_De Officio Pastorali, chap. xv._
MS. Ashburnham XXVII (15th century).
Ant heere þe freris wiþ þer fautours seyn þat it is heresye to write
þus Goddis lawe in English, and make it knowun to lewid men. And fourty
signes þat þey bringen for to shewe an heretik ben not worþy to reherse,
for nouȝt groundiþ hem but nygromansye. {5}
It semyþ first þat þe wit of Goddis lawe shulde be tauȝt in þat tunge
þat is more knowun, for þis wit is Goddis word. Whanne Crist seiþ in þe
Gospel þat boþe heuene and erþe shulen passe, but His wordis shulen not
passe, He vndirstondith bi His woordis His wit. And þus Goddis wit is
Hooly Writ, {10} þat may on no maner be fals. Also þe Hooly Gost ȝaf
to apostlis wit at Wit Sunday for to knowe al maner langagis, to teche
þe puple Goddis lawe þerby; and so God wolde þat þe puple were tauȝt
Goddis lawe in dyuerse tungis. But what man, on Goddis half, shulde
reuerse Goddis ordenaunse and {15} His wille?
And for þis cause Seynt Ierom trauelide and translatide þe Bible fro
dyuerse tungis into Lateyn, þat it myȝte be aftir translatid to oþere
tungis. And þus Crist and His apostlis tauȝten þe puple in þat tunge
þat was moost knowun to þe {20} puple. Why shulden not men do nou so?
And herfore autours of þe newe law, þat weren apostlis of Iesu Crist,
writen þer Gospels in dyuerse tungis þat weren more knowun to þe puple.
Also þe worþy reume of Fraunse, notwiþstondinge alle {25} lettingis,
haþ translatid þe Bible and þe Gospels, wiþ oþere trewe sentensis of
doctours, out of Lateyn into Freynsch. Why shulden not Engliȝschemen
do so? As lordis of Englond han þe Bible in Freynsch, so it were not
aȝenus resoun þat þey hadden þe same sentense in Engliȝsch; for
{30} þus Goddis lawe wolde be betere knowun, and more trowid, for onehed
of wit, and more acord be bitwixe reumes.
And herfore freris han tauȝt in Englond þe Paternoster in
Engliȝsch tunge, as men seyen in þe pley of Ȝork, and in many
oþere cuntreys. Siþen þe Paternoster is part of Matheus {35} Gospel, as
clerkis knowen, why may not al be turnyd to Engliȝsch trewely, as is
þis part? Specialy siþen alle Cristen men, lerid and lewid, þat shulen
be sauyd, moten algatis sue Crist, and knowe His lore and His lif. But
þe comyns of Engliȝschmen knowen it best in þer modir tunge; and þus
it {40} were al oon to lette siche knowing of þe Gospel and to lette
Engliȝsch men to sue Crist and come to heuene.
Wel y woot defaute may be in vntrewe translating, as myȝten haue be
many defautis in turnyng fro Ebreu into Greu, and fro Greu into Lateyn,
and from o langage into {45} anoþer. But lyue men good lif, and studie
many persones Goddis lawe, and whanne chaungyng of wit is foundun,
amende þey it as resoun wole.
Sum men seyn þat freris trauelen, and þer fautours, in þis cause for
þre chesouns, þat y wole not aferme, but God woot {50} wher þey ben
soþe. First þey wolden be seun so nedeful to þe Engliȝschmen of oure
reume þat singulerly in her wit layȝ þe wit of Goddis lawe, to telle
þe puple Goddis lawe on what maner euere þey wolden. And þe secound
cause herof is seyd to stonde in þis sentense: freris wolden lede þe
puple in {55} techinge hem Goddis lawe, and þus þei wolden teche sum,
and sum hide, and docke sum. For þanne defautis in þer lif shulden be
lesse knowun to þe puple, and Goddis lawe shulde be vntreweliere knowun
boþe bi clerkis and bi comyns. Þe þridde cause þat men aspien stondiþ
in þis, as þey seyn: alle {60} þes newe ordris dreden hem þat þer synne
shulde be knowun, and hou þei ben not groundid in God to come into þe
chirche; and þus þey wolden not for drede þat Goddis lawe were knowun in
Engliȝsch; but þey myȝten putte heresye on men ȝif Engliȝsch
toolde not what þey seyden. {65}
God moue lordis and bischops to stonde for knowing of His lawe!