoke falsehood to please you.
Both the kings have resolved on one thing,--he of Aragon
and he of the English,--that by them the land shall not be
defended,--and that they will do ill to no one who does ill
to them;--they are merciful and courteous;--for they let the
King who is conquering Syria--retain their fiefs altogether in
peace;--our Lord ought to be very thankful to them for it.
Shame seizes on me, when a vanquished people--holds us thus all
subdued and conquered,--and such shame ought to seize--the King
of Aragon, as seizes me,--and the King who loses Normandy,--but
they take such company--that now they never perform their
duty,--and I never saw another hold so well.
And afterwards he does not receive the tax,--which at Montpellier
his burgesses take from him,--neither does he revenge himself of
the disgrace he received there,--now Carcasson may no more be
recovered by him;--for he would not defend his own eyes,--his
only endeavour is that he may be in peace;--a noble lord with
great power has no peace,--when he turns his ways to nonchalance.
To praise people too much, when valour is ill esteemed,--I do not
call it peace, for it is bad war;--nor shall it now be understood
by me for peace,--it ought rather to have the name of pages’
play,--and of the rich who lose every day--honour, and yet it
grieves them not much,--for they lose little and need not grieve
much,--for we cannot be moved much by a little thing.
The king Don Alfonso has left covetousness--to the other kings,
because he will not make use of it,--and he has taken for his
share largess,--he has an ill share who wishes to recover this
from him;--and I tell you that it appears to me villany,--when
one shares and takes the best to himself;--yet no one has done
otherwise than right,--when he has taken that which others will
not have.
Rich men ill-advised, if I knew any thing in you--worthy of
praise, I would willingly tell you of it;--but think not to take
up my leisure,--for I desire neither your thanks nor your goods.
* * * * *
Henry’s embarrassments at home were now becoming every day
more numerous and more complicated. Scarcely any part of the
nation, clergy, barons, or people, were any longer his friends.
The following song (made in 1256) was evidently written by one
belonging to the former of these classes, indignant at the taxes
which the King, with the consent of the Pope, had levied on the
clergy, in the vain hope of placing one of his sons on the throne
of Sicily, and afterwards to pay the debt which he had contracted
towards the supreme pontiff. The King of France, quoted as an
example, was the saintly Louis IX.
THE SONG OF THE CHURCH.
[MS. Cotton. Jul. D. VII. fol. 133, v^o. of 13th century.]
_Istud canticum factum fuit anno gratiæ m^occ^olvi^o supra
desolatione Ecclesiæ Anglicanæ._
Or est acumpli à men acient
La pleinte Jeremie, ke oï avez suvent;
ke dit cument set sule
cité pleine de fule
Plurant amerement,
ore est sanz mariage
e mis en tailage,
La dame de la gent.
Cest est seint eglise trestut apertement,
Ke est ja hunie e tut mis a vent:
E si est maumise, nus veum cument.
Ele gent e plure,
n’a ad nul ke sucure
De sun marement.
Jà fu cleregie
franche e à desus,
Amée e cherie,
nule ren pot plus.
Ore est enservie,
E trop envilie,
e abatu jus;
Par iceus est hunie,
Dunt dut aver aïe;
jo n’os dire plus.
Li rois ne l’apostoile ne pensent altrement,
Mès coment au clers tolent lur or e lur argent.
Co est tute la summe,
ke la pape de Rume
Al rei trop consent,
pur aider sa curune
la dime de clers li dune,
De ço en fet sun talent.
Jo ne quid pas ke li rois face sagement,
Ke il vit de roberie ke il de la clergie prent.
Jà ne fra bone prise,
pur rober seinte eglise;
Il la say verament.
Ke vot aver semblance,
regarde le rois de France
E sun achevement.
TRANSLATION.--Now is accomplished as I conceive--the plaint
of Jeremiah, which you have often heard,--who tells how this
sole--city full of people--bewailing bitterly,--is now without
marriage--and put in contribution,--the Lady of the people.--That
is holy church very evidently,--who is now disgraced and all put
to sale;--and truly is she in ill case, we see how.--She laments
and weeps,--there is none who helps her--out of her desolation.
Formerly clergy was--free and uppermost,--loved and
cherished,--nothing could be more so.--Now it is enslaved,--and
too much debased,--and trodden down.--By those is it
disgraced,--from whom it ought to have help;--I dare not say more.
The king and the pope think of nothing else,--but how they may
take from the clergy their gold and their silver.--This is the
whole affair,--that the pope of Rome--yields too much to the
king,--to help his crown,--the tenth of the clergy’s goods he
gives him,--and with that he does his will.
I do not think that the King acts wisely,--that he lives of
robbery which he commits upon the clergy.--He will never be a
gainer,--by robbing holy church;--he knows it truly.--He who
seeks an example,--let him regard the King of France--and his
achievement.
* * * * *
The next Song, directed against the avarice of the Bishops, appears
to be of about the same date. In the manuscript it is written, like
the foregoing, as prose.
A SONG AGAINST THE BISHOPS.
[From the same folio of the same MS.]
Licet æger cum ægrotis,
Et ignotus cum ignotis,
Fungar tamen vice totis,
Jus usurpans sacerdotis;
flete, Syon filiæ,
præsides ecclesiæ
imitantur hodie
Christum a remotis.
Jacet ordo clericalis
In respectu laicalis,
Sponsa Christi fit venalis,
Generosa generalis;
veneunt altaria,
venit eucharistia,
cum sit nugatoria
Gratia venalis.
Donum Dei non donatur
Nisi gratis conferatur;
Quod qui vendit vel mercatur,
Lepra Syri vulneratur;
quem sic ambit ambitus,
ydolorum servitus
templo sancti spiritus
Non compaginatur.
In diebus juventutis
Timent annos senectutis,
Ne fortuna destitutis
Desit eis splendor cutis.
Sed dum quærunt medium,
vertunt in contrarium,
fallit enim vitium
Specie virtutis.
Tu qui tenes hunc tenorem,
Frustra dicis te pastorem;
Nec te regis ut rectorem,
Rerum mersus in ardorem:
Hæc est alia
sanguisugæ filia,
quam venalis curia
Duxit in uxorem.
TRANSLATION.--Although sick with those who are sick, and unknown
with those who are unknown, yet I will assume all characters in
turn, usurping the right of the priest: weep, ye daughters of
Sion, the bishops of the church at the present day are but remote
imitators of Christ!
The clerical order is debased in respect of the laity; the spouse
of Christ is made venal,--she that is noble, common; the altars
are for sale; the eucharist is for sale, although venal grace is
vain and frivolous.
God’s gift is not given if it be not conferred gratis; and he who
sells and makes merchandise of it, is, in so doing, struck with
the leprosy of Syrus; the service of idols, at which his ambition
thus aims, may not be engrafted on the temple of the Holy Spirit.
In their days of youth, they look forwards to old age with fear,
lest, deserted by fortune, they possess no longer their sleek
skin. But while they seek the mean, they turn into the contrary
extreme; for vice deceives them in the guise of virtue.
Thou who holdest this course, vainly thou callest thyself a
pastor; neither doest thou govern thyself like a ruler, immersed
in the heat of temporary affairs; she is another--daughter of the
leech, whom the venal court has taken to wife.
* * * * *
The following is another bitter satire on the vices of the great,
during the reign of Henry III. Who were the four brothers against
whom the song is more particularly directed, would not be easily
ascertained without other particulars besides those here furnished.
A SONG ON THE TIMES.
[MS. Harl. No. 978. fol. 123, v^o. of the 13th cent.]
Mundi libet vitia cunctis exarare;
Nam in mundo video multos nunc errare,
Spernere quod bonum est, quod malum est amare,
Et ad mala sæpius sponte declinare.
Mundus quia malus est, male scit nocere;
Mala novit facere, nescit pœnitere;
Caro quicquid appetit pro posse vult habere,
Sed quod Deus præcipit nequit adimplere.
Jam nil valet aliquis ni sciat litigare,
Nisi sciat cautius causis cavillare,
Nisi sciat simplices dolis impugnare,
Nisi sciat plenius nummos adunare.
Mundi status hodie multum variatur,
Semper in deterius misere mutatur;
Nam qui parcit nemini, quique plus lucratur,
Ille plus dilectus est et plus commendatur.
Rex et regni proceres satis sunt amari;
Omnes fere divites nimis sunt avari;
Pauper pauca possidens debet depilari,
Et ut ditet divitem rebus spoliari,
Bona per superflua dives excæcatur;
Circa temporalia tota mens versatur:
Et in vanis quoniam nimis delectatur,
Bona differt facere, malum non vitatur.
Ex prælatis plurimum Deum non timentes
Sunt sub boni specie mala facientes,
Hiique plus quam laici sæpe sunt nocentes,
Bene curant corpora, male pascunt mentes,
Regnat nunc impietas, pietas fugatur,
Nobilisque largitas procul relegatur;
Stricta nam tenacitas multos comitatur,
Et in multis caritas sic refrigeratur.
Fas et nefas ambulant pene casu pari,
Vix est jam quem pudeat nefas operari;
Carus hic acceptus est qui scit adulari,
Hicque privilegio gaudet singulari.
Quod ad lucrum pertinet nimis affectatur;
Lucra quisquis prospicit, cautus judicatur;
Res qui servat strictius, sapiens vocatur;
Sua qui dat largius, stultus reputatur.
Dolus avaritiæ comes copulatur;
Fidei perfidia jam parificatur;
Nam qui scit decipere, prudens prædicatur;
Qui plus mali perpetrat plus appretiatur.
Quatuor sunt maxime qui sic operantur,
Et cum malefecerint pejus meditantur,
Quorum infra scelera satis declarantur,
Et eorum nomina sic intitulantur.
Hii sunt fratres quatuor, Robertus, et Ricardus,
Gilebertus postea, vir valde Wandelardus,
Quartus inter alios frater est bastardus,
Galfridus, qui piger est, et ad bona tardus.
Cuique satis proprie nomen adaptatur,
Per quod quæ proprietas cujusque sit notatur;
Nam qui recte nominum vim interpretatur,
Scire potest certius quid significatur.
Competenter per _Robert_, _robbur_ designatur;
Et per _Richard_, _riche hard_ congrue notatur;
_Gilebert_ non sine re _gilur_ appellatur;
_Gefrei_, si rem tangimus, in _jo frai_ commutatur.
Per istorum nomina, quæ sic figurantur,
Modus, fraus, et opera multorum denotantur;
Et ut cunctis clarius hæc aperiantur,
Melius et plenius hic notificantur.
Robertus excoriat, extorquet, et minatur;
Et Ricardus retinet totum quod lucratur;
Gilebertus decipit, et inde gloriatur;
Galfridus se procrastinat, et nil operatur.
Veritatem prosequar ore nunc aperto:
Vir quicunque rabidus consors est Roberto;
Vir fallax et cupidus par fit Gileberto;
Vir piger et tepidus Galfridus est pro certo.
Tempus piger protrahit omni tardus hora;
Operari negligit quæ sunt meliora;
Bona nimis differens ruit in pejora;
Et ut bene faciat semper est in mora.
Hic promittit quodlibet, sed nil vult implere;
Semper dicit “faciam,” nunquam facit vere;
Sed cum mors est proxima, tunc incipit dolere;
Magnum est periculum tam sero pœnitere.
Quisque sibi caveat ne decipiatur;
Pœnitere studeat antequam labatur;
Dum est compos corporis bene mereatur,
Ne dum differt interim forte moriatur.
Fons et auctor, Dominus, summæ pietatis
Nobis hic sic annuat flere pro peccatis,
Et dum sumus validi pœnitere gratis,
Ut possimus alibi gaudere cum beatis! AMEN.
TRANSLATION.--Everybody has a right to satirize the world’s
vices; for now I see many in the world err, despise what is good,
love what is bad, and most frequently turning off spontaneously
to evil.--Because the world is depraved, it knows how to do
injury; it knows how to act ill, but not how to repent; the
flesh will do all it can to possess whatever it desires, but is
unable to fulfill God’s commandments.--Now nobody is esteemed
unless he knows how to litigate; unless he can cavil cunningly in
law-suits; unless he can overreach the simple; unless he know how
to amass abundance of money.--The state of the world is at the
present day constantly changing; it is always becoming miserably
worse; for he who spares nobody, and who is bent most on gain,
is most beloved and most commended.--The King and his nobles are
sufficiently bitter; almost all the rich men are too avaricious;
the poor man, who possesses little, must be robbed and spoiled
of his property to enrich the wealthy.--The rich man is blinded
by superfluous wealth; his whole mind is occupied with temporal
matters; and, since he is too much pleased with vanities, he puts
off the doing of good, but avoids not the evil.--Of the prelates,
there are very many who, having no fear of God, do evil under
the mask of good, and they often do more injury than the laymen;
they take great care of the body, but feed ill the mind.--Now
impiety reigns, piety is driven away, and noble liberality is
sent into far exile; for narrow stinginess is the companion
of many, and thus in many charity is become cold.--Right and
wrong march nearly on an equal footing; there is now scarcely
one who is ashamed of doing what is unlawful; the man is
held dear who knows how to flatter, and he enjoys a singular
privilege.--Lucre is a thing too much sought after; whoever has
an eye to it, is considered prudent; he who keeps very close
what he has, is called a wise man; he who gives liberally, is
set down for a fool.--Treachery accompanies avarice; perfidy
is now put on equality with honesty; for he who knows how to
deceive, is proclaimed a prudent man; and he who does most ill
is most prized.--There are four persons in particular who work
thus; who, even while doing ill, are meditating to do worse,
whose crimes are sufficiently declared below, and whose names
are as follows:--They are four brothers, Robert, and Richard;
next Gilbert, a true Wandelard; the fourth is a bastard brother,
Geoffrey, who is a sluggard, and slow to do anything good.--Each
of them has a very appropriate name, by which his own character
is described; for if any one interpret rightly the names, he
may know most accurately what each signifies.--By _Robert_, is
very sufficiently indicated _a robber_; and by Richard, with
much fitness, a _rich hard_ man; _Gilbert_ is not without reason
called a _guiler_; and _Geoffrey_ is, if we come to the point,
changed into _jo frai_ (i. e. I will do it).--By these people’s
names, which are thus described, are denoted the habit, and
fraud, and works, of many men; and in order that these may be
made more manifest to all, they are here published better and
more fully--Robert fleeces, extorts, and threatens; and Richard
keeps all he gains; Gilbert deceives, and afterwards boasts of
it; Geoffrey procrastinates, and does nothing.--I will follow up
the truth now in full cry: every ravenous man is the companion
of Robert; a false and miserly man is similar to Gilbert; a slow
and listless man is, without doubt, a Geoffrey.--The latter idly
protracts the time, behindhand at whatever hour is appointed,
he neglects to do what is good, and by putting off the good he
falls into that which is evil, and he is always backward in
acting well:--he promises anything, but will perform nothing; he
always says, “I will do,” but never does; but when death is at
hand, he begins to lament: there is great danger in repenting so
late.--Let every one take care that he is not himself deceived;
let him try to repent before his end, that he may merit well
while he is in health, lest by putting it off, he chance to die
before it is done.--The Lord, who is the fountain and author of
the highest degree of piety, give us here the inclination so to
mourn for our faults, and to be penitent spontaneously while we
are in health, that in the next world we may be in joy with the
saints!
* * * * *
A perpetual subject of popular outcry against the great, during
this and the following centuries, was afforded by the foreign and
extravagant fashions in dress, which were prevalent. A glance at
the illuminations in contemporary manuscripts will show us that
these complaints were not without foundation. We, even at the
present day, can with difficulty conceive the immense sums which
were in former days expended on the toilet. This profusion was
frequently and severely commented upon in the prose writings of the
clergy, and was not uncommonly the subject of popular satire. The
following song upon the tailors is very playful.
SONG UPON THE TAILORS.
[MS. Harl. 978. fol. 99, v^o. reign of Hen. III.]
_In nova fert animus mutatas dicere formas Corpora, Dii cœptis, nam
vos mutastis et illas, Aspirate meis._
Ego dixi, dii estis;
Quæ dicenda sunt in festis
Quare prætermitterem?
Dii, revera, qui potestis
In figuram novæ vestis
Transmutare veterem.
Pannus recens et novellus
Fit vel capa vel mantellus,
Sed secundum tempora
Primum capa, post pusillum
Transmutatur hæc in illum;
Sic mutatis corpora.
Antiquata decollatur,
Decollata mantellatur,
Sic in modum Proteos
Demutantur vestimenta;
Nec recenter est inventa
Lex metamorphoseos.
Cum figura sexum mutant;
Prius ruptam clam reclutant
Primates ecclesiæ;
Nec donatur, res est certa,
Nisi prius sit experta
Fortunam Tiresiæ.
Bruma tandem revertente,
Tost unt sur la chape enté
Plerique capucium;
Alioquin dequadratur,
De quadrato retundatur,
Transit in almucium.
Si quid restat de morsellis
Cæsi panni sive pellis,
Non vacat officio:
Ex hiis fiunt manuthecæ,
Manutheca quidem Græcè
Manuum positio.