§ 66. Think eek, that of swich seed as cherles springeth, of swich seed
springen lordes. As wel may the cherl be saved as the lord. / The same
deeth that taketh the cherl, swich deeth taketh the lord. Wherfore I rede,
do right so with thy cherl, as thou woldest that thy lord dide with thee,
if thou were in his plyt. / Every sinful man is a cherl to sinne. I rede
thee, certes, that thou, lord, werke in swiche wyse with thy cherles, that
they rather love thee than drede. / I woot wel ther is degree above degree,
as reson is; and skile it is, that men do hir devoir ther-as it is due; but
certes, extorcions and despit of youre underlinges is dampnable. /
§ 67. And forther-over understand wel, that thise conquerours or tiraunts
maken ful ofte thralles of hem, that been born of as royal blood as been
they that hem conqueren. /765 This name of thraldom was nevere erst couth,
til that Noe seyde, that his sone Canaan sholde be thral to hise bretheren
for his sinne. / What seye we thanne of hem that pilen and doon extorcions
to holy chirche? Certes, the swerd, that men yeven first to a knight whan
he is newe dubbed, signifyeth that he sholde deffenden holy chirche, and
nat robben it ne pilen it; and who so dooth, is traitour to Crist. / And,
as seith seint Augustin, ‘they been the develes wolves, that stranglen the
sheep of Iesu Crist’; and doon worse than wolves. / For soothly, whan the
wolf hath ful his wombe, he stinteth to strangle sheep. But soothly, the
pilours and destroyours of goddes holy chirche ne do nat so; for they ne
stinte nevere to pile. / Now, as I have seyd, sith so is that sinne was
first cause of thraldom, thanne is it thus; that thilke tyme that al this
world was in sinne, thanne was al this world in thraldom and subieccioun.
/770 But certes, sith the tyme of grace cam, god ordeyned that som folk
sholde be more heigh [620] in estaat and in degree, and som folk more lowe,
and that everich sholde be served in his estaat and in his degree. / And
therfore, in somme contrees ther they byen thralles, whan they han turned
hem to the feith, they maken hir thralles free out of thraldom. And
therfore, certes, the lord oweth to his man that the man oweth to his lord.
/ The Pope calleth him-self servant of the servaunts of god; but
for-as-muche as the estaat of holy chirche ne mighte nat han be, ne the
commune profit mighte nat han be kept, ne pees and reste in erthe, but-if
god hadde ordeyned that som men hadde hyer degree and som men lower: /
therfore was sovereyntee ordeyned to kepe and mayntene and deffenden hir
underlinges or hir subgets in resoun, as ferforth as it lyth in hir power;
and nat to destroyen hem ne confounde. / Wherfore I seye, that thilke
lordes that been lyk wolves, that devouren the possessiouns or the catel of
povre folk wrongfully, with-outen mercy or mesure, /775 they shul receyven,
by the same mesure that they han mesured to povre folk, the mercy of Iesu
Crist, but-if it be amended. / Now comth deceite bitwixe marchant and
marchant. And thow shalt understonde, that marchandyse is in two maneres;
that oon is bodily, and that other is goostly. That oon is honeste and
leveful, and that other is deshoneste and unleveful. / Of thilke bodily
marchandyse, that is leveful and honeste, is this; that, there-as god hath
ordeyned that a regne or a contree is suffisaunt to him-self, thanne is it
honeste and leveful, that of habundaunce of this contree, that men helpe
another contree that is more nedy. / And therfore, ther mote been marchants
to bringen fro that o contree to that other hire marchandyses. / That other
marchandise, that men haunten with fraude and trecherie and deceite, with
lesinges and false othes, is cursed and dampnable. /780 Espirituel
marchandyse is proprely Symonye, that is, ententif desyr to byen thing
espirituel, that is, thing that aperteneth to the seintuarie of god and to
cure of the soule. / This desyr, if so be that a man do his diligence to
parfournen it, al-be-it that his desyr ne take noon effect, yet is it to
him a deedly sinne; and if he be ordred, he is irreguler. / Certes, Symonye
is cleped of Symon Magus, that wolde han boght, for temporel catel, the
yifte that god hadde yeven, by the holy goost, to seint Peter and to [621]
the apostles. / And therfore understond, that bothe he that selleth and he
that byeth thinges espirituels, been cleped Symonials; be it by catel, be
it by procuringe, or by fleshly preyere of hise freendes, fleshly freendes,
or espirituel freendes. / Fleshly, in two maneres; as by kinrede or othere
freendes. Soothly, if they praye for him that is nat worthy and able, it is
Symonye if he take the benefice; and if he be worthy and able, ther nis
noon. /785 That other manere is, whan a man or womman preyen for folk to
avauncen hem, only for wikked fleshly affeccioun that they have un-to the
persone; and that is foul Symonye. / But certes, in service, for which men
yeven thinges espirituels un-to hir servants, it moot been understonde that
the service moot been honeste, and elles nat; and eek that it be with-outen
bargayninge, and that the persone be able. / For, as seith Seint Damasie,
‘alle the sinnes of the world, at regard of this sinne, am as thing of
noght’; for it is the gretteste sinne that may be, after the sinne of
Lucifer and Antecrist. / For, by this sinne, god forleseth the chirche, and
the soule that he boghte with his precious blood, by hem that yeven
chirches to hem that been nat digne. / For they putten in theves, that
stelen the soules of Iesu Christ and destroyen his patrimoine. /790 By
swiche undigne preestes and curates han lewed men the lasse reverence of
the sacraments of holy chirche; and swiche yeveres of chirches putten out
the children of Crist, and putten in-to the chirche the develes owene sone.
/ They sellen the soules that lambes sholde kepen to the wolf that
strangleth hem. And therfore shul they nevere han part of the pasture of
lambes, that is, the blisse of hevene. / Now comth hasardrye with hise
apurtenaunces, as tables and rafles; of which comth deceite, false othes,
chydinges, and alle ravines, blaspheminge and reneyinge of god, and hate of
hise neighebores, wast of godes, misspendinge of tyme, and somtyme
manslaughtre. / Certes, hasardours ne mowe nat been with-outen greet sinne
whyles they haunte that craft. / Of avarice comen eek lesinges, thefte,
fals witnesse, and false othes. And ye shul understonde that thise been
grete sinnes, and expres agayn the comaundements of god, as I have seyd.
/795 Fals witnesse is in word and eek in dede. In word, as for to bireve
thy neighebores goode name by thy fals witnessing, or [622] bireven him his
catel or his heritage by thy fals witnessing; whan thou, for ire or for
mede, or for envye, berest fals witnesse, or accusest him or excusest him
by thy fals witnesse, or elles excusest thy-self falsly. / Ware yow,
questemongeres and notaries! Certes, for fals witnessing was Susanna in ful
gret sorwe and peyne, and many another mo. / The sinne of thefte is eek
expres agayns goddes heste, and that in two maneres, corporel and
espirituel. / Corporel, as for to take thy neighebores catel agayn his wil,
be it by force or by sleighte, be it by met or by mesure. / By steling eek
of false enditements upon him, and in borwinge of thy neighebores catel, in
entente nevere to payen it agayn, and semblable thinges. /800 Espirituel
thefte is Sacrilege, that is to seyn, hurtinge of holy thinges, or of
thinges sacred to Crist, in two maneres; by reson of the holy place, as
chirches or chirche-hawes, / for which every vileyns sinne that men doon in
swiche places may be cleped sacrilege, or every violence in the semblable
places. Also, they that withdrawen falsly the rightes that longen to holy
chirche. / And pleynly and generally, sacrilege is to reven holy thing fro
holy place, or unholy thing out of holy place, or holy thing out of unholy
place. /
765. E. vnderstoond; tirauntz. 767. to (1)] E. in. 771. E. lough;
_om._ and in his degree. 774. E. subgetz. 777. Ed. 1550, two;
_MSS._ manye. 781. E. Espiritueel (_twice_). 782. E. irreguleer.
783. E. temporeel. 784. E. vnderstoond; beyeth; espiritueel. 791.
E. sacramentz. 793. Hl. raueynes; Pt. ravanys; Cm. rauynesse; Ln.
rauynges. 794. E. Cm. _om._ whyles ... craft. 798. E. heeste; _om._
that; corporeel. Hl. Pt. Ln. and; _rest_ or. E. espiritueel. 799.
Hl. Corporel; _rest om._ 801. E. Espiritueel.
=Relevacio contra peccatum Avaricie.=
§ 68. Now shul ye understonde, that the relevinge of Avarice is
misericorde, and pitee largely taken. And men mighten axe, why that
misericorde and pitee is relevinge of Avarice? / Certes, the avaricious man
sheweth no pitee ne misericorde to the nedeful man; for he delyteth him in
the kepinge of his tresor, and nat in the rescowinge ne relevinge of his
evene-cristene. And therfore fore speke I first of misericorde. /805 Thanne
is misericorde, as seith the philosophre, a vertu, by which the corage of
man is stired by the misese of him that is misesed. / Up-on which
misericorde folweth pitee, in parfourninge of charitable werkes of
misericorde. / And certes, thise thinges moeven a man to misericorde of
Iesu Crist, that he yaf him-self for oure gilt, and suffred deeth for
misericorde, and forgaf us oure originale sinnes; / and therby relessed us
fro the peynes of helle, and amenused the peynes of purgatorie by
penitence, and yeveth grace wel to do, and atte laste [623] the blisse of
hevene. / The speces of misericorde been, as for to lene and for to yeve
and to foryeven and relesse, and for to han pitee in herte, and compassioun
of the meschief of his evene-cristene, and eek to chastyse there as nede
is. /810 Another manere of remedie agayns Avarice is resonable largesse;
but soothly, here bihoveth the consideracioun of the grace of Iesu Crist,
and of hise temporel goodes, and eek of the godes perdurables that Crist
yaf to us; / and to han remembrance of the deeth that he shal receyve, he
noot whanne, where, ne how; and eek that he shal forgon al that he hath,
save only that he hath despended in gode werkes. /
TITLE. Hl. Remedium (_for_ Releuacio). 806. Cm. Ln. sterid. 811. E.
temporeel.
§ 69. But for-as-muche as som folk been unmesurable, men oghten eschue
fool-largesse, that men clepen wast. / Certes, he that is fool-large ne
yeveth nat his catel, but he leseth his catel. Soothly, what thing that he
yeveth for veyne glorie, as to minstrals and to folk, for to beren his
renoun in the world, he hath sinne ther-of and noon almesse. / Certes, he
leseth foule his good, that ne seketh with the yifte of his good no-thing
but sinne. /815 He is lyk to an hors that seketh rather to drinken drovy or
trouble water than for to drinken water of the clere welle. / And
for-as-muchel as they yeven ther as they sholde nat yeven, to hem
aperteneth thilke malisoun that Crist shal yeven at the day of dome to hem
that shullen been dampned. /